Introduction To Environmental Science
Introduction To Environmental Science
Introduction To Environmental Science
Division of Science
■ Social Science: explore human society past and present, and the way human beings
behave.
■ Natural Science: division of science which deals with natural objects and natural
phenomena.
- Physical Science: deals with the predictable behavior of the world around us.
- Biological Science: those concerned with living things their structure, processes and
influencing factors
Social Science
1. Anthropology
2. Psychology
3. Economics
4. History
5. Political Science
6. Law
Physical Science
1. Mathematics
2. Chemistry
3. Astronomy
4. Physics
5. Geology
6. Meteorology
Biological Sciences
1. Biology
2. Botany
3. Anatomy
4.Medicine
5. Microbiology
6. Zoology
Scientific Method
- refers to a body of techniques for investigating phenomena, acquiring new
knowledge, or correcting and integrating previous knowledge.
STEPS:
Define a problem.
Gather information about the problem.
Form a hypothesis.
Testing a hypothesis. (experimentation) Observation and recording the data.
Analyze and interpret the data.
Draw a conclusion.
Environment
- The environment is not only the landscape and animals that you can see, it is also
how they interact
Living things
• Animals, plants, forests, fungi, etc..
Nonliving things
• Continents, oceans, clouds, soil, rocks Our built environment.
Environmental Science
- is the study of interactions among physical, chemical, and biological components of
the environment and the solution of the environmental problems.
▪︎ Ecology- The study of how living things interact with each other and with their nonliving
environment.
▪︎ Atmospheric Sciences
▪︎ Environmental Chemistry
▪︎ Geosciences
A community decides to use coal for electricity, as it is the cheapest source available.
(Economics)
- The coal must be transported to the population center by road or rail. (Engineering)
-When it is burned at a power plant, air pollution is released. Some of that pollution is
converted to acid in the atmosphere. (Chemistry)
- Laws are passed requiring the plant to install pollution scrubbers. (Politics)
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?
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
•Resource Depletion
•Pollution
• Loss of Biodiversity
• Resource Depletion
- A great deal of resources are needed to support the human population (~7 billion).
- Renewable resources can be replenished within a human lifetime.
> Timber, water.
-The supply of nonrenewable resources is replenished extremely slowly, if at all. These can
be used up.
> Coal, oil, minerals.
Coal is a nonrenewable resource. Over time, it will become more difficult and expensive to
extract.
• Pollution
>Pollution is a degradation or an undesired change in air, water, or soil that affects the
health of living things.
>Biodegradable pollution will break down naturally over time.
>Non Degradable pollution does not break down.
>Pollution, whether in air or water, can move and affect ecosystems far away from the
source.
• Loss of Biodiversity
-The number of species on the Earth is unknown, but estimated to be in the tens of millions.
- Biodiversity is the number of different species present in one specific ecosystem.
-Extinction, or the complete loss of a species, is a natural event that can be accelerated by
human actions.
Natural Disasters
- typhoons - floods
- landslides
- volcanic eruptions
- earthquakes
- tsunamis
Anthropocentrism
- literally means "human-center
> This set of ethics protects and promotes of human interests or well-being at the expense of
all other factors.
> Often places an emphasis on short-term benefits while disregarding long-term
consequences.
Ecocentrists
- believe that nature deserves to exist for its own sake regardless of degree of
usefulness to humans.
The preservation of ecosystems or other living things takes priority over human needs.
Environmentalism
● A social movement dedicated to protecting the natural world
Modern Environmentalism
- In 1952, the Cuyahoga river in Ohio caught fire due to all the pollution that had
accumulated in it.
Rachel Carson published a book in 1962 entitled Silent Spring about the effects of pesticides
on large predatory birds, particularly the Bald eagle.
- This began a public awakening to threats of pollution and toxic chemicals to humans
as well as other species.
- This movement is called Modern Environmentalism.
Global Environmentalism
GREEN ENVIRONMENT
• Increased travel and communication enables people to know about daily events in places
unknown in previous generations.
- Global environmentalism explores issues and problems over the entire world, not just
within the local community.
A great deal of progress has been made since the birth of modern environmentalism, but
many debates still rage on.
• An ecologist named Garrett Hardin wrote an essay called "The Tragedy of the Commons",
describing the source of environmental problems as a conflict:
A small village consists mostly of farmers that raise and sell sheep at a nearby city.
The only place for the sheep to graze is a commons in the center of the village.
- A commons is an area that belongs to no individual; it is shared by the entire Likely
outcome: Villagers obtain as many sheep as possible, allow to graze in the
commons.
- Maximize short-term financial gain.
What if the commons was instead divided into sections that was owned by each villager?
- Because the land is owned, individuals are much more likely to plan and use it for the
long-term.
▪︎ The Tragedy of the Commons describes the likeliness of a commons area being exploited
for short-term economic gain.
▪︎ Modern examples include the atmosphere and oceans.
● Another important economic idea is the cost/benefit analysis. This questions whether
the benefit of doing something justifies the economic cost.
- Waukegan Harbor cleanup efforts, starting in 2010, will cost over $30 million.
Ecological Footprint
● An ecological footprint is one measurement of a person's resource use.
- Includes the amount of space needed to support each person in a nation, including forests,
farms, cities, etc.
● Sustainability is when human needs are met so that the population can survive
indefinitely.