Environmental Science

GE 15 / week 1 to 3

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Unit Learning Outcomes

a. Explain what environmental science is and how it

draws on different kinds of knowledge and Define
species, populations, communities, and ecosystems,
and summarize the ecological significance of trophic
levels.

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 Environmental Science
An Introduction

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What is an Environment?

 It is defined as the circumstances surrounding an

organism or group of organisms or the complex social
or cultural conditions affecting each organism in the
given biotic and abiotic community.

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What is Environmental Science?

 It is the systematic study of our environment and our

proper place in it.
 It integrates natural sciences, social sciences, and
humanities in a broad, holistic study of the world
around us.

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Prepared by: Jessa Mae L. Balbanida
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Interrelated Fields with
Environmental Science
 Ecology. How foes energy production affects populations?
 Chemistry. How can we make better batteries?
 Urban Planning. What urban designs can reduce energy use?
 Sociology. How do people adopt new ideas?
 Political Science. Which policies lead to sustainable solutions?
 Engineering. Can we design better vehicles?
 Economics. What are the benefits and costs of energy sources?

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Human Population Growth

 Overpopulation is one of the reasons why our environment is

currently degrading.

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 Clean Water

International Food
Cooperation Supplies

Freedom of Climate
Information Change

Current
Conditions
Renewable
Energy
Energy

Habitat
Air Pollution
Conservation

Biodiversity
Health
Loss

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History of Conservation and
Environmentalism
1. Pragmatic Utilitarian Conservation
 George Perkins Marsh (American), a lawyer, politician and diplomat
 Theodore Roosevelt and Gifford Pinchot:
 Pragmatic and practical conservation
 Forests should be saved "not because they are beautiful or
because they shelter wild creatures of the wilderness, but
only to provide homes and jobs for people."
 Resources should be used "for the highest good, for the most
considerable number for the longest time.
 The first principle of conservation is the development and use
of the natural resources in each continent that benefit the
lives of people and some organisms.
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History of Conservation and
Environmentalism
2. Ethical and Aesthetic Concern of Preservation Movement
 John Muir, geologist, author and president of Sierra Club
 Muir argued that nature deserves to exist for its own sake,
regardless of its usefulness to humanity.
 Biocentric preservation emphasizes the fundamental right of
other organisms to exist and to pursue their interests.
 Muir wrote: "The world, we are told, was made for man. In
which the presumption of that is unsupported by the facts.
Nature's object in making animals (domestics and wild) and
plants might be first of all the happiness of each one of them.
Why ought a man to value himself as more than an infinitely
small unit of the one great unit of creation?”

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History of Conservation and
Environmentalism
3. Rising Pollution Level Led to the Modern Environmental Movement
 The undesirable and unpleasant results of biochemical pollution have
probably recognized as long as those of forest destruction.
 In England of 1273, King Edward I, he frightens his people to hang if
caught burning coal in London because of the acrid smoke produced
from the fuel that may cause damage to the environment.
 The tremendous industrial expansion during and after the Second
World War added a new set of concerns to the environmental
agenda.
 Silent Spring, written by Rachel Carson and published in 1962,
awakened the public to the threats of pollution and toxic chemicals
to humans as well as other species. The movement she engendered
might be called environmentalism because its concerns are
extended to include both environmental resources and pollution.
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History of Conservation and
Environmentalism
4. Environmental quality is tied to Social Progress
 Environmental activists are linking environmental quality and social
progress on a global scale.
 One of the core concepts of modern environmental thought is
sustainable development, the idea that economic improvement for
the world’s poorest populations is possible without devastating the
environment.

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