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use of solar energy as an alternative to wood fuel. In India and China, farmers
practiced crop rotation and other agricultural methods to counter soil erosion.
From the middle ages to the industrial revolution, with the growth of urban
populations in cities and the development of technology, public health began to
be a concern. With epidemics of plague, typhoid and cholera wrecking havoc,
people began to be more concerned with the need for clean water and better
sanitation. At the same time, the sources of pollution increased, with industrial
waste being dumped in water bodies and smoke from industries leading to high
smog levels.
In more modern times, from World War I to the present age, with all the
technological advances made, the scope of a modern person's environment has
expanded and, with it, the levels of air, water and soil pollution have only gone
up. As well, we face a risk of nuclear waste contamination and the increasing
problems of ozone depletion and global warming. Modern wars have also brought
about several environmental disasters.
Importance of Environmental Science
The overall impact of these problems has been felt through drastic climatic
changes, and there is more need than ever of public awareness of the impact of
collective human activities on the environment. The establishment of the
Environmental Protection Agency in the USA in 1970, and the signing of the
Montreal Protocol in 1987 have been steps in the right direction, but much more
is needed to balance issues of economic development with environmental
conservation. By understanding the meaning of environmental science and your
role in it, you could take appropriate measures to ensure that you lessen your
carbon footprint and help preserve the planet for future generations.
Social sciences have borrowed the concept of ecology from biology. As a branch of biology,
ecology is the study of the relationship between living beings and their environment.
Sociology has been greatly influenced by biology. Sociology also studies the relationship
between man and environment through ecology. Field of study of human ecology in
sociology is centered around man and his environment.
The credit of beginning the study of human ecology in the field of sociology goes to Park and
Burgess. There exists a close relationship between man and environment. On the one hand
man is born in environment and establishes harmony with environment. On the other hand
man tires to control his environment and change it according to his requirements. Hence it
requires an understanding of the environment of which man is a part.
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 materials and forces
that surround the living organism.
Environment is the sum total of conditions that surrounds us at a given point of time and
space. It is comprised of the interacting systems of physical, biological and cultural elements
which are interlinked both individually and collectively. Environment is the sum total of
conditions in which an organism has to survive or maintain its life process. It influences the
growth and development of living forms.
In other words environment refers to those surroundings that surrounds living beings from all
sides and affect their lives in toto. It consists of atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere and
biosphere. Its chief components are soil, water, air, organisms and solar energy. It has
provided us all the resources for leading a comfortable life.
1. According to P. Gisbert Environment is anything immediately surrounding an object and
exerting a direct influence on it.
2. According to E. J. Ross Environment is an external force which influences us.
Thus, environment refers to anything that is immediately surrounding an object and exerting
a direct influence on it. Our environment refers to those thing or agencies which though
distinct from us, affect our life or activity. The environment by which man is surrounded and
affected by factors which may be natural, artificial, social, biological and psychological.
Components of Environment:
civilization man started interfering with the environment. He devastated forests for the use of
tree as wood, land under cultivation. He had polluted the rivers and other water resources.
The traditional concept that, natural resources are abundant for man to use or abuse has been
responsible for massive degeneration of nature, natural systems, environment and wild life. The
natural systems in which man exists along with all other species must maintain in a healthy and
functional state.
The environmental science is, therefore, a multidisciplinary science, which may require attention
of experts from different branches of science when decisions regarding environmental matters
have to be taken. In industrialized developing countries of the world, India occupies 7th place.
India has good industrial infrastructure in several industries like chemical, power, nuclear
energy, food, petroleum, pesticides, insecticides, plastic etc. A number of industrial effluents and
emissions, especially toxic gases and spewed in to the air daily. A rapid increase in Atomic and
nuclear energy has added a huge amount of radioactive substances in the atmosphere. Thus the
environment is decorated to such an extent that it has crossed the critical limit and has become
lethal to all organisms, including men.
The craze of progress in agriculture, industry, transportation and technology is taken as the
general criterion of development of any nation. Such activities of man have created adverse
effects on all living organisms in the biosphere. Today environment has become foul,
contaminated, undesirable, therefore, harmful for the health of living organisms (including man).
So for as pollution is concerned, environment includes the air, the water, the soil, the noise, the
building, the landscapes, the oceans, the lakes, the rivers, the parks, the vehicles and many other
things. Not only addition of constituents in these adversely alters the natural quality of the
environment but also removal of constituents caused pollution.