An Introduction to Environmental Science

1. An Introduction to Environmental Science 1 CHAPTER

2. Lesson 1.1 Our Island, Earth Like all species on Earth, humans rely on a healthy, functioning planet for air, water, food, and shelter.

3. Lesson 1.1 Our Island, Earth What Is Environmental Science? • The study of our planet’s natural systems and how humans and the environment affect one another • The environment includes all living and nonliving things with which organisms interact. • Understanding the interactions between humans and the environment is the first step to solving environmental problems. National Marine Fisheries Service scientists studying whether commercial boats are harming endangered killer whales

4. Environmental Science Is a Study of Connections in Nature (1) • Environment: • Everything around us • “The environment is everything that isn’t me.“ • Environmental science: interdisciplinary science connecting information and ideas from • Natural sciences: ecology, biology, geology, chemistry… • Social sciences: geography, politics, economics • Humanities: ethics, philosophy

5. Environmental Science Is a Study of Connections in Nature (2) • How nature works • How the environment affects us • How we affect the environment • How to deal with environmental problems • How to live more sustainably

6. Lesson 1.1 Our Island, Earth Environmental Science vs. Environmentalism • Environmental Science: Objective, unbiased pursuit of knowledge about the workings of the environment and our interactions with it • Environmentalism: Social movement dedicated to protecting the natural world Environmentalists protesting the use of nuclear power

7. Nature’s Survival Strategies Follow Three Principles of Sustainability • Reliance on solar energy • The sun provides warmth and fuels photosynthesis • Biodiversity • Astounding variety and adaptability of natural systems and species • Chemical cycling • Circulation of chemicals from the environment to organisms and then back to the environment • Also called nutrient cycling

8. Solar Energy Chemical Cycling Biodiversity Fig. 1-3, p. 8

9. ECONOMICS Full-cost pricing ETHICS Responsibility to future generations POLITICS Win-win results Fig. 1-5, p. 9

10. Organic matter in animals Dead organic matter Organic matter in plants Decomposition Inorganic matter in soil Fig. 1-5, p. 10

11. Lesson 1.1 Our Island, Earth Natural Resources • Natural resources are materials and energy sources found in nature that humans need to survive. • Renewable resources: Naturally replenished over short periods • Nonrenewable resources: Naturally formed more slowly than we use them. • Renewable resources can become nonrenewable if used faster than they are replenished.

12. Some Sources Are Renewable and Some Are Not (1) • Resource • Anything we obtain from the environment to meet our needs • Some directly available for use: sunlight • Some not directly available for use: petroleum • Perpetual resource • Solar energy

13. Some Sources Are Renewable and Some Are Not (2) Renewable resource Several days to several hundred years to renew E.g., forests, grasslands, fresh air, fertile soil Sustainable yield Highest rate at which we can use a renewable resource without reducing available supply

14. Some Sources Are Renewable and Some Are Not (3) • Nonrenewable resources • Energy resources • Metallic mineral resources • Nonmetallic mineral resources • Reuse • Recycle

15. Sustainability Has Certain Key Components • Natural capital: supported by solar capital • Natural resources: useful materials and energy in nature • Natural services: important nature processes such as renewal of air, water, and soil • Humans degrade natural capital • Scientific solutions needed for environmental sustainability

16. Natural Capital Solar energy Natural Capital = Natural Resources + Natural Services Air Renewable energy (sun, wind, water flows) Air purification Climate control UV protection (ozone layer) Life (biodiversity) Population control Water Water purification Pest control Waste treatment Soil Land Nonrenewable minerals (iron, sand) Food production Soil renewal Natural gas Nutrient recycling Oil Nonrenewable energy (fossil fuels) Coal seam Natural resources Natural services Fig. 1-4, p. 9

17. Lesson 1.1 Our Island, Earth Human Population Growth •Tremendous and rapid human population growth can be attributed to: •The Agricultural Revolution: About 10,000 years ago; humans began living in villages, had longer life spans, and more surviving children. • Industrial Revolution: Began in early 1700s; driven by fossil fuels and technological advances Did You Know? The human population increases by about 200,000 people every day.

18. Ecological Footprints Lesson 1.1 Our Island, Earth • The total amount of land and water required to: • provide the raw materials an individual or population consumes • dispose of or recycle the waste an individual or population consumes • Most informative when footprints are calculated using the same method Ecological footprints include land and water used to grow food at farms hundreds or thousands of miles away. Did You Know?By one calculation, the ecological footprint of the average American is 3.5 times the global average.

19. Total Ecological Footprint (million hectares) and Share of Global Biological Capacity (%) Per Capita Ecological Footprint (hectares per person) United States United States 2,810 (25%) 9.7 European Union 2,160 (19%) European Union 4.7 China China 2,050 (18%) 1.6 0.8 India 780 (7%) India Japan Japan 540 (5%) 4.8 2.5 Unsustainable living 2.0 Number of Earths 1.5 Projected footprint 1.0 Ecological footprint 0.5 Sustainable living 0 1961 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 2030 2040 2050 Year Fig. 1-13, p. 16

20. The Ecological Footprint

21. Lesson 1.1 Our Island, Earth Tragedy of the Commons • Describes a situation in which resources, made available to everyone, are used unsustainably and eventually depleted • Resource management, whether voluntary or mandated, can help avoid resource depletion. The “commons” refers to a public pastureland that was shared by villagers in 19th-century England.

22. Lesson 1.3 The Community of Science Building on Environmental Science • Addressing environmental problems involves more than just understanding the science. • Ethics: Study of behavior (good and bad, right and wrong), moral principles, and values • Culture: Ensemble of knowledge, beliefs, values, and learned ways of life shared by a group of people • Worldview: Perception of the world and a person’s place in it 40,000 buffalo hides, 1872 Ducks killed by an oil spill

23. Lesson 1.3 The Community of Science Environmental Ethics • Environmental ethics is the application of ethical standards to the relationship between humans and the environment. • Anthropocentrism: Humans and human welfare most important • Biocentrism: All living things have value; some may be more important than others • Ecocentrism: Well-being of a species or community more important than that of an individual

24. Lesson 1.3 The Community of Science Environmental Justice • The environmental justice movement: • Recognizes that quality of life is connected to environmental quality • Promotes fair and equitable treatment of all people regarding environmental policy and practice