Environmental Science

Prepared by: Princess Anne A. Sarellana

What is Environmental Science?
• Environmental science is the study of the interactions between physical,
chemical and biological components of the Earth’s natural environment.
These components include energy, agriculture, water and air.
• Environmental science studies the connections between the planet, its air,
its water and its living organisms. Additionally, it explores humanity’s
impacts on the four components.
• Environmental Science provides an overview of how science affects our
environment. We focus on interactions between the solid Earth, its water,
its air and its living organisms, and on dynamic, interdependent
relationships between these four components.
• Earth and environmental scientists also consider how these relationships
produce environmental change at different timescales. To do this, they
combine knowledge, models and methods drawn from geology, biology,
physics and chemistry.

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 The field of study can source sustainable solutions, eliminating anthropogenic effects causing degradation.
Currently, human-derived greenhouse gas emissions impact most sectors of environmental science. Their
significant impact on Earth’s processes cause various degrees of harm.

Emissions power the enhanced greenhouse

effect, fueling an array of alterations. The air
pollutants change the atmosphere’s natural
composition, limiting its ability to produce life-
sufficient surface temperatures. Naturally, Earth
collects solar radiation, creates heat, warms its
surface, absorbs excess energy and sends it to
space.
When greenhouse gases invade the atmosphere,
they trap excess energy on the planet, refueling
the warming process. They also have a higher
sunlight-to-heat conversion rate, raising Earth’s
temperature over time. Environmental scientists
study the process and its effects, finding
conservation methods.

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 What does an Environmental Scientist do?

We also strive to understand past

and present environmental
processes so that reliable and
scientifically based predictions
can be made about the future.

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Environmental scientists conduct research to
identify, control, or eliminate sources of pollutants
or hazards affecting the environment or public
health.
Their research typically involves:
1. Determining data collection methods
2. Collecting and analyzing air, water, and soil
samples
3. Analyzing environmental data gathered by others
4. Looking for correlations to human activity
5. Preparing reports and presentations that explain
their findings
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Some environmental specialists focus
on environmental issues while others
focus on issues relating to human
health. Either way, they work on critical
issues, solving some of the most
important problems of our day.
Environmental scientists also:
• Develop plans to prevent, control, or
fix environmental problems like air
pollution
• Advise government officials that
make policy
• Help businesses follow regulations or
improve their practices
• Conduct environmental inspections of
businesses
• Assess the potential effects of
development projects to prevent the
creation of new problems
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS,
THEIR CAUSES, AND
SUSTAINABILITY
Pollution is the introduction of harmful materials
into the environment. These harmful materials
are called pollutants.
AIR POLLUTION

WATER POLLUTION

LAND POLLUTION

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Most air pollution is not natural. It Acid rain can kill all the trees in a forest.
comes from burning fossil fuels—coal, oil, It can also devastate lakes, streams, and
and natural gas. When gasoline is burned other waterways. When lakes become
to power cars and trucks, it produces acidic, fish can’t survive.
carbon monoxide, a colorless, odorless gas.
Acid rain also wears
Cars and factories produce other common away marble and other kinds
pollutants, including nitrogen oxide, sulfur of stone. It has erased the
dioxide, and hydrocarbons. These words on gravestones and
chemicals react with sunlight to produce damaged many historic
smog, a thick fog or haze of air pollution. buildings and monuments.
The Taj Mahal, in Agra, India,
was once gleaming white.
When air pollutants such as nitrogen oxide Years of exposure to acid rain
and sulfur dioxide mix with moisture, they has left it pale.
change into acids. They then fall back to
earth as acid rain. Wind often carries
acid rain far from the pollution source.

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Water Pollution.
Some polluted water looks
muddy, smells bad, and has
garbage floating in it. Some
polluted water looks clean,
but is filled with harmful
chemicals you can’t see or
smell.
Polluted water is unsafe for
drinking and swimming.
Others consume bacteria and
other tiny aquatic organisms
that cause disease.
The United Nations estimates
that 4,000 children die every
day from drinking dirty water.
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Mining and drilling can also
There are some natural sources of contribute to water pollution. Acid
water pollution. Oil and natural gas,
mine drainage (AMD) is a major
can leak into oceans and lakes from contributor to pollution of rivers and
natural underground sources. These
streams near coal mines. Acid helps
sites are called petroleum seeps. miners remove coal from the
surrounding rocks. The acid is
washed into streams and rivers,
Human activity also contributes to where it reacts with rocks and sand.
water pollution. Chemicals and oils It releases chemical sulfur from the
from factories are sometimes rocks and sand, creating a river rich
dumped or seep into waterways. in sulfuric acid.
These chemicals are called runoff.
Chemicals in runoff can create a toxic
environment for aquatic life. Runoff
can also help create a fertile
environment for cyanobacteria, also
called blue-green algae.
Cyanobacteria reproduce rapidly,
creating a harmful algal bloom (HAB).
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Land Pollution
Many of the same pollutants that foul
the water also harm the land.
Mining leaves the soil contaminated with
dangerous chemicals.
Pesticides and fertilizers from agricultural
fields are blown by the wind. They can
harm plants, animals, and sometimes
people. Some fruits and vegetables
absorb the pesticides that help them
grow. When people consume the fruits
and vegetables, the pesticides enter their
bodies. Some pesticides can cause cancer
and other diseases.
Trash is another form of land pollution.
Around the world, paper, cans, glass
jars, plastic products, and junked cars
and appliances mar the landscape.
Garbage often contains dangerous
pollutants such as oils, chemicals,
and ink. These pollutants
can leech into the soil and harm
plants, animals, and people.

A pesticide called DDT

(dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane) was once
A massive landfill near Quezon City, Philippines, was the site of a land
commonly used to kill insects, especially
pollution tragedy in 2000. Hundreds of people lived on the slopes of
mosquitoes. In many parts of the world,
the Quezon City landfill. These people made their living from recycling
mosquitoes carry a disease called malaria,
and selling items found in the landfill. However, the landfill was not
which kills a million people every year.
secure. Heavy rains caused a trash landslide, killing 218 people.
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GLOBAL WARMING
Global warming is the long-term
warming of the planet’s overall
temperature. Though this
warming trend has been going on
for a long time, its pace has
significantly increased in the last
hundred years due to the burning
of fossil fuels. As the human
population has increased, so has The greenhouse effect is when the sun’s rays penetrate the
the volume of fossil fuels burned. atmosphere, but when that heat is reflected off the surface cannot
escape back into space. Gases produced by the burning of fossil fuels
prevent the heat from leaving the atmosphere. These greenhouse
gases are carbon dioxide, chlorofluorocarbons, water vapor, methane,
and nitrous oxide. The excess heat in the atmosphere has caused the
average global temperature to rise overtime, otherwise known as
global warming.

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 Global warming has presented another issue
called climate change. Sometimes these phrases
are used interchangeably, however, they are
different. Climate change refers to changes in
weather patterns and growing seasons around the
world. It also refers to sea level rise caused by the
expansion of warmer seas and melting ice sheets
and glaciers. Global warming causes climate
change, which poses a serious threat to life on
Earth in the forms of widespread flooding and
extreme weather. Scientists continue to study
global warming and its impact on Earth.

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Environmental Sustainability

• sustainability simply as
“meeting the needs of the
present without compromising
the ability future generations HOW CAN YOU HELP?
to meet their own needs.”
• Environmental sustainability is
important to preserve
resources like clean air, water
and wildlife for future
generations.

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WHAT CAN YOU DO?

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 SCIENCE, MATTER, ENERGY AND SYSTEMS

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 Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and
The Nature of Science organizes knowledge in the form of testable
explanations and predictions about the universe.
•Science generates solutions for
everyday life and helps us to
answer the great mysteries of the
universe. In other words, science is
one of the most important
channels of knowledge.

•Science is defined as
the observation, identification,
description, experimental
investigation, and theoretical
explanation of natural
phenomena.

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MATTER: Everything around us Matter is anything that
occupies space and has
mass.

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Classification of Matter

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Classification of Matter

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Pure substance or a Mixture?

1. Aerogel
2. Smoke
3. Milk
4. Acid
5. Copper wire

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Phases of Matter

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Phases of Matter

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 Phase Transition

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Ecosystems: How do they work?

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An ecosystem is a geographic area where plants, animals, and other organisms, as well
as weather and landscape, work together to form a bubble of life. Ecosystems contain
biotic or living, parts, as well as abiotic factors, or nonliving parts.

Biotic factors include plants, animals, and other organisms.

Abiotic factors include rocks, temperature, and humidity.

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Different types of Ecological Biomes
A biome is a large area characterized by its vegetation, soil, climate, and wildlife.

There are five major types of biomes: aquatic, grassland, forest, desert, and tundra,
though some of these biomes can be further divided into more specific categories,
such as freshwater, marine, savanna, tropical rainforest, temperate rainforest, and
taiga.

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TERRESTRIAL BIOMES
The biome is primarily defined by its biota. A larger scale of
habitat that offers a better survival rate on different organisms;
dependent on climate.

There are eight major terrestrial biomes: tropical rainforests,

savannas, subtropical deserts, chaparral, temperate grasslands,
temperate forests, boreal forests, and Arctic tundra.

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Tropical Rain Forest is a home to more species than all other land biomes
combined. The leafy tops of tall trees – extending up to 70 meters above the forest
floor – form a dense covering called a canopy.

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Tropical Dry Deciduous Forests grows in places where rainfall is highly
seasonal rather than year-round. During the dry season, nearly all the trees
drop their leaves to conserve water.

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Tropical deciduous forest during the wet season.

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(SAME) Tropical deciduous forest during the dry season.

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Tropical Savanna receives more seasonal rainfall than deserts but less than tropical dry
forests, tropical savannas, or grasslands, are characterized by a cover of grasses.

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Temperate Grassland is characterized by a rich mix of grasses and underlain by some of the
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world's most fertile soils, temperate grasslands – such as plains and prairies.
Desert biome is defined as having annual precipitation of less than 25 centimeters.
Many undergo extreme temperature changes during the course of a day, alternating
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between hot and cold. The organisms in this biome can tolerate the extreme conditions.
Temperate Woodland and Shrub land are characterized by a semiarid
climate and a mix of shrub communities and open woodlands.

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Temperate forests contain a mixture of deciduous and coniferous trees. These forests
have cold winters that halt plant growth for several months. In autumn, the deciduous
trees shed their leaves.

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Northwestern Coniferous has moist air from the Pacific Ocean provides abundant rainfall to this
biome. The forest is made up of a variety of conifers, ranging from giant redwoods, along the
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coast of northern California.
Boreal Forest is common on the northern edge, Winters are bitterly cold, but summers are mild
and long enough to allow the ground to thaw. The word boreal comes from the Greek word for
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"north," reflecting the fact that boreal forests occur mostly in the Northern Hemisphere.
Tundra is characterized by permafrost, a layer of permanently frozen subsoil. During the short,
cool summer, the ground thaws to a depth of a few centimeters and becomes soggy and wet. In
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