Botkin Environmental Science Earth as Living Planet 8th txtbk

CHAPTER
1
Key Themes in
Environmental Sciences
LEARNING
OBJECTIVES
Certain themes are basic to environmental science.
After reading this chapter, you should understand . . .
That people and nature are intimately connected;
Why rapid human population growth is the fundamental
environmental issue;
What sustainability is, and why we must learn to
sustain our environmental resources;
How human beings affect the environment of the
entire planet;
Why urban environments need attention;
Why solutions to environmental problems involve
making value judgments, based on scientific knowledge;
What the precautionary principle is and why it is
important.
Lions are a tourist attraction at Amboseli National Reserve in
southern Kenya, and are a valuable resource. Massi people are
beginning to help protect them, rather than hunt or poison them
as they have traditionally done.
People around the world are wearing masks
to protect themselves against swine flu.
(Source: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/
nation-world/ny-swineflu-photos,0,859331.
photogallery [Getty Images Photo / May 2,
2009].)