Bio 36 environmental science

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Overview
• Syllabus & course expectations
• Ch. 1: Science and the Environment
– The State of the Planet
– Environmental Science
• The Environmental Movement
– 3 Unifying Themes
• Sound science
• Sustainability
• Stewardship
– Moving Toward a Sustainable Future

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Exercise 1
• Think, Pair, Share
– Think about the topic
– Write down your ideas on a sheet of paper
• Write your name & date at the top of your paper. Turn it in at the end of lecture.
– Break into pairs
– Share your ideas with your partner
• What ideas are the same? Different?
• Topic: What is “environmental science”?

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Unsustainable Societies
• Example from the past: Easter Island
– Forests cut
– Soil eroded
– Water degraded
– Population crash

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Lessons from Easter Island
• When societies do not care for the environment
– Populations increase
– Land & water cannot provide food for all
– Disparity between haves & have-nots widens
– Civilization collapses
• Other examples
– Mayans, Greeks, Incas, and Romans
– Future of Easter Island depends on Rapa Nui

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Silent Spring
• Rachel Carson
– Published in 1962
• Critical of DDT use
– Well documented, but highly criticized
• Environmental movement
– 1970: EPA & 1st Earth Day
– DDT banned in many countries in 1970s

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Environmentalist’s Paradox
• Over 40 years, human well-being has improved while natural ecosystems decline

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• 4 hypotheses to explain paradox
– Measurements of human well-being are flawed
– Enhanced food production outweighs declines in other ecosystem services
– Human technology reduces dependence on ecosystem services
– Time lag between ecosystem decline & human well-being
The State of the Planet
• 4 unhealthy global trends
– Increasing population growth and its detrimental effects on human well-being
– Decline of vital ecosystem services
– Negative impacts of global climate change
– Loss of biodiversity

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Human Population Growth
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