ESO

• The term "environment" refers to the total of our surroundings, including all the things around us with which we interact: living things, animals, plants, forests, fungi, etc., non-living things like continents, oceans, clouds, soil, rocks, our built environment like buildings, human-created living centers, social relationships and institutions.
• Humans exist within the environment and are part of nature, with our survival depending on a healthy, functioning planet.
• The fundamental insight of environmental science is that humans are part of the natural world and our interactions with its other parts matter a great deal.
• Humans depend completely on the environment for survival, but natural systems have been degraded due to pollution, erosion, and species extinction.
• Environmental science is the study of how the natural world works and how the environment affects humans and vice versa.
• Environmental problems come with opportunities for solutions, such as renewable resources which are perpetually available and renew themselves over short periods of time, and non-renewable resources which cannot be depleted.
• Natural resources are vital to human survival, including substances and energy sources needed for survival.
• The global human population has grown to more than 7.5 billion humans, with agricultural revolution, stable food supplies, industrial revolution, urbanized society powered by fossil fuels, sanitation and medicines contributing to population growth.
• Thomas Malthus argued that population growth must be controlled, or it will outstrip food production, leading to starvation, war, and disease.
• The “ecological footprint” is the environmental impact of a person or population, calculated as the amount of biologically productive land and water used for resources and to dispose/recycle waste.
• Applications of science include energy-efficient methanol-powered fuel cell cars from DaimlerChrysler and restoration of forest ecosystems altered by human suppression of fire.
• Neo-Malthusians argue that population growth has disastrous effects.
• Environmental science can help us avoid mistakes made by past civilizations, as human survival depends on how we interact with our environment.
• Scientists test ideas by observing, measuring, and testing, involving critical thinking and skepticism.
• Paul and Anne Ehrlich, in The Population Bomb (1968), argued that agricultural advances have only postponed crises.
• Environmental science is an interdisciplinary field that includes natural sciences, environmental science programs, and social sciences, studying human interactions and behavior.
• Preservation ethic: unspoiled nature should be protected for its own inherent value is an ethical perspective.
• Hypothesis-driven science is research that proceeds in a structured manner using experiments to test hypotheses through the scientific method.
• Garret Hardin’s “tragedy of the commons” (1968) highlights the impacts of unregulated exploitation, causing resource depletion.
• Hard to resolve; depends on the person’s ethical standards.
• Observational science involves scientists gathering information about something not well known or that cannot be manipulated in experiments, such as astronomy, paleontology, taxonomy, and molecular biology.
• Utility in ethics: something right produces the most benefits for the most people.
• Darwin’s theory of evolution, atomic theory, cell theory, big bang theory, plate tectonics, general relativity are examples of theories.
• Environmental science is not environmentalism, which is a social movement dedicated to protecting the natural world.
• The golden rule: treat others as you want to be treated is a principle in ethics.
• People use criteria, standards, or rules when making judgments.
• Sustainability involves renewable energy sources, soil conservation, high-efficiency irrigation, organic agriculture, pollution reduction, habitat and species protection, recycling, and fighting global climate change.
• The scientific method is a technique for testing ideas, where a scientist makes an observation and asks questions of some phenomenon, formulates a hypothesis, a statement that attempts to answer the question, uses the hypothesis to generate predictions, and tests the predictions.
• Environmental ethics is the application of ethical standards to relationships between human and non-human entities.
• With enough data, a paradigm shift — a change in the dominant view — can occur.
• The single most important question we face is: "Will we develop sustainably?”
• Science is essential to sort fact from fiction and develop solutions to the problems we face.
• Relativists believe that ethics vary with social context.
• Treatment: the manipulated point of comparison.
• Finding ways to live sustainably on Earth requires a solid ethical grounding and scientific understanding of our natural and social systems.
• Solution? Private ownership? Voluntary organization to enforce responsible use? Governmental regulations?
• The male worldview is characterized by hierarchies, competition, domination, and conquest.
• Ethical standards are criteria that help differentiate right from wrong.
• Ethics: the set of moral principles or values held by a person or society that tells us how we ought to behave.
• Environmental science helps us understand our relationship with the environment and informs our attempts to solve and prevent problems.