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Background Information: general overview of the principals of Environmental Science
What is the study of Environmental Science?
Environmental Science is an interdisciplinary science that uses concepts and information
from natural sciences such as ecology, biology, chemistry, and geology and social
sciences such as economics, politics, and ethics to 1) help us understand how the earth
works, 2) learn how we are affecting the earth’s life-support systems (environment) for us
and other forms of life, and 3) propose and evaluate solutions to the environmental
problems we face.1
There are 6 important Environmental Issues that humankind faces. They are 1)
population growth, 2) increasing resource use, 3) destruction and degradation of wildlife
habitats, 4) premature extinction of plants and animals, 5) poverty, and 6) pollution.
Targeted Investigations in Environmental Science (TIES) is an interdisciplinary study of
harmful chemicals in our environment and the relationship these chemicals have to
environmental issues. The chemicals investigated in TIES do not only fall under the
category of “pollution’ or “destruction and degradation of wildlife habitats” but include
poverty, increasing resource use, premature extinction of plants and animals and, even,
population growth.
Define: field, lab, risk assessment, mitigation,
Where Do Pollutants Come from and what types of Harm Do they do? 2

Point sources, whare polltants come from single, identififiable sources. Examples
are the 1) smokestack of a coal-burning power plant
Link for Ramapo College of NJ, APA citation
http://www.ramapo.edu/content/campus.resources/potter/cite.html
1
Miller, Jr., G.Tyler. (2002), Living in the Environment: Principals, Connections, and Solutions; Twelfth
Edition, CA: Wadsworth/Thompson Learning
2
Miller, Jr., G.Tyler. (2002), Living in the Environment: Principals, Connections, and Solutions; Twelfth
Edition, CA: Wadsworth/Thompson Learning
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