ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE Review Guide For Chapter 1 and 2: Introduction to ES and Topo Maps

RENEWABLE AND NONRENEWABLE RESOURCES:

• Renewable Resources: Sunlight, Wind, Water, Trees

• Nonrenewable Resources: Coal, Oil, Natural Gas, Petroleum

WHY DO WE SAY THAT A PERSON WITH A BIG ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT IS NOT LIVING A SUSTAINABLE LIFESTYLE?

• the environmental impact of a person or population•amount of biologically productive land + water needed for raw materials and to dispose/recycle waste

10 BIGGEST ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS FACING US TODAY.

1. Destruction of natural habitat

2. Loss of biodiversity

3. Soil damage and erosion

4. Use of fossil fuels as our main energy source

5. Overuse of freshwater resources

6. Release of toxic materials

7. Introduction of “alien” species

8. Release of harmful gases into atmosphere

9. Human population growth

10. Increasing standard of living

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO SAY THE EARTH IS A CLOSED SYSTEM.

•Earth - a closed system, meaning materials do not enter or leave, only energy does•Damage that occurs stays in the system

AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTION AFFECTED HUMAN POPULATION GROWTH

•Gradual move from nomadic lifestyle of hunter-gatherers to the farming of domesticated animals and plants•Started about 10,000 years ago

INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION WHAT EFFECTS IT HAS ON THE ENVIRONMENT?

• Development of machines to do manual/animal labor has led to big impacts on the earth

• Late 1700s- early 1800s

• Positive:

• Get more work done, get it done faster and easier

Negative:

• Requires burning fossil fuels → air pollution

• Extracting fossil fuels from the earth is damaging

• Allows very rapid destruction of habitat by machines  

• (Ex:  logging)

EXPLAIN THE CONCEPT OF THE TRAGEDY OF THE COMMONS

• Main idea:  When people have free access to unregulated use of shared resources, they tend to overuse them, even deplete them, in order to further their own self-interest.•

Example from Hardin:  People who share a grazing field will put more and more of their cattle on it; each additional cow benefits the person, but the damage is shared by everyone.•

Real-life example:  open ocean fish stocks have declined dramatically in many areas.

FOUR STEPS OF DECISION-MAKING MODEL

•1.  Gather information – what are the facts surrounding the issue?•2.  Consider values – what is most important to you?•3.  Explore consequences - long and short term; positive and negative•4.  Make a decision

9 VALUES THAT WOULD BE IMPORTANT IN THE DECISION MAKING PROCESS

• Aesthetic value

• Economic value

• Environmental value

• Educational value

• Ethical/Moral value

• Health

• Recreational

• Scientific

• Social/cultural

THREE ENVIRONMENTAL WORLDVIEWS

1. Planetary Management Worldview or “Wall Street View”• Believe that humans are set apart from nature and can manage nature to meet our needs and wants• Believe that resources are not limited because we will develop and find new ones• Any economic growth is good and should not be restricted by worries about the environment

2. Stewardship Worldviewor “Smokey the Bear View”•Humans have an ethical responsibility to care for nature.•We will probably not run out of resources if we manage them properly.• Economic growth that is environmentally beneficial should be encouraged.  If it is not, it should be discouraged.

3. Environmental Wisdom Worldviewor “The Treehuggers’ View”• Nature exists for all species and we must consider all

species in our actions.• All resources are limited and should not be wasted.• Economic growth that is environmentally beneficial

should be encouraged.  If it is not, it should be discouraged or prohibited.

WHAT IS A TOPOGRAPHIC MAP?

•Definition:  a graphical representation of the earth that includes the following:• the shape of the earth’s surface using contour lines• Symbols that represent natural features such as bodies of water• Symbols that represent man-made features, such as buildings, roads, bridges, railroads, boundaries, etc.

WHAT DO CONTOUR LINES SHOW?

•Contour lines are imaginary lines that join points of equal elevation

WHAT ARE INDEX CONTOUR LINES?

•Index contour lines are the darker brown lines with numbers on them indicating elevation above sea level

HOW CAN YOU IDENTIFY STEEP TERRAIN ON A TOPOGRAPHIC MAP?

•The closer the contour lines are to each other, the steeper the slope.

DOES A TOPOGRAPHIC MAP SHOW ONLY NATURAL FEATURES, MAN-MADE OR

BOTH.•Symbols that represent natural features such as bodies of water•Symbols that represent man-made features, such as buildings, roads, bridges, railroads, boundaries, etc.

TOPOGRAPHIC PROFILES

•Definition:  a diagram that shows the change in elevation of the land surface along any given line; it represents the “skyline” as viewed from a distance

EASTER ISLAND

• Easter Island is a relatively small, isolated Pacific island on which there are hundreds of large stone sculptures, indicating that a complex society once lived there

When European explorers arrived in the 1700’s they found a mostly barren landscape, with no trees over 10 feet tall, yet there were hundreds of toppled statues all over the island.• The few people living on the island had no horses or oxen, were

using grass to build fires and lived a primitive lifestyle.

GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES

•Global problems, like global warming and the hole in the ozone layer affect the entire world population.•Local problems, such as  deforestation or pollution, can occur on a local scale

WHAT DOES GPS STAND FOR?

•Global Positioning SystemWhy do you have to be outside for a GPS to work? So it can receive satellite signal without inference.Name 4 Pieces of data you can get from using GPS: Longitude, latitude, elevation, speed, direction