ENVIRONMENTAL

SCIENCE
Prepared by: Sheena Duran Fabe
 Environmental Science vs.
Environmental Studies vs.
Environmental Management
vs. Environmental
Engineering
Environmental Science
☁ Environmental Science is an interdisciplinary study of how
humans interact with the living and nonliving parts of their
environment.

☁ Goals of Environmental Science

✿ to learn how life on the earth has survived and thrived

✿ to understand how we interact with the environment

✿ to find ways to deal with environmental problems and live more

sustainably
Environmental Studies
☁ Environmental Studies is an interdisciplinary field
that draws on knowledge and analytical tools from
many areas of study to understand the function of
natural ecosystems, the effects of human societies
on the environment, and the role that the
environment has played in shaping human cultures
and artistic endeavors.
Environmental Engineering
☁ Is a field in engineering where professionals focus
on combining environmental science methods with
engineering principles to develop and implement
better infrastructure, technology and industrial
operations that reduce the risk of environmental
contamination and pollution.
Environmental Management
☁ Is the practice of organizing human activities in
order to limit their impact on the natural
environment. It can encompass protection of the
land, flora and fauna, bodies of water, and the
planet’s atmosphere.
 ENVIRONMENT
AND
SUSTAINABILITY
 01
DEFINITION
OF TERMS
Environment
☁ The environment is everything around
us. It includes the living and the
nonliving things with which we
interact in a complex web of
relationships that connect us to one
another and to the world we live in.
Ecology
☁ The word ecology is derived from Greek words ‘Oikos’ meaning house, habitat
or place of living and ‘Logos’ meaning to study.
☁ Ecology is the study of interactions among organism or group of organisms
with their environment. The environment consists of both biotic components
and abiotic components.
Ecosystem
☁ A group of organisms interacting among themselves and
with environment is known as ecosystem. Thus, an
ecosystem is a community of different species interacting
with one another and with their non-living environment
exchanging energy and matter
Environmentalism /
Environmental Activism
☁ It is a social movement
dedicated to trying to
sustain the earth’s life-
support systems for all
forms of life.
Sustainability
☁ Sustainability consists of fulfilling the needs of current
generations without compromising the needs of future
generations, while ensuring a balance between economic
growth, environmental care and social well-being.
 02
PRINCIPLES OF
SUSTAINABILITY
 PRINCIPLES OF SUSTAINABILITY

Dependence on Biodiversity Chemical Cycling

solar energy
The variety of genes, The circulation of
Warms the planet
organisms, species, and chemicals necessary for
and provides energy
ecosystems in which life from the environment
that plants use to
organisms exist and through organisms and
produce nutrients
interact back to the environment
 03
COMPONENTS OF
SUSTAINABILITY
KEY COMPONENTS OF SUSTAINABILITY
 KEY COMPONENTS OF SUSTAINABILITY
Natural Capital
The natural resources and ecosystem services that keep
us and other species alive and support human economies.
Natural Resources
Materials and energy in nature that are essential or useful to humans.

Natural Resources are classified as:

✿Inexhaustible resources (such as energy from the sun and wind)
✿Renewable resources (such as air, water, topsoil, plants, and animals)
✿Nonrenewable or depletable resources (such as copper, oil, and coal)
Three Types of Resources
 KEY COMPONENTS OF SUSTAINABILITY
Natural Capital
The natural resources and ecosystem services that keep
us and other species alive and support human economies.

Ecosystem Services
Processes provided by healthy ecosystem that supports life and
human economies at no monetary cost to us.
KEY COMPONENTS OF SUSTAINABILITY
Natural Capital Degradation
Using renewable
resources faster than
the nature can restore
them and by overloading
the earth’s normally
renewable air and
water systems with
pollution and wastes.
KEY COMPONENTS OF SUSTAINABILITY
Solutions
 KEY COMPONENTS OF SUSTAINABILITY
Compromises
The search for solutions often involves conflicts. Dealing with
such conflicts often involves making trade-offs.
04
PRINCIPLES OF
SUSTAINABILITY BASED ON
ECONOMICS, POLITICAL
SCIENCE, AND ETHICS
PRINCIPLE OF SUSTAINABILITY BASED ON
ECONOMICS

FULL-COST PRICING
Inclusion of the harmful
environmental and health costs of
producing and using goods and
services in their market prices.

Gives consumers information

about the environmental impacts
of products.
PRINCIPLE OF SUSTAINABILITY BASED ON
POLITICAL SCIENCE

WIN-WIN SOLUTIONS
Assessment of solutions to
environmental problems that
benefit the largest number of
people and environment.

Shifting from win-lose approach

to win-win solutions.
PRINCIPLE OF SUSTAINABILITY BASED ON
ETHICS

RESPONSIBILITY TO FUTURE GENERATIONS

Our responsibility to
future generations is to
leave the planet in a
condition as good or
better than it is now.
 05
ENVIRONMENTAL
IMPACT MODEL
USING IPAT
 ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT MODEL USING IPAT

Paul Ehrlich and John Holdren – Developed a simple model showing how
population size (P), affluence (A), or wealth, as measured by rates of resource
consumption per person, and the beneficial and harmful environmental
effects of technologies (T) help to determine environmental impacts (I) of
human activities.

I=PxAxT
06
NATURAL CAPITAL USE AND
DEGRADATION / ECOLOGICAL
FOOTPRINT
Ecological Footprint
When people use renewable resources, it can result in natural capital degradation,
pollution, and wastes. We can think of this harmful environmental impact as an
ecological footprint.

The per capita ecological footprint is the average ecological footprint of an individual
in a given country or area.

If the total ecological footprint for a city, a country, or the world is larger
than its biological capacity to replenish its renewable resources and absorb
the resulting wastes and pollution, it is said to have an ecological deficit.
 07
ENVIRONMENTAL
PROBLEMS
Envrionmental Problems

☁ Population Growth
☁Wasteful and Unsustainable Resource Use
☁Poverty
☁Failure to Include the Harmful Environmental
and Health Costs of Goods and Services in their
Market Prices
☁Increasing Isolation from Nature
 08
BIOMIMICRY
PRINCIPLES
Biomimicry Principles
☁ Nature runs on sunlight
☁ Nature uses only the energy it needs
☁ Nature fits form to function
☁ Nature recycles everything
☁ Nature rewards cooperation
☁ Nature banks on diversity
☁ Nature demands local expertise
☁ Nature seeks balance
☁ Nature taps the power of limits
Biomimicry Principles
☁NATURE RUNS ON SUNLIGHT
Nature uses sunlight as the main source of energy. Organisms
use heat and UV radiation from this never-ending source. So,
we can say that nature is powered by sunshine. Humans use
fossil fuels, these sources are not renewable, and burning
them creates CO2 which is one of the gases causing climate
change. Why don’t we do the same and prevent the climate
crisis? A wise person would mimic nature and rely on
renewable power.
Biomimicry Principles
☁NATURE USES ONLY THE ENERGY IT NEEDS
Nature takes only what it needs. So why do we not do the
same? Our economy is focused on maximizing output and is a
big energy consumer. We transport food around the world
because that is economically cheaper. Only money seems to
count in a lot of decisions, not our energy consumption and
the impact this has on the natural world. How can we learn to
optimize the performance of goods and services to sip energy
rather than gulp it?
Biomimicry Principles
☁NATURE FITS FORM TO FUNCTION
A tree is rooted in the ground to draw water and nutrients
from the soil; it spreads its branches and leaves wide to
increase surface area and absorb the sunlight to produce
energy and grow. Seeds are lightweight and some even come
equipped with a sort of umbrella so they can float in the air.
Nature creates designs for the function they provide, so
should our buildings, transportation systems and schools.
Biomimicry Principles
☁NATURE RECYCLES EVERYTHING
There is no ‘away’ to throw things. Everything produced in
nature is biodegradable, there is no waste. There can still be
abundance, look at all the blossom on a cherry tree, but that
all serves a purpose and will be food and nutrients for others.
Once the natural life of a pinecone has come and gone, it
breaks down into essential elements that are repurposed into
new life.
Biomimicry Principles
☁NATURE REWARDS COOPERATION
We see competition in nature, but only when it’s impossible
to avoid; in general competition costs too much energy. On
the other hand, very little in nature exists in isolation. Plants
cooperate with pollinators to disperse seeds, and the
pollinators feed on nectar. Ladybirds feed on aphids and help
plants to stay healthy. Nature favours cooperation because it
maintains the health of the whole system.
Biomimicry Principles
☁NATURE BANKS ON DIVERSITY
Diversity is one of nature’s best insurance policies. When one
food source is unavailable, others can be found. Plants use
several different strategies to spread seed or defend against
predators. We know that species with limited genetic
diversity have more difficulty adapting to environmental
change, and that ecosystems rich with diversity are more
stable.
Biomimicry Principles
☁NATURE DEMANDS LOCAL EXPERTISE
Nature’s systems are inherently local. Certain species thrive
under specific conditions; local and regional weather patterns
matter, as do other conditions such as soil, air quality and
water temperature. Relationships are created locally, and local
resources are used. Of course, some birds travel long
distances, but have you seen them take their food with them?
Biomimicry Principles
☁NATURE SEEKS BALANCE
Ecosystems will always try to keep in balance. More mice?
Then you will see more owls to feed on the mice and keep the
population in balance. Forest fires are a great example of a
natural phenomenon that renews and refreshes, reducing
excessive growth and allowing for regeneration. Every natural
system has a tipping point, a carrying capacity or a state of
disequilibrium that triggers a change to a different state.
Biomimicry Principles
☁NATURE TAPS THE POWER OF LIMITS
Unlimited growth on a finite earth is not a good idea. All
living things are governed by limitations; age, climate,
population density and many other factors determine how
species and systems develop. Nature has found ingenious
ways to work within these limits to be as productive as
possible over the long run.