Environmental Studies - The Study Of Human Interaction With Their Environment
Study of the inter-relationship between the three basic components of environment is the ingredients of the environmental studies. These three basic components are physical, chemical, and biological elements of environment, with a focus on pollution of each component. Environmental studies are therefore aptly referred to as the science of sustainability.
Although environmental studies are recognised as elementary science, in truth, it is an interdisciplinary field of studies. Overlapping its original arena, it embraces within its fold many branches of humanities, such as, social science, economics, and law. Since many of the non-scientific subjects are also useful in the study of environment and advising remedies, environmental scientists do not hesitate to borrow theories and principles from them.
Initiation of environmental studies however is always with physics, chemistry, biology, and mathematics. The movement of materials and their interaction of energies are best explained by Physics. On the other hand, the molecular interactions among materials or systems can be best explained by Chemistry. Biology takes care of the interactions in the animal and plant kingdom. Mathematics helps the environmental scientists to determine the degree of ecological balance that is required vis-à-vis the existent.
Environmental studies are nothing new. A peep into the history of any civilisation will bring to light many issues relating to environment. However, the issues relating to environmental science and environmental studies, as we see today, came up only during the 6th and 7th decades of the nineteenth century. It was felt that since the environment is affected by multiple subjects, it requires a large team of multi-discipline experts to analyse them. At the same time, many environmental laws also made their appearances. This again required problem-specific environmental studies to know the exact solution. There was also growing public awareness and demand for concrete steps to address the problems relating to environmental pollutions. The vastness of the subjects related to environmental studies is quite amazing. A change of climate, soil and forest conservation, groundwater preservation, optimum use of natural resources, waste management, prevention of pollution, and sustainable development, all come under the wings of the environmental studies. Since the subject is so vast, and requires multi-disciplinary expertise, teams of experts commonly work together to achieve the best results through the use of the Environmental science. Most often the outcome of environmental studies is the environmental impact statement. Some countries like the United States have put in place laws, like, the National Environment Policy Act (NEPA) to institutionalise such research or studies. Like many other studies, environmental studies too have a number of sub-disciplines. For example, there are atmospheric science, ecology studies, and environmental chemistry. The atmospheric science is the examination of the outer layer of the earth and the impact of the interrelation with many other systems. Sound, air, light, and meteorology all come under this sub-discipline. The global warming syndrome is one very important item covered by environmental studies. Study of chemical changes in the environment is called the environmental chemistry. Geosciences cover the environment in relation to the soil and subsoil. The system also covers hydrology and oceanography.
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