Transcript Unit_1

Unit 1
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.
1
Chapter 1
William P. Cunningham
University of Minnesota
Mary Ann Cunningham
Vassar College
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.
2
Outline
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Introduction
Current Conditions
Historical Perspectives
Sustainable Development
Environmental Ethics
Environmental Justice
Environmental Racism
3
Introduction
•
Environment:
 Circumstances or conditions that surround an
organism or groups of organisms
 The complex of social or cultural conditions
that affect an individual or community
4
Introduction
•
Environmental Science: Systematic study of our
environment and our proper place in it
 Interdisciplinary
 Integrative
- Natural Science
- Social Science
- Humanities
 Mission oriented
5
Knowledge Which Contributes to the
Understanding of Environmental Science
6
Historical Perspective
•
Four Distinct Stages
 Pragmatic Resource Conservation
 Moral and Aesthetic Nature Preservation
 Concern about Health and Ecological Damage
 Global Environmental Citizenship
These stages are not mutually exclusive;
parts of each persist today in the environmental
movement.
9
12
Modern Environmental Movement
•
The industrial expansion after WW II added new
concerns to the environmental agenda.
 Rachel Carson – awakened the public to the
environmental threat posed by pesticides in her
book Silent Spring (1962)
 David Brower—introduced the use of litigation,
regulatory intervention, and the use of mass
media to environmental activists.
 Barry Commoner—an activist scientist who
spoke out about environmental hazards.
13
Modern Environmental Leaders
14
Global Environmentalism
Global Environmental Leaders:
•Wangari Maathai--Kenya
•Yu Xiaogang—China
•Muhammad Yunus—India
•Gro Brundtland--Norway
15
A Divided World
•
•
•
World Bank estimates more than 1.4 billion people
live in extreme poverty earning < $1 (U.S.) per day.
Poor – victims and agents
Cycle of poverty continues over generations as
people who are malnourished and ill cannot work
productively and raise healthy children.
16
A Divided World - Quality of Life Indicators
18
Is There Enough for Everyone?
•
•
•
Rich nations consume an inordinate share of the
world’s resources and produce an unsustainable
amount of pollution.
The U.S. makes up 4.6% of the world’s population,
but consumes 25% of all oil production and
generates 50% of all toxic wastes in the world.
If all the residents of China were to match American
consumption, it would take four extra planet
Earths to support them using current technology.
19
Sustainable Development
•
“Meeting the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to
meet their own needs.”
 Benefits must be available to all humans, rather
than to a privileged few.
 Economic growth alone is not enough. Political
stability, democracy, and equitable economic
distribution are needed to ensure that all benefit.
21
Biological and Cultural Diversity are Linked
25
How we relate to the environment depends largely on our
values and world view.
28
Environmental Justice
•
Because of their economic status, minorities in the
US and globally may be subjected to a
disproportionate amount of environmental health
risks in their neighborhoods and work places
.
•
The field of environmental justice combines civil
rights with environmental protection to demand a
safe and healthy environment for everyone.
30
Environmental Racism
•
Environmental Racism is an inequitable distribution
of environmental hazards based on race.
•
Toxic colonialism is the practice of targeting poor
communities or communities of color in developing
nations as waste disposal areas.
•
Lead Poisoning Inner City (Philadelphia)
31
32
33
Chapter 2
William P. Cunningham
University of Minnesota
Mary Ann Cunningham
Vassar College
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.
34
Principles of Science and Systems
35
Science Depends on Skepticism and Accuracy
•
Ideally scientists are skeptical and unbiased.
•
Scientists strive for:


accuracy - correctness of measurements
reproducibility - repeatability of results
- Repeating studies or tests is called replication.
39
40
Deductive & Inductive Reasoning
•
Deductive reasoning - logical reasoning from
general to specific
•
Inductive reasoning - reasoning from many
observations to produce a general rule
•
It is also important to recognize the role of insight,
creativity, aesthetics, and luck in research.
41
Hypotheses and Theories
•
Hypothesis - a testable explanation
•
Scientific theory - a description or explanation that
has been supported by a large number of tests and
is considered by experts to be reliable
42
Statistics
•
T-Test, p value
•
Usually ecological tests are considered significant
if this probability is less than 5%. α < .05
44
Variables
•
In each study there is one dependent variable
and one or more independent variables.
•
The dependent variable is affected by what
happens to the independent variable.
•
In a graph, the dependent variable is on the
vertical (Y) axis and the independent variable is
on the horizontal axis (X).
46
Systems
•
Systems - networks of interdependent components
and processes with materials and energy flowing
from one component to another.
•
Examples: ecosystems, climates systems, geologic
systems, economic systems
48
Components of a System
•
State Variables: store
resources such as
matter or energy or
have the pathways
through which these
resources move from
one state variable to
another (ie. The plant
and the animals in Fig.
2.9 are each state
variables).
49
System Characteristics
•
•
•
•
A System can be closed or open.
 Closed - self contained and receives no inputs of
energy or materials from the outside
 Open - system that takes inputs from its
surroundings
Throughput –the energy and matter that flow into,
through and out of a system.
Positive feedback loop - when a flow leads to
compartment changes that further enhance the flow
Negative feedback loop - dampens flow
50
Stability of Systems
•
•
•
•
•
Equilibrium - dynamic state in which system
is changing little over time (homeostasis)
Disturbance - periodic destructive events
such as fire or flood
Resilience - ability of system to recover
quickly from disturbance
State Shift –a severe disturbance in which
the system does not return to normal but
instead changes some of its state variables.
Note: Negative Feedback helps to maintain
stability in systems
51
52
53
Consensus and Conflict
•
Scientific consensus (general agreement among
informed scholars) stems from a community of
scientists who collaborate in a cumulative, selfcorrecting process.
•
Paradigm shifts (great changes in explanatory
frameworks) occur when a majority of scientists
agree that an old explanation no longer works very
well.
55