Download Notes 1 Environmental Science

Notes 1 Environmental Science
The Study of the impact we have with our world and how that world impacts us.
Ecology
Ecology is a biological science that studies the relationships between living organisms
and their environment.
Environmental Science
environmental science is an interdisciplinary science that combines information from
the physical and social sciences to learn how the earth works, how we interact with the
earth, and how to solve environmental problems.
Environmentalism
Environmentalism is a social movement dedicated to protecting the earth's life support
systems.
Capital = Stored stuff that has value.
Resources=Usable Stuff that has value and may be used.
Types of and Capital
Almost all countries seek economic growth or economic development by converting
their natural and solar capital into resources and wealth.
Indicators such as gross domestic product (GDP) and per capita GDP measure
economic growth
Resources=material and objects that are converted into wealth.
Resources
Perpetual= Constantly giving Ex. Solar energy
Renewable=Replenish themselves naturally on a human time scale
Environmental degradation occurs when the rate of use of a renewable resource exceeds
the sustainable yield
Nonrenewable. Resources that are not replenished.
Recycling and reuse slow the depletion of nonrenewable resources.
Countries And Wealth
Developed countries have a greater degree of industrialization and wealth (GDP) per
capita than developing countries.
Globalization=an increasingly interconnected world,
 products, services, capital, ideas, and people constantly cross international borders.
Affluenza,"
an addiction to overconsumption, affects many people in the developed world. On the
other hand, developed countries typically have cleaner air and water and more efficient
use of energy and materials.
sustainable yield (sustained yield)
Highest rate at which a potentially renewable resource can be used without reducing its
available supply throughout the world or in a particular area.
environmental degradation
Depletion or destruction of a potentially renewable resource such as soil, grassland,
forest, or wildlife that is used faster than it is naturally replenished. If such use continues,
the resource becomes nonrenewable (on a human time scale) or nonexistent (extinct).
Tragedy of the commons
Depletion or degradation of a potentially renewable resource to which people have free
and unmanaged access. An example is the depletion of commercially desirable fish
species in the open ocean beyond areas controlled by coastal countries.
The process of The Tragedy of the commons
There is so much of it I can take as much as I want.
If I don’t do it take it some one else will. So it might as well be me.
It is going to disappear so I might get some benefit from it before it is gone.
pollution
An undesirable change in the physical, chemical, or biological characteristics of air,
water, soil, or food that can adversely affect the health, survival, or activities of humans
or other living organisms.
Point Source and Nonpoint Source
point source
Single identifiable source that discharges pollutants into the environment. Examples are
the smokestack of a power plant or an industrial plant, drainpipe of a meatpacking plant,
chimney of a house, or exhaust pipe of an automobile.
Nonpoint source
Large or dispersed land areas such as crop fields, streets, and lawns that discharge
pollutants into the environment over a large area.
ecological footprint
Amount of biologically productive land and water needed to supply each person or
population with the renewable resources they use and to absorb or dispose of the wastes
from such resource use. It measures the average environmental impact of individuals or
populations in different countries and areas.
Developed World
1st world
Advance health care
Information- Industrial-Services
Few Children 1-3
Late producers
Decreasing populations
Decreasing infant mortality
Older populations
Developing Countries
3rd world
Agricultural-factory
Minimal health care
Education limited
Young producers
Many children 2-5
High infant mortality.
environmental worldview
How people think the world works, what they think their role in the world should be,
and what they believe is right and wrong environmental behavior (environmental ethics).
People have differing environmental worldviews or environmental ethics. Most people in
industrial consumer societies have a planetary management worldview, which promotes
economic growth
planetary management worldview
Beliefs that
 (1) as the planet’s most important species, we are in charge of the earth;
(2) we will not run out of resources because of our ability to develop and find new ones;
(3) the potential for economic growth is essentially unlimited; and
 (4) our success depends on how well we manage the earth's life-support systems mostly
for our own benefit.
Space Ship Earth
The theory that the earth is like a space ship.
We can not leave it and what ever we do to it will impact us.
So
we better take care of it.
It wont last for ever
What we do will come back on us.
What people do on other parts of the world will effect us.
Technological World View
Our technological growth has created a problem.
But our technology will also solve it.