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11 Sep 2012

Earth’s Current Environment: Humans, Energy Consumption. 11 Sep 2012. Organizing Schema. Weather Climate. Ecosystems. Humans. Earth Timeline (selected events). 3. 2. 4. 1. Today. Billions of years before present. Origin of industry. Origin of Earth. Origin of humans.

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11 Sep 2012

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  1. Earth’s Current Environment: Humans, Energy Consumption 11Sep 2012

  2. Organizing Schema Weather Climate Ecosystems Humans

  3. Earth Timeline(selected events) 3 2 4 1 Today Billions of years before present Origin of industry Origin of Earth Origin of humans Origin of agriculture

  4. Earth Timeline(selected events) Origin of Earth Last Ice Age 106 108 107 105 109 104 103 102 101 Years before present (logarithmic) Origin of internet Origin of Homo sapiens Origin of cities Origin of writing Origin of industry Origin of Homo genus Origin of agriculture

  5. Agriculture (~8 ka) • Revolutionized interaction between humans and the rest of the biosphere • For example: many major population centers have grown in the great river systems • Asia: Indus, Ganges, Brahmaputra, Ayeyarwaddy (Irriwaddy), Mekong, Yangtze, Yellow, Salween • Middle East: Tigris, Euphrates • Europe: Rhine, Danube, Seine, Loire, Po • North America: St. Lawrence, Mississippi/Missouri/Ohio • South America: Amazon, Parana/La Plata, Orinoco • Africa: Nile, Congo, Niger

  6. Population Density and Rivers

  7. Agriculture From Dow and Downing (graphic: Myriad Editions)

  8. Origin of Industry (~1760) • Machine-based manufacturing – textiles etc. • Steam power • Iron (later steel) production

  9. World Human Population Growth rate increased by 3.2X between 1700-1930 and 1930-2004 Doubling time: 134 years42 years

  10. World Population and Income World Income from 1500 to 2001 Since 1750, population increased 10 times; Production per person also increased 10 times; Therefore, total world economic production increased 100 times. Therefore, the impact of human activity on life-sustaining system on Earth increased enormously. World Income per Capita from 1500 to 2001 Source: Data from Maddison (2001), Calculated using data from Maddison (2002) ‘Common Wealth’ by Jeffrey Sachs, 2008

  11. Global Poverty From 1820 to 1992 ‘Common Wealth’ by Jeffrey Sachs, 2008

  12. U. S. Flow of Raw Materials by weight 1900-2000 The use of raw materials in the U. S. increased dramatically during the last 100 years Wagner, 2002

  13. Carbon Intensity From Dow and Downing (graphic: Myriad Editions)

  14. Fossil Fuels From Dow and Downing (graphic: Myriad Editions)

  15. Impact on Atmospheric Composition From Dow and Downing (graphic: Myriad Editions)

  16. Renewable Energy From Dow and Downing (graphic: Myriad Editions)

  17. Summary • Homonids originated on Earth about 2 million years ago (2 Ma) and modern humans (Homo sapiens) evolved about 250 ka • Agriculture, the first major human impact on the landscape and a major contributor to increasing GHG in the atmosphere, originated about 8 ka • Industry, powered by burning fossil fuel, began about 150 years ago • Human population has grown exponentially at an increasing rate for centuries – it reached 1 billion in 1800, 3 billion in 1960 and will reach 7 billion in 2011 • While the fraction of the population in absolute poverty has declined, the number of people has increased over time • Human use of natural resources has increased dramatically over the past century • Burning of fossil fuels, which varies substantially from country to country, has a growing impact on atmospheric composition • Renewable energy use, an alternative to fossil fuel burning, is growing worldwide

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