Introduction to Environmental Science

I. Environmental science depends on the understanding of wide areas of “pure science”

A. Ecology is the study of interactions between organisms and their environments

1. Populations – growth and genetics (chapter 9)

2. Communities – interacting populations of organisms (chapter 8)

3. Ecosystems – communities plus abiotic factors (chapter 4)

a. Food webs – predator/prey cycles

b. cycling of energy and materials

c. non-predatory animal relationships

d. change over time – succession

e. natural selection, biogeography, and biodiversity (chapter 5-6)

4. Ecosystems on the global level – biomes/biosphere (chapter 6)

B. Geology is the study of the physical earth (chapter 10)

C. Understanding of chemistry is necessary for insight into many environmental problems (chap 11 as well as other areas throughout the text)

II. environmental science is an applied science

A. Human-caused problems, related to overpopulation and over consumption (Miller adds three more causes - see fig. 1-10 p. 13)

1. Resource depletion/waste production

2. Loss of habitat and biodiversity

3. Environmental degradation (pollution)

4. Food supply problems

• these problems can be categorized differently, as done by DeWitt in “Seven Degradations of Creation”, or as shown in figure 1-9 on p. 12
  

B. Measuring our impact

        1. Ecological footprints - p. 10

        2. Impact formula - fig. 1-13 p. 15

C. Resource areas that we will study:

1. water – wetlands, oceans, estuaries (chap 14 and 19)

2. air – atmosphere (chap 17)

3. climate – global warming, ozone depletion (chap 18)

4. food production (chap 13)

5. non-renewable resources (chap 15)

6. waste disposal (chap 20 and 21)

7. energy production and use (chap 17)

8. biodiversity as a resource (chap 22-24)

C. Other non-science disciplines are a part of the solution as well

1. economics (chap 26)

2. politics and public policy (chap 27)

3. ethics and religious perspectives (chap 28)

D. The problem-solving goal is sustainability (chap 25 and 28, and a theme throughout the course)

III. An overview of the basic challenges - chapter 1

A. Human population and economic growth

1. good news

2. bad news

3. globalization

B. Renewable and non-renewable resources (see fig. 1.6, p. 9)

1. ecological footprints (fig. 1-8) are a way to measure resource use

2. pollution degrades resources

3. comparing the effect of developed and developing countries on sustainability – fig. 1-11

IV. History of environmental problems - chapter 2

A. A sample case history - near extinction of the buffalo - p. 21

• can you think of other examples or species or resources that have been depleted by human activity?
  

B. a progression of cultural changes has affected the human relationship with the environment

1. hunter-gathering

• some "mega-fauna" were hunted to extinction
  

2. agriculture

3. industrial revolution

4. globalization

C. Specific events in the history of the US

1. frontier mentality - 1600s through 1800s

2. preservationists vs. conservationists and the early movements of the late 1800s and early 1900s

• Theodore Roosevelt
  
• John Muir | virtual exhibit on Muir
  
• National Park Service, US Forest Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, and other agencies are created to manage public land and resources
• Aldo Leopold and the Land Ethic (see p. 30 case study)
• Antiquities act
  

4. the great depression fueled many programs that affected natural resources

• Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) (more history)
• Tennessee Valley Authority
  
• Soil conservation service
  
• Dam-building in other areas
  

5. Silent Spring galvanized public concern about pollution in the 60’s (profile p. 27)

• the Wilderness Act was passed in 1964
  
• Garrett Hardin wrote Tragedy of the Commons in 1968
• check out a timeline of significant events from the 1960s onward
  

6. Many significant reforms and laws were passed in the early 70’s (p.28)

• establishment of the EPA
  
• Clean Water Act
  
• Clean Air Act
  
• Endangered Species Act (more info - endangered species program)
• National Environmental Policy Act (proscribes Environmental Impact Statements for major projects)

7. Trends in the 1980s and 1990s, highlighted by legislative and executive initiatives, have seen progress and regression on environmental issues - p. 29

• check out a timeline of significant events from the 1960s onward
• check out this timeline of significant environmental events
• another timeline, this one an impressive project created by an APES class in California
• critics have accused the GW Bush administration of manipulating science for political ends

* go to Stewardship for continuation