Name: Cachola, Rachel O.

Section: BSIS-A1

Read and watch the videos provided (100 points -Assessment Exercise/Quiz):

Answer the following in a 3-5 pages in word document . (Strictly no copying-) This is a brief
assessment on your understanding about environmental science.

1. Define environmental science in your own words (brief statement) 10points

Answer: Environmental Science is a branch of science that integrates physical, biological and
information sciences to the study of the environment and the solution of environmental problems
and unnatural events. Unnatural events are the disasters or the results of human acts.

2.Expectations on this subject? 10 points

Answer: I was expecting to learn and understand the process of earth, evaluating alternative energy
sources, the effects of climate change, and controlling pollution and others. It's not just about the
environment, but also about human health and well-being. I need to make sure that our planet is safe
for us, so it can continue to grow.  This means that we should take care of our environment in ways
that are sustainable and responsible. So that I expect by the environmental science, we need to take
care of our environment in order to protect it from pollution. I don't think that we should ignore the
fact that there are many problems in the world today. I think that we should look at them as
opportunities to improve our lives and make a difference in the world. If we work together, then
things will get worse. I also believe that we should not afraid of the environment because it is an
important part of our life. From this we can learn and make a positive impact in the world that we
should to take a change thing surround us so that everyone can be better. And how could I or what
are the ways to help improve our ecosystem to make it even more beautiful and to conserve it for
future generations.

3. What is Half earth base on your readings and the videos you watch? Explain 30 points

Answer: Biologist and Pulitzer winner E.O. Wilson has spent his life studying animals and fighting for
their conservation. As species go extinct at 1,000 times the normal rate thanks to human interference,
Wilson’s new book “Half Earth” holds a bold plan to preserve the world’s biodiversity: set aside half of
the entire planet for natural habitats. Also, on this book Half Earth he comes out with all guns blazing,
proclaiming the terrible fate of biodiversity, the need for radical conservation, and humanity’s
centrality in both. His basic message is simply desperate times call for desperate measures, only by
setting aside half the planet in reserve, or more, can we save the living part of the environment and
achieve the stabilization required for our own survival. Asserting that ‘humanity’ behaves like a
destructive juggernaut, Wilson is deeply concerned that the current ‘sixth extinction’ is destroying
many species before scientists have even been able to identify them.

Turning half of the Earth into a series of nature parks is a grand utopian vision for
conservation, perhaps even a hyperbolic one, yet Wilson seems deadly serious about it. Some
environmental thinkers have been arguing the exact opposite, namely that conservation should give
up its infatuation with parks and focus on mixing people and nature in mutually conducive ways.
Wilson defends a traditional view that nature needs more protection, and attacks them for being
unconcerned with what the consequences will be if their beliefs are played out. As social scientists
who study the impact of international conservation on peoples around the world, we would argue
that it is Wilson himself who has fallen into this trap: the world he imagines in Half-Earth would be a
profoundly inhumane one if ever his beliefs were played out.

Half-earth is where we conserved the half of the land and the half of the sea. According to the
book of Wilson Biodiversity, half-earth can manage sufficient habitat to ensure the long-term health
of the planet. That’s why there’s a half-earth project to bring this to conservation moonshot to life.
Which one of this project of earth-life is to drive a research to better understand the species of our
planet and their interactions within the ecosystem. Because if we do research about it, we will still
have an idea of what else we need to do to make it work or we will know what else we need to do
about it. Because conducting research into this is very important because we are learning and
discovering things. So, we need to learn more why or what or how animals live or interact to the
ecosystem. Second project that was stated is, providing a conservation management leadership by
mapping the species of our planet and identifying where we have the best opportunity to protect the
most species. Lastly, engaging people everywhere to participate in caring for our planet and achieving
the goal of half-earth.

By the projects that stated above, there’s a possibility that we achieved the goal to save our
biosphere. As Edward Wilson says, in order to stave off the mass extinction of species, including our
own, we must move swiftly to preserve the biodiversity of our planet. By doing this we will we can
achieve or maintain the biodiversity of our planet faster. If we are to undertake such an ambitious
endeavor, we first must understand just what the biosphere is, why it’s essential to our survival, and
the manifold threats now facing it. In doing so, Wilson describes how our species, in only a mere blink
of geological time, became the architects and rulers of this epoch and outlines the consequences of
this that will affect all of life, both ours and the natural world, far into the future. So, we need to
overlooked the problems and formed a foundation to saved our ecosystem.

As far as we know, there are plants even animals are already endangered. We’re plucking
threads from the biodiversity web and it’s starting to collapse. But one of the most beautiful things
about biodiversity is its resilience. Ease up on the pressure, manage resources well, give it time, and
the ecosystem will adapt. Nature and biodiversity will recover. Just like what Wilson’s dream about
our earth, we need also to take or addressed this kind of problem. By what, by also engaging both
local communities and international governments to set aside to protect lands and end illegal
deforestation, working with companies to ensure the paper, lumber, and food products you use every
day are sourced responsibly, and leading global efforts to stop wildlife crime.

We must also use these same tactics to combat biodiversity loss all over the world, analyzing
the unique threats and finding innovative solutions. To protect the iconic wildlife we all love, we must
rebuild the web of biodiversity that supports it. We do this by rethinking how we’re using natural
resources, easing the pressure and allowing ecosystems to recover. In the process all life benefits,
plants, insects, fish, birds, mammals, and even people.
4.Browse over the map provided on the link below.

a. What is biodiversity? 10 points

Answer: According to worldlife.org, biodiversity is all the different kinds of life you’ll find in one area,
the variety of animals, plants, fungi, and even microorganisms like bacteria that make up our natural
world. Each of these species and organisms work together in ecosystems, like an intricate web, to
maintain balance and support life. Biodiversity supports everything in nature that we need to survive
like, food, clean water, medicine, and shelter.

Biodiversity is not only consisting in one factor but rather many factors where or can supports
everything in nature that we need in everyday lives so that we can survive. Without these we will not
be able to survive or live, because biodiversity is the source of our needs, like, water, food, medicine,
shelter. Biodiversity is not only fungi, or bacteria, it also for human resources. In other words,
biodiversity is all life on the planet, there will be no populations of human without biodiversity.

b .Take a look at the map. Identify 2 areas in the world that is diverse in species. (You can also read
other references for this one) 10 points

Answer: South America and Brazil

c. Differentiate terrestrial from marine species. 10 points

Answer: A terrestrial species are those who lived in lands, they also have legs, waterproof skin, and
feathers while marine species are lives in water, respire through gills or their skin, they have
streamline bodies, fins, webbed feet, and air bladder, their skin is slimy, slippery, and soft.

5. What are Conservation Areas? Brief statement..10 points

Answer: Conservation area is a place to protect and care the resources of our nature.

As stated on the book of Wilson Biodiversity Foundation, some areas that in United States are,
public lands and waters which includes, national parks, national wildfire refugees, national forests,
and other conservation areas. While in the Philippines, according to biodiversity conservation
strategies, MPAs is one of the conversion areas of marines.

6.What are Human Impacts/pressures base on your understanding? Give 2 examples 10 points

Answer: For me, the human impacts are the human activities such as overpopulation, deforestation,
and others. Where humans destroy the habitats of human beings and the ecosystem. In order for the
Earth to continue to sustain life and for humanity to thrive, biodiversity must also have room to
flourish, as all of our resources come from nature and the Earth, including food, water, and medicine.
A thriving environment also means a stable climate, access to natural energy sources, and better
overall health, wealth, and security. In turn, biodiversity helps support the economic sector and
contributes to a stable economy. However, the overconsumption of natural resources is degrading
nature and creating an unstable environment that will not support us indefinitely. Humanity’s
consumption of the Earth is fast outpacing the Earth’s biocapacity, and every year, the distance
between these two points grows.

Overconsumption is just one of several ways in which we are negatively impacting the
environment, and contributing to animal species extinction and biodiversity decimation. Exploitation
and land degradation are also driven by runaway consumption. Exploitation of the land’s resources,
particularly for energy and food, negatively impacts biodiversity. The growth of fisheries and
overfishing have negatively impacted ocean ecosystems and marine life, causing instability in coastal
ecosystems, harming coral reefs and marine habitats, and causing a decrease in the number of fish
and invertebrate species. Land degradation has also negatively impacted biodiversity, particularly in
the form of habitat loss for a number of animal species, causing species declines. This includes both
land and ocean habitats, as a result of agriculture, deforestation, logging, mining, residential or
commercial development, and energy production. Deforestation is another major human impact on
the environment. Forests are among the world’s “richest ecosystems.” Pollution as a result of human
activity is a well-known negative impact on biodiversity and animal populations. Air and land
pollution can affect animal species’ habitats and environments, making it difficult for them to survive,
or else impact food supplies and reproductive performance, causing those species to slowly become
extinct. However, one of the biggest pollution-related impacts on biodiversity is pollution in the
ocean, specifically, plastic pollution. Plastic pollution can be found in virtually every part of the ocean
across the globe. It pollutes ocean habitats and kills marine life, as it takes too long to break down,
and even microplastics can be ingested by the fish we eat. Where chemicals are contributed in this
decimation. According to a 2018 study, even if all negative impacts on biodiversity and animal
populations were to cease immediately, it would still take another five to seven million years for
evolution to naturally replace lost animal and plant species and population numbers.

While many countries have signed on to various environment-related agreements and

conventions, the world must still come together to protect its biodiversity. Wealthier and larger
countries can no longer consider their own personal economic interests above the climate and
environment. And while current environmental policies are a start, new strategies also need to be
attempted, there is no denying that permanent and sustainable action must be taken now to ensure
that biodiversity on Earth can continue to thrive and support us, before we cross a tipping point from
which we can never return. As the report states: “We are the first generation that has a clear picture
of the value of nature and our impact on it. We may be the last that can take action to reverse this
trend. From now until 2020 will be a decisive moment in history.”