Environmental Engineering Quiz

Introduction to Environmental Science and Engineering

Environmental science and engineering study the interactions between humans and the environment
Environment can be defined as one's surroundings, a localized area with the problem needing addressing, or a contained space like treatment reactor.
Environment encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth, including air, land, water, natural resources, flora, fauna, and humans and their inter-relationships.
Environment (biophysical) includes biotic (living) and abiotic (non-living) factors that affect an organism or population's survival, development, and evolution.

Science

Science is the systematic study of the physical and natural world using observation, experimentation, and testing theories against evidence.

Engineering

Engineering is the creative application of scientific principles to design, develop, construct, or operate structures, machines, apparatus, and manufacturing processes, or works utilizing them. This includes forecasting their behavior under specific conditions.

Environmental Science

Environmental science integrates various scientific fields to understand the environment.
It is an interdisciplinary field that includes both the applied and theoretical aspects of human impact on the world.
It's fundamentally the study of human impact on the environment.
Ecology is part of environmental science, studying living things, non-living things, the environment, and their interactions.

Environmental Engineering

Environmental engineering applies science and engineering principles to improve the natural environment (air, water, and/or land resources),
It also creates healthy environments for humans and other organisms, and remediate polluted locations.

Our Environment Through Time

Hunter-Gatherers:
- Small groups, migrated frequently
- Food obtained through collecting plants, hunting, or scavenging
- Impact on the environment: burned grasslands, over-hunted some animals, took plants from their native areas
Agricultural Revolution:
- Also called the Neolithic Revolution, ~12,000 years ago
- Shift to agriculture from hunting and gathering
- Foragers became farmers, leading to settled lifestyles
- Impact on the environment: increased pressure on local environments, habitat destruction for farmland, species changes from wild ancestors, domesticated plants/animals.
- Impact on society: increased population, concentration in small areas
Industrial Revolution:
- Shifted from agrarian to manufacturing economies relying on machines
- Stages: Coal (1765), Gas (1870), Electronics/Nuclear (1969), Internet/Renewable Energy (2000)
- Impact on the environment: pollution became a problem, more waste to dispose of, diseases arose
- Impact on society: growth of urban areas, improved life (sanitation, nutrition, medicine), growth in innovations, improvements in transportation

Environmental Engineering History and Background

Sanitary engineering emerged in the mid-1800s as a separate field.
Focus was on water supply, treatment, and waste collection/treatment.
Public concern about issues like air and water pollution led to development of environmental engineering as a separate discipline.

Environmental Engineering Involves...

Wastewater management
Air pollution control
Recycling
Waste disposal
Radiation protection
Industrial hygiene
Environmental sustainability
Public health issues
Environmental engineering law
Environmental impact analysis of proposed construction projects

Some Areas of Environmental Engineering

Water treatment: treating natural water sources for domestic and industrial purposes
Wastewater treatment: preventing negative environmental impacts of discharged water, handling residuals
Air quality: designing processes to prevent industrial air pollutants
Surface water quality: preventing degradation of natural water bodies
Solid waste: recycling and landfill design/destruction

Some Roles of Environmental Engineers

Collaborate with scientists, planners, hazardous waste technicians, engineers, and others to address environmental problems
Provide technical support for remediation and litigation projects
Inspect industrial and municipal facilities and programs to ensure effectiveness and compliance
Assess existing/potential environmental impact of land use projects
Develop site-specific health and safety protocols (e.g. spill contingency plans)
Design systems, processes, and equipment for control, management, and remediation of water, air, and soil quality
Develop and deliver environmental compliance training

Components of the Environment

1. Physical Environment:
- a) Atmosphere
- b) Hydrosphere
- c) Lithosphere
2. Biological Environment:
- a) Flora
- b) Fauna
- c) Microbes
3. Cultural Environment:
- a) Society
- b) Economy
- c) Politics

Ecosystem Concepts

Ecosystem: a community of organisms interacting with each other and their environment exchanging energy and system-level processes.
- Includes living organisms, dead organic matter, abiotic environment (soil, water, atmosphere), interactions between components.
Ecosystem Terms: Ecosystems encompass various ecological terms:
- Habitat - the natural environment of an organism
- Species- a group of organisms that look alike, share characteristics, and can interbreed
- Population - organisms that live together
- Community - a combination of different species living in a habitat
- Ecological Niche - the organism's role in the ecosystem.
Ecosystem Classification:
- Natural vs Artificial
- Terrestrial vs Aquatic
  - Freshwater
    - Lentic (stillwater)
    - Lotic (flowing water)
  - Marine
    - Ocean
    - Seas

Energy Flow in Ecosystems

Energy Pyramid: shows the trophic levels and energy transfer through a food chain.
- 1st trophic level consists of producers (10,000 kcal)
- 2nd trophic level includes primary consumers (1000 kcal)
- 3rd trophic level includes secondary consumers (100 kcal)
- 4th trophic level consists of tertiary consumers (10 kcal) -Energy decreases at each trophic level, typically only ~10% of energy is passed on

Feeding Relationships

Food Chain - sequential eating pattern of organisms, transferring food energy
Types:
- Grazing food chain - plants to herbivores to carnivores
- Detritus food chain - dead organic matter to microorganisms
Food Web - interconnected food chains

Other Basic Ecological Principles

Diversity - variety of species, habitats, living communities, and ecological processes
Distribution - frequency of occurrence, and geographic range of species. Related terms:
- Immigration - movement into a region
- Emigration - movement out of a region
- Migration - generic term for movement
Population Density - number of individuals in a population per unit of living space (e.g. per hectare).

Population Principles and Issues

Natality (birth rate)- total live births compared to total population
Mortality (death rate)- ratio of deaths to the population
Morbidity- ratio of illness compared to the population
Sex ratio - ratio of males to females in a specific population in different age groups.
Age distribution - number of people in different age groups across a population.

Kinds of Organism Interactions

Competition - two species that share the same resources have reduced fitness
Predation - one species feeding on another (herbivore/prey are part of this)
Symbiosis - close, long-lasting relationship between different species.
- Parasitism - one organism benefits, the other is harmed
- Ectoparasite - lives on the host
- Endoparasite- lives inside the host
- Commensalism - one organism benefits, the other is neither helped nor harmed.
- Mutualism - both organisms benefit

Succession

Primary Succession - gradual community development in essentially lifeless areas (e.g., after volcanic eruptions or glaciers retreat)
- Lichens are common pioneer species, helping with soil formation
Secondary Succession - gradual community development in areas where a previous community has been removed, but nutrients remain (e.g. after a fire)

Material Cycles

Material Cycles (Nutrient/Biogeochemical Cycles) - movement of matter between living and nonliving parts of the Earth
- Carbon Cycle: describes carbon's movement.
- Nitrogen Cycle: describes nitrogen's movement
- Phosphorus Cycle: describes phosphorus's movement
- Water Cycle (Hydrologic Cycle): describes water's movement

Oxygen Cycle

The oxygen cycle is the set of processes by which oxygen moves between Earth's spheres (Atmosphere, Biosphere, Hydrosphere, Lithosphere).
- Photosynthesis release oxygen
- Respiration, decomposition, and combustion use oxygen