Environment required stewardship, both for their inherent natural

value and as a commercial resource.

• is usually understood to mean the surrounding
conditions that affect the organisms. • By the twentieth century, environmental science and
conservation education programmes had been
• A living thing’s environment is everything that is established.
around it.
• The 1962 publication of Rachel Carson’s book ‘Silent
• is everything that affects an organism during its
Spring’ triggered widespread public concern over the
lifetime
deteriorating environment and the influence of
Science human activities.

• is an approach to studying the natural world that • The growth of environmental science in the
involves formulating hypotheses and then testing nineteenth and twentieth centuries was due to the
them to see if the hypotheses are supported or recognition that the natural environment involves
refuted. interactions between many living things, and that
the chemistry and biology of the environment both
Environmental science influences the residents and can be changed by the
activities of the living things.
• is the study of the natural processes that occur in the
environment and how humans affect them. • The logic and discipline of science was necessary to
understand the environment.
• a branch of biological science that is concerned with
relationships between organisms and their • Scientific expertise in environmental aspects of air,
environment, in terms of the physical, chemical, and water, soil, geology, climate, wildlife, aquatics, and
biological ways that organisms affect the other areas was necessary.
environment and how they are influenced for the
better or worse by their environment. • As of 2008, environmental science includes many
different areas of science, which can involve
• a very broad area that involves many scientific research, management of programs, and monitoring.
disciplines.
• Environmental science is also important in
• this is reflected in the careers available in developing policy, environmental activism, and
environmental science. environmental laws.
The ideas of environmental science are closely related to SCOPE OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
Ecology, the branch of science that deals with the
interrelationships of plants, animals, and the environment. • Applied and basic aspects of environmental science
At times, the two words have been used interchangeably, require a solid foundation in the natural sciences in
especially during the last part of the twentieth century. addition to fields such as:

HISTORY Anthropology Ecology

The rise of environmental science as a discipline occurred Management Art

in the last three decades of the twentieth century.
Sociology Political Science
Researchers had studied plants and animals, but
concepts tended to stay in the academic realms of pure Paleontology Literature
botany or zoology. People thus had little knowledge or
History Philosophy
interest in the environment.
Religion Economics
• Environmental Science began millennia ago.
Law
• More than 2000 years ago, soil conservation,
especially efforts to prevent erosion, was practiced • In contrast to more theoretical discipline,
in China, India, and Peru. environmental science is problem oriented
• Even centuries ago, people were engaged in • It seeks new, valid, generalizable knowledge about
environmental science related jobs. the natural world and our impact on it.
• By the fifteenth century, the environmental science • The use of term environmental science may imply a
of soil conservation in these countries had become single subject but essence of the environmental
sophisticated, with the planting of different crops in science is its multidisciplinary approach.
different crops in different years, use of natural
fertilizers, and terracing of the steep slopes being • Its scope is not confined to small scale but has a
done to minimize erosion. vastness both in its knowledge and career.

• In the US, more formalized environmental science • Environmental science is a very broad area that
careers date back nineteenth century, with the involves many scientific disciplines.
establishment of the Sierra and the growing
• This is reflected in the careers available in
recognition that environments such as the forest
environmental science. Examples:
 • Agricultural Scientist 4. EVERYTHING CHANGES
The environment is constantly changing. Organisms also
• Environmental Consultant
develop through time. There is nothing more permanent in
• Architect this world than change. Consider the following examples.
Metamorphosis of caterpillars to butterflies illustrates
• Forest Ranger morphological changes that occur in living forms. The
increase of vegetation on earth augmented the amount of
• Aquaculture Scientist
oxygen in the atmosphere through time.
• Lawyer
5. EVERYTHING MUST GO SOMEWHERE
• Chemist Everything that we throw away ends up elsewhere -pieces of
paper, left-over food, peelings of fruits, plastic wrappers, and
• Microbiologist used containers. Even plants and animals have their own
• Conservation Biologist wastes – feces, urine, dead leaves and branches.

• Oceanographer 6. OURS IS A FINITE EARTH

• Remediation Specialist Everything that we need is provided by nature in abundance –

food, water, energy, minerals and air. However, some
• Zoologist resources that we depend upon nowadays are extracted
excessively but are slow to replace. These non-renewable
resources experience limits of supply. For instance, fossil fuels
produced

over thousands of years may be exhausted in a hundred

years. Some energy sources like water, and wood may be
replaced easier but have become inaccessible due to
pollution and excessive extraction.

7. NATURE IS BEAUTIFUL AND WE ARE STEWARDS OF GOD’S

CREATION

Among all creatures, humans are the only ones made in God’s
image and have been given the right to have dominion over
all His creations. Being the most intelligent and gifted with
reason, humans are capable of manipulating creation to their
own advantage. Yet, creation exists not to be ravaged or
abused but to be taken care of. Humans cannot exist without
nature. They are co-natural with the environment they live in.
7 ENVIRONMENTAL PRINCIPLES • Ethics is one branch of philosophy.
1. NATURE KNOWS BEST • Ethics seeks to define what is right and what is
wrong.
In nature, nutrients pass from the environment to the
organisms then back to the environment. Our nature knows Example:
everything. Most cultures are ethically committed to the idea that is
We humans have to understand nature and follow its rules, wrong to needlessly take life. Many cultures grounds this
because if we want to ensure a continuous and steady supply belief on the existence of right to life. It is unethical to
of resources, one must not go against natural processes. If deprive humans of this right to their life.
we, humans, caused any disruption in the cycle of nature, this • Ethics can help us understand what actions are
can bring imbalance to our ecosystem. wrong and why they are wrong.
2. ALL FORMS OF LIFE ARE IMPORTANT • Apply ethical thinking to the natural world and the
Each organism plays an important role in nature. relationship between humans and the earth.

It is easy to appreciate the beautiful organisms like • A key feature of environmental studies, but they
butterflies, especially if one knows their important role in have application in many other fields as human
pollination. The giant ones like elephants, the whales, the society deals in a more meaningful way with
alligators – are the ones we respect mixed with fear or pollution, resource degradation, the threat of
wonder and the products they produce. extinction, and global climate disruption

3. EVERYTHING IS CONNECTED TO EVERYTHING ELSE

In an ecosystem, all biotic and abiotic components interact
with each other to ensure that the system is sustained. Any
intrusion from outside may cause an imbalance and
collapsing of the system.
In the most general sense, environmental ethics invites as to • During the nineteenth century, preservationists
consider three key propositions: often gave openly religious reasons for protecting
the natural world.
1. The Earth and its creature have moral status, in
other words, are worthy of our ethical concern. • While many preservationists adopt an ecocentric
ethic, some also include anthropocentric principles
2. The Earth and its creatures have intrinsic value,
in their arguments. These preservationists wish to
meaning that they have moral value merely because
keep large parts of nature intact for aesthetic or
they exist, not only because they meet human
recreational reasons. They believe that nature is
needs.
beautiful and restorative and should be preserved to
3. Based on the concept of an ecosystem, human ensure that wild places exist for future humans to
beings should consider wholes that include other hike, camp, fish, or just enjoy some solitude.
forms of life and the environment.
CONSERVATION
Three Philosophical Approaches to Environmental Ethics • The third environmental approach is the
1. ANTHROPOCENTRISM (human-centered ethics) conservationist approach. Conservationism tends to
strike a balance between unrestrained development
- The view that all environmental responsibility is derived and preservationism.
from human interests alone. The assumption here is that only
human beings are morally significant and have direct moral • Conservationism is anthropocentric in the sense that
standing. Since the environment is crucial to human well- it is interested in promoting human well-being but
being and human survival, we have an indirect duty toward considers a wider range of long-term human goods
the environment, that is, a duty derived from human in its decisions about environmental management.
interests. We must ensure that the Earth remains
• Conservation protects the environment through the
environmentally hospitable for supporting human life and
responsible use of natural resources.
even that it remains a pleasant place for humans to live.
• Many of the ideas in conservationism have been
2. BIOCENTRISM (life-centered environmental ethics)
incorporated into an approach known as sustainable
- All forms of life have an inherent right to exist. A number of development.
bio centrists recognize a hierarchy of values among species.
ACTING GREEN
Some, for example, believe that we have a greater
responsibility to protect animal species than plant species • Look for locally grown products in the supermarket –
and a greater responsibility to protect mammals than less energy is used to transport locally grown
invertebrates. Another group of bio centrists, known as products.
“biocentric egalitarians”, take the view that all living
• Join a local environmental organization.
organisms have an exactly equal right to exist.
• Volunteer for your local Earth Day event in April.
3. ECOCENTRISM
• Visit a natural area, nature center, or park typical of
- The third approach to environmental responsibility, called
your region and learn to identify five plants.
ecocentrism, maintains that the environment deserves direct
moral consideration and not consideration that is merely • Calculate your ecological footprint.
derived from human or animal interests. In ecocentrism it is
suggested that the environment itself, not just the living • Participate in sustainability activities in community
organisms that inhabit it, has moral worth. or university.

ENVIRONMENTAL ATTITUDES • Walk, bicycle, or take public transportation.

DEVELOPMENT • Read Silent Spring, A Sand County, Almanac, and

Walden
• This approach tends to be the most anthropocentric
of the three. • Take a long walk in a natural area. Leave all phones,
radios, etc. at home. Listen to the silence.
• This assumes that the human race is and should be
master of nature and that the Earth and its resources
exist solely for our benefit and pleasure.

• This suggests that improvement in the human

condition require converting ever more of nature
over to human use.

PRESERVATION

• This tends to be the most ecocentric of the three

common attitudes toward the environment. Rather
than seek to convert all of nature over to human
uses, preservationists want to see large portions of
nature preserved intact.