What is Environmental Science?

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What is Environmental Science?

• The study of how humans interact with their
  environment

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Goal of Environment Science

• To understand and solve environmental problems
• To do so, we must examine
• how we use natural resources, for example, water
  and plants
• how our actions alter the environment

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Environmental Science is an interdisciplinary
science, meaning it involves many different
fields of study. Foundation Ecology
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• Ecology the study of how living things interact
  with each other and their non-living environment
• Chemistry study of chemicals and their
  interactions
• Physics study of matter and energy
• Biology study of living organisms
• Earth Science study of our planet and its
  non-living systems
• Social Sciences study of human populations

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Earth is a closed system-only things that enter
and leave our atmosphere is energy.

• Environmental problems are local, regional and/or
  global.
• Environmental problems have worsened because
• The agriculture and industrial revolutions have
  allowed human populations to grow very rapidly.
• Development of medicine and sanitation has also
  helped increase the human population.

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Three main environmental problems

• Resource Depletion
• Resource any natural material that is used by
  humans
• Renewable (can be replaced quickly by
  natural processes)
• Examples Water, wood, soil, air, energy
  from sun
• Nonrenewable (does not form as quickly as
  it is consumed)
• Examples Minerals, fossil fuels

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• 2. Pollution undesired change in air, water, or
  soil that negatively affects the health,
  survival, or activities of humans or other
  organisms
• Industrial Revolution has led societies to
  produce wastes faster than we can dispose of
  them.

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2 types of pollutants

• Biodegradable pollutants that can be broken
  down by natural processes examples human
  sewage, newspaper
• These are only a problem when they accumulate
  faster than they are broken down

• Nondegradable do not break down easily and can
  build up to dangerous levels in the environment
• Examples mercury, lead, plastics

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• 3. Loss of Biodiversity
• Biodiversity number and variety of species that
  live in an area
• An individual species is a nonrenewable natural
  resource. Once a species goes extinct, its
  gone. While extinction is a natural process,
  humans have affected extinction rates.

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Resource Depletion Curve