Introduction to Environmental Science

IntroductionWhat is Environmental Science?

What is an environment?

Environment: all the external conditions, both abiotic and biotic, that affect an organism or group of organisms.Organisms also exert effects on their

environment

IntroductionEnvironmental Science: the interdisciplinary

study of how humanity interacts with other organisms and the nonliving physical environment

What is the focus of environmental science?To identify, understand, and solve problems

that society has generated.

Environmental Science is Interdisciplinary

Environmental Problems are complex and seldom have simple solutions.

Environmental Problems are complex and seldom have simple solutions.A significant portion of photochemical smog in New

Jersey is derived from pollutants emitted by coal-burning power plants in the Midwest.

Air pollution generated in China affects air quality in the western parts of the US and Canada

Oxides of sulfur and nitrogen emitted by coal-burning power plants in the Midwest contribute to acid rain problems in Canada

Air pollution in developing nations is partially the result of the combination of low wages in poor countries and strict environmental laws in affluent countries.

SustainabilityObjectives:

1. Explain what is meant by sustainability and sustainable development

2. Explain how population growth is related to sustainable development

Earth has limited resources to support human societies.

SustainabilityThere are numerous

examples of civilizations which did not live within the constraints of their environment.

MayansIncasRomansEaster Island

Easter IslandSettled around 400-800 A.D.Ample forests were systematically cut for

agriculture land, structural materials, and to move large stone monuments

Deforestation led to soil erosion.Soil erosion led to water quality degradation

and elimination of fish and shellfish populationsEroded soil did not support agriculturePopulation went from ~8000 in the 1600’s to

several hundred in the 1800’s.

Effect of Population Growth

Effect of Population Growth Each person creates a certain

demand on the Earth’s resources. Population growth AND increasing

consumption per person can stress Earth’s resources

Examples of unsustainable practices have led to:

1. Groundwater supplied being depleted2. Agricultural soils being degraded3. Oceans being overfished4. Oil reserves being depleted5. Forests cut faster than they can grow.

SustainabilityA sustainable process or system…

…can continue indefinitely without depleting any of the material or energy required to keep it going.

This was first applied to activities such as forestry and fisheries

Can also be applied to freshwater supplies, agricultural soils, and the ability of natural systems to absorb pollutants

SustainabilityHistorically, sustainability/pollution

concerns have been a local problem.We are now faced with global

sustainability issues such as:Acid rainOzone depletionGlobal climate change

Sustainable SocietyA sustainable society is in balance with the

natural world, continuing generation after generation, neither depleting its resource base by exceeding sustainable yields nor producing pollutants in excess of nature’s ability to absorb them.

Primative societies- usually sustainable (high mortality rates)

Modern societies-many interactions with enviroment are NOT sustainable

Sustainable DevelopmentDevelopment – defined as continued

improvement of living standards

Sustainable developmentDevelopment that meets the needs of

the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.