Understanding Our Environment

1
Environmental Science 2

• Understanding Our Environment
• Frameworks for Understanding Science, Systems,
  and Ethics
• Matter, Energy, and Life

2
Important Definitions

• Environment the living and non-living
  surroundings throughout Earth.
• Environmental Science the study of our
  environment and our place in it.

3
Some Origins of Interest

• Resource conservation
• Moral/aesthetic preservation
• Concerns about human health and ecological
  damage
• Global environmental citizenship

4
U.S.A. History of Environmentalism through
Conservation, and Preservation

• Conservation
• Teddy Roosevelt Progressive Movement,
  Presidency, and National Forest Establisher
• Gifford Pinchot Forester, Presidential Advisor,
  National Forest Establishment Leader
• Preservation
• John Muir Naturalist, Activist, Resource
  Management Specialist, Sierra Club President,
  California National Park Establisher
• Aldo Leopold Botanist, Author, Wilderness
  Society Founder

5
U.S.A. History of Environmentalism through
Conservation, and Preservation

• Concerns via Modern Science, Organizations, and
  Media
• Rachel Carson Biologist, Author, Activist
• David Brower Director of Sierra Club, Friends
  of the Earth, Earth Island Institute
• Barry Commoner Scientist, Researcher, Activist
• Global Eco/Socio-Cultural Citizenship
• Dr. Wangari Maathai Green Belt Movement,
  Grassroots Feminist, Governance in Ministry
  (Kenya), Nobel Peace Prize Recipient

6
More Significant Environmentalists

• Randy Morganson Forest Ranger and
  Yosemite/Kings/Sequoia Expert, Mysterious Sierra
  Nevada Disappearance
• Al Gore Vice President, Author, Global Warming
  Proponent
• Dr. Shawna Dark CSUN Professor, Biogeographer,
  Leader of Watershed Research in Ventura and Los
  Angeles Counties
• ???

7
Globalization

• The exchange of people, information, and things
  all over the planet.
• The Good human migration and interaction,
  advancements in education and healthcare, better
  standards of living, diversity and freedom
• The Bad rural resource extraction, international
  trade of goods away from suffering native
  populations, industrial operations resulting in
  pollution, global warming
• The Ugly

8
Sustainability the path to The Good

• Living within the bounds of nature based on
  renewable resources used in ways that dont
  deplete nonrenewable resources, harm essential
  ecological services, or limit the ability of
  future generations to meet their own needs.

9
Science knowledge production through logical
processes

• Related terms
• accuracy, reproducibility, reasoning, hypothesis,
  and theory
• Scientific method
• Question/purpose
• Hypothesis/educated guess
• Data collection/experimentation
• Results analysis/answer
• Report theory/review
• Publish findings/implement

10
Consensus and Conflict

• Agreement vs. Dissent
• Paradigm a model that provides a framework for
  interpreting observations.
• Paradigm shift the adoption of an innovative
  understanding of some phenomena and/or processes,
  based on updated scientific research and new
  conclusions embraced by the scientific majority.
• Predominant theories
• Fusion Powering the Sun
• Evolution of Species
• Modern Climate Change

11
Environmental Ethics

• Value
• Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic

12
Environmental Justice(Progressive Worldviews)

• Civil Rights Environmental Protection A Safe,
  Healthy, Life-giving Environment for Everyone
• ? Diversity, Tolerance, Equity
• People/Places Benefiting
• Americans (U.S.A), Australians (Australia), South
  Africans (South Africa)
• People/Places In Need
• Sudanese (Sudan), Korean (North Korea), Iranian
  (Iran)

13
Connections

• When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he
  finds it attached to the rest of the world. -
  John Muir
• Interrelationships
• Matter
• Energy
• Life

14
Definitions

• Matter everything that takes up space and has
  mass (weight).
• Energy the ability to do work (movements,
  transfers, and so on).

15
Cycles

• Life - food chains, food webs, and trophic
  levels
• Producers
• Biomass index (productivity)
• Consumers
• Herbivores, Carnivores, Omnivores

16
Biological Taxonomy (Latin Linnaean Hierarchy)

• Biological Classifications
• Kingdom
• Phylum
• Class
• Order
• Family
• Genus
• species

Humans animal chordate mammal primate hominid
ae Homo sapiens
17
Species

• Organisms occur in groups
• populations, communities, ecosystems

18
Hydrologic Cycle

• Water

19
Cycles Continued

• Carbon
• Nitrogen
• Phosphorus
• Sulfur
• Earth Recycling Itself although energy transfer
  occurs between these cycles, all matter is
  conserved.

20
A Dependent Factor for Human Survival

• The Sun
• Solar Energy is needed to achieve the biotic and
  abiotic balances (ecosystems and cycles) for a
  sustainable future.

21
Homework

• Read three chapters of your choice from the
  following list
• Chapter 2
• Chapter 3
• Chapter 4
• Chapter 5
• Chapter 6
• Write a brief summary on each chapter you read,
  including
• chapter number/title, single favorite Case
  Study/Exploring Science subsection among the
  chapters, overall questions and/or comments