STUDYING THE STATE OF OUR EARTH

APES Unit 1

Friedland and Relyea: Chapter 1

What is Environmental Science?

Environmental Science: the study of the interactions among human systems and those found in nature. System: a set of interacting components

that influence one another by exchanging energy or materials

What is the difference between environmental science and environmentalism?

Environmental ScienceEnvironmentalism

Driven by scientific Social Movementprocesses

Write it down…

In what ways is the field of environmental studies interdisciplinary and why is environmental science research important?

Humans alter natural systems Humans manipulate the natural

environment more than any other species Urbanization Industrial Agriculture Air, Soil, and Water Chemistry

What are some ways humans have negatively impacted the environment? Positive impacts?

During the last two centuries, the rate and scale of our global environmental impact has dramatically increased… why? Development of technology Population growth

How is a city’s impact different with a population of 6,000 people vs. 4 million people?

CrashCourse Human Impact: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eTCZ9L834s

Natural Systems: indicators of environmental stress

Environmental Indicators: describe the health and quality of natural systems

5 Global Scale Indicators Biological diversity Food production Average global surface temperature

&carbon dioxide concentrations Human Population Resource Depletion

Biological Diversity

Populations with high genetic diversity are better able to respond to environmental changes

Environments with a high species diversity are more resilient and productive (ie. Tropical Rainforest) Critical environmental indicator Frog Species used to indicate land and water changes

Ecosystem Diversity is the measure of the diversity of ecosystems or habitats that exist in a given region; therefore, the greater diversity, the healthier the overall environment.

Food Production

Technological advances have increased our ability to grow food to nourish the human population.

Wheat, corn and rice provide more than 50% of the calories consumed by humans

Food production has dramatically increased since the middle of the 20th century due to the rise in industrial agriculture.

Current trends show that per capita world grain production has leveled off… Why is this happening?

Grain production decline due to:

Climatic conditions Amount and quality of land under cultivation Irrigation Human labor and energy required Soil degradation Crop diseases Drought/flooding Demand>Supply Population Growth > Food Production Rates Feeding livestock Governmental Policies

Avg. Global Temp and CO2 Concentrations

For most of Earth history, global temperature and CO2 concentrations have been relatively steady.

In the past 200 years, greenhouse gases in the atmosphere have steadily increased.

Scientists believe the anthropogenic release of CO2 combined with deforestation have lead to the steady increase in atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gasses and an increase in average global temperatures.

Human Population

Current Human Population is over 7 Billion People

Scientists project the World Population will stabilize around 6.8-10.5 billion people by the end of the 21st Century

Human population increase will place a great strain on the natural world.

Resource Depletion

As population increases, the demand for resources will also increase.

Extraction of resources can lead to degradation of planetary health. Ie) Pollution from mining of coal, oil,

uranium, and other non-renewables Patterns of resource consumption vary

among nations. Ie) Developed vs Developing Countries (see

figure 1.10 in your textbook)

Human well-being depends on… Sustainable development:

development that balances current human well-being and economic advancement with resource management for the benefit of future generations Living sustainably means acting in a way

such that activities that are crucial to human society can continue.

Sustainable Practices: Alternatives for energy Limiting consumption Resource conservation

Defining human needs

Think about this… is electricity a human need? Discuss your opinion with your neighbor. Be sure to

back your opinion with fact. Group discussion

Human needs include: Air Water Food Shelter Biophilia (the need to connect with others and the

world around us)

Measuring your impact

“How do we determine what lifestyles have the greatest environmental impact?”– environmental scientist

Measure the impact of a person or country on the use of world resources

Ecological Footprint: a measure of how much a person consumes, expressed in an area of land. ie) how much land is required to support an

individual’s lifestyle

Think about your Ecological Footprint

Make a list of the activities you did today and describe their impact on the five global environmental indicators (check back in your notes or in Ch. 1 to refresh your memory of these indicators)

For each activity (ie. Eating breakfast), make a list of the resources and fuels that went into the activity and try to determine the impacts for using those resources.

Science is a Process

Scientific Method: an objective way to explore the natural world, draw inferences from it, and predict the outcome of certain events, processes, or changes. Observe and Question Form a Testable Hypothesis

A null hypothesis is often formed when it is easier to prove something wrong that to prove it to be true.

Ie) “CO2 increases have no relationship to the burning of fossil fuels”

Experiment and Collect Data Repeated trials Large Sample Size Accuracy and Precision

Interpret Results Inductive and Deductive Reasoning

Disseminating Findings

Controlled Experiments vs Natural Experiments

Controlled Experiments: Studies conducted under laboratory

conditions Many variables are controlled Typically one independent variable

Natural Experiments: Occurs when a natural event acts as an

experimental treatment in an ecosystem Uncontrolled Difficult to interpret

Sheep contribute to Global Warming?!?

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/06/140617121946.htm

Read the article and identify the following: What is the question being addressed? What is the hypothesis? What is the null

hypothesis? What was their experimental design? What were their results? Did they use

inductive or deductive reasoning? What implications might this have for the

future?

Activity: Mount Pleasantville Pollution

Background: Environmental problems cannot be viewed as only scientific problems. Because they involve humans and the way humans live, these problems must be viewed from an economic, social, and political perspective also.

In this activity, you will take on one of the following roles: Scientist, Environmentalist, Economist, Average Citizen, and Local Politician.

The city of Mount Pleasantville centers around a large factory that makes machine parts. About half of the families in town have at least one family member working at the factory. The factory contributes significantly to air pollution problems through smoke stack emissions of by-products of fossil fuels burning. The owners of the factory recently announced that the factory will increase operations by 35% during the next year. At the same time, they will be switching to a lower grade, lower energy coal to power their machinery. In addition, the expansion will require the removal of 25 acres of wooded area to make room for additional manufacturing facilities and for a second parking lot.

Consider the following scenario:

Directions:

Log onto your Google drive and view the document I’ve shared with you. Consider your opinion from the point of view of your character and how you would feel about the planned expansion of the factory.

Comment on your view and points of support for your view.

You have 10 min to collaborate. We will stage a short debate at the end of the 10 min.

Write it down…

What did you learn from this activity about the complexities of environmental issues?

Will everyone always agree with what you believe?

How can we encourage special interest groups to consider long-term environmental issues?