1. Environmental Science
Chapter 1 Lecture Notes
Science and the Environment

2. Chapter 1: Section 1 Targets
Define environmental science and compare environmental science with ecology.
List and Define the five major fields of study that contribute to environmental science.
Describe the major environmental effects of hunter-gatherers, the agricultural revolution, and the Industrial Revolution.
Distinguish between renewable and nonrenewable resources.
Classify environmental problems into three major categories.

3. What Is Environmental Science?
Environmental Science: study of how
____________ affect their ___________
and _____________ surroundings

4. Goals of Environmental Science
Major goal of environmental science is to understand and solve environmental problems.
Environmental scientists study 2 main types of interactions between humans and the environment:
___________________________________

5. Environmental Science vs. Ecology
Environmental science involves many fields of study, including ecology.
Ecology: study of _________________ of living
organisms with _________________ and their
___________________
Environmental Science vs. Ecology:
Major Levels Studied by Ecologists?

6. Fields of Study Used by Environmental Scientists

7. Scientists as Citizens, Citizens as Scientists
Who is usually the first person to recognize an environmental problem?
The observations of ________________ are the first steps toward addressing an environmental problem.

8. Our Environment Through Time
Wherever humans have hunted, grown food,
or settled, they have ________________ the environment.

9. Hunter-Gatherers Hunter-gatherers: people who get food by
_________________ and _____________ wild
animals or _____________ their remains.
Hunter-gatherers affect their environment in many ways:
They hunted animals, ______________________
The tribes also set fires to burn prairies and
prevent ____________________. This left the prairie as an open grassland ideal for hunting bison.

10. Hunter-Gatherers
In North America, climate changes and overhunting by hunter-gatherers led to disappearance of large mammal species, including:
giant sloths
mastodons
cave bears
saber-toothed cats

11. The Agricultural Revolution
__________________: raising crops and livestock for food or other products used by humans
Practice of agriculture began over 10,000 years ago
Often called ___________________________
Allowed human populations to grow at faster rate. WHY?
Many habitats were destroyed and replaced with farmland.
Replacing forest with farmland caused
_______________, ______________, and
________________.

12. The Industrial Revolution
Industrial Revolution: shift from ______________ such as animals/running water to _____________ like __________________
Using fossil fuels increased efficiency of agriculture, industry, and transportation
EXAMPLE:
On farms, machinery reduced _____________ and _________________ needed to produce food
With fewer people producing their own food, populations in ______________ steadily grew

13. Improving the Quality of Life
Industrial Revolution introduced many positive changes such as the light bulb
Allowed better farming, sanitation, nutrition, and medical care
Industrial Revolution also introduced new environmental problems such as ____________ and _____________________
We now have materials such as plastics, artificial pesticides, and fertilizers
Much of environmental science is concerned with problems associated with the Industrial Revolution

14. Spaceship Earth Earth is a _____________ – what does this mean?
Why can living in a closed system be a bad thing?
Some resources are _____________, as populations grow, they are used more rapidly
We may also produce ____________ faster than they can be disposed
Environmental problems can be on different scales: local, regional, or global
A local example would be your community discussing where to build a new landfill
A regional example would be a polluted river 1000 miles away affecting the region’s water
A global example would be the depletion of the ozone layer

15. Comprehension Check 1. Name a global environmental problem.
2. Name a local environmental problem.
3. Could the local problem be a part of the global problem? If so, how?

16. What are our Main Environmental Problems?
Environmental problems can generally be grouped into three categories:
_______________________
As you watch this video, add two more environmental problems to this list 4) 5)

17. Resource Depletion
__________________: any natural materials used by humans, such as, water, petroleum, minerals, forests, and animals.
Classified as either a renewable or nonrenewable.
Renewable resources: _____________
_________________________________
_________________________________ Nonrenewable resources: ____________
Recyclable vs. Renewable

18. Pollution
Pollution: negative effect on environment caused by introduction of __________________ or by ______________________________________________________________

19. Pollution Two main types of pollutants: ___________________________
Can be broken down by natural processes and include materials such as newspaper
Are a problem only when they accumulate faster than they can be broken down
Cannot be broken down by natural processes and include materials such as mercury
They can build up to dangerous levels in the environment

20. Loss of Biodiversity
Biodiversity: _________________ in a given area or the ____________ within a population
These organisms can be considered natural resources
Can you think of 3 reasons why biodiversity would be important to our survival?

21. Comprehension Check How do scientists define a nonrenewable resource?
A. a resource that is used by humans
B. a resource that can never be replaced
C. a resource that can be replaced relatively quickly
D. a resource that takes more time to replace than to deplete

22. Comprehension Check
2. Which of the following is an important field for environmental science?
A. ecology
B. economics
C. meteorology
D. political science

23. Comprehension Check
3. Which of the following phrases describes the term biodiversity?
A. species that have become extinct
B. the animals that live in an area
C. species that look different from one another
D. the number and variety of species that live in an area

24. Comprehension Check
4. Energy from the sun, water, air, wood, and soil are all examples of what kind of energy?
F. ecological energy
G. organic energy
H. renewable energy
I. solar energy

25. Chapter 1: Section 2 Targets
Describe “The Tragedy of the Commons”.
Explain the Law of Supply and Demand.
List three differences between developed and developing countries.
Explain what sustainability is, and describe why it is a goal of environmental science.

26. “The Tragedy of the Commons”
Ecologist Garrett Hardin argued there is a conflict
between the _____________________ of the
individual and the __________________ of society.
The example he used was the commons, or the areas of land that belonged to the whole village.

27. “The Tragedy of the Commons”
Individuals want as many animals in the commons as possible.
If too many animals graze on commons, they destroy the grass.
Once grass was destroyed, everyone suffered because no one could raise animals on the commons.
Hardin’s realized someone must take responsibility for maintaining a resource or it will become depleted.
This can be applied to our natural resources.

28. Tragedy of the Commons

29. Supply and Demand
Law of Supply and Demand: as demand for a good or service ____________, value of the food or service also ______________.
Example: oil production

30. Developed and Developing Countries
Developed countries have:
___________ incomes
___________ population growth
______________ industrial economies
____________ social support
Developing countries have:
____________ average incomes
___________ agriculture-based communities
_______ population growth

31. Population and Consumption
Almost all environmental problems are traced back to 2 main causes:
1. The human population in some areas is ______________________ for the local environment to support.
2. People use _______________________ many natural resources faster than they can be renewed, replaced, or cleaned up.

32. Consumption Trends
To support higher quality of life, developed countries use much more of Earth’s resources.
Developed nations use ________ of world’s resources, although they make up only _______ of world’s population.
This rate of consumption creates more waste and pollution per person than in developing countries.

33. Ecological Footprints
Ecological footprints: calculations that show _________________ needed to support one person in a particular country
estimates land used for crops, grazing, forests products, and housing
includes ocean area used to harvest seafood
Includes forest area needed to absorb air pollution caused by fossil fuels
one way to express the differences in consumption between nations

34. A Sustainable World
_____________: condition in which human needs are met in a way that a human population can survive indefinitely
EXAMPLES??
Sustainability is a key goal of environmental science!

35. Comprehension Check
Population growth can result in what ethical environmental problem, addressed by ecologist Garrett Hardin in “The Tragedy of the Commons?
A. the conflict between water resources and industrial growth
B. the conflict between forest resources and the lumber companies
C. the conflict between political interests and international energy use
D. the conflict between individual interests and the welfare of society

36. Comprehension Check Use this graph to answer questions 6 and 7
6. What was the total population increase between the years 1600 and 1900?
A. 0.6 billion
B. 0.9 billion
C. 1.0 billion
D. 1.5 billion
If the rate of growth from had been the same as the rate of growth from , what would the world population have been at the end of the century?
A. more than 7 billion
B. more than 10 billion
C. more than 15 billion
D. more than 20 billion

37. Comprehension Check
8. Which of the following characterizes the environmental consequences of the current population trend?
A. More people mean more housing construction.
B. The need for food and resources is growing rapidly.
C. The standard of living has risen around the world.
D. There is no connection between population growth and environment.