1 Introduction to Environmental Science
Caralyn Zehnder, Kalina Manoylov, Samuel Mutiti, Christine Mutiti, Allison VandeVoort, Donna Bennett
Environment and environmental science
Viewed from space, Earth (Figure 1.1) offers no clues about the diversity of lifeforms that reside there. The first forms of life on Earth are thought to have been microorganisms that existed for billions of years in the ocean before plants and animals appeared. The mammals, birds, and plants so familiar to us are all relatively recent, originating 130 to 200 million years ago. Humans have inhabited this planet for only the last 2.5 million years, and only in the last 200,000 years have humans started looking like we do today. There are around 7.35 billion people today (https://www.census.gov/popclock/).
Figure 1.1 This NASA image is a composite of several satellite-based views of Earth. To make the whole-Earth image, NASA scientists combine observations of different parts of the planet. (credit: NASA/GSFC/NOAA/USGS)
The word environment describes living and nonliving surroundings relevant to organisms. It incorporates physical, chemical and biological factors and processes that determine the growth and survival of organisms, populations, and communities. All these components fit within the ecosystem concept as a way to organize all of the factors and processes that make up the environment. The ecosystem includes organisms and their environment within a specific area. Review the previous section for in-depth information regarding the Earth’s ecosystems. Today, human activities influence all of the Earth’s ecosystems.
Environmental science studies all aspects of the environment in an interdisciplinary way. This means that it requires the knowledge of various other subjects including biology, chemistry, physics, statistics, microbiology, biochemistry, geology, economics, law, sociology, etc. It is a relatively new field of study that has evolved from integrated use of many disciplines. Environmental engineering is one of the fastest growing and most complex disciplines of engineering. Environmental engineers solve problems and design systems using knowledge of environmental concepts and ecology, thereby providing solutions to various environmental problems. Environmentalism, in contrast, is a social movement through which citizens are involved in activism to further the protection of environmental landmarks and natural resources. This is not a field of science, but incorporates some aspects of environmental knowledge to advance conservation and sustainability efforts.
The Process of Science
The process of science
Environmental science is a science, but what exactly is science? Science (from the Latin scientia, meaning “knowledge”) can be defined as all of the fields of study that attempt to comprehend the nature of the universe and all its parts. The scientific method is a method of research with defined steps that include experiments and careful observation. One of the most important aspects of this method is the testing of hypotheses by means of repeatable experiments. A hypothesis is a suggested explanation for an event, which can be tested. A theory is a tested and confirmed explanation for observations or phenomena that is supported by many repeated experiences and observations.
The scientific methodThe scientific process typically starts with an observation (often a problem to be solved) that leads to a question. The scientific method consists of a series of well-defined steps. If a hypothesis is not supported by experimental data, a new hypothesis can be proposed. Let’s think about a simple problem that starts with an observation and apply the scientific method to solve the problem. One Monday morning, a student arrives in class and quickly discovers that the classroom is too warm. That is an observation that also describes a problem: the classroom is too warm. The student then asks a question: “Why is the classroom so warm?”
Proposing a HypothesisRecall that a hypothesis is a suggested explanation that can be tested. To solve a problem, several hypotheses may be proposed. For example, one hypothesis might be, “The classroom is warm because no one turned on the air conditioning.” But there could be other responses to the question, and therefore other hypotheses may be proposed. A second hypothesis might be, “The classroom is warm because there is a power failure, and so the air conditioning doesn’t work.” Once a hypothesis has been selected, the student can make a prediction. A prediction is similar to a hypothesis but it typically has the format “If … then … .” For example, the prediction for the first hypothesis might be, “If the student turns on the air conditioning, then the classroom will no longer be too warm.”
Testing a HypothesisA valid hypothesis must be testable. It should also be falsifiable, meaning that it can be disproven by experimental results. Importantly, science does not claim to “prove” anything because scientific understandings are always subject to modification with further information. This step — openness to disproving ideas — is what distinguishes sciences from non-sciences. The presence of the supernatural, for instance, is neither testable nor falsifiable.
To test a hypothesis, a researcher will conduct one or more experiments designed to eliminate, or disprove, the hypotheses. Each experiment will have one or more variables and one or more controls. A variable is any part of the experiment that can vary or change during the experiment. The independent variable is the variable that is manipulated throughout the course of the experiment. The dependent variable, or response variable is the variable by which we measure change in response to the independent variable. Ideally, all changes that we measure in the dependent variable are because of the manipulations we made to the independent variable. In most experiments, we will maintain one group that has had no experimental change made to it. This is the control group. It contains every feature of the experimental group except it is not given any manipulation. Therefore, if the results of the experimental group differ from the control group, the difference must be due to the hypothesized manipulation, rather than some outside factor. Look for the variables and controls in the examples that follow.
To test the hypothesis “The classroom is warm because no one turned on the air conditioning,” the student would find out if the air conditioning is on. If the air conditioning is turned on but does not work, there should be another reason, and this hypothesis should be rejected. To test the second hypothesis, the student could check if the lights in the classroom are functional. If so, there is no power failure and this hypothesis should be rejected. Each hypothesis should be tested by carrying out appropriate experiments. Be aware that rejecting one hypothesis does not determine whether or not the other hypotheses can be accepted; it simply eliminates one hypothesis that is not valid (Figure 1.2). Using the scientific method, the hypotheses that are inconsistent with experimental data are rejected.
The scientific method may seem too rigid and structured. It is important to keep in mind that, although scientists often follow this sequence, there is flexibility. Sometimes an experiment leads to conclusions that favor a change in approach; often, an experiment brings entirely new scientific questions to the puzzle. Many times, science does not operate in a linear fashion; instead, scientists continually draw inferences and make generalizations, finding patterns as their research proceeds. Scientific reasoning is more complex than the scientific method alone suggests. Notice, too, that the scientific method can be applied to solving problems that aren’t necessarily scientific in nature.
Figure 1.2 The scientific method consists of a series of well-defined steps. If a hypothesis is not supported by experimental data, a new hypothesis can be proposed.
Sustainability and sustainable development
In 1983 the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution that established the Special Commission on the Environmental Perspective to the Year 2000 and Beyond (http://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/38/a38r161.htm). Their charge was:
a. To propose long-term environmental strategies for achieving sustainable development to the year 2000 and beyond;
b. To recommend ways in which concern for the environment may be translated into greater co-operation among developing countries and between countries at different stages of economic and social development and lead to the achievement of common and mutually supportive objectives which take account of the interrelationships between people, resources, environment and development;
c. To consider ways and means by which the international community can deal more effectively with environmental concerns, in light of the other recommendations in its report;
d. To help define shared perceptions of long-term environmental issues and of the appropriate efforts needed to deal successfully with the problems of protecting and enhancing the environment, a long-term agenda for action during the coming decades, and aspirational goals for the world community, taking into account the relevant resolutions of the session of a special character of the Governing Council in 1982.
Although the report did not technically invent the term sustainability, it was the first credible and widely disseminated study that used this term in the context of the global impacts of humans on the environment. Its main and often quoted definition refers to sustainable development as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. The report uses the terms ‘sustainable development’, ‘sustainable’, and ‘sustainability’ interchangeably, emphasizing the connections among social equity, economic productivity, and environmental quality (Figure 1.3). This three-pronged approach to sustainability is now commonly referred to as the triple bottom-line. Preserving the environment for humans today and in the future is a responsibility of every generation and a long-term global goal. Sustainability and the triple bottom-line (meeting environmental, economic, and social goals simultaneously) require that we limit our environmental impact, while promoting economic well-being and social equity.
Figure 1.3. A depiction of the sustainability paradigm in terms of its three main components, showing various intersections among them. Source: International Union for the Conservation of Nature.
Examples of sustainable development include sustainable agriculture, which is agriculture that does not deplete soils faster than they form and does not destroy the biodiversity of the area. Sustainable farming and ranching do not reduce the amount of healthy soil, clean water, genetic diversity of crop plants and animals. Maintaining as much ecological biodiversity as possible in the agro-ecosystem is essential to long-term crop and livestock production.
What is the environment worth to you?
The environment, and its benefits to individuals or groups, can be viewed and justified from multiple perspectives. A utilitarian justification for environmental conservation means that we should protect the environment because doing so provides a direct economic benefit to people. For example, someone might propose not developing Georgia’s coastal salt marshes because the young of many commercial fishes live in salt marshes and the fishers will collapse without this habitat. An ecological justification for environmental conservation means that we should protect the environmental because doing so will protect both species that are beneficial to other as well as other species and an ecological justification for conservation acknowledges the many ecosystem services that we derive from healthy ecosystems. For example, we should protect Georgia’s coastal salt marshes because salt marshes purify water, salt marshes are vital to the survival of many marine fishes and salt marshes protect our coasts from storm surges. An aesthetic justification for conservation acknowledges that many people enjoy the outdoors and do not want to live in a world without wilderness. One could also think of this as recreational, inspirational, or spiritual justification for conservation. For example, salt marshes are beautiful places and I always feel relaxed and calm when I am visiting one, therefore we should protect salt marches. And finally a moral justification represents the belief that various aspects of the environment have a right to exist and that it is our moral obligation to allow them to continue or help them persist. Someone who was arguing for conservation using a moral justification would say that it is wrong to destroy the coastal salt marshes.
The solution to most environmental problems requires a global perspective. Human population size has now reached a scale where the environmental impacts are global in scale and will require multilateral solutions. You will notice this theme continue as you move through this text. As you do so, keep in mind that the set of environmental, regulatory, and economic circumstances common in the United States are not constant throughout the world.
