BSED Major in Social Studies 2

Environment & Sustainability

Title: Environment & Sustainability

Environment

The surroundings or conditions in which a person, animal, or plant lives or operates.

Types of Environment:

1. Natural Environments:

Forests

Deserts

Grasslands

Wetlands

Mountainous Environments

2. Built Environments:

Urban Environments

Rural Environments

Industrial Environments

3. Aquatic Environments:

Oceans and Seas

Lakes and Rivers

4. Social Environments:

Family Environments

Educational Environments

Work Environments

Community and Social Group Environments

5. Terrestrial Environments:

Forests and Woodlands

Grasslands and Savannas

Deserts and Arid Environments

Tundra and Polar Environments

6. Atmospheric Environments:

Troposphere

Stratosphere

Mesosphere

Thermosphere

Exosphere

7. Space Environments:

Outer Space

Space Stations

Microgravity

Planetary Environments

Sustainability

Sustainability is the capacity of the Earth's natural systems that support life and human economic systems to survive or adapt to changing environmental conditions indefinitely. The Earth is a remarkable example of a sustainable system.

Life has existed on the Earth for about 3.8 billion years. During this time, the planet has experienced several catastrophic environmental changes, including gigantic meteorite impacts, ice ages lasting millions of years, long warming periods that melted land-based ice and raised sea levels by hundreds of feet, and five mass extinctions-each wiping out more than half of the world's species.

Despite these dramatic environmental changes, an astonishing variety of life has survived. Long before humans arrived, organisms developed abilities to use sunlight to make their food and to recycle all of the nutrients they needed for survival. They also developed a variety of abilities to find food and survive.

For example, spiders create webs that are strong enough to capture fast-moving flying insects, and bats have a radar system for finding prey and avoiding collisions. These and many other abilities and materials were developed without the high-temperature or high-pressure processes that humans employ in manufacturing.

How Are We Affecting the Earth?

As the world's dominant species, humans have immense power to either degrade or sustain the Earth's life support systems. We make critical decisions about whether forests are preserved or cut down, and human activities significantly impact the temperature of the atmosphere, the temperature and acidity of ocean waters, and which species survive or become extinct.