Environmental Science - PDF

**Environment**- "environner" to surround **Environmental science:** The study of living things and how they interact with their environment. - Nature - Technology - Culture **Organisms**- Also known as living things. **Natural Resources-** Materials found in nature that are useful to h...

**Environment**- "environner" to surround **Environmental science:** The study of living things and how they interact with their environment. - Nature - Technology - Culture **Organisms**- Also known as living things. **Natural Resources-** Materials found in nature that are useful to humans **Applied Sciences**- Fields of study that use scientific knowledge to solve practical problems. **Anthropology-** The study of human societies. **Built Environment-** What humans have made such as roads and buildings. **Culture-** The languages, religions, customs, and arts of people. **Natural Environment-** All living and nonliving things found in nature. East Africa (Ethiopia) -- first fossil found "omo1" Agricultural Revolution- 18^th^ century, lasted for 100 years Sumeria -- heavily rely on irrigation for crop growth Salt brought by irrigation (salinization of Sumeria) **Law of Unintended Consequences** - main reason for resource depletion **Tragedy of Commons** Commons stuffed shared and not owned. Stocks & flows **Citizen Science**- Public participation and collaboration in scientific research to increase scientific knowledge where people can share and contribute to data monitoring and collection programs. **Systems of thinking**- language used to talk about problems in society as a whole - A big picture system **System Dynamic Model**- instead of thinking for a primary solution, think in a big picture **Causal Loop Diagram**- understanding and identifying problems and finding a solution. Composed of different variables, arrows, link, polarities \[s+,o-\] and type of loop. **Reinforcing loop**- compound, same start and end **Balancing loop**- different start and end **Conservation of Matter** Matter may be transformed and combined in different ways. However, it doesn't disappear. Everything goes somewhere. These sentences represent the physical principle of conservation of matter. **Energy**- defined as the ability to produce change or do work. **Forms of Energy** **Potential energy** -- Stored PE = \[mgh (mass x gravity x height)\] **Kinetic energy**- motion KE= \[1/2mv^2^ (mass x velocity)\] **The Principle of Conservation of Energy** Energy can be changed from one form into another but it cannot be created or destroyed. Energy is always conserved. **Energy Conversion**- Energy is defined as \"the ability to do work.\" **Work** = fd (work x distance) Energy efficiency -- amount of useful energy you can get out of a system **Sources of Energy** - Renewable - Non-Renewable - Secondary Energy Source **Thermodynamics** A complex, quantitative discipline that studies how energy is transferred, its rates of flow, and its transformation from one form or quality to another. **Sun-** Main energy source Carbon Dioxide, sunlight, Water enables **[Photosynthesis]**- produces glucose (chemical potential energy) and Oxygen **Energy transfer** Sun\> plant (producers, autotrophs) \> primary consumers \> secondary consumers \> tertiary consumers \> decomposers Herbivores - plant Carnivores - meat Omnivores -- plant & meat Predator- hunters Prey- hunted and ate Scavengers- eat dead animals Food Web -- Complex food chain Energy pyramid -- bottom to top largest to smallest