Page 37 - Environment: The Science Behind the Stories

students take even a single course on the basic functions Conclusion
of Earth’s natural systems, and still fewer take courses on
the links between human activity and sustainability. As a Finding effective ways of living peacefully, healthfully, and
result, the report stated, “students are slightly less likely sustainably on our diverse and complex planet will require a
to be environmentally literate when they graduate in 2008 thorough scientific understanding of both natural and social
than in 2001.” systems. Environmental science helps us understand our
This surprising finding suggests that students like you intricate relationship with our environment and informs our
are in a privileged minority, benefiting from a valuable edu- attempts to solve and prevent environmental problems. Many
cation that most of your peers are missing. As a result of of the trends detailed in this book may cause us worry, but
your environmental science course, you will come away others give us reason for optimism. Solving environmental
from your college years with a better understanding of how problems can move us toward health, longevity, peace, and
the world works. You will be better qualified for tomor- prosperity. Science in general, and environmental science in
row’s green-collar job opportunities. And you will be better particular, can aid us in our efforts to develop balanced and
prepared to navigate the many challenges of creating a sus- workable solutions to the many challenges we face today and
tainable future. to create a better world for ourselves and our children.

Reviewing Objectives

You should now be able to: Characterize the nature of environmental science
• Environmental science employs approaches and insights
Define the term environment and describe the field of from numerous disciplines in the natural sciences and
environmental science social sciences. (p. 26)
• Our environment consists of everything around us, includ- • Environmental scientists are not advocates for environmental
ing living and nonliving things. (p. 21) causes; instead, they study scientific issues objectively. (p. 27)
• People are part of the environment and are not separate Understand the scientific method and the process of
from nature. (p. 21)
science
• Environmental science is the study of how the natural • Science is a process of using observations to test ideas.
world works, how our environment affects us, and how we (pp. 27–28)
affect our environment. (p. 21)
• The scientific method consists of making observations, for-
mulating questions, stating a hypothesis, generating predic-
Explain the importance of natural resources and tions, testing predictions, and analyzing results. (pp. 28–30)
ecosystem services to our lives
• There are different ways to test questions scientifically (for
• Some resources are inexhaustible or perpetually renew- example, with manipulative experiments to determine cau-
able, others are nonrenewable, and still others are renew- sation or with natural experiments and correlation). (p. 30)
able if we do not overexploit them. (pp. 21–22)
• Scientific research occurs within a larger process that
• Ecosystem services are benefits we receive from the pro- includes peer review, journal publication, and interaction
cesses and normal functioning of natural systems. (p. 21)
with colleagues. (pp. 30–31)
• Resources and ecosystem services are essential to human • Science goes through paradigm shifts. This openness to
life and civilization, yet we are depleting and degrading change is what gives science its strength. (p. 31)
many of them. (p. 21)
Diagnose and illustrate some of the pressures on the
Discuss the consequences of population growth and global environment
resource consumption
• Rising human population and intensifying per capita
• Rapid growth of the human population magnifies our envi- consumption magnify human impacts on the environment.
ronmental impacts. (p. 22) (p. 32)
• An ecological footprint quantifies a person’s or nation’s • Human activities are having diverse impacts, including
resource consumption in terms of area of biologically pro- resource depletion, air and water pollution, climate change,
36 ductive land and water. (pp. 22–23) habitat destruction, and biodiversity loss. (pp. 32–33)

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