Start 3 rd Test (Final) Here Begin with Water Resources.

Start 3rd Test (Final) Here

• Begin with Water Resources

Water Resources

• Water is the “universal solvent”

• Essential for:

• Human health (we are 60-70% water)

• Agriculture and manufacturing

• 70% of the planet is covered in water but most water is salt water and cannot be used for drinking, farming or industry

Water Supplies

• On Earth: • 97.4% is saltwater (high in NaCl, KCl, and

hundreds of other dissolved minerals• 2.6% is freshwater: 2% = ice; 0.59% =

groundwater; 0.01% = surface liquid freshwater

• So: groundwater is where most liquid freshwater exists

Surface waters

• Surface waters (lakes and rivers) are renewed by the water cycle

• Humans build dams to slow down the water cycle

• Globally, about half of all surface waters are now controlled by human dams and other devices

Groundwater

• Water that percolates into the soil (only about 10% of rainfall)

• This is the fastest growing source of freshwater

• 25% of US g-water is contaminated

• Groundwater supplies in most parts of US are being withdrawn much faster than they are replenished by rain/snow

Terms to know

• Aquifer, aquiclude, aquitard

• Recharge zone

• Water table, zone of aeration, zone of saturation

• Cone of depression, area of influence

• Permeability

Pumping from wells lowers the water table near the well. This is known as the cone of depression. The land surface overlying the cone of depresssion is also referred to as the area of influence. Groundwater flow is diverted towards the well as it flows into the cone of depression.

Groundwater Problems

• 1) Overpumping: cone of depression

• Causes: land subsidence, loss of g-water supplies

• 2) Contamination: takes decades to cleanse naturally b/c g-water often moves only a few inches per year

• Solution: (bio)remediation

Water Demand

• Drinking consumption: 1 gallon per person per day

• In US, we use about 1500 gallons per person per day

• Why so much? For products: 1 egg = 40 gallons, 1 Sunday paper = 100 gallons

Ways to extend water supply

• 1) Conservation: microirrigation (farming is no. 1 consumer of water)

• 2) Gray water – recycling partially treated wastewater. Used for?

• 3) Desalination – a) osmosis or b) distillation

• Problems with desalination: salt waste disposal, expensive

<>

The Idea

Service opps

• NEW READINGS: chaps 7-10,14 PLUS www.scorecard.org find your community: type in UT zip code and KNOW factoids about Knox county.

• March 28 Sunday – Adopt-a-spot on The Hill – from 2:30-4:40 meet behind Geology Building at 2:30.

• Trip to Nashville on Tues March 30 to lobby contact: [email protected] (negotiable double credit)

• April 2 Friday – Alternative Vehicle show – Worlds Fair Park all day. Jonathan Overly needs vols: [email protected]

• April 2-4 – SE College Clean Energy Conf in NC: contact me immed and tell me if you want to drive or if you need one. Meeting after class today!

Biological Resources

• Extinction today: roughly 100 species per day (almost all insects and other small organisms) = 36500 species per year

• Extinction in prehistory (fossils): about 1 species per year

• In several decades, we could see another mass extinction (Earth has had 5)

• Takes ~ 10 million yrs to recover

Extinction causes & solutions

Main causes of extinction today: 1) habitat loss, 2) introduced (exotic) species, 3) overharvesting

• Solutions thus include reducing land development (urban sprawl), reducing importation of exotic species, and controlling poaching and overharvesting

Ultimately: a Homogenized Biosphere

• If nothing changes: unique native species will be replaced with widespread weedy species

• Producing an impoverished biosphere and also one that has much less regional distinctiveness = loss of “place”

• If every place is the same, why go anywhere?

Importance of biodiversity

• Future evolution is based on current diversity

• Loss of diversity is boring: try hiking a monoculture tree farm

• Loss of diversity is bad for farming: loss of future food species (less than 1% of edible plants are currently grown as crops)

Announcements

Service Opps: today (April 6) – bag lunch discussion on UT recycling in UC 224.

• Upcoming Clean Air Race April 10: [email protected]• Nashville trip cancelled (we lack the votes)• Final Exam – last day of our class (April 27) OR assigned

day• Service Opp! Big Dig: Summer Intern with Cumberland

trail May 16-June 26. Pays $1000.; learn to build & maintain wilderness trails, supervise volunteer trailworkers

• Contact: Mark Stanfill at 931-456-6259; www.cumberlandtrail.org

Pollution

• Pollution = too much of anything

• Nature DOES pollute (ex: acid rain from volcanoes) but humans greatly accelerate the rate of pollution

• Myth of zero pollution – will never happen; society must focus on optimal pollution levels

0% 100%% Pollutant removed

Cost

Health benefit

Optimum removed

Rise of cost-benefit analysis (CBA)

• CBA = (economic cost/environmental benefit)

• CBA is done on laws, policy, other social decisions

• If CBA < 1 then econ costs are less than environmental benefits and it is assumed to be a “good” law or policy

• Examples: permits to build a strip mall or road through parks

Problems with CBA

• It is easy to measure economic costs but difficult to measure environmental benefits

• Example: How much is clean water worth (per gallon)? How much is clean air worth (per cubic foot)? How much is Smoky Mtn Nat Park worth?

• Unfortunately, we subconsciously devalue things we can’t measure. In fact, the just the opposite is true: The most valuable things in life are those we can’t measure: loved ones, emotional ties, etc.

• Myth of Quantification: says most valuable things are measurable. But, most policy is based on quantifying things. So, environmental benefits tend to be undervalued

Toxicology

• Toxicology = how substances affect living things

• One new chemical invented each MINUTE; tens of thousands of untested chemicals are on the market in products we buy; 70,000 chems in daily use

• The good news: most are harmless

Kinds of toxins

• Carcinogens, teratogens, mutagens

• Acute vs chronic

• Biotoxins

Toxic testing

• 1) Bioassay: uses bacteria for reaction

• 2) Epidemiological studies (statistics on exposed populations of people)

• 3) Dose-response studies – measures toxicity = dosage needed to produce death

Dosage (g/km/day)

No. dead

Mice

LD-50

Problems with dose-response studies

• Size scaling – large animals have slower metabolisms than small ones

• Intrinsic scaling – different species have different biochemical pathways (mice share 85% genes with humans)

• Animal rights – suffering caused by these experiments: mice vs apes

• Chronic (long-term) effects: Variations among people: genes vs environment – about half of all cancers are caused by genes.

Non-genetic cancer causes: U.S.

Risk assessment

• How to interpret the toxic data

• Risk = the statistical chance of harm

Death risk in US

• Motor VehicleFallsFires and Hot SubstancesDrowning FirearmsAir TravelFalling ObjectsElectrocutionLightning TornadoesHurricanes

• Animal bite (bugs, snakes, sharks..any)

• 1 in 4,000• 1 in 10,000

1 in 25,0001 in 30,0001 in 100,0001 in 100,0001 in 160,0001 in 160,0001 in 2,000,0001 in 2,500,0001 in 2,500,000

•1 in 6,000,000

Why do we misperceive risk?

• Evolutionary limits on our brain function: instincts – snakes vs bathtubs

• Information overload – we ignore a lot• Misinformation supplied by certain groups:

advertising – cotton candy is fat-free! • Social costs of misperception: gov’t money

is often spent on the wrong problems – toxic cleanup vs habitat loss; acquiring oil vs alternative energy

Which of these kills more people each year?

One final problem

• Interactive effects among pollutants:

• Additive: A + B = A + B

• Antagonistic: A + B = A – B

• Synergistic: A + B = A x B

• Example: radon + cigarette smoking

• If both increase lung cancer by about 20%, then both = 40%, right? Try 60%

Legal Issues

• FDA = Food and Drug Administration only tests foods and drugs. What about cosmetics, toys, many other products?

• Law says: “harmful substances” not allowed in our products: but how harmful? How much is allowed? Delaney Clause said ANY amount not allowed. 1 ppm? 5 ppm?

• Commonly, people will directly sue companies to try to prove damages. Burden of proof is on the citizen and it is very difficult to succeed.

• Example of tobacco companies

Max Contaminant Levels (MCL)

• Max allowable by law: example 15 ppb of lead (Pb)

• Enforced by EPA (created 1973)• Recent trend by federal gov’t is to RAISE MCL’s.

Ex: copper, lead• Why?• Is there a social cost?• The key concept of who benefits and who pays

for these changes: concentrated profits for a few vs dispersed costs for many – which has the loudest voice in public policy?

City water supply Elizabethtown NJ – note MCL & units, and sources

Major Pollution Laws

• Clean Air Act 1970 – Point sources

• Clean Water Act 1972 – Point sources

• Safe Drinking Water Act 1974 – Testing of Water Supply

• Superfund Act 1980 – Clean up toxic waste sites

• Each state has its own equivalent of these

• EPA created in 1973 enforces all these; but has a decreasing budget (TRI is shut down)

Pesticides

• Chemicals created to kill things

• Herbicides, insecticides, rodenticides etc

• Huge industry

• 3 stages of pesticide development: 1) heavy metals (ancient times); 2) synthetic organic chemicals: DDT invented in 1945; 3) synthetic hormones invented in 1970’s

Synthetic Organic Pesticides

• DDT 1945 (chlorinated hydrocarbon) – low toxicity, cheap but very persistent; Banned US 1973 but “circle of poison” now b/c exported.

• in 1950’s organophosphates such as malathion – high toxicity, expensive but breaks down fast

• Most of these work on nervous system of insects. But affect on humans is mostly to attack liver, kidneys, birth defects, cancers (mostly chronic)

• An example of ENVIRONMENAL HORMONES• (2003 study on NYC babies: birthweight increased by 7

oz when certain insecticides stopped use

Synthetic Hormones

• Best kind of pesticide: breaks down fast, targets certain species

• Examples: Juvenile insect hormones affects molting; Pheromones – Japanese beetle

Pesticide problems

• Evolved immunity – 1944 1/3 US crops lost to pests; 2003 still 1/3 – Darwinian natural selection

• Non-target species – birds, soil bacteria, people

• Pest rebound – kill one species another has a pop explosion…why? Boll weevil vs cotton aphid; wasps vs caterpillars

Pesticide alternatives

• IPM (Integrated Pest Management)- use chemicals only as a last resort

• Organic farming: natural predators, crops that repel pests (onions for example)

• Use of bioengineered crops? Ex: strawberries with genes that produce natural chem repels insects

• Problems with genetically engineered organisms? (GEOs); frankenfoods; hybrids

Announcements

• Exam April 27 or during finals week

• Service opps:

• UT EarthDay April 22: contact Christina at [email protected]

• April 14 – see Lois Gibbs talk (Love Canal story) 7 pm UC auditorium; also 2-4 pm workshop on activism in Physics 306

Water Pollution

• Water pollution is contamination of water by foreign matter that deteriorates the quality of the water

• Normally water can cleanse itself via: dilution, settling, aerosols, biodegradation

• Water pollution occurs when these four are overwhelmed

Importance: water pollution

• Globally, 2.3 billion people suffer from diseases linked to water

• Water borne diseases, also known as “dirty water” disease, result from using water contaminated by human, animal, or chemical wastes. These diseases cause an estimated 12 million deaths a year, 5 million of them from diarrheal diseases. Most of the victims are children in developing countries. 

• According to the World Commission on Water for the 21st Century, more than half of the World’s major rivers are so depleted and polluted that they endanger human health and poison surrounding ecosystem.

• In many large cities in the developing world the drinking water supply is contaminated. Only half of Southeast Asia’s 550 million people have access to safe drinking water

Name of Pollutant

Sources Health Hazards

DETERGENT  Washing of clothes. Depletes the oxygen of water, endangering aquatic life.

INDUSTRIAL EFFLUENTS 

Waste products from factories.

Toxic substances endangering human health.

PESTICIDES, INSECTICIDES

They enter into the water from the soil.

Poisonous substances.

SEWAGE WASTE 

Untreated human excreta is washed away to lakes, rivers etc.

Several kinds of bacteria and virus cause diseases like cholera, typhoid, jaundice, and diarrohea.

OIL  Oil tankers which are traveling through the seas.

Oil spread on the surface of the sea water sticking to the feather of the birds causing death.

FERTILIZERS Washed out of soil by rain to streams and rivers.

Increase toxicity of the water.

METALLIC POLLUTANTS

Industries Cancer, neurological ailments, lung diseases etc. 

ORGANIC POLLUTANTS

Dead plants and animals in water.

Deoxygenated water, endangers fish life and higher plants.

FLUORIDES Industries Poisoning effects the dental and skeletal fluorosis.

BENZENE Industries. Causes redness, burns and blisters on skin.

Water pollutants

Eutrophication

• Eutrophication = literally, too much food

• Occurs when sewage and/or fertilizer drains into a water body (esp ponds, lakes)

• Causes rapid growth of algae (“blooms”)

• Algae die and decay uses up oxygen

• Causes fish kill

Aerial view of Lake 227 in 1994. Note the bright green color caused by algae stimulated by the experimental addition of phosphorus for the 26th consecutive year. Lake 305 in the background is unfertilized

Mitigating eutrophication• What Can I Do? • Limit your fertilizer use and apply at appropriate times  (UMD's

Home and Garden Information Center) • "BayScape" your yard  (Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay) • Control runoff and soil erosion  (UMD's Home and Garden

Information Center). • Start a compost pile and recycle yard waste  (UMD's Home and

Garden Information Center). • Conserve water and energy  (Maryland Department of Natural

Resources) • Plant trees  (Maryland Department of Natural Resources). • Maintain your septic system  (University of Maryland) • Drive less • Be a responsible boater and pump out wastes

Fixing (restoring) water bodies

• 1) Stop point pollution – factories, pipes (pretty easy)

• 2) Stop non-point pollution-very hard; build artificial wetlands: retention ponds with lots of cat-tails and other vegetation (slow water down, trickle into river or lake)

• 3) For ponds: drain and dredge; aerate • 4) Restock with native fishs and plants• Lake Erie is recovering; Lake Apopka Fla• Rivers & creeks can recover quickly if pollution

stopped and river channel renaturalized

Water quality testing

• DO (Dissolved Oxygen)• Nitrates, phosphates• E. coli (coliform bacteria) – culture kits• Sediment (turbidity)• IBI – Index Biotic Integrity: is aquatic diversity

low? Are a few species superabundant? If yes: unhealthy stream

• Indicator species: trout, most clams, stream minnows = healthy stream

• many insect larvae, protozoans, exotic species (carp, zebra mussel)= unhealthy stream.

EPA primary regs

• List of Contaminants regulated by EPA: Microorganisms | Disinfectants | Disinfection Byproducts | Inorganic Chemicals | Organic Chemicals | Radionuclides

• MCL’s for all of these are tested, periodically by law, especially in water systems

EPA secondary regs

• National Secondary Drinking Water Regulations (NSDWRs or secondary standards) are non-enforceable guidelines regulating contaminants that may cause cosmetic effects (such as skin or tooth discoloration) or aesthetic effects (such as taste, odor, or color) in drinking water. EPA recommends secondary standards to water systems but does not require systems to comply. However, states may choose to adopt them as enforceable standards.

Oxidation ditch

Clarifier

Wastewater treatment• The chemicals used in the waste purification process can also be

harmful.  Used in large quantities, these chemicals – including chlorine or chlorine dioxide gas -- can produce environmental risks.  Storm water run-off might also pose a problem if contaminated with waste or other pollutants. The often foul smell of sewage treatment plants can generally be attributed to hydrogen sulfide, which is toxic and can cause problems ranging from eye irritation and nausea to toxic explosions.  However, the odor is often diluted in the air and is usually of little or no harm.

• Treatment plants can cause contaminated water.  Potential contaminators are bacteria, nitrates, oxygen-depleting organics, and metals.  Exposure can occur through drinking such water, direct skin contact, digesting fish from contaminated waters, or even swimming in such waters.  Reactions can range from rashes to hepatitis.

• Trihalomethanes (THM’s) = carcinogenic byproducts of chlorination. Solution? Ozonation of water.

Tap water problems• Tap Water Is Full Of Disease-Causing Contaminants - Most municipal

water flows through lead pipes over 100 years old picking up harmful toxins and pollutants before the water treatment plant (which performs very limited functions) and also afterwards when the water is on its way to your house.

• Arsenic - Which has been directly linked to cancer and many other diseases, has been found in 85% of our cities' water. Exposure to lead found at "alarmingly high levels" in many cities by Consumer Reports, can cause learning and behavioral problems in children, lower IQ, high blood pressure, and problems to the reproductive and nervous systems.

• Some other common water contaminants and what they have been linked to are: Asbestos (cancer and other diseases), Aluminum (Alzheimer's), Benzene (cancer, anemia), Mercury (nervous system and kidney damage), Toluene (cancer), herbicides and pesticides such as Endrin (liver, kidney and heart damage, respiratory problems and cancer).

• 80% of city water systems were not equipped with filters that meet EPA standards. In addition, most cities add the harmful Chlorine and Fluoride to water.

Tap water problems• A recent Water Quality Association poll showed that 74% of

Americans consider their tap water contaminated or dangerous. 80% don't like the taste. And the following annual figures from the National Resources Defense Council confirm the shocking problem: Every year in the U.S.:

• 900,000 Sick and 900 Dead due to water contamination. • These figures don't even factor in the thousands of long term

illnesses and deaths from cancer, kidney and heart disease linked to contaminated water.

• If you have your own well water, you're not really better off. In fact, most of those on well water have more contaminants per drop than those in cities.

• Many are also concerned today by bio-terrorism threat to our water supplies as there are 168,000 different public water supplies in the U.S., many of which are completely unprotected.

Carbon Filter DistillationWater Softener

Reverse Osmosis plus Carbon Filter

Aluminum   X   X

Arsenic   X   X

Asbestos       X

Cadmium   X X X

Chlorine & THMs

X X   X

Chromium   X X X

Copper   X   X

Endrin X     X

Fluoride   X   X

Giardia/Cryptosporidium

  X   X

Hardness   X X X

Lead X* X   X

Mercury   X   X

Nickel   X   X

Nitrate   X   X

Pesticides/Herbicides

X     X

Radium   X X X

Radon X     X

Toluene X     X

Total Dissolved Solids

  X   X

Tap water filters

Bottled water

• Bottled Water May Be Worse - Recognizing the problem with tap water, many Americans have turned to bottled water. Unfortunately, bottled water is not only quite expensive, it is often just as contaminated as your tap water.

• According to FDA rules, bottled water is subject to less testing and lower standards than our tap water! Even disinfection is not a requirement for bottled water! A 4-year NRDC scientific study on bottled water, based on 1000 bottles of 103 brands of water confirmed that bottled water is not necessarily cleaner or safer than common tap water.

• University of Iowa tested 39 different brands of bottled water and found that 75% of them contained chemicals, dissolved metals, and traces of arsenic, barium and toluene. Their conclusion was "Bottled water is no better than tap water and, in some cases, even worse".

Low pressure units typically provide between 24 and 35 gallons per day of water

They typically filter up to 95% of the material in the water.

Legal Aspects I

• Riparian law = landowner water rights• Appropriation law = government water

rights • Both often fail to protect downstream

users • Example: rule of “prior use” out West: big

mess (Colorado River)• Example: private law suits to collect

damages in your water

Legal Aspects II

• Clean Water Act 1972: point sources largely fixed

• Safe Drinking Water Act 1974: water supply regulated

• Unfixed problems: non-point runoff and ground water pollution (mostly state laws; very weak in TN)

Air Pollution

• When air composition is altered to the point that harm occurs (to human health or property)

• Air composition: 78% N, 21% O = 99%• N2 is an inert (nonreactive) gas• Remaining 1% includes hundreds of kinds

of gases and particles (CO2, CH4, dust, water vapor); usu measured as ppm, ppb

• All air pollution is in this remaining 1%

Importance of Air Pollution

• Health: bad air costs US over $150 billion per year (medical, lost work days), kills over 10,000 people per year (how?who?)

• Most dangerous in US: indoor air pollution (stealth problem) is no. 1; also smog is v. imp.

• Ecological harm: ozone layer loss, global warming, acid rain, smog on plants

• Property harm: erosion of buildings

Kinds of air pollution

• Lots of human activities increase air pollution (anthropogenic sources) – most come from fossil fuel combustion

• 1) particulates (unburned ash) – mostly in poor nations – in US 99% filtered out by scrubbers in smokestacks; causes lung damage

• 2) carbon oxides (CO, CO2) - esp from motor vehicles: CO is odorless, colorless gas. CO2 is main cause of global warming

Kinds of air pollution (cont.)

• 3) Sulfur oxides (SOx) – from coal burning, H2O + SOx = H2SO4 (sulfuric acid).

• Creates acid rain. pH scale goes from 0-14, > 7 = alkaline; < 7 = acidic. Log scale. Natural rain is mildly acid (around 6). Acid rain < 5.6. Record in Smokies < 1.

• Result: acid lakes impacts trout, acid soils kills trees.

Statue in a makeshift shelterto save it from acid rain in Berlin Germany

Effects of acid rain on statue

statue in Germany. The photo on the left was taken in 1908 and the one on the right was taken in 1969.

Kinds of air pollution (cont)

• 4) smog = NOx + VOCs + O3 + light

• NOxVille, Tennessee

• This is a photochemical reaction.

• Most damaging air poll to our health

• Effect: burns lung tissue, eyes

• Sources? 140,000 cars/trucks on I-40 daily

• Time of day smog peaks?

Bad air rankingsCities and counties with the worst ozone air pollution, based on U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency monitoring in 1997-1999, according to "State of the Air 2001" report by the American Lung Association released Tuesday. Previous year rankings are in brackets.

• Los Angeles, Calif. (1) • Bakersfield, Calif. (2) • Fresno, Calif. (3) • Visalia, Calf. (4) • Houston, Texas (5) • Atlanta, Ga. (9) • Washington, D.C.(7) • Charlotte, N.C., Rock Hill, S.C. (8) • Knoxville, Tenn. (12) • Philadelphia, Pa., Atlantic City, N.J. (13) • Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, N.C. (17) • Sacramento, Calif. (10) • Merced, Calif. (10) • Dallas, Texas (14) • New York, N.Y.; (16) • Nashville, Tenn. (18)

Smog in Seoul Korea

The above photo shows a long line of cars lined up to enter Great Smoky National Park. Aside from the smog blown in from distant power plants and urban areas, the exhaust from the cars of an average of 10,000,000 visitors each year doesn't help the severe air pollution problem in Great Smoky National Park, either. On 140 days during the past four years, the National Park Service has had to warn employees and park visitors that the air in the park was unhealthy because of high levels of smog

GSMNP same view,

With and w/out smog

Solutions to air pollution

• Clean Air Act 1970 reduced many sources BUT many loopholes remain:

• Grandfathered power plants (TVA)

• Clunker cars (before 1985 esp)

• Trucks & SUVs, Semi-trucks exempt from much of it

• Small engines: boats, mowers, leaf blower

• TN phased out mandatory inspections!

Indoor air pollution

• Overlooked but most harmful. Why: spend 80% indoors, poll is concentrated

• Main kinds: cig smoke (incl 2nd hand); radon, toxic chems from carpet, furniture, household chems

• SBS = sick building syndrome

Global Air Pollution

• Loss of the ozone layer – 20 miles up protects life from ultra-violet radiation

• How made? Light + 3O22O3+CFC

CFC is a catalyst that accelerates the return of O3 back to O2

CFCs

• CFC = chlorofluorocarbons, invented 1931• Since then, 36 billion pounds produced in

US• Very inert; used as refrigerant (freon),

cleaning fluid, aerosol propellant (why?)• So lasts many decades in air w/out

breaking down• In 1970’s discovery of “ozone hole” over S.

Pole

Why ozone hole over S. Pole?

If we lose the ozone layer:

• Blindness

• Skin cancer

• Fertility loss

• Plants dies

• Ocean food chain

• Eventually cities underground? Matrix movie but probably without Neo

Solutions?

• Montreal Protocol (Treaty) of 1987 to phase out CFCs

• Production of alternatives: compressed air, HFC’s, HCFC’s etc.

• Very successful (why?) • Corporate idiocy? DuPont vs Greenpeace• Remaining problems: continued illegal

production and use of CFCs• Takes over 10 yrs to diffuse up to Oz layer

Global warming

• 4 main anthropogenic greenhouse gases: CO2, methane, NOx, CFCs but many more

• Sources of these?

~ 1 degree C increase in average global temp during this time

Is global warming real?

• Correlation is not causation – spurious correlation esp in time series

• Extrapolation over long time scales does not work for complex systems like Earth

• But: lots of experimental evidence for GH gas effects on global scale

• Fossil record: GH gases often drive climate change

• Precautionary principle

If Global Warming continues:

• 1) Rise in sea level – 1 inch/century until 300 foot rise when all ice melts

• EPA study estimates that a one meter (3 ft) rise inundates 7000 sq mi of dry land, 50-80% of U.S. wetlands, and costs over $100 billion in the United States alone.

• Oceanic island nations are very worried

                                                                                              .

Louisiana is already losing about 25 square miles of land to coastal erosion each year. EPA

Announcements

SECTION 46181Exam April 27 in class OR 2:45pm, Monday, May 3 (103)• Earthfest volunteers badly needed for Keep Knox Beautiful; April 24

at Worlds Fair Park; contact Cortney Piper at 521-6957 • Ut recycling – tomorrow Wed at 12:15 DOUBLE CREDIT• Ijams volunteer naturalists for childhood education: Ijams is looking

for volunteers to lead and/or assist with school groups from now through May 21st. Full training/orientation is provided to match your experience. Programs include interactive nature activities and trail hikes.If you are interested or would like to learn more about this opportunity, please email Misty Gladdish at [email protected] or call 865-577-4717 ext. 12.

Readings for Final Exam

• www.scorecard.org (Find Your Community on right of screen: our zip 37996 – know factoids for test)

• McKinney book Chapters 15-20• Review for Exam Sunday April 25 7:45 pm in

GEOLOGY room 302

If Global Warming continues:

• 2) Migration of crops and ecosystems North

• 3) Loss of mountain ecosystems (why?)

• 4) Increasing aridity in much of central US

• 5) More violent weather

• 6) ocean current changes (Gulf Stream slowing or stopping?)

Solutions to Global Warming

• Technofix: CO2 + CaO CaCO3 (limestone) = sequestration

• Plant trees• Only real solution: reduce fossil

fuels=alternative energy (wind, solar etc): gas prices and gas taxes to promote

• Kyoto Treaty to phase out fossil fuels – derailed by US: Congress and Pres.

• Reasons given: hurt our economy, other nations won’t enforce, buying credits from poor nations?

Solid Waste

Waste = anything society does not use• US=most wasteful society in world history• Since 1945 US used more resources than

the entire world before 1945. Why? Rich resources; no ethic or incentive to conserve

• Concept of Conspicuous Consumption: bar gets raised all the time; no real correlation between wealth and happiness

US waste factoids

• 1 ton household waste per person/year (= 5 pounds per day); this is increasing each year (has doubled in last 20 yr)

• Add industrial & Agric waste=another 10 tons per person per yr

• Reason: high consumption combined with little recycling

Household waste

• Paper = 40%• Food/yard = 25%• Plastic = 10%• Glass = 10%• Metals = 10%• Rest = 5%• SO: 95% could be recycled• In actuality only 20% is recycled

Waste stream1) Source reduction3) Incineration

4) Landfill

2) Recycle

4 ways to deal with waste. 1=best; 4=worst based on cost and envir impact

Landfills

• Sanitary landfill: liners, garbage is layered• Most common method: 60% of US

garbage• Problems: water pollution (leachate),

space usage (some states have no space left; TN has 50 years or so, we import it); fossilize waste (slow decomposition)

• Knox: Chestnut Ridge gets 10 tons/day• Urban ore mining

Incineration

• High temp combustion in a kiln• Benefits over landfill: reduces waste

volume by 90%, detoxifies much waste; cogeneration of heat

• Problems: some air pollution (small; deps on what is burning); substantial toxic ash residue

• Most communities vote against them NIMBY

Recycling

• US recycles about 20% of waste stream; Europe and Japan over 35%

• Recycling rates varies drastically among materials

• Metals v. high: Aluminum 60%• Nationwide, the recycling rate for glass

containers is 30%. • Plastic among least recycled; less than

20%

Recycling tires

• Generation: Approximately 3.8 million tons of rubber tires (or 257 million scrap tires- about 1 tire per person in the United States) were generated in 1995. Percent: Tires made up about 1.8 percent of the MSW stream in 1995. Recovery: In 1995, approximately 17.5 percent of scrap tires were recycled, excluding retreads and tires combusted for energy

Aluminum

• In America, 1,500 aluminum cans are recycled every second. In 1999, Americans used 120 billion aluminum cans. We recycled 60% of aluminum cans in 1999. Making cans from recycled aluminum cuts related air pollution (for example, sulfur dioxides, which create acid rain) by 95%.

• Americans throw away enough aluminum every three months to rebuild our entire commercial air fleet. A quarter of all aluminum goes into packaging.

• About 70% of all metal used just once and is discarded. The remaining 30% is recycled. After 5 cycles, one-fourth of 1% of the metal remains in circulation

Paper

• By Recycling 1 ton of paper you save: · 17 trees · 6953 gallons of water · 463 gallons of oil · 587 pounds of air pollution · 3.06 cubic yards of landfill space · 4077 Kilowatt hours of energy

Glass

• A ton of glass produced from raw materials created 384 pounds of mining waste. Using 50% recycled glass cuts it by about 75%. · We get 27.8 pounds of air pollution for every ton of new glass produced.· Recycling glass reduces that pollution by 14-20%. · Recycling glass saves 25-32% of the energy used to make glass. Glass makes up about 8% of American municipal garbage. About 75% of America's glass is used for packaging. The average American can save six pounds of glass in a month. As late as 1947, virtually 100% of all beverage bottles were returnable. Germany recycles almost 40% of its glass. States with bottle deposit laws have 35-40% less litter by volume.

Recycled paper = $20/ton

Paper from trees = $15/ton

Notebook paper manufacturer

Why recycling is not working too well

Tax subsidies to logging companies

Source reduction

• Also called precycling, pollution prevention pays• Using resources more efficiently: eliminate bulky

packaging, and other “throwaway” items (point of purchase marketing) = 1/3 of all household waste

• Miniaturizing things – trend has been for opposite: upsizing. Why? Was Freud right?

• Waste produced at EACH step of manufacturing and retail process: mine, smelt, assembly, transportation; LCA = Life Cycle Analysis

Encouraging waste reduction

• Pay as you Throw: used a lot in Oregon, WA, CA – garbage bills are charged by the bag.

• Bottle bill – cuts litter by 35-40%

• Packaging laws to reduce the waste

Environmental Ethics

• Aldo Leopold: “right” = that which promotes environmental health; “wrong” = that which does not

• Sustainability = meeting today’s needs w/out harming future generations = “right”

• Popular culture: “right” that which is best for humans (only)

• Ignores other species, future generations

Making Changes

• Doing vs talking! • Direct action: Edward Abbey, The Monkeywrench Gang• Personal lifestyle change: Thoreau, Walden• Political action: trying to implement policy changes (gas

taxes, etc)• Difficult: most people hate change; US history of

isolationism• Changes need to be pushed. Politicians tend to focus on

cosmetic changes that require little work: ethanol for Knoxville’s air pollution, lower speed limit instead of real mass transit, sprawl controls, vehicle inspections

• Political system designed to be slow (checks & balances)

Economic Incentives to solve environmental problems

• Legal solutions only work where there are a few envir violators, such as factories

• Reason: cost of enforcement too high• Problem: most current envir problems

involve many violators – litter, cars (global warming, smog), overconsumption

• Also, political systems designed to be slow• So: need economic incentives to promote

envir sustainable behaviors

Economic incentives I

• 1) Stop giving money to encourage envir harmful behaviors (dirty subsidies) – tax dollars to oil companies, logging, mining, urban sprawl (we build roads, schools)

• Promote altern fuels, recycling, downtown renewal (hybrid cars and wind power would incr even faster)

• Companies getting these have been VERY successful with public relation campaigns to keep them (ex: coal is good; treehuggers are extremists)

• Focus on ideology, fringe science

Economic incentives II

• 2) Start taxing those behaviors more (green taxes): gas tax, bottle bill, higher fines on polluters

• People hate taxes but these would reduce other taxes (such as income tax); $$ go toward mass transit, hybrid cars, other sustainable activities (now most gas tax goes…where?)

Jobs and Sustainability

• Sustainability = more jobs (CA has biggest economy of any state, and also strictest env laws)

• Examples: waste disposal for a small town – landfill 50 jobs, incineration 250 jobs, recycling 500 jobs

• Wind/solar vs oil for energy• Logging vs recreation – 2 x more money

per acre

Paying true environmental costs

• Green taxes make the consumer pay the true cost of the product

• Free market works ok if consumer pays “true costs”: examples – does cheap gas include global warming? Smog?

• True env costs are often hidden (can’t see global warming; been to a factory farm?)

• True env costs WILL be paid by someone: WHO?

Paying envir costs to poor nations

• Not foreign aid• Gene patents for profit-making species• Higher prices for rainforest products,

minerals etc• Microloans to sustainable businesses• Ecotourism, fair trade products, shade

grown coffee, sustainable harvesting of rainforest

• US could play an active role; does it now?

Environmental Law

• All major federal and state envir laws were passed in the 1970’s.

• Since then, US public has generally become less interested in major laws

• In part: a big backlash by people and companies affected by these laws (developers, road builders, farmers you name it)

• TVA and the snail darter• Decreasing emph on science, facts

Environmental Law

• Clean env is NOT a constitutional right (Sierra Club & Supreme Court)

• Even if laws were strengthened: enforcement problem (Mexico has strict env laws, no real enforcement)

• 2005 budget – 7% cut for EPA, same for TDEC; since 1995 EPA & TDEC down by 15-20%

• 99% of envir violators not penalized

Environmental politicsWhich one of these 6 groups is only one where the majority of people votes to weaken environmental

regulations?

• Women 20-35• Women 35-55• Women over 55

• Men 20-35• Men 35-55• Men over 55

Which region of US is the only one to consistently vote against environmental regulations?

• And has most pollution and sprawl?:

• Western US

• Central

• SW

• SE

• NE

How to NOT solve the environmental crisis

• And guarantee an overpopulated polluted world depleted in resources governed by a few rich people and many poor people:

• 1) be an ideologue – decide arguments on basis of abstract ideology

• 2) ignore facts – focus on people’s character or select facts to fit your goals

• 3) be materialistic – make wealth accumulation the main goal of life

• 4) be short-sighted – focus only on the here and now; give no thought to the future