The document discusses the environment and humanity's relationship with and impact on it. It notes that the environment surrounds and affects humans, and humans correspondingly affect the environment through their actions. It then examines different ecological relationships like predation, parasitism, mutualism and commensalism. The document argues that humans have taken on the role of apex predator and consumed resources unsustainably. This environmental degradation exposes the Philippines to more natural hazards and hampers economic growth, making the country less resilient to disasters. It reflects on defining our proper role in nature and performing it well to reduce costs.

1. Chapter 4

2. • Environment refers to the totality of things,
both living and non-living, and conditions in
the surroundings
• The word environment presupposes the
existence of a subject in it, the one being
surrounded.
• That subject is man, such surroundings affect
his or her life, as much as they are affected by
his/her actions.

3. The environment is
an ever-present
reality

4. IMPORTANCE TO LIFE,
ESPECIALLY HUMAN LIFE
THE ENVIRONMENT IS AN
EVER-PRESENT REALITY.
HOPE THAT KNOWLEDGE ABOUT IT
WILL HELP US FIT IN, IN SPITE OF
CHANGING CONDITIONS
WHY?

5. Patterns of Relation

6. Predation
• a biological
interaction where one
organism, the
predator, kills and eats
another organism, its
prey
• Predators are not
equal.
• Apex predators are
animals not preyed on
by another specie

7. Parasitism
• a close relationship
between species, where
one organism, the
parasite, lives on or
inside another organism,
the host, causing it
some harm, and is
adapted structurally to
this way of life.
• In parasitism, the
parasite benefits at the
expense of the host

8. Mutualism
• The ecological
interaction between two
or more species where
each species has a net
benefit. Mutualism is a
common type of
ecological interaction

9. Commensalism
• A long-term biological
interaction in which
members of one species
gain benefits while
those of the other
species neither benefit
nor are harmed

10. •
•
•
The web of life is
a network of
interrelations and
interactions

11. •
•
Keystone
Species

12. Fitting in means taking a role, performing some task, contributing to
the sustainability of the system where we belong to
Did you
know?

14. • So far, our species has taken the
role of apex predator almost by
default
• We consume to satisfy our needs
and wants
• The rate of human consumption
requires so much products to meet
the demand
• Since the Industrial Revolution,
hydrocarbon fuels such as coal
and petroleum had been burnt to
generate energy.

15. • We have not only affected
local ecosystems, but we have
also altered the planet's
climatic patterns. And we face
the consequences now.
• As heat increases, glaciers
melt at a rate more than twice
than previously observed
• Human activities have
significantly increased average
global temperatures.

16. Why do we do it?
• Homo sapiens is a deeply
purpose-oriented species.
We act to satisfy our needs
and wants.
• What is common is the
feeling of satisfaction one
gets upon attainment of the
purpose
• But for us life is more than
mere survival. We consume
more than we need to
survive.

17. Did you
know?
We are exposed to a culture, a mindset, a
value system that equates the good life with
constant consumption.

18. WE THINK, BELIEVE, FEEL, DESIRE
AND VALUE. THOUGHTS LEAD TO
DECISIONS, TO ACTIONS.
THE PROBLEM LIES NOT IN
NATURE.
WE CAN CHOOSE. IF WE PROPERLY
USE OUR FREEDOM WE CAN FIND
SATISFACTION.
“OUR
THINGS
DEFINE
US."

20. • It is geologically active
• The Philippine Fault System
stretches from Ilocos to Mati in
Davao, a lot more all around
the archipelago.
• The country is prone to
volcanic eruptions and
earthquakes.

21. • Every year an average of twenty typhoons
• Majority make landfall.
• Landfall or not, typhoons cause a variety of problems from flooding to destruction of
property to mass deaths.

23. EXPLOITATION OF
NATURAL RESOURCES
• exploitation of these
resources has been
alarmingly
unsustainable, exposing
people to more hazards.
• mining has stripped
many landscapes of
vegetation while
polluting air, soil and
water.

24. •
•

25. • The country is already in a
hazardous location.
• Environmental degradation due to
resource mismanagement and over-
exploitation exposes the country to
more hazards and hampers
economic growth.
• A weak economy makes the
country, the people and institutions,
less resilient in the face of hazards
and disasters

27. REFLECTION

28. WE MAY NOW REFLECT
• What is our role in
nature?
• How do we perform that
role?
• What would be the cost,
at least to us, if we fail
to perform that role
well?

29. • As a species we have
changed the world
• But there are limits to
the changes we can do
to environment.
• preservation and
improvement of the
quality of human life,
seem common among
us.

30. • We may not have to change our
role as predators, but we can be
selective of the species that we
prey on.
• Most wildlife species in the country
are either already extinct or
seriously endangered
• Keystone species have to be
preserved.

35. •
•

36. •
•
•