Science and the Environment Chapter 1 Understanding the

Science and the Environment Chapter 1

Understanding the Environment �Chapter 1, Section 1

What is an environment? �Class discussion: �What do you think of when you hear the word environment?

�Did anyone think of the environment in their own backyard?

What is the environment? �The environment is not only the landscape and animals that you can see, it is also how they interact

Environmental Science �Definition: �The study of how humans interact with the environment �Involves the following interactions between human and the environment: �How humans use natural resources �How human beings relate to the nonliving environment �How human actions alter the environment �(All of the above)

Environmental Science �What is studied in environmental science? �Interactions between living organisms and their nonliving environment �Impact of humans on the environment �Interaction between organisms �(All of the above)

The Goals of Environmental Science �To understand solve environmental problems �Do this in two ways: �Study how humans use natural resources �Study how our actions alter the environment

Environmental Science Studies Many Fields of Science �Ecology – The study of how living things interact with each other and with their nonliving environment

Fields Continued �Biology – the study of living organisms �Zoology – the study of animals �Botany – the study of plants �Microbiology – the study of microorganisms �Ecology - the study of the home

Fields Continued �Earth Science – the study of the Earth’s nonliving systems and the planet as a whole �Geology – the study of the Earth’s surface, interior processes, and history �Paleontology – the study of fossils and ancient life �Climatology – the study of the Earth’s atmosphere and climate �Hydrology – the study of the Earth’s water resources

Fields Continued �Physics – the study of matter and energy �Engineering – the science by which matter and energy are made useful to humans in structures, machines, and products

Fields Continued �Chemistry – the study of chemicals and their interactions �Biochemistry – the study of the chemistry of living things �Geochemistry – a branch of geology, is the study of the chemistry of materials such as rocks, soil, and waste

Fields Continued �Social Science – the study of human population �Geography – the study of the relationships between human populations and Earth’s features �Anthropology – the study of the interactions of the biological, cultural, geographical, and historical aspects of humankind �Sociology – the study of human population dynamics and statistics �NOT linguistics and physics (d)

Scientists as Citizens, Citizens as Scientists �Environmental Science starts with the non-scientists �What would you do if you came across a creature that looked like this?

Our Environment Through Time �Humans changed environment over time through: �Hunting �Agriculture �When they settled

Hunter-Gatherers �For most of history, people were hunter gatherers �They obtained food through: �Collecting plants �Hunting wild animals �Scavenging their remains �Humans lived in tribes, using fires to maintain the prairie �They would migrate as groups throughout the year to where resources were bountiful �Would you be willing to move every month to obtain food?

Early Environmental Problems �Native American tribes and Aborigines would burn down forests and grasslands to drive out animals such as Buffalo �They would carry plants with them where they traveled – invasive exotic species

Endangered Species �Led to extinction of mammals such as: �Giant bison �Mastodons �Cave Bears �Saber-Toothed Cats �Would trap in pits and then kill them

The Agricultural Revolution �Agriculture – the practice of growing, breeding, an caring for plants and animals that are used for food, clothing, housing, transportation, and other purposes. �It happened 10, 000 years ago �It had such an impact on humans that it became a revolution �Plants and animals were domesticated, human populations grew

�One area of land could now support up to 500 times the amount of people that could be supported by hunting and gathering �Communities began to grow �Population growth in the 20 th century led to �Resource depletion �Habitat destruction �Pollution �(all of the above)

�This agriculture changed the foods that we eat today �We eat descendents of the plants first found by hunters and gatherers �Over time, they picked desired traits in plants and began to only harvest those desired traits

�As environments were replaced by agriculture, they were destroyed �Slash-and-burn – cut down and burn old environments to plant crops – currently ocurring in rainforest

Industrial Revolution �Occurred in the middle of the 1700’s �Involved a shift from energy resources such as animal muscle and running water to fossil fuels �Allowed for machinery to take over in mass producing goods and agriculture �People began to travel more and move to cities �Society shifted to fossil fuels �When most of today’s environmental problems began answer C

Improving Quality of Life �Brought us things such as the light bulb and mass agriculture �Also brought us pollution and habitat loss

�Included the start of artificial substances in place of raw animal and plant products �Plastics, artificial pesticides and fertilizers, etc. �These products made our life easier, but what about the rest of the environment?

Spaceship Earth �Earth is a closed system �It is like a spaceship travelling through space that cannot dispose of waste or take on new supplies

�Problems occur on different scales: �Local �Regional �Global

Population Growth: A Local Pressure �Our population is growing faster than our resources can support �The Agricultural and Industrial Revolutions gave us power to grow much faster than before �Are we growing to fast?

What are the main environmental problems? �Resource Depletion �Pollution �Loss of Biodiversity

Resource Depletion �Natural Resource – Any natural material that is used by humans �Either renewable or nonrenewable �Renewable resources can be replaced quickly by natural processes �Nonrenewable resources - natural material formed at a slower rate than it is depleted �Resource Depletion - rate of resource use depletes resources and creates pollution and wastes

Depleted Resource �When a large fraction of the resource has been used up

Pollution �Pollution – an undesired change in air, water, or soil �Two types of pollutions �Biodegradable – pollutants that can be broken down by natural processes �Nondegradable – those that can’t – plastics, mercury, lead, etc.

Loss of Biodiversity �Biodiversity – the number of variety of species that live in an area �Extinction – a natural process �Mass Extinction – several extinctions happening at the same time �The loss of the worlds biodiversity is a concern because: �Humans depend on other organisms for food and oxygen

The Environment and Society �Chapter 1, Section 2

The Tragedy of the Commons �Garrett Hardin – 1968 �Describes conflicts associated with sharing resources �Commons are patches of grassland �If everyone lets too many sheep on the grasslands, they will destroy the environment �If people divide the commons and maintain the sheep population, the environment will survive �We need to do the same with our environment

The Law of Supply and Demand �The law of supply and demand describes: �Reduced demand resulting from lack of available resources

Market Equilibrium �Market Equilibrium - Listing both the merits and expenses involved in implementing a particular environmental solution

Economics and the Environment �Supply and Demand – the greater the demand for a limited supply of something, the more that thing is worth �Cost and Benefits – This balances the cost of the action against the benefits one expects from it (is an environmental action worth it? ) �Risk Assessment – A tool that helps us create costeffective ways to protect our health and the environment

Developed and Developing Countries �Developed Countries – characterized by high personal wealth, and high levels of consumption �Typically have a larger ecological footprint �Developing Countries – characterized by high population growth rate, extreme poverty

Population and Consumption �Local Population Pressures �Consumption Trends �Ecological Footprints

Local Population Pressures �Often, populations increase in developing nations �It increases faster than resources can be provided �Of the 4. 5 billion people in developing countries, fewer than half have access to enough food, safe drinking water, and proper sanitation

Consumption Trends �Population control, pollution depletion, and resource abundance has improved in the wealthier part of the world �This is only done by hogging the resources from developing countries that need them as well

Ecological Footprint �An ecological footprint shows the productive area of Earth needed to support one person in a particular country

Environmental Science in Context �Environmental problems are large �Simple answers are rare

Critical thinking and the Environment �Environmental Information is often construed by political pull or for sales �How to approach it: � 1. Be prepared to listen to many viewpoints �Understand their reasoning before reacting to their ideas �If you want your opinion to be heard, you must also be willing to listen to others � 2. Investigate the source of any information you encounter

A Sustainable World �The key goal of environmental science is to achieve sustainability �Sustainability – the condition in which human needs are met in such a way that a human population can survive indefinitely �This goal requires everyone’s participation �The 21 st Century is a critical time in finding sustainability �What will you do to make a change?