Living Things - Environmental Sciences - Lecture Slides, Slides of Environmental Science

Download Living Things - Environmental Sciences - Lecture Slides and more Slides Environmental Science in PDF only on Docsity! ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE 1 Welcome to: docsity.com Course Points Breakdown • 900 points: 700 in lecture, 200 in lab – Final grade for course is lecture + lab points • Lecture: – 5 Semester exams + Comprehensive final worth 100 points each • Final is mandatory • Final will also replace the lowest semester Exam – 100 points from 2 literature reviews • Lab: – 11 Labs: 10 pt Manual pages/Handouts and 10 pt quizzes – Lowest quiz/handout score dropped – MUST attend another lab, same week, if miss a lab (schedule on door) • A C or better is required for transfer of credits to another College or University docsity.com How do I make an ‘A’ in Lab? • Come to lab every week – simple, but true – ~90% of students who attended every lab got an A for the lab portion of their grade • Study for quizzes before you come to class – Review last week’s lab before you come to current lab, arrive on time, you will usually get all 10 points ISBN 978-0-470-08767-1 docsity.com Study Tips • 16 week course will FLY by - - start today • Dedicate 12-15 hrs/week for studying - - your GPA • See doc posted on my website for specific study tips • Come talk with me as soon as you struggle - - don’t wait • Before our Exams, I’ll remind you to come up with review topics and questions - - - don’t let this opportunity go by docsity.com Environment: the total of our surroundings • All the things around us with which we interact: • Living things (biotic) • animals, plants, forests, fungi, etc. • Nonliving things (abiotic) • continents, oceans, clouds, soil, rocks • Our built environment • buildings, human-created living centers 8 docsity.com Global human population growth • 7.033 billion humans (passed 7B in April, just 5 months ago) • Why so many? – Agricultural revolution • stable food supplies – Industrial revolution • urbanized society powered by fossil fuels • sanitation, medicine, more food 11 docsity.com Thomas Malthus and human population •Thomas Malthus • population growth must be restricted…or it will outstrip food production • starvation, war, disease 12 docsity.com Tragedy of the Commons •Unregulated exploitation leads to resource depletion • soil, air, water •Users are tempted to increase use until the resource is gone •Solutions: • private ownership? • voluntary organization? • governmental regulations? 13 docsity.com What is an “environmental problem”? – Perception of what constitutes a problem varies between individuals and societies – Ex.: DDT, a pesticide • developing countries: welcomed…kills malaria-carrying mosquitoes • developed countries: not welcomed…due to health risks 16 docsity.com Environmental science ≠ environmentalism •Environmental science… • pursuit of knowledge about the natural world • scientists remain objective •Environmentalism… • social movement dedicated to protecting the natural world • resort to extremes 17 docsity.com The nature of science • Science: – systematic process for learning about the world and testing our understanding of it • observation and testing – accumulated body of knowledge is a result • Science is important – sort fact from fiction – develop solutions to the problems 18 docsity.com The scientific process is part of a larger process • The scientific process includes peer review, publication, and debate • A consistently supported hypothesis becomes a theory • a well-tested and widely accepted explanation • With enough data, a paradigm shift can occur • a change in the dominant view 21 docsity.com Challenges in agriculture • Expanded food production led to increased population and consumption • It’s one of humanity’s greatest achievements, but at an enormous environmental cost • nearly half of the planet’s land surface is used for agriculture • chemical fertilizers • pesticides • erosion 22 docsity.com Challenges in pollution • Waste products and artificial chemicals used in farms, industries, and households 23 docsity.com The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment • Scientific assessment of the condition of the world’s ecological systems • What did it find? • humans have drastically altered ecosystems • these changes have added to human well-being and economic development…but at a cost • environmental degradation could get much worse • degradation can be reversed…but requires work 26 docsity.com Our energy choices will affect our future • The lives we live today are due to fossil fuels • machines • chemicals • transportation • products • Fossil fuels are a one-time bonanza • supplies will certainly decline 27 docsity.com Sustainable solutions exist • Must develop solutions that protect both our quality of life and the environment – technology • reduces pollution – biodiversity • protect species – waste disposal • recycling – alternative fuels 28 docsity.com