Balance Between Humanity and Environment

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Balance Between Humanity and Environment

• June 1, 2015

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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

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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

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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

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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-evidenc
  e-of-fraud/sOPr8K8f7qcbhw0W.99

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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 papers
  lead author suggested that vaccines could cause
  autism

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Major Themes of Physical Geography

• Human population growth
• Sustainability
• A global perspective
• An urbanizing world
• People and nature
• Science and values

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Physical and Human Geography

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

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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

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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

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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

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The Story of Stuff

• Materials Economy
• What is it, really?
• Externalized cost
• Obsolescence