Unit 1: APES Living in the Environment by Miller, 16 th Edition

Chapter 1 Environmental Problems, Their Causes, and Sustainability

Introduction Environment External conditions that affect living organisms Ecology Study of relationships between living orgasms and their environment Environmental Science Interdisciplinary study that examines the role of humans on the earth

Sustainability ability of the earth’s various natural systems and human cultural systems and economies to survive and adapt to changing environmental conditions INDEFINITELY

Sustainable Society Manages economy and population size without exceeding all or part of the planet’s ability to Absorb environmental insults Replenish resources Sustain human and other forms of life over a specified period (100’s- 1,000’s of years)

Sustainable Resource Harvest Certain quantity of that resource can be harvested each year and not be depleted over a specified period Sustainable supply of fish or timber

Sustainable Earth Earth’s supplies of resources Processes that make up earth capital are used and maintained over a specified period

Natural Capital Solar Capital Energy from the sun Provides 99% of the energy used on earthion Natural resources useful materials and energy Natural services purifications of air and water which support life and human economics. ecosystems provide these services at no cost

Economic Growth - Key Terms Gross National Product Measures economic growth in a country Market value in current dollars of all goods and services produced within and outside of a country by the country’s businesses during one year Gross Domestic Product Market value in current dollars of all goods and services produced only within a country during one year

Economic Growth - Key Terms Per Capita GDP Changes in a county’s economic growth per person the GDP divided by the total population at midyear

Economics - Key Terms Economic Development has the goal of using economic growth to improve living standards

Economic Growth - Key Terms Developed Countries 1.2 billion people Highly industrialized High per capita GDP PPP(Purchasing Power Parity) Developing Countries Middle income, moderately developed – China, India, Brazil, Thailand, Mexico Low income, least developed – Angola, Congo, Belarus, Nigeria, Nicaragua

Wealth Gap The gap between the per capita GNP of the rich, middle-income and poor has widened More than 1 billion people survive on less than one dollar per day Situation has worsened since 1980

Sustainable Development Assumes the right to use the earth’s resources and earth capital to meet needs Obligation exists to pass the earth’s resources and services to future generations in as good or better shape than condition when passed to us Intergenerational equity or fairness

Resources RenewableNon-Renewable Potentially Renewable Direct solar energy Fossil fuelsFresh air Winds, tides, flowing water Metallic minerals (iron, copper, aluminum) Fresh water Nonmetallic minerals (clay, sand, phosphates) Fertile soil Plants and animals (biodiversity)

Nonrenewable Resources Nonrenewable/Exhaustible Resources Exist in a fixed quantity in the earth’s crust and can be used up Mineral Any hard, usually crystalline material that is formed naturally Reserves Known deposits from which a usable mineral can be profitably extracted at current prices

Biodiversity Depletion Habitat destruction Habitat degradation Extinction

Pollution Any addition to air, water, soil, or food that threatens the health, survival, or activities of humans or other living organisms Solid, liquid, or gaseous by-products or wastes

Point Source Pollutants From a single, identifiable sources Smokestack of a power plant Drainpipe of a meat- packing plant Exhaust pipe of an automobile

Nonpoint Source Pollutants Dispersed and often difficult to identify sources Runoff of fertilizers and pesticides Storm Drains (#1 source of oil spills in oceans)

Solutions: Pollution Prevention Input Pollution Control or Throughput Solution Slows or eliminates the production of pollutants, often by switching to less harmful chemicals or processes

Water Pollution Sediment Nutrient overload Toxic chemicals Infectious agents Oxygen depletion Pesticides Oil spills Excess heat

Air Pollution Global climate change Stratospheric ozone depletion Urban air pollution Acid deposition Outdoor pollutants Indoor pollutants Noise

Solution : Four R’s of Resource Management Refuse (don’t use) Reduce Reuse Recycle

Solution: Pollution cleanup Output Pollution Cleanup Involves cleaning up pollutants after they have been produced Most expensive and time consuming

Environmental Degradation Common Property Resources Tragedy of the Commons Resources owned by none, but available to all users free of charge May convert potentially renewable resources into nonrenewable resources

Model of Environmental Impact Number of People x Number of units of resources used per person x Environmental degradation and pollution per unit of resource used = Environmental impact of population P x A x T = I

Four Scientific Principles of sustainability Reliance on solar energy Biodiversity Nutrient cycling Population control

Chapter 2 – Science, Matter, Energy and Systems Endeavor to discover how nature works and to use that knowledge to make predictions about what is likely to happen in nature.

Science. Models, systems “Scientific knowledge is a body of statements of varying degrees of certainty – some most unsure, some nearly sure, and none absolutely certain” – Richard Feynman

Scientific method HYPOTHESIS – proposed to explain observed patterns Critical experiments Analysis and conclusions

Scientific Methods What is the question to be answered? What relevant facts and data are known? What new data should be collected? After collection, can it be used to make a law? What hypothesis can be invented to explain this? How can it become a theory?

Experiments Variables are what affect processes in the experiment. Controlled experiments have only one variable Experimental group gets the variable Control group does not have the variable Placebo is a harmless pill that resembles the pill being tested. In double blind experiments, neither the patient nor the doctors know who is the control or experiment group.

Inference 1. To conclude from evidence or premises 2. To reason from circumstance; surmise: We can infer that his motive in publishing the diary was less than honorable 3. To lead to as a consequence or conclusion: “Socrates argued that a statue inferred the existence of a sculptor”

Theory and Law Scientific Theory A hypothesis that has been supported by multiple scientists’ experiments in multiple locations A Scientific Law a description of what we find happening in nature over and over again in a certain way

Scientific Laws Law of Conservation of Matter Matter can be changed from one form to another, but never created or destroyed. Atomic Theory of Matter All matter is made of atoms which cannot be destroyed, created, or subdivided.

Reasoning Inductive Reasoning Uses observations and facts to arrive at hypotheses All mammals breathe oxygen. Deductive Reasoning Uses logic to arrive at a specific conclusion based on a generalization All birds have feathers, Eagles are birds, therefore All eagles have feathers.

Frontier and Consensus Science Frontier Science Scientific “breakthroughs” and controversial data that has not been widely tested or accepted String Theory Consensus or Applied Science Consists of data, theories, and laws that are widely accepted by scientists considered experts in the field involved Human Genome Project

Accuracy Vs Precision Accuracy – measurement agrees with the accepted correct value Precision – measure of reproducibility

Matter and Energy Resources Nature’s Building Blocks anything that has mass and takes up space

Definitions Atomic Number - number of protons Isotopes - same atomic number, different mass number Ions - atoms can gain or lose one or more electrons Mass Number - protons + neutrons

Building Blocks atoms - smallest units of matter- protons,neutrons,electrons ion - electrically charged atoms molecules - combinations of atoms of the same or different elements

Isotope Elements with same atomic number but a different mass number

Forms of matter elements – single type of atoms 110 elements – 92 natural +18 synthesized compounds - 2 or more elements, held together by chemical bonds

Law of Conservation of Matter elements and compounds changed from one form to another, can never be destroyed no “away” in “throw away”

Matter quality Measure of how useful a matter is for humans based on availability and concentration

Some Important elements- composition by weight – only 8 elements make up 98.5% of the Earth’s crust

Organic Compounds with carbon sugar, vitamins, plastics, aspirin

Environmental Organic Compounds Hydrocarbons = methane gas Chlorinated hydrocarbons =. DDT, PCB Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC)- Freon 12

Polymers larger and more complex organic compounds made up of monomers complex carbohydrates proteins - 20 amino acids nucleic acids - nucleotides

Inorganic compounds no carbon,not originating from a living source Earth’s crust – minerals,water water, nitrous oxide, nitric oxide, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, sodium chloride, ammonia

Energy capacity to do work and transfer heat Kinetic Energy -energy in action electromagnetic radiation, heat, temperature Potential energy - stored energy that is potentially available

Energy sources 97% solar without it earth’s temperature C 1% - non commercial(wood, dung, crops) + commercial ( burning mineral resources)

Energy quality Measure of how useful an energy source is in terms of concentration and ability to perform useful work

Electromagnetic radiation different wave lengths shorter – high energy, disrupts cells with long term exposure

Use….radioisotopes Estimate age of rocks and fossils Tracers in pollution detection and medicine Genetic control of insects

Half - Life time needed for one-half of the nuclei in a radioisotope to decay and emit their radiation. Goes through 10 half –lives before it becomes a non-radioactive form

1st Law of Energy or 1st Law of Thermodynamics in all physical and chemical changes energy is neither created or destroyed energy input always equal to energy output

2nd Law of Energy or 2nd Law of Thermodynamics when energy is changed from one form to another some of the useful energy is always degraded to lower quality, more dispersed, less useful energy(heat)

Nuclear Changes nuclei of certain isotopes spontaneously change (radioisotopes) or made to change into one or more different isotopes Alpha particles – fast moving (2 protons+2neutrons); Beta particles – high speed electrons ; Gamma particles - high energy electromagnetic radiation radioactive decay, nuclear fission, nuclear fusion

Nuclear Fission certain isotopes (uranium 235) split apart into lighter nuclei when struck by neutrons chain reaction releases energy needs critical mass of fissionable nuclei

Nuclear fusion two isotopes (hydrogen) forced together at extremely high temperatures (100 million C) uncontrolled nuclear fusion thermonuclear weapons

Environmental Science has limitations………………. Cannot prove anything absolutely Cannot be totally free of bias Use of statistical tools Huge number of interacting variables

Feedback Loops A feedback loop occurs when an output of a system is fed back as an input Two kinds of feedback loops Positive Negative

Positive feedback loop Exponential growth of population – more individuals lead to increased number of births

Negative feedback loop Temperature regulation in humans – increased temperature leads to decrease in temperature by sweating

Complex systems Time lags – change in a system leads to other changes after a delay – lung cancer Resistance to change – built in resistance – political, economic Synergy-when two or more processes interact so that the combined effect is greater Chaos – unpredictable behavior in a system

Synergy and Chaos Synergy occurs when two or more processes interact so the combined effect is greater than the sum of the separate effects Grapefruit and Statins Chaos occurs in a system when there is no pattern and it never repeats itself Noise versus Music

Implications for the environment – High waste society

Implications for the environment – Low waste society

Gaia Hypothesis (1970) James Lovelock and Lynn Marguilis