ISS 310 03 Environmental Basics 1 15 2014 Environmental Divisions Big three o Physical Environment o Natural Environment o Social cultural Environment 1 Physical Environment a Abiotic i nonliving components of the environment Land air water b Has both static and dynamic components c Static i Mountains forests islands d Dynamic active processes of the physical environment i Volcanoes glaciers rivers weather i e Studying the Abiotic Environment Geology Physical Geography the materials that make it up and the processes that act on it Climatology earth s surface The scientific study of climates and their phenomena 1 Climate ii the average atmospheric conditions of a particular region on the Scientific study of the earth its origins and evolution 2 There are 5 major types tropical dry temperate cold polar the large fluctuations in the atmosphere from hour to hour day to iii Climate weather 1 Weather day 2 Studied by meteorologists 2 Natural Environment a Biotic environment b Three main fields everything that is alive biological on the planet i Physical geographers biologists ecologists c Biologists focus on elements of the natural environment types of plants and animals d Physical Geo ecologists focus on comprehensive areas of the environment like biomes and ecosystems Biomes i adapted to that particular environment 1 5 Major Types a large geographic area of distinctive plant and animal groups which are a Forests tropical temperate boreal b Aquatic freshwater and marine salt c Grassland temperate and savannah d Desert hot dry semiarid coastal and cold e Tundra arctic and alpine ii Locations and change 1 Climates and biomes are not restricted to any particular part of the world 2 They can change over time moving from one area of the world to another iii Ecosystems they live 1 All the biological organisms in a particular region and the environment in which ISS 310 03 Environmental Basics 1 15 2014 2 Each component of an ecosystem is interdependent with the others for the maintenance of the whole Identifying 3 a Vary in size and composition b Small scale ecosystem ex Lake Lansing c d Can be composed of portions or combinations of climates and biomes Large scale ex planet earth 3 Social and Cultural Environment SCE a Has both physical and conceptual components b Physical the ways in which humans and their actions interact with and affect the biotic and These affects may or may not be of benefit to the social cultural biotic or abiotic environments c Conceptual an environment defined by human behaviors independent of place Often referred to as situational Are denied by the presence of certain people rather than by the place they are held abiotic environments i i ii i ii iii iv v d Academic Fields include Political science Geography Sociology Social psychology Anthropology
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