Welcome to An Introduction to Environmental Science

The goal of this book is to introduce the reader to what environmental scientists research, and the importance of interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approaches and teamwork to solve global environmental issues. Although most of the book centers on environmental topics within the United States, there are also examples of how countries around the world are solving issues faced by humans and nature. This book has been developed to be exciting, reflective, informative, and encourage critical thinking with topics from many different disciplines. This book has been created for all students who want to learn more about their surroundings, even those who are not majoring in science. The reader will learn how to make more sustainable decisions within their everyday life.

Along with introducing basic environmental concepts, this book integrates historical information, recent statistics, geography, and earth science. This allows the reader to have greater context and learn what environmental solutions have had success in the past. Learning from past mistakes of others can improve the field of science and work toward understanding the future. The key is to balance the needs of both humans and nature.

The first five chapters of this book focuses on sustainability, biology, conservation, preservation, and restoration of landscapes. Sustainability strives to equally protect the environment, foster economic growth, and meet cultural and social needs. Also introduced in these chapters are ways to become a better scientist, how economics and policy tie into environmental science, environmental history, basic biological concepts related to life on Earth, biomes, ecology, or the interaction between humans and nature, evolution, and extinction.

Next, the book focuses on how humans impact ecological resources with added historical context and earth history. This includes information on declining biodiversity, impacts of human population growth and consumption, nutrition, agriculture, waste, and the spread of diseases and toxins. It also introduces geological concepts, hydrology, and meteorology. Finally, the book concludes with the advantages and disadvantages of various energy generation methods and how urbanization impacts the landscape.