Chapter 1 Flashcards
DDT
- sprayed over towns, fields, and marshes
- killed songbirds, bald eagles, and osprey
- was originally meant to control the beetles that spread Dutch Elm Disease
Millennium Development Goals (MDG)
Adopted by the United Nation to reduce extreme poverty and its effects on human well-being.
MDG achievements
Halving the world poverty
Things MDG is working on
- high population growth
- fertility rates
- gender equality
- violence against women
How does the ecosystem support human life and economies?
With goods and services
Goods and services
- water
- food
- fuel
- wood
- leather
- furs
- raw materials for fabrics, oils and alcohols
Human Development Index
assesses the human well-being of nations through health, education, and basic living standards
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (ME)
Focused on the links between ecosystem services and human well-being (focuses on human impact on ecosystem services)
Environment
All surroundings of a living thing, such as conditions, resouces, and stimuli that are either abiotic or biotic, that affect the survival of an organism or population.
Environmental Science
A multidiciplinary academic field that integrates physical, biological and information sciences to the study of the environment, and the solution of environmental problems.
Environmental science provides an…
integrated, quantitative, and interdisciplinary approach to the study of environmental systems
Environmental movement
- started in 1890 when the frontier closed
- John Muir founded the Sierra Club
- President Theodore Roosevelt promoted conservation of public lands (national parks)
Environmentalists
people and organisms with a stron focus on environmental concerns
Environmentalism
The widespread development of the environmental movement
Sound science vs. junk science
Sound science uses the scientific method in order to understand how the world works and how humans interact with it.
- Junk science doesn’t conform to the rigorous methods and practices of legitimate science.
Sustainablilty
The goal we should be working toward in our relationship with the natural world
Stewardship
managing natural resources and human well-being for the common good
Scientific method
A way of gaining knowledge
- Observation
- Question
- Hyothesis
- Experiment
- Analyze
- Draw Conclusions
- Submit for peer review and Communicate results
Natural laws
principles by which we can define and predict the behavior of matter and energy
- summarize natural phenomena
- laws of gravity, conservation of matter, thermodynamics
Observation
Based on senses: seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, feeling.
- Be skeptical of any new report until it is confirmed
Experimentation
- A systematic test of a hypothesis
- Factors can be manipulated, and tested one at a time, to measure responses to particular conditions or treatments
Control
the set-up that is the norm or standard to which you compare the experimental results
- does not have the variable
Experimental treatment
- has the variable (factor being tested)
- is the factor that is vhanged or manipulated in the experiment
Independent variable
the variable taht you manipulate or change
Dependent variable
depends on the independent variable
- responds to the changes with the independent variable
Hypothesis
an educated guess about the cause of an observation
- tested through observation and experimentation
Theory
a hypothesis that has been rigorously and repeatedly tested, it is supported by a great deal of data and confirmed
Peer review
process roots out poor or sloppy science
Bias
prejudice in favor of or against one thing due to personal feelings
Sustainable yields
- harvest resources but stay within the capacity of the populaton to grow and replace itself
- also applies to fresh water, soils. pollution absorption
Development
improvement of human well-being
- developed countries are more concerned with environmental sustainability, while developing countries are more concerned with economic development
Equity
meeting the needs of the present while considering future generations
What equity means to different people
- Economists > growth, efficiency, usage
- Sociologists > human needs
- Ecologists > ecosystem, conservation
Environmental justice movement
- addresses environmental racism
- wealthier, politically active white communities get roads, public buildings, water, and sewer projects
Environmental racism
waste sites and other industries occur in poor, nonwhite areas
Globalization
the increasing interconnectedness of human activities, ideas, and cultures
- achieved largely by worldwide electronic communication
Rachel Carson
Her book Silent Spring described the environmental effects of pesticides
Part of Carson’s success was due to her…
meticulous documentation of her thorough research, which added to the scientific credibility of her work
What did Rachel Carson initiate?
Environmental awareness that led to the modern environmental movement
John Muir
founded the Sierra Club
Theodore Roosevelt
pormoted conservation of public lands (national parks)
“I recognize the right and duty of this generation to develop and use the natural resources of our land; but I do not recognize the right to waste them, or to rob, by wasteful use, the generations that come after us.”
It is okay for us to use the resources provided to us by the Earth, but it isn’t okay for us to waste the resources and take them from future generations
Aldo Leopold
- Father of ecology, founder of field of wildlife management, helped to create the Wilderness Society
- Promoted wilderness conservation and environmental ethics
- wrote A Sand County Almanac
- His land ethic included soils, water, plants, and animals
Human population growth and trends
- 7.2 billion people and growing at a rate of 1.2%/year
- 80 million people are added each year
- although global population growth may be slowing, growth and fertility rates are still high in developing countires
- The world’s population has increased sixfold
- population growth would fit a J-shaped curve
Causes of biodiversity losses
- Conversion of natural land to crops and cities (habitat loss)
- Pollution and global warming
- Exploitation for commercial value (overharvesting, Ex; passenger pigeon)
- Species are hunted, killed, and marketed illegally (right whales, carolina parakeets, dodo birds)
