MOHD SABRI B. CHE NOH

NAME: MOHD SABRI B. CHE NOH
I/D: D20061026409
PROGRAM: SCIENCE EDUCATION (PHYSICS)
COURSE: ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE (TSE2013)
LECTURE GROUP: H (TUESDAY 5.00PM-7.00PM)
LECTURER: ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR DR. NUR TJAHJADI




Environmental dilemmas is similar to the problem or issues that has occurred in our environment. It can divide into four major problem which are population, food shortage, energy and also pollution.




POPULATION


One of the environmental dilemmas or problem is about the population. A population can be defined as a group of individuals of the same species inhabiting an area. Different population of the same species have specific characteristics that distinguish them from one another. In this subtopic me will discuss about the human population growth. There are some important way in which population differ include:







For most of human history, up to around 10 thousand years ago (generally accepted by science, although some place the time a few thousand years earlier), Earth's human population remained stabilized at around 8 to 10 million. Since then it has grown, at varying rates, to reach its present level of over 6,200 million (6.2 billion). This growth started when people began to grow crops and domesticate animals, which initiated the change from a hunter/gatherer subsistence (natural food supply) to a technology-driven food supply (agriculture). We note that about 620 (or more) humans are alive today (most supported by agricultural technology) for every one human who was supported by the natural food supply of early non-technological Earth.

In 2005, world population reached an all- time high of nearly 6.5 billion. By the year 2025 it could reach nearly 8 billion and could be expanding about 100 million a year. Ninety percent of this growth take place in the poorer nations.

Population Size Year Time Required to Double
1 billion 1850 All of human history
2 billion 1930 80 years
4 billion 1975 45 years
8 billion 2025 50 years
The more recent "explosive" growth, which causes serious human population problems and environmental problems, is due to much more than just advances in agricultural technology. Among other factors is the decrease in the death rate due to advances in medicine and sanitation.
So, what will happen to our environment when overpopulation occurs.
As a conclusion, the growth population rate increase is determine by subtracting the numbers of individuals leaving the population either by emigration or death from the numbers entering by immigration or birth.












Earth's present human population is over 6,200 million











FOOD SHORTAGE

According to the International Monetary Fund, over the past 12 months global food prices have increased on average by more than 40%. Most experts believe that there is no single driver behind this unprecedented rise in the cost of foodstuffs, but rather that numerous factors threaten the food security and well being of millions of people, particularly the poorest of the poor in the developing world.
Factors cited by experts include, the increased demand for food commodities from developing countries (as a result of population increases and increased consumption of meat), the production of crops for bio-fuels, increased costs of transportation, fuel and fertilizer due to the increasing cost of oil, a weakening U.S. currency which increases the effective cost for commodities purchased with dollars, and recurring natural disasters such as drought and flooding.

ENERGY
Many nations count on coal, oil and natural gas to supply most of their energy needs, but reliance on fossil fuels presents a big problem. Fossil fuels are a finite resource. Eventually, the world will run out of fossil fuels, or it will become too expensive to retrieve those that remain. Fossil fuels also causes air, water and soil pollution, and produce greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming.







Fossil Fuels - These constitute the main forms of energy used worldwide. They are formed over a period of millions of years by the decomposition of animals and plants. As such they are not renewable as it would take too long to for them to form again. They generally consist of carbon, sulphur and hydrogen and therefore upon combustion form carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide and water vapour (h2o). While the latter is relatively harmless the previous two are responsible for global warming and acid rain.
The United States is a highly developed and industrialized society. We use a lot of energy - in our homes, in businesses, in industry, and for traveling between all these different places.The industrial sector uses about one-third of the total energy. The residential and commercial sectors combined use even more than this - 40 percent of all energy. These two sectors include all types of buildings, such as houses, offices, stores, restaurants, and places of worship. Energy used for transportation accounts for more than a quarter of all energy.














POLLUTION

A variety of environmental problems now affect our entire world. As globalization continues and the earth's natural processes transform local problems into international issues, few societies are being left untouched by major environmental problems. Some of the largest problems now affecting the world are Acid Rain, Air Pollution, Global Warming, Hazardous Waste, Ozone Depletion, Smog, Water Pollution, Overpopulation, and Rain Forest Destruction.
Every environmental problem has causes, numerous effects, and most importantly, a solution. There are several example discussing major environmental problem.



AIR POLUTION
Every day, the average person inhales about 20,000 liters of air. Every time we breathe, we risk inhaling dangerous chemicals that have found their way into the air. Air pollution includes all contaminants found in the atmosphere. These dangerous substances can be either in the form of gases or particles. Air pollution can be found both outdoors and indoors. Pollutants can be trapped inside buildings, causing indoor pollution that lasts for a long time.
The sources of air pollution are both natural and human-based. As one might expect, humans have been producing increasing amounts of pollution as time has progressed, and they now account for the majority of pollutants released into the air. Air pollution has been a problem throughout history.
The effects of air pollution are diverse and numerous. Air pollution can have serious consequences for the health of human beings, and also severely affects natural ecosystems. Because it is located in the atmosphere, air pollution is able to travel easily. As a result, air pollution is a global problem and has been the subject of global cooperation and conflict.
Some areas now suffer more than others from air pollution. Cities with large numbers of automobiles or those that use great quantities of coal often suffer most severely from problems of air pollution.
CAUSES
There are many different chemical substances that contribute to air pollution. These chemicals come from a variety of sources. Among the many types of air pollutants are nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxides, and organic compounds that can evaporate and enter the atmosphere.
Air pollutants have sources that are both natural and human. Now, humans contribute substantially more to the air pollution problem. Forest fires, volcanic eruptions, wind erosion, pollen dispersal, evaporation of organic compounds, and natural radioactivity are all among the natural causes of air pollution.
Usually, natural air pollution does not occur in abundance in particular locations. The pollution is spread around throughout the world, and as a result, poses little threat to the health of people and ecosystems.
Though some pollution comes from these natural sources, most pollution is the result of human activity. The biggest causes are the operation of fossil fuel-burning power plants and automobiles that combust fuel. Combined, these two sources are responsible for about 90% of all air pollution in the United States.
EFFECT
Air pollution is responsible for major health effects. Every year, the health of countless people is ruined or endangered by air pollution. Many different chemicals in the air affect the human body in negative ways. Just how sick people will get depends on what chemicals they are exposed to, in what concentrations, and for how long.
Studies have estimated that the number of people killed annually in the US alone could be over 50,000. Older people are highly vulnerable to diseases induced by air pollution. Those with heart or lung disorders are under additional risk. Children and infants are also at serious risk. Because people are exposed to so many potentially dangerous pollutants, it is often hard to know exactly which pollutants are responsible for causing sickness. Also, because a mixture of different pollutants can intensify sickness, it is often difficult to isolate those pollutants that are at fault.
Many diseases could be caused by air pollution without their becoming apparent for a long time. Diseases such as bronchitis, lung cancer, and heart disease may all eventually appear in people exposed to air pollution. Air pollutants such as ozone, nitrogen oxides, and sulfur dioxide also have harmful effects on natural ecosystems. They can kill plants and trees by destroying their leaves, and can kill animals, especially fish in highly polluted rivers.


SOLUTIONS
Air pollution has many disastrous effects that need to be curbed. In order to accomplish this, governments, scientists and environmentalists are using or testing a variety of methods aimed at reducing pollution.
There are two main types of pollution control. Input control involves preventing a problem before it occurs, or at least limiting the effects the process will produce. Five major input control methods exist. People may try to restrict population growth, use less energy, improve energy efficiency, reduce waste, and move to non-polluting renewable forms of energy production. Also, automobile-produced pollution can be decreased with highly beneficial results.
Output control, the opposite method, seeks to fix the problems caused by air pollution. This usually means cleaning up an area that has been damaged by pollution. Input controls are usually more effective than output controls. Output controls are also more expensive, making them less desirable to tax payers and polluting industries.
Current air pollution control efforts are not all highly effective. In wealthier countries, industries are often able to shift to methods that decrease air pollution. In the United States, for example, air pollution control laws have been successful in stopping air pollution levels from rising. However, in developing countries and even in countries where pollution is strictly regulated, much more needs to be done.
OZONE DEPLITION
The ozone layer protects the Earth from the ultraviolet rays sent down by the sun. If the ozone layer is depleted by human action, the effects on the planet could be catastrophic.
Ozone is present in the stratosphere. The stratosphere reaches 30 miles above the Earth, and at the very top it contains ozone. The suns rays are absorbed by the ozone in the stratosphere and thus do not reach the Earth.

Ozone is a bluish gas that is formed by three atoms of oxygen. The form of oxygen that humans breathe in consists of two oxygen atoms, O2. When found on the surface of the planet, ozone is considered a dangerous pollutant and is one substance responsible for producing the greenhouse effect.
The highest regions of the stratosphere contain about 90% of all ozone.
In recent years, the ozone layer has been the subject of much discussion. And rightly so, because the ozone layer protects both plant and animal life on the planet.
The fact that the ozone layer was being depleted was discovered in the mid-1980s. The main cause of this is the release of CFCs, chlorofluorocarbons.
Antarctica was an early victim of ozone destruction. A massive hole in the ozone layer right above Antarctica now threatens not only that continent, but many others that could be the victims of Antarctica's melting icecaps. In the future, the ozone problem will have to be solved so that the protective layer can be conserved.
CAUSES
Only a few factors combine to create the problem of ozone layer depletion. The production and emission of CFCs, chlorofluorocarbons, is by far the leading cause.
Many countries have called for the end of CFC production because only a few produce the chemical. However, those industries that do use CFCs do not want to discontinue usage of this highly valuable industrial chemical.
CFCs are used in industry in a variety of ways and have been amazingly useful in many products. Discovered in the 1930s by American chemist Thomas Midgley, CFCs came to be used in refrigerators, home insulation, plastic foam, and throwaway food containers.

Only later did people realize the disaster CFCs caused in the stratosphere. There, the chlorine atom is removed from the CFC and attracts one of the three oxygen atoms in the ozone molecule. The process continues, and a single chlorine atom can destroy over 100,000 molecules of ozone.
In 1974, Sherwood Rowland and Mario Molina followed the path of CFCs. Their research proved that CFCs were entering the atmosphere, and they concluded that 99% of all CFC molecules would end up in the stratosphere.
Only in 1984, when the ozone layer hole was discovered over Antarctica, was the proof truly conclusive. At that point, it was hard to question the destructive capabilities of CFCs.
Even if CFCs were banned, problems would remain. There would still be no way to remove the CFCs that are now present in the environment. Clearly though, something must be done to limit this international problem in the future.
EFFECT
Even minor problems of ozone depletion can have major effects. Every time even a small amount of the ozone layer is lost, more ultraviolet light from the sun can reach the Earth.
Every time 1% of the ozone layer is depleted, 2% more UV-B is able to reach the surface of the planet. UV-B increase is one of the most harmful consequences of ozone depletion because it can cause skin cancer.
The increased cancer levels caused by exposure to this ultraviolet light could be enormous. The EPA estimates that 60 million Americans born by the year 2075 will get skin cancer because of ozone depletion. About one million of these people will die.
In addition to cancer, some research shows that a decreased ozone layer will increase rates of malaria and other infectious diseases. According to the EPA, 17 million more cases of cataracts can also be expected.
The environment will also be negatively affected by ozone depletion. The life cycles of plants will change, disrupting the food chain. Effects on animals will also be severe, and are very difficult to foresee.
Oceans will be hit hard as well. The most basic microscopic organisms such as plankton may not be able to survive. If that happened, it would mean that all of the other animals that are above plankton in the food chain would also die out. Other ecosystems such as forests and deserts will also be harmed.
The planet's climate could also be affected by depletion of the ozone layer. Wind patterns could change, resulting in climatic changes throughout the world.

SOLUTIONS
The discovery of the ozone depletion problem came as a great surprise. Now, action must be taken to ensure that the ozone layer is not destroyed.
Because CFCs are so widespread and used in such a great variety of products, limiting their use is hard. Also, since many products already contain components that use CFCs, it would be difficult if not impossible to eliminate those CFCs already in existence.
The CFC problem may be hard to solve because there are already great quantities of CFCs in the environment. CFCs would remain in the stratosphere for another 100 years even if none were ever produced again.
Despite the difficulties, international action has been taken to limit CFCs. In the Montreal Protocol, 30 nations worldwide agreed to reduce usage of CFCs and encouraged other countries to do so as well.
However, many environmentalists felt the treaty did "too little, too late", as the Natural Resources Defense Council put it. The treaty asked for CFC makers to only eliminate half of their CFC production, making some people feel it was inadequate.
By the year 2000, the US and twelve nations in Europe have agreed to ban all use and production of CFCs. This will be highly significant, because these countries produce three quarters of the CFCs in the world.
Many other countries have signed treaties and written laws restricting the use of CFCs. Companies are finding substitutes for CFCs, and people in general are becoming more aware of the dangers of ozone depletion.

GLOBAL WARMING
On June 23, 1988, James Hansen, the director of the Goddard Institute at NASA, told the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources that global warming was a reality and that is was extremely dangerous.
Global warming, also known as the greenhouse effect, immediately received international attention. Scientists, environmentalists, and governments around the world took an interest in the subject.
Global warming is called the greenhouse effect because the gases that are gathering above the earth make the planet comparable to a greenhouse. By trapping heat near the surface of the earth, the greenhouse effect is warming the planet and threatening the environment.
Current fears stem largely from the fact that global warming is occurring at such a rapid pace. Models are predicting that over the next century, the global temperature will rise by several degrees.
Some scientists still do not think that the effects of global warming are as severe as some people say. They think that droughts, hurricanes, and floods often blamed on global warming might actually have other causes.

CAUSES
Global warming has a variety of causes. One of the largest factors contributing to global warming is the general problem of overpopulation and its many effects.
The greater number of people consume more items which take more energy to make, they drive more cars, and create larger amounts of garbage. These factors all increase the global warming problem. Many different gases can increase the planet's temperature. The number of different products and human activities that contribute to global warming are so numerous that finding solutions to the problem is very difficult.
Using a refrigerator releases dangerous gases, turning on the lights requires energy from a power plant, and driving to work causes gas emissions from the car. Countless other normal activities lead to global warming.
Though having an atmosphere is important, the greenhouse effect may be making it excessively thick. The levels of gases covering the Earth have soared with industrialization, and developed countries now produce about 75% of greenhouse gases.
The most common gas is carbon dioxide, accounting for about 50% of all greenhouse gases. Other gases, including methane, CFCs, nitrogen oxides, and ozone, also contribute to forming the greenhouse layer.
Because these gases are produced by so many important and common processes, limiting their production to prevent global warming will be difficult. As population increases and Third World countries begin to use greater amounts of energy, the problem may expand rather than contract.




EFFECT
To know just what the effects of global warming will be in the future is extremely difficult, if not impossible. Scientists use computer models to study the effects of global warming. These computer models have been fairly consistent in predicting general future trends, but often differ greatly when looking at the specifics.
Some scientists say global warming has already been going on for a while. Others say that we do not have enough information now to know for sure. Despite the disagreements, most scientists are convinced that greenhouse gases are warming the Earth. What they are still trying to figure out is how quickly temperatures are rising, and what will happen as a result.
The climate changes that will result from global warming are extremely difficult to predict. The weather is determined by so many factors that it is often compared to chaos by scientists. Changing the temperature will likely have some effect on the planet's weather, but just what that effect will be is nearly impossible to predict.
If temperatures do indeed rise significantly, the most important result would be that some portion of the polar icecaps would melt, raising global sea levels. The rise in sea levels would be disastrous for some places. Islands would disappear, meaning their millions of inhabitants would have to relocate. Flooding would occur along coastlines all over the world, displacing more people and ruining cropland.
In the case of major global warming and melted ice caps, some countries might simply cease to exist. Global warming, if uncontrolled, could cause a major catastrophe.




SOLUTIOS
The threat of global warming is among the most important of all modern environmental problems. There are a variety of ways of dealing with it, each attempting to combat one of the many causes of global warming.
The problems that cause global warming include overpopulation, deforestation, ozone depletion, garbage dumping, and many others. These all have unique solutions which are now being promoted by environmentalists.
Certain laws and treaties are aimed at reducing the emission of pollutants that result in global warming. In 1988, the International Conference on the Changing Atmosphere drew scientists and decision makers from 48 countries.
Some policies could successfully reduce global warming. Raising fossil fuel prices, taxing emissions, and encouraging people to take environmentally friendly action through such activities as planting trees will all help.
Because many problems leading to global warming are caused or contributed to by overpopulation, people are beginning to work to reduce family sizes. Family planning services actually help in the fight against global warming.
Education is a key method of reducing the greenhouse effect. By teaching people about such things as deforestation, environmental activists hope to prevent the problems that ultimately lead to global warming.
Widespread media attention to the global warming problem is also increasing awareness. This is causing both individuals and governments to act more responsibly towards the environment.

















































Ecological Footprint

The Ecological Footprint is a resource management tool that measures how much land and water area a human population requires to produce the resources it consumes and to absorb its wastes under prevailing technology. In order to live, we consume what nature offers. Every action impacts the planet's ecosystems.
Today, humanity's Ecological Footprint is over 23% larger than what the planet can regenerate. In other words, it now takes more than one year and two months for the Earth to regenerate what we use in a single year. We maintain this overshoot by liquidating the planet's ecological resources. This is a vastly underestimated threat and one that is not adequately addressed.
By measuring the Ecological Footprint of a population (an individual, a city, a nation, or all of humanity) we can assess our overshoot, which helps us manage our ecological assets more carefully. Ecological Footprints enable people to take personal and collective actions in support of a world where humanity lives within the means of one planet.


Today, most countries, and the world as a whole, are running ecological deficits. The world's ecological deficit is equal to its ecological overshoot. From the graph above, we can see that in 2003, the ecological was overshoot. We know that the bio-capacity of earth is only 1. Bio-capacity means the ability of ecosystems to produce useful biological materials and to absorb wastes generated by humans, using current management and extraction technologies. Useful biological materials are defined as those materials that the human economy actually demanded in a given year. The Ecological Footprint measures demand on this productive capacity. The graph above shows how humanity has moved from using, in net terms, about half the planet's bio-capacity in 1961 to over 1.25 times the bio-capacity of the Earth in 2003.
Therefore, The footprints of nations and their biological capacity can be directly compared because resource flows are translated into a common unit of biologically productive area, global hectares" (or "global acres"). A global hectare is the average per hectare regenerative capacity of all the planet's biologically productive surfaces. Currently, the planet has approximately 11.2 billion hectares (27.7 billion acres) of biologically productive land and sea surfaces.
Dividing the 11.2 billion hectares available by the global population indicates that there are on average 1.8 bio-productive hectares per person on the planet. The 2004 Living Planet Report indicates that the actual usage was 13.5 billion global hectares or 2.2 hectares per person – more than a 20% overshoot. The overshoot result indicates that our annual draw down of natural capital is liquidating natural capital income, as well as reducing natural capital itself . Such an overshoot is ecologically unsustainable. Time series of the global Ecological Footprint indicate that human activities have been in an overshoot position for approximately three decades, and the overshoot is increasing over time. So, we can make prediction that what will happened to our earth in next 10 or 20 years later.


The picture shows the components of the world's average per person Ecological Footprint




Comparing the footprint between middle and lower countries with high income countries




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