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An Introduction To Environmental Science
An Introduction To Environmental Science
An Introduction To Environmental Science
Environmental
Science
Why Environmental Engineering & Science
• Supreme Court Directive
• Sustainable Development
• India/Developing Countries
- Demand of resources for development activities
- Need to have a balanced approach with minimum
impact on environment
• As a future engineer/professional in the country, you
have to make critical decision related to development
activities.
• The course will provide basic tools which will be helpful
in making those decisions.
This lecture will help you understand:
• Renewable resources:
- Perpetually available: sunlight, wind, wave energy
- Renew themselves over short periods: timber, water, soil
- These can be destroyed
• Nonrenewable resources: can be depleted
- Oil, coal, minerals
Global human population growth
• More than 6.7 billion humans
• Why so many humans?
- Agricultural revolution
10,000 years ago
- Urbanized society
powered by fossil fuels
- Sanitation and
medicines
- More food
Thomas Malthus and human population
• An interdisciplinary field
- Natural sciences: information about the
world
- Environmental Science programs
- Social sciences: values and human
behavior
- Environmental Studies programs
What is an “environmental problem”?
•Environmental science
• The pursuit of knowledge
about the natural world
• Scientists try to remain
objective
•Environmentalism
• A social movement dedicated
to protecting the natural world
The nature of science
• Science:
- A systematic process for learning about the world and
testing our understanding of it
- A dynamic process of observation, testing, and
discovery
- The accumulated body of knowledge that results from
this process
• Science is essential
- To sort fact from fiction
- Develop solutions to the problems we face
The Demon Haunted World: Science as a
Candle in the Dark
Carl Sagan (1995)
• We’ve arranged a global civilization in which the most crucial elements-
transportation, communications, and all other industries; agriculture, medicine,
education, entertainment, protecting the environment; and even the key
democratic institution of voting-profoundly depend on science and technology.
We have also arranged this so that almost no one understands science and
technology. This is a prescription for disaster. We might get away with it for a
while, but sooner or later this combustible mixture of ignorance and power is
going to blow up in or faces…Science is an attempt, largely successful, to
understand the world, to get a grip on things, to get hold of ourselves, to steer a
safe course.
Applications of science
Policy decisions and
management practices Technology
Energy-efficient methanol-
powered fuel cell car from
DaimlerChrysler
• Deductive reasoning:
- Drawing a conclusion from initial definitions and
assumptions by means of logical reasoning.
• Inductive reasoning:
- Drawing a conclusion from a limited set of specific
observations.
Measurements and Uncertainty
• Experimental errors:
- Measurement uncertainties and other errors that occur
in experiments.
• Accuracy:
- The extent to which a measurement agrees with the
accepted value
• Precision:
- The degree of exactness with which a quantity is
measured
The scientific process is part of a larger process
• Sustainability
- Leaves future generations with a rich and full Earth
- Conserves the Earth’s natural resources
- Maintains fully functioning ecological systems
a) It is very science-oriented
b) It is a social movement to protect the environment
c) It usually does not include advocacy for the
environment
d) It involves scientists trying to solve environmental
problems
QUESTION: Review
a) It has grown
exponentially
b) It has grown
linearly
c) It has decreased
d) It has slowed
down recently
QUESTION: Interpreting Graphs and Data
What happens if test results reject
a hypothesis?