ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
Wikipedia.com defines it as an interdisciplinary c. Meteorologists - dynamics or various phenomena of
academic field that integrates physical, biological and
information sciences including ecology, biology, physics,
chemistry, plant science, zoology, mineralogy,
oceanography, limnology, soil science, geology…
Is a scientific study of the nature and how it is
affected by humanity.
Objectives of Environmental Science
Skills
Awareness
Participation
Attitudes
Knowledge
The Major Components of Environmental Science
1. ECOLOGY
: oikos - in the house; logos - study
: study of organisms and environment interacting with one
another
: correlation between organisms and it’s surroundings.
: examples: Food Chain/Web
a. Ecologists, the practitioners, who make up a part of
environmental scientists as well as researching the
relation between the state of the environment and
population of specific within the environment.
2. GEOSCIENCE
: geos - Earth
: concern with the study of geology, soil science,
volcanoes, and earth’s layers as they relate to the
environment
a. Geologist - erosion of the earth’s surface in a particular
mountainous area.
b. Geomorphologists - movement of solid particles
(sediments)
c. Biologist - brunt of the study to the plants and animals
of the immediate environment.
d. Physicists - momentum and gravitational influence that
may cause changes in the water and eventually loosen up
mineral particles causing the erosions.
e. Soil Scientists - make the final forecast on the flow of
water when it infiltrates the soil, loosening up the materials
to full capacity causing the erosion.
3. ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCE
: study of Earth’s Atmosphere
: scrutinizes the relation of the Earth’s atmosphere to the
atmospheres of the other systems
:includes a wide variety of scientific studies relating to
outer space, astrology, and the earth’s atmosphere:
meteorology, pollution, gas emission and suspended
particulate matter
a. Physicist - atmospheric dissemination of a part of the
atmosphere.
b. Chemists - chemical existence and their relationships
with the environment.
the atmosphere.
d. Biologists - how plants are affected and their
relationship with the environment
4. ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMISTRY
: study of changes that chemicals make in the
environment, such as contamination of the environment,
degradation of chemicals beneficial to the organisms, and
the transport of chemicals upon the plants and animals of
the immediate environment.
a. Biologist - effects of chemically induced surroundings
to see its relationship with the plants and animals of the
environment would eventually alter their existence
The Chernobyl disaster began on 26 April 1986 with the
explosion of the No. 4 reactor of the Chernobyl Nuclear
Power Plant, near the city of Pripyat in the north of the
Ukrainian SSR, close to the border with the Byelorussian
SSR, in the Soviet Union
—----
7 ENVIRONMENTAL PRINCIPLES
1. Nature knows best.
: most essential and encompasses all the other
principles.
: only surfaced when many of the pernicious
effects of technology were recognized and thereon is the
birth of ecological backlash
: One natural process that needs serious attention
is nutrient cycling. (nutrients pass from the environment to
the organisms and back to the environment at the end of
organismsʼ lifeline.)
2. All forms of life are important.
: Each organism plays a fundamental role in
nature
: Since such occupational or functional position,
otherwise known, as niche cannot be simultaneously
occupied by more than on species, it is apparent that all
living things must be considered as invaluable in the
maintenance of homeostasis in the ecosystem.
3. Everything is connected to everything else.
: best exemplified by the concept of the
ecosystem.
(In an ecosystem, all the biotic and abiotic components
interact with each other to make sure that the system is
extant.)
: may be talk of the century in local, regional, or
global perspective.
: Whatever happens to one community may affect
other communities. (When radiation from the Chernobyl
accident leaked, it affected a lot of countries through the
transfer of radioactive substances by natural agents such
as wind and water, as well as human activities like the
export of contaminated food. Up to this time, the effect is
still affecting the next generation organismsʼ growth and
development.)
4. Everything changes.
: often said that the only permanent thing in this
world is change
a. Linear Change - the evolution of species has brought
about higher and conglomerated types of organisms.
b. Cyclical Change - may be depicted by intervals and
the cadences in floral and faunal life stages that go with
the seasons.
c. Random Change - is the killer eruption of Mt. Pinatubo,
which brought about great temblor in many parts of Luzon
and changes in the topography of the nearby
surroundings.
d. Natural Change - man's technology has affected these
natural changes often to a growing, problematic extent.
5. Everything must go somewhere.
: When a piece of waste is thrown away, it
disappears temporarily from sight but it does not stop to
exist. It ends up somewhere.
: Every particular type of waste does to the earth's
repository should be of concern to everyone.
: Classification of wastes facilitates their proper
disposal and minimizes, if not prevents, the entry of toxic
wastes in vital ecosystems and ensures reconversion into
useful forms.
: Since waste are not lost permanently and even
goes back to one's own backyard in some other forms, it is
vital that one becomes aware of the different types of
wastes whether they are hazardous or otherwise.
6. Ours is a finite earth.
: It is better to conserve and preserve what is left
in our environment now than pay the price of agony later.
: Humans’ consumerist attitude shall be changed
and his desire to develop processes and technology would
bring about recycling a great number of resources.
a. Renewable resources - can easily be replaced or
replenished by natural cycles.
: Solar, Biomass, Wind, Geothermal, and
Hydropower Energy
b. Non-renewable resources - cannot replace or
replenish by natural cycles.
: Fossil Fuel Oil, Coal, Nuclear, Natural Gas
7. Nature is beautiful and we are stewards of God’s
creation.
: Of all creatures, humans are the only ones made
in God's image and have been given the right to have
dominion over all His creations.
: Being the most rationale, intelligent and gifted
creation, humans are capable of manipulating creation to
their own advantage.
: This creation exists and destined not to be
ravaged or abused but to be taken care of.
: Humans cannot exist without nature but nature
can exist without humans.
: They are co-natural with the environment they
live in.
: If the environment they live in is destroyed and
made unlivable with humans, with it, Homo sapiens will go
and his evolution stops.
: This principle is engraved in all religious and
tribal beliefs. Teachings of Christianity, Buddhism and
Islam ask everyone to respect everything that has life and
the order of nature.
—-----
BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLE
: a pathway by which a chemical substance
moves through biotic (biosphere) and abiotic ( lithosphere,
atmosphere, and hydrosphere) compartments of Earth
: Study.com defines it as the movement of
elements through organisms and the environment.
: periodic transfer of nutrient material between the
biotic organisms and their abiotic environment
: safeguard the limited source of raw or basic
materials in the environment
BIO - biological organisms
GEO - geological processes
CHEMICAL - chemical processes
CYCLE - series of events that are regularly repeated in
the same order
Producers (autotrophs) take up several basic inorganic
nutrients from their abiotic counterpart in the environment
(these materials get transformed into the biomass of the
autotrophs) After which, they are utilized by the
heterotroph population and are eventually returned to the
environment with the help of the decomposers.
Nutrients - circulate through life and through earth time
and again
WATER CYCLE (Hydrological Cycle)
Liquid Water Molecules -> Water Vapor -> Gaseous
Molecules -> Clouds -> Rain
1. EVAPORATION
Liquid Water Molecules transform into water vapor
and evaporate into the atmosphere. Excess water in
plants is released via evapotranspiration.
2. CONDENSATION
This excess water is also turned into gaseous
molecules and moved towards the atmosphere. Upon
reaching the atmosphere, these water vapor molecules
condensed and formed into clouds.
3. PRECIPITATION
When the clouds are heavy enough, it will
precipitate. Water is now captured by the catch basins.
The water could end up as surface water as it flows to
rivers and eventually to the seas and oceans.
*INFILTRATION
The water could also end in the aquifer as they
infiltrate the soil and transform into underground water.
These steps are repeated because this is a cycle.
ECCLESIASTES 1:7
 “All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full;
into the place from where the rivers come, and then they
return again. “
CARBON CYCLE
Element Carbon
: a part of seawater, the atmosphere, rocks such
as limestone and coal, soils, as well as all living things
: able to move from one of these realms to
another as a part of the carbon cycle
Carbons moves from:
1. ATMOSPHERE TO PLANTS
In the atmosphere, carbon is attached to oxygen
in a gas called carbon dioxide (CO2). Through the process
of photosynthesis, carbon dioxide is pulled from the air to
produce food made from carbon for plant growth.
2. PLANTS TO ANIMALS
Through food chains, the carbon that is in plants
moves to the animals that consume/eat them. Animals that
eat other animals get carbon from their food too.
3. PLANTS AND ANIMALS TO SOILS
When plants and animals die, their bodies, wood
and leaves decays bringing the carbon into the ground.
Some are buried and will become fossil fuels in millions
and millions of years.
4. LIVING THINGS TO ATMOSPHERE
Each time you exhale, you are releasing carbon
dioxide gas (CO2) into the atmosphere. Animals and
plants need to get rid of carbon dioxide gas through a
process called respiration.
5. FOSSIL FUELS TO ATMOSPHERE
When humans burn fossil fuels to power factories,
power plants, cars and trucks, most of the carbon quickly
enters the atmosphere as carbon dioxide gas. Each year,
five and a half billion tons of carbon is released by burning
fossil fuels. Of this massive amount, 3.3 billion tons stay in
the atmosphere. Most of the remainder becomes
dissolved in seawater.
6. ATMOSPHERE TO OCEANS
The oceans, and other bodies of water, absorb
some carbon from the atmosphere. The carbon is
dissolved into the water.
NITROGEN CYCLE
: recirculation and reuse of nitrogen in various
forms to meet the demand for various environmental and
biological activities
Nitrogen (N2) is present in a gaseous and diatomic form;
plants cannot use the nitrogen in this form so they need
nitrogen fixing bacteria, lightning, root nodules, forest fire
etc. to convert the nitrogen into nitrate compounds like
Nitric Oxide (NO), Nitrite (NO2), Nitrate (NO3)
1. NITROGEN FIXATION
: N2 -> ammonia
: conversion of atmospheric nitrogen to usable
form of ammonia
: Without this process, most plants and animals do
not have the nitrogen needed to live.
a. inert form of nitrogen gas is deposited into soils
from the atmosphere and surface waters (mainly
by precipitation)
b. nitrogen undergoes a set of changes, in which two
nitrogen atoms get separated and combine with
hydrogen to form ammonia (NH4+)
c. completed by symbiotic bacteria which are known
as Diazotrophs - consist of a nitrogenase enzyme
which has the capability to combine gaseous
nitrogen with hydrogen to form ammonia
(Azotobacter and Rhizobium also have major role)
Types of Nitrogen Fixation
a. Atmospheric fixation: A natural phenomenon where
the energy of lightning breaks the nitrogen into nitrogen
oxides and is then used by plants.
b. Industrial nitrogen fixation: a man-made alternative
that aids in nitrogen fixation by the use of ammonia.
Ammonia is produced by the direct combination of
nitrogen and hydrogen and later, it is converted into
various fertilizers such as urea.
c. Biological nitrogen fixation: Bacteria like Rhizobium
and blue-green algae transform the unusable form of
nitrogen into other compounds that are more readily
usable. These nitrogen compounds get fixed in the soil by
these microbes.
2. NITRIFICATION
: Ammonia -> Nitrate -> Nitrite
a. ammonia is converted into nitrate by the
presence of bacteria in the soil. Nitrites are formed by the
oxidation of Ammonia with the help of Nitrosomonas
bacterium species.
b. the produced nitrites are converted into nitrates
by Nitrobacter. This conversion is very important as
ammonia gas is toxic for plants
3. ASSIMILATION
(Primary producers) plants take in the nitrogen
compounds from the soil with the help of their roots, which
are available in the form of ammonia, nitrite ions, nitrate
ions or ammonium ions and are used in the formation of
the plant and animal proteins. This way, it enters the food
web when the primary consumers eat the plants.
4. AMMONIFICATION
When plants or animals die, the nitrogen present
in the organic matter is released back into the soil. The
decomposers, namely bacteria or fungi present in the soil,
convert the organic matter back into ammonium. This
process of decomposition produces ammonia, which is
further used for other biological processes.
5. DENITRIFICATION
: the process in which the nitrogen compounds
makes their way back into the atmosphere by converting
nitrate (NO3-) into gaseous nitrogen (N). This process of
the nitrogen cycle is the final stage and occurs in the
absence of oxygen.
 : carried out by the denitrifying bacterial species-
Clostridium and Pseudomonas, which will process nitrate
to gain oxygen and give out free nitrogen gas as a
byproduct.
OXYGEN CYCLE
: a circulation of oxygen in various forms through
nature (atmosphere contains about 21% oxygen)
In the oxygen cycle, the oxygen is liberated as shown by
the equation.
6 CO2 + 6 H2O + light energy
1. PLANTS
Photosynthesis - process by which plants use sunlight,
water, and carbon dioxide to create oxygen and energy in
the form of sugar.
6 CO2 + 12H2O+LightEnergy ->
C6H12O6+6O2+6H2O
Free oxygen - may be utilized again in respiration or it
may be returned to the environment as molecular
atmospheric oxygen, completing the cycle. Therefore,
oxygen enters organisms only through respiration and
leaves through photosynthesis. It may incorporate in water
and interlink with the water cycle indirectly with the carbon
cycle.
2. ATMOSPHERE
Oxygen in the atmosphere - source of ozone (O3).
Ozone layer - protects organisms by preventing most of
the ultraviolet and X-ray from reaching the earth's surface.
Many are still easy believers of a catastrophic ozone layer.
The most recent factor affecting the oxygen cycle of the
biosphere and the oxygen budget of the earth is the man
himself and selfish attitudes. He doesn't care. Man
consumes the oxygen and decreases the oxygen level
and increases the carbon dioxide level as the burn fossil
fuels.
ENERGY AND NUTRIENT CYCLE
All ecosystems consist of two components:
a. biotic or living components - bacteria, fungi,
protists, plants and animals
b. abiotic or non-living physical or chemical
aspects of the environment - such as the climate, light,
temperature, availability of water, and minerals in the soil.
Energy flow - describes the interactions between energy
sources within the Earth's environment; based on the flow
of the energy through the ecosystem
Nutrient cycle - a repeated pathway of a particular
nutrient or element from the environment through one or
more organisms and back to the environment.
Nutrients - atoms and molecules that organisms obtain
from their environment as food in their quest for survival
and therefore growth in population. The same nutrients
may have been sustaining life on Earth from the life was
detected to be present for about 3.5 billion years.
Nutrients are brought to the Earth but they never leave
the planet.
Much of the energy reaching Earth from the sun is
reflected back into space by the atmosphere, clouds, and
the Earth's surface. Some is absorbed by the Earth to
warm the planet. Less than 0.03% of the energy reaching
Earth from the sun equivalent to almost a kilowatt is
captured by photosynthetic organisms, and supports life
on Earth
Energy enters ecosystems through photosynthesis.
Plants, algae, and photosynthetic bacteria acquire
nutrients such as carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and
phosphorus from the abiotic portions of ecosystems.
Photosynthesizers bring energy and nutrients into
ecosystems. Photosynthetic organisms ,capture sunlight's
energy. Nutrients and energy contained in biological
molecules move from photosynthetic organisms to non-
photosynthetic organisms
Energy, on the other hand, takes a one-way trip through
ecosystems.
Solar energy is captured by photosynthetic organisms like
bacteria, algae, and plants, and then transfers from
organism to organism. Then, all of life's energy is
converted to heat that is given off to the environment but
cannot be used to drive the chemical reactions of living
organisms. Life requires a non-stop input energy.
a. Producers (autotrophs) - photosynthesizing
organisms; make their own food (sugar-glucose) using
inorganic nutrients and solar energy from the environment.
b. Consumers (or heterotrophs) - cannot
photosynthesize; acquire energy, and nutrients from
molecules in the bodies of other organisms which they
have consumed.
*Ninety-nine percent of protozoans are non-
photosynthesizers.
Energy flow through ecosystems begins with
photosynthetic organisms and passes through several
levels of non-photosynthetic organisms that feed on the
photosynthesizers or each other.
Energy is transferred from one trophic level to the next
higher level.
Levels of consumers
a. Primary consumers (herbivores) feed directly
and exclusively on producers; include animals such as
grasshoppers, mice, and zebras, and form the second
trophic level.
b. Secondary Consumers (carnivores) prey on
herbivores; spiders, hawks. and salmon, make up the
higher-level consumers. Max- be higher trophic levels (like
in the oceans).
c. Tertiary consumers (omnivores) Some
carnivores eat other carnivores
There isn’t a perfect transfer of energy from one organism
to another. It follows something called the ten percent
rule.
Human-Environmental Interactions
: interactions between the humanity or human
social system and the rest of the ecosystem
Important Characteristics of Human Social Systems
Population size
Social organization
Values
Technology
Wealth
Education
Knowledge
Green - indicates the waste generated as a product of this
interaction.
Red - indicate the negative effect on both the environment
and humans if the waste is not properly managed.
The links between human activity and the environment are
complex and varied, but can be grouped into two main
types of activity:
1. use of natural resources such as land, food, water,
soils, minerals, plants and animals
2. production of wastes from a range of activities
including agriculture, industry
and mining, as well as wastes from our
own bodies.
Coevolution and coadaptation
: describe the never-ending process of mutual
adjustment and change between human social systems
and the environment. Peoples actions have consequences
on the environment. But also the environment influences
human activities. Human social systems have to adapt to
their specific environment.
Storm, Tsunami, Earthquake, Volcanic Eruption - these
are some of the natural phenomena can either be directly
or not primarily anthropogenic and again affect human
actions as people have to react to new situation.
Human Interaction on the environment : product
of human overconfidence on itself
: cause the disastrous failure and eventually
extinction of humanity.
Demographers estimated that:
1 second = Five Babies (2 will die and 3 will keep
growing and multiply)
That's 180 babies in one minute.
Land space on earth is getting smaller and smaller for
human to settle.
that contradicts:
Aristotle believes that Earth is alive, breathing and
growing.
Man is contemplating on sending human expedition
mars, a one-way trip to depopulate Earth and make Mars
another "Earth".
POPULATION
: the number of living people that live together in
the same place.
OVERPOPULATION
: undesirable condition where the number of
existing human population exceeds the carrying capacity
of the earth
: caused by reduced mortality rate, better
technology and depletion of precious resources are few of
the causes.
Disadvantages of Overpopulation:
1. deterioration in living conditions
2. consumption of natural resources is faster than
rate of regeneration
3. starvation/malnutrition
4. demand for resources by humanity increases
CARRYING CAPACITY
: maximum number of a species
an environment can support indefinitely.
: of the environment - the maximum population
size of a biological species that can be sustained by that
specific environment, given the food, habitat, water, and
other resources available.
POPULATION DISTRIBUTION
: pattern of where people live in transient and
permanent setting
THREE PATTERNS OF DISTRIBUTION IN
POPULATION OF ORGANISMS
1. CLUMPED
: Organisms are clustered together in groups. This
may reflect a patchy distribution of resources in the
environment. This is the most common pattern of
population dispersion.
2. RANDOM
: Organisms have an unpredictable distribution.
This is typical of species in which individuals do not
interact strongly.
3. UNIFORM
: may result from direct interaction
: regular form of distribution
: organisms are spaced evenly
: territories and resources are some of the main
factors of having uniform distribution
POPULATION DENSITY
: number of people living in a particular community
usually 1 square mile or 1 sq km and can be referred to as
the total population per land area
 Population growth can lead to deforestation, water
PD = Number of people/ Land Area (km2) pollution, and air pollution because more people will be
utilizing resources of the planet.
The major factors that determines population
distribution Fertility Rate - the average number of children a woman
1. Climate gives birth to.
2. Landforms
3. Topography Replacement Level - is the amount of fertility needed to
4. Soil keep the population the same from generation to
5. Energy generation. It refers to the total fertility rate that will result
6. Mineral Resources in a stable population without it increasing or decreasing.
7. Accessibility like distance from sea coast
8. Natural Harbors
9. Navigable Rivers Two Major Impacts of Human to the Environment
10. Cultural Factors 1. Consumable Resources such as Lands, Food, Water,
11. Political Boundaries Air, Fossil Fuels
12. Controls on Migration and trade 2. Mineral Waste products due to consumption such as
13. Workplace air and water pollutants, deadly materials, and greenhouse
14. Government Policies gasses.
15. Types of Business activities
16. Technology (agricultural and transportation Pollution - becoming too difficult to ignore that population
facilities) growth is the biggest threat to the environment. (Soil
17. Social Organization erosion and flooding due to climate change, Pollution due
18. Natural Increase in Migration to uncontrolled usage of fossil fuels)
One of the most environmental issues is Human
Edward Osborne Wilson Population. It is silently pushing behind global warming,
“The constraints of the biosphere are fixed” (He habitat loss, and other issues about the environment.
based his estimates on calculations of the Earth’s
available resources. There are constraints on the amount Environmental Conditions are worsen and the blame is
of food that Earth can produce. put on human activities which could deplete resources of
: an American biologist, naturalist, and writer, the environment such as air, water, soil pollution and the
sociobiologist extinction of wildlife.
: influential biologist who on numerous occasions
has been given the nicknames "The New Darwin",
"Darwin's natural heir" or "The Darwin of the 21st century".

Joel Cohen
“Nitrogen Cycle, available quantities of
phosphorus and atmospheric carbon concentrations limit
the Earth’s carrying capacity.”
: Population Biologist Columbia U.

Slowing Growth
According to UN Population Division, human population
will hit:
around 21st of October - 7 billion
2050 - 9 billion
2100 - 10 billion

UN Population projection shows that families are getting

smaller. Parents are focused on having two children and
up, in which case the children are replacing their parents.

The world’s population will be stabilized if this replacement

fizzled out. Worldwide, the fertility rate is falling to the
replacement level at an average of 2.1 children per
woman.

The human population will be stabilized between 9 to 10

billion if the global fertility rate reach the replacement level
at the end of the century.

Air pollution in China has put cancer on top of the pedestal

as the leading cause of death.