Environmental Science Study Guide History of urban growth Now over half of humans now live in cities Cities have been around for 10 000 years Both overdeveloped and underdeveloped countries are increasing in growth Renewable resource any natural resource as wood or solar energy that can be replenished naturally with the passage of time Environmental protection and jobs Creates for more jobs and stimulates local economies far more than environmentally destructive ones Wind energy provides about 5 times as many jobs per kilowatt hour of electricity then coal fired power Ecological Services use capitalism to protect environment and puts a dollar value on the environment Population Characteristics of urban centers In 1900 13 cities had 1 million people In 2007 300 cities had 1 million people By 2025 95 cities will have population over 5 million Intangible resource a resource that exist in extraction Most of these resources cannot be measured with a certain currency Internal vs external costs Planning so that those who reap the benefits of resource use also bear all the external cost Shifting expenses monetary or otherwise to someone other than the individuals or groups who use a resource Vs Benefits of green business Produce environmentally and socially sound products Operating according to the principles of sustainable development and environmental protection can be good for public relations employee morale and sales Helps the markets also grow over time making most supermarket chains now care some Now architects are getting on board and making more green designs for large building organic food choices and new homes Also creates new jobs and stimulates local economies far more than environmentally destructive ones Urban agglomeration mergers of multiple municipalities urban areas where several cities or towns have coalesced and some become megacities Urban sprawl unlimited unplanned growth of urban areas that consumes open space and wastes resources Low density residential and commercial development Leapfrog development that consumes farmland natural areas Fragmentation of power among many small units of government Unlimited outward extension Dominance of freeways and private automobiles No Centralized planning or control of land uses Widespread strip malls and Big Box shopping centers Great fiscal disparities among localities Decaying city centers as new development occurs in previously rural areas Reliance on deteriorating older neighborhoods for low income housing Slums are generally legal but inadequate multifamily tenements or rooming houses often converted from some other use Families live in small crowded rooms with inadequate ventilation and sanitation Often they structures are rickety and not safe In 1999 Megacity super city or megalopolis that indicates an urban area with more than 10 million inhabitants These cities pave over vast landscapes and relatively efficiency consume Push vs pull factors for urban immigration Mechanization eliminates jobs and drives off the land Government policies often favor urban immigration Cities offer jobs better housing entertainment Tragedy of the commons is the idea that without private property rights or government control people will inevitably destroy common property Solutions 1 The states land only government can regulate overuse 2 My Land private ownership regulates overuse Problems people know how to share and conserve resources and can do so without the motivation of the market or state New urbanism and city size incorporates smart growth rather than abandon the cultural history make it more appealing efficient and livable Limit city size to 30 000 to 50 000 people Maintain green belts in and around the city Green roofs Grow your own food Plan development cluster housing open space zoning Locate everyday shopping and services so people can meet daily needs on foot Criminal vs Civil Penalties persons or society A body of court decisions based on federal and state statutes concerning wrongs against a body of laws that regulate relations between individuals or between individuals and corporations concerning property rights personal dignity and freedom and person injury VS UN Convention on Law of the Sea UNCLOS and the US Declares oceans international commons Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species CITES an international agreement to restrict trade in endangered species Group of ten environmental organizations NEPA National Environmental Policy Act RAMSAR Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Convention to protect world cultural and natural heritage CMS Convention on Migratory Species UNCLOS United Nations Law of the Sea UNFCCC United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Protocol on Substances that deplete the ozone layer BASEL Convention on the Trans boundary Movements of Hazardous Waste CBD Convention on Biodiversity CCD Convention to Combat Desertification Endangered Species Act critical habitat 1973 identifies and list species that are vulnerable threatened or endangered once species is listed as endangered the ESA provides rules for the endangered species like hunting of this species are is the designation of critical habitat that allows the ESA to protect larges areas with certain species Conspicuous consumption a term coined by economist and social critic Thorstein Veblen to describe buying things we don t want or need to impress others Clean Water Act 1972 Set national water quality goals and created pollutant discharge permits Major amendments in 1977 and 1996 aimed to make US waters Fishable and Safe identified and controlled point source pollution and end of the pipe discharges from factories municipal sewage treatment plants and other sources Cascades Park Tallahassee Brownfields Rust Belt around the great lakes and the gulf coast Superfund sites 1980 list hazardous sites and is a giant fund to help remediate abandon toxic sites Mining Districts Hardeman County Tennessee Love Canal in Niagara Falls New York Original Greenpeace voyage carries out well publicized confrontations with whalers seal hunters toxic waste dumpers and others who threaten very specific and visible resources Citizen sUnitedvs Federal Elections Commission a landmark case that deregulated political spending on corporation Clean Air Act 1970 established national primary and secondary air quality standards required states to develop implementation plans Major amendments in 1977 and 1990 The first major