Environmental Systems

1. Atmosphere
2. Hydrosphere
3. Pedosphere
4. Biosphere
 History of Resource Use
Technology and Development
• Four Stages of Human Development
1. Tool Making revolution
- man survived primarily by hunting and gathering
- began to use tools for hunting and food
preparation
- use fire for cooking, habitat improvement and
drive wild animals
- use of tools and fire leave its mark on the
environment
 Stages of Human Development
2.Agricultural Revolution
- marked by domestication of plants and
animals
- plough was invented and allowed humans
to clear larger areas of land
- led to increase in population growth and
building of more permanent habitats
- most agricultural practices are not
sustainable
 Stages of Human Development
3. Industrial Revolution
- shift from small-scale production of goods by
hand to large-scale production of goods by
machine
Benefits:
- creation and mass production of many useful
and economically affordable products
-significant increases in average per capita
income
- sharp increase in productivity
- sharp rise in average life expectancy
 Industrial Revolution
Negative effects on the environment
1. Increased production and consumption of
goods by humans
2. Dependence on non-renewable resources
(e.g., oil, natural gas and various metals)
3. Production of synthetic materials
4. High use of energy
 Stages of Human Development
4.Information Revolution
- born with the invention of miniaturized
electronics like transistor, integrated circuits
and central processing units
- maybe our saving grace
Population
 Economic Functions of the Environment
• Supplies us with resources
• Assimilates wastes
• Provides life support services such as
maintenance of genetic diversity and
stabilisation of the ecosystem
• Provides us with various environmental services
like providing space for recreation and scenery
and wildlife for aesthetic enjoyment
 Resources
• Resources – anything we get from the
environment that meets our needs and wants

• Availability
a.) directly available – air, water and edible
biomass
b.) others are available because we developed
technologies for exploiting them
 Resources
• Classification (according to degree of
renewability)
a.) potentially renewable
- can be depleted in the short term by rapid
consumption and pollution
- can be replaced in the long term by natural
processes
Sustainable yield – the highes rate at which a
potentially renewable resource can be used
without decreasing its potential for renewal.
 Resources
b.) Non-renewable resources – finite and exhaustible
- can not be replenished on the scale of human lifetimes
Conservation of non-renewable resource:
1. Recycling
2. Re-use
c.) Perpetual Resources – inexhaustible on a human time
scale of decades and centuries
- solar, wind and tidal energies

Sustainable Development – development that meets the

needs of the present without compromising the ability of
the future generations to meet their own needs.
Pollution
Pollution
 Pollution
• Wastes- unwanted by-products and residues
left from the use or production of a resource

• Pollution- contamination of a substance in

such a way that the beneficial use of a
certain resource is adversely affected
 Pollution
A change in the physical, chemical,
radiological or biological quality of the
resource (air, water, or land) caused by man
or man’s activities that is injurious to
existing, intended or potential use of the
resource.
 Pollution
• Second Law of Thermodynamics
Everything goes from order to disorder
- many pound of raw materials neede to make one
pound of product
- most of raw materials go to waste not to product

• Hierarchy of Waste Management

1. Pollution Prevention
2. Recycle/re-use
3. Treatment
4. Storage
5. Disposal
 Waste Management
Source Reduction
Change product
Alter process
Recovery
Recycle: use wastes as source of raw materials
Reuse: use materials more than once
Treatment
Transform pollutants to harmless or useful materials:
• Oxidize CO to CO2
• Convert wastes to compost
Storage
Insure that the pollutants will not migrate out
Insure that pollutants will not react with each other
 Environmental Impact Model

• Extent of environmental impact depends on:

1. Population
2. Per capita consumption of resources
3. Amount of pollution or environmental
degradation per unit of resource used.
• Formula
environmental impact = (number of people) x
(per capita consumption of resources) x
(degradation and pollution per unit of resource
used)
 Environmental Impact
• Type of environmental degradation
1.People overpopulation- circumstance in which a
large number of people have insufficient
resources and therefore overuse them
2. Consumption overpopulation – the use of
resources at a very high rate by a small number
of people
3. Pollution overpopulation- a circumstance in
which a small or large number of people use
technology that are overly polluting.
 Environmental Science and Engineering
Environmental Scientist
1. Evaluate source and nature of pollution problem
2. Evaluate environmental impact
Environmental Engineer
1. Evaluate possible solutions
2. Design, build and operate pollution control
systems
Summary
Identify and quantify pollution problem
(environmental science)
Solve pollution problem (environmental
engineering)