AP ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE Summer Assignment Chapter 1 - NOTES RECALL RECORD ENVIRONMENT - Environment sum total of our surroundings Biotic
ic (living) and abiotic (nonliving) Natural and anthropogenic (man-made)
- Env. Science - study of our role in the environment and how we interact with it. Humans modify the environment and are modified by it. - Humans have modified our environment in order to improve our species. Live healthier, longer, more comfortable lives Through these actions, however, we often degrade natural systems which will threaten our species ability to survive long term. Environmental Science Interact Environment RESOURCES - Natural Resources - substances and energy sources we need to survive. - Renewable Natural Resources rate of renewal > rate of consumption How we use Sunlight, wind energy, tidal energy resources determines whether - Non-renewable Natural Resources rate of renewal < rate of consumption they will be available Mineral ores, crude oil to us in the long term. - Renewable resources can become non-renewable and visa versa. Timber, food crops, fresh water, soil Renewable vs. Nonrenewable - As human population increases, the rate of consumpt. of resources increases. - We must limit our use of resources so to keep them renewable for the future. HUMAN POPULATION - Human population remained low (few million) for most of human history. Hunter-gatherer lifestyle limited growth. - Agricultural Revolution (~10,000 years ago) Humans domesticated plants and animals for the first time Development of agriculture lead to more sedentary comfortable lifestyle Better nutrition = longer lifespan = more offspring Humans
Human population is growing exponentially and putting stress on our relationship with the environment.
Human population began to grow
- Industrial Revolution (~250 years ago, mid 1700s) development of technology powered by fossil fuels Increased efficiency of food production. Food surplus enabled some people to move away from an agric. life. Some people developed other social roles for society that they performed in exchange for food urban life (cities) Improved sanitation, medicine, health care, etc. Human population grew exponentially - Population Warnings: - Thomas Malthus: British economist 1798 warned that human population would soon outgrow available food predicted starvation, war and disease if population wasnt checked - Paul Ehrlich American Biologist, Neo-Malthusian (echoed Malthus warning) 1968 population would outgrow our ability to make and distribute food. Famine and war would end human civilization by 2000. * social conflict rooted in competition for limited resources * - Since 1968 development new technologies that Ehrlich did not anticipate. - Enabled us to increase efficiency of food production and support pop for now. - Industrial revolution caused an increase in pop and in affluence of the pop. - Increased affluence = increased per capita consumption of resources. - More people consuming resources + more resources consumed per person TRAGEDY OF THE COMMONS
Human nature is to exploit the environment for personal gain.
- The Tragedy of the Commons essay written by Garrett Hardin in 1968 - A commons = an un-owned resource that is shared by a group of people. Examples: ocean, atmosphere - Regulation and accountability for responsible use is missing. - Unregulated resources will be exploited and eventually depleted. - All you can eat buffet ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT - Ecological Footprint (Wackernagel & Rees): A way to express or measure a persons or populations env. impact. Measured in terms of: 1. Resources consumed 2. Space (land/water/etc.) needed to supply those resources 3. Space needed to dispose of the wastes produced in the process. Wealthy (Developed) nations have a larger ecological footprint than
poorer (Developing) nations. PAST CIVILIZATIONS - Some past civilizations have collapsed due to population growth and irresponsible exploitation of resources we must learn lessons from them. Examples: Mayas, Anasazi, Greek and Roman Empires, Easter Island - Easter Island (The Science Behind the Story) Remote island in the Pacific 1722 discovered by European explorers Found an uncivilized small human population Barren landscape with no trees. Evidence of a large advanced society that once lived there (statues) Scientists studied fossil records to determine what happened. Discovered evidence of: 1. Lush forest that once covered the island with many tree species (pollen) 2. Long canoes used to fish. 3. A large human population that fed on a diet of sea life. 4. Many sea and land birds that no longer existed on the island. Fossil evidence showed that the population overharvested the trees on the island causing the collapse of the forest ecosystem. This eventually led to soil degradation, lower crop yield, decreased food supply, war and the collapse of the entire society. What can we learn from Easter Island? ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE - People differ in their perception of an environmental problem. - Culture, wealth, education, gender, location can all affect your perception. - DDT: (1950 vs. 2009) or (United States vs. Africa) - Environmental Science is interdisciplinary natural science & social science. - Environmental Science = unbiased, objective, data driven - Environmentalism = social movement to protect natural world THE NATURE OF SCIENCE - Science process of learning about the world. - Policies, regulations, etc. are most effective when informed by science. - Ideas will be accepted as true if they resist repeated attempts to disprove it. - The Scientific Method: 1. Make Observations 2. Ask Questions About what they have observed 3. Develop a Hypothesis educated guess; explain observation or answer your own question 4. Make predictions
Our impact on the environment as individuals and a society is growing. It may threaten our ability to survive as a species long term.
Environmental science does not equal environmentalism.
Environmental scientists follow a prescribed method of testing ideas and observations.
5. Test the predictions Design a controlled experiment (manipulative) Control and experimental group, indep. vs. dependant variable Use a natural experiment where controlled experim are impossible Natural experiments rely on drawing correlations between events that have occurred naturally. 6. Analyze and interpret results Quantitative vs. qualitative 7. Peer Review 8. Conference Presentations 9. Grants and Funding $ may introduce biases on the part of the scientist 10. Repeatability 11. Theories Widely accepted and well-tested hypothesis (theory of evolution) - Paradigm a dominant scientific view, may shift as new evidence arises. SUSTAINABILITY - Humans drastically alter our environment. - Rise in population and in affluence amplifies our demands on the environment - Pollution, overharvesting, invasive species, habitat alteration, loss of biodiversity, etc. are the result. - Millennium Ecosystem Assessment: We are degrading our planet but can still reverse the trends. The challenge is to further our quality of life w/o harming the env. Potential solutions: conservation, habitat protection, recycling, alternative fuels, etc. - Cornucopians: Believe that we will make earths resources meet our needs. Human ingenuity will solve any environmental problem. - Cassandras: Believe that the world is doomed because of our impact on the env. - Sustainability: Using resources in such a way to satisfy our current needs without compromising future availability. Preserving functioning natural ecological systems Developing solutions that are responsible and long term!
Our species survival depends on our ability to live in harmony with the environment to create a sustainable future.
