Understanding Environmental Science: Resources, Impacts, and Risks
Environmental Fundamentals & Core Concepts
Human material development involves the increasing consumption of natural resources, generating an increasing impact on the environment and escalating environmental risks.
Understanding Ecosystems
- Ecosystem: All living beings who inhabit a given area, the interactions that develop between them, and the environment in which they find themselves.
- Biomes: Large ecosystems.
- Biosphere: (Geosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere) A set of all ecosystems.
Ecosystem Equilibrium & Carrying Capacity
For an ecosystem to continue, it must reach a state of equilibrium. An ecosystem has a load limit, which is the maximum number of individuals it can feed on a regular basis.
Defining Natural Resources
A natural resource is any element that nature provides, offering the material or energy needed to meet the needs of human beings.
Environmental Impacts Explained
Impacts are the consequences that the exploitation of natural resources has on the environment.
Understanding Environmental Risk
Environmental risk is the possibility of a catastrophe occurring that causes physical or economic harm to people.
Population Growth & Resource Dynamics
Population Growth: Geometric Progression
A succession of numbers where each value is calculated by multiplying the previous value by a determined constant.
Resource Growth: Arithmetic Progression
A succession of numbers where each value is calculated by adding a certain constant to the previous value.
Limits to Development: Resource Depletion
Renewable Resources & Overexploitation
Renewable resources include wind, solar, biomass, and material resources such as water. Overexploitation occurs if the rate of consumption exceeds the rate of renewal, which reduces resilience and can lead to resources becoming exhausted.
Non-Renewable Resources & Other Vital Assets
- Non-renewable resources: Once exploited, they cannot recover. The primary sources are fossil fuels (oil, natural gas, coal) and nuclear fuels.
- Nuclear fuels: Provide a large amount of energy from small amounts of radioactive material.
- Mineral resources: Require a sufficient concentration to make their extraction profitable.
- Agricultural resources: Productivity has improved through the use of fertilizers, pesticides, and new varieties of modified plants.
- Livestock resources: They are the basis of mankind’s livelihood.
Major Environmental Impacts
Air Pollution
- Cause: Accumulation of gases from vehicle combustion engines.
- Consequence: These gases may accumulate in the lower layers of the atmosphere, causing a fog with a high concentration of toxic agents in densely populated areas.
Acid Rain
- Cause: Emission of gases from coal combustion in power stations.
- Consequence: Acidification of lakes and rivers, destruction of forest areas.
Destruction of the Ozone Layer
- Cause: Emission of CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons) that reach the stratosphere, where these products break down ozone molecules.
- Consequence: Ozone filters ultraviolet rays that are harmful to the development of life. Its destruction allows more harmful UV radiation to reach Earth.
Greenhouse Effect
- Cause: Carbon dioxide emission caused by the combustion of fossil fuels.
- Consequence: Excessive heat is not radiated into space, thereby increasing the temperature of the planet.
Desertification
- Cause: Conversion of forests to intensive agricultural areas, widespread use of fertilizers, erosion, and depletion of aquifers.
- Consequence: Large expanses of territory become increasingly drier, facilitating the extension of desert areas.
Loss of Biodiversity
- Cause: Degradation of ecosystems and environmental alterations that cause ecological imbalance.
- Consequence: Extinction of species and loss of resilience in ecosystems.
Climate Change
- Cause: Greenhouse gases, destruction of the ozone layer, air pollution, and acid rain.
- Consequence: Planetary-scale changes provoked by natural causes and human activity.
Assessing Environmental Risks
Defining Environmental Risk & Severity
An environmental risk is any contingency or hazardous situation that implies injury or illness in people, damage to other living things, environmental problems, or economic loss. The severity of these risks can be assessed according to the hazard and vulnerability.
Types of Environmental Risks
Natural Hazards
Wind, rain, and solar radiation are natural resources, but if they exceed certain limits, they may become a risk. They can be:
- Geologic Hazards: Caused by geological activity (e.g., volcanoes and earthquakes).
- Atmospheric Hazards: Caused by the dynamics of the atmosphere (e.g., storms and hurricanes).
- Biological Hazards: Caused by the activity of some living organisms (e.g., pests, epidemics).
- Cosmic Hazards: From outer space (e.g., fall of meteorites).
Anthropogenic Risks
These are caused by human activity. The most prominent are:
- Risks of Conflict: Loss of life, famine.
- Industrial and Technological Risks: Industrial accidents, explosions.
- Other Human Causes: Forest fires, accidents.