1
Science and Sustainability:
An Introduction to
Environmental Science
Chapter Objectives
This chapter will help students:
Describe the field of environmental science
Explain the importance of natural resources and ecosystem services to our
lives
Discuss population growth, resource consumption, and their consequences
Explain what is meant by an ecological footprint
Describe the scientific method and the process of science
Identify major pressures on the global environment
Discuss the concept of sustainability, and describe sustainable solutions being
pursued on campuses and across the world
Lecture Outline
I. Our Island, Earth
1. The astronaut’s view of Earth reveals that its systems are finite and
limited.
2. As our population, technological power, and resource consumption
all increase, so does our capacity to alter our surroundings and
damage the very systems that keep us alive.
1
© 2025, Pearson Education Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
,A. Our environment surrounds us.
1. Our environment consists of all the living and nonliving things
around us.
2. We are part of the “natural” world, and our interactions with the
rest of it matter a great deal.
B. Environmental science explores our interactions with the world.
1. We have modified our environment.
2. Environmental science is the scientific study of how the natural
world works, how our environment affects us, and how we affect
our environment.
3. Environmental scientists study the issues most centrally important
to our world and its future.
C. We rely on natural resources.
1. Natural resources are the substances and energy sources we take
from our environment and that we rely on to survive.
2. Renewable natural resources, such as sunlight, wind, and wave
energy, are perpetually renewed and essentially inexhaustible.
Nonrenewable natural resources, such as minerals and fossil fuels,
are in finite supply and are formed far more slowly than we use
them. Once we deplete a nonrenewable resource, it is no longer
available.
D. We rely on ecosystem services.
1. Our planet’s ecological systems purify air and water, cycle
nutrients, regulate climate, pollinate plants, and recycle our waste.
Such essential services are commonly called ecosystem services.
2. In recent years, our depletion of nature’s goods and our disruption
of nature’s services have intensified, driven by rising resource
consumption and a human population that grows larger every day.
E. Population growth amplifies our impact.
1. Today, our population has grown beyond 7 billion people.
2. Two phenomena triggered our remarkable increase in population
size. The agricultural revolution occurred around 10,000 years
ago as humans transitioned from a hunter-gatherer lifestyle to an
agricultural way of life.
2
© 2025, Pearson Education Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
, 3. The industrial revolution began in the mid-1700s. It entailed a
shift from rural life, animal-powered agriculture, and hand-crafted
goods toward an urban society provisioned by the mass production
of factory-made goods and powered by fossil fuels (nonrenewable
energy sources including oil, coal, and natural gas).
4. Our sheer numbers are putting unprecedented stress on natural
systems and the availability of resources.
F. Resource consumption exerts social and environmental pressures.
1. Industrialization increased the amount of resources each of us
consumes.
2. One way to quantify resource consumption is to use the concept of
the ecological footprint, which expresses the cumulative area of
biologically productive land and water required to provide the
resources a person or population consumes and to dispose of or
recycle the waste the person or population produces.
3. Wackernagel and his colleagues calculate that our species is now
using 69% more of the planet’s renewable resources than are
available on a sustainable basis. This excess use has been termed
overshoot.
4. People from wealthy nations have much larger ecological footprints
than do people from poorer nations.
G. Environmental science can help us learn from mistakes.
1. Historical evidence suggests that civilizations can crumble when
pressures from population and consumption overwhelm resource
availability.
2. If we cannot forge sustainable solutions to our problems, then the
resulting societal collapse will be global. Fortunately, environ-
mental science holds keys to building a better world.
II. Environmental Science
1. Environmental scientists aim to comprehend how Earth’s natural
systems function, how these systems affect people, and how we
influence those systems.
2. Solutions are applications of environmental science.
A. Environmental science is interdisciplinary.
1. Environmental science is interdisciplinary, bringing techniques,
perspectives, and research results from multiple disciplines together
into a broad synthesis.
3
© 2025, Pearson Education Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
, 2. Interdisciplinary fields are valuable because their practitioners
consolidate and synthesize the specialized knowledge from many
disciplines and make sense of it in a broad context.
3. Environmental science is broad because it encompasses not only
the natural sciences but also the social sciences. Most
environmental science programs focus more on the natural
sciences, whereas programs that emphasize the social sciences
often use the term environmental studies.
4. An interdisciplinary approach to addressing environmental
problems can produce effective solutions for society.
B. Environmental science is not the same as environmentalism.
1. Environmental science involves the scientific study of the
environment and our interactions with it.
2. Environmentalism is a social movement dedicated to protecting
the natural world from undesirable changes brought about by
human actions.
III. The Nature of Science
1. Science is a systematic process for learning about the world and
testing our understanding of it.
2. Knowledge gained from science can be applied to address society’s
needs.
3. Virtually everything in our lives has been improved by the
application of science.
A. Scientists test ideas by critically examining evidence.
1. Scientists examine how the world works by making observations,
taking measurements, and testing whether their ideas are supported
by evidence.
2. A great deal of scientific work is descriptive science, research in
which scientists gather basic information about organisms,
materials, systems, or processes that are not yet well known.
3. Once enough basic information is known about a subject, scientists
can begin posing questions that seek deeper explanations about how
and why things are the way they are. At this point, scientists may
pursue hypothesis-driven science, research that proceeds in a more
targeted and structured manner, using experiments to test
hypotheses within a framework traditionally known as the scientific
method.
4
© 2025, Pearson Education Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
Science and Sustainability:
An Introduction to
Environmental Science
Chapter Objectives
This chapter will help students:
Describe the field of environmental science
Explain the importance of natural resources and ecosystem services to our
lives
Discuss population growth, resource consumption, and their consequences
Explain what is meant by an ecological footprint
Describe the scientific method and the process of science
Identify major pressures on the global environment
Discuss the concept of sustainability, and describe sustainable solutions being
pursued on campuses and across the world
Lecture Outline
I. Our Island, Earth
1. The astronaut’s view of Earth reveals that its systems are finite and
limited.
2. As our population, technological power, and resource consumption
all increase, so does our capacity to alter our surroundings and
damage the very systems that keep us alive.
1
© 2025, Pearson Education Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
,A. Our environment surrounds us.
1. Our environment consists of all the living and nonliving things
around us.
2. We are part of the “natural” world, and our interactions with the
rest of it matter a great deal.
B. Environmental science explores our interactions with the world.
1. We have modified our environment.
2. Environmental science is the scientific study of how the natural
world works, how our environment affects us, and how we affect
our environment.
3. Environmental scientists study the issues most centrally important
to our world and its future.
C. We rely on natural resources.
1. Natural resources are the substances and energy sources we take
from our environment and that we rely on to survive.
2. Renewable natural resources, such as sunlight, wind, and wave
energy, are perpetually renewed and essentially inexhaustible.
Nonrenewable natural resources, such as minerals and fossil fuels,
are in finite supply and are formed far more slowly than we use
them. Once we deplete a nonrenewable resource, it is no longer
available.
D. We rely on ecosystem services.
1. Our planet’s ecological systems purify air and water, cycle
nutrients, regulate climate, pollinate plants, and recycle our waste.
Such essential services are commonly called ecosystem services.
2. In recent years, our depletion of nature’s goods and our disruption
of nature’s services have intensified, driven by rising resource
consumption and a human population that grows larger every day.
E. Population growth amplifies our impact.
1. Today, our population has grown beyond 7 billion people.
2. Two phenomena triggered our remarkable increase in population
size. The agricultural revolution occurred around 10,000 years
ago as humans transitioned from a hunter-gatherer lifestyle to an
agricultural way of life.
2
© 2025, Pearson Education Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
, 3. The industrial revolution began in the mid-1700s. It entailed a
shift from rural life, animal-powered agriculture, and hand-crafted
goods toward an urban society provisioned by the mass production
of factory-made goods and powered by fossil fuels (nonrenewable
energy sources including oil, coal, and natural gas).
4. Our sheer numbers are putting unprecedented stress on natural
systems and the availability of resources.
F. Resource consumption exerts social and environmental pressures.
1. Industrialization increased the amount of resources each of us
consumes.
2. One way to quantify resource consumption is to use the concept of
the ecological footprint, which expresses the cumulative area of
biologically productive land and water required to provide the
resources a person or population consumes and to dispose of or
recycle the waste the person or population produces.
3. Wackernagel and his colleagues calculate that our species is now
using 69% more of the planet’s renewable resources than are
available on a sustainable basis. This excess use has been termed
overshoot.
4. People from wealthy nations have much larger ecological footprints
than do people from poorer nations.
G. Environmental science can help us learn from mistakes.
1. Historical evidence suggests that civilizations can crumble when
pressures from population and consumption overwhelm resource
availability.
2. If we cannot forge sustainable solutions to our problems, then the
resulting societal collapse will be global. Fortunately, environ-
mental science holds keys to building a better world.
II. Environmental Science
1. Environmental scientists aim to comprehend how Earth’s natural
systems function, how these systems affect people, and how we
influence those systems.
2. Solutions are applications of environmental science.
A. Environmental science is interdisciplinary.
1. Environmental science is interdisciplinary, bringing techniques,
perspectives, and research results from multiple disciplines together
into a broad synthesis.
3
© 2025, Pearson Education Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
, 2. Interdisciplinary fields are valuable because their practitioners
consolidate and synthesize the specialized knowledge from many
disciplines and make sense of it in a broad context.
3. Environmental science is broad because it encompasses not only
the natural sciences but also the social sciences. Most
environmental science programs focus more on the natural
sciences, whereas programs that emphasize the social sciences
often use the term environmental studies.
4. An interdisciplinary approach to addressing environmental
problems can produce effective solutions for society.
B. Environmental science is not the same as environmentalism.
1. Environmental science involves the scientific study of the
environment and our interactions with it.
2. Environmentalism is a social movement dedicated to protecting
the natural world from undesirable changes brought about by
human actions.
III. The Nature of Science
1. Science is a systematic process for learning about the world and
testing our understanding of it.
2. Knowledge gained from science can be applied to address society’s
needs.
3. Virtually everything in our lives has been improved by the
application of science.
A. Scientists test ideas by critically examining evidence.
1. Scientists examine how the world works by making observations,
taking measurements, and testing whether their ideas are supported
by evidence.
2. A great deal of scientific work is descriptive science, research in
which scientists gather basic information about organisms,
materials, systems, or processes that are not yet well known.
3. Once enough basic information is known about a subject, scientists
can begin posing questions that seek deeper explanations about how
and why things are the way they are. At this point, scientists may
pursue hypothesis-driven science, research that proceeds in a more
targeted and structured manner, using experiments to test
hypotheses within a framework traditionally known as the scientific
method.
4
© 2025, Pearson Education Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
