LEARNING UNIT I – Introduction, Basic Concepts and Principles

Learning Outcomes:

At the end of this unit, the students are expected to:

1. determine the principles and concepts of Environmental Science;
2. trace the relationship between science and technology and the current
environmental
issues in the society;
3. discuss the importance of environmental sustainability.

Time Frame : 2 weeks

A. Principle and Concept of Environmental Science

 Science is a process for producing knowledge.

 It depends on making precise observations of
natural phenomena on formulating reasonable
theories to make sense out of those
observations.
 Science rests on the assumptions that the
world is knowable and that we can learn about
how things work through careful empirical study
https://www.google.com/url
and logical analysis.
 Moreover, because science provides information about both materials and, mechanisms in the
world around us, it can help us find practical solutions for many problems.
 Environment ( from the French environner. to encircle or surround) can be defined as:

1. Circumstances and conditions that surround an organism or group of organisms, or

2. The social and cultural conditions that affect an individual or community.
Since humans inhabit the natural world as well as the built or technological, social, and
Cultural world, all constitute important parts of our environment.

Environmental Science is the systematic study of our environment and our place in it. A relatively
new field, environmental science is highly interdisciplinary. It integrates information from biology,
chemistry, geography, agriculture, and many other fields. To apply this information to improve the ways
we treat our
World, Environmental scientists also incorporate knowledge of social organization, politics, in the
humanities. In other words, environmental science is inclusive and holistic. Environmental science is also
mission-oriented: it implies that we all have a responsibility to get involved and try to do something about
the problems that we have created.

 Environmental Education is rooted in the belief that:

1) Humans can live compatibly with nature;

2) Humans can act equitably toward each other;
3) A human’s well-being is inextricably bound with environmental quality;
4) We and the systems we create (our societies, political systems, economics, religions, culture,
technologies) impact the total environment;
 5) people can make informed decisions that consider future generations;
6) critical and creative thinking, decision making, and communication, as well as collaborative
learning must be emphasized, and are essential for active and meaningful learning, both
in school and over a lifetime (ASCD Environmental Booklet, 2003).

Environmental education is a process by which people develop awareness, concern and

knowledge of the environment and learn to use this understanding to preserve, conserve and utilize the
environment in a sustainable manner for the benefit of present and future generations. This is intended for
all types of learners, students, out-of school youth, community leaders, policy makers and the general
public to develop appropriate environment-related skills.

B. Environmental Sustainability as an important concern

 Environmental sustainability is concerned with whether

environmental resources will be protected and maintained
for future generations.
 The practice of environmental sustainability helps to
ensure that the needs of today's population are met without
jeopardizing the ability of future generations to meet their needs.

When we look at the natural environment, we see that it has a

rather remarkable ability to rejuvenate itself and sustain its viability. For example, when a tree falls, it
decomposes, adding nutrients to the soil. These nutrients help sustain suitable conditions so future
saplings can grow. When nature is left alone, it has a tremendous ability to care for itself. However, when
man enters the picture and uses many of the natural resources provided by the environment, things
change. Human actions can deplete natural resources, and without the application of environmental
sustainability methods, long-term viability can be compromised.

A walk on the beach or a hike in the woods reminds us that our forests, coral reefs, and even our
deserts act as examples of sustainable systems. Learn more about environmental sustainability to see its
importance and what role you can play.

 What Is Environmental Sustainability?

Responsible interaction with the environment to avoid depletion or degradation of natural resources
and allow for long-term environment quality. Responsibly interacting with the planet to maintain natural
resources and avoid jeopardizing the ability for future generations to meet their needs.

According to the United Nations (UN) World Commission on Environment and Development,
environmental sustainability is about acting in a way that ensures future generations have the natural
resources available to live an equal, if not better, way of life as current generations. 1

While it may not be universally accepted, the UN's definition is pretty standard and has been
expanded over the years to include perspectives on human needs and well-being, including non-
economic variables, such as education and health, clean air and water, and the protection of natural
beauty.

 Environmental sustainability is the capacity to improve the quality of human life while living within
the carrying capacity of the earth's supporting ecosystems.
 (The first alternate definition comes from the International Union for Conservation of Nature
(IUCN), the work of which is driven by the fact that global production and consumption patterns
are destroying nature at persistent and dangerously high rates.)

 Environmental sustainability is about stabilizing the currently disruptive relationship between

earth's two most complex systems: human culture and the living world.

(The second alternate definition was provided by environmentalist Paul Hawken, who has written
about the realization (and the science behind it) that we are using and destroying the earth's
resources faster than they can be regenerated and replenished.)

As populations have increased and we have relied on the Earth's natural resources—such as
minerals, petroleum, coal, gas, and more—the Earth's biodiversity and creatures, from birds to insects to
mammals, have declined in number.

 How Environmental Sustainability Works

The varying definitions of environmental sustainability generally lead to more questions about what
role humans should play. For example, as an evolutionary species, how should we change the way we
live and conduct business on this planet to ensure it's sustainable for future generations?

Many also wonder if it's possible to utilize business as the catalyzing force behind this change
because financial success can be tied to ecological and societal success, and vice versa. Individuals
have a role to play, but so do institutions that contribute to the cause on a larger scale. The ways in which
we can all live more sustainably can take many forms, such as:

 Reorganizing living conditions in the form of eco-villages, eco-municipalities, and sustainable

cities
 Reappraising economic sectors (permaculture, green building, sustainable agriculture) or work
practices, such as sustainable architecture
 Developing new technologies (green technologies, renewable energy, etc.)
 Making adjustments in individual lifestyles that conserve natural resources

 Environmental Regulations

Since ecological conditions and economic and social systems differ from country to country, there is
no single blueprint for how sustainability practices are to be carried out. Each country has to work on its
own concrete policy to ensure that sustainable development is carried out as a global objective.

In the U.S., the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is responsible for setting and enforcing
regulations that involve environmental sustainability and protection. These regulations cover:

 Air quality
 Water quality
 Soil quality
 Plant life
 Animals and wildlife habitats
 Hazardous waste
 Greenhouse gas emissions
 Environmental law violations are considered white-collar crimes, with violators facing the possibility of
fines, jail time, probation, or a combination. Most corporations, however, generally only incur fines for
violations.

Issues of environmental sustainability:

 Long-term health of ecosystems. Protecting the long-term productivity and health of resources to
meet future economic and social needs, e.g. protecting food supplies, farmland and fishing
stocks.
 Intergenerational decision making. When making economic decisions, we should focus on
implications for future generations, and not just the present moment. For example, burning coal
gives a short-term benefit of cheaper energy, but the extra pollution imposes costs on future
generations.
 Renewable resources: Diversifying into energy sources that do not rely on non-renewable
resources. For example, solar and wind power.
 Prevent the consequences of man-made global warming. Policies to ensure the environment of
the planet does not deteriorate to a point where future generations face water shortages, extreme
weather events, excess temperature. – All factors that could make living in parts of the world very
difficult if not possible.
 Protection of species diversity and ecological structure. Sometimes medicines require elements
within specific plant species. If some species go extinct, it limits future technological innovation.
 Treating environmental resources as if they have intrinsic rights and value. In other words, we
shouldn’t just rely on a monetary value, i.e. we should protect rainforests because they deserve to
be protected rather than using a cost-benefit analysis of whether we gain financially from
protecting rainforests.
 Targeting social welfare/happiness and environmental sustainability above crude measures of
progress such as GDP. 

C. How Science and technology are related to environmental issues facing today’s society?

What Are Science and Technology?

 Science - systematic study of the natural world, through observation and experiment.
 Technology - is the use of scientific knowledge for practical purposes, to complete tasks that
wouldn't be possible without it.
Technology can be super simple, like the wheel, or super complicated, like the personal
computer. Either way, we are surrounded by it in our modern lives.

Science and technology have completely changed the world over the last 200 years. Human life
expectancy has doubled. We've learned how to communicate and travel rapidly across the entire globe.
We're surrounded by televisions, computers, electric lights, cars, cell phones, and all kinds of things that
would have been unimaginable even a century ago. And none of it would be possible without science and
technology.

 Importance of science and technology for the environment

Some existing benefits of technology
The introduction of computer systems into both the home and work environments has eradicated
the need to have reams of paper files; in the long-run these simple changes will have a considerable
impact on the environment and help to preserve forests. Recycling technology will also help to eliminate
waste.

New developments

While technology is blamed for much of the pollution that contributes to global warming, it may
also provide the solution to the problem. Research into new methods of generating power and electricity
is abundant; experts hope to find cleaner, renewable sources of energy to replace the finite supply of
fossil fuels and reduce global warming and climate change. New methods such as wind turbines, solar
power and hydro-electric power are under scrutiny and are constantly subject to trails to improve the
efficiency of existing systems.
Every day, new research is being conducted to improve the systems involved in the modern
world. New systems of removing waste and improving the efficiency of the distribution of electricity, for
example, may benefit many people in the future by cutting emissions and improving efficiency. Projects
such as those involving cars that run on cleaner fuels may also significantly change the way we live in the
future; energy efficient products such as light bulbs will also contribute to making the environment
cleaner.

Helping the developing world

One of the principal reasons behind the significant gap between the developing world and the
developed world is a lack of technology. The developed world is heavily reliant on technology which
makes life much easier and production much more efficient. Technology is lacking in developing countries
and this contributes to widespread poverty and a lack of basic amenities such as clean, running water and
food supplies.
New technology which will boost food production, improve infrastructure, improve healthcare and
provide sanitation facilities could dramatically change the quality of life in the developing world. With the
help of charitable organizations and Government leaders from developed countries, this kind of
technology is gradually being introduced into developing countries.

Solving Society's Problems

Sometimes it might seem like technology only causes problems or complicates things. People
yearn for a simpler life, without cell phones beeping, traffic jams, and dangerous weapons. But the truth
is, science and technology have solved a lot of society's problems and will continue to do so in the future.

In today's Western world, you no longer have to grow your own food, or wash your own clothes
by hand. And, you don't have to worry as much about the prospect of getting sick and dying. Agricultural
technologies, like fertilizers (discovered by chemists), combine harvesters (built by engineers), and
selective breeding (worked on by biologists), have allowed us to produce incredible amounts of highly
nutritious food on relatively little land. This has led to a huge boom in the population.

Another human problem is our susceptibility to disease. But thanks to science and medical
technology, our life expectancies have increased at a dramatic rate. We now have antibiotics and other
drugs to cure diseases (thanks to chemists), MRI scanners to take images of the inside of the body
(developed by physicists), ventilators to breathe for you, and pacemakers to beat your heart for you. All
these things are only possible because of what scientists have learned over the last two centuries.
 Environmental Science uses methods in investigating problems that need to be solved and
understood. In its broadest sense, science is seeking about the truth. This truth, however, is not the
absolute truth, for there is no such thing in the field of science. Rather, science tries to reach the high
probabilities that an idea is correct within the framework of the observations and tests from which it is
derived.

D. How environmental hazards affect human population

An environmental hazard is a substance, state or event which has the potential to threaten the
surrounding natural environment and/or adversely affect human's health. It incorporates topics like
pollution, natural disasters and human made hazards. Health studies investigate the human health effects
of exposure to environmental hazards ranging from chemical pollutants to natural, technologic or terrorist
disasters.

The environment in which we live can be considered as having three fundamental sets of components:

 Physical
 Chemical
 biological.

Associations between an exposure and an adverse health effect do not, on their own, prove that the
former is the cause of the latter.

 Physical hazards involve environmental hazards that can cause harm with or without contact.
Examples are earthquakes, electromagnetic fields, floods, light pollution, noise pollution,
vibration, x-rays etc. Radioactivity is associated with an exposure dependent risk of some
cancers notably leukemia. The scientific evidence of adverse health effects from general
environmental exposure to these fields is "not proven". If there are adverse effects yet to be
proven, the risk is probably likely to be small.
 Chemical substances causing significant damage to the environment. Tobacco smoke is the
single biggest known airborne chemical risk to health, whether measured in terms of death rates
or ill-health. To a much lesser degree of risk, these adverse effects apply to non-smokers
exposed passively to side stream tobacco smoke. Health effects of concern are asthma,
bronchitis, lung cancer and similar lung diseases, and there is good evidence relating an
increased risk of symptoms of these diseases with increasing concentration of Sulphur dioxide,
ozone and other pollutants.
 Biohazards generally fall into two broad categories: those which produce adverse health effects
through infection (microorganisms, viruses or toxins) and those which produce adverse effects in
non-infective (allergic) ways.

Environmental hazards affect human population in several ways.

 There are physical ways in which the environment affects human beings.
 Human populations are affected by famines and floods.
 Deaths occur because of extreme changes in temperature.
 Other health hazards are noise, electromagnetic radiation, and ionizing radiation.
 Environmental hazards also affect human population through chemicals. Smoke, airborne
pollution and pollution from combustion are important sources of environmental chemical based
hazards.
 Environmental hazards also adversely affect human populations through a variety of biological
agents. Germs in water, air, and food cause infections and harm human beings. Similarly, there
are biological hazards that cause allergy to human populations.