ENV 107

Introduction to
Environmental Science

Lecture 2: Fundamentals of Environment

Haniyum Maria Khan (Hmk1)

Lecturer, ESM
Summer 2020

North South University

 Fundamental Concepts of
Environment

• Human population growth (the environmental

problem).
• Sustainability (the environmental goal)
• A global perspective (many environmental problem
require a global solution)
• An urbanizing world (most of us live and work in urban
areas)
• People and nature (we share a common history with
nature)
• Science and values (science provides solutions; which
ones we choose are in part of value judgment)
 Human Population Problem
• The continued rapid growth of human population
will intensify all environmental problems and
undermine our efforts to find effective solutions for
them.

• Human population growth is, in some important

ways, the underlying issue of environmental
problems. Much of the current environmental
damage is directly or indirectly the result of the
large number of people on the earth and our rate of
increase.

• Population growth and famine is related. Famine is

one of the thing that happens when a human
population exceeds its environmental resources.
Human Population Problem
Sustainability
 Sustainability

World's standard definition of environmental sustainability is

sustainable development
• The Brundtland Commission of the United Nations on
March 20, 1987:

“sustainable development is development that

meets the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to
meet their own needs.”
Sustainability
 Carrying Capacity

• It is generally defined as the maximum number of

individuals of a species that can be sustained by an
environment without decreasing the capacity of the
environment to sustain that same number in the future.
Carrying Capacity
Environmental Resistance
 A Global Perspective

• Due to the interconnectedness of the earth’s

ecosystems and the wide-ranging effects of human
intervention with them, scientists and citizens alike
must adopt a global perspective in order to
understand and reorganize environmental problems.
• Awareness of how people at a local level affect the
environment globally gives credence to the Gaia
hypothesis.
• Future generations will need a global perspective on
environmental issues.
A Global Perspective
Gaia Hypothesis

• Named after the Greek

earth goddess, the
hypothesis suggests
that all living things
have a regulatory
effect on the Earth's
environment that
promotes overall life.
 Gaia Hypothesis
• The Gaia hypothesis is an ecological hypothesis that
proposes that living and nonliving parts of the earth are
a complex interacting system that can be thought of as a
single organism.

• Was first scientifically formulated Dr. James Lovelock,

as a consequence of his work for NASA on methods of
detecting life on Mars.
 Gaia Hypothesis

• The Gaia theory suggests that the abiotic and biotic

environment is made up of many complex
interrelationships;
• Many of these complex interrelationships are
quite delicate and may be altered by human
activity to a breaking point; and
• The theory suggests that humans must learn to
respect Gaia by reducing their intentional
modification of the Earth's abiotic and biotic
components.
An Urbanizing World
Global Outlook: Satellite Image of Major
Urban Areas Throughout the World
 How urban is the world?

•rates of urbanization have been increasing rapidly

across all regions (in 1800, less than 10 percent of
people across all regions lived in urban areas);

•urbanization is expected to continue to increase with

rising incomes and shifts away from employment in
agriculture;

•The UN’s 11th Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) is

to “make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and
sustainable“.
 Urbanization and Population
• Urbanization
– Creation and growth of urban and suburban
areas
– Percentage of people who live in such areas
• Urban growth
– Rate of increase of urban populations
– Immigration from rural areas
• Pushed from rural areas to urban areas
• Pulled to urban areas from rural areas

• Half of the World’s People Live in Urban Areas

Urban Population Growth
 Urban populations tend to have higher
living standards
On average, living standards are higher in urban
populations than in rural. Some examples include:

•in nearly all countries electricity access is higher in

urban areas than in rural areas;
•access to improved sanitation is higher in urban
areas;
•access to improved drinking water is higher in urban
areas;
•access to clean fuels for cooking and heating is
higher in urban areas;
•child malnutrition is lower in urban settings.
 An Urbanizing World
• Population increase, technological development,
unemployment, are some of the reasons of
increasing urban areas at a faster rate, particularly in
the developing world.
• As urban areas expand, wetlands are filled in, forests
cut, and soils covered over with pavements and
buildings.
• There are now 33 megacities and by 2030, 43
megacities are projected, mostly in developing
countries.
• As more and more people live in urban areas, efforts
to solve environmental problems must focus on
creating more livable urban environments and on
increasing the harmony between urban development
and natural landscapes.
An Urbanizing World
 People and Nature
• People and nature are intimately integrated. Each
affects the other.
Two paths lie before us:
▪ One path is to assume that environmental problems
are the result of human actions and that the solution
is simply to stop these actions. It has emphasized
confrontation and emotionalism.

▪ The second path begins with a scientific analysis of

environmental problems and leads from there to
cooperative problem solving. It accepts the
connection between people and nature.
People and Nature
 Science and Values
• Deciding what to do about an environmental problem
involves both values and science.
• Placing a value on various aspects of the
environment requires knowledge and understanding
of the science but also depends on our judgments
concerning the uses and aesthetics of the
environment and on our moral commitments to other
living things and to future generations.
• Ecological knowledge provides options for
environmental action, choices are determined in part
by our values; science tells us what we can do, while
our values help us determine what we should do.
Placing a Value on the Environment
Placing a Value on the Environment
Placing a Value on the Environment
Placing a Value on the Environment
Placing a Value on the Environment
Placing a Value on the Environment
 Suggested Reading:

Textbook Chapter-1
Case Study- Amboseli National
Reserve: A Story of Change
and
Critical Thinking