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CH 1.

Introduction to environmental science


 Study of how the natural world works, how our environment affects us, and how we
affect our environment
 Environmental science informs practical applications and can be motivated by them.
Addressing environmental problems is complex and requires many inputs from different
discipline, therefore environmental science is an interdisciplinary field of study
 Includes both natural and social sciences, addressing environmental problems also
involves weighing values and understanding human behaviour
 Environmental science is not environmentalism {social movement dedicated to
protecting the natural world}
 5 critical factors that affect survival of civilization {climate change, hostile neighbours,
trade partners, environmental problems, society’s response to environmental problems}
 Resource management- the strategic decision making and planning aimed at balancing
the use of a resource with its protection and preservation
 Carrying capacity- measure of the ability of a system to support life
 Tragedy of the commons- each individual withdraw whatever benefit are available from
the common property as quickly as possible until the resource becomes overused and
depleted
 Demographics has a huge effect on how you perceive your environment, how you react
to change, and what the impacts has on your life
 Ecological footprint- expresses the environmental impact of an induvial or a population
in terms of that area of land and water required to provide the raw materials they
consume and waste management plus direct and indirect impacts
 Biocapacity- the capacity of terrestrial or aquatic to be biologically productive and
absorb waste especially carbon dioxide
 Sustainable development- meets the need of the present without sacrificing the needs
of the future
 Biodiversity- the cumulative number and diversity living things
 Scientific method- technique for testing ideas by making observations and by gathering
evidence
 Observations-> questions->hypothesis->prediction-> test->results

CH 2. Matter, energy, the systems approach to environmental science


 Earths most abundant chemical elements
 Earth’s crust-> oxygen 49.5% silicon 25.7% aluminum 7.4%
 Ocean-> oxygen 85.8% hydrogen 10.8% chlorine 1.9%
 Air-> nitrogen 78.1% oxygen 21% argon 0.9%
 Organisms-> oxygen 65% carbon 18.5% hydrogen 9.5%
 Matter – all things in the universe that has mass and occupies space (solid, liquid, gas)
 Matter may be transformed from one substance to another but it cannot be created or
destroyed aka law of conservation of matter
 All matter is composed of elements, a fundamental type of matter, a chemical
substance with a given set of properties which cannot be broken down into substances
that have other properties
 Elements are comprised of atoms, the smallest components that maintain the chemical
properties of that element
 Each element has a nucleus consisting of protons (+ charged) and neutrons (no electric
charge) electrons (negatively charged) surround the atom which balance the positive
charge
 Atoms of the same element (same number of protons) with differing numbers of
neutrons are called isotopes
 Some isotopes are radioactive and can decay spontaneously, changing their chemical
identity as they shed subatomic particles and emit high-energy radiation
 Atoms that gain or lose electrons from their outer shell, by doing this they become ions
 Ions that form when and atom loses an electron and carry a positive charge are called
cations
 Ions that form when an atom gains an electron are called anions which are negatively
charged
 Atoms link chemically to form molecules, combinations of two or more atoms.
Molecules may contain one or more elements
 A molecule composed of two or more different elements are called a compound
 Organic compounds-> consist of carbon atoms joined by covalent bonds carbon-carbon
bonds
 Inorganic compounds-> fundamentally important in the support of life (water) some
may contain carbon but they are not organic because they lack the carbon-carbon bond
 Proteins-> consist of long chains of organic molecules called amino acids
 Nucleic acids direct the productions of proteins (DNA and RNA)
 Matter is building material, but energy is the driver of earths environmental process,
energy is the capacity to change the position, physical composition, or temperature of
matter. Aka a force that can accomplish work
 Potential energy-> energy of position
 Kinetic energy-> energy of motion
 Glucose + oxygen  carbon dioxide + water + heat (potential energy  kinetic energy)
 In every transfer of energy some energy is lost, converted into a less useable form
 Organisms that produce their own food energy are called autotrophs including plants
algae and cyanobacteria
 photosynthesis 6CO2+12H2O+ SOLAR ENERGYC6H12O6(GLUCOSE) + 6H2O
 Autotrophs- organisms that produce their own energy (photosynthesis)
 Heterotrophs- organisms that gain their energy by consuming other organisms
 Gravitational pull of the moon causes ocean tides
 Energy that comes from within the earth’s core is called geothermal energy
 Earth’s layers  core (iron, hot, radioactive)  mantle (rock)  lithosphere (contains
the mantle and the crust)
 Divergent plate boundaries- plates move away from one another, diverge, magma rises
to the surface forming new crust as it cools at the surface
 Fault- a fracture in the earth’s crust grind horizontally with one another they meet.
When two faults grind with one another they are transform plate boundaries (san
andreas fault)
 Convergent plate boundaries- occur where plates converge causing huge earthquakes

CH 3. Earth’s systems and ecosystems


 System- a network of relationships among elements, or components that interact with
and influence one another through the exchange of energy, matter or information
 Open systems- systems that receive inputs of both energy and matter and produce
outputs of energy and matter
 Closed systems- system that receive inputs but only produces output energy
 When a systems output can serve as an input to that same system it is called a feedback
loop
 Negative feedback loop- stabilizing a system, enhances sustainability in the long run
(example with fox and rabbit)
 Positive feedback loop- opposite effect of negative feedback loop they drive further to
an extreme or another (erosion), rare in nature but common in natural systems that
have been affected by humans
 Homeostasis- tendency of a system to maintain constant or stable internal conditions
 Resistance- the strength of the system’s tendency to remain constant
 Resilience- the measure of how readily the system will return to its original state once it
has been disturbed
 Emergent properties- characteristics that are not evident in the individual components
on their own (tree is a habitat for squirrels)
 Geosphere- the rock and sediment of the solid earth
 Atmosphere- thin envelop of gasses along with some water droplets
 Hydrosphere- all water that resides on the surface on earth
 Biosphere- planets living organisms
 Anthroposphere- the systems on earth that have been modifies by humans or created
for human use
 Ecosystem- consist of all organisms and non-living entities that occur and interact in a
particular area at the same time
 Biomass- organic material which living organisms are formed
 Conversion of solar energy to the energy of chemical bonds in sugar in autotrophs is
called gross primary product (GPP)
 The energy that remains after respiration that is used to generate biomass is called net
primary product. That amount of biomass that is readily available for heterotrophs
consumption
 Material move through ecosystems in nutrient cycles, aka biogeochemical cycles
 Nutrients and other materials move from one pool called reservoirs to another
remaining for various amount of time
 the movement of materials among reservoirs is called a flux
 reservoirs that release more nutrient than they accept are called sinks
 hydrologic cycle- ow water flows through our environment; the ocean is the largest
reservoir holding 97% of all fresh water. Water moves from oceans, lakes and rivers into
the atmosphere by evaporation and also transpiration (water from pants). Water
returns to earth via precipitation and flows as runoffs into ocean, rivers, and lakes.
Some precipitation soaks down into the ground and replenishes underground reservoirs
called aquifers. Underneath layers of soils, groundwater can be found will take long
period of time to recharge.
 Carbon cycle- ingredient in carbohydrates, fats and proteins. All organisms use carbon
for structural growth. Plants are a major reservoir for carbon because they take so much
carbon in for photosynthesis. Sedimentary rock is the largest reservoir in the carbon
cycle and the ocean is the second largest. By removing carbon from fossil fuels, we are
releasing carbon into the atmosphere.
 Nitrogen cycle- makes up 78% of the atmosphere by mass and the sixth most abundant
element on earth. It’s essential ingredient in the proteins that build out bodies and
essential for plant growth. Nitrogen cannot cycle out of the atmosphere and into living
organism without the support of lightning, specialized bacteria, or human intervention.
By lightning or bacteria natural nitrogen fixation occurs, which is the process of fixing
nitrogen with hydrogen to form ammonia. Nitrification is when a change occurs and
plants can accept nitrogen. Denitrification is converting ground nitrogen into gas
nitrogen. Humans can fix nitrogen on industrial scale by process called haber-bosch
process. Fertilizer run offs lead to algae.
 Phosphorus cycle has not atmospheric component most is contained in rocks. Humans
impact this by mining rocks containing phosphorus for use in fertilizers. Waste water
discharge tends to be rich in phosphorus and can run off into bodies of water leading to
merker water. Also important ingredient in detergent.

CH 11. Water systems and water resources


 Fresh water- 2.5%
 Ocean water 97.5%
 Globally- we spend 70% of global fresh water on agriculture
 Industry- accounts for 20%
 Residential- 10%
 Water is subject to periods of scarcity and abundance
 world’s water circulates in closed system
 not getting anymore from other places
 quantity of water on earth will not dimish on shorter than geological time scale
 changes in water availability reflect changes in the hydrological cycle
 key components  evaporationtranspirationprecipitationinfiltrationrun-
offgroundwater
 evaporation- water changing from a liquid to gas or vapour. Primarily moving from
oceans, lakes, and rivers in the atmosphere. Main driver of hydrological cycle, account
for 90% of all water in the atmosphere. Evaporation is roughly equal to precipitation
 transpiration- water released out from plant leaves into the atmosphere. accounts for
10% of water in the atmosphere. Via plant stomata
 precipitation- process where water vapor in the air is changed into liquid water via
condensation. First condensed into cloud form, then falls back to earth as rain snow.
Occurs higher in the atmosphere where temps are cooler and air condenses
 infiltration- process of precipitation that reaches the land surface, entering a soil.
Eventually will recharge ground water stores. Depends on several factors including the
amount of precipitation, as well as soil texture
 run-off- the portion of perception that appears in uncontrolled surface streams, rivers,
or drains. Precipitation that does not infiltrate the ground, or through soils. The total
discharge of water overland. Pavement and soil compaction change the amount of
infiltration and run-off
 groundwater- precipitation and surface water that soaks down through soil and rocks.
Into underground reservoirs called aquifers. Hold water for very long periods of time
takes decades to recharge
 inputs- precipitation, maybe groundwater, maybe runoff
 output- evapotranspiration, runoff, maybe groundwater
 storage- groundwater, soil moisture, lakes and reservoirs, rivers, and streams
 shifts occurring within hydrological cycle- climate change impacts rates of evaporation
transpiration, precipitation. human consumption and pollution impact on groundwater
extraction and recharge, infiltration; impacts on water quality
 water scarcity- all of these factors leading to unequal distribution/ scarcity. More
common water shortages. Environmental and socio-economic concerns
 bottled water- Canadians use most bottled water only less than us
 freshwater pollution- humans need disease- free and non-toxic. Half the worlds rivers
are deeply polluted and depleted can pollute groundwater
 pollution- the release of matter or energy into the environment that causes
undesirable impacts on the health and well-being of humans and other organisms,
nutrient pollution, pathogens/waterborne disease, toxic chemicals, sediments, thermal
pollution
 point source water pollution- specific location of pollution
 nonpoint source water pollution- pollution from multiple cumulative inputs over a large
area (farms, cities, streets, heighborhoods)

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