ENVIRONMENTAL

what is
ENVIRONMENT?
 ENVIRONMENT
from French environner

The physical, living and non-living,

SURROUNDING OF A SOCIETY

with which it has a reciprocal relationship

 HOW IMPORTANT AND
WHY DO WE NEED TO
STUDY THE
ENVIRONMENT
 FUNCTIONS
1ENVIRONMENT
of

.
Source of resource inputs
Source of amenity services

Provides life support

Receptacle for waste
FUNCTIONS
of
ENVIRONMENT
 2. SERVICES 4 ECOSYSTEM

PROVISIONING CULTURAL REGULATING SUPPORTING

SERVICES SERVICES SERVICES SERVICES
FOOD
PROVISIONING
More than 90% of the calories consumed by
people worldwide come from 80 plant species SERVICES
RAW MATERIALS
Ecosystems provide a great diversity of
materials including wood, biofuels, and fibers The
from wild or cultivated plant and animal species.
products
WATER directly
No water, no life. Ecosystems play a vital role in
providing the flow and storage of fresh water. obtained
from
MEDICINE
Natural ecosystems provide a variety of plants
ecosystems
and mushrooms which offer effective cures for
many kinds of health problems.
 CULTURAL
RECREATION AND MENTAL AND
SERVICES PHYSICAL HEALTH
Nature-based opportunities for recreation play
an important role in maintaining mental and
physical health, e.g. walking and playing
Nonmaterial sports in parks and urban green spaces.
benefits people
obtain from
ecosystems TOURISM
Enjoyment of nature attracts millions of
travelers worldwide. This cultural ecosystem
service includes both benefits to visitors and
income opportunities for nature tourism service
providers.
CULTURAL
AESTHETIC APPRECIATION AND
SERVICES INSPIRATION FOR CULTURE, ART AND
DESIGN
Animals, plants and ecosystems have been the
source of inspiration for much of our arts, culture,
Nonmaterial and design; they increasingly inspire science as
benefits well.

people obtain SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE AND SENSE

from OF PLACE
Nature is a common element in most major
ecosystems religions. Natural heritage, spiritual sense of
belonging, traditional knowledge, and
associated customs are important for creating
a sense of belonging.
 LOCAL CLIMATE AIR QUALITY REGULATING
Ecosystems influence the local climate and air
quality. SERVICES
CARBON SEQUESTRATION AND STORAGE
Ecosystems regulate the global climate by storing
greenhouse gases. The benefits
MODERATION OF EXTREME EVENTS obtained from
Ecosystems and living organisms create buffers
against natural disasters. They reduce damage the regulation
from floods, storms, tsunamis, avalanches, of ecosystem
landslides and droughts.
processes
WASTE WATER TREATMENT
Ecosystems such as wetlands filter effluents,
decompose waste through the biological activity of
microorganisms, and eliminate harmful pathogens.
 EROSION PREVENTION AND
MAINTENANCE OF SOIL FERTILITY
Vegetation cover prevents soil erosion and ensures soil fertility
through natural biological processes such as nitrogen fixation
POLLINATION
Insects and wind pollinate plants and trees which is essential for the
development of fruits, vegetables and seeds.

BIOLOGICAL CONTROL
The activities of predators and parasites in ecosystems that act to
control populations of potential pest and disease vector.

REGULATION OF WATER FLOW

Water flow regulation is a key service provided by land cover
and configuration, but its dynamics are poorly understood by
most policy makers and land management organizations.
SUPPORTING HABITAT FOR SPECIES
SERVICES Ecosystems provide living spaces for plants
and animals; they also maintain a diversity of
complex processes that underpin the other
Indirect ecosystem services. Some habitats have an
exceptionally high number of species which
services, as makes them more genetically diverse than
they are others; these are known as ‘biodiversity
hotspots'
necessary for
the production MAINTENANCE OF GENETIC
DIVERSITY
of provisioning,
Conserving and using genetic diversity can
regulating or provide the options needed for coping with
cultural stresses
services
 Nuclear Energy
Natural resources that Coal Natural Gas
can be replenished in a Petroleum
short period of time NONRENEWABLE

3.RESOURCES
RENEWABLE Natural resource that cannot
be re-made or re-grown at a
Solar
Wind Geothermal scale comparable to its
consumption
Water Biomass
SEVEN
ENVIRONMENTAL
PRINCIPLES
 1. 2. 3. 4.

Nature Everything
All forms of is connected Everything
knows life are to changes
best
important everything
else

2. 3. 4.
 5. 6. 7.

Everything Ours is a Nature is

beautiful
must go finite and that
somewhere Earth humans are
the stewards
of God
 what is
ENVIRONMENTAL

SCIENCE
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
defined

The use of scientific approaches

TO UNDERSTAND THE COMPLEX SYSTEMS

in which we live.
 FACTS
integrative
global

ABOUT
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
Politics Ethics

MULTIDISCIPLINARY
Economics Demography

integrative
timeline

Anthropology
global

Philosophy

is
Geography
Biology

Geology
Chemistry

Ecology Physics
informative

integrative
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE

global
is
GLOBAL
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE

informative

integrative
global
helps us understand our
remarkable planet
 ENVIRONMENTAL
SCIENCE
versus
ENVIRONMENTALISM
MAIN GOALS
ENVIRONMENTAL
SCIENCE
 THREE MAIN GOALS

Learn how Understand Determine how

the natural how humans we affect the
world works interact with environment
the
environment
ENVIRONMENTALISM defined

Concerned about and action aimed at

PROTECTING ENVIRONMENT
ENVIRONMENTALISM
A social movement or an ideology
focused on the welfare of the
environment, environmentalism
seeks to protect and conserve the
elements of earth's ecosystem.
 ENVIRONMENTAL
SCIENCE
IS NOT THE SAME AS
ENVIRONMENTALISM
 WHERE DO
IDEAS FROM
OUR
THE
ENVIRONMENT
COME FROM?
ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION
HAS HISTORIC
ROOTS
 Some of the earliest recorded scientific
studies of environmental damage were
carried out French or British colonial
administrators.

4th CENTURY B.C.

18th CENTURY
During this period, the connections
Plato had noticed the adverse between deforestation, soil erosion,
effects of deforestation. and local climate change were
already observed and understood.
 Poivre was appalled at the environmental and social
devastation caused by destruction of wildlife (such as the
flightless dodo) and the felling of ebony forests on the island
by early European settlers.

1764

1769
During this year, Stephen Hale’s idea of conserving Pierre Poivre, an early French governor of
green plants preserves rainfall were put into practice Mauritius ordered that one-quarter of
on the Caribbean island, where about 20 percent of Mauritius be preserved in forests,
the land was marked as “reserved in wood particularly on steep mountain slopes and
for rains.” along waterways.
4 STAGES BEFORE
GLOBAL
environmentalism
 1. RESOURCE WASTE TRIGGERED
PRAGMATIC RESOURCE CONSERVATION
01 02 03

GEORGE PERKINS MARSH THEODORE ROOSEVELT GIFFORD PINCHOT

AUTHOR, MAN AND NATURE PRESIDENT, USA | 1901-1909 CHIEF, FOREST SERVICE

The basis of Roosevelt’s and Pinchot’s policies

was pragmatic utilitarian conservation.
 2. ETHICAL AND AESTHETIC CONCERNS
INSPIRED PRESERVATION MOVEMENT
01 02

JOHN MUIR ALDO LEOPOLD

GEOLOGIST | AUTHOR WILDLIFE ECOLOGIST

“We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity

belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which
we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect.”
3. RISING POLLUTION LEVELS LED TO THE
MODERN ENVIRONMENTAL MOVEMENT
01 02

RACHEL CARSON DAVID BROWER

AUTHOR, SILENT SPRING ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVIST
4. ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY IS
TIED TO SOCIAL PROGRESS
01 02

BARRY COMMONER WANGARI MAATHAI

MOLECULAR BIOLOGIST FOUNDER, GREEN BELT MOVEMENT
WHAT PERSISTENT
CHALLENGES
DO WE FACE?
 GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL
ISSUES
Environmental Quality
•Climate change - concentrations of CO2 in the
atmosphere have increased nearly 50 percent.

Climate models indicate that by 2100, if current

trends continue, global mean temperatures will
probably increase by 2° to 6°C compared to 1990
temperatures.
GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
Environmental Quality
•Clean Water - At least 1.1 billion people lack access to safe
drinking water, and twice that many don’t have adequate
sanitation.
•Polluted water contributes to the death of more than 15
million people every year, most of them children under age 5
• About 40 percent of the world population lives in countries
where water demands now exceed supplies, and;
• the United Nations projects that by 2025 as many as
three-fourths of us could live under similar conditions.
GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
Environmental Quality
•Air Quality
- the United Nations estimates,
more than 2 billion metric tons
of air pollutants (not including
carbon dioxide or windblown
soil) are released each year.
GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
Human population and well-being
•Population growth, Hunger and Food
There are well over 7 billion people on
earth, about twice as many as there were
40 years ago.
Soil scientists report that about two-thirds
of all agricultural lands show signs of
degradation
Currently more than 850 million people
are chronically undernourished, and at
least 60 million people face acute food
shortages due to weather, politics, or war.
GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
Natural Resources
•Biodiversity Loss
800 species have disappeared and at least 10,000
species are now considered threatened.
In 2004, most bird and butterfly populations had
declined by 50 to 75 percent over the previous 20
years.
At least half of the forests existing before the
introduction of agriculture have been cleared.
GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
Natural Resources
•Marine Resources
According to the World Resources Institute, more
than three-quarters of the 441 fish stocks for which
information is available and are severely depleted.
Some marine biologists estimate that 90 percent
of all the large predators, including blue fin tuna,
marlin, swordfish, sharks, cod, and halibut, have
been removed from the ocean.
GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
Natural Resources
•Energy Resources
The costs of extracting and burning these
fuels are among our most serious
environmental challenges.
Costs include air and water pollution,
mining damage, and violent conflicts,
in addition to climate change.
Someone will
pick it up
Someone will
pick it up
 “
Freedom in a
commons brings
“
RUIN TO ALL.

GARRETT HARDIN
Someone will pick it up

TRAGEDY OF THE
COMMONS
TRAGEDY OF
THE
COMMONS
 SUSTAINABILITY
• Environmental Sustainability- living within the
means of our natural resource.

• Economic Sustainability- requires a business or

a country to use its resources efficiently.

• Social Sustainability- ability of society to

persistently achieve good social well-being.
THROUGHOUT

“
the amount of
resources we use and
“
dispose of