WHY ? Environmental Science Lakenheath High School Mrs. Douma

What is Environmental Science  Environmental science is defined as the interaction of humans with the environment.  The environment includes all conditions that surround living organisms:  Climate  Air and water quality  Soil and landforms  Presence of other living organisms Environmental Science

What is Environmental Science  It is an applied science – incorporates all science plus society, economics and politics  It is an observational science  Computer modeling  Difficult to control all the variables in nature Environmental Science

Grasp the Big Picture Environmental Science

Concept: The Planet is Home Environmental Science

Relevance: A Healthy Planet Means A Healthy Species Environmental Science Consider: Without a healthy environment there is no economy

Historical Impact Earth’s History in a Nutshell Environmental Science

The Big Bang! Environmental Science  11 Billion years ago (?) Give or Take

Earth Birth  Current Theory – 4.5 BYO  The oldest rocks recorded are about 3.8 billion years old.  The oldest fossils that have been found are Stromatolites and Cyanobacteria estimated at approximately 3.5 billion years old.  Read more: arth-sciences/formation- of-earths-history-from- the-beginning- now/#ixzz24r8Sipmm arth-sciences/formation- of-earths-history-from- the-beginning- now/#ixzz24r8Sipmm Environmental Science

Hominids  Appeared about 6- 8 MYO  The earliest australopithecines very likely did not evolve until 5 million years ago or shortly thereafter (during the beginning of the Pliocene Epoch) in East Africa.  However, by about 4.2 million years ago, unquestionable australopithecines were present. Environmental Science Australopithecus africanus

Homo Sapians  By 2.5 million years ago, there were at least 2 evolutionary lines of hominins descended from the early australopithecines.  Indonesia – Homo erectus 1891  Branched from chimpanzees and bonobos  Later findings would suggest that Homo habilis, rather than being the direct ancestor of Homo erectus, lived at the same time as the more modern hominin for part of its history.  Omnivorous diet that increasingly included meat.  Stone tools.  Other lines seems to have lived more in mixed grassland and woodland environments, like the earlier australopithecines, and were primarily vegetarian.  Died out by 1 million years ago or shortly before then.  Apparent diversity of the early Homo genus mirrors that seen in the larger animal kingdom, where multiple lineages often tend to coexist. Environmental Science

Agricultural Revolution  10 TYO  Transition  Hunting /gathering – agriculture and settlement  Sedentary society - villages  Increased population density  radically modified the natural environment by means of specialized food-crop cultivation  Labor diversification  Trading economies  Luxury – art, architecture, culture, administration and political structure  Writing  Archaeological data indicates that various forms of plants and animal domestication evolved in separate locations worldwide, starting around 12,000 years ago (10,000– 5,000 BC Environmental Science

Industrial Revolution (fossil fuels)  275 YO  mid-1700s - Great Britain-machinery began to replace manual labor.  Fossil fuels replaced wind, water and wood - textiles and the development of iron making processes.  Full impact -100 years later - machines replace human labor - Europe and North America.  Transformation  production capacity  affect all basic human needs  food production  Medicine  Housing  Clothing  Not only did society develop the ability to have more things faster, it would be able to develop better things. Environmental Science

Information Revolution  50 YO  Easily-stored content to widely-available distribution.  Technology  Storage and access of information  Improved data transmission  Widespread use of PCs  World Wide Web and Internet  Business went from centralized to decentralized, and most critically away from just Western centers of power.  Purchasing power - people almost anywhere in the world were able to buy things from anywhere else.  Communication  Mobile phone  Search engines  Non-verbal communication(SMS, data, , etc.)  Internet access via cell phones. Environmental Science

YOU ARE WHERE? 7 Billion and Counting  At the end of this week, another million people will have been added to the planet Environmental Science

The Next Revolution – Sustainability Can we maintain an acceptable lifestyle without destroying ourselves in the process?  Sustainability is broadly defined as meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.  Sustainable programs are those that result from commitment to environmental, social and economic health, or the “triple bottom line.” Sustainability has both individual and institutional applicability, and is usually a balancing act. Environmental Science

The Next Revolution – Sustainability The next 100 years will make or break us!  It is the capacity to endure.  For humans, sustainability is the long-term maintenance of responsibility, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions, and encompasses  the concept of stewardship  the responsible management of resources  The diversity and productivity of biological systems – healthy, long lived ecosystems  necessary precondition for the well-being of humans and other organisms Environmental Science

The Next Revolution – Sustainability Are you up to the challenge!  Current resource depletion is almost three times the level of sustainability.  7 billion Homo sapiens, with projected 9 billion by the end of the century  Average life span of a species is 4.5 MY  Extinction is a natural process, but  Current extinction rates are exception and most are a direct cause of Homo sapiens Environmental Science

This is Your Challenge It is the Greatest Challenge any Generation has faced Environmental Science