Environmental Science Overview Quiz

Basic Concepts of Environmental Science

• Environmental science is a systematic study of the environment and humanity's place within it. It applies fundamental knowledge to real-world problems.

Learning Outcomes

• Environment and Basic Concepts of Environmental Science: Determine the importance of the environment, learn basic environmental science concepts, learn seven environmental principles, and determine the importance of environmental science.
• Global Environmentalism and Persistent Environmental Challenges: Learn what environmentalism is, understand the significant contributions of personalities promoting resource conservation and preservation, and describe significant environmental problems.

Environment

• Environment is the physical, non-living, and living surroundings of a society. It includes water, air, land, and the relationships between living organisms.

Functions of Environment

• The environment supports life and human activities. Its functions include providing resource inputs, amenity services, providing life support, and acting as a receptacle for waste.

Source of Resource Inputs

• The environment provides essential natural resources for human survival and economic activities.

Source of Amenity Services

• The environment offers aesthetic and recreational benefits.

Provides Life Support

• The environment provides clean air, clean water, and a stable climate.

Receptacle for Waste

• The environment serves as a means for the disposal of waste materials generated by human activities.

Ecosystem Services

• Healthy ecosystems offer various benefits to humans. This includes provisioning, cultural, regulating, and supporting services.

Provisioning Services

• The products derived directly from ecosystems, such as food, water, raw materials, and medicine.

Cultural Services

• Nonmaterial benefits from ecosystems, including recreation, mental and physical health, tourism, aesthetic appreciation, and spiritual experience.

Regulating Services

• Ecosystem processes regulating elements like local climate, air quality, carbon sequestration, moderation of extreme events, waste water treatment, soil fertility, and pollination.

Supporting Services

• Indirect services that are necessary for the production of provisioning, regulating or cultural services, such as providing habitat for species.

Natural Resources

• Natural resources are essential parts of the environment, used to fulfill needs and improve quality of life.

Renewable and Nonrenewable Resources

• Renewable resources, such as wind, solar, water, and forest products, replenish quickly. Nonrenewable resources, such as nuclear energy, fossil fuels (natural gas and petroleum), cannot be replenished quickly.

Seven Environmental Principles

• Nature knows best.
• All forms of life are important.
• Everything is connected to everything else.
• Everything changes.
• Everything must go somewhere.
• Ours is a finite Earth.
• Nature is beautiful and that humans are the stewards of God.

What is Environmental Science?

• The systematic application of scientific methods to study processes and systems in the environment.

Facts About Environmental Science

• Environmental science is an integrative field drawing upon various disciplines, including politics, economics, ethics, demographics, anthropology, geography, geology, biology, chemistry, ecology, and physics.
• It addresses global dependence on resources, global environmental problems, and global solutions.
• The field aims to understand Earth's systems, natural processes, the effects of human actions, and challenges facing the planet.
• Its goals include learning how the natural world works, understanding how humans interact with the environment, and determining how humans affect the environment.

Global Environmentalism and Persistent Environmental Challenges

• Environmentalism is a social movement or ideology focused on environmental welfare by protecting elements of our planet's ecosystem.
• Environmental science and environmentalism are related but distinct. Environmental science studies the physical aspects of the environment while environmentalism advocates for action to protect the environment.

Historical Roots of Global Environmentalism

• Early observations and practices linked deforestation, soil erosion, and local climate change.
• Some of the earliest scientific studies were conducted by French or British colonial administrators.
• Early ideas about conserving green plants were put into practice.
• An early French governor of Mauritius emphasized the preservation of forests.

Stages Before Global Environmentalism

• Resource waste triggered pragmatic resource conservation.
• Ethical and aesthetic concerns motivated the preservation movement.
• Rising pollution levels spurred modern environmentalism.
• Environmental quality is directly correlated with social progress.

What Persistent Challenges Do We Face?

• Environmental quality challenges include greenhouse gases, dwindling clean water supplies, and air pollution.
• Issues related to human population concerns include population growth, hunger, food shortages, and degraded lands.
• Concerns about natural resources include the loss of biodiversity, depleted marine resources, and excessive dependence on non-renewable energy sources.

Sustainability

• Meeting present needs without jeopardizing future generations' ability to meet their own needs.
• Environmental, economic, and social categories of sustainability are key to achieving a harmonious relationship between humanity and nature.