Lecture 1/2/3
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Define environment
The sum total of our surroundings
What factors make up the environment
• Biotic • Abiotic
Define environmental science
The search for knowledge and understanding of: 1. How the environment works 2. What role humans play in their environment 3. What impact humans have on the structure and function of the environment where they live
How does environmental science involve many disciplines
It is both interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary
Define interdisciplinary
Integrating knowledge and methods from many different disciplines
Define multidisciplinary
People from different disciplines working together, drawing on their expertise
What are the 5 critical factors that determine the survival of civilizations
• Climate change • Hostile neighbors • Trade partners • Environmental problems • Responses to environmental problems
What approach is being used to find sustainable solutions to environmental problems
The triple bottom line approach
What are the categories of the triple bottom line approach
Environmental goals: environmental protection Social goals: social equity and justice Economic goals: economic advancement
make question about the Viking civilization of Greenland
***make a question about the Rapa Nui (Easter Island) civilization
What are the 6 examples of major environmental problems
• Environmental pollution • Land resource issues • Aquatic resource issues • Non-renewable resources • Biodiversity decline • Wicked Problems
Environmental pollution
• waste products/artificial chemicals pollute the air, water, and land • pollution problems are becoming less visible, more global, more long-term/chronic/complex
What are some effects of environmental pollution
• Damage to human health and natural environments • Causes ecosystem impairment and human illness/death
Land resource issues
• Increased food production causes increased environmental damage • Growth of human pop. causes more pressure for forestry and mining resources
What are some examples of areas of land resource issues
• agriculture • forestry • mining
What are some examples of aquatic resource issues
• freshwater and marine pollution • fisheries • water supply
Aquatic resource issues
• overharvesting of seafood resources in oceans/freshwater • aquatic pollution
Non-renewable resources
• Many non-renewable resources are overexploited • Extraction can degrade the environment with significant consequences for people and the planet
What are some examples of non-renewable resources
• fossil fuels • metals • rare elements
Biodiversity decline
• Biodiversity loss is perhaps our biggest environmental problem, because we cannot correct mistakes later • Humans actions are one of the main reasons for the high extinction rate
What are the four major threats to biodiversity loss
• Habitat fragmentation and destruction • Introduction of invasive species • Overexploitation of resources • Disruption of “interaction networks”
What are four examples of biodiversity decline
• habitat fragmentation/loss • invasive species • network distribution • overharvesting
What are wicked problems
• Environmental problems that are difficult to solve • Involve compromise/trade-offs/ complex solutions