Lesson 1-2: Introduction to Environmental Science PDF

LESSON 01-02: INTRODUCTION TO ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE 1.1. ENVIRONMENT The word Environment is derived from the French word “Environ” which means “surrounding”. Our surrounding includes biotic factors like human beings, plants, animals, microbes, etc. and abiotic factors such as light, air, water...

LESSON 01-02: INTRODUCTION TO ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE 1.1. ENVIRONMENT The word Environment is derived from the French word “Environ” which means “surrounding”. Our surrounding includes biotic factors like human beings, plants, animals, microbes, etc. and abiotic factors such as light, air, water, soil, etc (Fig. 1.1). Figure 1.1: The environment (Illustrated by Smmr). So, the environment is a complex of many variables, which surrounds man as well as living organisms. Or, Environment is everything that is around us. It can be living (biotic) or non-living (abiotic) things. The environment includes water, air and land and the interrelationships which exist among and between water, air and land and human beings and other living creatures such as plants, animals, and microorganisms. In the end, we can say that the environment is a complex set of factors (biotic or abiotic) or things (living or non-living) that surround us (human beings). Means, biotic and abiotic factors are things that shapes our surrounding environment combinely. Biotic / living things: Plants, animals, microbes, bacterias, anything that has life. Abiotic / non-living things: Sunlight, soil, air, water, human-made structures, anything that doesn’t have life. 2|Page © 2024 Rahman, SMM 1.1.1. History of the Word Environment Before 1960, few people had ever heard the word environment, and the word environment meant little as a political or social issue (Fig. 1.2). Figure 1.2: Trend of use of the word Environment (Source: Google NGram). Publication of Rachel Carson’s landmark book, Silent Spring (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1960, 1962) (Fig. 1.3) is _ Confrontations between “environmentalists” and “anti-environmentalists.” Figure 1.3: Rachel Carson and the cover of Silent Spring (Source: NHS, Maryland). 3|Page © 2024 Rahman, SMM 1.1.2. Classifications of Environment The environment classified into different types as follows (Fig. 1.4) _ Environment Physical Biological Cultural Atmosphere Floral Society Hydrosphere Faunal Economics Lithosphere Microbial Politics Figure 1.4: Classifications of the Environment (Illustrated by Smmr). 1.2. SCIENCE According to the Oxford Languages and Google, Science (originated from the Latin word Scientia, means ‘knowledge’) is the intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure and behaviour of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment (Fig. 1.5). Figure 1.5: Interactions between the physical and natural world (Source: Wikimedia). 4|Page © 2024 Rahman, SMM 1.3. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE (ES) Environmental Science is the interdisciplinary studies in natural sciences, including physical (Earth), biological and chemical sciences, hydrology, ecology, and their interaction with social sciences such as economics, political science, anthropology, geography and management. In a different form environmental science deals with the way the natural world functions; environmentalism with such modifications of human behavior as reformers think appropriate in the light of scientific findings. Environmentalists, therefore, are concerned with more than just science. 1.3.1. Environmental Science Vs. Environmentalism The difference between the term is _ Environmentalism is any social movement for protecting earth’s life support systems for us (human kind) and other species as well. On the other hand, ES studies about how the environmental systems are functioning in relation with the people and their society. 5|Page © 2024 Rahman, SMM