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ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES: SCOPE AND IMPORTANCE

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ENVIRONMENTAL
SCIENCES: SCOPE 1
AND IMPORTANCE
Jagadamba Prasad, R.S. Khoiyangbam, and Navindu Gupta

1.1  Introduction
For the last four decades, several environmental problems—such as
pollution, global warming, ozone layer depletion, acid rain, deforestation,
and desertification—have remained a major focus of scientists, policy
makers, and common public across the world. These problems are
perceived as the major threats to the life-supporting environment of
the earth, thus making our survival on the planet increasingly unsafe.
In order to tackle these challenges, holistic knowledge about working
of our life-supporting environment and thorough understanding of the
dynamics of these problems become imperative. Since no other academic
discipline covers the above two knowledge requirements completely,
environmental science evolved as an academic discipline to fill in this gap.
Our life-supporting environment and various environmental problems
are highly complex and require interdisciplinary efforts to understand
them. Environmental science, therefore, integrates approaches of various
academic disciplines to fulfil its objectives.
Environmental science is defined as an interdisciplinary academic
field that integrates various academic fields (particularly sciences) to
study the structure and function of our life-supporting environment and
to understand causes, effects, and solutions of different environmental
problems. In other words, environmental science is the scientific study of
all the components or factors that make or influence our life-supporting
biophysical environment. As per some academicians, environmental science
is a methodological study of the environment and includes the study of all
biophysical as well as anthropogenic conditions or circumstances under
which an organism lives.

Evolution of the Subject: Growing Environmental

Concern Worldwide
Environmental science came into existence as a substantive and active
field of scientific investigation after the 1960s. Rachael Carson’s landmark
environmental book Silent Spring played a crucial role in the process by
 2 Introduction to Environmental Sciences

raising concern about environmental issues for the first time. Events
such as Santa Barbara oil spill and the Cuyahoga River of Cleveland,
Ohio, “catching fire” in 1969 further helped increase the visibility of
environmental issues. Since the 1970s, environmental issues have been
addressed chiefly in terms of implications of development process on
environmental quality. The book Limit to Growth by Club of Rome
(1970) and Stockholm Conference (1972) drew the attention of the world
community towards environmental imbalance caused by the prevailing
patterns of development. In 1987, Brundtland Commission, in its report
“Our Common Future”, introduced the word Sustainable Development,
which emphasized the need for a development process that takes care
of the nature and the welfare of future generations. The Agenda 21
adopted during the Earth Summit at Rio de Janeiro (1992) and the
World Summit on Sustainable Development at Johannesburg (2002)
also contributed significantly to increase awareness about the need for
making the development process eco-friendly.
An increasing level of concern about environment was reflected in
the creation of a number of international environmental agencies and
non-governmental organizations (NGOs), including United Nations
Environmental Programme (UNEP), International Union for Conservation
of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), World Wide Fund for Nature
(WWF), and Global Environmental Facility (GEF). Similarly, numerous
scientific and policy-related forums and conventions were held for settling
environmental issues, including Ramsar Convention for conservation of
wetland fauna and flora, Montreal Protocol for protecting the ozone layer,
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) for quantifying
the extent of global warming, Kyoto Protocol for reducing emission of
greenhouse gases, and Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) for
preserving the rich biodiversity of the planet.
These developments in the field of environment were accompanied
by substantial enhancement in our scientific and overall understanding
about the environment, which in turn led to the creation of a new
academic discipline known as environmental science. The evolution of
the subject was driven by (i) the need for a multidisciplinary approach to
analyse complex environmental problems, (ii) the arrival of substantive
environmental laws requiring specific environmental protocols of
investigation, and (iii) the growing public awareness of a need for action
in addressing environmental problems. Since the 1970s, this subject has
been promoted worldwide and gradually included in the formal education
systems of different countries. For the subject to have widespread reach
and adoptability among common man, it is often catered by the name
 Environmental Sciences: Scope and Importance 3

environmental education (EE), which has relatively simplified content

and higher applicability for an individual. In India, EE has been made
compulsory at graduate level (all branches or streams of higher education)
in all the universities and colleges since 2003, following the directives of
the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India.

1.2  Multidisciplinary Nature of

Environmental Science
Environmental science is the study of all the components or factors that
make or influence our life-supporting biophysical environment, including
earth processes, ecological systems, biodiversity, natural resource,
alternative energy systems, climate change, various types of pollutions,
and so on. These entities or processes are guided by complex interaction of
physical, chemical, and biological processes, as well as significant human
intervention. Therefore, environmental science integrates information
from a number of other disciplines and thus is multidisciplinary in
nature. Disciplines such as biology, chemistry, physics, geology, geography,
sociology, economics, management, and ethics have largely been
integrated to develop different subdivisions of environmental science. Its
major subdivisions include ecology, geosciences, environmental chemistry,
atmospheric science, environmental microbiology, environmental
toxicology, environmental impact assessment, and so on.
Besides these, there are certain subdivisions—environmental
studies, environmental engineering, environmental economics,
environmental ethics, environmental management, environmental
sociology, environmental biotechnology, and so on—that are generally
treated as independent academic disciplines parallel to environmental
science. Environmental conservation is the main emphasis for most of
these disciplines, but the approaches vary. For example, environmental
studies incorporate more of the social sciences for understanding
human relationships, perceptions, and policies towards the environment.
Environmental engineering, on the contrary, focuses on design and
technology for improving environmental quality.

1.3  Scope of the Subject

Principles and approaches of environmental sciences are applicable in
several areas of development. These areas are studied as scope of the
subject. Environmental science has a vast scope since it covers a wide
range of subject matters or issues related to our complex life-supporting
system. Scope of the subject can be described in terms of major areas
 4 Introduction to Environmental Sciences

of applicability as well as career opportunities related to the subject.

Three major areas of applicability of the subject are (i) management of
natural resources, (ii) conservation of ecosystem and biodiversity, and
(iii) prevention and control of pollution. In addition, environmental science
plays a key role in solving complex environmental issues of varying
scale, including climate change, ozone layer depletion, energy crisis,
desertification, urbanization, population explosion, and so on.
Scope of the subject in terms of career opportunities is fairly vast. For
the last two decades, environmental science has been considered to be
associated with a number of career opportunities. Major career options
related to the subject can be described as follows:
• Industries:  Industries need to show compliance against a number of
environmental norms. Hence, environment experts are needed to guide
the industries for adopting clean technologies, controlling pollution,
disposing the wastes, and carrying out environmental audit.
• Consultancy:  Environment consultancies are hired by governments,
industries, and NGOs for carrying out different types of laboratory-
based analyses or field-based studies, which are often required
in environment impact assessment (EIA) and other compliance
processes.
• Research and development (R&D):  R&D opportunities in this
area include studying different types of pollution and their causes and
effects. It also includes development of clean and efficient technologies
for future. Scientists, researchers, and analysts are some of the
common career profiles.
• Academics:  Environmental science is taught at almost every level
of education, that is, from school to university level. A large number
of teachers or academicians are required to fulfil this need.
• Green marketing:  Skilled manpower is required to promote eco-
friendly products in market. Environmental quality certifications like
ISO-14000 are also being incorporated in marketing strategy—this
creates additional career opportunities.
• Green media:  In order to generate awareness about the environment,
there is an immense need for skilled manpower in the field of print and
electronic media. A number of magazines and newspapers regularly
publish articles on environmental theme, for example, Down to Earth,
a magazine published by Centre for Science and Environment.
• Green advocacy:  Environmental lawyers are emerging as major
players in ensuring proper implementation of environmental norms,
laws, and programmes. Public Interest Litigation (PIL) empowers a
common man to fight against any anti-environment activity.
 Environmental Sciences: Scope and Importance 5

• NGOs:  These days, most of the environmental programmes are

being implemented through NGOs, with the help of funds from
national and international agencies. Green-peace, CI, WWF, CSE,
CEE, TERI, Tarun Bharat Sangh, and Vatavaran are some examples
of environmental NGOs.
• Government jobs:  A number of conventional jobs are available in
government bodies such as environmental ministry, pollution control
boards, national parks, and biosphere reserves.
• International agencies:  Various international agencies such as
UNEP, IUCN, TSBF, and World Bank require qualified human
resources to implement environment-related projects.

1.4  Importance of the Subject

Today, the world is facing numerous environmental problems, ranging
from local problems such as ground water depletion to global problems
such as climate change. These problems can be solved only when everyone
cares for the environment; for that everyone needs to be informed
about the causes, consequences, and remedial measures of different
environmental problems. In order to achieve this goal, environmental
science is promoted and taught at different educational levels. The subject
bears immense importance as it aims at saving the integrity of the life-
supporting environment of earth, which is a unique planet that sustains
life. Importance of this subject can be described in terms of the various
objectives that it fulfils for saving the environment. So far, seven such
objectives have been identified:
• It guides us to know how our developmental and day-to-day activities
affect environment and how we are affected by changes in the
environmental conditions.
• It guides us to create a pollution-free environment (that is, clean air,
water, land, and food) by adopting different methods of preventing
and controlling pollution.
• It guides us to utilize our natural resources such as water, forest,
minerals, and fossil fuels in an efficient manner, that is, with
maximum utility and minimum wastage, by adopting conservation
and recycling strategies.
• It guides common public to live an eco-friendly lifestyle by adopting
the above three features, that is, knowing environmental implications
of one’s activities, preventing and controlling pollution, and utilizing
the resources efficiently in day-to-day activities.
• It guides industries to operate in an eco-friendly mode by adopting
clean and efficient technologies and installing pollution control
systems.
 6 Introduction to Environmental Sciences

• It guides us to solve complex global environmental problems such

as climate change, ozone-layer depletion, desertification, and energy
crisis by using different interdisciplinary tools and approaches.
It guides the entire development process to become sustainable by
ensuring equal distribution of natural resources between present and
future generations, as well as by caring for nature in every walk of life
in a holistic manner.

1.5  Types of Environment

Environment, which means surroundings, is the sum of all external
factors (biotic and abiotic) that influence the life of an organism. Biotic
factors include all living beings (for example, humans, animals, plants,
and microorganisms), whereas abiotic factors include all physico-chemical
entities (such as air, water, soil, rocks, minerals, and mountains).
Environment can be natural, human engineered, or even abstract (non-
material). Owing to such vagueness, the term “environment” has been
used in various ways or in various perspectives. For example, terms
such as natural environment, extra-terrestrial environment, human-
engineered environment, socio-political-cultural environment, business
environment, family environment, and workplace environment are used
in general conversation.
Although using the word “environment” in all these contexts is not
wrong, due to a variety of meanings of the same word, people often get
confused about the basic concept of the subject “environmental sciences”.
As a result, often some questions are raised: What is the definition of
environment in the domain of environmental sciences? What exactly do
we study under the subject “environmental sciences”? If environment
means surroundings, then environmental science should mean scientific
study of everything that surrounds us. This implies that environmental
science is the study of not only air and water but also every insect, every
chemical, and every human-made article, such as computer, building,
furniture, as well as every relations at home, office, and so on. Thus,
environmental science is a sum of all sciences, all engineering subjects,
all social sciences, and so on. This cannot be true, as a single subject
cannot replace all others; therefore, the concept of environment needs to
be understood more precisely. For the purpose of conceptual clarification,
different uses of the word environment have been classified into the
following two broad groups:
1. Essential life-supporting biophysical environment:  It includes
all the biophysical entities as well as the processes that contribute
to providing all humans and other living beings the basic material
 Environmental Sciences: Scope and Importance 7

needs of life, that is, oxygen, water, food, and habitat. In fact, the
concepts of environmental sciences are based on this meaning. The
“essential life-supporting biophysical environment” is also termed
as “environment”, “natural environment”, “biophysical environment”,
“biosphere”, or “ecological system”. These words are used almost
synonymously.
2. Non-essential life-assisting environment:  It includes all the
entities or processes that assist human life in various ways, but cannot
be considered essential for the physical survival of life on this planet.
It includes social systems, language, technology, economic system,
education, and various aspects of human civilization. Although we
can survive physically, without these entities the life will be largely
in wild or natural form. “Non-essential life-assisting environment”
is also known as “anthropogenic environment”, “social environment”,
“man-made environment”, or “built environment”.

1.6  Earth, Humans, and Environment

As far as our knowledge goes, our earth is a unique planet that sustains
life. Although formation of the earth took place about 4.5 billion years
ago, evolution of life started here about 4 billion years ago. During this
long journey of evolution of life, numerous changes on the earth’s surface
slowly transformed its primitive hostile environment into a well-organized
life-supporting environment or the biosphere. Our biosphere is home to
an estimated 5–10 million species of living creatures. Human beings,
however, are the single most dominant species that has been drastically
modifying the earth for the last few thousand years in order to fulfil
their needs and limitless aspirations. With their technological knowledge,
ability to communicate, and skill to form abstract concepts, humans are
capable of changing their environment completely. While plants and other
animals usually have to undergo gradual genetic changes to adapt to
changing environment, humans can change their behaviour and adapt
to a new environment within their lifespan. This adaptability of humans
has led to a rapid increase in their number, depletion of resources, and
pollution of the environment with by-products resulting from human
activities.
Significant effects of human activities on environment were observed
from past 10,000 years when agriculture was started. However, the
impacts were drastic in the last two centuries, during which most of
the countries underwent rapid industrial development. This development
helped us progress in many fronts such as health, food security, education,
technology, and luxury, but at the same time we have exploited the
resources of the earth beyond its capacity to regenerate them. Moreover,
 8 Introduction to Environmental Sciences

we have contaminated air, water, soil, and other components of the

environment with the by-products generated during this development
process. The growing pressure on ecosystems is causing habitat destruction
or degradation and permanent loss of productivity, threatening both
biodiversity and human well-being.
The concept of ecological footprint is designed to measure the extent
of human demand on the land and seas. Studies show that for the past
two decades, people have been turning natural resources into waste at
a faster rate (25% faster, according to a WWF study) than the planet
can renew them. The world’s average footprint is calculated to be 2.2
ha per capita, but only 1.8 ha of each person’s consumption can be
regenerated by the planet each year. Measurements of crop yields, carbon
dioxide emissions, fishing, and the use of forests suggest that mankind’s
ecological footprint is too big to be sustained. Someone has rightly said,
“Humanity is no longer living off Nature’s interest but drawing down its
capital”. Since the 1970s, there has been a worldwide concern to make
our development more eco-friendly and judicious. In 1987, the concept of
sustainable development was introduced, which underpins the fact that
development must be done in a way so that both present and future
generations can fulfil their basic needs.

1.7  Environmental Ethics

Environmental ethics is the study of the moral relationship of human
beings with the environment and its non-human contents. It deals
with the issues related to the rights and duties of individuals that are
fundamental to life and well-being of present human society, future
generations (of human), as well as of other living beings present on
the earth. Environmental ethics evolved in the 1970s as a discipline.
However, Aldo Leopold (1887–1948), an American ecologist, is considered
to play a key role in the development of modern environmental ethics.
Environmental ethics differs from traditional ethics, since the latter is
concerned to relationship among people only. The need of environmental
ethics has arisen as a result of the following three major factors:
1. Modern technological civilization has been affecting nature greatly;
therefore, there is a need to analyse consequences of human actions
from ethical perspectives.
2. With the advancement of science, our understanding about nature
and environmental problems is increasing day by day. This growing
knowledge is also raising new ethical issues.
3. Our expanding moral concern that other living beings have equal
rights to live on the earth is also raising the need for environmental
ethics.
 Environmental Sciences: Scope and Importance 9

In our day-to-day life or in developmental projects, we have to face

numerous questions that compare human welfare with the well-being of
other creatures. For example: Should we continue to cut the forests for
the sake of human development, causing a huge loss to the community
of wildlife in the process? Similar questions are dealt with in various
disciplines such as law, sociology, theology, economics, geography, and
management. Environmental ethics provides/tries to provide answers to
these complex questions. While answering these questions, two world-
views are often observed: anthropocentric world-view and eco-centric
world-view. Anthropocentric world-view says, “Man is all powerful and
the supreme creature on the earth. Man is the master of nature and can
harness it at his will”. Eco-centric world-view, on the other hand, says,
“Nature has provided us with all the resources for leading a beautiful
life, and she nourishes us like mother. We should respect her and nurture
her”.
Environmental ethics supports eco-centric view and recommends
several guidelines to help us make decision in critical situations. Major
guidelines that have been widely accepted are as follow:
(i) The earth exists for the benefit of humanity and we should love
and respect the earth.
(ii) We do not have the right to take all the earth’s resources for our
own use.
(iii) We should not treat ourselves above all living beings and have no
right to drive them to extinction. All species have intrinsic right
to exist.
(iv) We should consume earth’s resources in moderate amount, allowing
all to share and enjoy these precious resources.
(v) We should not waste our resources, particularly on destructive
weapons.
(vi) We should express our gratitude towards plants and animals, since
they provide us with food and various other necessities of life.
(vii) We should not steal from future generations their right to live in
a clean, safe, and resourceful planet.
(viii) We should believe or follow various religions or ethics that give
positive lessons about our relationships with the rest of the living
beings.

1.8  Environmental Economics

Environmental economics is a distinct branch of economics that
acknowledges the value of both the environment and the economic
activity, and makes choices based on those values. The goal is to balance
10 Introduction to Environmental Sciences

the economic activity and the environmental impacts by taking into

account all the costs and benefits. The theories are designed to take into
account the costs of pollution and natural resource depletion. The current
market system, however, fails to account for these costs that are often
termed as market failure. The concept of market failure, which means
that markets fail to allocate resources efficiently, lies at the centre of
environmental economics. This failure needs to be addressed through
price correction, and so they take into account external costs. External
costs are uncompensated side effects of human actions. For instance,
a firm emitting pollution will typically not take into account the costs
that its pollution imposes on others. Since the cost is not internalized by
the concerned firm, it is called external cost or externality. As a result,
pollution may occur in excess of the “socially efficient” level.
The assumption in environmental economics is that the environment
provides resources (renewable and non-renewable), assimilates waste,
and provides aesthetic pleasure to humans. These can be considered as
economic functions since they have positive economic value and could
be bought and sold in the market place. However, traditionally, as the
value of these services was not recognized, there was no market for
them (to establish a price), which is why economists talk about market
failure. Market failure is defined as the inability of markets to reflect
the full social costs or benefits of a good, service, or state of the world.
Therefore, when markets fail, inefficient or unfavourable allocation of
resources takes place. Since economic theory wants to achieve efficiency,
environmental economics is used as a tool to find a balance in the world’s
system of resource use.
Another basic term in environmental economics is the idea of “scarcity”.
Historically, goods and services provided by the environment were seen
to be unlimited, having no cost, and thus were not considered scarce.
Scarcity is a misallocation of these services (which are not unlimited)
due to a pricing problem. If resources were properly priced to include
all types of costs, the resource could not be over-exploited, because the
actual cost would be too high then. Thus, proper pricing of the natural
resources can be very effective in environmental conservation. There
is another discipline named as ecological economics that considerably
differs from environmental sciences. Most environmental economists
have been trained as economists. They apply the tools of economics to
address environmental problems, many of which are related to so-called
market failures. On the other hand, most ecological economists have
been trained as ecologists. This field takes as its premise that economics
is a strict subfield of ecology and focuses more explicitly on long-term
environmental sustainability and issues of scale.
 Environmental Sciences: Scope and Importance 11

1.9  Environmental Legislation

Legislation is needed to ensure environmental compliance. As per the
Constitution of India, it is the duty of the state “to protect and improve
the environment and to safeguard the forests and wildlife of the country”.
It imposes a duty on every citizen “to protect and improve the natural
environment including forests, lakes, rivers, and wildlife”. Reference to
the environment has also been made in the Directive Principles of State
Policy as well as in the Fundamental Rights. In India, the Department
of Environment was established in 1980 to ensure a healthy environment
for the country, which became the Ministry of Environment and Forests
in 1985. The constitutional provisions are backed by a number of laws—
acts, rules, and notifications. The Environment Protection Act (EPA) came
into force in 1986, soon after the Bhopal gas tragedy, and is considered
an “umbrella legislation” as it filled many gaps in the existing laws. A
large number of laws followed, as the problems began arising. Some of
the important environmental legislations are as follows:
• The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act (1974)
establishes an institutional structure for preventing and abating
water pollution by setting standards for water quality and effluent.
As per the act, the polluting industries must seek permission to
discharge waste into effluent bodies. The Central Pollution Control
Board (CPCB) and the State Pollution Control Boards were constituted
for implementing this act.
• The Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act (1981)
provides guidelines for the control and abatement of air pollution. It
entrusts the power of enforcing this act to the CPCB.
• The Environment (Protection) Act (1986) authorizes the central
government to protect and improve environmental quality, control and
reduce pollution from all sources, and prohibit or restrict the setting
and operation of any industrial facility on environmental grounds.
• The Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Amendment
Act (1987) empowers the central and state pollution control boards
to meet grave emergencies of air pollution.
• Hazardous Waste (Management and Handling) Rules (1989)
provide guidelines to control the generation, collection, treatment,
import, storage, and handling of hazardous wastes.
• The Municipal Solid Wastes (Management and Handling)
Rules (2000) apply to every municipal authority responsible for
the collection, segregation, storage, transportation, processing, and
disposal of municipal solid wastes.
12 Introduction to Environmental Sciences

• The Ozone Depleting Substances (Regulation and Control)

Rules (2000) have been laid down for the regulation of production
and consumption of ozone depleting substances.
• The Biological Diversity Act (2002) provides guidelines for the
conservation of biological diversity, sustainable use of its components,
and fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the use
of biological resources and knowledge associated with it.

1.10  Physical, Chemical, and Biological

Factors in the Environment
Life-supporting environment of the earth is the outcome of complex
interaction of innumerable physical, chemical, and biological factors.
With the advancement in the methods of scientific investigation, our
understanding of these factors is also increasing. However, a number of
factors and processes are still unknown to mankind. Although making
a comprehensive list of these factors would be rather difficult, a brief
account of the major factors can be given here to make an elementary
idea of how life-supporting environment of the earth works.
Physical factors that have major influence or contribution in maintaining
the life-supporting environment of the earth are as follows:
• Optimal distance (neither too near nor too far) between the sun and
the earth, which helps maintain an optimal temperature on the earth
surface (average 18°C), which aids in sustaining life
• Optimal size or mass (neither too small nor too large) of the earth,
which provides the earth with a thick atmosphere that is immensely
useful for life
• Presence of the atmosphere on earth, which protects living beings
from harmful UV rays, burning meteors, cosmic rays, and extreme
temperature
• Presence of water, which constitutes about 70% of the earth surface
and acts as a heat buffer to counter temperature fluctuation caused
by the changing intensity of incoming solar radiations
• Occurrence of hydrological cycle, which facilitates movement of water
along and against the gravitational force, thereby contributing to the
distribution of water, other matters, and energy across the world
• Constantly incoming solar radiation, which serves as the ultimate
source of energy to drive all the processes on earth, including life
Chemical factors that have major inf luence or contribution in
maintaining the life-supporting environment of the earth are:
 Environmental Sciences: Scope and Importance 13

• Exceptional properties shown by water molecules due to which water

is immensely useful for life. For instance, owing to excellent solvent
nature, it forms body fluid of living beings.
• Inter-conversion of oxygen and ozone and thereby absorption of UV
rays in the stratosphere, which otherwise could have been harmful
if reached the earth surface.
• Occurrence of biogeochemical cycles due to which there is always a
balance in the concentration of different elements in different parts of
nature and which in turn ensures uninterrupted supply of different
natural resources and services required for sustaining life.
Biological factors that have major inf luence or contribution in
maintaining the life-supporting environment of the earth are as
follows:
• Occurrence of complementary processes of respiration and
photosynthesis, which operate in coordination to maintain the
balance between the amounts of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere
• Occurrence of complementary processes of primary production by
green plants and decomposition by bacteria and other decomposer
organisms, which maintain a subtle balance between organic matter
accumulation and recycling of minerals in nature
• Occurrence of rich biodiversity, which in turn results into numerous
ecosystem services, including stability of the ecological system of the
earth

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