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UNIT – I

Introduction

The word environment is derived from the French word ‘environner’ which means to ‘encircle or
surround’. Our environment can be defined as “the Social, Cultural and Physical conditions that
surround, affect and influence the survival, growth and development of people, animals and plants”
This broad definition includes the natural world and the technological environment as well as the
cultural and social contexts that shape human lives. It includes all factors (living and nonliving) that
affect an individual organism or population at any point in the life cycle; set of circumstances
surrounding a particular occurrence and all the things that surrounds us.

Multidisciplinary nature of environmental studies

The Environment studies is a multi-disciplinary science because it comprises various branches of

studies like chemistry, physics, medical science, life science, agriculture, public health, sanitary
engineering etc. It is the science of physical phenomena in the environment. It studies about the
sources, reactions, transport, effect and fate of physical and biological species in the air, water, soil
and the effect of from human activity upon these. As the environment is complex and actually made
up of many different environments like natural, constructed and cultural environments,
environmental studies is inter disciplinary in nature including the study of biology, geology, politics,
policy studies, law, religion engineering, chemistry and economics to understand the humanity’s
effects on the natural world. This subject educates the students to appreciate the complexity of
environmental issues and citizens and experts in many fields. By studying environmental science,
students may develop a breadth of the interdisciplinary and methodological knowledge in the
environmental fields that enables them to facilitate the definition and solution of environmental
problems.

Environmental science is an interdisciplinary subject. It draws from a whole gamut of subjects like
geography, geology, biology, chemistry, physics, botany, zoology, genetics, sociology, rural
development, urban planning, policy development, politics, cultural studies, economics, ethics, law,
education, health, communication and philosophy. It is a science that will address the biggest
challenges encountering the planet in this millennium. It studies the complex interaction of human
with nature and provides guidelines for the way forward.

Components of environment: atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, and biosphere

Earth’s physical environment consists of the atmosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere. The
atmosphere is the gaseous envelope surrounding Earth; the hydrosphere is Earth’s supply of water—
liquid and frozen, fresh and salty, groundwater and surface water; and the lithosphere is the soil and
rock of Earth’s crust. Ecologists who study the biosphere examine global interrelationships among
Earth’s atmosphere, land, water, and organisms. The biosphere is filled with life.

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The four major components of environment include lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere and
biosphere, corresponding to rocks, water, air and life respectively.

 Lithosphere is the outermost layer of earth called crust, which is made of different minerals.
Its depth can reach up to 100 kilometers and is found on both land (terrestrial crust) and
oceans (oceanic crust). The main component of lithosphere is earth’s tectonic plates.

 Hydrosphere comprises of all forms of water bodies on earth including oceans, seas, rivers,
lakes, ponds, streams etc. It covers 70% of earth’s surface. 97.5% of water found on Earth is
in the oceans in the form of salt water. Only 2.5 % of water on Earth is freshwater. Out of
this, 30.8% is available as groundwater and 68.9% is in frozen forms as in glaciers. Amount of
0.3% is available in rivers, reservoirs and lakes and is easily accessible to man.

 Atmosphere is gaseous layer enveloping the Earth. The atmosphere with oxygen in
abundance is unique to Earth and sustains life. It mainly comprises 78.08% nitrogen, 20.95%
oxygen, 0.93% argon, 0.038% carbon dioxide, and traces of hydrogen, helium, and noble
gases. The amount of water vapour present is variable.

 Biosphere refers to all the regions on Earth where life exists. The ecosystems that support
life could be in soil, air, water or land. The term Biosphere was coined by Geologist Edward
Suess who used this term for place on Earth where life can be found. Biosphere refers to the
sum total of all living matter, the biomass or biota. It extends from the polar ice caps to the
equator, with each region harboring some life form suitable to the conditions there.

Scope of Environmental Studies

Environmental studies as a subject has a wide scope. It includes a large number of areas and aspects,
which may be summarized as follows:

 Natural resources- their conservation and management

 Ecology and Biodiversity
 Environmental pollution and control
 Human population and environment
 Social issues in relation to development and environment

These are the basic aspects of environmental studies which have a direct relevance to every section
of society. Several career options have emerged in these fields that are broadly categorized as:

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i. Research and development in environment: Skilled environmental scientists have an

important role to play in examining various environmental problems in a scientific manner
and carry out R&D activities for developing cleaner technologies and promoting sustainable
development.
ii. Green advocacy: With increasing emphasis on implementing various Acts and Laws related to
environment, need for environmental lawyers has emerged, who should be able to plead the
cases related to water, air, forest, wildlife, pollution and control etc.
iii. Green marketing: While ensuring the quality of products with ISO mark, now there is an
increasing emphasis on marketing goods that are environment friendly. Such products have
ecomark or ISO 14000 certification. Environmental auditors and environmental managers
would be in great demand in the coming years.
iv. Green media: Environmental awareness can be spread amongst masses through mass media
like television, radio, newspaper, magazine, hoardings, advertisements etc., for which
environmentally educated persons are required.
v. Environmental consultancy: Many non-government organizations, industries and
government bodies are engaging environmental consultants for systematically studying and
tackling environment related problems.

Importance of Environmental Studies

 The importance of environmental studies is that, the current trend of environmental

degradation can be reversed if people of educated communities are organized, empowered
and experts are involved in sustainable development.
 Environmental factors greatly influence every organism and their activities.
 At present a great number of environmental issues, have grown in size and complexity day by
day, threatening the survival of mankind on earth. These issues are studied besides giving
effective suggestions in the environment studies.
 The environment studies enlighten us, about the importance of protection and conservation
of our natural resources, indiscriminate release of pollution into the environment etc

1. Environment Issues being of International Importance: It has been well recognized that
environment issues like global warming, ozone depletion, acid rain, marine pollution and loss
of biodiversity are not merely national issues but are global issues and hence must be
tackled with international efforts and cooperation.
2. Problems Cropped in The Wake of Development: Development, in its wake gave birth to
Urbanization, Industrial Growth, Transportation Systems, Agriculture and Housing etc.
However, it has become phased out in the developed world. The North, to cleanse their own
environment has, fact fully, managed to move ‘dirty’ factories to South. When the West
developed, it did so perhaps in ignorance of the environmental impact of its activities.
Evidently such a path is neither practicable nor desirable, even if developing world follows
that.
3. Explosively Increase in Pollution: World census reflects that one in every seven persons in
this plant lives in India. Evidently with 16 per cent of the world's population and only 2.4 per
cent of its land area, there is a heavy pressure on the natural resources including land.
Agricultural experts have recognized soils health problems like deficiency of micronutrients
and organic matter, soil salinity and damage of soil structure.

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4. Need for An Alternative Solution: It is essential, especially for developing countries to find
alternative paths to an alternative goal. We need a goal as under:
(1) A goal, which ultimately is the true goal of development an environmentally sound and
sustainable development.
(2) A goal common to all citizens of our earth.
(3) A goal distant from the developing world in the manner it is from the overconsuming
wasteful societies of the “developed” world.
5. Need to Save Humanity from Extinction: It is incumbent upon us to save the humanity from
extinction. Consequences to our activities cause destructing the environment and depleting
the biosphere, in the name of development.
6. Need for Wise Planning of Development: Our survival and sustenance depend. Resources
withdraw, processing and use of the product have all to be synchronized with the ecological
cycles in any plan of development. Our actions should be planned ecologically for the
sustenance of the environment and development.

Concept of sustainability and sustainable development

Sustainability implies that humans can manage natural resources indefinitely without the
environment going into a decline from the stresses imposed by human society on the natural
systems (such as fertile soil, water, and air) that maintain life. When the environment is used
sustainably, humanity’s present needs are met without endangering the welfare of future
generations.

Environmental sustainability is the ability to meet current human natural resource needs without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs; in other words, that humans can
manage natural resources indefinitely without the environment going into a decline from the
stresses imposed by human society on natural systems that maintain life.

Environmental sustainability is based in part on the following ideas:

 We must consider the effects of our actions on the health and well-being of natural
ecosystems, including all living things.
 Earth’s resources are not present in infinite supply. We must live within ecological limits that
let renewable resources such as fresh water regenerate for future needs.
 We must understand all the costs to the environment and to society of the products we
consume.
 We must each share in the responsibility for environmental sustainability.

Sustainable development: Economic development that meets the needs of the present generation
without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Brief history of environmentalism

From the establishment of the first permanent English colony at Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607, the
first two centuries of U.S. history were a time of widespread environmental exploitation. Land,
timber, wildlife, rich soil, clean water, and other resources were cheap and seemingly inexhaustible.
During the 1700s and early 1800s, most Americans had a desire to conquer and exploit nature as
quickly as possible. Concerns about the depletion and degradation of resources occasionally

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surfaced, but efforts to conserve were seldom made because the vastness of the continent made it
seem that we would always have enough resources.

During the 19th century, many U.S. naturalists began to voice concerns about conserving natural
resources. George Perkins Marsh is most remembered for his book Man and Nature, which
recognized the interrelatedness of human and environmental systems and provided one of the first
discussions of humans as agents of global environmental change. In 1875 a group of public-minded
citizens formed the American Forestry Association, with the intent of influencing public opinion
against the wholesale destruction of America’s forests. Sixteen years later, in 1891, the General
Revision Act gave the president the authority to establish forest reserves on federally owned land.

Congress established the world’s first national park in 1872 after a party of Montana explorers
reported on the natural beauty of the canyon and falls of the Yellowstone River. By 1916 the U.S.
Army managed the 13 national parks and 20 national monuments. Some environmental battles
involving the protection of national parks were lost. John Muir’s Sierra Club fought such a battle with
the city of San Francisco over its efforts to dam a river and form a reservoir in the Hetch Hetchy
Valley. The controversy generated a strong sentiment favoring better protection for national parks,
and in 1916 Congress created the National Park Service to manage the national parks and
monuments for the enjoyment of the public “without impairment.”

During the Great Depression, the federal government financed many conservation projects to
provide jobs for the unemployed. During his administration, Franklin Roosevelt established the
Civilian Conservation Corps to plant trees, make paths and roads in national parks and forests, build
dams to control flooding, and perform other activities to protect natural resources.

During the droughts of the 1930s, windstorms carried away much of the topsoil in parts of the Great
Plains, forcing many farmers to abandon their farms and search for work elsewhere. The so-called
American Dust Bowl alerted the United States to the need for soil conservation, and in 1935
President Roosevelt formed the Soil Conservation Service.

During the 1960s public concern about pollution and resource quality began to increase, in large part
because of marine biologist Rachel Carson, who wrote about interrelationships among living
organisms, including humans, and the natural environment. Her most famous work, Silent Spring,
was published in 1962. In this work Carson wrote against the indiscriminate use of pesticides. Silent
Spring heightened public awareness and concern about the dangers of uncontrolled use of DDT and
other pesticides, including poisoning of wildlife and contamination of food supplies. Ultimately, this
heightened public awareness led to restrictions on the use of certain pesticides.

Until 1970, there was no generally perceived environmental movement until the spring of 1970,
when Gaylord Nelson, former senator from Wisconsin, urged Harvard graduate student Denis Hayes
to organize the first nationally celebrated Earth Day. In the years that followed the first Earth Day,
environmental awareness and the belief that individual actions could repair the damage humans
were doing to Earth became a pervasive, popular movement. By Earth Day 1990, the movement had
spread around the world, signaling the rapid growth in environmental consciousness.

Acronyms

bsi - botanical survey of india

zsi - zoological survey of india

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fsi - forest survey of india

neeri - national environmental engineering research institute

bnhs - bombay natural history society

ngt - national green tribunal

csir - centre for science and industrial research

wii - wildlife institue of india

unfccc - UN framework convention on climate change

iucn - international union for conservation of nature

ipcc - intergovernmental panel on climate change

unccd - UN convention to combat desertification

uncbd - UN Convention on Buological Diversity

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