CHAPTER-1

Environmental Science and its Multidisciplinary

nature
Learning Objectives:

➢ Environmental Science, Its definition, History and Components

➢ How environmental science is multidisciplinary in nature
➢ Aim, scope and importance of environmental science
➢ Need for public awareness

1.1. Environmental science

The term environment is derived from French word 'environ', means to encircle or surround. It
is a composite word for the surrounding in which organism or group of organisms live. The
environment consists of both biotic (living) and abiotic (nonliving) substances, i.e., consist of
air, water, food, sunlight, temperature, electricity etc. So, one can define the environment as,
"It is the sum total of all social, economical, biological, physical and chemical factors which
constitute all surroundings of men or living organism, who is both creator and modular of this
environment".

Environmental science is an academic field that integrates physical, biological and information
sciences to the study of environment and the solution of environmental problems.
Environmental science emerged from the fields of natural history and medicine during
enlightenment. Environmental studies deal with working of earth, its life support system, its
interactions, influences its problems and solutions. Keeping in view the complex nature of
environment, knowledge and information from various disciplines of science, social sciences,
laws and engineering have to be included in environmental studies.

All organisms including human being are affected by environmental changes. These changes
in environment may harm or benefit the all organisms living in it. Environmental science is the
application of all fields of natural science towards solving environmental problems.

1.2. History
Our relationship with the environment has evolved as we and our technology have evolved.
Environmental historians identified four basic stages in the evolution. These stages are largely
determined by the economic activity in which humans engage using a technologies available.
These four stages are:

i. Hunting and gathering: Early humans were depending upon the hunting and gathering of
food for their nutrition. At that stage weather, predators, food shortage and diseases were
common threats.
ii. Agriculture and conservationism: As the rate of population increased day by day, food
requirements had not fulfilled by only hunting and gathering. So in this stage There was a shift
from hunting and gathering to cultivating food is one of the most profound milestones in human
evolution. People began to view land as a resource to be exploited wherever needed. Towards
the end of the agricultural stage, the loss of wilderness became so great that alarmed citizens
began conservation movement to set up preserves for the remaining wilderness.

iii. Industry and environmentalism: The industrial revolution had increased for the fulfilment
of human need, conservation of time and rapid productivity. As nation industrialized,
population had grown faster and the environment was perceived more and more as a place to
dispose of the concentrated waste by-products of industry. The result was the rapid increase in
air and water pollution, as well as problems with solid and hazardous waste disposal. Towards
the end of the stage, pollution becomes so widespread that antipollution social movements
emerge. Therefore the rising public concern led to the passage of landmark environmental
legislation throughout the world.

iv. Transition and sustainability: Due to the increasing rate of pollution, Environmental
problems have become so widespread that they demand large scale solutions that involve many
aspects of society. Beginning of the early nineties, a sustainability movement has emerge to try
to deal with these problems. Sustainability means meeting the needs of today without reducing
the quality of life for future generation.

1.3. Multidisciplinary nature of Environmental Science

It is the study of the interaction of physical, chemical and biological components of human
surroundings. To put it straight any action taken by human and its effect on the surrounding
and vice versa comes under the purview of Environmental Science. Lemme give an example,
air pollution is a grave issue threatening the existence of life on Earth.

In recent time , considering the extent of various environmental problem like Air Pollution,
Water Pollution, it is clearly observed that all these problems are somehow integrally
associated. For example as the air pollution is increasing, the global temperature increases
which further causes the growth of blue green algae in ponds and rivers causing eutrophication.
Also considering the variables that contribute to our immediate environment like humans,
animals, insects, microbes, air, water, temperature, Sun, etc. etc. and their complex interactions.
Many theories like Gaia hypothesis, has already proven that nothing on this planet earth is
isolated. We all are somehow contribute to everything else in this biosphere. There are usually
rippling effects that occur when there is a disturbance to an area’s natural environment. For
example, what if there is a proposal to build a housing development in an area where there is a
natural forest inhabited by many indigenous organisms
 The science of Environment studies is a multidisciplinary science because it depends
on various disciplines like chemistry, physics, medical science, etc. It is the science of physical
phenomena in the environment. It is inherently a multidisciplinary field that draws upon not
only its core scientific areas, but also applies knowledge from other non-scientific studies such
as economic, law and social science.

i. Physics:

• To understand the flux of material and energy interaction.

• To construct mathematical models of environment.

ii. Chemistry: To understand the molecular interactions in the system.

iii. Biology: To describe the effects within the plant and animal kingdom and their diversity.

iv. Atmospheric Science:

• To examine the phenomenology of the Earth's gaseous outer layer with emphasis upon
interrelation to other systems.
• It comprises meteorological studies, greenhouse gas phenomena, airborne
contaminants, sound propagation phenomena related to noise pollution, and even light
pollution.

v. Ecology:

• To analyse the dynamics among an interrelated set of populations, or a population and

some aspects of its environment.
• These studies could endangered species, predator interactions, effects upon populations
by environmental contaminants, or impact analysis of proposed land development upon
species viability.
vi. Environmental Chemistry:

• To study the chemical alterations in the environment.

• Principal areas of study include soil contamination and water pollution.
• The topics of analysis involve chemical degradation in the environment, multi-phase
transport of chemicals and chemical effects upon biota.

vii. Geo-science:

• It includes environmental geology, environmental soil science, volcanic phenomena

and evolution of the earth's crust.
• In some classification systems, it can also embrace hydrology including oceanography.

viii. Mathematics and Computer Science: It will help in environmental modelling and
analysis of environment related data.

ix. Economics: It deals with economical aspects of various components of environment.

x. Law: It helps in framing of environment related laws, Acts, rules and their monitoring.

xi. Social Science: It helps in dealing with population and health related issues.

1.4. Components of Environment

Environments consists of all living and non living things which surround us. Therefore the
basic component of environment are generally consist of two components such as biotic
(living) component and abiotic (nonliving) component.

COMPONENTS OF THE ENVIRONMENT

ABIOTIC
BIOTIC

PRODUCER
CONSUMER DECOMPOSER ATMOSPHERE HYDROSPHERE LITHOSPHERE

i. Biotic component: The biotic component of the environment is mainly consist of all living
organisms such as all flora, fauna and microorganisms which constitute the biosphere.
Biosphere is generally consist of three types of living organisms. These three types:

a) Producer: Producers are generally green plants and other photosynthetic bacteria which
produces various organic substances such as carbohydrates, proteins etc. with the help of water,
soil and light energy.
b) Consumer: Consumers depend for their nutrition on the organic food produced by the green
plants.

c) Decomposer: Decomposers bring about the decomposition of dead plants and animals and
return various important minerals for the running of the biogeochemical cycle.

The biosphere on encompasses all the zones on the earth in which life is present, i.e. entire bio-
resources of the earth. It develops on earth since 4.5 billion year through evolutionary process.
At the top of the lithosphere, throughout the hydrosphere and into the lower atmosphere, life
of diverse type exists. These bio-resources and their surrounding constitute the "Biosphere"
where mankind acts as the most evolved creature.

This biosphere layer extends over most of the surface of the earth. It includes the upper layers
of the earth's crust and the thick layer of soil that supports plant life. This zone of life also
extends about 8 km. up into the atmosphere and up to [Link] into the depth of the sea.
Living organisms are not distributed uniformly on globe: few organisms live on polar ice caps
and glaciers, whereas many live in tropical rainforests. Within the biosphere, there are several
major regions containing specific types of ecosystems. These major regions are called biomes.
Biomes are then recognized by the types of dominant ecosystem- tropical rain forests,
temperate forests, prairies, deserts and arctic tundra. The ecosystems again are composed of
population which is composed of individuals.

ii. Abiotic component: The abiotic component of the environment is mainly consist of all
nonliving things which constitutes atmosphere (a sphere consist of air), hydrosphere (a sphere
consist of water) and lithosphere (a sphere consist of rock or soil).

a. Atmosphere: The earth's atmosphere, a complex fluid system of gases and suspended
particles, did not have its origin in the beginning of the planet. The atmosphere as of today has
been derived from the Earth itself by chemical and biochemical reactions. Although the fluid
system forms a gaseous envelope around the Earth, its boundaries are not easily defined. They
can be arbitrarily defined as the Earth's atmosphere interface and space interface.

Atmosphere consists of a complex mixture of gases, water vapour and a variety of fine
particulate matter. The gaseous mantle which surrounds the globe is constituted by about 5.15x
1015 metric tonnes of gas which exerts a pressure of about 1 kg per [Link]. on earth's crust. Most
of these gases are compressed in the lower most layer due to the pressure of lower layer above
it. Pressure decreases as we move upward.

The composition of earth atmosphere.

Gas Parts per million Relative percentage

Nitrogen 780832.00 78.08
 Oxygen 209460.00 20.95
Argon 9340.00 00.93
Carbon dioxide 403.00 00.03
Neon 18.0 00.0018
Ozone 0.07 00.000007

Structure of atmosphere

Based primarily on the temperature pattern, Earth's atmosphere can be roughly divided into
four major zones:

Troposphere: The zone immediately above earth's surface is known as the troposphere which
extends up to a height of about 20 km above the equator and about 8 km above the pole. The
temperature in this zone drops with height being as low as -60°C at its upper extremity.

Stratosphere: The layer next to troposphere is called stratosphere. It is about 30 km in

thickness and is a very important zone of atmosphere as it contains the vital ozone layer. The
temperature in this zone rises from -60°C to about 0°C in its upper layers. The rise in
temperature is due to the formation of ozone under the influence of ultra-violet radiation.

Mesosphere: It is a zone about 40 kms in thickness which lies next to the stratosphere. This
zone is characterised by gradual decline in temperature to about -90°C.

Thermosphere: It is the zone next to mesosphere in which temperature increases with height.
Most of the constituents of this zone are in ionized state.

b. Hydrosphere

This sphere of the environment is consist of water. Water is absolutely essential for life on this
planet. It is a natural resource of fundamental importance. It includes both marine and fresh
water. It includes the surface water and its surrounding interface. Water possesses a number of
physical and chemical properties that help the molecule to act as best suited medium of life
activities. The movement of water from earth surface to atmosphere through hydrological cycle
appears to be a close system.

Water is the most abundant substance on the Earth's surface. The ocean cover approximately
71% water of the planet, glaciers and ice caps cover additional areas. Water is also found in
lakes and streams, in soils and underground reservoirs, in the atmosphere, and in the bodies of
all living organisms.

c. Lithosphere: Lithosphere is the outer layer of solid earth and the discontinuity within the
mantle. The lithosphere is nothing but a crustal system composed of various layers: core,
mantle and outer crust. Various elements constitute such crustal layer in mixture of different
proportions. In general the earth crust is composed of three major classes of rocks: Igneous
rocks, sedimentary rocks and metamorphosed rocks. There are two types of crusts: continental
crust which is composed of granitic rocks in silicon aluminium and with a mean density of 2.8;
the outer oceanic crust which is basaltic in composition consisting of more basic minerals and
has a mean density of 3.0.

Elementary composition of earth's crust

Elements Percentage
1. Oxygen 46.6
2. Silicon 27.7
3. Aluminium 8.1
4. Iron 5.0
5. Calcium 3.6
6. Sodium 2.8
7. Potassium 2.6
8. Magnesium 2.0
9. Hydrogen 0.9
10. Titanium 0.41
11. Chlorine 0.20
12. Carbon 0.19
13. Others 1.00

Composition of material in earth

1.5. Importance and Scope of Environmental Science

Scope of environmental science is so wide that it has got relation with every science and
scientific aspects. Both the living and nonliving objects contribute to the scope of this study in
different fields such as:

i. Conservation of natural resources like forest, water, air, mineral etc. and its management.

ii. Conservation of biodiversities like genetic diversity, ecosystem diversity, landscape

diversity etc.

iii. Control of environmental pollutions like air pollution, soil pollution, solid waste pollution,
noise pollution, electronic waste pollution etc.

iv. Replacement of development (like green revolution, urbanization, economic growth and
industrialization etc.) with sustainable development.

v. Control of human population.

vi. Helps in solving various other problems like weather effects, climatic changes, flood,
earthquake, cyclones etc.

1.6. Main objectives of environmental studies are:

i. It acquires an awareness of the environment as a whole and its related problems.

ii. Gains a variety of experiences and acquire a basic understanding and knowledge about the
environment and its allied problems.

iii. The requirements of good environment such as for pure air, pure water and pure food.

iv. To avoid global environmental issues like global warming, ozone depletion, acid rain,
marine pollution and threatening of biodiversity.

The objectives of environmental studies are to develop a world in which persons are aware and
concerned about environment and the problems associated with it, and committed to work
individually as well as collectively towards the solution of current problems and prevention of
future problems.

1.7. Public awareness

Increasing population growth, urbanization, industrialization, mining and smelting of ores
contributes towards air, water, soil and noise pollution. The polluted environment causes health
hazards and exerts threats on economic, aesthetic and cultural activities of the human beings.
It is therefore essential to make the public aware of the alarming consequences of the
environmental degradation. As we are facing various problems, it is of much importance to
make the public aware of these problems so as to act eco-friendly. Some of these challenges
are:
i. Air, soil and water pollution: As air, soil and water are the essential components for the
survival of the living organisms, it is a great challenge for solving the problems of air, soil and
water pollution.

The primary sources of air pollution is vehicular emission, industrial emission, burning of fossil
fuel etc. Because of industrialization, urbanization is growing rapidly. Hence a major challenge
is to cope with rapid urbanization.

There is agricultural growth in the high yielding varieties. But, due to this, the physical
structure of the soil and nature of soil has been spoiled. In view of this, we must use all the
organic matters instead of using any chemical fertilisers for better growth and yield. Similarly
water and wind are the major factors for soil erosion. Pasture lands are overgrazed by livestock.
Such degradation is to be avoided.

The human activities like discharge of community waste, industrial waste, chemical fertilizers
and pesticides used in agriculture have polluted surface water and affected the quality of ground
water. It is an important challenge to restore the water quality of the water bodies for the benefit
of the living system.

ii. Growing population: Population is growing at the rate of 2.11% every year. It puts
considerable pressure on the natural resources and hampers in the development. Hence, the
greatest challenge before us is to limit the population growth.

iii. Poverty: The population growth is related with poverty. The poverty and environmental
degradation are interrelated. The vast majority of our people are dependent on the natural
resources for their basic needs of food, fuel shelter and fodder. Environmental degradation
adversely affects all the peoples who depend on the resource of their environment. Thus, these
are the greatest challenge before us.

iv. Preservation of Forests: Due to increased population, industrialization and urbanization,

forests are destroyed. Due to deforestation, Peoples are suffering many problems such as
famine, drought and damage of flora and fauna for which development is hampered. The
strategies for the management of forests should be evolved so as to develop the economic
growth of the country.

v. Public awareness through institutions: Public awareness should be developed through

institutions where the people would be educated and learn about the harmfulness of
environmental degradation and various problems regarding the management of resource, waste
and disaster.

There are several organizations in India such as Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS),
Mumbai, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF-I), New Delhi; Centre for Science and
Environment (CSE), Ahmadabad; Bharati Vidyapeeth Institute of Environment Education and
Research (BVIEER), Pune; Uttarakhand Seva Nidhi (UKSN), Almora; Wildlife Institute of
India (WII), Dehradun; Botanical Survey of India (BSI), Kolkata; Zoological Survey of India
(ZSI).
There are several number of internationally known environmentalists, scientist, administrators,
legal experts, educationalists and journalists who have contributed a lot to the environmental
activities. Among them Salim Ali, Indira Gandhi, S. P. Godrej, M.S. Swaminathan, M. Gadgil,
M. C. Mehta, Anil Agarwal, Medha Patkar and Sunderlal Bahuguna. Medha Patkar supported
the Narmada Bachao Andolan and Sunderlal Bahuguna started Chipko Movement as regards
the Tehri Dam.

Since all the essential necessities of life are derived from the environment, we should therefore.
be educated about our responsibilities towards the environment. That is why the study of
environment as the name of Environmental Science or Environmental education or
Environmental studies is compulsory for all of us.

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REVIEW QUESTIONS

A. Short answer type questions:

i. Define environmental science.

ii. Differentiate between biotic and abiotic component of environment.

iii. Name any two from each biotic and abiotic component.

iv. Name any four organization related to environmental activities.

v. Why Medha Patkar and Sunderlal Bahuguna were well known?

vi. What is ozone? In which sphere ozone layer exists.

vii. Write down any four scopes of environmental science.

viii. What is decomposer? Give two examples of decomposer.

B. Long answer type questions:

i. What is environmental science? Why it is multi disciplinary in nature?

ii. Describe the different components of environment.

iii. Enumerate the scope and importance of environmental studies.

iv. Discuss the public awareness towards the environmental education.