Sustainability can be simplified as the “ability to endure.” Wikipedia defines it as “the ability of an ecosystem to maintain ecological processes, functions, biodiversity and productivity into the future.” In ecological terms, wikipedia also defines its as “the word describes how biological systems remain diverse and productive over time.” Both in the past and currently, we as a whole are putting our future potential human being new-borns and biological systems in danger. We are threatening them by ways of desertification.

Desertification “is the degradation of land in arid and dry sub-humid areas, resulting primarily from man-made activities and influenced by climatic variations.” Desertification is caused by overgrazing, over-drafting of ground water and the collection of water from rivers for human distribution and industrial use. All these factors are caused by human overpopulation. Wikipedia defines overpopulation, “is a condition where an organism's numbers exceed the carrying capacity of its habitat. In common parlance, the term usually refers to the relationship between the human population and its environment, the Earth.” Statistics show that one-fourth of the earth has rapidly been turning into desert areas.

There are multiple options to correct this matter; however the matter of ceasing overpopulation is nearly impossible to stop. In China they limit two children per family, but even with that policy it wouldn’t help matters on correcting desertification. However to solve the matter on fixing the problem of over-drafting of ground water, the only way to solve that is by monitoring and limiting the use of it. Farmers can limit grazing periods with periodic resting sequences to allow the land to re-heal itself. Hugh desert areas used to be main feeding resources back hundreds of years ago, but if we manage holistically we can turn deserts such as the Sahara, Gobi, and the western parts of the U.S. back into grasslands. By turning these deserts back into grasslands we give future civilizations a brighter future.


http://www.managingwholes.com/grazing-heals-land.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainability
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desertification

According to Wikipedia Sustainability is the capacity to endure. It can be defined as the ability of an ecosystem to maintain ecological processes, functions, biodiversity and productivity into the future. In other words sustainability is the factors that play a role for a better world for the future. Problems such as Over-population, poverty, hunger, global warming and Air pollution all affect sustainability.
Over-population can be defined as the number of people in an area relative to its resources and the capacity of the environment and the capacity of the environment to sustain human activities. An area is over populated when the population cannot be maintained without rapidly depleting non renewable resources and the environment to support the population. There are many problems in an over-populated country or area; lack of water, food and land. Since the country or area is over populated the usage of natural resources becomes limited. These are may include fresh water and crops that are naturally grown. Fresh water that is being taken from the bodies of waters(rivers and lakes) have to now be distributed to a large number of people ,thus the distribution is shorten and in some countries or area, fresh water is not always distributed everywhere and this is a threat to the health and economics of these nations. Hunger and poverty also plays a factor in over-population. Every year more than 40 million men, women and children perish on our planet from hunger (lack of food), starvation, diseases and malnutrition. Since hungry people are trapped in severe poverty, they lack in the money to buy enough food to nourish their selves. Thus, being mal nourished causes them to become weak and sick. Becoming sick may mean they caught a disease and with catching a disease in an over- populated area, the disease is likely to spread to others. Solutions that are being taken to help fix this problem are the “Food for Work and the “Food for Education” programs. These programs are usually found in developing countries. In the “Food for Work” the adults are paid with food to build schools, dig wells, make roads, etc. I think this is a great solution because not only is the Hungry being feed but the community is being industrialized. If schools, wells, and roads are being built, maybe the less fortunate will have a possibility of being taken out of poverty and over-populated areas. For children there is the “Food for Education” program which allows children to be provided with food when they attend school. This is a great solution because the children are being given an education which allows them to have a higher chance of leaving poverty and they are being feed, which eliminates the hunger problem. This reminds me of the quote, “Killing two birds with one stone”. (Unknown)
Air pollution is another major problem that affects sustainability. Everyday, the average person inhales about 20,000 liters of air. Air pollution includes all contaminates found in the atmosphere. Air pollution includes all contaminates found in the atmosphere. Air pollution occurs both indoors and outdoors. The sources of Air pollution are natural and human -based. Forest Fires, volcanic eruptions, wind erosion and pollen dispersal are all among the natural causes of air pollution. Natural pollution is spread throughout the world, thus, becomes a threat to the health of people and ecosystems are destroyed. Many diseases could be caused by Air pollution 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 an effect on natural ecosystems. They can kill plants and trees by destroying their leaves, and can kill animals especially fishes in highly polluted rivers.
The biggest cause of air pollution that humans contribute to is fossil fuels. Fossil fuels include coal, natural gases and oil. The burning of power plants and automobiles that combust fuel all contribute to air pollution and it also deletes the ozone layers, which can potential cause global warming. I think there are some positive steps being taken to control Air pollution. Two main types of pollution control are Input control and Output control. Input control involves preventing a problem before it occurs or limiting the effects the process will produce. Some of these solutions include using less energy, reducing waste, trying to restrict pollution growth and recycling. Recycling helps the world to reuse waste materials and turn them into reusable materials such as paper. By recycling paper we are saving trees. Output control, seeks to fix the problems caused by air pollution. For example, cleaning up an area that is damaged by pollution. In the United States, Air pollution control laws have been successful in stopping air pollution levels from rising. Unfortunately, in developing countries and countries where pollution is strictly regulated, much more needs to be done.
All in all, there are many things we can do to make sure our home (Earth) is sustainable. This needs to be done not only for us but for generations in the future.
Sources:
http://www.visionofhumanity.org/sustainability-peace/challenges-sustainability/overpopulation.php.
http://www.geocities.com/lionofjudah2021/poppov.html.
http://www.poverty.com/
http://library.thinkquest.org/26026/Environmental_Problems/air_pollution.html

Shanice Hines

Overpopulation Limiting Sustainability

Food, Clothing and Shelter are things we take for granted as a developed nation, but what if we were stripped of all of our material items could we survive. Could we? Most of us would not even know where to begin. We would not be able to sustain. Sustainability is the act of being able to indefinitely adjust to the changes in our environment while still meeting our basic and economic needs. Over population is one of the many factors that are limiting global sustainability. 

            Overpopulation has become an increasing issue, in which many experts argue that the “earths carrying capacity is already overstrained”. In the past forty years the population has increased from 3 billion to 6.7 billion people.  We have more than doubled our population and without proper education, we will continue to increase and become unable to support everyone. As of 2009, we have already become unable to support the people on our earth. There are currently 854 million malnourished people. In many developing countries, parents are unable to provide for their children. This creates environments where children must search for food constantly and often bring home not enough to sustain themselves let alone support their family.  This causes many children to go days without food and clean water; these children often go to sleep on the hope that they will have something to eat tomorrow.  

            People in over populated and poverty stricken areas are in a constant need of food, housing, jobs, and healthcare. These are things that we take for granted everyday. Over 48 percent of poverty stricken areas are on some type of permanent food aid.   A lot of the problems are unavoidable for people in developing nations. There is a lack of natural resources such as clean water or arable land. It is known that 11 percent of land is not usable. This creates a situation where farming cannot sustain a family.  With this said, the animals loose a source of food and are un able to survive. Approximately, 27,000 animals every year become extinct. If the animals are becoming extinct many loose a source of food as well.

There are many programs set in place to help many of the overpopulated poverty-stricken areas to become sustainable. Many developed nations are helping by creating jobs, creating sources of clean water, and providing small amounts of money to create micro businesses. One billion new jobs will be need and created in the next decade. This will help provide growth and some prosperity for these nations. In 2000,at the Millennium Summit, the United Nations set up an action plan, to help educate women and the poor.  Many nations have come to understand that education will be the key to success for many of these nations.  This could be as simple as educating young girls on family planning. Giving them the basic knowledge of how to provide for their family.   

Overpopulation is limiting countries ability to be sustainable. If governments and citizens do not become aware of population crisis, our planet will no longer be able to support the basic needs of all humans. 

http://www.peopleandtheplanet.net/doc.php?ld=199&section=2

http://www.enn.com/lifestyle/article/40058

Sustainability =]]

Sustainability is a very big word, it means a lot to plenty of people. It means promises, changes, and most of all it means the ability to continue living on this planet we call home. Right now though sustainability is just a word thrown around by people who find it easier to live in the world they've been given then to explore the power they have to change it. Fact is, we can change it and we need to start. So, the best way to start is to understand what sustainability is and what the problems are facing it.

Miller and Spoolman's book, Living in the Environment, will tell you that sustainability is the abilities of Earth's systems to survive and adapt to changing conditions continuously. Now that all sounds pretty swell, right? Well, think again. The abilities of Earth's systems can only go so far and right now we aren't helping them, in fact we're delaying them. I'm not talking about air, or the soil right now, I'm talking about the oil, the underground water reserves, the limited resources that are running out.

Water. As humans we depend on water to keep us running, it helps our plants grow, it provides a home for fish, we give it to our pets, and most importantly it helps us survive. Our body is made up of about 65% water so in order to continue living we need to drink an abundance of water. But unfortunately that's where the problem is. Over all the Earth there is about 70% of water, but only 2.5% is drinkable and on top of all of that 69% of that drinkable water is locked away is glaciers! It also doesn't help that we feel the need to pollute our water with all kinds of sewage, fertilizers, oil, and other such things. One estimate states that for every one million tons of oil transported, one ton of is spilled into the water. One ton! That may seem like a insignificant amount compared to what was transported but it's not. One ton of oil, just imagine how much water that takes away from us, imagine how much water we could have if people would just stop polluting the water. Then we wouldn't have to worry about the underground water reserves because we know that we have more clean, safe, unpolluted drinking water readily available to us. Thankfully, there are ways we can put a halt to water pollution, steps have already been put in action as we speak. The government has passed bills to try and keep the water clean, but that alone is not enough. It is up to us, the people to be responsible and involved. After all it is our water, our drinking water, and only we can stop it.

Another problem is oil. This is a natural limited resource that we don't know how to live without, but at the rate we are using it we either need to learn or find a way to keep this resource from becoming a thing of the past. The biggest part of this problem is the fact that many people think that getting oil is simply a matter of turning the tap on and off, but as we all know that is not the case. There is no excess, that's why it's called a limited resource. It can't just replenish quickly like the sun, fresh air, or soil. It takes time, like billions of year time. A lot of people don't seem to grasp that concept though, they still drive to work and use up so much oil. I'm not saying that you shouldn't drive at all, but carpooling or maybe taking a bus, riding a bike even. Even driving with a car that can go far on just one gallon of gasoline would be better. Finding other ways to power our car and heat our houses would be welcomed as well. Solar energy is slowly becoming a big deal, more people are catching on. How about the windmills? Those also harbor energy do they not? All of these are ways to cut down on using oil. If we can cut down enough, then maybe we'll have some left for the future generations. But at this rate it doesn't look so good, we all need to get involved not just some of us.

http://www.umich.edu/~gs265/society/waterpollution.htm

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=5196738n&tag=related;photovideo

Sustainability

Today we face many problems with our ecosystem. We are reliant upon non-renewable resources that we will soon run out of. Our burning of fossil fuels has caused Global Warming, thus putting much of our ecosystem at risk. Even our renewable resources such forests and freshwater are being destroyed either by pollution or as a side effect of overpopulation. At this point it is fair to point out that our current society is not an environmentally sustainable one.

Sustainability is the ability of human society to both survive and thrive in the world using its natural resources. However our current society currently falls short of this goal. This is due to a number of ecological problems that we face.

Perhaps one of the biggest ecological problems is our dependence on fossil fuels, such as oil and coal. These fuels are bad for our environment for two reasons. First since they are non-renewable we will eventually run out of these valuable fuels. It is estimated that we will exhaust the natural gas supply within 35 years. Since we use these resources for everything from fuel for our cars to heating for our houses the loss of them would be catastrophic. Perhaps the best solution to this problem is solar energy. Solar energy can be used as an alternative to fossil fuels although it is currently more expensive to use solar energy. As such solar energy must rely on investments from the government rather then the free market. However solar energy has been seeing a drop in price so it could perhaps replace fossil fuels within 7- 10 years.

Another problem with our dependence on fossil fuels is that by burning them we increase the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. This increase has led to global warming. Global warming has in turn raised the surface temperature of our planet which, many scientists agree, will cause major negative impacts against our environment. There our two solutions to this problem. First, the development of cars and other vehicles that are more fuel efficient, thus burning less gas. Cars such as the Hybrids which are both fuel efficient and run on electricity see a major decrease in carbon dioxide. The second solution is the same as the solution to the first problem. Alternate fuel choices, such as solar energy, do not produce carbon dioxide and, as such, are much better for our environment.

Our society needs to make these changes in order to save both ourselves and future generations. Otherwise the future of Earth looks bleak.

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4235041n&tag=contentMain;contentBody

http://greenliving.lovetoknow.com/Non_Renewable_Resources

http://www.climatesolutions.org/press-room/press-releases/obama2019s-clean-car-plan-reduces-global-warming-pollution-dependence-on-fossil-fuels

Ryan Cowen

Sustainability - Hope for the future

There is something that creates conditions which help humans and nature survive in productive harmony in a world filled with social, economic, and other requirements . This procces is known as sustainability. Sustainability is a principle and concept of balancing. It balances the growing economy, it has protection for the environment, but still has social responsibility. This together will lead to an improved quality of life for ourselves and future generations. Sustainability calls for a connection between the economy, the environment and social responsibility for a long term approach to environmental protection.

A major problem that sustainability deals with is the dramatic climate change. The Earth's surface temperature has risen by about 1 degree Fahrenheit in the past century, with accelerated warming during the past two decades (National Academy of Sciences).Human activities are the main atrribute to the warming over the last 50 years. Today there are many actions occuring that are reducing the risk of climate change. Two programs that I researched, are proggresive steps to help with solving the ongoing problem of climate change. The Climate Change Science Program, was established for planning and coordination that helps government in carrying out the president's National Climate Change Technology Initiative. The other program is the Climate Change Technology Program, thats effort focused on improving our understandment of the science of climate change and its potential impacts by federal research.

Many elements of human society and the environment are sensitive to climate variability and change. I feel as if these environmental issues are affecting our sustainable livng, not just for us, but also the nature. The issues involve the rising average temperatures that are already affecting the environment. Some observed changes include shrinking of glaciers, thawing of permafrost, later freezing and earlier break-up of ice on rivers and lakes, lengthening of growing seasons, shifts in plant and animal ranges and earlier flowering of trees (IPPC 2007). These issues are more consequental in the region 10 which is the pacific west. They are still problematic and solutions are being developed now to do such. Thats why sustainability is a new way of thinking and is a process that wants a better future. We want to make sure that the way we live our lives is sustainable – that it can continue and keep improving for a long time.

http://yosemite.epa.gov/r10/oi.nsf/sustainability/

http://www.epa.gov/ Christopher S.

Sustainability and Aviation.

Sustainability is the act of being supported and constantly up kept. The Earth has provided us as humans with the resources to self-support ourselves and over time due to our lifestyle and technological innovations we have began to deplete our current source of energy, fossil fuels. Because of the inventions of the 20^th century like the car and the airplane, we have been able to move around the planet with incredible speed that we would never have been able to achieve with older forms of transportation but this speed comes at a price. Cars and Airplanes consume large amounts of fossil fuels and now as we begin to run out of fuel, we can no longer sustain our way of life. Much research has been made in the automobile industry but not much in the aviation industry.

Cars are being converted to electric and hydrogen fuel cell energy sources but aircraft cannot work on the same principle. Propeller aircraft simply cannot create enough power using alternative power sources and jet aircraft have to create thrust in the form of expanding gases to propel themselves through the air. For propeller aircraft, organizations such as the Comparative Aircraft Flight Efficiency (CAFE) Foundation are looking for ways to make aircraft more efficient until we can figure out an alternative power supply. As for jet aircraft, they have to burn some sort of fuel in order to obtain the high speeds they produce. Airbus Corporation conducted a test on one of their new A380 jets that used Gas to Liquid technology to fuel the airplane. The US Air Force also conducted a similar test on a B-52 bomber. These tests were successes and more research is being conducted in these fields however, Gas to Liquids still uses a fossil fuel, which means these planes are also putting carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and still depletes a natural resource.

If we are to sustain our way of life, global trade, and create less of an impact on the environment, we need to find a new way to propel our aircraft. We need a method that will create lots of power that is inexpensive and clean. Without our aircraft, the world cannot operate in a fast pace, economies will become stagnant, and humans will regress. Necessity is said to be the mother of invention and once again, it is starting to help us create the next generation of aerospace technologies.

http://cafefoundation.prg/v2/main_home.php

http://airbus.com/en/presscentre/pressreleases/pressreleases_items/08_02_01_alternative_fuel_tesst_completion.html

http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123027415

Paul Easterbrooks