ENVS 1080 1st Edition Lecture 3What is the Environment?I. The environment is the sum of our surroundings, including living and non-living compounds.a. Commonly defined to include the “natural world”b. In E.S we also include humans and society as an integral part of the environment.c. Environmental Science is the study of i. How earth’s natural systems work and interact.ii. How these Systems affect people.iii. How natural systems respond to human activity.1. Environmental Science has the applied goal of solving environmental problemsa. Solutions are applications of scienceb. An interdisciplinary fieldi. Natural Sciences: examine the natural world (ex: Environmental Science)ii. Social Sciences: examine values and human behavior (ex: Environmental Studies)d. Problems in the Environmenti. Example Lead in Gasoline1. Benefits: Lead is a lubricant for internal combustion engines.2. Costs: Lead poisoning can cause a variety of negative impacts on environmental and human health.e. Natural Resourcesi. Natural resources are the substances and energy that a society needs to survive.1. Renewable natural resourcesa. Sunlightb. Wind energyc. Wave energyd. Geothermal energyf. Humans have changed Earth’s landscapei. An ecological footprint: the area of earth required to support a person or population.1. It includes: The area of biologically productive land and water needed to supply resources and to dispose/recycle waste.2. People in rich nations have large ecological footprints->Affluence increases consumption.These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute.a. How many acres of land is the average ecological footprint in the U.S?i. About 23 ac1. Human population growth amplifies our impact on the environment.a. Overshoot is the exceedance of Earth’s capacity to support our society.i. Ecosystem services-the benefits people obtain from the ecosystem.b. Challenges We Facei. Agriculture- Technology expanded food production-> leading to increased population and consumption.ii. Waste Products and artificial chemicals- contaminate land, water, and air.iii. Biodiversity- the cumulative number and diversity of living things. Human activity has driven many species extinct.II. Science and Controversy----------------------------------------------------------------------Lecture 2a. The main “quality control” element in science communities is Peer Reviewi. Peer reviewers must be qualified peers in that area of study (ex: fellow climatologists)ii. Process ensures that publications in that journal meet high scientific standards.iii. Most papers need to be revised before publication; many are rejected completely.iv. The Peer Review Process1. Scientists study something2. Scientists write about their results3. Journal editor receives an article and sends it out for peer review.4. Peer reviewers read the article and provide feedback for the editor.5. If an article finally meets editorial and peer standards it is published in a journal.a. Where can one find peer-reviewed source material?i. Peer-reviewed journals aren’t typically readily available to the general public- not sold in stores and subscriptions can be expensiveii. University of Iowa has peer reviewed journals1. Access them through the main library or through the Uiowa library website.b. Summary:i. There are important differences between scientific and non-scientific language.ii. There’s more than one way to conduct science.iii. The peer review process is essential for quality control on scientific studies.iv. As a student, you have access to peer reviewed materials through the library.v. Always consider the credentials and cultural/political/economic interests of your information sources.III. Structural differences between articles and popular media----------------------Lecture 3a. There are many key differences between popular media and a scholarly journal.i. Scholarly journals are written be experts, include notes and bibliography, written for experts, and they are more specialized.ii. How do we judge popular media?1. Ask these questionsa. Where does the information come from?b. Are the views of the scientific community accurately portrayed?c. Is the scientific community’s confidence in the ideas accurately portrayed?d. Is a controversy misrepresented or blown out of proportion?e. Where can I get more information?f. How strong is the