SG 1

Question 1

What is environmental science? Describe its interdisciplinary nature.

Answer 1

• Fundamental insight is that our interactions with the natural world matter a great deal
• Understanding these interactions is first step towards devising solutions to environmental problems

An interdisciplinary academic field that integrates physical, biological and information sciences (including ecology, biology, physics, chemistry, zoology, mineralogy, oceanology, limnology, soil science, geology, atmospheric science, and geodesy) to the study of the environment

Question 2

What are natural resources? Renewable resources? Nonrenewable? Give examples of each.

Answer 2

Materials or substances such as minerals, forests, water, and fertile land that occur in nature and can be used for economic gain.

Renewable resources- oxygen, fresh water, solar energy, timber, and biomass.

Nonrenewable- oil, natural gas and coal

Question 3

The renewability of natural resources is a continuum. Give examples of unsustainable use of renewable resources.

Answer 3

Wood is a renewable resource, but we are currently using more than grows back, so we are depleting it down.

Same thing with most commercial fisheries. We are reducing them down to the point that they can’t recover.

Question 4

Define sustainability and describe its principles.

Answer 4

The property of biological systems to remain diverse and productive indefinitely.

Ecology, economics, politics and culture

Question 5

Ecology

Answer 5

The branch of biology that deals with the relations of organisms to one another and to their physical surroundings.

Question 6

According to the Task Force on Environmental Sustainability for the UN Millenium Project, what are the five direct
drivers of environmental change? Which of the five is believed to be the most significant? What are considered the six
most important indirect drivers of environmental change? Describe and give examples of each.

Answer 6

1) Habitat Destruction (Land cover change)
2) invasive species
3) pollution (air/soil/water)
4) over-appropriation or exploitation of resources,
5) climate change*

Question 7

Describe what is meant by the “Tragedy of the Commons” as put forth by Garret Hardin.

Answer 7

Resources open to everyone are not regulated and will probably be exploited and eventually depleted. Answers?

1) private ownership
2) voluntarily sharing resources 3)government regulation

Question 8

According to the research of Jared Diamond, what are the five interacting factors that determine the failure or success of civilizations? Which factor is considered one of the most important if not the most important?

Answer 8

1) environmental degradation (most important)
2) climate change
3) enemies
4) changes in friendly trading partners 5)society’s responses

Question 9

Diamond’s research also found that failure was inevitable when elites insulated themselves from the consequences of
their actions and/or were unable to re-examine and change long held values. Do you see evidence of these factors in
our present day society?

Answer 9

The Norse in Greenland. Yes, Diamond used the example of Montana. Montana has long-held values, devotion to logging, mines, agriculture, and no government regulation.

Question 10

environment

Answer 10

The sum total of our surroundings, including all of the living things and nonliving things with which we interact.

Question 11

Define ecological footprint (be very specific). Describe its components and how it is measured. If everyone in the
world consumed resources at the rate of the average US citizen, how many additional planet Earth’s would we need?

Answer 11

Attempt to quantify consumption. Measures how much land and water area a human population requires to produce the resources it consumes and to absorb its waste.

If everyone lived like americans we would need 4 planets. The ecological footprint is larger for developed nations, because there is more consumption and the technology is not as sustainable.

Question 12

According to the research of the Global Footprint Network, we are presently consuming ~50% more resources than are
available on a sustainable basis (~1.6 planets in a year). Explain how this is believed to be taking place. What is meant by overshoot and collapse?

Answer 12

Global overshoot occurs when humanity’s demand on nature exceeds the biosphere’s supply, or regenerative capacity.

This means it now takes the Earth one year and six months to regenerate what we use in a year.

Question 13

Recognize the preservation ethic

Answer 13

An ethic holding that we should protect the natural environment in a pristine, unaltered state.

Question 14

conservation ethic

Answer 14

An ethic holding that humans should put natural resources to use but also have a responsibility to manage them wisely.

Question 15

land ethic

Answer 15

Aldo Leopold coined the term land ethic: humans should view themselves and “the land” as members of the same community and that people are obligated to treat the land in an ethical manner. This ethic could help guide decision making, “A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise.”

Question 16

Define environmental justice and understand the origins of this social movement. Be able to give examples of environmental racism based on the research evidence presented in your textbook and in class.

Answer 16

The fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies.
Warren, NC, toxic waste dump is established in the county with the highest percentage of Af. Amer.

4 of 4 toxic waste landfills in the SE US were found in predominantly minority communities. 2x as much
subject to more air pollution, lead poisoning, pesticides, workplace hazards

Question 17

Environmental racism

Answer 17

Poor people and minorities tend to be exposed to a greater share of pollution, hazards, and environmental degradation than are richer people and whites. Closely tied to environmental justice.

Question 18

Environmental justice

Answer 18

A movement based on a moral sense of fairness and equality that seeks to expand society’s domain of theoretical concern from rich to poor, and from majority races and ethnic groups to minority ones.

Question 19

Define science and describe the process of science. Why does an understanding of science matter?

Answer 19

Science is a systematic way of gathering knowledge about the natural world.
Science matters b/c it is an attempt to understand the world and correct our course.

Question 20

manipulative or controlled experiment

Answer 20

An experiment in which the researcher actively chooses and manipulates the independent variable.

Question 21

natural or observational experiment

Answer 21

Experiments that are not manipulative and test processes that operate at a large spatial scale or on long time scale or are unethical to manipulate, such as studying the effects of global climate change. These experiments are correlational.

Question 22

theory vs. hypothesis

Answer 22

hypothesis: educated guess that explains a phenomenon or answers a scientific question.
theory: a widely accepted, well-tested explanation of one or more cause-and-effect relationships that has been extensively validated by a great amount of research.
Whereas a hypothesis is a simple explanatory statement that may be refuted by a single experiment, a theory consolidates many related hypotheses that have been tested and have not been refuted.

Question 23

Understand why uncertainty is inherent in science. Be able to recognize when an individual or group is taking advantage this uncertainty.

Answer 23

All measurements contain some uncertainty generated through systematic error and/or random error.
uncertainty of data is an important component of reporting results.
Careful methodology and repetition can reduce uncertainty, but can never be reduced to zero.
Some scientific questions impossible to answer conclusively.
Exxon Mobil- “Reposition global warming as theory rather than fact”.
Product-defense firms-Public relations firms hire scientists to help clients avoid regulation and litigation think tanks.

Question 24

What are characteristics of “good” science?

Answer 24

follows scientific method
consists of facts versus opinions
data and mothods well documented
verifiable and repeateable results
has been peer reviewed

Question 25

What is peer-reviewed research? Describe the peer-review process and give examples of peer-reviewed research. Be able to recognize research or claims that are not based on peer-reviewed research.

Answer 25

scientist studies something.
scientist writes about their results.
journal editor receives an article and sends it out for peer review.
peer reviewers read the article and provide feedback to editor.
if an article meets peer and editorial standards it is published in a journal.

Question 26

What are five questions to ask when evaluating scientific or other research claims?

Answer 26

Who is it that is making a particular claim or statement and are they qualified to speak on the subject?
Are they being paid to make the claim, and if so, how might that affect what they are saying?
What evidence is presented to back the claim?
Was the evidence obtained through proper
scientific procedures including the process of peer review?
Are the views of the scientific community being accurately portrayed?

Question 27

Describe skills needed to interpret scientific claims. Describe attributes of reputable sources and reporting on science.

Answer 27

• Be a healthy skeptic
• Understand the process of scientific inquiry
• Understand the difference between correlation and causation
• Distinguish anecdotes from scientific evidence
• Distinguish conclusions based on facts rather than opinions
• Have a basic understanding of statistics
• Know how to read and interpret graphs