Environmental science is an interdisciplinary field that studies how Earth systems function and how human activity impacts the planet. It addresses growing environmental concerns like population growth, resource depletion, loss of biodiversity, and climate change. Understanding science, sustainability, and our role as stewards of the planet can help us develop solutions to environmental problems and leave a habitable world for future generations.

1. Environmental Science
 Why study
Environmental
Science?

2. Environmental Science
Environmental Science is…
An interdisciplinary study of how
the earth works
How we interact with the planet
How to deal with environmental
problems
It affects all aspects of your life

3. Interdisciplinary
 Biology
 Ecology
 Chemistry
 Physics
 Geology
 Meteorology
 Anthropology
 Economics
 Political Science
 Ethics

4. Global Environmental Concerns
Population Growth
Economic Development
Decline of Vital Ecosystems
Loss of Biodiversity
Global Atmospheric Changes

5. Population Growth -

6. Population Growth
Human population today is
approximately 7 billion
Global estimates for the year
2050 could reach over 9 billion
people

7. Population Growth -

8. Population Growth
 Concernover economic growth in
developing nations, e.g. China and India
 Most developing
countries have the
desire for a westernized
middle class life style

9. Population Growth
USA is the largest consumer of
fossil fuels and largest producer
of carbon emissions
With rapid economic growth what
is the impact on the environment?

11. Ecological Footprint
What is your Ecological Footprint?
 The ecological footprint is a measure of
human demand on the Earth's ecosystems.
It compares human demand with planet
Earth's ecological capacity to regenerate.
 Ecological Footprints measures
humanities demands on Nature.
Everything we do has consequences…
 www.myfootprint.org/

13. Vocabulary Definitions
Resource: is anything
obtained from the environment
to meet our needs and wants
Renewable Resources: can be
replenished fairly rapidly
Nonrenewable Resources:
exist in a limited quantity

14. Vocabulary Definitions
Conservation: the
management of natural
resources for future
generations
Environmental Degradation:
occurs when resource demands
exceed its replacement rate

15. Vocabulary Definitions
Ecosystem: A group of plants,
animals, and other organisms
that work/interact with each
other in a specific
environment.
Organism: Any living thing;
plant, animal or microbe

16. Vocabulary Definitions
Biodiversity: The variety of
organism found within an
ecosystem
Species: A single kind of any
plant, animal or microbe that
can reproduce and have viable
offspring

18. Decline of Ecosystems
What is the importance of healthy
ecosystems?
 Provides support for all life on this
planet

19. Decline of Ecosystems
How do you feel about habitat
loss?
What about animal extinction?
Why should we care about the
environment?

20. Easter Island

22. Loss of Biodiversity
Endangered Species
-every day one species goes extinct
-there are thousands of
animals on the
Endangered Species List
-this number increases
every year
-few animals ever get de-listed

26. Loss of Biodiversity
Risks of losing biodiversity?
-animal species once gone can never
be replaced
-stability within the environment
decreases

28. Sustainable Future
Sustainability
A habitat that
can continue indefinitely
without depleting
its resources

29. Stewardship
 What is Stewardship?
-taking responsibility for our actions
and how they effect the planet

30. Stewardship
 Transition Generation…
Are you a part of the solution?

31. Science & Scientific Method
 Science: A way of gaining knowledge
 Scientific Method:
1. Problem/Observation
2. Hypothesis
3. Experiment
4. Theory/Solution
 Data:Information that is gathered from
observations and measurements drawn
from experiments

33. Science & Scientific Method
 Theories:An explanation of how
things work
 Theory of Evolution
 Theory of Relativity
 Theory of Gravity

34. Science & Scientific Method
What is scientific objectivity?
-All information is considered when
developing conclusions
What is scientific rationality?
-All information is considered and
presented is a clear and logical
fashion
 All scientific research is peer reviewed
for accuracy, clarity and rationality.

35. Science & Scientific Method
 Sound Science: (reliable) is peer
reviewed research that can be
duplicated
 Junk Science: (unreliable) usually
doesn’t have a solid scientific basis of
reasoning, challenges other scientific
data with the intent of causing
confusion and damage to further their
own interests

36. Science & Scientific Method
Cause & Effect
A cause is something that makes something
else happen. Out of two events, it is the
event that happens first
 An effect is what happens as a result of the
cause. Of two related events, it’s the one
that happens second or last
-pollution and acid rain

37. Science & Scientific Method
Correlation
a statistical measure of a relationship
between two or more variables, gives an
indication of how one variable may predict
another
-Body versus Brain size

38. Science & Scientific Method
Observation
Interpretation
-When looking at scientific
evidence, you need to see thing
objectively without emotional
interpretation!