The scientific method is part of a larger

process
• The scientific process
includes peer review,
publication, debate.
• Uncertainty is a
fundamental part of the
scientific process.
• A consistently
supported hypothesis
becomes a theory.
• Some theories lead to a
paradigm shift. FIGURE 1.9
 People differ in their
perception of environmental
problems
• Interdisciplinary
communication is already
difficult, but…
• Communication about
environmental issues is
further complicated by
differences in language and
worldview. FIGURE 1.4
Perception is influenced by
worldviews

• Policy/Legal/Governmental vs. Scientific

• Academic vs. Applied
• Profane/Secular vs. Religious/Sacred
• Affluence vs. Poverty
• Industrialized vs. Developing Nations
• Anthropocentric vs. Ecocentric
• Ecosphere vs. Technosphere
• Economy vs. Ecology
“ ”
 We face many
environmental challenges
• Issues and topics in the course
- Basic science of the environment
- Basic science of human impacts on the environment
- Environmental issues and challenges we are facing as a
global community
- No “easy” answers will be provided!
- Concern is allowed; depression is not allowed.
Millennium Ecosystem
Assessment
• 2001 — 2005
• 1,360 experts
• comprehensive
scientific
assessment of the
state of the world’s
ecosystems and
their ability to
support life and
civilization
“Over the past 50 years, humans have changed
ecosystems more rapidly and extensively than in any
comparable period of time in human history. This has
resulted in a substantial and largely irreversible loss in the
diversity of life on Earth”

- Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Report (2005)

 Millennium Ecosystem
Assessment: Major Findings
- Rapid, extensive changes in the past 50 years; likely to worsen
- Substantial and irreversible loss in biodiversity
- Net gains in human development/economies, but at a cost
- Reversing the degradation of ecosystems will require significant
changes
Ecosystem Services
Population, poverty,
and over-consumption
are root problems
• human population growth
exacerbates environmental
problems: add >200,000
people each day
• consumption of resources has
risen faster than population
• poverty: people sell off their
environmental assets in order
to survive
 Sustainability is a
goal for the future

• Can we live within the planet’s means?

- we need resources PLUS functioning natural systems
• Sustainable development:
- use of resources to satisfy current needs without
compromising future availability of resources.
• Sustainability…
- conserves Earth’s natural resources & maintains fully
functioning ecological systems.
how do we define sustainability?
• Meeting present needs without compromising the ability of
future generations to meet their needs - 1987 Brundtland
Report
• Bearing in mind the effects of our actions on our
descendants for seven generations -  Iroquois Confederacy
• “When a process is
sustainable, it can be carried
out over and over without
negative environmental effects
or impossibly high costs to
anyone involved.”

• “Maintaining your consumption

without eroding your capital.” 
• "Providing the best outcomes for the human and
natural environments both now and into the
indefinite future."
• “Enough – for all – forever.”
“Anything else you're
interested in is not going
to happen if you can't
breathe the air and drink
the water. Don't sit this
one out. Do something.
You are by accident of
fate alive at an absolutely
critical moment in the
history of our planet.”
~ Carl Sagan
 Conclusions
• Environmental science helps us understand our
relationship with the environment and informs our
attempts to solve and prevent problems.
• Observing and critically analyzing are the first steps
toward scientific understanding.
• The global community faces many challenging
environmental problems.
• Environmental science can help us find balanced,
sustainable solutions to environmental problems.