Environmental science and Engineering

1) Environmental science
Environmental science is the study of nature and the facts about
environment. Basically environment can be defined as “all the social, economical, physical &
chemical factors that surrounds man” (or) “all abiotic and biotic components around man-all
living and non living things surrounds man”
1.1) Environment Components can be divided into biotic and abiotic components.

According to ancient man the environment was the Panchaboodhas (i.e) air, water, land,
sky and energy. The human were disciples of nature. They were able to protect themselves from
harmful one and protect the others. But according to modern man the env. is only air land and water.
Exploitation of various earth resources to satisfy the increasing needs of human population has resulted
in 1) depletion of various resources of earth 2) pollution.

Principles of environmental education:

Examine the major environmental issues , discover the root cause , develop problem
solving skills ,promote co-operation in solving problems ,emphasis active participation in prevention and
solution to problems.

1.2) Scope of environmental science:

Studying the interrelationship between the components of env. Carrying out impact
analysis and env. Audit Preventing pollution from existing and new industries , Stopping the use of
biological and nuclear weapons , Managing unpredictable disasters etc.

2) Environmental engineering

Environmental engineering is the sister field of civil engineering and involves integrating
engineering principles and science to improve natural environment and to protect it while
providing potable water, clean air and sustainable life for humans and other organisms.
Another crucial task tackled by environmental engineering is that of cleaning up polluted
areas/sites. It also deals with tackling issues that are being faced by public.

2.1) Environmental Engineering Sub Disciplines

Environmental engineering has been divided into a number of sub-disciplines which are as
follows;

 Waste water management

 Air Pollution Control
 Recycling
 Solid Waste Management
 Radiation Protection
  Industrial Hygiene
 Industrial Sustainability
 Public Health Issues
 Water Supply and Treatment

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Explain and Discuss Current and Proposed Relevant Regulations, Standards and
Ethical Rules, Law of Environmental

Environmental law looks at all the factors that pertain to an economy

and its production and industry to assess its impact on the
environment and to propose regulations that will reduce environmental
harm. It is mostly considered with regulations and treaty agreements
between countries, corporations and public interest initiatives that
work to promote the conservation of natural resources and to enhance
energy efficiency.
In the United States, the chief government agency for administering
environmental regulations is the Environmental Protection Agency. In
most countries, states have their own environmental protection
agencies that administer laws pertaining to issues of concern to the
natural environment and to protect human health.

Why is Environmental Law Important?

Laws are put in place for many reasons. Some are for the public good, health, and
protection. Others are put in place to avoid other forms of harm. Environmental
laws are enacted inside borders and as transborder measures for many reasons
with public health and resource protection being amongst the most common.

For Health of Current Generations

Healthcare is an expensive business no matter where you are in the world. Some of
the world's oldest environmental protections were designed with human health in
mind. The Clean Air Act is an excellent example of this following the publication of
Rachel Carson's book Silent Spring.  Although focused on ecology, areas of the book
touched on human health and the damage that industrial activity of the past 100-
150 years was doing to our lives. Even today, people who live in the most heavily
industrialized areas tend to suffer more health issues (8) and more longer-term
health problems too. It's vital that we clean up the air, water and other aspects of
the environment to improve their health.

For Health of Future Generations

It isn't just the health of current generations about which we need to be concerned.
Our children and their children and so on will experience the growing cost of
healthcare (9), sometimes due to environmental reasons, leading to greater
instances of some conditions. All over the world, even in countries where there is
socialized healthcare, instances of health problems and the costs of implementing a
health system continue to increase. It is the mission of some environmental
health laws to preserve future generations against further costs, the mitigate
problems now, for ensuring a healthier populace and environment. We are also
seeing new emergent diseases in areas that never experienced them before and
greater instances of existing diseases where they are prevalent but controlled.
Some of the reasons are believed to be ecological in nature with warming air and
damper environments encouraging virus replication or the species that carry them
such as mosquitoes.

Maintaining Resources and Lifestyle

In many ways, environmental laws are a form of insurance policy for the future for
such things as food and water security, resource protection, energy, and ecological
balance (10). Fossil fuels are a depleting resource and though many metals are
finite, they could potentially last centuries. There will come a time when certain
resources are gone and that's why it's important to ensure we use as few of them
as possible and take out insurance policies. Fishing rights are one of these issues.
Overfishing in many parts of the world not just damages our food supply and the
industry, but has the potential to upset the ecological balance of the oceans. That's
why many countries have agreed to fish quotas.

For Ecology
The importance of protecting ecology cannot be overstated. The food chain, the
water cycle, our resource security all depend on how well our environment is
protected (11). Any upset to this balance such as a resource depletion or removal,
the introduction of an invasive species, damaging tree cover and uncontrolled
emissions can cause long-term and wide-scale problems for an environment. We
are already seeing the depletion of the ice caps and rising sea levels. Dilution of
salts in our oceans can affect the ecological balance of that ocean. We also know
that the jet streams and oscillations can change with atmospheric carbon, leading
to erratic long-term weather changes which can also cause imbalances elsewhere.
Global ecology is a network that transcends national interests and borders.

The Financial Issues

Of all these issues here, the one that governments are most concerned about - and
often used as an excuse for inaction - is the bottom line. But as the OECD states,
the cost of inaction have always been far greater (12). The cost to taxpayers and
businesses will skyrocket over the coming decades. In the US we are already seeing
an increase in cost to our health insurance premiums. Globally, the cost of property
insurance is also increasing as damage from extreme weather conditions increases.
Climate change is going to cost us all a lot of money - individually, businesses, and
the public funds spent through governments. Environmental protection laws are in
place to reduce some of the issues mentioned above such as protecting our health,
but also to mitigate potential future costs of addressing them. This is an issue
where prevention is better than cure.

“Future Proofing” Our World

How do we future-proof our world for future generations to enjoy the same levels
of prosperity and health that the rest of us have enjoyed for generations? The
answer to that is to enact environmental laws that attempt to preserve and protect
the status quo where they are beneficial and to tackle the harm and damage being
done for long-term sustainability. This will apply to food and water security for
everyone. Many of the refugee problems of this current decade are considered the
result of environmental disasters. Even with the rise of ISIS in the Middle East, many
point to erratic weather and climate has having been a forcing on the political
instability (along with other issues not related to environment that have been
discussed repeatedly).

What is Involved in Measuring Environmental Law?

When researchers and monitors are assessing the environmental law
of a person or community they are looking at how external elements
are impacting the mental, emotional and physical health of the
individual, and at large. They can come in to do assessments that are
focused on decreasing epidemics or childhood morbidity, as well as to
improve the overall preventative healthcare measures in the area.
Environmental law regulations can extend to cover housing,
transportation, food and water management as well. There is not one
aspect of life that is not covered by environmental law as it recognizes
the interrelation of all areas of economy and community on a person’s
health state.

Components of Environmental Law

Waste Management
One of the major areas addressed by environmental law initiatives is
waste management. This can take the form of helping to build or
upgrade waste management systems to make sure that waste is not
polluting ground water or causing the spread of disease. It can also
take the form of managing radioactive waste materials. In areas of the
world where industrialization is changing traditional community living,
there may also have to be education programs done that demonstrate
public health hygiene.
Food Production
Food production is another area covered by environmental law.
Regulations will concern everything from how seed is harvested and
prepared to what types of fertilizer and pesticides are used to nurture
the crops to maturity. They will also examine processing, packaging
and storage facilities for food products to ensure that all ingredients
are safe for human consumption and there is less risk for
contamination or spoiled food. In some instance, environmental law
may also address transportation needs for food as the infrastructure in
some areas of the world may make it difficult to get adequate food
supplies to the population.

Water Reserves
Making sure that adequate drinking water, or potable water, is
available to a community is another key issue with environmental law.
Environmental law advocates will also look towards creating reserves
of water that can be adequately protected from contamination. They
don’t just look towards drinking and cooking water, but making sure
there is adequate irrigation for crops as well.

Another aspect of water control is to make sure that proper drainage

systems are in place. This has to do with the health concerns that can
be caused by standing water and how it can promote the presence of
disease carried by mosquitoes that can breed in standing water.

Pollution Control and Remediation

Environmental law is concerned with control of pollution on one hand
and conservation of natural resources on other hand. It also have
relevance to product design in the form of environmentally friendly
materials, emission controls and energy efficient devices.
Flora and Fauna
Flora and fauna must be protected as they have been under constant
threat by human activity. Environmental law may be enacted to protect
biodiversity or as a special means for protecting species deemed
important for other reasons. The need of the hour is to come up with
new laws to protect endangered species from poachers, prohibition on
killing or disruption of existing species and efforts to induce or support
species recovery.
Mining
Environmental law also studies the impact of mining of natural
resources from beneath the ground. The extraction of these minerals
from the ground causes pollution in the air and water as chemicals
come in contact of the environment. Mining also gets affected by
various regulations regarding  environmental impact of mining as well
as health and safety of miners.
Emissions and Construction
Environmental law will also examine the condition and quality of
housing and transportation in regards to its improvement and
expansion. In recent times, an example of how environmental law
helped to change and shape building policies is the focus on removing
lead and asbestos from building. With transportation, it can become
an issue of environmental law if a community is not served by public
transportation or adequate infrastructure so they can reach the
services and opportunities that exist around them. Also, the emissions
regulations of transportation vehicles is also of concern.
Global Initiatives in Environmental Law
The United Nation is working to coordinate consistent environmental
law applications by overseeing varies treaties and agreements
between nations that will help to make sure that global efforts towards
preserving the environment are effective. They oversee projects that
involve everything from managing emissions controls to export and
import restrictions, management of levels of known harmful
substances and the development of environmental healthprograms.
One of the complicating factors about implementing global standards
of environmental law is that so many developing countries need the
existing, and polluting, manufacturing processes and may not have
the financial ability to promote sustainable industries. By working
together and gaining signatories for the environmental efforts, more
can be done with the cooperation of developed countries to make sure
that past mistakes are not repeated.

https://www.conserve-energy-future.com/environmental-law-and-its-
components.php

10 Key International Environmental Laws

There are so many international environmental laws that it's difficult to list them all
to cover the multitude of areas that they cover. However, here is a list of the most
common agreements made across borders.

Aarhus Convention: to give it the full name Convention on Access to Information,

Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental
Matters. It was signed by 46 states and the 28 European Union member states,
coming into force on the 30th October 2001. Its main provision is the granting of the
right of information of environmental issues to citizens of signatory nations.

Biological Weapons Convention: Understanding that the use of biological

weapons harm human health and have long-term effects on ecology, the BWC was
the first agreement to completely ban a specific type of weapon. It became effective
in 1975 and in 2018 has over 180 signatories.

Convention on Biological Diversity: Maintaining conservation and promoting

biodiversity is just one of three major components to this treaty, the other two
being: sustainability of natural resources, and equity in benefit sharing. It came into
effect in 1993.

Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources: the

world's last continent was already subject to international protection and an
agreement that no one country could claim it (Antarctic Treaty 1959) when this
convention in 1980 put in place protections for its unique marine ecology to protect
environmental integrity. Similar conventions exist in other ecologically rich and
delicate areas around the globe.

Convention on Fishing and Conservation of Living Resources of the High Seas:

Fish stock is an international resource. While countries manage and fish their own
stocks within their own borders and waters, shared rights exist in international
waters. International co-operation for the conservation of marine species on the
high seas.

Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution: Air pollution in one

country is rarely limited in its effects to that one country. Air pollution requires
international agreement to tackle and control. Virtually all northern hemisphere
countries are signatories or have ratified this convention.

Framework Convention on Climate Change: This is the convention behind the

Kyoto Protocol (1997) and the Paris Agreement (2015) and behind the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Their aim is to monitor all issues
concerning climate change and to suggest treaties and laws for mitigation and
reduction of the global temperature.

US-Canada Air Quality Agreement: This treaty involving just two countries was
designed in the 1980s and came into effect in 1991. During negotiations, the media
referred to it as the “Acid Rain Treaty”. That was its major reason for being, but it
addressed several issues in the need to create a healthy environment in North
America.

Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer: The 1980s and 1990s
were critical to many changes in international standards. One of the biggest
problems from this era was the use of CFCs which were soon discovered as
damaging to the ozone layer - the protective layer of gas in the upper atmosphere.
This international treaty banned their use in most cases in a move designed to
restore atmospheric safety.

World Heritage Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural

and Natural Heritage: This groundbreaking treaty from the 1970s is responsible
for the foundation of UNESCO international protection of natural wonders and
historic monuments deemed of utmost importance to humanity. It created the
World Heritage List which consists of cultural monuments and natural features.

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