Environmental Science and Environmental Studies microbiologystudy

What is Environmental Science?

Environmental science is a multidisciplinary academic discipline that studies environmental issues with how humans affect the environment by utilizing methods from ecology, geology, meteorology, biology, chemistry, engineering, physics, and philosophy.

The quantitative field of environmental science, which incorporates theoretical and applied components, has influenced international policymaking. Environmental science and environmental studies are closely related fields that both focus on understanding and addressing environmental issues but differ in their approach, scope, and methodologies.

Environmental science focuses on scientific and technical aspects of environmental issues. It uses the scientific methods, data collection, and experimentation to explain the environmental processes, and besides these, it also uses mathematical models and statistical analysis for environmental data analysis. It also addresses the environment’s biological, physical, and chemical elements. 

For example:

• Investigating the impacts of climate change on biodiversity and ecosystems.
• Evaluating origin of contamination and level of water pollution
• Creating sustainable energy technologies.

The field of environmental studies that focuses on the political and social components of the environment and human interaction within it is seen as distinct from environmental science.

What are Environmental Studies?

Environmental studies are a broader field that incorporates social sciences, humanities, and policy analysis in addition to natural sciences. It examines the human relationship with the environment, considering ethical, political, economic, and cultural aspects.

Environmental studies integrate various fields to understand environmental issues and examine the social, cultural, and economic dimensions of environmental issues. Besides these, it also analyzes the environmental policies and their effectiveness. 

For example:

• Social and economic impacts research of environmental degradation.
• Investigating environmental ethics and justice issues.
• Integrating sustainable development strategies.

Differences in environmental science and studies

Feature	Environmental Science	Environmental Studies
Scope	Comprehensive and general	Specific and contextual
Focus	Scientific and technical aspects	Human-environment interactions
Methodology	Quantitative analysis, experimentation, objective	Qualitative research, policy analysis, subjective
Disciplines	Natural sciences	Natural sciences, social sciences, humanities
Application	Universal to global problems	Local to regional problems
Orientation	Problem solving and innovation	Critical thinking and advocacy
Examples	Climate change research, pollution studies	Environmental policy analysis, sustainability studies

Scope of Environmental Science and Environmental Studies

The contemporary discipline of environmental science emerged with the increasing public knowledge and concern about environmental issues in the 1960s and 1970s, although the examination of the environment has existed for as long as humankind.

The necessity of researching how human activity affects the environment became more apparent with the release of literature like Paul R. Ehrlich’s The Population Bomb (1968) and Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring (1962), as well as with the expansion of nuclear weapons and rising concerns about the anthropogenic release of chemicals and toxins. Assessing the impacts of catastrophes like the 1979 Three Mile Island accident or the influence of atmospheric sulfur dioxide and other emissions on acid rain fell to the emerging subject of environmental science.

The importance of environmental science has increased with human induced activities like urbanization, industrialization, and agriculture and their impacts on the environment and human health. It is developed with the subfield of natural sciences to understand the interaction of humans with the natural systems and functioning of the ecosystem.

Environmental science has a comprehensive approach and studies the Earth and its subsystems, including the atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, and biosphere. Environmental studies began in the middle of the 20^th century, following the rise of environmental activism due to the inception of the social and ethical aspects of environmental problems. It developed as a branch of the humanities and social sciences, aiming to investigate the beliefs, attitudes, actions, and systems that influence how humans interact with the environment. 

The field of environmental studies has varieties of scope, which are as follows: 

1. It raises the public awareness of various resources (renewable and non-renewable) and provides the status, trend, and future availability of resources. 
2. It gives information on the causal effect interaction of ecological systems. 
3. It gives information on species, genetic diversity, microbes, and human population and threats due to various environmental activities.
4. It provides information on causes and consequences of various natural and man-made disasters (floods, landslides, soil erosion, earthquakes, cyclones, hurricanes, etc.) and their mitigation measures. 
5. It provides the alternative measures to reduce environmental problems.
6. It helps in the decision making process by understanding the environmental acts, laws, rules, and regulations.
7. It provides awareness of sanitation and human well-being. 
8. It makes integration of indigenous technology into the modern infrastructure to protect the environment.
9. It makes educate the younger generation about the sustainable use of resources.
10. It focuses on giving the knowledge of theory into practice. 

Importance of Environmental Sciences and Environmental Studies

The importance of environmental science and environmental studies is to provide technical solutions to practical means to reduce environmental issues.

The overall importance of environmental studies helps to execute the following details, which are listed as follows:

1. The highly increased populations in developing countries.
2. The earth has finite resources.
3. Highly overused resources made future generations have problems sustaining their lives.
4. Overexploitation of natural resources caused environmental pollution. 
5. The environmental pollution has a direct impact on human health. 
6. Necessary mitigation measures should be adopted to reduce the deterioration of the environment. 
7. Awareness about the importance of biodiversity is necessary to prevent the extinction of species. 
8. Unmanaged urbanization and industries are the primary reasons of the pollution.

Branches of Environmental Science

There are several branches within the environmental science which are discussed below:

Natural Sciences

• Ecology: Ecology is an investigation of how living things interact with their environment.
• Biology: Biology is the investigation of living things and their life processes. 
• Chemistry: Chemistry is the investigation of matter and its properties.
• Physics: Physics is the investigation of energy and matter with their interactions.
• Geology: Geology is the investigation of Earth’s structure, composition, and history.

Social Sciences

• Environmental Sociology: Investigation of society and environment interaction.
• Environmental Economics: Investigation of the economic value of environmental goods and services. 
• Environmental Policy: Application of policy and law to preserve the environment.
• Environmental Anthropology: Investigation of various cultural interactions with their environment.

Humanities

• Environmental Ethics: Investigation of moral standards and values related to the environment.
• Environmental Philosophy: Investigation of environmental problems from a philosophical perspective.
• Environmental Literature: Investigation of literature that examines the interaction between people and their surroundings. 

Conclusion

Hence, environmental science is the multidisciplinary academic discipline that deals with the studies of the interaction of humans and the environment with consequences like environmental pollution. These details help to minimize and mitigate the environmental pollution to make a better future in a sustainable manner.

References

1. Brinkman, S. (2017). Environmental Studies: Interdisciplinary Perspectives. Routledge. 
2. Cunningham, W. P., & Cunningham, M. A. (2015). Environmental science: a global concern. Thirteenth edition. New York, NY, McGraw-Hill Education. 
3. Kte’pi, B. (2024, September 23). Environmental science | Definition & Facts. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/science/environmental-science
4. Miller, G. T. (2016). Environmental Science (15th ed.). Cengage Learning.