Meaning and Definition:

The term environment has been derived from a French word

“Environia” means to surround. It refers to both abiotic (physical or
non-living) and biotic (living) environment. The word environment
means surroundings, in which organisms live. Environment and the
organisms are two dynamic and complex component of nature.
Environment regulates the life of the organisms including human
beings. Human beings interact with the environment more vigorously
than other living beings. Ordinarily environment refers to the
materialsand forces that surrounds the living organism.

Components of Environment:
Environment mainly consists of atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere
and biosphere. But it can be roughly divided into two types such as (a)
Micro environment and (b) Macro environment. It can also be divided
into two other types such as (c) Physical and (d) biotic environment.

(a) Micro environment refers to the immediate local surrounding of

the organism.

(b) Macro environment refers to all the physical and biotic conditions
that surround the organism externally.

(c) Physical environment refers to all abiotic factors or conditions like

temperature, light, rainfall, soil, minerals etc. It comprises of
atmosphere, lithosphere and hydrosphere.
Environmental engineering system is the branch of engineering concerned with the application of
scientific and engineering principles for protection of human populations from the effects of adverse
environmental factors; protection of environments, both local and global, from potentially deleterious
effects of natural and human activities; and improvement of environmental quality.[1]
Environmental engineering system can also be described as a branch of applied science and
technology that addresses the issues of energy preservation, protection of assets and control of
waste from human and animal activities. Furthermore, it is concerned with finding plausible solutions
in the field of public health, such as waterborne diseases, implementing laws which promote
adequate sanitation in urban, rural and recreational areas. It involves waste water management, air
pollution control, recycling, waste disposal, radiation protection, industrial hygiene, animal
agriculture, environmental sustainability, public health and environmental engineering law. It also
includes studies on the environmental impact of proposed construction projects.

What are Environmental Resources?

Environmental resources can be defined as elements of the human environment, and include both natural and built
resources. Three major categories of resources are socioeconomic, cultural and natural. Click on the links below for
each environmental resource type to see the identification process, resource evaluation, and the identified resources
within the project area.
 

What are Socioeconomic Resources?

Socioeconomic Resources refer to people, homes, communities, farms and farmland, community facilities (parks,
recreation areas, emergency services, educational and religious facilities, cemeteries; water and sewer services),
businesses, jobs, and economic conditions.
 

What are Cultural Resources?

Cultural Resources are historic properties or archaeological sites that have a significant place in history. These
include buildings, structures (bridges, dams, towers), sites (battlegrounds, landscapes, archaeological sites), objects
(fountains, monuments, signs) or districts, generally 50 years old or older, that are eligible for or listed on the National
Register of Historic Places.
 

What are Natural Resources?

Natural resources include all of the elements of the natural environment: geology, topography, and soils;
groundwater, streams, rivers, lakes, ponds, wetlands and floodplains; vegetation and wildlife; rare, threatened and
endangered species; and other sensitive resources.
 

Other Environmental Studies

The Project Team is conducting the air quality and noise impact analyses at this time.

environmental issues
  
 Over population is a serious environmental issue.

Licensed from iStockPhoto

noun
Environmental issues are defined as problems with the planet's systems (air, water, soil, etc.) that
have developed as a result of human interference or mistreatment of the planet.
Environmental Problems
o Global warming-Global warming, also referred to as climate change, is the
observed century-scale rise in the average temperature of the Earth's climate system
and its related effects.
o Deforestation- Deforestation, clearance, or clearing is the removal of a forest or
stand of trees where the land is thereafter converted to a non-forest use. 
o water pollution-
o Overpopulation
o Soil erosion
o Other climate change issues
o Destruction of biodiversity
o Littering
o Destruction of natural habitats
o Destruction of natural resources
o Attack of marine life
o Oil spills
o Nuclear issues
o Acid deposition
o Environmental disasters
o Volcanic eruption
o Greenhouse effect
o Heavy metals
o Sea level rise
o Burning of fossil fuels
 o Species extinction
o Soil contamination
sustainability, is defined by the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) as an economic
activity that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability
of future generations to meet their needs.
WHAT IS SUSTAINABILITY? Sustainability: Meeting our present needs without compromising
the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (Brundtland Commission 1987). It has
three components – environmental conservation, social responsibility, and economic
development. While most people primarily associate sustainability with environmental
conservation, it is about people and the health of our communities! WHY IS SUSTAINABILITY
IMPORTANT TO UNTHSC? Our campus is committed to improving the health and quality of life
of Texans and beyond. Sustainability supports that mission by striving to improve the
environmental health and quality of life for our campus and community. Sustainability is
important for many reasons including: • Environmental Quality – In order to have healthy
communities, we need clean air, natural resources, and a nontoxic environment. • Growth –
UNTHSC’s enrollment continues to grow, so we require more resources such as energy, water,
and space. Sustainability aims to use our resources efficiently to benefit our campus and
community. • Healthcare – Sustainability and healthcare are intricately related since the
quality of our environment affects public health. For example, many health issues are directly
related to air and water quality.

Sunday is Earth Day, which typically means a flurry of stories about “green”

cat litter and cleaning products. Here at Wonkblog, though, it’s an excuse to
revisit a favorite old research paper — one that explores what’s known as the
“environmentalist’s paradox.”
A real paradox, this one. (NASA)

So why the disparity? And does this mean that we shouldn’t fret too much
about global warming, ocean acidification and other budding ecological crises,
since recent history suggests that people will just continue to grow more
prosperous even as we cause irreversible damage to the planet? (Indeed, some
economists have tried to make exactly this point.)

Back in 2010, a team of researchers led by McGill’s Ciara Raudsepp-Hearne

tried to figure out how to resolve the “environmentalist’s paradox,” in
a paperfor the journal Bioscience. Here were their four big hypotheses:

Maybe humanity isn’t actually better off. That’s one possibility to

consider. Perhaps the decline of ecosystem services is having an adverse effect
on us and we just haven’t noticed. But this is hard to square with the data. It’s
true, natural disasters seem to be walloping more people than ever before
— likely due to the fact we’re heating up the planet with all our carbon
pollution. But, the authors point out, that’s vastly outweighed by the fact that
things like life expectancy and per capita GDP have never been higher.
The Human Development Index has plenty of data on this. There’s still
inequality and poverty and disease, but on the whole, the trend’s heading
upward. So this probably isn’t the answer.

Advances in food production are more important than anything

else. It’s hard to think of a broad technological advance that has done as
much for humanity as the Green Revolution. Modern-day farming may be
extremely chemical-intensive, it may disrupt nature’s nitrogen cycle, and it
may deplete water tables, but there’s no question that the widespread use of
synthetic nitrogen fertilizers and other assorted farming techniques have
enabled the world to feed itself even as the population has ballooned to 7
billion. And food, the authors note, just might override all those other
concerns. (That said, it’s still an open question.whether the benefits of
industrial agriculture will continue to outweigh the downsides in the decades
ahead.)

Technology makes us less dependent on ecosystem services. This is

another possible way to resolve the paradox. We’ve been able to grow more
crops on less land. We’ve been able to desalinate water. We’ve been able to
shelter ourselves from heat waves. After Britain chopped down all its forests in
the eighteenth-century, it developed another energy source (coal) and kept on
chugging. So perhaps technology will continue to allow us to thrive even as
ecosystem services decline. That’s possible, although it’s still hard to imagine
what technologies will shield us from widespread ocean acidification or an
increasingly likely 4°C rise in global temperature. Which brings us to the
fourth hypothesis. . .

The worst impacts of ecosystem degradation are yet to come. This is

one of the more plausible explanations for the paradox. We’ve put a lot of
carbon into the atmosphere, but it takes a few decades for those effects to fully
manifest themselves in the climate. There’s a lag in the system, and our
ecological debts haven’t come due yet. Likewise, a number of researchers have
suggested that certain trends in environmental degradation — like the
disruption of the nitrogen cycle or extinction rates — may have “tipping
points,” whereby things seem to be crumbling slowly until suddenly, rapid and
potentially irreversible shifts take hold.

What’s interesting about the BioScience study is its emphasis on the fact that
researchers still don’t seem to have a solid grasp on the relationship between
ecosystem services and human well-being. (In the two years since it was
published, follow-up papers have stressed the need for better data on this
link.)
For the moment, human existence keeps improving — in genuine and
meaningful ways — even as we inflict damage to the planet. But it’s not clear
the current path can or will last forever.

Our environment is getting worse day by day, and we are suffering for other peoples
and our mistakes. It’s getting harder and harder for our families to stay healthy with all
the bad things we are around every day. We are affected by our environment, and
more people are getting sicker and sicker. This could affect our families and our future
one day. 

We might not be able to see all of the bad things in our environment, but they are for
sure there. “Although certain groups are most vulnerable, toxic substances in the
environment affect very person, every day and are the responsibility of all of us.”
(Environment). This supports my opinion about the cause because it is saying there are
deadly substances in our environment that we are responsible for. We are getting sick
and dying because of the bad things we as people are doing to our world. “These
health problems killed around 15.000 more victims in the year that followed.
Approximately 100.000 people still suffer from chronic diseases consequences to gas
exposure, today.” (Environmental). This is also stating the things in our air are killing
us. All of this dangerous toxic is causing people to get diseases and killing our people
we love. If this keeps going on, our families will struggle to have families and this will
cause our world and environment to be catastrophic in the future. 

All of the bad things are preventable if you just take the time to think about it. “Most
cleaners use a chemical called perchloroethylene” (PERC), which can pollute the air in
your home. Use water instead. Most clothes labeled as “dry clean only” can be washed
with water.” (Environment). There are many things our teens and families can do to
help prevent diseases. We could hand wash our clothes, ride a bike to school or work
instead of a car to prevent pollution and could hurt the environment. Teens need to do
this because they are the worst about it. All they want to do is hurt the environment and
don't second guess themselves. We need to change that so our home and economy
make the world a better place. 

There can be a solution to helping our environment. If we reach out to people who don't
care about our environment, we could change their point of view of things. We could tell
them how bad things are in our world and that could change what their prospective on
things. What could you do to help our world? And how could we join together as one
country to help our world and make it a better place for all of us to live?