1. Studying the State of our Earth
Chapter 1

2. What is Environmental Science?
Environmental Science: field that looks at interactions among human systems and those found in nature

3. Renewable Natural Resource Nonrenewable Natural Resource
Natural Resources
Renewable Natural Resource
Nonrenewable Natural Resource
Replenished over short periods of time
Available in finite supply and formed much more slowly
Once depleted, no longer available
Sunlight, wind, soil, water
Mineral ores, crude oil

4. System: set of interacting components that influence one another by exchanging energy or materials
a. environmental system (man-made or natural)
- ecosystem: includes biotic and abiotic
components

5. Humans Altering Natural Systems
Humans manipulate environment more than any other species intentionally and unintentionally
Human activities have created opportunities for certain species to thrive
As the human population grows, their effect on the environment will grow
Intentionally: adding fertilizers
Unintenionally: consequence of activities that generate pollution
Thrive: certain fires have kept trees from coming in on the great plains therefore leaving room for an ecosystem to develop creating a home for new species

6. Environmental indicators: describe current state of environment
Environmental services: provided by natural environment such as clean water, timber, fisheries
Environmental indicators: describe current state of environment
ex) human population, extinction rate
- used to help guide towards sustainability
- five global (biodiversity, food production, carbon
dioxide concentrations, human population and
resource depletion)
Indicators don’t always tell what is causing the change but can give an idea of when we need to dig deeper and look closer at a particular issue
Sustainability: living on earth in a way that allows us to use its resources without depriving future generations of those resources

7. Biological Diversity or Biodiversity
“diversity of life forms in an environment”
3 scales
a. genetic, species, and ecosystem diversity
Important indicator of environmental health and quality

8. Genetic diversity: measure of genetic variation among individuals in a population
a. high genetic diversity = responding to
environmental change

9. a. critical environmental indicator ex) frogs for environmental health
Species Diversity: number of species in a region or in a particular type of habitat
a. critical environmental indicator
ex) frogs for environmental health
b. speciation: evolution of new species
Species: paritcular group of organisms that are distinct from other groups

10. a. land area is used as a measurement of biodiversity (hectaresha)
Ecosystem diversity: measure of the diversity of ecosystems or habitats that exist in a given region
a. land area is used as a measurement of
biodiversity (hectaresha)
Greater number of healthy and productive ecosystems means a healthier environment overall

11. Food Production Ability to grow food and nourish the human population
Wheat, corn and rice
Food shortages have led to higher food prices
Wheat corn and rice provide more than half the calories and protein humans consume
Grain production is influenced by climatic conditions, amount and quality of land under cultivation irrigation and human labor and energy required to plant harvest and bring grain to market

12. Average Global Surface Temperature and Carbon Dioxide Concentrations
Greenhouse gases: heat trapping gases
ex) CO2
a. help keep Earth’s surface within a range of
temperatures
b. have risen over time (anthropogenic reasons)

13. Human Population Current population: 6.9 billion and growing
Agricultural Revolution
Industrial Revolution

14. Resource Depletion
As the human population increases, the resources needed for survival decreases
Renewable (timber) and nonrenewable (coal)
Tragedy of the Commons
- resources become overused due to unregulated
exploitation
- Garret Hardin
- Easter Island
Easter Island
Used to be lush with forests and inhabitated thousands of people but then they overused their resources by cutting down all of the trees leading themselves into starvation and conflict

15. Ecological Footprint
“the output from the total amount of land required to support a person’s lifestyle”
Unsustainable living v. Sustainable living
Human Ecological Footprint = 14 billion hectares (______ acres?)
 125% of Earth’s total usable land area
Unsustainable: lifestyle requires more land than is available therefore using up resources more quickly than they can be produced
If every person on earth lived the average lifestyle of people in the US, we would need around 5 earths

16. Scientific Method Case Study: The Chlorphyrifos Investigation
Organophosphates may have serious effects on human central nervous system
Experimental group: rats fed small doses of chlorpyrifos and
control group: no drug
* Performed in controlled conditions

17. Controlled v. Natural Experiments
Controlled Experiments
a. controlled settings such as laboratory
Natural Experiments
a. environment
b. example: volcano destroying large amounts
of land showing forest regrowth

18. Unique Challenges in Environmental Science
Lack of Baseline data: no “control planet”
Subjectivity
Interactions
Human Well-Being
Baseline data: every part of the earth has been altered in some state by humans
Subjectivity: different substances tend to affect the environment differently
Interactions: very complex

19. Sustainable Development
Obtained 3 ways
a. environmental systems must not be damaged
beyond their ability to recover
b. renewable resources must not be depleted
faster than they can regenerate
c. nonrenewable resources must be used
sparingly