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Environmental Science > 1: Science and the Environment > Flashcards

1: Science and the Environment Flashcards

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1
Q

Environmental Science

A

study of how humans interact with the environment

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2
Q

Goals of environmental science

A

to understand and solve environmental problems

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3
Q

What types of interactions do the scientists study to accomplish the goals of environmental science?

A

2 main types: (1) how we use natural resources, (2) how our actions alter the environment

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4
Q

What is ecology?

A

study of how living things interacts with each other and their nonliving environment.

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5
Q

5 Major fields that contribute to environmental science?

A
  1. Biology
  2. Earth Science
  3. Physics
  4. Chemistry
  5. Social Science
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6
Q

Subfields of Biology

A

Zoology, Botany, and Microbiology

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7
Q

Subfields of Earth Science

A

Geology, Paleontology, Climatology, and Hydrology

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8
Q

Subfield of Physics

A

Engineering

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9
Q

Subfields of Chemistry

A

Biochemistry

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10
Q

Subfields of Social Sciences

A

Geography, Anthropology, Sociology

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11
Q

3 Revolutions that changes our environment

A

hunter-gatherers, agricultural revolution, and Industrial revolution

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12
Q

Hunter-gatherers

A

People who obtain food by gathering plants and by hunting wild animals or scavenging their remains

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13
Q

Example of hunter-gatherers

A

Amazon rainforest of south America in New Guinea

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14
Q

How do Hunter-gatherers affect the environment?

A
  1. set fire to burn prairies and prevent the growth of trees
  2. caused disappearance of some large mammal species
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15
Q

Agricultural revolution

A

started around 10,000 years ago, the practice of growing, breeding, and caring for plants and animals for food, clothing, housing, transportation, etc.

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16
Q

effects of agricultural revolution

A
  1. population growth,
  2. changed the food we eat, and
  3. destruction of habitat
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17
Q

Industrial revolution

A

a shift of energy sources to fossil fuels (coal and oil) in the mid 1700s

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18
Q

3 categories of environmental problems

A
  1. resource depletion,
  2. pollution, and
  3. loss of biodiversity
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19
Q

What are natural resources?

A

any natural materials used by humans

20
Q

types of natural resources

A
  1. renewable resources
  2. nonrenewable resources
21
Q

Renewable resources and examples

A

can be replaced relatively quickly by natural processes
ex. solar, wind, water, soil, air, wood

22
Q

Non-renewable resources and examples

A

form at a much slower rate than it is consumed
ex. metals: iron, copper, aluminum, fossil fuels, and non-metallic materials: salt, sand, and clay

23
Q

How does resource depletion happen?

A

when resources are said to be depleted when a large fraction. quantity of the resources has been used up

24
Q

Pollution

A

undesired change in air, water, and soil that affects the health, survival, or activities of humans or other organisms.

25
Q

2 types of pollutants

A
  1. biodegradable
  2. nondegradable
26
Q

examples of biodegradable

A

human sewage, newspaper, anything that can decomposed

27
Q

example of nondegradable

A

types of plastics, Pb, Hg (metals) (all that cannot be decomposed or dissolved by nature)

28
Q

Biodiversity

A

refers to the number of variety of species that live in an area

29
Q

extinction

A

species die-out/diminished due to environmental forces

30
Q

How does the loss of biodiversity happen?

A

the decline in the number, genetic variability, and variety of species, and the biological communities in an area or on Earth as a whole. Includes extinction

31
Q

Who published the tragedy of the Commons?

A

by ecologist Garrett Hardin (1968)

32
Q

What is the tragedy of the Commons all about?

A

Addressed how society uses common resources.

Harding argues that the main difficulty in solving environmental problems is the conflict between the short-term interests of individuals and the long-term welfare of society.

The tragedy of the commons is a problem in economics that occurs when individuals neglect the well-being of society in the pursuit of personal gain. This leads to over-consumption and ultimately depletion of the common resource, to everybody’s detriment.

33
Q

What is the problem in the tragedy of the Commons?

A

the social nature of humans was not considered

34
Q

Who must take responsibility for maintaining a resource?

A

someone or some group (a resource should not be distributed to everyone

35
Q

Law of Supply and Demand

A

the greater the demand for a limited supply of something, the more thing is worth and v.v

36
Q

Cost-benefit analysis

A

balances the cost of the action against the benefits one expects from it.

37
Q

Cost-benefit analysis in the industry

A

cost of pollution outweighs the benefits

38
Q

Cost-benefit analysis in the Community

A

benefits worth the high price

39
Q

Two choices of consumers in the Cost-benefit analysis

A

a. expensive product that meets the environmental regulations
b. cheap product that may not have the same environmental safeguards

40
Q

Risk assessment

A

tool that helps us create cost-effect ways to protect our health and environment

41
Q

developed vs developing countries

A

high average incomes, slower population growth, diverse industrial economies, and stronger social support system vs. the otherwise

42
Q

2 root causes of environmental problems

A
  1. human population is growing too quickly for the local environment to support
  2. people are using up, wasting, or polluting many natural resources faster than they can to be renewed, replaced or cleaned up
43
Q

Local population pressures

A
  1. population growth —> not enough resources for everyone
  2. forests are stripped, topsoil exhausted, animals are driven to extinction
  3. constant threat of malnutrition, starvation, and disease
44
Q

Consumption trends

A

Developed nations (20% of total popu) - use 75% of the world’s resources = creates more waste and pollution/ person in developing countries

45
Q

Ecological footprints

A
  • estimates the land used for crops, grazing, forest products, and housing
  • shows productive area of earth needed to support one person in a particular country
46
Q

sustainability

A

condition in which human needs are met that a human population can survive indefinitely

Environmental Science (3 decks)

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