1.

Environmental Problems and Scientific Principles

Major Objectives

1. Define Earth Capital, solar capital, carrying capacity, and sustainable societies

2. Distinguish exponential growth from linear growth

3. Describe tragedy of the commons

4. Distinguish between point and nonpoint pollution sources

5. Distinguish between pollution prevention and pollution clean up and ways to implement these
strategies.

6. Describe a simple model among population, resource use, technology, and environmental
degradation

2. Critical Thinking Science, Models, and Systems

Major Objectives

1. Understand basic concepts of science. Distinguish among hypothesis, theories, and laws.

2. Distinguish between accuracy and precision

3. Define models and their types

4. Describe systems and their basic components including feedback loops, time delays, leverage
points, and synergy.

5. Describe chaos and the butterfly effect

6. Be able to distinguish independent variables and dependent variables and how to make a
controlled experiment

Note Review for section

1. Environmental Problems and Scientific Principles

● Environmental Science- Study that examines the role of humans on Earth.
● Earth Capital- Energy from the earth (Air, Plants, Water, Wildlife)
○ We are depleting Earth’s resource at a rate that is not sustainable
● Solar Capital- Energy from the sun
 ● Carrying Capacity- The max possible population of an area
● Sustainable Societies- Societies that have learned how to live within its area’s carrying capacity.
○ Living sustainably means not disrupting Earth’s natural way of replenishing resources
● Exponential Growth- Growth that starts slowly, but rate of growth picks up a lot and very
quickly. J shaped graph.
○ Because of carrying capacity, exponential growth is bound to stop, and become an S
shaped graph, or logistic growth.
● Linear Growth- Growth where there is a constant rate of growth the entire time.
● Doubling Time- 70/percentage growth rate=Doubling time in years
● Sustainable Yield- Rate at which a renewable resource can be used indefinitely without reducing
supply.
● Environmental Degradation- When Use>Sustainable yield
● Tragedy of Commons- The overuse of land owned by no one, in which each user individually
uses the land at a rate where the collective use of the land results in environmental degradation.
○ Main cause of Environmental degradation is the Tragedy of the Commons.
● Pollution- Any addition of any substance to anything that poses threat to any life.
● Point Source Pollution- Pollution in which the specific source of said pollution is known
● Nonpoint Source Pollution- Pollution in which the specific source of said pollution is NOT
known
● For pollution prevention, there are the 4 Rs- Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
● Most effective pollution prevention is simply not using pollutants
○ Other than that, there are cleanup attempts
■ Usually only leads to more throughput, so uneffective
● Throughput- The amount of material passing through a system
○ Carrot Approach- Using tax write offs to encourage pollution prevention
○ Stick Approach- Taxing pollutants to encourage pollution prevention
○ Polluter Pays- Tax the users of the pollutants
○ Consumer Pays- Pay for costs in higher medical bills, insurance, and poor health, but
cheaper product cost.
○ Full cost pricing- Adding in all environmental costs from production and use into the
retail price
● I=(P)(A)(T)- Human impact on the environment= Population (Amount of people using
something) x Affluence (Amount of something used per person) x Technology (Damage caused
per something used)
2. Critical thinking Science, Models, and Systems
● Science- An assumption that there is discoverable order in nature, then using that knowledge to
make predictions about what will happen in nature in the future.
● Hypothesis- A prediction of a relationship between two things
○ NOT an if-then statement
○ Ex. The change in acidity of rainwater will affect the growth height of the plant.
● Theory- An idea, principle, or model that ties together and explains many facts that previously
appeared to be unrelated. Is backed up by a great deal of evidence.
● Law- A description of what we find happening in nature repeatedly with little known exceptions
● Accuracy- Correct Measurements
● Precision- Reproducibility
○ If I say I am good at playing darts, and I throw a bullseye, that try shows accuracy. If I
then throw 50 more consecutive bullseyes, that shows precision.
● Systems- Consists of a set of components that function in theoretically predicting behavior
○ Can be Biotic/Abiotic (Living/Nonliving)
○ Entropy- Randomness of a system
○ Contains inputs, throughput, and outputs
■ Inputs- Something that enters a system (Matter, energy, information, etc.)
■ Throughput- The rate at which inputs flow through a system. Represented by
arrows
■ Outputs- Forms of matter/energy/information flowing out a system. Ends up in a
Sink somewhere in the environment. (Atmosphere, water, soil, land)
○ Feedback Loops- All change in a system is driven by feedback loops
■ All feedback loops are finite
■ Positive Feedback Loops- Runaway cycle in which a change in a certain
direction provides information to be re-fed and makes further gains in the same
direction.
● Can be undesirable or desirable. Positive=/=desirable
● Leads to Catastrophic Collapse/Accelerated destruction
● Like population
■ Negative Feedback Loop- Loops that dampen/halt change
● Rapid slowing of change
○ Like a car slowing down
■ One loop, either positive or negative, will always be in control.
■ Time Delays- Time delays occur between the input (stimulus) and the response.
A long delay can sometimes mean that the corrective action comes too late and
catastrophic collapse occurs.
■ Because of negative feedback loops in a system, it is hard to change loops, even
if the change is a good one. However, there are variables in a system that when
changed even in small degrees will yield large improvements. These are called
Leverage Points.
■ Synergy- 1+1 = 3 or more. A synergistic interaction is when two positive loops
interact so that the combined effect is greater than the sum of the separate halves.
● Models- Used to study systems
○ Mental Model- Perception of how world works
○ Conceptual Model- Graphic organizers/concept maps
○ Graphic Model- X/Y Dependent graphs
○ Physical Model- Mini versions of a regular sized system
○ Mathematical Model- A mathematical formula
● The key is to identify harmful synergistic interactions and use leverage points to counteract them.
However, some elements of systems are random, from within the system itself. Said to be Chaos.
● Butterfly Effect and Chaos: Another example of chaos in a system is the Butterfly Effect. The
possibility that everything interrelates and effects everything else, even the most minute changes
(Butterfly’s wings flapping for example).
 ● Controlled experiment- One way in which to test the effects of a particular factor
● Variables/Factors- Something that may influence your experiment
○ Independent Variable- A variable that is changed by the experimenter
○ Dependent Variable- The variable that is dependent to the independent variable, and
changes as the independent variable changes. The dependent variable is the one that is
measured.
● Double Blind Experiments- a study in which both the person implementing the experiment and
the participant(s) are not aware of which group is the experimental group that receives the
experimental treatment, and which group is the control group that receives a placebo.
● Scientists cannot prove anything, only probability

Questions:
Multiple Choice
1. Well tested and accepted patterns in data.
a. scientific theories
b. scientific law
c. scientific hypothesis
d. scientific data

2. A measure of reproducibility or how closely a series of measurements of the same quantity agree with
one another.
a. accuracy
b. quality
c. precision
d. logistics

3. Double-blind experiment:
a. used to test most new drugs
b. a control group is given a placebo
[Link] patient nor doctors know the difference between the drug and the placebo
d. all of the above

4. scientists can do all of the following except:

a. disprove thins
b. establish a high degree of validity for something to be true
c. prove that their theories and laws are absolutely true
d. none, all are true

5. Systems contain all of the following components except:

a. inputs
b. interactions
c. flow/throughputs
d. storage areas
e. outputs

6. A feedback loop that is in a runaway cycle in which change in one direction provides information that
causes further change in the same direction.
a. negative feedback loop
b. continuous feedback loop
c. infinite feedback loop
d. positive feedback loop

7. The “Tragedy of the Commons” illustrates how

a. Individual rationality results in group irrationality
b. The pursuit of short-term individual gain often leads to long term collective costs
c. The cost of a product also includes the cost of utilization of common property
d. “Commons” Are real resources that are owned collectively by people occupying the area
e. Common people who work for a living are often victims of environmental exploitation

8. A population has a growth rate of 2 percent per year. How long will it take for this population to
double?
a. 70 years
b. 40 years
c. 35 years
d. 15 years
e. 2 years

Fill in the Blank:

1. _______ is the measure of disorder or randomness of a system or its environment.

2. Many advanced industrialized economies have __________ economies that continually increase the
flow of matter and energy into economic systems to sustain growth and planetary sinks.

MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. A map is an example of what kind of model?
a. mental
b. conceptual
c. graphic
d. physical
e. mathematical

2. A model airplane is an example of a(n) __ model.

a. mental
b. conceptual
c. graphic
d. physical
e. mathematical
3. Which of the following is NOT an example of a positive feedback loop?
a. humans maintaining homeostasis
b. resource consumption
c. greenhouse effect
d. industrialization
e. population boom

FILL IN THE BLANK

1. In reference to scientific measurements, _____ is the measure of how close one's data is from an
accepted or correct value, and _____ is the measure of how close one's data is to one another in a
collection of data.

2. An idea, principle, or model that usually ties together and explains many facts that previously
appeared to be unrelated and that is supported by a great deal of evidence is called a(n) _____.

3. The rate of flow of matter, energy, or information through a system is called _____.

4. A chronic smoker who gets lung cancer after 20-30 years of exposure to carcinogens is an example of
_____, a deferral of noticeable effects in a complex system.

5. In nature, when "1+1 is greater than 2," it is because of a _____.

6. The measure of randomness or disorder in a system is called _____.

SHORT ANSWER
Using the concepts of complex systems, input, output, throughput, negative and positive feedback loops,
and high and low quality energy, explain how a society can be a low-waste or earth-wisdom society - a
society that addresses environmental and resource problems.

Multiple Choice

1. Which of the following is not an example of a positive feedback loop?

a. Depositing money into a bank account with compound interest.
b. Global warming of glaciers, which leads to faster warming of the ocean’s surface.
c. The body’s attempt to maintain homeostasis.

2. Unforeseen environmental surprises can often be a result of all of the following except:
a. Abrupt shifts across the environmental threshold.
b. Synergistic interactions
c. Natural chaotic events, such as hurricanes or earthquakes.
d. Reduced population growth.
3. Degradable pollutants are pollutants that:
a. Have been completely broken down by natural, physical, chemical, and biological processes.
b. Cannot be broken down by natural processes.
c. Can be broken down, but take decades longer to do so through natural processes.
d. Are broken down into simpler chemicals by living organisms, such as bacteria.

4. The second law of energy states that:

a. Energy is neither created nor destroyed.
b. Energy input always equals energy output.
c. When energy changes forms, some of the energy is degraded to low-quality energy.
d. Energy always moves from a more useful to a less useful form.

5. A scientific theory is an idea, principle, or model that:

a. Is supported by a good deal of evidence.
b. Describes natural occurrences in the same way, with no known exception.
c. Is an approximate representation of a system.
d. Is a possible explanation for what is observed in nature.

6. A control group is a group used in an experiment in which:

a. The chosen variable has not been changed.
b. The chosen variable is changed in a known way.
c. Multiple variables are changed and observed.
d. The experimenter does not know who is in this group.

Fill in the Blank

1. A ________________ describes how one change leads to a lessening of another change, often causing
a system to stabilize.
2. How well a measurement agrees with the accepted value for a quantity is known as __________.
3. A _________________ is a way in which a scientist gathers data and formulates and tests hypotheses.

Multiple Choice Questions:

1. What is matter?
a. Anything that has mass and takes up space
b. Solids, liquids and gases
c. Has 2 chemical forms
d. Can be neither created nor destroyed
e. All of the above

2. What is the difference between accuracy and precision?

a. Accuracy is how well a measurement agrees with the accepted or correct value for that quantity,
whereas precision is a measure of reproducibility, or how closely a series of measurements of the same
quantity agree with one another.
b. Accuracy is a measure of reproducibility, or how closely a series of measurements of the same quantity
agree with one another, whereas precision is how well a measurement agrees with the accepted or correct
value for that quantity.
c. There is no difference between accuracy and precision.
d. None of the above

3. Which of the following does not belong as a key component of most systems?
a. Inputs
b. Flows
c. Storage area
d. Outputs
e. None of the above

4. What are the three types of pollutants?

a. Degradable, biodegradable, extremely degradable
b. Persistent, degradable, biodegradable
c. Nonpersistent, slowly degradable, nondegradable
d. None of the above

Completion Questions:

1. What is the difference between a positive and negative feedback loop?

2. What is entropy and what is an important concept to remember about it?

3. Most advanced industrialized countries have high throughput economies that attempt to
____________.

4. A high-throughput economy is also known as a __________.

5. What is frontier science?

6. One of the basic principles of environmental science is ___________.