ES 1

• Environment -All factors outside an organism which has impact
• Science - Systematized body of knowledge basedon facts and truths
• Environmental Science - The study of the environment, theprocesses it undergoes, and the problemsthat arise generally from the interaction ofhumans with the environment andproposed possible solutions Study of how humans interact with theirenvironment and what can be done toimprove these interactions includes both applied and theoreticalaspects of human impact on the world
• Ecology - oikos + logos ; Ernst Haeckel ; Study of the relationships between oramong organisms and the relationshipsbetween them and their physicalenvironment
• Both Ecology and Environmental Science are under the natural sciences
• Ecology is more on the logic of confirmation ; ES is more on the logic of case studies
• Environmental science and the issues that it studies are complex and interdisciplinary. Includes concepts and ideas from multiple fields of study. Decisions have impacts in allthese fields of study
• Disciplines involved in Environmental Science

  • Natural Science
  • Social Science
  • Other Sciences (math, statistics, technology, law, religion,business and management,morality, aesthetics)
• Environmental Worldviews - ways of thinking about how the world worksand beliefs that people hold about their roles inthe natural world
• Environmental Ethics - the discipline that studies the moralrelationship of human beings to theenvironment.

  Ex. What is the value of the environment? ; What moral responsibility do we have indealing with the major environmentalproblems that result from our resourceconsumption?; Which needs should be given the highestpriority in our decision making?
• Two main worldviews that emerged in humanculture in modern history.

  -Anthropocentrism (Ego)

  -Biocetrism (Eco)
• Tragedy of the Commons - Overuse of shared common resources
• Sustainability - “Meeting the needs of thepresent withoutcompromising the ability offuture generations to meettheir own needs.

  with respect to resources, it involves management that has the objective of ensuring that future generations will have the opportunity to use their fair share of resources and will inherit a quality environment in an economic sense, development that will not cause irreparable damage to the environment while ensuring that future generations will inherit their fair share of all Earth’s resources
• Resource management - system of controlling the use ofresources in such a way as to avoid wasteand to use them to the best effect
• Population - a group of organisms of the samekind or species occupying a particular placeat a particular time
• Community - a group of populations occupying a given area
• Ecosystem - a community of organism interacting with each other and with the environment where matter cycles and energy flows; the basic unit of ecology
• Biotic components – all living organisms
• Abiotic components – determines the kind of organisms which thrive in an ecosystem
• Biosphere – all ecosystems combined; the world of life
• The Spheres of the Earth

  • Atmosphere
  • Hydrosphere
  • Lithosphere
  • Biosphere
• Atmosphere - the layer of air
• Hydrosphere - all sphere of water
• Lithosphere - soil and rocks of the earth
• Biosphere - the sphere of life
• Environmental science emerged from the fields of natural history and medicine during the Enlightenment period.
• Theodore Roosevelt, the first conservationist president, established the National Forest and Parks System (1901 – 1909).
• Aldo Leopold, considered as the Father of Wildlife Conservation in America, is known for his “concept of the land” ethics.
• John Muir, known as the “Father of National Parks”, founded the Sierra Club, the oldest, largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization in the US.
• Rachel Carson wrote the famous book Silent Spring warning the public about the dangers of misusing pesticides, which led to advanced the global environmental movement.
• Garrett Hardin, an ecologist, wrote an essay called “The Tragedy of the Commons”, describing the source of environmental problems as a conflict: short-term interests of individuals versus long-term interests of civilization and the Earth itself.
• Environmental science is an interdisciplinary field that incorporates ideas and information from various disciplines such as ecology, physics, sociology, history, political science, economics, and ethics.
• Ecology is a discipline often mistaken for environmental science, but they are different from each other.
• Ecology is more on the logic of confirmation and therefore is mechanistic in approach while environmental science is more on the logic of case studies; based on, concerned with, or verifiable by observation or experience rather than theory or pure logic and Is therefore empirical in approach.
• Ecology could be considered a subset of environmental science, which also could involve purely chemical or public health issues ecologists would be unlikely to study.
• Environmental education is a process that allows individuals to explore environmental issues, engage in problem-solving, and take action to improve the environment.
• Environmental science can be divided into subsystems which are interrelated with each other: atmosphere (air), hydrosphere (water), lithosphere (land), and biosphere (living things).