Balance Between Humanity and Environment

June 1, 2015

What is Science?

• Science is a process, resulting in conclusions, generalizations, theories, and laws

• The process of science is often confused with a fixed set of beliefs

• Over time, Science makes increasingly better approximations about how the world works– Example: The Food Pyramid

What is Science?• Science cannot deal with things that cannot be tested by observations

• Science does not deal with questions that involve values

• The criterion by which we decide whether a statement is in the realm of science is: Whether it is possible, at least in principle, to disprove the statement

Scientific Method• Scientific method refers to a body of techniques for

investigating phenomena, acquiring new knowledge, or correcting and integrating previous knowledge.

• Example: Crop Circles– Failures regarding the scientific method illustrated by

crop circles:

Science journal retracts gay-marriage study after evidence of fraudThursday, May 28, 2015 Reuters

• Journal Science, article retracted - evidence of fraud in a high-profile study on how canvassers can convince people to back same-sex marriage

•Read more at http://newsdaily.com/2015/05/science-journal-retracts-gay-marriage-study-after-evidence-of-fraud/#sOPr8K8f7qcbhw0W.99

Journal Retracts 1998 Paper Linking Autism to VaccinesNY Time 2/2/10

• A prominent British medical journal, The Lancet, retracted a 1998 research paper that set off a sharp decline in vaccinations after the paper’s lead author suggested that vaccines could cause autism

Major Themes of Physical Geography

• Human population growth

• Sustainability

• A global perspective

• An urbanizing world

• People and nature

• Science and values

Physical and Human Geography

• How would illegal immigration impact humanity on– A local level?

– A national level?

– A global level?

The Environmental Goal

• Sustainability – refers to resources and their environment – ensuring that future generations have equal opportunity to the resources that our planet offers

• Sustainable resource harvest – – Example: Timber

• Sustainable ecosystem –

The Environmental Goal• Sustainable global economy – the careful management and

wise use of the planet and its resources

• Under present conditions, the global economy is not sustainable

• What are the characteristics of a sustainable economy?– Populations living in harmony with the natural environment– An energy policy that does not alter the natural environment– A plan for renewable resources– A social, political, and legal system dedicated to sustainability

The Environmental Goal

• To achieve a sustainable global economy:– Develop an effective population-control

strategy– Completely restructure our energy programs– Institute economic planning– Implement social, legal, political, and education

changes

The Story of Stuff

• Materials Economy– What is it, really?

• Externalized cost

• Obsolescence