Chapter 1 lecture notes student copy Studying the state of our Earth

Chapter 1 Env sci offers imp (important) insights into our world & how we influence it + env: - living org (biotic): - non-living (abiotic): - human influence

Chapter 1 + env sci: - system: any set of interacting components that influence one ano (another) by exchanging energy or mat’l (materials) - includes many sci disciplines – chem, bio, earth sci + env studies:

Chapter 1 II. Humans alter natural systems + global env: composed of small-scale & large scale sys + - - others created opportunities for certain spc to thrive

Chapter 1 III. Env scientists + is the env being degraded by human induced changes? - ecosys svcs (services): proc (process) by which life supporting res (resources) such as water, soil, timber, fisheries, & agr (agriculture) crops are produced -

Chapter 1 Scientists use env indicators - 5 indicators: biological diversity, food production, ave global surface temp and carbon dioxide conc (concentration) in atm (atmosphere), human pop, & resource deplection

Chapter 1 III. A. biological diversity (div): 1. genetic div: measure of genetic variation among indiv in a pop - 2. spc div: indicates number of member of spc in a region/ habitat - spc: can reprod fertile offspring

Chapter 1 - though human intervention has saved some spc (Amer bison, bald eagle, Amer alligator), overall no. of spc is still declining - endangered

Chapter 1 3. ecosys div: - a greater number of healthy & reproductive ecosys means a healthier env overall

Chapter 1 III B. food prod: ability to grow food & nourish humans - grains such as wheat, corn, & rice - amt of grain prod depend on: -

Chapter 1 - C. Ave global surface temp & CO2 conc - will there be enough grains to feed the world’s pop in the future? - C. Ave global surface temp & CO2 conc - bio div & abundant food prod is poss because of stable climate - atm contains greenhouse gases (GH) – - during past 2 decades, CO2 conc increased due to anthropogenic (human) activities

Chapter 1 D. human pop – tell us a great deal about health of our global env - current: over 7B – go to worldometers-real time world stats - each person requires food, water, land, & other resources & E’s res are finite -

Chapter 1 E. resource depletion - non-renewable: coal, oil, uranium, iron - renewable: timber - re-usable: alum, copper - - developed: - developing:

Chapter 1 IV. Human well being depends on + can we continue our cur level of res consumption w/o jeopardizing the well-being of future generations? - Easter Island story -

Chapter 1 - living sustainably: - A. defining human needs - basic needs: the essentials that sustain human life – air, water, food, shelter

Chapter 1 B. ecological footprint (EF) - - imp ques for scientists if we are to understand the effects of hum activities on Earth & dev sustainable practices - EF: - EF has reached 14B hectares (34.6 B acres) or 125% of E’s usable land

Chapter 1 Your first assignment Read science is a process and env science represents unique challenges 1) take notes 2) study the process of science carefully – I will give you a quiz on this part by providing you with a scientific problem. You will use the process of science and explain how the problem will be tested using the five steps.