Chapter 1lecture notesstudent copy

Studying the state of our Earth

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I. Env sci offers imp (important) insights into our world & how we influence it

+ env: - living org (biotic): - non-living (abiotic): - human influence

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+ 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:

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II. Humans alter natural systems+ global env: composed of small-scale &

large scale sys+

- - others created opportunities for

certain spc to thrive

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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

-

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- 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

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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- -

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- though human intervention has saved some spc (Amer bison, bald

eagle, Amer alligator), overall no. of spc is still declining

- endangered

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3. ecosys div: - a greater number of healthy &

reproductive ecosys means a healthier env overall

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IIIB. food prod: ability to grow food &

nourish humans- grains such as wheat, corn, & rice - amt of grain prod depend on:

-

Chapter 1- 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 -

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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-

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E. resource depletion- non-renewable: coal, oil, uranium,

iron- renewable: timber- re-usable: alum, copper-

- developed: - developing:

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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-

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- living sustainably: -

A. defining human needs- basic needs: the essentials that

sustain human life – air, water, food, shelter

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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

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Your first assignmentRead science is a process and env science represents unique challenges

1) take notes2) 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.