Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Envi. Scie
Envi. Scie
Population Earth
Life
Interactions
Sustainability
Environment
Water cycle
Evaporation- from lakes (transpiration for plants)
Condensation
Precipitation- ex. Rain, Hail, Snow
Ecology
Studies how organisms, or living things, interact with one another and with their environment.
Major component of Environmental Science
Ecosystem
Sets of organisms within a defined area or volume interacting with one another and with
their environment or non-living matter and energy.
Major focus of Ecology
Environmentalism
A social movement dedicated to protecting the Earth’s life support systems for all forms
of life
Practiced more in the political and ethical arenas than in the realm of science.
Natural capital
Natural resources and natural services that keep us and other forms of life alive and
support our economies
Critical component of sustainability
Renewable
1. Air 2. Water 3. Soil 4. Plants 5. Wind
Non-Renewable
1. Copper 2. Oil 3. Coal
Natural services
Nutrient Cycling
The circulation of chemicals necessary for life, from the environment (mostly from soil
and water) through organisms and back to the environment.
Ex. Photosynthesis
Wind flowing, water and bio fuels made from plants and plants residues.
Ecological Footprints
Environmental Degradation
When use of a renewable resources, exceeds its natural replacement rate, the available
supply begins to shrink.
Sustainable Yield
The highest rate at which a renewable resource can be used indefinitely without reducing its
available supply
Humanity needs 1.3 Earths to indefinitely supply the current average use of
renewable resources per person.
Time delays can allow an environmental problem to build slowly until it reaches a threshold
level, or ecological tipping point, which causes an often irreversible shift in the behavior of a
natural system.
Addressing Pollution
1. Pollution Clean-up- Cleaning of pollutants ( the end pipe)
2. Pollution Prevention- Eliminates the production of Pollutants ( front of pipe)
4 Causes of environmental problem
1. Population Growth
2. Poverty
3. Unsustainable resource use
4. Excluding environmental costs from market prices
Exponential Growth
Occurs when a quantity such as the human population or pollution increases at a fixed
percentage per unit of time.
Poverty
Occurs when people are unable to meet their basic needs
1. Food 2. Water 3. Shelter 4. Health 5. Education
Malnutrition
Lack of protein and other nutrients needed for good health
Subsidies
A sum of moneygranted by the government or a public body to assist an industry or
business
Environmental Worldview
A set of assumptions and values reflecting how you think the world works and what you
think your rate in the world should be.
World views
Involve environmental ethics, which are beliefs about what is right and wrong with how
we treat the environment.
Since the main source of phosphorus is found in rocks, the first step of the phosphorus cycle
involves the extraction of phosphorus from the rocks by weathering. Weather events, such as rain
and other sources of erosion, result in phosphorus being washed into the soil.
Once in the soil, plants, fungi, and microorganisms are able to absorb phosphorus and grow. In
addition, phosphorus can also be washed into the local water systems. Plants can also directly
absorb phosphorus from the water and grow. In addition to plants, animals also obtain
phosphorus from drinking water and eating plants.
When plants and animals die, decomposition results in the return of phosphorus back to the
environment via the water or soil. Plants and animals in these environments can then use this
phosphorus, and step 2 of the cycle is repeated.
1. Using of detergent
2. Mining wastes
3. Sewage
4. Fertilizer
Human activities that affects the cycle
1. Smelting
2. Burning coals
1. Forest fire
2. Deforestation
3. Transportation
4. Burning of fuels
CARBON
CARBON
CYCLE
CYCLE
1. Using of fertilizer
3. Burning of fuels
Human activities that affects the cycle
1. Climate Change