Concept 3: Earth as a System

Understanding Earths system and their changes is critical to solving environmental

problems.
A system is any defined part of the universe that we select for study.

Input and Output Analysis

Important method to analyzing a change in system

Net change depends on the relative rates of the input and output

How can we evaluate change?

By evaluating rates of change or the input and output of a system, we can drive an
average residence time
Residence time is a measure of time it takes for the total stock or supply of the material to
be cycled through a system.
Average residence time can be calculated using T=S/F, where total stock size is divided
by the average rate of transfer (F)
The oil in the river is more accessible, straightforward, short-term problem, whereas
polluted groundwater is more difficult problem because it moves more slowly and has a
longer average residence time.
The idea that the present is the key to the past is known as uniformitarianism was
popular in 1785 by James Hutton ( father of geology)
Uniformitarianism holds that processes we observe today also operated in the past.

Present Human Activity Is Part of the Key to Understanding the Future

Environmental Unity, which states that one action causes others in a chain of actions, is
an important principle in the prediction of changes in the Earth System
For example if a dam is constructed on a river, the sediments that move down the ocean
would get trapped into the reservoir, beaches would be deprived of the sediment from the
river, and the result of that deprivation may be increased coastal erosion, and there being
less sediments on the beach may also effect coastal animals such as sand crabs and clams
that use the sand
It would also change the hydrology of the river and would block fish from migration
upstream.
Earth System science is the study of the entire planet as a system in terms of its
components
CFC (Chlorofluorocarbons) used as refrigerants and aerosol-can propellants and released
at the surface have migrated to the stratosphere, where they react with energy from the
Sun causing destruction of ozone layer which protects Earth from the harmful ultraviolet
radiations.
Concept 4: Hazardous Earth Processes