Jmp081903

12/1/2025

Biology

Intro to environmental science

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Dec 1, 2025

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7 pages

Basics of Environmental Science

Jmp081903

@mp081903_tqom

Environmental science explores how the natural world works and how... Show more

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Environmental Scientist
* Environment: "the total of our surroundings"
* Environmental Science: the study of how the natural world works

Environmental Science Fundamentals

Environmental science studies how the natural world works, focusing on the complex relationship between humans and our surroundings. Our environment encompasses everything around us, and our interactions with it create both benefits and challenges.

Natural resources form the foundation of our relationship with the environment and fall into three categories. Renewable resources like sunlight and wind energy can replenish quickly. Exhaustible resources like fresh water and agricultural crops can be replenished but require careful management. Non-renewable resources such as crude oil and metals exist in fixed amounts and cannot be replaced once used up.

Human success has led to feeding billions, creating valuable goods, and developing energy systems. However, this success comes with significant consequences including air pollution, soil erosion, and species extinction. We've also seen the emergence of new diseases like COVID-19 and Ebola as we alter natural environments.

Think about it: Environmental scientists identify four major "hot topics" threatening global health: population growth, declining ecosystem services, climate change, and biodiversity loss. How might these issues affect your future?

Earth as a Closed System

Earth functions as a closed system where resources are limited but population and demands continue to grow. In this system, wastes don't simply disappear—they remain within our environment and must be managed.

Your ecological footprint measures your environmental impact through resource consumption and waste generation. It compares how quickly humans use resources versus how fast nature can replenish them. Currently, humans are consuming renewable resources 64% faster than they can be replenished, with only 1.6 hectares available per person globally.

Easter Island provides a dramatic historical example of environmental collapse. Once home to a thriving Polynesian civilization that created nearly 900 massive stone statues (moai), the island experienced catastrophic deforestation. By 1650, all trees were gone, leading to erosion, food shortages, and population collapse from about 10,000 people to just 111 by 1877.

Warning sign: Easter Island demonstrates "ecocide"—environmental suicide through resource depletion. Without trees, islanders couldn't build boats to escape, leaving them trapped as their ecosystem collapsed.

Sustainability Lessons

While Easter Island shows environmental collapse, the island of Tikopia demonstrates successful sustainability. Tikopians practiced population control, eliminated pigs to protect food supplies, and developed "permaculture" with multi-storied orchards and carefully managed garden plots. They even built sea walls to trap fish at low tide—all strategies that maintained their island's resources.

It's important to distinguish between environmental science and environmentalism. Environmental science is the objective pursuit of knowledge about the natural world, while environmentalism is a social movement advocating for environmental protection. Science relies on the scientific method—observation, hypothesis, prediction, experimentation, and results.

Scientific controversies often arise from "junk science" that cherry-picks facts, distorts findings, or publishes results in non-reviewed sources. Political interference can also compromise scientific integrity, as seen in 2003 when temperature records were deleted from reports to support a preferred political message.

Critical thinking: When you encounter environmental claims, ask: Is this based on peer-reviewed science or motivated by other agendas? Scientific literacy helps you distinguish fact from manipulation.

Environmental Ethics

Ethics guide our environmental decisions through different perspectives. Anthropocentrism places humans at the center, evaluating environmental choices based on human benefits. Biocentrism views all life as having ethical standing. Ecocentrism values entire ecological systems and their well-being.

Three key environmental ethics have shaped American conservation. The preservation ethic (championed by John Muir) argues unspoiled nature should be protected for its inherent value. The conservation ethic (advocated by Gifford Pinchot) promotes wise resource use for the greatest good. The land ethic recognizes that healthy ecological systems depend on protecting all parts.

Modern environmental ethics include ecofeminism, which connects environmental degradation with social oppression, suggesting patriarchal society causes both social and environmental problems. Environmental justice addresses how poor and minority communities often face greater environmental hazards and fewer benefits.

Real-world application: Sustainable solutions must balance three factors: social desirability (what people want), economic feasibility (what we can afford), and ecological viability (what the environment can sustain). When evaluating environmental claims, watch for "greenwashing"—misleading consumers about environmental benefits.

Sustainability Principles

Truly sustainable solutions exist at the intersection of three vital considerations: what's economically feasible, what's socially desirable, and what's ecologically viable. Finding this sweet spot is essential for developing environmental policies that work in the real world.

When only two factors overlap, solutions fall short. Economically viable and socially desirable projects that ignore ecological impacts eventually fail as they deplete resources. Socially desirable and ecologically viable ideas that aren't economically feasible can't be implemented at scale. Economically feasible and ecologically viable solutions that people don't want face resistance and poor adoption.

The most effective environmental solutions consider all three dimensions, creating lasting, practical approaches that communities will support. This balanced perspective helps avoid oversimplified "either/or" thinking about environmental problems.

Success strategy: When evaluating environmental solutions, ask yourself if they make sense economically, environmentally, AND socially. The strongest approaches address all three areas rather than sacrificing one for the others.

Economics and the Environment

Environmental issues are deeply connected to economic systems. All economies receive inputs from the environment, process them for use, and discharge wastes back into natural systems. The value of global ecosystem services—benefits nature provides—is estimated at over $148 trillion.

Different economic systems approach resources differently. A subsistence economy focuses on immediate needs, while a capitalist market economy emphasizes private ownership and profit. Centrally planned economies feature government control of resources, and mixed economies combine market and government approaches.

Classical economics, developed by Adam Smith, suggests that self-interested behavior can benefit society through the "invisible hand" of the market. Critics argue this approach creates economic inequality and privileges the wealthy at the expense of the environment. The debate about the Keystone pipeline illustrates how economic claims (like job creation) can be inflated or misleading.

Case study: San Diego and Tijuana share a watershed where pollution flows across borders. Mexican maquiladoras $U.S.-owned factories$ provide jobs but often pollute heavily, affecting both countries' environments and economies. This shows how environmental and economic issues cross national boundaries.

Economic Approaches to Environmental Issues

Neoclassical economics assumes resources are infinite or substitutable, focuses on short-term effects, considers only direct costs between buyers and sellers, and promotes endless growth. These assumptions create environmental problems because some resources are unique and irreplaceable, many environmental issues develop slowly, and economic transactions often affect people not involved in the deal (external costs).

The question "Is economic growth always good?" divides economists. The concept of affluenza suggests that material goods often fail to bring contentment despite environmental costs. Constant growth resembles cancer—it's ultimately unsustainable in a finite system.

Different economic approaches offer alternatives to traditional models. Ecological economists advocate for a steady-state economy that doesn't constantly grow but maintains stability, calling for revolutionary change in how we think about economics. Environmental economists take a more moderate approach, working within existing systems to increase efficiency and reduce waste.

Modern perspective: The most promising approaches recognize that economic and environmental health are interconnected. When we treat them as opposing forces, both ultimately suffer. Sustainable economies protect the resources they depend on.

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Biology

•

Dec 1, 2025

•

7 pages

Basics of Environmental Science

Jmp081903

@mp081903_tqom

Modern perspective: The most promising approaches recognize that economic and environmental health are interconnected. When we treat them as opposing forces, both ultimately suffer. Sustainable economies protect the resources they depend on.