Ch. 1 Sec.1 Understanding our environment.
Environmental Science is the study of air, water, and the land around us, It also includes the impact of humanity's advancements on Earth. Environmental Science focuses on solving the ecological problems we face in our world today. To accomplish the aforementioned problem, Environmental Scientists focus on two interactions between humans and their environment: how our actions alter the environment, and the usage of natural resources.
Environmental Science is made up of multiple different branches of science such as: zoology, botany, microbiology, ecology, geology, paleontology, engineering, biochemistry, sociology and other of the like. Environmental Science is a necessary science needed by the governments of the world to maintain a healthy society.
Agriculture is the cultivation of seasonal crops for food, a practice which started about 10,000 years ago; this slight change in food gathering allowed humans to reproduce at a faster rate. This also changed the way crops look and grow, harvesters cultivated the plants that had bigger fruits or grains, therefore changing how food now looks. But farming also had negative effects on the soil and surrounding land.
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The Industrial Revolution involved a shift from energy sources such as animals and running water to fossil fuels (coal, and oil). The usage of cars allowed food to be transported cheaply. In factories, cheap production was popular and less expensive than handmade goods. Human labor was not needed as much to produce food, and therefore population in urban cities grew. Medical care, technology and such other advancements arose due to the Industrial Revolution. Sadly, this also resulted in pollution being released into our ecosystems; artificial substances, although they are easier to use and manufacture, they are slowly polluting our planet.
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Population growth has exponentially increased in the past 50 years and has resulted in many of the world's nations to use up vast amount of foods and expel large amounts of waste, most of which cannot be simply thrown out of Earth since our planet is a closed system. Environmental Problems can be categorized into 3 main categories: loss of biodiversity, pollution, and resource depletion. Renewable Resources are resources that can keep up with the current rate of consumption such as wood, water, sunlight, and air. Nonrenewable Resources are resources that form at a much slower rate examples include fossil fuels, metals, and the like.
Two main types of pollutants: Biodegradable, those that decompose naturally such as apples and newspaper; Nondegradable, those which cannot be broken down by natural processes. The latter can cause a problem when they accumulate faster than they are being broken down, plus they do not degrade easily.