Environmental Science

: Principles and
Practices
SOLUCIONAR PROBLEMAS
AMBIENTALES
TRABAJO DE LA CIENCIA AMBIENTAL
Exploring
Environmental Issues :
An Integrated
Approach
 The role of human beings in the
environment
In theory, human beings, as animals, are an
integral part of the environmental scheme of
things and subject to the controls and restraints
that implies. In practice, the human element
has become the main cause of change,
disruption and deterioration in the ¿?
environment
conflict between what society wants
from the environment and what the
environment is able to provide
One of the most important factors in
any study of the environment is the
idea of relationships
THE THEME OF ‘INTERRELATIONSHIPS’
 When one element in an
environment changes, others will be
faced with the need to change also
 ‘the’ environment,
there are, in fact,
many environments,
ranging from those at
a microscopic scale
to the whole earth
environment itself.
dynamic equilibrium and steady
state
SERIES OF ADJUSTMENTS
THE GAIA HYPOTHESIS &
‘Spaceship Earth’
earth/
atmosphere system
Figure 1.3 The sulphur cycle: an example of a natural recycling system
 and no doubt fires for heating
and cooking sometimes got out of
control and burned adjacent
areas.
HOWEVER, FIRE IS ANATURAL ELEMENT IN MANY ECOSYSTEMS AND
RECOVERYWOULD FOLLOW THE FIRES.
their nomadic lifestyle allowed
them to move on to new
hunting grounds,
LEAVING THE ANIMALS IN THE ORIGINAL AREA TO RECOVER.
the late Pleistocene extincions
WERE HUMAN ?
first agrarian civilizations.Between
7000 and 3000 BP (c. 5000–1000
BC), these civilizations developed in
Egypt, Mesopotamia, the Indus
valley and the Yellow River basin
(Hwang-He) in China
 Agriculture Development
NATURAL VEGETATION WAS REPLACED BY CULTIVATED CROPS, THE AQUATIC
ENVIRONMENT WAS ALTERED, AND THE BEGINNINGS OF SOIL DEGRADATION IN THE
FORM OF SILTATION AND SALINIZATION BECAME APPARENT IN SOME AREAS
 agricultural and industrial
revolutions of the late eighteenth
and early nineteenth centuries
A PERIOD OF MORE RAPID CHANGE IN AGRICULTURAL ACTIVITIES BEGAN IN BRITAIN
BETWEEN ABOUT 1750 AND 1850
 new agriculture diffused
throughout Europe and was carried
to other continents through
colonial expansion,
 industrial revolution,
eighteenth century
CHARACTERIZED BY A MAJOR EXPANSION IN THE USE OF COAL AS A FUEL, IN THE STEAM
ENGINE AND IN THE IRON INDUSTRY.
RAPIDLY GROWING
POPULATION
Since then the human impact on the environment has expanded
from the local or regional level to the global and the results have
become permanent or irreversible. Air pollution and water
pollution are ubiquitous, natural vegetation has been used up
faster than it can regenerate or has been replaced by cultivated
crops, rivers have been dammed or diverted, natural
resources have been dug from the earth in such quantity
that people now rival geomorphological processes as agents
of landscape change and, to meet the need for shelter, nature
has been replaced by the built environment created by
urbanization.
 the environmental movement
INDIVIDUALS AND GROUPS WORKING THROUGH SCIENTIFIC, SOCIAL OR POLITICAL
AGENDAS TO ACHIEVE THE COMMON GOAL OF DEFENDING THE ENVIRONMENT,
CONSERVING RESOURCES AND GENERALLY PROTECTING NATURE.
 First ripples
PLAYFAIR, HUTTON AND CHARLES LYELL, LAMARCK, WALLACE AND
DARWIN, THOMAS MALTHUS, BUFFON, VON HUMBOLDT AND WOEIKOF,
ROBERT -ACID RAIN , WORDSWORTH AND COLERIDGE

RAPID SWELLING
OF INTEREST IN NATURAL SCIENCE AND PHILOSOPHY IN
THE EIGHTEENTH AND NINETEENTH CENTURIES
Constable Romantic
movement
 tourist industry based on a
desire to view ‘wild’ nature
:Swiss Alps
WALK IN THE WOODS OR CLIMBEDMOUNTAINS FOR THE SHEER PLEASURE OF IT
 When the Europeans came to
North America – SPAIN-FRANCE-
BRITAIN
THEY FOUND ALMOST UNINTER-RUPTED WOODLAND
ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES WERE SO ABUNDANT THATTHEY SEEMED NEVER-
ENDING
Lewis and Clark Expedition
 American
Romanticism
 1960s and 1970s
NEW ENVIRONMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS SUCH AS FRIENDS OF THE EARTH,
POLLUTION PROBE AND GREENPEACE, AND THE CELEBRATION OF THE FIRST
‘EARTHDAY’ ON 22 APRIL 1970
BEFORE 60´S ENVIRONMENTAL MOVEMENT
FIRTS WAVE
AMERICA

which had increased rapidly in the

1960s, declined slowly, and by the
late1970s the environment was seen by
many as a dead issue

CONSERVATIONIST VS. PRESERVATIONIST

Twenty Century
IN AUSTRALIA, FOR EXAMPLE, UNIQUE ECOSYSTEMS WERE DESTROYED WHEN THE
LAND WAS CLEARED FOR EUROPEAN-STYLE FARMING

The environmental impact of introduced species, such as the rabbit, is

well documented

large herds of cattle and flocks of sheep that numbered in the millions

The atmosphere of large cities in Europe and North America was laden
with smoke released by the industrial and domestic use of coal as a fuel.

Habitat was lost to the spread of arable agriculture

forest exploitation world wide
water was polluted by industry
the ecology of many areas was changed for ever
 1940s and 1950s,the economic
and social costs of pollution
were beginning to be recognized
and attempts were being made to
deal with it.
PARADOXICALLY, IT HAD OFTEN BEEN SEEN AS THE PRICE THAT HAD TO BE PAID FOR
A SUCCESSFUL ECONOMY. INTO THE
The major rivers and lakes in both
North America and Europe were
choked with sewage or industrial
waste
 FIRST WAVE

TECHNOLOGY WAS SEEN AS THE MAIN CULPRIT IN

ENVIRON-MENTAL DETERIORATION,
Environmental
pollution by
chemicals.

SILENT SPRING - BOOK

Santa Barbara CA Oil Spill – Inspires
'Earth Day' – 1969
first EarthDay in 1970
founding of Greenpeace in
1971
Green parties in Switzerland
and New Zealand
 the United Nations
Conference on the Human
Environment (UNCHE),
Stockholm, 1972

THE FIRST CONFERENCE TO DRAW WORLDWIDE PUBLIC ATTENTION TO THE

IMMENSITY OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS
 SECOND WAVE
80´S

Topics such as acid rain and global warming are linked with
the sulphurous urban smogs of two or three decades ago.
 sustainable development
a concept that required development to be both
economically and environ-mentally sound so that
the needs of the world’s current population
could be met without jeopardizing those of
future generations.

WORLD COMMISSION ON ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT – COMMONLY CALLED THE

BRUNDTLAND COMMISSION

explore new methods of international co-operation

 Earth Summit or the UN
Conference on Environment and
Development.

THE THEME OF ECO-NOMICALLY AND ENVIRONMENTALLY

SOUND DEVELOPMENT
Framework Convention on
Climate Change
TECHNOCENTRIC VS ECOCENTRIC
VS DEEP ECOLOGY OTHERS

The concept of sustainable

development has not been
embraced by all
environmentalists
Modern environmentalism

Many radical environmentalists support theecocentric

philosophy of deep ecology.
 intrinsic natural value of an
environment or some
component of the environment

the economic or social

value that society places
on it.
 Each
contains
elements
of the
others.
Soil consists mainly
Of mineral matter from the
lithosphere, but also
Contains organisms that are part of
the biosphere,
Soil moisture from the hydrosphere
THESE FOUR SPHERES ARE NOT DISCRETE ENTITIES. and air from the
Atmosphere in its pore spaces.
 Many modern environmental
issues arise as a result of society’s
failure to appreciate the complexities
of these inter-relationships.
 LITHOSPHERE
CONSISTS OFTHE EARTH’S CRUST AND THE UNDERLYING RIGID SECTION OFTHE MANTLE.
Most of the land is in the
northern hemisphere,
MORE LAND, MORE RESOURCES: MORE RESOURCES, MORE PEOPLE :MORE
PEOPLE, MORE DEVELOPMENT: MORE DEVELOP-MENT, GREATER STRESS ON
THE ENVIRONMENT.
SHIELDS

HAVE MINERALS TO ACCUMULATE IN CONCENTRATIONS THAT EXCEED NORMAL LEVELS

IN THE EARTH’S CRUST

cratons
Fold mountains

Impacts since minner, deforestation, soild erotion, dams,

YOUNGER FOLD MOUNTAINS SUCH AS THE ALPS,
ROCKIES AND HIMALAYA REMAIN HIGH AND tourist activities, growth population
RUGGED, WHEREAS OLDER RANGES SUCH AS THE
APPALACHIANS, THE MOUNTAINS OF NORTH-WEST
EUROPE OR THE EASTERN HIGHLANDS OF
AUSTRALIA, SUBJECT TO EROSION FOR A LONGER
PERIOD OF TIME, TEND TO BE LOWER AND MORE
ROUNDED.
Most Higher and Deeper
at 1500 m below sea level
almost 2500 m below sea level
 LOW RELIEF COMPOSED OF SEDIMENTS ERODED FROM THE ADJACENT SHIELD OR FOLD
MOUNTAINS AND DEPOSITED IN MAJOR SEDIMENTARY BASINS.
some of the older sediments have been uplifted or even buckled by the
ongoing tectonic activities

Lacustrine deposits

In the past, when sea level was lower than it

PLAINS=SEDIMENTS now, these shelves were exposed as dry land

world’s major plains
early agricultural activities in Mesopotamia are still
evident to this day in the salinization of irrigated soil in
southern Iraq
 ISSUES
nutrient levels vs productivity.

Herbicides and pesticides

Fertilizaer --→ pollution and eutrophication

Tar Sands, Alberta, Canada
Herbicides and pesticides

THE PLAINS OF NORTH AMERICA AND EUROPE AND, TO A LESSER EXTENT, THOSE OF
ARGENTINA AND AUSTRALIA BECAME MASSIVE PRODUCERS OF GRAIN AND BEEF ALL
THIS CAME AT A COST TO THE SOIL
 TECTONIC AND
GEOMORPHOLOGICAL
PROCESSES IN THE
LITHOSPHERE
Mass movement on slopes,flowing
water, waves and ice remove some
10 million tonnes of sediments
from the continental land / every
year
RIVERS=SEDIMENTS
CONTINENTAL DRIFT
MODERN THEORY OF
PLATE TECTONICS
 volcanic activity

hydrothermalfluids
THE GREAT RANGES OF MOUNTAINS THAT STRETCH FROM THE SOUTHERN TIP OF SOUTH AMERICA
TO ALASKA MARK THE LOCATION OF A MAJOR GROUP OF SUBDUCTION ZONES CAUSED BY THE
COLLISION OF THE CONTINENTAL PLATES OF THE AMERICAS WITH THE OCEANIC PLATES OF THE PACIFIC

In both places, sediments containing marine fossils are now

found in the mountains several thousand meters above sea
level.
 THE HYDROLOGIC CYCLE
IS A COMPLEX GROUP OF PROCESSES BY WHICH WATER IN ITS VARIOUS FORMS IS
CIRCULATED THROUGH THE EARTH/ATMOSPHERE SYSTEM
 water droplets
Atmosphere or ice crystals = CLOUDS,

gas
solid
(wáter
(ice),
Energy Sola Radiation vapour)

liquid (water)

.
AFTER CONVERSION
,IT MAY STILL REMAIN
IN THE ATMOSPHERE

CLOUDS
temperatureand pressure
Precipitation
on Land and
Oceans

regional and seasonal variants that may have

environmental or societal implications in the Cycle
 Greatest
Evaporation and
Precipitation takes
place in Ocean
EVA > PRE

THE EXCESS IS
ADVECTED TO PROVIDE
PRECIPITATION OVER THE LAND
SURFACE
 ENERGY FLOW IN THE
HYDROLOGIC CYCLE
It changes have implications for the
earth’s energy budget

That energy is
released into the it retains that energy in
environment when the form of latent heat.
the conversion back
to a liquid takes
place
 WATER USE AND THE
HYDROLOGICCYCLE

THE RECYCLING OF WATER THROUGH THE HYDROLOGIC CYCLE PROVIDES PLANTS AND
ANIMALS WITH A CONTINUING SUPPLY OF FRESH WATER FROM A RESERVOIR THAT
AMOUNTS TO LESS THAN 1 PERCENT OF THE TOTAL WATER IN THE HYDROSPHERE.
Impacts of hydrologic cycle
DIRECT INDIREC

provision of the water influence on such elements as the

circulation of the atmosphere.

Redistribution of energy in the

earth/atmosphere system
pressure from human activities
• On run-off sector

Water is diverted for domestic,

agricultural and industrial uses.

Evaporation and transpiration are

disrupted by agricultural and forestry
practices.
boreholes and wells allow access to
the groundwater supply
construction of dams and reservoirs
places additional water in storage
local shortages of water.
Natural Treatment of Water
The cleansing of such polluted water, mainly through evaporation, condensation and
precipitation, is an important but less well acknowledged feature of the hydrologic cycle.

Water Quality of atmospheric water ?

 ALSO CONTAINS SUSPENDED LIQUID AND SOLID
PARTICLES,

ATMOSPHERE
THE ATMOSPHERE IS A THICK BLANKET OF GASES WHICH COMPLETELY ENVELOPS
THE EARTH AND IS HELD IN PLACE BY GRAVITY.

It has no obvious outer limit.

nearly 99 per cent of the
atmosphere lies within
30 km of the earth’s
surface
50 per cent of the
total, being in the lowest
5 km
Argon is inert and contributes little or
nothing to atmospheric activities,

traces of atmospheric
gases have been
detected far out into
space
 Oxygen
COMBUSTION, CORROSION, METABOLISM ANDRESPIRATION.

recycling process ensures that it is

not under any serious threat of
depletion
Nitrogen
BACTERIA processing about fifty times the amount of
nitrogen fixed in thunderstorms. AND biota in the oceans
Nitrogen cycle
NITROGEN OBTAINED FROM THE ATMOSPHERE IS
ULTIMATELY RETURNED THERE
NITROGEN IN THE NITROGENOUS WASTE EXCRETED BY ANIMALS IS ALSO RECYCLED
BACK INTO THE ATMOSPHERE THROUGH THE ACTIVITIES OF THESE BACTERIA.
 MORE PEOPLE AND ANIMALS= MORE
VOLUME OF NITROGENOUS WASTE
HOW DO THEY PRODUCE IT ?

disrupt the flow of nitrogen in the system =

eutrophication to ozone depletion.
The greenhouse gases
 carbon dioxide
transparent to high-energy
short-wave radiation
longer-wave
radiation, is
captured by the
atmosphere,

temperature to rise

send terrestrial
radiation back into the
atmosphere.

opaque to lower-energy, long-wave

radiation
earth’s surface heats up
 WITHOUT THESE GASES, GLOBAL TEMPERATURES WOULD BE MUCH
LOWER THAN THEY ARE AT PRESENT – PERHAPS AVERAGING ONLY
−17°C COM-PARED TO THE EXISTING AVERAGE OF +15°C

tropospheric ozone (O3) chloro-fluorocarbons (CFCs),

 If… green house gases
concentration change… ?
SOx & NOx & others
WATER IN THE ATMOSPHERE - pure
state wáter H2O
BUT ITIS SELDOM COMPLETELY PURE EVEN IN THOSE AREAS WHERE ATMOSPHERIC
POLLUTION IS LIMITED
FOR EXAMPLE… H2O + CO2 -- >H2CO3→ HCO3 + H
 the atmosphere is never
completely dry.
EVEN IN THE CLEAR SKIES ABOVE THE WORLD’S DRIEST DESERTS THERE IS WATER
PRESENT
distribution of moisture across
the earth’s surface
THANKS TO ATMOSPHERIC WATER
 Water vapour
important to
ERTH´S
ENERGY
BUDGET
Thermals
ANY CHANGE IN THE
DISTRIBUTION OF WATER IN
THE SYSTEM CAN AUGMENT OR
DIMINISH THE IMPACT OF
OTHER ELEMENTS,

INCLUDING THE GREENHOUSE

EFFECT AND OZONE
DEPLETION, WHICH, IN
WHOLE OR IN PART, MAKE
THEIR PRESENCE FELT
THROUGH THAT BUDGET.
 ATMOSPHERIC AEROSOLS or
particulate matter.
NON-GASEOUS MATERIALS PRESENT IN THE FORM OF SOLID OR LIQUID PARTICLES
DISPERSED IN THE AIR

regularly produced by natural processes

Bacteria
Viruses
THROUGH PROCESSES SUCH AS COAGULATION, DRY SEDIMENTATION AND WASH-OUT
BY PRECIPITATION, ALMOST ALL OF THE DUST WAS RETURNED TO THE EARTH’S SURFACE
IN LESS THAN FIVE YEARS.
 Cleansing is never
complete, however. There is
always a global background
level of atmospheric
aerosols,

BEING CAUSED WHEN DUST FROM THE SAHARA DESERT IS CARRIED UP INTO THE
ATMOSPHERE BY TURBULENCE OVER THE DESERT AND WASHED OUT BY
PRECIPITATION IN MORE NORTHERLY LATITUDES.
cleansing process
 EL POLVO DEL SAHARA Doc.
Conexiones
- EN PARTE FORMADO POR FÓSILES EROSIONADOS EN UN LAGO SECO DE CHAD-AFRICA

- REDUCE LA FORMACIÓN DE HURACANES EN EL ATLÁNTICO, AL CREAR AGUJEROS EN LAS

NUBES QUE LAS FORMAN – NOAA AVIONES

- ALIMENTA MICROORGANISMOS EN EL OCÉANO ATLÁNTICO – INVE, HOLANDA

- ALIMENTA ALGAS QUE GENERAN TOXINAS QUE MATAN MAMÍFEROS Y PECES- COSTA
FLORIDA

- NUTRE CON FÓSFORO LA AMAZONÍA – TORRE METE REOLÓGICA BRASIL.

-
 It is now thought that the proper
working of the earth/atmosphere
system may require a certain
proportion of non-gaseous material
to be present in the atmosphere

– to provide condensation nuclei for

the precipitation process, for
example
 BROUGHT ABOUT BY
AEROSOLS CARRIED INTO THE
AREA FROM INDUSTRIAL MID-
LATITUDES IN EURASIA AND
NORTH AMERICA.

HE ENVIRONMENT IN THE
ARCTIC HAS LEVELS OF HEAVY
METALS, PESTICIDES AND A
VARIETY OF TOXIC
CHEMICALS THAT MATCH
THOSE IN INDUSTRIAL AREAS
TO THE SOUTH

Arctic Haze
atmospheric turbidity
 THE STRUCTURE OF THE
ATMOSPHERE
TEMPERATURE AND AIR PRESSURE DIFFERENCES CAUSE THE FORMATION OF DISTINCT
ZONES OR LAYERS,
 1000°C.
Heterosphere-
thin - gases are
less well mixed -
diffusion of the
heavier and
lighter gases.

WARM UP
homosphere -
gases are well stable
mixed

Turbulent
gaseous molecules with sufficient velocity may escape the
earth’s gravity.
 troposphere
DEPENDS ON TEMPERATURE - TEMPERATURES DECREASE WITH
ALTITUDE AT A RATE OF 6.5°C PER KILOMETER- BUT CLOSE
TO THE SURFACE THE LAPSE RATE IS OFTEN QUITE VARIABLE
 THE EARTH’S ENERGY BUDGET
SEASONAL DIFFERENCES IN LAND COVER, SEASONAL AND ANNUAL VARIATIONS IN THE
HYDROLOGIC CYCLE OR CHANGES IN ATMOSPHERIC TURBIDITY ALL CONTRIBUTE TO LOCAL
AND SHORT-TERM IMBALANCE IN THE ENERGY BUDGE
 albedo

and sea
green-house gases

By aerosols
 latitudinal imbalance
THE EQUATOR ANNUALLY RECEIVES
ABOUT FIVE TIMES THE AMOUNT OF
SOLAR RADIATION REACHING THE
POLES

THOSE AREAS BETWEEN 35°N AND 35°S

LATITUDE RECEIVE MORE ENERGY THAN IS
RETURNED TO SPACE.

POLEWARD OF THESE LATITUDES, THERE IS

AN EXCESS OF OUTGOING RADIATION OVER
INCOMING,

CIRCULATION PATTERNS IN THE

ATMOSPHERE AND IN THE OCEANS WHICH
COMBINE TO TRANSFER HEAT FROM THE
TROPICS TOWARDS THE POLES, AND IN SO
DOING TO SERVE TO COUNTERACT THE
IMBALANCE
RADIATIVE
FORCING
ANY FACTOR CAPABLE OF
DISTURBING THAT ENERGY
BALANCE IS CALLED A
RADIATIVE FORCING AGENT
 The cooling of the
earth that caused the
Ice Ages, for example,
probably represents the
disruption of the global
budget by natural
processes
 Aerosol Good? Bad?
• Some studies suggest that high • there is also evidence that in some
aerosol levels contribute to global cases they actually produce a slight
cooling through the disruption of the warming through their ability to
flow of solar radiation absorb and re-radiate outgoing
terrestrial radiation.
THE CIRCULATION OF THE
ATMOSPHERE
1735, GEORGE HADLEY
Coriolis effect
VELOCITY DIFFERENCES
 jet streams
AT THE TROPOPAUSE, THERE ARE RELATIVELY NARROW BANDS OF RAPIDLY MOVING AIR
CALLED JET STREAMS, IN WHICH WIND SPEEDS MAY AVERAGE 125–130 KM PER HOUR OR
MORE
 variability to the atmospheric circulation.
• NON-UNIFORM NATURE OF THE EARTH’S SURFACE

• SEASONAL VARIATIONS IN ENERGY FLOW

• DIFFERENCES IN THEIR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES CAUSE LAND AND SEA TO

WARM UP AND COOL DOWN AT DIFFERENT RATES - CREATES SIGNIFICANT
TEMPERATURE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN LAND AND WATER, AND
PRODUCES A SERIES OF PRESSURE CELLS RATHER THAN THE SIMPLE
BELTS OF THE ORIGINAL MODELS

• CHANGING LOCATION OF THE ZONE OF MAXIMUM INSOLATION

• VARIATIONS IN SOLAR OUTPUT AND CHANGES IN ATMOSPHERIC TURBIDITY.

• ALL THESE →AUGMENTED BY A RANGE OF HUMAN ACTIVITIES THAT HAVE

THE POTENTIAL TO ALTER THE DYNAMIC ENERGY BALANCE IN THE SYSTEM,
AND THROUGH THAT CAUSE CHANGES IN THE ATMOSPHERIC CIRCULATION
• atmospheric turbidity
• soils that were too dry orlight were

¿?
treated with marl (clay rich in
calciumcarbonate) to improve their
texture.
• Water Quality of atmospheric water ?
• Arctic Haze ?
• Silent Spring (1962), Rachel Carson.
• The PopulationBomb (1968) Paul Ehrlich
• The Limits to Growth (Meadows et al. 1972)
• Blueprint for Survival (Ecologist 1972).
• Gilbert White in The Natural History of Selborne(1789)
• Man and Nature, pub-lished in 1864. George Perkins
Marsh (1801–82)
• 1956 at the Princeton conference on‘Man’s Role in Library
Changing the Face of the Earth’.
 Herramienta de la

para vigilancia de la
calidad del Aire.

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