Introduction to Environmental Science

Interrelatedness, Issues, and Ethics

“Tug on anything at all and you’ll find it connected to

everything else in the universe.” John Muir

Environmental Science

• Scientific principles• Economic influence• Political action• Compromise needed

Environment

• Everything that affects an organism during its lifetime• Factors from many areas

working together • Green book page 2 fig 1.1

Interrelated Units

• Ecosystems –Region in which the organisms

and the physical environment form an interacting unit

• Boundaries are difficult to define• Regional concerns

Global Concerns

• International activities to address concerns–Earth Summit 1992–Kyoto Conference on Climate

Change 1997–Millennium Ecosystem Assessment

2005

6 Major Themes

• Human population growth• Sustainability• Global perspective• Urbanizing • People and nature• Science and values

A lot of what we do connects us to something or somebody else.

Ethics

• Seeks to define what is right and what is wrong•What actions are wrong and •Why they are wrong

Cultural Relativism• Not all cultures share the same ethical

commitments• Laws should reflect values• Environmental Justice –Ensures that no groups bears a

disproportionate burden–Can’t protect nature without thinking

of people

Environmental Ethics

• Corporations/Individuals• Nations/Internationals bodies• Justification for different

positions

Ecological Footprints

• “The area of Earth’s productive land and water required to supply the resources that an individual demands, as well as to absorb the wastes that the individual produces.”

http://www.myfootprint.org/Homework:

Calculate your Ecological Footprint Print the results and turn in with a

one page response paper

Environmental Attitudes

• Development–anthropocentric

• Preservation–ecocentric

• Conservation–tries to balance anthr and eco

3 Philosophical Approaches

• Anthropocentrism–Human centered

• Biocentrism–Life centered

• Ecocentrism–Earth itself has rights

Three general principles of a Christian environmental ethic

2 Timothy 3:16All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful

for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness

Principle of Creation Value

• God created and therefore values all of His works of creation

Principle of Sustained Order and Purpose

• God created and sustains all elements and systems in His creation within particular orders to meet certain ongoing purposes

Principle of Universal Corruption and Redemption

• Everything in the created world and universe is subject to corruption by sin and ultimate redemption through Jesus Christ

Sustainability

• The ability of the earth’s various natural systems and human cultural systems and economies to survive and adapt to changing environmental conditions indefinitely

4 Scientific Principles of Sustainability

• Reliance on solar energy• Biodiversity• Nutrient cycling• Population control

Causes of Environmental Problems

• Population growth • Unsustainable resource use• Poverty • Excluding environmental costs from

market prices• Trying to manage nature without

knowing enough about it

Science, Matter, Energy, and Systems

Chapter 2

Science

• An endeavor to discover how nature works and to use that knowledge to make predictions about what is likely to happen in nature

Science

• Based on the assumption that events in the natural world follow orderly cause and effect patterns that can be understood through careful observation

Scientific Method

• Observation – Question• Hypothesis• Test the Hypothesis (experiment or

model) • Result (data, peer review) • New hypothesis• New experiment - conclusion

Scientific Theory

• A well tested and widely accepted scientific hypothesis or a group of related hypotheses• Not to be taken lightly

Scientific Law/Law of Nature

• A well-tested and widely accepted description of what we find happening over an over again in the same way in nature• Law of Gravity

Inductive/Deductive Reasoning

• Involves specific observations and measurements to arrive at a conclusion• Using logic to arrive at a

conclusion based on a generalization

Paradigm shift

• New discoveries and ideas overthrow a well-accepted scientific theory or law• Accepted by the majority

Tentative science (frontier)

• Preliminary results that capture news headlines but have not been widely tested and accepted by peer review

Reliable/Unreliable science

• Consists of data, hypotheses, theories, and laws that are widely accepted• Haven’t undergone rigorous

peer review, discarded by peer review

Statistics/Probability

•Mathematical tools used to collect, organize, and interpret numerical data• The chance that something will

happen (large enough sample size & various locations)

5 limitations of Science

• Can’t prove anything absolutely• Human involvement includes Bias• Statistical tools give estimates• Models are not the real thing• Can not be applied to moral or

ethical questions

Matter

• Anything that has mass and takes up space • Made of Elements–Fundamental substance that has a

unique set of properties and cannot be broken down into simpler substances

Compound

• Combination of two or more different elements held together in fixed proportions • Examples?

Atom

• The smallest unit of matter into which an element can be divided and still retain its chemical properties• Atomic theory–All elements are made up of atoms

Structure of the Atom

• Protons (+)• Neutrons (neutral) • Electrons (-)• Nucleus (protons & neutrons)• Electron probability cloud

• Atomic number (protons)•Mass number (n + p)• Isotopes (same atomic, diff

mass)

Ion

• Has a charge • Nitrate Ion• pH (7=neutral) • Acidity – determines ability to

dissolve in water (<7)• Basic (>7)

Molecule

• Combination of 2 or more atoms of the same or different elements held together by chemical bonds• Chemical formula – shows

number and type of atoms

Organic compounds • Contain at least 2 carbon atoms plus one or more other

elements

–Hydrocarbons–Chlorinated hydrocarbons–Simple carbohydrates–Complex carbohydrates–Proteins–Nucleic acids–Lipids

Matter comes to life

• Cells – building blocks of life • Genes – genetic information • Traits – characteristics passed

from parent to offspring • Chromosomes - DNA

Physical States

• Solid, Liquid and Gas • Differ in spacing and orderliness

of the atoms• Matter quality – measure of

usefulness as a resource• High quality matter : concentrated

Matter Changes

• Physical – arrangement of atoms not changed• Chemical change – atom

arrangement changes • Nuclear change – in nucleus–Radioactive decay, fission/fusion

Law of Conservation of Matter

•When a physical or chemical change occurs, no atoms are created or destroyed• Conversion from one form to

another

Energy

• Capacity to do work • Kinetic energy – moving

matter with mass & velocity–Heat (cond, radi, convec)

• Potential energy - stored

Energy Quality

•Measure of an energy source’s capacity to do useful work • High quality (concentrated)• Low quality (dispersed)

Law of conservation of Energy

• 1st law of Thermodynamics•When energy is converted

from one form to another, no energy is created or destroyed• Energy input = energy output

2nd law of Thermodynamics

•When energy changes from one form to another, we always end up with lower-quality, less usable energy •More useful to less useful

Energy Efficiency

• Energy productivity•Measure of how much useful

work is accomplished by a particular input of energy into a system

Systems

• Set of components that function and interact in some regular way • Inputs from environment• Flows of matter or energy• Outputs to environment

Feedback loops

• Process that increases (positive) or decreases (negative) a change to a system • Information feeds back to

cause a change

Time Delays

• Between input of feedback stimulus and response can allow problems to build slowly• Tipping point – causes a

fundamental shift in the behavior of the system

Synergistic interaction

• Synergy• Occurs when two or more

processes interact so that the combined effect is greater than the sum of their separate effects

Scientific Principles of Sustainability

• Reliance on Solar Energy• Biodiversity• Nutrient cycling• Population Control

Human Activities have Results

Sometimes Helpful and

Sometimes Harmful