ESC110 Chapter One Understanding our

Environment

Principles of EnvironmentalScience - Inquiry and Applications,

2nd Editionby William and Mary Ann Cunningham

Chapter One Some Key Terms

McGraw-Hill Course Glossary

analytical thinking

creative thinking

critical thinking

deductive reasoning

environment

environmental science global environmentalism hypothesis

inductive reasoning

logical thinking paradigms

positivism

reflective thinking

remediation

restoration ecology

scientific theory

sustainability

sustainable development

Chapter 1

• Understanding Our Environment;

• Science as a Way of Knowing;

• A Brief History of Conservation and Environmentalism; and

• Current Environmental Conditions

• Human Dimensions of Environmental Science.

The Planet Earth

• Unique in the universe (?);• Mild, relatively constant

temperatures;• Biogeochemical cycles;• Millions of species; and• Diverse, self-sustaining

communities.

Understanding Our Environment

What is Environmental Science??• The Natural World

– biosphere (plants & animals), – lithosphere (soils & rocks), – atmosphere (air), and the – hydrosphere (water)

• Humans – social institutions and their artifacts(eg, political orgs, science, technology, etc)

• Interaction Negatively?? so the more we learn about the environment the better we can develop solutions– Environmental Science

Environmental Science

Environment is the circumstances and conditions that surround organism(s) as well as the complex of social & cultural conditions that affect an individual or community;

Environmental science is the systematic study of our environment and our place in it.

What's Happening to the Frogs?In some places, up to sixty-percent of frogs and salamandershave abnormal limbs, digits, eyes, or internal organs.

Environmental science allows us to explore the possible causes of such problems.(observational &/or experimental)

Science as a Way of Knowing

• Modern science has its roots in antiquity;

• Greek philosophers;

• Arabic mathematicians and astronomers; and

• Chinese naturalists.

Scientific Investigation

• Hypothesis - a conditional explanation that can be verified or falsified; and

• Scientific theory - an explanation that is supported by an overwhelming body of data and experience

Experiments and Models

Natural Experiments• Gathering of historic evidence; and• Conducted by scientists who can't test their

hypotheses directly.

Manipulative Experiments• Manipulate environment• Gather data on effects - quantification• Use statistics (tools) and determine probabilities

Models• Simulate real environmental systems;• Can be physical or mathematical;• Provide heuristic information (suggestions of how

things MIGHT be); and• Are influenced by researchers' assumptions.• Develop ‘paradigms’-overarching models of the world

that guide our interpretation of events

Applied Science

Many environmental scientists want to use their knowledge torepair ecological systems that have been damaged by humans.

Restoration EcologyRestoration - the re-creation of species composition andecosystem functions in areas disrupted by human actions

The Kissimmee River - the focus of an ambitious $8 billion restoration project.

Artificial Ecosystems• Example: human-designed wetlands can be used to

treat sewage effluent

History of Conservation and Environmentalism

• Stages of Activism– Pragmatic resource conservation– Moral & aesthetic nature preservation– Growing concern about health & ecological

damage cause by pollution (modern environmentalism)

– Global environmental citizenship

Pragmatic Resource Conservation

• 1864 George Perkins Marsh wrote Man & Nature

“We are never justified in assuming a force to be insignificant because its measure is unknown, or even because no physical effect can now be traced to it as its origin”

• Influenced President Theodore Roosevelt and Gifford Pinchot (his chief conservation advisor)

• Roosevelt created Forest Service w/ Pinchot as chief• Their policies were utilitarian conservation

(save forests for utility not aesthetics or ecology)

Preservation - moral & aesthetic

• John Muir (first president of Sierra Club) opposed Pinchot’s utilitarian policies

• Nature deserves to exist for its own sake-regardless of its usefulness

• Biocentric preservation – fundamental right of other organisms to exist and pursue their own interests (spiritual values & aesthetics)

Modern Environmentalism

• 1962 Rachel Carson wrote Silent Springs(about pollution & the threat of toxic chemicals to humans & other species)

• Mostly considered local, regional or maybe even national effects to environment

• A fusion of conservation of natural resources and preservation of nature with concerns about pollution, environmental health, and social justice.

Global Environmentalism

• International travel and communication today has created a - Global Village or Spaceship Earth

• Earth Summits (eg Rio de Janeiro) or Earth Days or ….

• Have created all of us into a Global Citizen(whatever we do locally may influence someone/something around the world!!!)

Current Environmental Conditions

• Half the world's wetlands were lost in the last 100 years.

• Land conversion and logging have shrunk the world's forests by as much as 50%.

• Nearly three-quarters of the world's major marine fish stocks are over fished or are being harvested beyond a sustainable rate.

• Soil degradation has affected two-thirds of the world's agricultural lands in the last 50 years.

Major Causes of Environmental Degradation

(1) Population Growth– More than 6 billion people now occupy

the earth, and we are adding about 85 million more each year.

– In the next decade, most population growth will be in the poorer countries - countries where present populations already strain resources and services.

• Burning of fossil fuels• Destruction of

tropical rainforests and other biologically rich landscapes

• Production of toxic wastes

(2) Resource Extraction and Use

Acid Deposition

Human Dimensions of Environmental Science

• More than 1.3 billion people live in acute poverty, with an income of less than $1 (US) per day. These people generally lack access to an adequate diet, decent housing, basic sanitation, clean water, education, medical care, and other essentials.

• Four out of five people in the world live in what would be considered poverty in the US or Canada.

• The world's poorest people are often forced to meet short-term survival needs at the cost of long-term sustainability.

The American LifestyleTo get an average American through the day takesabout 1000 pounds of raw materials, including• 40 pounds of fossil fuels;• 22 pounds of wood and paper; and• 119 gallons of water.

Every year, Americans throw away some 160 million tons of garbage, including• 50 million tons of paper;• 67 billion cans and bottles; and• 18 billion disposable diapers.

Obviously, if everyone in the world tried to live atconsumption levels approaching ours, the results would be

disastrous.

SustainabilityHow can the nations of the world produce the goods and

services needed to improve life for everyone without overtaxing the environmental systems and natural

resources on which we all depend?

Sustainable development:progress in human well-being that we can extend or prolong

over many generations, rather than just a few years.

To be truly enduring, the benefits of sustainable development must be available to all humans, not just to the

members of a privileged group.

(McKinney & Schoch)

Conservation/Preservation

ModernEnvironmentalism

GlobalCitizen

Basic Causes of

Environmental Problems

P = number of peopleA = affluence or average resource-use per personT = technology or the beneficial & harmful environmental effects of the

technologies used to provide & consume each unit of resource

Obviously, if everyone in the world tried to live atconsumption levels approaching ours, the results would be

disastrous.

Environmental Science looks at these complex interactions

Signs of Hope• Many areas have made progress in

– controlling air and water pollution and – reducing wasteful resource uses.

• Population has stabilized in most industrialized countries, and even in some very poor countries. We have discovered many new resources and invented more efficient ways of using existing supplies.

• Increased media coverage has made people more aware of environmental issues.

• Young people are showing a great deal of interest in environmental science!