🌿Intro to Environmental Science Unit 1 – Environmental Science: Intro & Sustainability

Key Concepts

• Environmental science interdisciplinary field that integrates physical, biological and information sciences to study the environment and address environmental problems
• Ecology scientific study of how organisms interact with each other and their environment
• Ecosystem community of living organisms interacting with each other and their physical environment (forest, desert, coral reef)
• Biosphere global sum of all ecosystems on Earth
  • Consists of the global ecological system integrating all living beings and their relationships
• Biodiversity variety of life in the world or in a particular habitat or ecosystem
  • Includes diversity within species, between species, and between ecosystems
• Sustainability meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs
  • Balances economic, social, and environmental considerations
• Anthropocene proposed geological epoch dating from the commencement of significant human impact on Earth's geology and ecosystems (industrial revolution)

Environmental Challenges

• Climate change long-term change in global or regional climate patterns attributed largely to increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide produced by fossil fuels
  • Impacts include rising sea levels, more frequent and intense extreme weather events, and shifts in plant and animal ranges
• Deforestation permanent removal of trees to make room for something besides forest (agriculture, urbanization, mining)
  • Contributes to biodiversity loss, soil erosion, and climate change
• Air pollution introduction of chemicals, particulate matter, or biological materials that cause harm or discomfort to humans or other living organisms
  • Major air pollutants include carbon monoxide, lead, nitrogen oxides, ozone, particulate matter, and sulfur dioxide
• Water pollution contamination of water bodies (lakes, rivers, oceans, aquifers, groundwater)
  • Point source pollution comes from specific, identifiable sources (factories, sewage treatment plants, oil tankers)
  • Nonpoint source pollution comes from many diffuse sources (agricultural runoff, debris blown into waterways from land)
• Soil degradation decline in soil condition caused by improper use or poor management (overgrazing, overexploitation, chemical contamination)
  • Leads to soil erosion, loss of soil fertility, and desertification
• Biodiversity loss extinction of species worldwide due to human activities
  • Major causes include habitat loss, invasive species, overexploitation, pollution, and climate change

Sustainability Basics

• Three pillars of sustainability economic development, social development, and environmental protection
  • Sustainable solutions must balance and integrate all three pillars
• Sustainable development development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs
• Circular economy economic system aimed at eliminating waste and promoting continual use of resources
  • Follows the 3 R's: reduce, reuse and recycle
• Life cycle assessment technique to assess environmental impacts associated with all the stages of a product's life (raw material extraction, materials processing, manufacture, distribution, use, repair and maintenance, disposal or recycling)
• Cradle-to-cradle design biomimetic approach to product and system design that models industry on nature's processes
  • Considers materials as nutrients circulating in healthy, safe metabolisms
• Ecological footprint measure of human demand on nature, assessing how much land and water area a human population requires to produce the resources it consumes and to absorb its wastes
• Carbon footprint total greenhouse gas emissions caused by an individual, event, organization, or product, expressed as carbon dioxide equivalent

Human Impact

• Population growth increase in the number of individuals in a population over time
  • Exponential growth occurs when population increases at an increasing rate (J-shaped curve)
  • Logistic growth occurs when population levels off due to limiting factors (S-shaped curve)
• Urbanization population shift from rural to urban areas and the resulting increase in the proportion of people living in urban areas
  • Urban sprawl uncontrolled expansion of urban areas into surrounding rural lands
• Industrialization development of industries in a country or region on a wide scale
  • Associated with increased fossil fuel consumption, pollution, and resource depletion
• Consumerism social and economic order that encourages the acquisition of goods and services in ever-increasing amounts
  • Drives unsustainable resource extraction and waste generation
• Ecological overshoot when human demand exceeds the regenerative capacity of a natural ecosystem
  • Earth Overshoot Day marks the date when humanity's demand for ecological resources and services in a given year exceeds what Earth can regenerate in that year
• Tragedy of the commons economic problem in which individual users acting independently according to their own self-interest behave contrary to the common good by depleting or spoiling a shared resource

Ecosystems and Biodiversity

• Biotic factors living components of an ecosystem (plants, animals, microorganisms)
• Abiotic factors non-living chemical and physical components of an ecosystem (sunlight, temperature, moisture, soil or water chemistry)
• Food chain linear sequence of organisms through which nutrients and energy pass as one organism eats another
  • Trophic levels positions organisms occupy in a food chain (producers, primary consumers, secondary consumers, tertiary consumers)
• Food web system of interlocking and interdependent food chains
• Bioaccumulation increase in concentration of a substance in an organism over time, as the organism absorbs the substance at a rate faster than it is lost
  • Biomagnification increasing concentration of a substance as it passes up a food chain
• Keystone species species on which other species in an ecosystem largely depend, such that if it were removed the ecosystem would change drastically (sea otter, elephant, wolf)
• Invasive species non-native species that can cause ecological or economic harm in a new environment where it is not native
  • Outcompete native species for resources and disrupt ecosystems (kudzu, zebra mussels, Burmese pythons)
• Endangered species species at risk of extinction in the near future
  • Threatened species likely to become endangered in the foreseeable future

Resource Management

• Natural resources materials or substances occurring in nature which can be exploited for economic gain
  • Renewable resources replenished naturally on human timescales (sunlight, wind, rain, tides, plants, animals)
  • Non-renewable resources do not regenerate in a short time period (fossil fuels, mineral ores, groundwater in certain aquifers)
• Sustainable yield ecological yield that can be extracted without reducing the base of capital itself, the surplus required to maintain ecosystem services
• Maximum sustainable yield largest yield/catch that can be taken from a species' stock over an indefinite period
  • Used in forestry, fisheries and natural resource management
• Overharvesting harvesting a renewable resource to the point of diminishing returns
  • Leads to resource depletion, lower regeneration capacity, and potential extinction (overfishing, deforestation)
• Fossil fuels hydrocarbon-containing natural resources formed from the remains of ancient living organisms (coal, petroleum, natural gas)
  • Burning fossil fuels is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions from human activities
• Renewable energy useful energy derived from replenishable sources (solar, wind, hydro, geothermal, biomass)
  • Clean energy renewable energy sources that have minimal environmental impact (solar, wind)

Policy and Solutions

• Environmental policy official statement of intent to manage human activities with a view to prevent, reduce or mitigate harmful effects on nature and natural resources
  • Aims to protect the environment for future generations while interfacing with economic, social and political concerns
• Carbon tax fee imposed on the burning of carbon-based fuels (coal, oil, gas)
  • Aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by making carbon-intensive processes more expensive
• Cap and trade market-based approach to controlling pollution by providing economic incentives for reducing emissions
  • Government sets a cap on total emissions and issues a fixed number of emission permits which can then be traded
• Renewable portfolio standard regulation that requires increased production of energy from renewable sources (solar, wind, biomass, geothermal)
  • Aims to reduce reliance on fossil fuels and associated emissions
• Green building practice of creating structures using processes that are environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building's life-cycle
  • Considerations include siting, design, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation and deconstruction
• Sustainable transportation solutions that reduce negative environmental impacts of transportation (public transit, electric vehicles, bicycling, walking)
  • Aims to reduce fossil fuel consumption, air pollution, and urban sprawl
• Environmental education process that allows individuals to explore environmental issues, engage in problem solving, and take action to improve the environment
  • Develops skills and expertise to address complex environmental issues and fosters attitudes, motivations, and commitments to make informed decisions

Future Outlook

• Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) collection of 17 interlinked global goals designed as a "blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all"
  • Adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015 as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
• Paris Agreement legally binding international treaty on climate change adopted by 196 Parties in 2015
  • Goal to limit global warming to well below 2, preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels
• Green economy low carbon, resource efficient and socially inclusive economy
  • Aims to improve human well-being and social equity while significantly reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities
• Circular economy economic system aimed at eliminating waste and promoting continual use of resources
  • Based on the principles of designing out waste and pollution, keeping products and materials in use, and regenerating natural systems
• Renewable energy transition ongoing transformation of the global energy sector from fossil-based to zero-carbon
  • Key to addressing climate change, reducing pollution, and creating sustainable economic growth
• Environmental justice fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income, with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies
  • Aims to address the disproportionate environmental burdens borne by low-income communities and communities of color
• Sustainable cities and communities urban areas designed with consideration for environmental impact, inhabited by people dedicated to minimization of required inputs of energy, water and food, and waste output of heat, air pollution and water pollution
  • Incorporate green space, renewable energy, sustainable transportation, sustainable waste management, and other environmentally friendly practices