Download Introduction to Environmental Science

Introduction to the History
of Environmental Science
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Chapter 2
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Environmental Science Cont’d

Environmental Science is
an interdisciplinary field.

Includes concepts and
ideas from several
different branches of
science
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Environmental Science

How can we define environmental
science?

An interdisciplinary science which
investigates issues caused by humans
using the natural world (our environment).
It tries to identify and then find remedies
for harmful problems.

How humans interact with nature
Environmental Science

What are some of the important areas of study
associated with environmental science?

Biology
Ecology
Chemistry
Earth science
Political science
Economics
Ethics and philosophy
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Environment

What is the Environment?

Conditions that surround living organisms
including climate, soil, and other organisms.
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Major Concerns of Environmental
Science
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Human population: underlying most of the
environmental issues of today
Sustainability: continued availability of resources
(future generations or economy?)
Global perspective: planetary environment, not only
local or regional effects, we are in a large-scale
planetary experiment
Urban world: increasing problems due to neglect, also
considered an ecological community
Values, knowledge, social justice: understanding our
values and identifying those which are socially just
Spaceship Earth
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Spaceship Earth
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At one point Earth was an Open System
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Earth is a Closed System
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Both matter and energy was cycled between earth and the
external environment.
All mater is cycled within the biosphere
The only thing that enters or leaves the Earth in large quantities
is HEAT (energy).
Problems with Closed Systems
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Resources are limited, but the population continues to increase
Wastes do not go away
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Major Environmental Problems

Resource Depletion
Resources can be renewable (water) or
nonrenewable (oil)
 The supply of fossil fuels and metals will
eventually run out.
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Pollution
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Undesired change in air, water, or soil that
affects the health of living things.
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Major Environmental Problems

Loss of Biodiversity
The number and variety of species is
decreasing.
 Extinction – Natural or man-made?

The Tasmanian tiger
may be the only mammal to become
extinct in the past 200 years on the
island of Tasmania. During the same
period of time, on nearby Australia,
as much as 50 percent of all mammals
became extinct.
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4 Main Cultural Changes and the
Environment
Hunters-Gatherers
 Agricultural revolution
 Industrial revolution
 Information and globalization revolution
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Hunters-Gatherers
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Hunter-Gatherers (10,000 B.C.)
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Obtain food by collecting plants and hunting
wild animals.
How did they affect the environment?
Hunted and killed animals
 Picked up and spread plants/seeds to new
areas.
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Hunters-Gatherers
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Most of human existence
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Collect edible plants, fish, hunt
Lived in small bands
Worked together to survive
Nomadic
Population grew slowly
Small environmental impact
Hunters-Gatherers
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The indigenous people of
South Africa are variously
referred to as Bushmen,
San, Sho, Barwa, Kung,
or Khwe. These people
were traditionally hunters
and gathers.
They were recently
switched to farming due
to government mandated
modernization.
Agricultural Revolution
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Agricultural Revolution (6000-7000 B.C.)
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Humans first developed the process of
breeding, growing, and harvesting plants for
food.
How did this affect the environment?
Human population grew quickly
 Natural habitats (grasslands, rainforests)
replaced by farmland and villages.
 New breeds of animals and plants were
created.
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Agricultural Revolution
Hunters and Gathers 
settled, agricultural
communities
 Plant cultivation developed

Slash and burn/shifting
cultivation
 Sustainable
 Little impact on the
environment-no machinery
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ENVIRONMENTAL
SUSTAINABILITY

The ability to allow the environment to
function indefinitely without going into a
decline from the stresses imposed by
human society on natural recourses.
Spaceship Earth
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1
Clearing
and burning
vegetation
2
Planting
Allowing
to revegetate
10 to 30 years
4
3
Harvesting for
2 to 5 years
Industrial Revolution
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Industrial Revolution
(1700s Europe 1800s
US)
 Shift in the source of
energy to fossil fuels
How did this affect the
environment?
 Increased the
efficiency of farming
 Increased the size of
cities
 Introduced plastics,
pesticides, fertilizers
and air pollution.
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Industrial Revolution
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Cultural shifts
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Renewable (can be replenished with time) 
nonrenewable (can not be replenished with time)
Localized goods large scale, machine made
Rural  Urban
Increased crop yields/acre w/ farm machinery
Population ↑ sharply
Environmental impact ↑
More goods, More people, More problems
Environmental History of the US
4 Eras

The environmental history of the US can
be divided into 4 eras:
Tribal
 Frontier
 Early conservation
 Modern Envrionmentalism

Environmental History of the US
Tribal Era
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Native Americans
10,000 years before
European settlement
Hunters and Gatherers
Slash and burn/shifting
cultivation
Small population
Low environmental
impact
Environmental History of the US
Frontier Era
Early 1600’s—European
settlement
 Frontier environmental
worldview—vast and
inexhaustible resources
 Tribes and land conquered
 Publicprivate land
 Government declared
frontier officially closed in
1890
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John James Audubon (1785-1851)
Painted lifelike portraits of animals in
natural surroundings
 Increased widespread public interest
in wildlife.
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Henry David Thoreau (1817 –1862)
and other writers addressed these
issues but not taken seriously Urged
part of unspoiled wilderness be
protected as legacy to future
generations
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He wrote on how people could simplify
their lives to live in harmony with the
natural work.
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"Most of the luxuries and many of the
so-called comforts of life are not only
not indispensable, but positive
hindrances to the elevation of
mankind.” - Thoreau
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George Perkins Marsh (1801
–1882), is considered by some
to be America's first
environmentalist.
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Wrote the book Man vs. Nature
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First to suggest that humans
are an agent affecting global
environmental change.
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Marsh argued deforestation
leads to eroded soils that led to
decreased soil productivity.
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Man vs. Nature helped
increase awareness of the
need for conservation.
Deforestation
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Upton Sinclair wrote The
Jungle about the life of the
immigrant in the United States.
And unintentionally exposed
the corruption of the American
meatpacking industry during
the early 20th century.
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It exposed the corruption on
the side of big industry, and
major neglect in treatment of
food for the exchange of a
cheaper product.
Environmental History of the US
Early Conservation
1870-1930
↑ citizens interest in resource
conservation
 ↑ role of government
 1891-Forest Reserve Act established
federal government as responsible
for protecting public lands
 1892-John Muir founded Sierra Club
and led preservationist movement
 1872-Yellowstone National Park
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Theodore Roosevelt (18581919)
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26th President of the United
States (1901-1909)
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Used his position to pave the
way for environmentalists of
the future.
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He set aside land for national
forests, established wildlife
refuges, and advocated
protection of natural resources
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Appointed Gifford Pinchot
(1865-1946) the first head of
US Forest Service.
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Utilitarian Conservationists:
Conserve when it is of use to
the people – provides jobs
During His Presidency
Established wildlife reserves and tripled size
of national reserve
 President given power to designate public
land as federal wildlife reserves
 1905-US Forest Service
 1906-Antiquities Act President can protect
areas on federal lands as national
monuments (Grand Canyon)
 “Golden Age of Conservation”
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Environmental Ethics
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Environmental ethics is the discipline that
studies the moral relationship of human
beings to, and also the value and moral
status of, the environment.
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Environmental change within democracies
involves voicing opinions through elected
officials, legislation, budgeting, and
lobbying by special interest groups.
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Types of Environmental Ethics
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Five Distinct Stages:
Anthropocentric
 Pragmatic Resource Conservation
 Moral and Aesthetic Nature Preservation
 Modern Environmentalism
 Global Environmental Citizenship
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Case Study: Hetch Hetchy Valley in
Yosemite
San Francisco in 1903 is experiencing
severe water shortages due to a rapidly
increasing population.
 The Tolumne river runs through nearby
Hetch Hetchy valley.
 Proposal: Dam the river, create a
reservoir for water supplies and
hydroelectric power.
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Problem: The valley lies within Yosemite
National Park; public land.
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Hetch Hetchy Valley
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Tolumne River, California
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Build the Dam!
The nearby people need water, and there
are no other practical sources.
 The dam will produce pollution-free
renewable electricity.
 The valley will be even more beautiful with
a lake.
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Preserve the Valley!
Hetch Hetchy is on a national park.
 The natural ecosystem will be flooded and
destroyed.
 The picturesque beauty of the valley will
be ruined.
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Anthropocentrism
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Literally means “human-centered”
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The protection or promotion of human
interests or well-being at the expense of all
other factors.
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Pragmatic Resource
Conservation
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Advocated by President
Theodore Roosevelt.
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The environment should
be used in a planned way to
benefit everyone.
 Should
be used for “the greatest
good for the greatest number, for
the longest time.”
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Moral and Aesthetic Nature
Preservation
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Advocated by John
Muir, first president of
the Sierra Club.
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Nature deserves to
exist for its own sake
regardless of degree of
usefulness to humans.
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So…What Happened?
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Pragmatic Resource Conservation

Franklin D. Roosevelt
(FDR)
 1933-Civil
Conservation
Corp (CCC)
 2 million people
employed
 Restore degraded
environment, built dams,
etc.
Global Environmentalism
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Increased travel and communication
enables people to know about daily events
in places unknown in previous
generations.
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Issues and problems are explored on a global
scale instead of a local one.
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Modern Environmentalism

Rachel Carson wrote a book
entitled Silent Spring about
the effects of pesticides on
birds.
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Awakened the public to threats
of pollution and toxic
chemicals to humans as well
as other species.
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Aldo Leopold

Aldo Leopold was an
American author,
scientist,
environmentalist. He was
a professor at the
University of Wisconsin
and is best known for his
book A Sand County
Almanac(1949)
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Focused on
environmental ethics and
in the movement for
wilderness conservation.
Aldo Leopold
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"This sounds simple: do we not already sing our love for
and obligation to the land of the free and the home of the
brave? Yes, but just what and whom do we love?
Certainly not the soil, which we are sending helterskelter down river. Certainly not the waters, which we
assume have no function except to turn turbines, float
barges, and carry off sewage. Certainly not the plants, of
which we exterminate whole communities without batting
an eye. Certainly not the animals, of which we have
already extirpated many of the largest and most beautiful
species. A land ethic of course cannot prevent the
alteration, management, and use of these ‘resources,’
but it does affirm their right to continued existence, and,
at least in spots, their continued existence in a natural
state. In short, a land ethic changes the role of Homo
sapiens from conqueror of the land-community to plain
member and citizen of it. It implies respect for his fellowmembers, and also respect for the community as such."
Environmental Decade
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Nixon
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1970-EPA established
1973-Endagered Species Act
1978-Bureau of Land Management
started to manage public lands
through Federal Land Policy and
Management Act
“Sagebrush Rebellion” – Public
vs. Private Land (We will come
back to this)
Environmental Decade

Jimmy Carter
1977-Department of Energy (DOE)
to reduce dependence on foreign
oil
 1977-Clean Water Act
 1980-Superfund created in
response to Love Canal to clean
up abandoned hazardous waste
 Tripled land in National Wilderness
system and doubled land in the
National Park System

Anti-Environmental Movement
Anti-environmental movement formed
to weaken laws of 60’s and 70’s
 Ronald Reagan
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Increased private energy, mineral
development and timber cutting
 Funding for environmental resources cut
 The “wise use” movement formed to weaken
government over environmental issues
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Clinton protected more public
lands as national monuments
than any other Pres.
 1997-Kyoto Japan 161 nations
met to negotiate a treaty to
decrease emissions and slow
global warming
 Environmentalists countering
claims global warming and
ozone depletion are hoaxes
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George W Bush
 Withdrew US totally
from Kyoto treaty
What is next?
Timeline Activity
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Your timeline should include:
Key dates/events that documents the growth
and development of environmental awareness.
A picture/symbol that represents that date/event.
A sentence describing why that date/event was
important.
Then at the end of the timeline make a
prediction…..What do you think will happen
next?