INTRODUCTION TO

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
Presented By: Hassan Raza
LEARNING OUTCOMES:

 By the end of the lecture students will be able to know

about:
 Environment; its components and elements.
 Relationship between Humans and Environment
 Need for Environmental Studies
CONCEPT OF ENVIRONMENT

 Definition: The term environment is derived from a French word ‘environner’

which means ‘surrounding’.
 It means the surrounding external conditions influencing development or growth
of people, animals or plants; living or working conditions etc. This involves three
questions:

 1. What is surrounded?
 2. By what Surrounded?
 3. Where Surrounded?
 Man cannot exist or be understood in isolation from other forms of life. Hence,
environment can also be referred to as the sum total of conditions, which
surround living things.
ELEMENTS OF ENVIRONMENT:

 Environment is established by the interacting systems of physical, biological and cultural

elements inter-related in various ways, individually as well as collectively. These elements may be
explained as under:
 Physical elements:
 Physical elements are space, landforms, water bodies, climate soils, rocks and minerals. They
determine the variable character of the human habitat, its opportunities as well as limitations.
 Biological elements:
 Biological elements such as plants, animals, microorganisms and men constitute the biosphere.
 Cultural elements:
 Cultural elements such as economic, social and political elements are essentially manmade
features, which make cultural environment.