Chapter 1 of Environmental Science Notes PDF

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These notes highlight some of the topics discussed in lecture #1 in the introduction to environmental science course....

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Sustainability-Sound Science- Stewardship The Scientific Method: ● What we perceive represents an objective reality ● ● ●

Objective reality functions according to basic principles and natural laws Every result has a cause; every event will cause other events Through our powers of observation, manipulation, and reason, we can discover and understand the basic principles and natural laws by which the universe functions

The scientific method involves hypothesis testing: An hypothesis is an educated guess concerning the cause of an observed phenomenon that is then tested by the means of experiments to determine whether it is true and its logical or empirical consequences

Populations do not always reach a stable equilibrium. Human Development Index: Is a summary measure of key dimensions of human development; a long and healthy life, a good education, and having a decent standard of living (short definition: education, health, living standards ) Since 1970 ➔ Life expectancy 59 70 years ➔ School enrollment 55% 70% ➔ Per capita gross domestic product: $5,000 $10,000 ➔ All but 3 of 135 countries had a higher HDI in 2010 than in 1970 Roughly a billion people in the world lack access to clean drinking water Example: A man named Joseph in Haiti had HIV (aids). Six months later he recovered. This demonstrates the impact of public health and it’s benefits Japan (84.5) and Italy (83.6) are the two highest countries for life expectancy. (us is 78.9) USA spends more on health care per capita than any other country, but has the lowest life expectancy and highest rate of maternal mortality of any developed country—why? It’s rich vs poor (not everyone can afford health care)

USA also has more children in poverty and more people in prison than any other

.

high-income country

Paradox: Human well-being has been improving while natural ecosystems have been declining. Possible explanations: 1.

Human well-being has actually been declining

2. Enhanced food production has outweighed the effects of declines in other ecosystem services 3. Human technology has made us less dependent on ecosystem services 4. There is a time lag between ecosystem decline and the impact on human well-being

Stewardship: A steward is one to whom a trust has been given. Stewardship involves caring for something on behalf of someone else. Stewardship is the actions and programs that manage natural resources and human well being for the common good.

Founded in 1977 by Professor Wangari Maathai, the Green Belt Movement (GBM) has planted over 51 million trees in Kenya. GBM works at the grassroots, national, and international levels to promote environmental conservation; to build climate resilience and empower communities, especially women and girls; to foster democratic space and sustainable livelihoods.

Easter Island History: ● ● ● ● ●

Discovered by Polynesians around 900 AD Environmentally fragile, little resilience Initially forested Giant palm tree – 7 feet in diameter. 21 other species of trees (pollen records) Deforestation complete by 1400–1600

-Polynesians cut trees to: ●

Build boats

● ● ● ●

Clear land for growing crops Building materials, rope Cremate dead Later to transport moai

Extinction of native land birds. Of 25 nesting seabird species, 24 no longer breed on Easter Island. Meat: chickens, common dolphin, rats

Environmental Issues of Easter Island “Most extreme example of forest destruction in the Pacific, and among the most extreme in the world” (Collapse, Jared Diamond, p. 107) ➔ Losses of raw materials, wild-caught foods, decreased crop yields ➔ Soil erosion, desiccation and nutrient leaching ➔ Starvation, population crash, cannibalism ➔ Chiefs and priests replaced by military leaders ➔ Last statue erected - 1620 ➔ Toppling of statues - 1680; last erect statue - 1838; none standing - 1868 This experience contrasts sharply with the rest of Polynesia

Why was deforestation such a problem for Easter Island? ● ● ●

Cold and dry (50 inches of rain per year) Soil fertility - volcanic ash and dust fallout High islands versus low islands

“Easter’s isolation makes it the clearest example of a society that destroyed itself by overexploiting its own resources” (Collapse, p. 118) “The parallels between Easter Island and the whole modern world are chillingly obvious” (Collapse, p. 119)

People living in fragile and difficult environments, adopting solutions that were brilliantly successful and understandable in the short run, but that failed or else created fatal problems in the long run. When people became confronted with external environmental changes or human-caused environmental changes that societies without written histories and without archaeologists could not have anticipated”

Why do human societies sometimes behave in such apparently irresponsible ways? ● ● ● ●

Failure to anticipate a problem Failure to perceive a problem Failure to solve a problem Try the problem but fail

Water is the first important greenhouse gas Carbon dioxide is the second? Sun-blocking aerosols around the world have steadily declined since the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo, according to satellite estimates.

Biodiversity

Rosy periwinkle (Catharanthus roseus) from Madagascar Source of vincristine and vinblastine--1960’s Used to treat childhood leukemia and Hodgkin's disease Before: Leukemia was almost always fatal and now there’s a 99% of remission

-demonstrates how searching into different plants can lead to various outcomes

Sound Science Spontaneous generation theories: complex living organisms generated from decaying organic matter. Aristotle (384–322 BC): Aphids arise from the dew that falls on plants, flies from putrid matter, mice from dirty hay, and crocodiles from rotting logs at the bottom of bodies of water. Alexander Ross (17 century): “To question this (i.e., spontaneous generation) is to question reason, sense, and experience. If he doubts of this let him go to Egypt, and there th

he will find the fields swarming with mice, begot of the mud of Nylus, to the great calamity of the inhabitants.”

Evidence against spontaneous generation: -Maggots failed to appear in meat if flies were prevented from laying eggs. -Pasteur (1861): microbes fault to appear in sterile, nutrient-rich media. John Snow was a physician during the 1854 cholera outbreak in London. He made a map of the location of people who died during the epidemic. Snow came to the conclusion the communal water pump is spreading Cholera. After removing the water pump, the epidemic ended (apparently it ended before this but he is credited with such). Treatment is oral hydration therapy (staying hydrated).

Sustainability Globally the fastest growing source of electricity is wind energy. Wind, Solar, and hydroelectric are the best forms of energy. Fossil fuels can’t last forever.

all three of these work together to make sustainable solutions...