Exploring Environmental

Sociology
• What is Sociology?

• What is Environmental Sociology?

• What are the social causes of environmental

changes?

• Environmental inequalities

BITS Pilani, Dubai Campus

 What is Sociology?

➢ Sociology is the study of social life, social change,

and the social causes and consequences of
human behavior.

Sociologists investigate , the structure of groups,

organizations and societies, how people interact
within these contexts.

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 What is Environmental
Sociology?
➢ The study of interaction between the environment and
society

Environmental Sociology’s Three Primary Concerns:

1. What are the social causes of environmental changes?

2. How might humans halt these changes?
3. What are the possible social impacts of the
environmental changes caused by humans?

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What are the social causes
of
environmental changes?

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How might humans
halt environmental
changes?
Society’s technological bias has focused on three
types of solutions:
1. Use of more technology to “fix” the problems (e.g., new
technologies to find new sources of oil)
2. Appropriate technology (e.g., solar, hydro, geothermal
or other renewable energy sources to meet energy
demands)
3. Technological simplification or “atavism” (e.g.,
abandoning harmful technologies and returning to
“simpler” times)

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Environmental Inequalities

Think back to the movie Erin Brockovich……

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 Environmental Inequalities

In many places around the world , people share their

neighborhoods with hazardous waste, toxic incinerators,
and health-threatening chemical contamination……
➢ Some people are much more likely to be affected by
these environmental hazards than others—namely,
people of color, working class people, immigrants, and
indigenous communities
➢ uneven exposure to environmental risks and hazards,
often coupled with the systematic exclusion of people
from environmental decision-making processes, is called
environmental racism or environmental inequality.

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 The Emergence of
Environmental (In)Justice
The U.S. General Accounting Office conducted one of the
earliest studies of environmental inequality in 1983

The study examined the racial composition of communities

near four major hazardous waste landfills

➢ In three of the four cases, the communities around the

landfills were predominantly African American (in the
fourth, the community was disproportionately African
American).

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 Environmental Justice

It is the notion that all people and

communities are entitled to equal
protection by environmental health
laws and regulations.

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Causes of Environmental
Inequalities

none are fundamentally environmental

causes—they are rooted in society……..

Economic Explanations
• corporations do not intentionally discriminate

• Industries are set where land is cheap and

where labor pools are available-to max profit

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Causes of Environmental
Inequalities
Expansion of the economy drives two fundamental
dynamics
• the creation of economic wealth
• the creation of the negative byproducts of the production
process
Driven by the need to maximize profits- new technologies
are developed -unforeseen risks for the entire society
introduced.
So uneven distribution of benefits and uneven distribution
of environmental pollution

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BITS Pilani, Dubai Campus
Great Pacific Garbage Patch- the
Pacific trash vortex

• The garbage patch is actually two distinct

collections of debris bounded by the massive North
Pacific Subtropical Gyre
• spans waters from the West Coast of North America to
Japan
• 80% of the debris comes from land-based activities in
North America and Asia
• 20% of debris comes from boaters, offshore oil rigs, and
large cargo ships

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 Garbage Patch
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is so far from any
country’s coastline, no nation will take responsibility or
provide the funding to clean it up.
cleaning up the garbage patch would “bankrupt any
country”

Even smaller bodies of water, such as the

Mediterranean and North Seas, are developing their
own garbage patches along heavily trafficked
shipping lanes.

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 Causes of Environmental
Inequalities
Discrimination-based Explanations
“minority” environments are seen as “appropriately
polluted” spaces.
Immigrants, indigenous populations, and people of color
are viewed by many policymakers, politicians, and
ecologists as a source of environmental contamination
➢ influences and supports decisions to place noxious
facilities and toxic waste in the spaces these populations
occupy
➢ relegate these groups to spaces where environmental
quality is low and undesirable.

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 Environmental Inequalities

➢ economic and discrimination-based explanations for

environmental injustice, politics are clearly at play in both
➢ The political power of communities, states, and
industries is inseparable from racial and economic forces
driving environmental inequalities
➢ Industries and corporations might purposefully seek the
path of least resistance
➢ voices of disadvantaged communities are not heard or
respected in political or protest circles, they can be
overlooked.

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Expanding Environmental Justice

• how other aspects of social life (beyond race and class)

influence environmental inequalities ?

• Gender

• More of a global issue- e waste dumping,Climate

change etc

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Environmental Justice

Environmental hazards can affect women differently than

men

example - in electronics industry in Silicon Valley

• the majority of workers in the most chemically
intensive jobs were immigrant women
• some were exposed to upwards of 700-1,000
different chemicals in a single workstation

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Environmental Justice

• Gender also plays a strong role in how people

confront environmental hazards

women have been the most visible and vocal advocates for
the environmental justice movement

• their social structural position as likely caretakers of

children and the elderly and so most likely to have
strong connections to community-based institutions

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Environmental Inequalities as
global issues.
Dumping waste in other people’s “backyards” is reflective
of economically, racially, and politically unequal relations
between communities.

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 Environmental Inequalities as
global issues
Climate change is another example of global environmental
inequality
➢ contributing the least to the causes of climate
disruption, people of color, women, indigenous
communities, and global South nations often feel
the brunt of climate disruption.
➢ 75% the world’s annual CO2 emissions come
from the global North -only 15% of the earth’s
population resides .

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 Climate Injustice
Developing countries are affected by ,

• Flooding from severe storms

• rising sea levels (melting glaciers affect millions in Asia

and Latin America )

• sustained droughts (sub-Saharan Africa )

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Climate Injustice

Poor communities are among the first to

experience ,
• the natural disasters
• rising levels of respiratory illness and infectious
disease
• heat-related morbidity and mortality,
• large increases in energy costs

• evident in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina,

Govt failed to provide services to thousands of
African Americans
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Climate Injustice

Gender inequalities impact the ability to adapt to

climate change

The relative poverty of women (in Bangladesh ) makes

them less resilient in the face of climate change….
Reason
• poorer nutrition,
• limited health care, and,
• fewer sources of social support ( for divorced and widowed women)

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Can you think of a local issue (past or
present) that has negatively affected a
particular subset of the population?

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Ozone entrepreneurs and
global coalition
• Very Important Issue - Ozone in stratosphere
helps shield earth from UV radiation.

• Very Difficult Problem to Solve -

ozone-depleting substances (ODS) were
considered essential to modern life and
“impossible” to replace.
– ODS include: CFCs, Halons, Methyl Bromide,
HCFCs, MC, CTC, Bromochloromethane (BCM

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 Ozone

•UV-B radiation (280- to 315 nm) ; UV-A (315- to 400-nm)

•UV-B radiation increases the risks of skin cancer, cataracts, and a suppressed
immune system. damage terrestrial plant life, single-cell organisms, and aquatic
ecosystems.

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Ozone distribution over the
Globe

• Total ozone varies with latitude, longitude, and season

• Ozone-rich air is moved from the tropics and accumulates
at higher latitudes
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Principal Steps in the
Depletion of Stratospheric
Ozone

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 Depletion of Stratospheric
Ozone
➢ Reactive gases containing chlorine and bromine destroy
stratospheric ozone in “catalytic” cycles made up of two or more
separate reactions

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Ozone Hole

• Polar stratospheric clouds

(PSCs) formed when min
temperatures fall below the
formation −78°C
• Stratospheric gases forms
liquids and solids at such
low Temp.
• The particles grow from the
condensation of water and
nitric acid
• Depletion rn is accelerated
on PSCs

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Ozone Hole

PSC particles grow

large enough and are
numerous enough
that cloud-like
features can be
observed

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 Ozone Hole

Denitrification of the Stratosphere

• Once formed, PSC particles fall to lower altitudes

because of gravity..

• PSCs contain HNO3, their descent removes HNO3

from regions of the ozone layer.

• This process is called denitrification of the stratosphere.

• With less HNO3, the highly reactive chlorine gas ClO

remains chemically active for a longer period, increasing
chemical ozone destruction
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How severe is the depletion
of the Antarctic ozone
layer?

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Full recovery takes a long time (50 years)……
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 Global Ozone Policy

The Road to Montreal in a nutshell…

• Central importance of science

• Public Opinion: “The Dread Factor”

• Industry involvement and viable

alternatives

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 Policy Development
US to Global Perspective
1. Ozone depletion as a domestic issue in US (1970s)

1971 - Supersonic Transport study

1974 - Molina and Rowland study
1976 - Aerosol CFC ban

2. Ozone depletion as an international issue (1977-1987)

1977 - UNEP World Plan of Action for the Ozone Layer

1985 - Discovery of the ozone hole (Farman et al. 1985)
1986 - Vienna Convention for the protection of the Ozone Layer
1987 - Montreal Protocol for the protection of the Ozone Layer
1990 onwards - Amendments and Adjustments to the Protocol (1990 London
Amendment, 1992 Copenhagen, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2007).

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 US to Global Perspective

Economics: 1960s Federal subsidy of Supersonic transport to

compete with French, UK, and Soviet efforts

Science: Supersonic transport, vapor contrails, NOx, and ozone

loss.
Europeans not convinced SST was a problem- competition
issues
➢ 1971-1974 – US Congress authorized study to investigate
effects of a commercial SST fleet on stratospheric ozone.
➢ Study backed the SST-Ozone-UV link. Tone of final
document was weak due to political meddling.
➢ SST program killed in 1971 for many reasons (economic
viability, sonic boom), ozone protection wasn’t one of them!

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 Emerging Science

• Molina and Rowland (1974) study. Beautiful science.

• An amazing achievement - laboratory study recreating
chemical reactions in the stratosphere.
• Global implications
• Pointed attacks from industry

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 Spray Can Ban

• 1978 CFC-propellant ban for

aerosol spray cans.
• Issue emerged on the heels of
the SST conflict…
• Initiated as a consequence of
CFC - UV - skin cancer research
in mid-1970s.
• US led the way, Canada, Scandinavian
also adopted. (But France and UK did
not)

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 Public Concern

• Farman et al (1985) study

provided critical proof that
ozone inventories were
decreasing.
• Most surprising was the rate
of decrease: 40% decreases
then (up to 80% now)
• coupled with the UV-cancer
studies alarmed the public.
• Pressure to act

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 International policy
1970s - studies linking increased UV to cancer
1977 -UNEP World Plan of Action for the Ozone Layer meeting
1985 - Discovery of the Ozone Hole
1985 Vienna Convention, not binding and no protocol for reducing CFC
emissions. "Umbrella Treaty".
– US, Canada, Sweden, Norway, and Finland on one side
(proposing 80% reduction, complete production ban); EEC
countries on the other (30% cut, production cap).
1986. Negotiations on a protocol to the Vienna Convention for controlling
CFCs resumed.
1987. Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer
achieved in a 9-month period. Production ban, phase-out,
Multilateral fund.
Subsequent amendments: 1990 and onward

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 Ozone Regime

1987 Montreal Protocol.

– Centerpiece of the regime.
– 50% cuts on 5 CFCs and 3 Halons by 2000.
– 10-year grace party for developing countries
(Article 5).
– Assessment panels.
– Amendment and adjustment procedures.
– the Protocol has 186 Parties as of 2009

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 Ozone Regime

1990 London Amendment and

Adjustments.
• 100% cut on 15 CFCs, Halons, CT, MC by 2000 from
1986 levels.

1992 Copenhagen Amendment and

Adjustments.
• 100% cut on 15 CFCs, Halons, CT, MC by 1996 from
1986 levels.
• HCFCs and Methyl Bromide added.

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 Ozone Regime

1995 Vienna Amendment and Adjustments.

• HCFCs consumption controls increased.
• Grace period – informally adjusted/expanded for developing
countries.
1997 Montreal Amendment and Adjustments.
• Methyl Bromide to be phased out by 2005
2000 Beijing Amendment and Adjustments.
• HCFC production controls; restrictions on HCFC trade with
non-Parties; production and consumption controls for new
group of substances, Bromochloromethane (BCM)
• Only 155/254 countries have signed on

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Successful Example …..

Effective International Policy

– Production and consumption of almost all ODS (CFCs, etc.)
declining on global scale.
– Atmospheric concentrations of most ODS stabilized or
dropping.
– Stratospheric concentrations of Cl and Br dropping.
– Production and Consumption of CFCs and several other
ODS nearly eliminated as required.
– Developing countries largely met CFC freeze in 2000 and
meeting or expected to reductions.
– Positive Impact on Climate Change (CFCs about 1000 times
GWP as CO2; Ozone Regime responsible for eliminating
equivalent of about 10-20 years of CO2 emissions).
– Flexible language (no new treaty for each compound)

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After Beijing Amendment..

• Efforts to increase controls MB (USA

opposition at times).

• Efforts to speed controls on HCFCs.

• Enhances focus on FTA in particular areas

to ensure full compliance by developing
countries.

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 Ozone Regime

2007 Montreal Adjustment

• 191 Parties agreed,to strengthen the ozone treaty by
speeding up by ten years the phase-out of HCFCs.

• The agreement will advance the recovery of the ozone

layer by several years and, because HCFCs are GHGs,
reduce GHG emissions by up to 25 billion tons of CO2
equivalent
—five times more than the Kyoto Protocol will do during its
initial reduction period from 2008 to 2012.

• As part of the agreement, developed country Parties

promised to continue paying into Multilateral Fund.

• Multilateral fund (~$2.2 billion contributed) to assist

developing world with phase-out. BITS Pilani, Dubai Campus
 Future Success?

– New ODS?
– Relation to climate change.
– CFCs and HCFCs in developing
countries – will complete phase-outs
really occur ?
– Methyl bromide – exemptions.
– Ozone levels will slowly recover over
next few decades.

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ODS control as a model for
GHG control
Similarities
• Global problem
• Public concern
• Science frames the debate
• Existing regime framework
• Multiple hazards
• Industry resistance to change

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ODS control as a model for
GHG control

Differences
• Disconnect between science and policy.
• Uncertain future projections.
• Climate responses to GHG have longer time scales.
• No equivalent “Dread Factor”
• No viable energy substitute
• Incomplete international participation
• No accepted plan for developing world
• No equivalent to Farman et al. 1985 paper - observation
of catastrophic change.
• CO2 problem is much bigger in every way: Impacts,
mitigation.
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BITS Pilani, Dubai Campus
Any Lessons learned?

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