Introduction to Environment,

Environmental Science, Ecology, &

Ecosystem
Chapter 01
 Understanding our Environment

 What do you think of when you hear the term “environment?”

 Some people think of a beautiful scene, like mountains or streams
flowing through the wilderness.
 The environment is everything around us. It includes the natural world
as well as things produced by humans.
 It is a complex web of relationships that connect us with the world we
live in.
– Despite our many scientific and technological advances, we are utterly
dependent on the environment for clean air and water, food, shelter,
energy, and everything else we need to stay alive and healthy. As a result,
we are part of, and not apart from, the rest of nature.
 In its simplest terms, environmental science is the study of the air you
breathe, the water you drink, and the food you eat.
 But environmental scientists study so much of the natural world and the
way humans interact with it that their studies include many other fields
like chemistry, physics, biology, geology etc.
Understanding our Environment
 But environmental scientists study so much of the natural world and the
way humans interact with it that their studies include many other fields
like chemistry, physics, biology, geology etc.
 Like any living creature, you depend on environmental resources. More
importantly perhaps is the fact that humans, unlike other living
creatures, have the ability to damage these resources with pollution and
overuse.
 This course provides a quick overview of the environment, its systems,
and its many resources.
 It also talks about what humans can do to reduce their impact on the
environment today and into the future.
 After all, maintaining the health of the Earth and its resources at both
the local and global level is something everyone has a stake in.
 Environment
Definition:-
 “Everything around us, living and nonliving, natural and man-made”.
– It is a combination of both natural and human-made elements;
– Our environment is everything that surrounds us- from the trees, mountains,
roads, buildings, things and even people.
– Since humans inhabit the natural world as well as the “built” or
technological, social, and cultural world, all constitute important parts of our
environment.
 Environment: the total of our surroundings--All the things around
us with which we interact:
 Living things
– Animals, plants, forests, fungi, etc.
 Non-living things
– Continents, oceans, clouds, soil, rocks
 Our built environment
– Buildings, human-created living centers
 Social relationships and institutions
 The environment includes all conditions that surround living organisms:
• Climate
• Air and water quality
• Soil and landforms
• Presence of other living organisms----Includes the relationships
between these components of the environment.
The environment includes earth, lakes, forests, farms, vegetation and other
biological life such as animals, plants, bacteria and micro-organisms etc which
affects human life and its existence on this planet are called environment”.
• (All the factors such as physical, geographical, chemical, biological, and
ecological affect human life).
Environment (cont’d)
 For example, consider a fishbowl on your kitchen counter.
– The environment of the fish includes the obvious features — the
water, rocks, plants, and any microscopic organisms that live in the
fishbowl — but it also includes conditions, such as temperature and
light, that come from beyond the enclosed bowl.
– In other words, the tiny fishbowl environment includes the larger
environment of your home.
• The complexity of an environment depends on the size of the area being
studied.
• The largest and most complex environment that scientists study is planet
Earth, including the atmosphere that surrounds it.
• As you explore environmental science, you need to recognize that
environment doesn’t simply mean trees, grass, and weather.
• Many of the environments that humans and other creatures experience
today are man-made environments — such as your home and the urban
landscape of a city — and these environments affect living organisms just
as much as the natural environment.
 Functions of the Environment

(1) Provides the supply of resources

 The environment offers resources for production. Resources act as inputs for
converting natural resources into productive and useful things.
 It includes both renewable and non-renewable resources.
 Examples: Wood for furniture, soil, land, etc.
(2) Sustains life
 The environment provides us with vital ingredients like sun, soil, water, and air,
which are essential for survival of human life.
 It sustains life by providing genetic and biodiversity.
(3) Assimilates waste
 The activities of Production and consumption generates waste.
 This waste is mostly in the form of garbage, which is absorbed by the
environment automatically.
(4) Enhances the quality of life
 The environment includes surroundings such as river, mountains, and deserts
enhances the quality of life.
 It provides scenic beauty that man admires in life and adds to the quality of life.
 Definition of Environmental Science
Definition:
 “Environmental science is the systematic study of our environment. It is the study of the
interaction of humans with the natural environment”.
– Environmental science is like any science — based on a methodical way of asking and
answering questions to expand the human understanding of the natural world.
 “Environmental Science is …the study of the HUMAN IMPACT on the environment.”
– Environmental science focuses on gaining an understanding of how the environment,
with all of its biotic (living) and abiotic (non-living) components, functions as well as how
humans impact it or are impacted by it.
• Humans exist within the environment and are part of nature. Humans depend completely on
the environment for survival. Our survival depends on a healthy, functioning planet.
• Enriched and longer lives, increased wealth, health, mobility, leisure time.
– But natural systems have been degraded
• Pollution, erosion, and species extinction
 Environmental changes threaten long-term health and survival.
• such as when we pollute water through our industrial activities and later discover that there are
health implications that arise from being exposed to or consuming that polluted water.
 Environmental science is the study of:
 How the natural world works
 How the environment affects humans and vice versa
• With environmental problems come opportunities for solutions.
 Components of Environmental science

A key component of environmental science is ecology and ecosystem.

 Ecosystem
 A major focus of ecology is the study of ecosystems.
 The simplest definition of an ecosystem is that “it is a community or group of living
organisms that live in and interact with each other in a specific environment”.
 The ecosystem comprises all the biotic components (living things) and abiotic
components (non-living things) in a particular geographic area.
 For instance, a forest ecosystem consists of plants (trees),animals, and various other
organisms that decompose organic materials, all interacting with one another, with solar
energy, and with the chemicals in the forest’s air, water, and soil (all of the trees, insects,
and other populations in a forest form the forest’s community. The forest itself is an
ecosystem).
 Ecosystems can be small-scale, covering a small area such as a pond or large-scale
covering a large area such as a tropical rainforest.
 Ecology
• Ecology can be define as “Study of organisms with respect to their house or dwelling
place”.
 Ecology is the study of ecosystem---- how living things interact with each other and
with their non-living environment.
 Goals Of Environmental Science
• Goals of Environmental Science are to learn:
– how nature works (knowledge of natural systems and ecological concepts)
– How the environment affects us;
– How we affect the environment (awareness and appreciation of the
natural and built environment)
– How to deal with environmental problems (understanding of current
environmental issues);
– and how to live more sustainably (the ability to use critical-thinking and
problem-solving skills on environmental issues).
• Understanding interactions between humans and the environment is the first
step toward solving environmental problems.
 Environmental science is mission-oriented. That is, it seeks new, valid,
contextual knowledge about the natural world and our impacts on it, but
obtaining this information creates a responsibility to get involved in trying to
do something about the problems we have created.
– Its’ applied goal: solving environmental problems
 Environmental Science as an Interdisciplinary
Field
 Environmental science is referred to as an interdisciplinary field because it
incorporates information and ideas from multiple disciplines.
• Environmental science draws on knowledge from many different fields of study,
including the so-called:
– hard sciences like chemistry, biology, and geology
– and the social sciences like economics, geography, and political science.
Environmental Science as an Interdisciplinary Field (cont’d)
• For example:
– Chemistry helps us understand the nature of pollutants;
– Geology helps us model how pollutants travel underground;
– Botany and Zoology provides information needed to preserve species;
– Paleontologists study fossils so we can see how Earth’s climate has changed over
time and predict how future climate could possible affect future life on Earth.
• A paleontologist is a scientist who studies the history of life on Earth through the fossil
record. Fossils are the evidence of past life on the planet.
• For example:
– A community decides to use coal for electricity, as it is the cheapest source available.
(Economics)
– The coal must be mined from under the soil. (Geology)
– The coal must be transported to the population center by road or rail. (Engineering)
– When it is burned at a power plant, air pollution is released. Some of that pollution
is converted to acid in the atmosphere. (Chemistry)
– This falls as acid rain somewhere downwind. (Meteorology)
– The acid stresses plants by affecting their nutrient absorption. (Ecology)
– Laws are passed requiring the plant to install pollution scrubbers ( air pollution control devices).
(Politics)
 What is the Environment Worth to You?

• The environment, and its benefits to individuals or groups, can be viewed and
justified from multiple perspectives. Placing a Value on the Environment.
• The value of the environment is based on four justifications:
i. Utilitarian
ii. Ecological
iii. Aesthetic
iv. Creative
v. Moral

 A Utilitarian justification
– Sees some aspect of the environment as valuable because it benefits individuals
economically or is directly necessary to human survival
– For environmental conservation, it means that we should protect the
environment because doing so provides a direct economic benefit to people.
 Example:
o Mangrove Swamps provide a nursery for shrimp that are the basis of the
livelihood for the shrimp fisherman.
o Conserving lions in Africa as part of tourism provides a livelihood for local people.
 An Ecological justification
– An ecosystem is necessary for the survival of some species of interest to
us, or that the system itself provides some benefit.
 Example:
o Mangrove Swamps provide habitat for marine fish, and although we do not
eat Mangrove Trees, we may eat the fish that depend on them.
o For example, we should protect Georgia’s coastal salt marshes because salt
marshes purify water, salt marshes are vital to the survival of many marine
fishes and salt marshes protect our coasts from storm surges.
 An Aesthetic justification
– Appreciation of the beauty of nature. People use wilderness for recreation.
Our appreciation of the beauty of nature. We save nature because it makes
us feel good to see it.
– For conservation acknowledges that many people enjoy the outdoors and
do not want to live in a world without wilderness.
– One could also think of this as recreational, inspirational, or spiritual
(religious retreats) justification for conservation.
 Example:
o White water rafting, fishing, camping and hiking
 A Creative Justification
– Nature is an aid to human creativity
 Example:
o Artists, poets and others find a source of their creativity in their contact
with nature
 A Moral justification
– represents the belief that various aspects of the environment have a right
to exist and that it is our moral obligation to allow them to continue or help
them to persist.
– Environmental ethics (moral justification) asserts that other animals, plants,
and the elements (such as water, soil or air) are morally significant, and that
humans have responsibilities to act so that their needs are met too
 Example:
o Species have a moral right to exist
Salt Marshes
 Assignment 1
 Fields Contributing To Environmental Science
 Zoology
 Botany
 Microbiology
 Geology
 Paleontology
 Engineering
 Biochemistry
 Geochemistry
 Geography
 Anthropology
 Sociology
 Ethics
 Ecology
 Economics
 Political Science
 Anthropology
 Archaeology
 Oceanography
 Atmospheric Science