Science and the environment

Introduction

People depend on their physical environment to survive. We adapt to it and change it constantly to suit our changing needs for food, water and energy. This chapter looks at how our knowledge and technology is changing our environment.

Natural resources

Today, humans are producing and consuming different resources in far greater amounts than ever before. Modern technology has allowed us to produce more things, clear more land and build more cars and houses. The increased production of goods has led to environmental damage and a shortage of natural resources.

A natural resource is anything that is both naturally occurring and of use to humans. Natural resources can be renewable or non-renewable. A renewable resource is a resource that can be restored naturally. A forest, for example, is a renewable resource. A non-renewable resource is a resource that cannot be restored or takes a very long time to be restored. For example, coal, natural gas and minerals are non-renewable resources.

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Greenhouse effect

Australia has been the world's largest coal exporter since the mid 1980s. Coal burning is a major source of local pollution and greenhouse gases. Coal-fired power stations are emitting (giving off) different gases into the atmosphere, increasing the Earth's temperature.

When sunlight strikes the Earth's surface, some of this light is reflected into space as radiation, in other words, heat. Greenhouse gases absorb this radiation and trap the heat in the atmosphere, creating the greenhouse effect. Many gases have greenhouse properties. Gases like water vapour, carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide occur naturally. Other greenhouse gases are man-made. Gases used for aerosols, for example, are greenhouse gases.

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Today, scientists are looking for new ways to produce energy. Engineers, physicists and astronomers are working together, designing and building devices that use cleaner energy sources like wind power and solar energy.

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Conservation

Conservation is the management of the human use of the biosphere. The biosphere is the part of the Earth and its atmosphere that can support life. Conservation involves planned action or inaction to preserve or protect living and non-living resources. Every one of us is part of this world, so what we do or do not do has an impact on the world around us. The small things we do today might have a big impact in the future.

Australia: environmental issues

Australia is rich in both non-renewable energy resources like coal and natural gas and renewable energy resources such as solar, tidal and wind power. In the last few years, Australia has launched the National Pollutant Inventory. This inventory is an internet database which provides communities, industries and the government with reliable information regarding the emission of pollutants into the atmosphere. A pollutant is any substance that causes harm to the environment when it mixes with soil, water or air.

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