Transcript Environmental Science C1

Environmental Science
The Study of the impact we have
with our world and how that
world impacts us.
Ecology
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Ecology is a biological science that studies
the relationships between living organisms
and their environment.
Environmental Science
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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
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Environmentalism is a social movement
dedicated to protecting the earth's life
support systems.
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Capital = Stored stuff that has value.
Resources=Usable Stuff that has value
and may be used.
Types of and Capital
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Solar =Energy stored in the sun
•Natural=Resources stored on earth
•Human=?
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Almost all countries seek economic growth
or economic development by converting
their natural and solar capital into
resources and wealth.
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Indicators such as gross domestic product
(GDP) and per capita GDP measure
economic growth
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Resources=material and objects that are
converted into wealth.
Resources
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Perpetual= Constantly giving Ex. Solar energy
Renewable=Replenish themselves naturally on
a human time scale
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Environmental degradation occurs when the rate of
use of a renewable resource exceeds the
sustainable yield
Nonrenewable. Resources that are not
replenished.
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Recycling and reuse slow the depletion of
nonrenewable resources.
Countries And Wealth
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Developed countries have a greater
degree of industrialization and wealth
(GDP) per capita than developing
countries.
Globalization=an increasingly
interconnected world,
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products, services, capital, ideas, and people
constantly cross international borders.
Affluenza,"
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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)
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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
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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
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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
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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
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point source
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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
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Large or dispersed land areas such as crop
fields, streets, and lawns that discharge
pollutants into the environment over a
large area.
ecological footprint
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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.
environmental worldview
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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
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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
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The theory that the earth is like a space
ship.
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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.
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