Unit - 1

Environment
 The word ‘environment’ is derived from the old French word ‘environer’
– which means to ‘surround, enclose, and encircle’. Environment refers to
an aggregate of conditions or surroundings in which living beings such as
humans, animals, and plants live or survive and non-living things exist.
 Environment literally means surrounding and everything that affects
an organism during its lifetime is collectively known as its
environment.
 In other words “Environment is sum total of water, air and land
interrelationships among themselves and also with the human being,
other living organisms and property”.
 It includes all the physical and biological surroundings and their
interactions. Environmental studies provide an approach towards
understanding the environment of our planet and the impact of
human life upon the environment.
 Thus the environment is actually global in nature, it is a
multidisciplinary subject including physics, geology, geography,
history, economics, physiology, biotechnology, remote sensing,
geophysics, soil science and hydrology etc.

Natural Environment:
The natural environment or natural world encompasses all living and non-living
things occurring naturally. A natural environment is a type of an environment
where human impact or interaction has been extremely limited. Everything that
is not man-made comes under the natural environment. It incorporates all living
as well as non-living things.

It contains only naturally occurring things and not artificial things. It comprises
the interactions of different climates, all living species, weather, and natural
resources that affect the survival of human and economic activity.

There are four domains of the natural environment – lithosphere, hydrosphere,

atmosphere, and biosphere.
Lithosphere: This is the hard upper layer of the Earth, and it is made up of
minerals and rocks and is also covered by a thin layer of soil.

Hydrosphere: As the name suggests, the hydrosphere is the area of water. It

includes different sources and different types of water bodies in the natural
environment.

Atmosphere: This is the thin layer of air that surrounds the Earth and is held in
place by the Earth’s gravitational force.

Biosphere: This is the area of the Earth where air and water meet to support
life.

Anthropogenic Environment : Human beings are the most

powerful environment agents and are capable of modifying the
environment to a great extent according to their needs by the application of
modern technology. It includes components that have been introduced by
human beings depending on their needs and requirements. These may refer
to alterations of surroundings for industrial, commercial, agricultural or
housing purposes.

Components of Environment
The basic components of the environment are atmosphere or the air, lithosphere
or the rocks and soil, hydrosphere or the water, and the living component of the
environment or the biosphere.

 BIOTIC COMPONENTS (LIVING): It consists of the living parts

of the environment, including the association of a lot of interrelated
populations that belong to different species inhabiting a common
environment. The populations are those of the animal community,
the plant community and the microbial community. BIOTIC
COMPONENTS (LIVING) consists of the living parts of the
environment, including the association of a lot of interrelated
populations that belong to different species inhabiting a common
environment.
The biotic community is divided into:

1. Autotrophs,
2. Saprotrophs, and
3. Heterotrophs

 ABIOTIC COMPONENTS (NON-LIVING): these are the most

important determining factor of where and how well an organism
exists in the environment. Although these factors interact with each
other, one single factor can limit the range of an organism thus
acting as the limiting factor.

These factors can be categorized into following groups:

PHYSICAL FACTORS: the major components are temperature, Water
(Rainfall), Light (Energy), Soil, Atmospheric pressure.
INORGANIC AND ORGANIC SUBSTANCES: – Water, Oxygen, Carbon,
Nitrogen, Sulphur, Nitrates, Phosphates and ions of various metals etc. are
inorganic substances essential

What is Environmental Studies?

Environmental studies refer to an extensive and systematic study of
nature/environment and of its physical, biological, social, and cultural factors,
and the nature and characteristics of relationship between man and environment.
How far man influences nature and to what extent nature delivers its bounties
constitute another objective of environmental studies.

Environmental studies are the scientific study of the environmental system and
the status of its inherent or induced changes on organisms. It includes not only
the study of physical and biological characters of the environment but also the
social and cultural factors and the impact of man on environment.

It is an interdisciplinary study as subjects like ecology, biochemistry,

toxicology, geography, geology, meteorology, sociology, etc. are dealt with
under environmental studies.
Objectives of Environmental Studies:
(a) Creating the awareness about environmental problems among people.

(b) Imparting basic knowledge about the environment and its allied problems.

(c) Developing an attitude of concern for the environment.

(d) Motivating public to participate in environment protection and environment

improvement.

(e) Acquiring skills to help the concerned individuals in identifying and solving
environmental problems.

(f) Striving to attain harmony with Nature.

Scope of Environmental Studies

The scope of environmental studies is so wide that it is related to every science

and scientific aspects in general and biology in particular. The scope of
environmental studies in numerous f fields is given below:

(i) Conservation and management of natural resources (like forest

resources, water resources, etc.)
(ii) Conservation of bio diversities (like conservation of genetic
diversity, species diversity, ecosystem diversity, landscape
diversity, etc.)
(iii) Control of environmental pollutions (like air pollution, water
pollution, soil pollution, solid waste pollution, noise pollution,
electronic waste pollution, e-pollution, etc.)
(iv) Control of human population
(v) Replacement of development (like green revolution,
urbanisation,) economic growth, (industrialisation, etc.) with
sustainable development
Multidisciplinary Nature of Environmental Studies
Environmental studies are made up of several components. They are as follows:

 Anthropology: It is the study of human traits, biological and

psychological well-being, communities and cultures, and the growth and
evolution of humans. EVS is connected to anthropology since it studies
humans and their environments throughout place and time.
 Biology: It is a field of science that focuses on the study of living
creatures. Their physical structure, chemical processes, molecular
interactions, development, and evolution are all included. EVS is
connected to biology since it is concerned with the natural environment
of living creatures.
 Chemistry: It is a field of science that examines chemicals and the
components that makeup matter. Understanding natural occurrences in
EVS necessitates knowledge of chemistry.
 Computers: As the world has progressed, computers have become a need
for everyone. Computers are used by the Environmental Protection
Agency to keep track of pollutants found in soil and water.
 Geology: It is the study of physical structures and substances found on
Earth, as well as their history and the processes that they go through. EVS
is also concerned with the study of the earth and environment.
 Economics: It is a field of study concerned with the production,
consumption, and distribution of commodities and services. Various
economic strategies have been established to preserve the environment
from pollution, global warming, and climate change by evaluating and
developing answers or cures for environmental concerns.
 Physics: It is a field of science that examines energy and matter in space
and time, as well as their interactions. Physics is concerned with energy
conservation, atmospheric modelling, and many environmental concerns.
 Sociology: It is the study of social life, change, social causes, and the
social repercussions of human action. It also addresses the connection
between contemporary society and the environment.
 Statistics: It is the study of quantitative data collection, analysis,
interpretation, and presentation. It is also used to evaluate data in order to
find trends and recommend the optimal environmental growth.
Importance of Environmental Studies :
For the survival of the present and future generations, environmental education
is necessary. The important benefits of environmental studies are the following:

(i) It directs attention towards the unlimited exploitation of environment

(nature) by humans for greed or for the sake of development.
Exploitation of nature has threatened the survival of all living
organisms, including humans.
(ii) It generates concern for the changing environment, population
explosion and throws light on the methods of solution
(iii) It helps to understand different food chains and to fi nd ways and
means to maintain ecological balance.
(iv) It helps in the maintenance of healthy life. Through improved health
of people, economic productivity gets increased.
(v) It imparts knowledge about conservation of energy and reducing
material dependence (a) by refusing to purchase things which are
harming our environment (b) by reusing a product number of times (c)
by motivating recycling of recyclable products
(vi) It helps in developing social responsibility towards protection of
environment and control of environmental pollution.
(vii) It helps in appreciating and enjoying nature and working towards
sustainable development.

Need for Public Awareness

Humans are responsible for depletion of natural resources;
degradation of the vital life-supporting systems (like air, water, soil,
etc.); ecological imbalance; deteriorated environment, etc. Solidwaste
disposal, oil pollution, water pollution, air pollution, Itai-Itai disease,
Minamata disease, Chernobyl disaster, Bhopal gas tragedy, smog, etc.,
are some of the examples which are threatening human survival.
To get rid of these problems, environmental awareness is necessary. It
ensures that everyone knows about the consequences of his/her
activities on nature. To protect global environment for sustainable
development, we should do the following:
(vi) Preserve Forest Cover : Humans should minimise cutting of
trees and using timber for aesthetic pleasure such as decoration
of drawing rooms.
(vii) Preserve Natural Resources: Humans should not unnecessarily
and exhaustively extract natural resources such as mineral
resources, water resources, etc.
(viii) Conserve Energy : Humans should not harness too much energy
from burning of fossil fuels.
(ix) Maintain Ecological Balance: Humans should work to create
synergy between green revolution and industrial evolution by
compulsory growing green belts around industrial areas,
maintaining wildlife sanctuaries and national parks. 1.12
Environmental Studies
(x) Practice Green Technology: Everyone from a farmer in the
village to a policy planner in the government should use green
technology that incorporates
(a) treatment of air emissions,
(b) treatment of waste waters,
(c) waste reduction, waste or emission management, and
(d) use of nonconventional, renewable energy resources like
solar energy on priority, etc.