Introduction to Environmental Science

1. Introduction to Environmental Science

2. Ch 1 Science & The Environment • 1 Understanding Our Environment • 2 The Environment and Society

3. Ch 1 Science & Environment • Section 1 Understanding our environment • I can define environmental science. • I can compare and contrast environmental science and ecology • I can list the 5 major fields of study that contribute to environmental science • I can describe the major effects of humans on the environment throughout history

4. Section 1 • I can distinguish between renewable and non-renewable resources • I can classify environmental problems into three major categories

5. Introduction to Environmnetal Science How do you define “environment”?

6. Introduction to Environmental Science • Environment – • Everything around us, living and nonliving, natural and man-made • Includes the relationships between these parts of the environment

7. What is Environmental Science? Definition of environmental science: the interdisciplinary study of (1) how the earth works, (2) how we interact with the earth, and (3) how to deal with environmental problems Let’s break that down…

8. EnvironmentalSciene is a broad, interdisciplinary , applied science involving 5 major fields of study: Biology Earth science, Chemistry, Physics, Social Sciences Definition of Environmental Science

9. Goals of Environmental Science • Understand + solve environmental problems • 2 Main areas: • How we use natural resources • How our actions affect the environment • Example: How the nesting behavior of bees is influenced by human activities, such as landscaping. • Can you give any other examples?

10. Definition of Environmental Science • how the earth works How do the four spheres of our planet function naturally to maintain a balance? • atmosphere • biosphere • lithosphere • hydrosphere

11. Definition of Environmental Science • how we interact with the earth (our impact on the environment) How do we upset the natural balance? How do we use resources? How do we produce waste? What do we do with out waste?

12. Definition of Environmental Science (3) how to deal with environmental problems To reduce or eliminate our unbalancing effect: Decision making Problem solving

13. Why study Environmental Science? Rapid changes in earth’s environment due to human activities can be traced to two “revolutions”:

14. Life has existed on earth for 3.8 billion years • Earth well suited for life • Water covers ¾ of planet • Habitable temperature • Moderate sunlight • Atmosphere provides oxygen and carbon dioxide • Soil provides essential minerals for plants • But humans are altering the planet; not always in positive ways

15. POPULATION Globally, 1 in 4 people lives in extreme poverty Cannot meet basic need for food, clothing, shelter, health Difficult to meet population needs without exploiting earth’s resources

16. OVERPOPULATION • People overpopulation • Too many people in a given geographic area • Problem in many developing nations • Consumption overpopulation • Each individual in a population consumes too large a share of the resources • Problem in many highly developed nations

17. Hunter-GatherersHumans and our ancestors

19. Hunter-Gatherers • 60,000-12,000 years ago • Nomadic – followed plants & animals (allowed nature to repair itself) • Lived in small groups-impact low • Life expectancy – 30-40 years • Experts on native plants • Low resourse use per person • Over-hunting: disappearance of species?

20. Hunter-Gatherers

21. Hunter - Gatherers • Collected plants, hunted, fished, and were nomadic, moving with the seasons • Pop growth slow due to high infant mortality and shorter life expectancy • Small impact on the environment • Altered distribution of plants and animals (extinction of large animals) • Low resource use per person, migration, and lack of technology allowed environmental repair to occur

22. Discovery of Fire • Effect on vegetation widespread & devastating (kept grasslands open) • Affected areas where original action not intended (not all environments adapted to withstanding fire) • Selective in its effect on species (some can handle fire better than others)

24. Domestication of plants

25. Agricultural Revolution Gradual move from nomadic lifestyle of hunter-gatherers to the farming of domesticated animals and plants Started about 10,000 years ago Led to human population explosion Can you explain why???

26. Agricultural Revolution • 12,000-10,000 years ago (end of last ice age) • Domestication of: • Plants by women (artificial selection of best grains) (figs, rice, barley, wheat) • Animals (wolves 3000BC, goats & sheep, horses) Longer life span (better food)

27. Deliberate destruction of natural vegetation to cultivate elected crops • Forced people to settle in specific places • Caused development of towns – led to changes in land use and population growth (500xs as many people as hunting) • Created problems for waste disposal • People began to accumulate material good

28. Development of harmful chemicals & pesticides • Survival of native plants & animals, once vital to survival, became less important • Growth of more food, enabling populations to expand • Conflict between society more common as ownership of land & water rights became crucial economic issues

29. Encouraged use of domesticated animals in work (ploughing, transport) • Large forested areas cleared for farms • Created soil erosion, orgrazing, and other environmental problems (collapse of civilization in Tigris-Euphrates river basin through salt contamination in overworked soil)

30. People settled into communities, cultivated plants & domesticated animals • Provided food for longer, healthier living, but increased environmental degradation • Slash-and-burn cultivation developed in tropical regions (cleared small patches of forests, burned underbrush & left ashes to fertilize soil) • Sustainable cultivation (shifting/ rotational) meant little impact on land

31. slash & burn

35. Archaeological record indicates that plant & animal domestication arose independently in at least 7, and possibly more, separate locales Centers of domesticationDates (years b.p.) Near East/"fertile crescent“ 11,000 Northern China 9,000 Southern China (?) 8,000 Central Mexico 5,750 Peruvian Andes 5,250 Papua New Guinea 6-9,000 West Africa 4,500 Eastern No. America 4,000

36. Urbanization • Large-scale disruption of forests • Improvements in human welfare & expansion of human populations beyond limits set by pre-agriculture patterns of life • Growth in transportation and polllution problems

37. European Colonization • Large scale environmental degradation under colonial exploitation of resources in former colonies in Africa, Latin America, India • No regard for environmental consequences • Devalued natural resources in colonial states

38. The Frontier Era (1600s) • European settlers considered land a frontier to conquer and settle • Resources were thought to be inexhaustible and the land was viewed as hostile, dangerous, and needing to be conquered

39. PROBLEMS • 1. Dependency on few plants--Agriculture made human communities dependent on relatively few plants--the main crops which they grew--rather than on the many different kinds of plants which hunter-gatherers use. • 2. Greater vulnerability to weather—

40. Complete dependency on harvest times--To survive, agriculturalists have to gather all their food for the year at one or two or three harvest times, rather than gathering year round. • Nothing can be allowed to interrupt the harvest. • Agricultural communities became more time- conscious.

41. store the produce of their fields for the rest of the year, protect it from moisture, vermin, and thieves • learn to dole out supplies in measured quantities so the community can survive • have seed for next year's planting. • These conditions created a new kind of life style.

42. 4. Need for intense physical labor specialization becomes possible 5. wealth acquires meaning 6.Humans had never before lived in large groups or in densely packed spaces. They had to learn how to do so successfully (perhaps we are still learning how).

43. problem of polluting one's living space • need to develop elaborate cultural means of • disposing of their dead, or of their food wastes • or excrement, or of the wastes of their livestock. • Mobile hunter-gatherer groups must necessarily • limit the number of children they have to care for • at any given time; large families of many • children mean more hands to help in the fields. • infectious disease, a problem closely related to • population growth and to the difficulty of • maintaining a clean, healthy living space.

45. Environmental problems began to occur: • Habitat destruction • Beginning of soil erosion and overgrazing of areas • Pollution of natural resources

46. Industrial Revolution

47. Industrial Revolution Development of machines to do manual/animal labor Led to use of non-renewable energy sources (fossil fuels) that disrupt the balance of our ecosystems (started in mid-1700’s – recent!)

48. Industrial Revolution • Industrial-Medical Revolution (about 275 ya; 1700s) • Began in England in the 1700s; came to the U.S. in 1800s • Shift from reliance on renewable resources (wood) to dependence on machines & nonrenewable fossil fuels • Centralized factories began to mass-produce goods • Higher standard of living coupled with greater environmental degradation

49. Advancements led to the reduction in number of farmers needed to produce sufficient food  more people moving into towns • Use of fossil fuels in factory towns led to air pollution from ash and soot • Working conditions were often dangerous • Because of aliments and working conditions advancements in medicine occurred

50. Industrial Revolution • Large scale use of fossil fuels & mineral resources that pollute air, soil & environment • Development of new forms of transportation - boosted international trade and made available goods & services in distant locations • Created shift from dependence on renewable fuels to dependence on non-renewable fuels