Environmental Science

Miss Miklius

Day 1• 1. Index Cards• 2. Syllabus / Book• 3. Procedures and Rules

– Do Now• 4. Introductions• 5. Homework: Read the Case study pgs 2-4.

What changes occurred in the habitat at the Amboseli National Reserve, what was the original hypothesis of scientists to explain this, and how did that hypothesis change? – (1/2 page, typed, double spaced, quiz grade)

Index Card

• Name• A quote that would define you• Why did you sign up for this class?• Hobbies/interests• What do you see yourself doing 10 years from

now• Encore

DO NOW:What is environmental

science?(do not use the terms science or environment in your definition)

“Environment”

• The living and nonliving things with which organisms interact, including social and cultural conditions that influence the life of an individual or community.

“Science” – Webster• A system of knowledge

covering general truths or the operation of general laws especially as obtained and tested through the scientific method and concerned with the physical world and its phenomena

Environmental Science

• The study of how the natural world works, how the living and nonliving things surroundings affect us, and how we affect the living and nonliving things around us.

The History Of Environmental Science – A Christian

Perspective

Questions that affect YOU• Why should we care? Do we have to care?• Is going “Green” optional? • Should everyone care, or just the scientists,

hippies, and hipsters?• Is caring for the earth a choice or an obligation• Are we truly affecting the environment like

some scientists say we are?• Is the green movement new?• Does the Catholic church agree with the

“Green” movement

Modern Environmentalist Movement

Before 1960, the “environment”

was not much of a political issue.

1962 – Rachel Carson’s book “Silent Spring” really helped

spark the movement

1970’s – Clean Air Act and Clean

Water Act

Early Groups in the Environmental Movement

“Environmentalists” –

• thought we were destroying the earth and going to go extinct

• Once represented a dangerous and extreme view with a focus on the environment to the detriment of people

• (Minority)

“Anti Environmentalists” –

• Thought social and economic health and progress were necessary for survival, whatever environmental effects they had.

• (Majority)vs

…

• Was Rachel Carlson the first person to ever care about the environment?

• Was the Catholic Church behind the times in showing concern for where we live?

Is the church “green”??• 1891, Pope Leo XIII

– The goods of nature and the gifts of divine grace belong in common and without distinction to all human kind.

– Whether you abound in, or whether you lack, riches, and all the other things which are called good, is of no importance in relation to eternal happiness. But how you use them, that is truly of utmost importance”

• 1931, Pope Pius XI– Quadragesimo Anno– He explained that goods on earth were destined for all

of mankind by God.

• 1961 Pope John XXIII– He spoke about the need to

care for creation– In Genesis, God commanded

Adam and Even to “increase and multiply” and to “fill the earth and subdue it”. Nature is to be brought into the service of human life!

• 1965 Vatican II– “God destined the earth and all

it contains for the use of every individual and all peoples”

• Pope Paul VI– The Bible, from the first page on, teaches us

that the whole of creation is for humanity, that it is men and women's responsibility to develop it by intelligent effort and by means of their labor to perfect it, so to speak, for their use. If the world is made to furnish each individual with the means of livelihood and the instruments for growth and progress, all people have therefore the right to find in the world what is necessary for them.

– Nature should be preserved for the benefit of humanity, but people are not free to abuse it.

– Man is suddenly becoming aware that by an ill-considered exploitation of nature he risks destroying it and becoming in his turn the victim of this degradation.

– He went on to encourage Christians to "take on responsibility, together with the rest of men, for a destiny which from now on is shared by all.”

• 1979 Pope John Paul II– It is manifestly unjust when a

privileged few squander resources while others live in need

– St. Francis of Assisi is the patron saint of ecologists

– Francis "offers Christians an example of genuine and deep respect for the integrity of creation . . . St. Francis invited all of creation — animals, plants, natural forces, even Brother Sun and Sister Moon — to give honor and praise to the Lord”

– “environmental pope”– Hoped to inspire peace

1990 Word Day for Peace– World peace is threatened not only by the arms race, regional conflicts, and

continued injustices among peoples and nations, but also by a lack of due respect for nature, by the plundering of natural resources, and by a progressive decline in the quality of life. The sense of precariousness and insecurity that such a situation engenders is a seedbed for collective selfishness, disregard for others and dishonesty. Faced with the widespread destruction of the environment, people everywhere are coming to understand that we cannot continue to use the goods of the earth as we have in the past . . . [A] new ecological awareness is beginning to emerge which…, ought to be encouraged to develop into concrete programs and initiatives

– The Bible helps to understand the relationship of human activity and creation– "ecological crisis” = moral crisis– ozone layer, industrial growth, urbanization, industrial waste, fossil fuels,

deforestation, herbicides, coolants, and propellants.– The commitment of believers to a healthy environment for everyone stems directly

from their belief in God the Creator, from their recognition of the effects of original and personal sin, and from the certainty of having been redeemed by Christ.

– Called nations to join and make new standards to protect the environment

Respect for life, and above all for the dignity of the human person, is the ultimate guiding norm for any sound economic, industrial or scientific progress"

Modern Environmentalists and Catholic teaching

– Catholic approach centered on humanity, not abstract notion of nature

– 2007 President of Council for Justice and Peace Renato Cardinal Martino • "Nature is for the human person and the

human person is for God . . . The person has an indisputable superiority over creation and, in virtue of his personhood and being gifted with an immortal soul, cannot be placed on an equal plane with other living beings, nor can he be considered a disturbing element in the natural ecological equilibrium."

Christian Stewards– What’s a steward?• Someone who manages another’s property

– In what way are we stewards?

– What’s our role as Christian stewards• Nature is a wealth, not an absolute.• We do not have an absolute right over

nature but a mandate to conserve and develop it

• 2008 Pope Benedict XVI– Humans have duty to protect environment for

benefit of all mankind

The Scary Mentality of Environmentalist Extremists

• John Davis, the editor of Earth First! (the self-proclaimed voice of the radical environmental movement), has written: – "Human beings, as a species, have no more value

than slugs" (The Environmentalist's Little Green Book).

Earth First! (EF!) is a "warrior society" that takes a "by any means necessary" approach to "defending mother earth."

• David Foreman, writing in the same magazine, said: – "We advocate biodiversity for biodiversity's sake.

It may take our extinction to set things straight" and "Phasing out the human race will solve every problem on earth, social and environmental"

• David Graber, a biologist with the National Park Service, said: – "I know scientists who remind me that people are

part of nature, but it isn't true. Somewhere along the line . . . we quit the contract and became a cancer. We have become a plague upon ourselves and upon the Earth . . . Some of us can only hope for the right virus to come along"

• Dr. Reed F. Noss of The Wildlands Project said: – "The collective needs of non-human species must

take precedence over the needs and desires of humans"

>

The Scary Mentality of Mainstream Environmentalists

• Sierra Club– Supports abortion rights due to concern that

overpopulation is a threat to the environment. – …But birth rates have actually slowed since that

and we have developed the ability to sustain a larger world population.

Abortion = birth control

• At the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development,– non-govt organizations argued that an expected increase in

population would cause the collapse of the earth's natural balance and lead to disaster.

– Solution proposed: more abortions and mass sterilization of the poor.

– Holy See’s diplomats went to prevent the anti-life plan from being enacted.

– Cardinal Martino• Holy See's Permanent Observer to the United Nations• "the Church . . . has faith in the person and in his ability to look for new

solutions to the problems that history places before him — an ability that enables him to refute recurring and improbable catastrophic forecasts" ("Climate Change and Development" conference statement). That faith in the ability of people to contribute to mankind, rather than just be a drain on resources, is fundamental to the Catholic view of the environment.

The Mentality of Catholic Environmentalists

• 2006 Archbishop Celestino Migliore– Holy See rep to UN– While many people are "rightly worried" about the

"irrational destruction of the natural environment," too little attention is focused on protecting "the moral conditions for an authentic human ecology."

• Church’s commitment to environment– Careful evaluate scientific evidence in light of benefit for

humanity– Ex: Global warming

• Kyoto protocol debate

• 2007 Pope Benedict– Base policies on science and not

the dogma of the environmentalist movement. Put dignity of human life first.

– Much criticism.– He explained the need to consider

this in lives of the poor who are often severely affected by policy changes, but environmentalists were angered that he didn’t give 100% support to their cause

We are Stewards of God’s Kingdom

• Al Gore saw the need to involve churches in the movement

• Most Christians are pro-life…• Catholic sees human = center of

environmental concerns• We aren’t just “masters”, we are “stewards”!

One-sided views in Public Places• Museum of Natural History in Jackson, Mississippi

– Displays with pollution, threatened habitat, extinction and threatened species ask kids if they feel sad, angry, or guilty.

• Australian Broadcasting Company – game for children to play on its Web page. Children were

asked a series of questions related to energy use, and based on the answers a cartoon pig would inflate or deflate. Eventually the pig exploded and children were told what age they should be when they die so that they use only a normal, safe amount of resources over the course of their life.

Sierra Club – 1969 (before Roe v. Wade)

• -Families should not have more than two natural children . . . state and federal laws should be changed to encourage small families and to discourage large families; that laws, policies, and attitudes that foster population growth or big families, or that restrict abortion or contraception . . . should be abandoned.

• Called for universal birth-control programs and readily available sex education. Carl Pope's 1993 statement was not an abuse of office; it reflected club policy