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广东工业大学 环境科学与工程学院
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Environmental Problems
广东工业大学 环境科学与工程学院
Water pollution
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广东工业大学 环境科学与工程学院
1.1 Interrelatedness is a core concept!
A story or an example?
Relationship of a cat and clovers?
VS.
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广东工业大学 环境科学与工程学院
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广东工业大学 环境科学与工程学院
1 The Nature of Environmental Science
Environment: the surrounding conditions that affect people and other organism. In a broader definition, environment is everything that affects an organism during its lifetime. 环境：与某一中心事物有关的周围事物，就是这个中心事物的环境。 Environmental Science: is an interdisciplinary area of study that includes both applied and theoretical aspects of human impact on the world. The field of environmental science involves an understanding of scientific principles, economic influences, and political action.(fig. 1.1) creating a new interdisciplinary field. An environmental decision that may be supportable from a scientific or economic point of view may not be supportable from a political point of view without modification, often political decisions relating to the environment may not be supported by economic analysis.
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Relationship of environmental science with other science branchs Social Science

广东工业大学 环境科学与工程学院
Environmental
Science
Technological Science Natural Science
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广东工业大学 环境科学与工程学院
Environmental issue and it’s solutions
Environmental science is an interdisciplinary field. Because environmental disharmonies occur as a result of the interaction between humans and the natural world, we must include both when seeking solutions to environmental problems. It is important to have a historical perspective, appreciate economic and political realities, recognize the role of different social experiences and ethical backgrounds ,and integrate these with the science that describes the natural world and how we affect it.
Air pollution
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广东工业大学 环境科学与工程学院
Solid wastes
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广东工业大学 环境科学与工程学院
Purpose of this Course Environmental science is intended as a text for a onesemester, introductory course for students with a wide variety of career goals. They will find it interesting and informative. The central theme is interrelatedness . No text of this nature can cover all issues in depth. What we have done is to identify major issues and give appropriate examples that illustrate the complex interaction that are characteristic of all environmental problems.
Pollination
Full bloom of clover
Cat
Bumblebee honeycomb
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meadow mouse
广东工业大学 环境科学与工程学院
Another example: Wolf vs. Biodiversity
Biodiversity
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广东工业大学 环境科学与工程学院
广东工业大学 环境科学与工程学院
Introduction of Environmental Science
A Study of Interrelationships
Lecturer: Prof. Bing Tang
Guangdong University of Technology School of Environmental Science and Engineering Sep. 2, 2013
Wolves reintroduce
Elk decline
Willows increase
Beavers increase
Pond
广东工业大学 环境科学与工程学院
1.2 An ecosystem approach
The natural world is organized into interrelated units called ecosystems. An ecosystem is a region in which the organisms and the physical environment form interacting unit. Weather affects plants, plants use minerals in the soil, and affect animals, animals spread plant seeds, plants secure the soil, and plants evaporate water, which affects weather. An ecosystem approach is the comprehensive integrated management of human activities, based on best available scientific knowledge about the ecosystem and its dynamics, in order to identify and take action on influences which are critical to the health of the ecosystems, thereby achieving sustainable use of ecosystem goods and services and maintenance of ecosystem integrity.
Ecosystems sometimes have fairly discrete boundaries, as is the case with a lake or island. Sometimes the boundaries are indistinct, as in the transition from grassland to desert. Grassland gradually becomes desert depending on the historical pattern of rainfall in an area.
广东工业大学 环境科学与工程学院
Main topics of this chapter
• • • • • • • • • • • • The Nature of Environmental Science Interrelatedness is a core concept An ecosystem approach Political and economic issues Emerging global issues Environmental governance Human well-being and the environment Defining human well-being Environment and health Environment and security Environment and globalization Energy and environment