Today

• Definitions
• Scope and importance
• Environmental issues

• Reading: Section 1.1 and 1.2 of Cunningham

and Cunningham book.
 Definitions
Environment:
• The circumstances or conditions that surround
an organism or group of organisms, or
• The complex of social or cultural conditions
that affect an individual or community.
– Humans inhabit the natural world as well as the
‘built’ or technological, social, and cultural world,
all constitute important part of our environment
 Definitions
Environmental science –
• It is he systematic study of our environment and our
proper place in it.
• Highly interdisciplinary, integrating natural sciences,
social sciences, and humanities
Foresters know how to plant trees, but not how
to develop cities without affecting plantations.
Engineers know how to control pollution but they may
not have right to persuade factories
• It seeks new, valid, contextual knowledge about the
natural world and our impact on it.
 Environmental problems
• The most amazing feature of our planet is the rich
diversity of life that exists here – diverse but self-
sustaining communities
• Impact of increasing population on our natural
resources and ecological systems have created
serious concerns
– Clean water: lack of adequate supplies of safe drinking
water; lack of sanitation causing ill health
– Food supplies: 2/3rd of all agricultural lands show signs
of degradation; 850 million people are now
undernourished; 60 million people face acute food
shortages due to natural disasters or conflicts
 Environmental problems
• Energy: Overexploitation of fossil fuels (oil, coal, and natural gas); air
and water pollution; mining damage, shipping accidents; alternate
energy sources such as solar power, wind, biomass, geothermal etc.
• Climate change: burning fossil fuels, clearing forests, making cement,
etc.; increasing release of CO2 and other ‘greenhouse gases’; trapping
heat in the atmosphere; increasing extreme weather conditions
floods, droughts etc. glacier melting
• Air pollution: 3km thick toxic haze of ash, acids, aerosols, dust, and
photochemical products covering entire Indian subcontinent for
much of the year.
• Biodiversity loss: Habitat destruction, overexploitation, pollution, and
introduction of exotic organisms are eliminating species.
 Human Population Issue
• Several factors determine the impact of a society on
natural resources.
– Population size
– Population density
– Degree of technological development
 Climate change
• Increase in CO2 due to:
– Burning fossil fuels, making cement, cultivating
rice paddies, clearing forests, etc.
• Increasing heat in the atmosphere

Anomaly: Deviation or departure from

the normal or common order, form, or
rule.