ChCh

13
An Introduction to
Chapter title Science
Environmental
Part 1: Foundations of
Part title Science
Environmental

PowerPoint® Slides prepared by

Jay Withgott and Heidi Marcum

Copyright © 2006 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings
This lecture will help you understand:

• The meaning of the term

environment
• The importance of natural
resources
• That environmental science is
interdisciplinary
• The scientific method and how
science operates
• Some pressures facing the
global environment
• Sustainability and sustainable
development

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Environment: the total of our surroundings
• All the things around us with which we
interact:
• Living things
• Animals, plants, forests, fungi, etc.
• Nonliving things
• Continents, oceans, clouds, soil, rocks
• Our built environment
• Buildings, human-created living
centers
• Social relationships and institutions
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Humans and the world around us

• Humans change the environment, often in ways not fully

understood
• We depend completely on the environment for survival
- Increased wealth, health, mobility, leisure time
- But, natural systems have been degraded
- i.e., pollution, erosion and species extinction
- Environmental changes threaten long-term health and survival
• Environmental science is the study of:
- How the natural world works
- How the environment affects humans and vice versa

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Natural resources: vital to human survival
Natural resources = substances and energy sources needed for
survival

• Renewable resources:
- Perpetually available: sunlight, wind, wave energy
- Renew themselves over short periods: timber, water, soil
- These can be destroyed
• Nonrenewable resources: can be depleted
- Oil, coal, minerals
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Global human population growth
• More than 6.7 billion humans
• Why so many humans?
- Agricultural revolution
10,000 years ago

- Stable food supplies

- Industrial revolution
mid-1700’s

- Urbanized society
powered by fossil fuels
- Sanitation and
medicines
- More food
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Thomas Malthus and human population

• Thomas Malthus (1766-1834)

An Essay on the Principal of Population
(1798)

• Population growth must be

restricted, or it will outstrip
food production
• Starvation, war, disease
• Neo-Malthusians
• Population growth has
disastrous effects
• Paul and Anne Ehrlich, The
Population Bomb (1968)
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Garrett Hardin’s Tragedy of the Commons
•Unregulated exploitation leads to resource
depletion
• Soil, air, water
•Resource users are tempted to increase use until
the resource is gone
•Solution?
• Private ownership?
• Voluntary organization to enforce
responsible use?
• Governmental regulations?
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The “ecological footprint”
Mathis Wackernagel & William Rees (1990s)
• The environmental impact of
a person or population
- Amount of biologically
productive land + water
- for raw materials and to
dispose/recycle waste
• Overshoot: humans have
surpassed the Earth’s
capacity…or have they???
We are using 30% more of the planet’s resources than
are available on a sustainable basis!
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Environmental science
… can help us avoid mistakes made by past civilizations.

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 Easter Island
“The Mirror of our Fate”

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings
Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings
Questions
1. Describe what happened on Easter Island.
2. Why did the population collapse? What evidence do
we have to support the conclusions concerning the fate
of Easter Island?
3. In a paragraph write a reaction to the essay. Do you
think Easter Island can be or should be considered a
“Mirror of our Fate”.
The lesson of Easter Island: people annihilated their culture
by destroying their environment. Can we act more
wisely to conserve our resources?

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Environmental science: how does the
natural world work?
Environment  impacts  Humans

• It has an applied goal: developing

solutions to environmental problems

• An interdisciplinary field
- Natural sciences: information about the
world
- Environmental Science programs
- Social sciences: values and human
behavior
- Environmental Studies programs

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What is an “environmental problem”?

- The perception of what

constitutes a problem varies
between individuals and
societies
- Ex.: DDT, a pesticide
- In developing countries:
welcome because it kills
malaria-carrying mosquitoes
- In developed countries: not
welcome, due to health risks

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Environmental science is not environmentalism

•Environmental science
• The pursuit of knowledge
about the natural world
• Scientists try to remain
objective
•Environmentalism
• A social movement dedicated
to protecting the natural world

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The nature of science
• Science:
- A systematic process for learning about the world and
testing our understanding of it
- A dynamic process of observation, testing, and
discovery
- The accumulated body of knowledge that results from
this process
• Science is essential
- To sort fact from fiction
- Develop solutions to the problems we face

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 The Demon Haunted World: Science as a
Candle in the Dark
Carl Sagan (1995)
• We’ve arranged a global civilization in which the most crucial elements-
transportation, communications, and all other industries; agriculture, medicine,
education, entertainment, protecting the environment; and even the key
democratic institution of voting-profoundly depend on science and technology.
We have also arranged this so that almost no one understands science and
technology. This is a prescription for disaster. We might get away with it for a
while, but sooner or later this combustible mixture of ignorance and power is
going to blow up in or faces…Science is an attempt, largely successful, to
understand the world, to get a grip on things, to get hold of ourselves, to steer a
safe course.

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Applications of science
Policy decisions and
management practices Technology

Energy-efficient methanol-
powered fuel cell car from
DaimlerChrysler

Restoration of forest ecosystems altered

by human suppression of fire
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The scientific method

• A technique for testing ideas

with observations
• Assumptions:
- The universe works
according to unchanging
natural laws
- Events arise from causes,
and cause other events
- We use our senses and
reason to understand
nature’s laws

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The scientific method
• A scientist makes an observation and
asks questions of some phenomenon
• The scientist formulates a
hypothesis, a statement that attempts
to explain the scientific question.
• The hypothesis is used to generate
predictions, which are specific
statements that can be directly and
unequivocally tested.
• The test results either support or
reject the hypothesis

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Assumptions of Science

• Events in the natural world follow patterns that can be understood

through careful observation and scientific analysis.
• These basic patterns and rules that describe them are the same
through the universe
• Science is based on a type of reasoning known as induction
• Generalizations can be subjected to tests that may disprove them.
• Although new evidence can disprove existing theories, science can
never provide absolute proof of the truth of its theories.

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The Nature of Scientific Proof

• Deductive reasoning:
- Drawing a conclusion from initial definitions and
assumptions by means of logical reasoning.
• Inductive reasoning:
- Drawing a conclusion from a limited set of specific
observations.

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Measurements and Uncertainty

• Experimental errors:
- Measurement uncertainties and other errors that occur
in experiments.
• Accuracy:
- The extent to which a measurement agrees with the
accepted value
• Precision:
- The degree of exactness with which a quantity is
measured

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Observations, Facts, Inferences, and Hypotheses

• Observations:
- The basis of science, may be made through any of the five
senses or by instruments that measure beyond what we can see.
• Inference:
- A generalization that arises from a set of observations.
• Fact:
- When what is observed about a particular thing is agreed on by
all or almost all.

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Experiments test the validity of a hypothesis
Manipulative/Controlled
experiments yield the strongest
evidence
•Dependent variable:
- A variable taken as the
outcome of one or more
variables.
•Independent variable:
- The variable that is
manipulated by the
investigator; affects the
dependent variable

• But, lots of things can’t be

manipulated
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Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings
© 2008 John Wiley and Sons Publishers
 • Natural or correlational tests show real-world
complexity

- Results are not so neat and clean, so answers aren’t

simply black and white

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The scientific process is part of a larger process

• The scientific process

includes peer review,
publication, and debate
• A consistently
supported hypothesis
becomes a theory, a well-
tested and widely
accepted explanation
• With enough data, a
paradigm shift – a
change in the dominant
view – can occur

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Population & consumption

• Human population growth exacerbates all environmental

problems
- The growth rate has slowed, but we still add more than
200,000 people to the planet each day
• Our consumption of resources has risen even faster than
our population growth.
- Life has become more pleasant for us so far
- However, rising consumption amplifies the demands
we make on our environment.

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Ecological footprints are not all equal

• The ecological footprints of

countries vary greatly
- The U.S. footprint is
almost 5 times greater
than the world’s average
- Developing countries have
much smaller footprints
than developed countries

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We face challenges in agriculture

• Expanded food production led to increased

population and consumption

• It’s one of humanity’s greatest achievements, but

at an enormous environmental cost
• Nearly half of the planet’s land surface is used
for agriculture
• Chemical fertilizers
• Pesticides
• Erosion
• Changed natural systems

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We face challenges in pollution
• Waste products and artificial chemicals used in
farms, industries, and households

Each year, millions of people die from pollution

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We face challenges in climate
• Scientists have firmly concluded that humans are
changing the composition of the atmosphere
• The Earth’s surface is warming
• Melting glaciers
• Rising sea levels
• Impacted wildlife and crops
• Increasingly destructive weather

Since the Industrial Revolution, atmospheric carbon

dioxide concentrations have risen by 37%, to the highest
level in 650,000 years

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We face challenges in biodiversity
• Human actions have driven many species extinct, and
biodiversity is declining dramatically
• We are at the onset of a mass extinction event

Biodiversity loss may be our biggest environmental

problem; once a species is extinct, it is gone forever
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 The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
2005
included 2000 world’s leading environmental scientists from 100
countries
• The most comprehensive scientific assessment of the
condition of the world’s ecological systems
• Major findings:
• Humans have drastically altered ecosystems
• These changes have contributed to human well-
being and economic development, but at a cost
• Environmental degradation could get much worse
• Degradation can be reversed, but it requires work
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Our energy choices will affect our future

• The lives we live today are due to fossil fuels

• Machines
• Chemicals
• Transportation
• Products
• Fossil fuels are a one-time bonanza; supplies will
certainly decline

We have used up ½ of the world’s oil supplies; how

will we handle this imminent fossil fuel shortage?

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Sustainable solutions exist
• We must develop solutions that protect both our quality
of life and the environment
• Organic agriculture
• Technology
- Reduces pollution
• Biodiversity
- Protect species
• Waste disposal
- Recycling
• Alternative fuels
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Are things getting better or worse?
• Many people think environmental conditions are better
• Cornucopians: Human ingenuity will solve any
problem

• Some think things are much worse in the world

• Cassandras: predict doom and disaster

• How can you decide who is correct?

• Are the impacts limited to humans, or are other
organisms or systems involved?
• Are the proponents thinking in the long or short term?
• Are they considering all costs and benefits?

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Sustainability: a goal for the future
• How can humans live within the planet’s means?
- Humans cannot exist without functioning natural
systems

• Sustainability
- Leaves future generations with a rich and full Earth
- Conserves the Earth’s natural resources
- Maintains fully functioning ecological systems

• Sustainable development: the use of resources to satisfy

current needs without compromising future availability of
resources
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Will we develop in a sustainable way?

• The triple bottom line:

sustainable solutions that meet
- Environmental goals
- Economic goals
- Social goals

• Requires that humans apply

knowledge from the sciences to
- Limit environmental impacts
- Maintain functioning
ecological systems

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Conclusion

• Environmental science helps us understand our

relationship with the environment and informs our
attempts to solve and prevent problems.
• Identifying a problem is the first step in solving it
• Solving environmental problems can move us towards
health, longevity, peace and prosperity
- Environmental science can help us find balanced
solutions to environmental problems

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

QUESTION: Review
The term “environment” includes

a) Animals and plants

b) Oceans and rivers
c) Soil and atmosphere
d) All of the above are included in this term

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

QUESTION: Review
Which of the following is correct about the term
“environmentalism”?

a) It is very science-oriented
b) It is a social movement to protect the environment
c) It usually does not include advocacy for the
environment
d) It involves scientists trying to solve environmental
problems

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QUESTION: Review

Adding various amounts of fertilizer to plants in a

laboratory is a _____ type of experiment

a) Correlative
b) Natural
c) Manipulative
d) Rare

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QUESTION: Review

What is the definition of “sustainable development”?

a) Using resources to benefit future generations, even

if it means lower availability now
b) Letting future generations figure out their own
problems
c) Using resources to satisfy current needs without
compromising future availability
d) Letting each country decide what is its best interest

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QUESTION: Weighing the Issues

Which do you think is the best way to protect

commonly owned resources (i.e., air, water, fisheries)?

a) Sell the resource to a private entity

b) Voluntary organizations to enforce responsible use
c) Governmental regulations
d) Do nothing and see what happens

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QUESTION: Weighing the Issues

Do you think the rest of the world can have an

ecological footprint as large as the footprint of the
United States?

a) Yes, because we will find new technologies and

resources
b) Yes, because the footprint of the United States is
not really that large
c) Definitely not; the world does not have that many
resources
d) It does not matter; it’s not that important
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QUESTION: Interpreting Graphs and Data
According to this graph, what has happened to the
population over the last 500 years?

a) It has grown
exponentially
b) It has grown
linearly
c) It has decreased
d) It has slowed
down recently

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QUESTION: Interpreting Graphs and Data
What happens if test results reject
a hypothesis?

a) The scientist formulates a new

hypothesis
b) It shows the test failed
c) The hypothesis was supported
d) The predictions may not have
been correct

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