1. Understanding Our Envir

7/24/2019 1. Understanding Our Envir

1/40

Section 1Science and the Environment

Section 1: Understanding Our Environment

Preview

Bellringer

Objectives

What Is Environmental Science?

The Goals of Environmental Science

Many Fiels of St!y

Scientists as "iti#ens$ "iti#ens as Scientists

O!r Environment Thro!gh Time


2/40


Preview, Continued

%!nter&Gatherers

The 'gric!lt!ral (evol!tion

The In!strial (evol!tion

Im)roving the *!ality of +ife

S)aceshi) Earth

,o)!lation Gro-th

What are o!r Main Environmental ,roblems?



3/40


Preview, Continued

(eso!rce .e)letion

,oll!tion

+oss of Bioiversity



4/40


Bellringer


5/40


Objectives

Defineenvironmental science an com)are

environmental science -ith ecology/

istthe five major fiels of st!y that contrib!te to

environmental science/

Describethe major environmental effects of h!nter&

gatherers$ the agric!lt!ral revol!tion$ an the In!strial

(evol!tion/

Distinguishbet-een rene-able an nonrene-able

reso!rces/

!lassif"environmental )roblems into three major

categories/


6/40


#hat $s Environmental Science%

Environmental Scienceis the st!y of the air$ -ater$

an lan s!rro!ning an organism or a comm!nity$

-hich ranges from a small area to Earth0s entire

bios)here/

It incl!es the st!y of the im)act of h!mans on the

environment/


7/40


&he 'oals of Environmental Science

' major goal of environmental science is to !nerstan

an solve environmental )roblems/

To accom)lish this goal$ environmental scientists st!y

t-o main ty)es of interactions bet-een h!mans an

their environment1

23 %o- o!r actions alter o!r environment/

43 The !se of nat!ral reso!rces/


8/40


(an" )ields of Stud"

Environmental science is an interisci)linary science$

-hich means that it involves many fiels of st!y/

Im)ortant to the fo!nation of environmental science is

ecology/

Ecolog"is they st!y of interactions of living organisms

-ith one another an -ith their environment/


9/40


(an" )ields of Stud"


10/40


Scientists as !iti*ens, !iti*ens as Scientists

Governments$ b!sinesses$ an cities recogni#e that

st!ying o!r environment is vital to maintaining a healthy

an )ro!ctive society/

Th!s$ environmental scientists are often as5e to share

their research -ith the -orl/

%o-ever the observations of nonscientists are the first

ste)s to-ar aressing an environmental )roblem/


11/40


Our Environment &hrough &ime

Wherever h!mans have h!nte$ gro-n foo$ or settle$

they have change the environment/

For e6am)le$ the environmental change that occ!rre on

Manhattan Islan over the last 788 years -as immense$

yet that )erio of time -as j!st a 9blin5: in h!man history/


12/40


+unter'atherers

%!nter&gatherers are )eo)le -ho obtain foo by

collecting )lants an by h!nting -il animals or

scavenging their remains/

%!nter&gatherers affect their environment in many

-ays1

23 ;ative 'merican tribes h!nte b!ffalo/

43 The tribes also set fires to b!rn )rairies an )revent

the gro- of trees/ This left the )rairie as an o)engrasslan ieal for h!nting bison/


13/40


+unter'atherers

In ;orth 'merica$ a combination of ra)i climate

changes an overh!nting by h!nter&gatherers may have

le to the isa))earance of some large mammal

s)ecies$ incl!ing1

23 giant sloths

43 giant bison

73 mastoons


14/40


&he -gricultural .evolution

-gricultureis the raising of cro)s an livestoc5 for foo

or for other )ro!cts that are !sef!l to h!mans/

The )ractice of agric!lt!re starte in many ifferent )arts

of the -orl over 28$888 years ago/

The change ha s!ch a ramatic im)act on h!man

societies an their environment that it is often calle the

agric!lt!ral revol!tion/


15/40



The agric!lt!ral revol!tion allo-e h!man )o)!lations to

gro- at an !n)receente rate/

's )o)!lations gre-$ they began to concentrate in

smaller areas )lacing increase )ress!re on the local

environments/


16/40



The agric!lt!ral revol!tion change the foo -e eat/

The )lants -e gro- an eat toay are escene from

-il )lants/

%o-ever$ !ring harvest season farmers collecte seesfrom )lants that e6hibite the >!alities they esire$ s!ch

as large 5ernels/

These sees -ere then )lante an harveste again/

Overtime$ the omesticate )lants became very ifferentfrom their -il ancestors/


17/40



Many habitats -ere estroye as grasslans$ forests$

an -etlans -ere re)lace -ith farmlan/

(e)lacing forest -ith farmlan on a large scale can

ca!se soil loss$ floos$ an -ater shortages/


18/40



The slash&an&b!rn techni>!e -as one of the earliest-ays that lan -as converte to farmlan/

M!ch of this converte lan -as )oorly farme an is no

longer fertile/


19/40


&he $ndustrial .evolution

The In!strial (evol!tion involve a shift from energyso!rces s!ch as animals an r!nning -ater to fossil

f!els s!ch as coal an oil/

This increase !se of fossil f!els change society an

greatly increase the efficiency of agric!lt!re$ in!stry$

an trans)ortation/

For e6am)le$ motori#e vehicles allo-e foo to be

trans)orte chea)ly across greater istances/


20/40


&he $ndustrial .evolution

In factories$ the large&scale )ro!ction of goos becameless e6)ensive than the local )ro!ction of hanmae

goos/

On the farm$ machinery re!ce the amo!nt of lan an

h!man labor neee to )ro!ce foo/

With fe-er )eo)le )ro!cing their o-n foo$ the

)o)!lations in !rban areas steaily gre-/


21/40


$m/roving the 0ualit" of ife

The in!strial (evol!tion intro!ce many )ositivechanges s!ch as the light b!lb/

'gric!lt!ral )ro!ctivity increase$ an sanitation$

n!trition$ an meical care vastly im)rove/


22/40



%o-ever$ the In!strial (evol!tion also intro!ce manyne- environmental )roblems s!ch as )oll!tion an

habitat loss/

In the 288s$ moern societies began to !se artificial

s!bstances in )lace of ra- animals an )lant )ro!cts/

's a res!lt$ -e 5no- have materials s!ch as )lastics$

artificial )esticies$ an fertili#ers/


23/40



Many of these )ro!cts ma5e life easier$ b!t -e are no-beginning to !nerstan some of the environmental

)roblems they )resent/

In fact$ m!ch of environmental science is concerne -ith

the )roblems associate -ith the In!strial (evol!tion/


24/40


S/aceshi/ Earth

Earth can be com)are to a s)aceshi) traveling thro!ghs)ace as it cannot is)ose of its -aste or ta5e on ne-

s!))lies/

Earth is essentially a close system/

This means that the only thing that enters the Earth0s

atmos)here in large amo!nts is energy from the s!n$

an the only thing that leaves in large amo!nts is heat/

S i d h E i


25/40


S/aceshi/ Earth

This ty)e of close system has some )otential )roblems/

Some reso!rces are limite an as the )o)!lation gro-s

the reso!rces -ill be !se more ra)ily/

There is also the )ossibility that -e -ill )ro!ce -astesmore >!ic5ly than -e can is)ose of them/

S i d th E i t


26/40


S/aceshi/ Earth

Environmental )roblems can occ!r on ifferent scales1local$ regional$ or global/

' local e6am)le -o!l be yo!r comm!nity isc!ssing

-here to b!il a ne- lanfill/

' regional e6am)le -o!l be a )oll!te river 2888

miles a-ay affecting the region0s -ater/

' global e6am)le -o!l be the e)letion of the o#one

layer/

S i 1S i d th E i t


27/40


Po/ulation 'rowth

The In!strial (evol!tion$ moern meicine$ ansanitation all allo-e the h!man )o)!lation to gro-

faster than it ever ha before/

S ti 1S i d th E i t


28/40


Po/ulation 'rowth

In the )ast =8 years$ nations have !se vast amo!nts ofreso!rces to meet the -orls nee for foo/

,ro!cing eno!gh foo for large )o)!lations has

environmental conse>!ences s!ch as habitat estr!ction

an )esticie )oll!tion/



29/40


Po/ulation 'rowth

Most scientists thin5 that the h!man )o)!lation -illalmost o!ble in the 42st cent!ry before it begins to

stabili#e/

Beca!se of these )reictions$ -e can e6)ect the

)ress!re on the environment -ill contin!e to increase

an the h!man )o)!lation an its nee for foo an

reso!rces gro-/



30/40


#hat are our (ain Environmental Problems%

Environmental )roblems can generally be gro!)e intothree categories1

23 (eso!rce .e)letion

43 ,oll!tion

73 +oss of Bioiversity



31/40


.esource De/letion

atural .esourcesare any nat!ral materials that are!se by h!mans$ s!ch as$ -ater$ )etrole!m$ minerals$

forests$ an animals/

;at!ral reso!rces are classifie as either a rene-able

reso!rces or a nonrene-able reso!rce/

S ti 1Science and the Environment


32/40


.esource De/letion

(ene-able reso!rces canbe re)lace relatively

>!ic5ly by nat!ral )rocess/

;onrene-able reso!rces

form at a m!ch slo-er rate

than they are cons!me/

S ti 1Science and the Environment


33/40


.esource De/letion

(eso!rces are sai to be e)lete -hen a large fractionof the reso!rce has been !se !)/

Once the s!))ly of a nonrene-able reso!rce has been

!se !)$ it may ta5e millions of years to re)lenish it/

(ene-able reso!rces$ s!ch as trees$ may also be

e)lete ca!sing eforestation in some areas/



34/40


Pollution

Pollutionis an !nesirable change in the nat!ralenvironment that is ca!se by the intro!ction of

s!bstances that are harmf!l to living organisms or by

e6cessive -astes$ heat$ noise$ or raiation

M!ch of the )oll!tion that tro!bles !s toay is )ro!ce

by h!man activities an the acc!m!lation of -astes/



35/40


Pollution

There are t-o main ty)es of )oll!tants1

Bioegraable )oll!tants$ -hich can be bro5en o-n

by nat!ral )rocesses an incl!e materials s!ch as

ne-s)a)er/

;onegraable )oll!tants$ -hich cannot be bro5en

o-n by nat!ral )rocesses an incl!e materials

s!ch as merc!ry/



36/40


Pollution

.egraable )oll!tants are a )roblem only -hen theyacc!m!late faster than they can be bro5en o-n/

%o-ever$ beca!se nonegraable )oll!tants o not

brea5 o-n easily$ they can b!il !) to angero!s levels

in the environment/



37/40


oss of Biodiversit"

Bioiversity is the variety of organisms in a given area$the genetic variation -ithin a )o)!lation$ the variety of

s)ecies in a comm!nity$ or the variety of comm!nities in

an ecosystem/

The organisms that share the -orl -ith !s can be

consiere nat!ral reso!rces/

We e)en on them for foo$ the o6ygen -e breathe$

an for many other things/



38/40


oss of Biodiversit"

@et$ only a fraction of all the s)ecies that once roamethe Earth are alive toay$ an many are e6tinct/

Scientists thin5 that if the c!rrent e6tinction rates

contin!e$ it may ca!se )roblems for the h!man

)o)!lation/

Many )eo)le also arg!e that all s)ecies have )otential

economic$ scientific$ aesthetics$ an recreational val!e$

so it is im)ortant to )reserve them/



39/40


'ra/hic Organi*er



40/40


0uic2 -B

1. Understanding Our Envir

Documents

Transcript of 1. Understanding Our Envir