SCIENCE AND THE ENVIRONMENT

1
SCIENCE AND THE ENVIRONMENT

• Environmental Science (ES)the study of the
  impact of humans on the environment
• 1. How do humans use natural resourceswater,
  air, plants, soil?
• 2. How do our actions change the environment?

2
Fields of Study

• Ecologyfoundation of EShow living things
  interact with each other and with their
  environment
• Other closely related fields (p. 7)
• Biology, Earth Science, Physics, Chemistry,
  Social Science

3
Science and Society

• Healthy environment Healthy society
• Findings of Env. scientists is shared with the
  government and public
• Information can be used to create or change
  public policy

4
Environment through Time

• Hunter-Gathererscollect plants, hunt animals
• Small groups migrated
• Burned grasslands
• Over-hunted--at times to a species extinction
• Overall, had the least impact on the environment

5
(No Transcript)
6
Agricultural Revolution

• Agriculturethe practice of growing, breeding,
  and caring for plants and animals used for food,
  clothing, housing, transportation, etc.
• Hunter-Gathers societies became agricultural
  societies about 10,000 years ago

7
Results of Agriculture

• Populations grew rapidly
• Populations were concentrated in smaller areas
• Habitats destroyed to grow crops
• Flooding, soil infertility
• Much greater environmental impact than
  hunter-gatherers

8
(No Transcript)
9
Industrial Revolution

• 1700s--Shift to fossil fuels, such as coal and
  oil for energy.
• Increased efficiency of agriculture, industry and
  transportation
• Populations in urban areas grew steadily
• Division of labor expanded

10
(No Transcript)
11
Pros and Cons on IR

• Pros
• Light bulb
• Productivity increased
• Sanitation, nutrition, medical care better
• Transportation, communication, faster and easier

• Cons
• More people, more use of resources
• More trashair, water and land
• More habitat destruction
• More chemical exposure

12
(No Transcript)
13
Spaceship Earth

• Closed system sunlight is the only thing that
  enters the earths atmosphere from the outside
  and heat is the only thing that escapes from
  earth
• Resources are limited
• Some environmental issues are local, others are
  global

14
Population Growth

• Huge pressure on the environment

15
Population Clocks

• http//math.berkeley.edu/galen/popclk.html
• http//www.poodwaddle.com/worldclock.swf
• http//www-popexpo.ined.fr/eMain.html

16
Main Environmental Problems

• Resource depletion using resources faster than
  they can be replaced
• Know renewable, nonrenewable

17

• 2. Pollution an undesired change in air, water
  or soil that adversely affects the health,
  survival or activities of humans or other
  organisms
• Know biodegradable, nonbiodegradable

18

• 3. Loss of biodiversity the number and variety
  of species that live in an area

19
THE ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIETY

• The Tragedy of the Commons p. 16
• A lesson in short term interest of individuals
  vs. the long term welfare of society.
• Someone must take responsibility for a
  resourceif not, it will be overused and depleted.

20
Economics and the Environment

• 1. Law of Supply and Demandthe greater the
  demand for a limited resources, the more it is
  worth

21
Costs and Benefits

• Cost-benefit analysis balances the cost of an
  action against the benefits expected from it
• Depends on who is doing the analysis
• Ex
• buying recycled paper costs more, but we may
  choose to buy it to help the environment
• recycling may be inconvenient, but we may do to
  be green

22
(No Transcript)
23
(No Transcript)
24
Risk Assessment

• One of the factors in cost-benefit analysis, is
  risk assessmenthow our health and environment
  could be affected by an action
• We often do not perceive risk accuratele
• Air travel vs. car travel
• Nuclear power vs. coal power

25
Developed and Developing Countries

• There is an unequal distribution of wealth and
  resources around the world
• Developed countries higher ave. incomes, slower
  population growth, diverse industrial economies,
  and stronger social support systems
• Developing countries lower incomes, simple,
  ag-based economies, rapid population growth

26
(No Transcript)
27
Population and Consumption

• Local population pressures when a pop. grows too
  rapidly, there may not be enough resources
• Results
• deforestation
• topsoil fertility used up
• animal extinction
• human malnutrition, starvation and disease
• Only ½ of people in developing countries have
  enough food, safe drinking water and proper
  sanitation

28
(No Transcript)
29
Consumption Trends

• Developed nations use 75 of the worlds
  resources, even though they only make up 20 of
  the worlds population

30
(No Transcript)
31
Source Drawn by Explainthatstuff.com using data
from World Resources Institute Earth Trends
"Resource Consumption 2005". Figures in kilograms
of oil equivalent(kgoe) per person.
32
Ecological Footprints

• -Shows the productive area of Earth needed to
  support one person in a particular country
• Estimates land used for crops, grazing, forest
  products, housing
• Estimates the ocean area used for seafood, and
  forest area needed to absorb air pollution

33
(No Transcript)
34
(No Transcript)
35
(No Transcript)
36
Critical Thinking and the Environment

• Passionate people on both sides of environmental
  issues
• Scientific data can be misrepresented
• Economic aspect must be considered
• Consider the source
• Must use critical thinking as you research a
  topic and come to a conclusion

37
A Sustainable World

• Sustainability the condition where humans can
  survive in the world indefinitely
• Not happening nowusing resources faster than
  they can be replaced
• Can do itsuccess stories
• Bald eagle, Great Lakes, many lakes and rivers
• In progressthe Everglades, Florida panther
• Our jobFIND SOLUTIONS!!!