Chapter 1

Understanding the EnvironmentChapter 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 ScienceDefinition:The study of how humans interact with the environment

Involves the following interactions between human and the environment:

How humans use natural resourcesHow human beings relate to the nonliving environment

How human actions alter the environment(All of the above)

Environmental ScienceWhat is studied in environmental science?

Interactions between living organisms and their nonliving environment

Impact of humans on the environmentInteraction between organisms(All of the above)

The Goals of Environmental ScienceTo understand and solve environmental problems

Do this in two ways:Study how humans use natural resourcesStudy how our actions alter the environment

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

Fields ContinuedBiology – the study of living organisms

Zoology – the study of animalsBotany – the study of plantsMicrobiology – the study of microorganisms

Ecology - the study of the home

Fields ContinuedEarth 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 ContinuedPhysics – 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 ContinuedChemistry – 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 ContinuedSocial 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 ScientistsEnvironmental Science starts with the non-scientists

What would you do if you came across a creature that looked like this?

Our Environment Through TimeHumans changed environment over time through:

HuntingAgricultureWhen they settled

Hunter-GatherersFor most of history, people were hunter gatherers

They obtained food through:Collecting plantsHunting wild animalsScavenging their remainsHumans 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 ProblemsNative 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 SpeciesLed to extinction of mammals such as:Giant bisonMastodonsCave BearsSaber-Toothed CatsWould trap in pits and then kill them

The Agricultural RevolutionAgriculture – 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 agoIt 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 growPopulation growth in the 20th century led to

Resource depletionHabitat destructionPollution(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 RevolutionOccurred in the middle of the 1700’sInvolved 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 fuelsWhen most of today’s environmental problems began answer C

Improving Quality of LifeBrought 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 EarthEarth is a closed systemIt is like a spaceship travelling through space that cannot dispose of waste or take on new supplies

Problems occur on different scales:LocalRegionalGlobal

Population Growth: A Local PressureOur 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 DepletionPollutionLoss of Biodiversity

Resource DepletionNatural Resource – Any natural material that is used by humans

Either renewable or nonrenewableRenewable 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 ResourceWhen a large fraction of the resource has been used up

PollutionPollution – an undesired change in air, water, or soil

Two types of pollutionsBiodegradable – pollutants that can be broken down by natural processes

Nondegradable – those that can’t – plastics, mercury, lead, etc.

Loss of BiodiversityBiodiversity – the number of variety of species that live in an area

Extinction – a natural processMass 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 SocietyChapter 1, Section 2

The Tragedy of the CommonsGarrett Hardin – 1968Describes conflicts associated with sharing resources

Commons are patches of grasslandIf 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 DemandThe law of supply and demand describes:

Reduced demand resulting from lack of available resources

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

Economics and the EnvironmentSupply 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 cost-effective ways to protect our health and the environment

Developed and Developing CountriesDeveloped 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 ConsumptionLocal Population PressuresConsumption TrendsEcological Footprints

Local Population PressuresOften, 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 TrendsPopulation 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 FootprintAn ecological footprint shows the productive area of Earth needed to support one person in a particular country

Environmental Science in ContextEnvironmental problems are largeSimple answers are rare

Critical thinking and the EnvironmentEnvironmental 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 WorldThe 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 21st Century is a critical time in finding sustainability

What will you do to make a change?