LESSON 1 : INTRODUCTION TO Perpetually available: sunlight, wind, wave

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE energy. Renew themselves over short periods of

time: timber, water, soil. These can be destroyed.
ENVIRONMENT: THE TOTAL OF OUR Non-renewable resources:
SURROUNDINGS can be depleted - Oil, coal, minerals.
Living things - Animals, plants, forests, fungi,
etc. The world’s human population has tripled in the
Non-living things - Continents, oceans, clouds, twentieth century, but supplies of food and other
soil, rocks. resources do not grow. Hence, more people
Our Built Environment - Buildings, human- suffer from shortage or scarcity of resources
created living centers. needed for life. Both renewable and non-
Social relationships and institutions. renewable can be created or replaced.
Replacement costs more than what can be
Humans exist within the environment and are created. Conservation and recycling, therefore,
part of nature. Our survival depends on a are the most economical ways to prevent the
healthy, functioning planet. depletion of our resources.
Humans depend completely on the environment
for survival. But natural systems have been Environmental Education is the process by which
degraded. people develop awareness, knowledge, and
concern of the environment and its diverse
Environmental science is the study of: values and processes, and learn to use this
- How the natural world works understanding to preserve, conserve and utilize
- How the environment affects humans and vice the environment in a sustainable manner for the
versa. benefits of present and future generations.
- With environmental problems come
opportunities for solutions. GLOBAL HUMAN POPULATION GROWTH -
More than 7 billion humans.
GOALS OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE Agricultural revolution - Stable food supplies
To develop a sustainable world, a world in which Industrial revolution - Urbanized society
the supply of food water, building materials, powered by fossil fuels, Sanitation and
clean air, and other resources can sustain Medicines, More food.
human population to continue to exist indefinitely
with a high standard of living and health. To Thomas Malthus
study environmental problems and issues, • Population growth must be controlled, or it will
priorities regarding acceptable environmental outstrip food production. Starvation, war,
preservation of natural species and habitats, disease.
freedom of nations to do as they please, within Neo-Malthusians
their own potential boundaries and issues on the • Population growth has disastrous effects.
quality of life, fairness and ethics. Agricultural advances have only postponed
crises.
NATURAL RESOURCES = Substances and Garret Hardin’s “tragedy of the commons” (1968)
Energy Sources needed for survival. Unregulated exploitation causes resource
Renewable resources: depletion. Everyone takes what he or she can
until the resource is depleted.
Solutions:
 Private ownership - Anything not providing benefit to people has no
 Voluntary organization to enforce value
responsible use Biocentrism: certain living things also have value
 Governmental regulations - All life has ethical standing
ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT - Development is opposed if it destroys life, even
The environmental impact of a person or if it creates jobs
population Ecocentrism: whole ecological systems have
- Amount of biologically productive land + water value
- For resources and to dispose/recycle waste - Values the well-being of species, communities,
Overshoot: humans have surpassed the Earth’s or ecosystems
capacity to support us. - Holistic perspective, stresses preserving
connections.
We are using 30% more of the planet’s
resources than are available on a sustainable PRESERVATION ETHICS - Unspoiled nature
basis! The human footprint measures energy should be protected for its own inherent value.
quantities, resources, and products consumed by CONSERVATION ETHICS - Use natural
a human during his/her lifetime and includes, for resources wisely for the greatest good for the
example, the number of food “pieces,” the most people.
volumes of fuel and water, and the mass of LAND ETHICS - Healthy ecological systems
waste. depend on protecting all parts.

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE IS NOT ECOFEMINISM - In the 1960s and 1970s,

ENVIRONMENTALISM feminist scholars saw parallels in how people
treated nature and how men treated women.
Ethics: the study of good and bad, right and ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE (EJ) - Involves the
wrong. The set of moral principles or values held fair treatment of all people with respect to the
by a person or society that tells us how we ought environment, regardless of race, income, or
to behave. ethnicity. The poor and minorities are exposed to
Relativists: ethics vary with social context. more pollution, hazards, and environmental
Universalists: right and wrong remains the same degradation.
across cultures and situations.
Ethical standards: criteria that help differentiate SUSTAINABILITY - A guiding principle of
right from wrong environmental science.
- Classical standard = virtue Natural capital: the accumulated wealth of Earth
- The golden rule: treat others as you want to be Sustainable development: using resources to
treated satisfy current needs without compromising
Utility: something right produces the most future availability of resources.
benefits for the most people Sustainable solutions must meet:
Environmental ethics: application of ethical - Environmental goals
standards to relationships between human and - Economic goals
non-human entities - Social goals

Anthropocentrism: only humans have rights

- Costs and benefits are measured only
according to their impact on people