Download Chapter 1 – Understanding Our Environment

Chapter 1 – Understanding Our
Environment
Chapter 1 Outline
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Nature of science
Basic statistics
Define “environmental science”
Historical perspectives
Current environmental concerns
Discuss sustainability
Science
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Body of knowledge
A process, a way of thinking
Limitations
Uncertainty
Characteristics
– Observable, Uniform, Tentative, Repeatable,
Testable
• What science is not
– Pseudoscience and Non-science
Answered Through Science or No?
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Is racism bad?
What makes food spoil?
What is your favorite soft drink?
What is love?
Why is the sky blue?
What causes earthquakes?
Science as a Way of Thinking
• Problem Solving and Critical Thinking
• Roots in Greek philosophy, Arabic
mathematics and astronomy, and Chinese
naturalism
• Really examine data and information
• Look for hidden ideas and subtle
meanings
Applying Critical Thinking
• Identify and evaluate premises and
conclusions in an argument;
• Acknowledge and clarify uncertainties,
vagueness, equivocation, and contradictions;
• Distinguish between facts and values;
• Recognize and assess assumptions;
• Distinguish source reliability or unreliability;
• Recognize and understand conceptual
frameworks.
Scientific Method
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Step 1 – Be curious and make observations
Step 2 – Identify and define the problem
Step 3 – Gather information
Step 4 – Develop a hypothesis
Step 5 – Design a testing method
Step 6 – Carry out test
Step 7 – Analyze data
Step 8 – Draw conclusions
Step 9 – Accept or reject hypothesis
Step 10 – Rework hypothesis
Observation
New observations
are made, and previous
data are studied.
Flow Diagram for the
Scientific Method
Hypothesis
Input from various sources
is used to formulate a
testable statement.
Experiment/Observations
The hypothesis is
tested by experiment
or further observations.
Conclusion
The results are analyzed,
and the hypothesis is
supported or rejected.
Scientific Theory
Many experiments and
observations support a
theory.
Statistics
• Science of collecting, organizing,
summarizing, analyzing, and making
inferences from data
• Descriptive
• Inferential
• Populations, samples, and making sense
of data
Environment
• All the
circumstances
and conditions
that surround
an organism or
a group of
organisms.
Environmental Science
• The study of our
environment and our
place in it.
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Systematic
Interdisciplinary
Integrative
Mission-oriented
• Ecology is the study of
an organism or
organisms, the impact of
the environment on
them, and their impact
on the environment.
Dynamic Nature
• Knowledge constantly expanding
• New discoveries
• Implications in public health, lifestyle
choices, resource use and consumption,
technology, culture, etc.
• So . . . many issues involve controversy
Why Study the Environment?
• Examine conditions, draw conclusions,
make decisions
• Human health depends on the health of
the whole environment
• Achieve balance between ecological,
social, and economic concerns
History of Environmental Science
• Four Distinct Stages
– Pragmatic Resource
Conservation
– Moral and Aesthetic
Nature Preservation
– Health and Ecological
Damage
– Global Environmental
Citizenship
Pragmatic Resource Conservation
• Develop and conserve natural resources
for benefit of all people
• George Perkins Marsh
– Man and Nature, 1864
• Roosevelt and Pinchot
– US Forest Service
– Utilitarian Conservation
– “Greatest good for the greatest number of
people, for the longest time”
Moral and Aesthetic Nature
Preservation
• Nature has a
fundamental right to
exist
– Biocentric preservation
• John Muir
– Opposed USFS
multiple-use
philosophy
Modern Environmentalism
• New concerns from:
– Pollution
– Human population
growth
– Many, many chemicals
– Atomic weapons
testing
– Wilderness protection
• Rachel Carson
– Silent Spring, 1962
• First Earth Day 1970
Global Concerns
• Increased technology
has increased
international
communications
• Realization that
degraded
environmental
conditions do not
recognize political
boundaries
Environmental Justice
• Combines civil rights and environmental
protection to demand a safe, health
environment and resources for all people
regardless of race, gender, economic
status
• Basis – Minorities (ethnic and financial)
around the world are subjected to a
disproportionately high level of
environmental health risks in their
neighborhood and jobs
Current Environmental Dilemmas
• Human population
• Water quantity and
quality problems
• Deforestation
• Energy sources
• Fossil fuel use
• Loss of wetlands
• Soil degradation
• Overharvesting of
fisheries
Current Environmental Dilemmas, cont.
• Air quality
• Chemical pollution (DDT, PCBs, mercury,
TCE, etc.)
• Environmental destruction and loss of
biodiversity
• Climate change
• Human health?
Major Causes of Environmental
Degradation
• Population Growth
• Resource Extraction and Use
Human Dimensions of
Environmental Science
• 1.4 billion people (20% of world
population) in acute poverty (< US $1 a
day)
• 4 out of 5 people globally live in poverty
(by U.S. standards)
• The world's poorest people are often
forced to meet short-term survival needs
at the cost of long-term sustainability
Wealthier Nations
• North America, Singapore, Australia,
Japan, United Arab Emirates, Western
Europe, Israel, New Zealand
• Poor people in these countries as well
– 10 million Americans do not have enough to
eat
• Wealthiest 200 people in the world have a
combined wealth of $1 trillion - more than
the total wealth of the poorest half (3
billion people) of world’s population
Resource Division
• Lifestyle
– Affluent lifestyles consume inordinate
amounts of resources and produce larger
amounts of pollutants and waste
– US example:
• 5% of world population
• Uses 25% commercially-traded commodities
• Produces 25-50% of wastes
Population * Affluence *
Technology
Interaction Impacts the
Environment
Sustainable Development
• “Meeting the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to
meet their own needs.”
• How 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?
• Must benefit all people, not a privileged few
Is Sustainable Development
Possible?
• Many economists see continual economic
growth as essential in providing more
resources to more people
• Many ecologists view continual growth as
impossible in the long-run
– non-renewable resources limits
– waste-disposal limits
• It’s all in the definition
Indigenous People
• Indigenous peoples are
generally among the least
powerful, most neglected groups.
– In many countries, traditional
caste systems, discriminatory
laws, economics, or
prejudices repress
indigenous peoples.
– In many places, indigenous
people in traditional
homelands guard
undisturbed habitats and rare
species.
– Recognizing native land
rights may safeguard
ecological processes.
“The important thing is not to stop
questioning. Curiosity has its own reason
for existing. One cannot help but be in
awe when he contemplates the mysteries
of eternity, of life, of the marvelous
structure of reality. It is enough if one tries
merely to comprehend a little of this
mystery every day. Never lose a holy
curiosity."
Albert Einstein