Introduction to Environmental Studies

1.8.   Introduction to the Concept of a Sustainable Environment: Sustainable environment is state in which the demands placed on the environment can be met without reducing its capacity to allow all people to live well, now and in the future. Environmental sustainability is defined as responsible interaction with the environment to avoid depletion or degradation of natural resources and allow for long-term environmental quality. The maintenance of the factors and practices that contribute to the quality of environment on a long-term basis. While it may seem that environmental sustainability and sustainable development are one in the same, there is quite a few ways in which they diverge in their goals. They do have the same overall goal that of conserving natural resources and creating more energy efficient projects and practices. However, the two groups that are focused on them may find themselves in disagreement about what the priorities of actions are. Having a better ...

1.7. Issues of the Built Environment: The human-dominated built environment now existed on vast areas of the Earth's surface, and it is hard to define areas that are not affected by human activity. The impacts that, human actions have had on the natural environment in the past 10,000 years are so negative that, there emerged international efforts to protect the natural environment and earth’s Ecosystem due to creation of the built environment.  At first emerged the Montreal Protocol that protects the ozone layer from excessive depletion, and the Kyoto Protocol attempted to reduce greenhouse gases emissions in order to protect the integrity of all ecosystems from climate change. Both these conventions required substantial ‘investment’ by humans in protecting and regenerating what might traditionally be defined as ‘natural’ systems or ecosystem services.  At global level natural ecosystems support more than 7.5 billion humans. Whereas directly or indirectly human...

1.6. Actors and Factors; Indicators and Variables of the Built Environment: The phrase built environment is typically described as an interdisciplinary field that addresses the design, construction, management, and use of man-made surroundings as an interrelated whole as well as their relationship to human activities over the period of time.   The built environment field or domain of knowledge is generally not regarded as a traditional profession or academic discipline in its own right, instead drawing upon areas such as economics, law, public policy, public health, management, geography, design, engineering, technology, and environmental sustainability.  Within the field of public health, built environments are referred to as building or renovating areas in an effort to improve the community’s well-being through construction of aesthetically, health improved, and environmentally improved landscapes and living structures.   The term built environment is...

1.5. Technological Advancements and Society: Technological advancements and society (or social life and technologies or social environment and technologies or technological advancements and culture) referred to as the process of a cyclical co-dependence, co-influence, and co-production of technology and society or their interdependence i.e. technology upon society, technology upon social life, technology upon social environment and the technology upon culture, and vice versa. This relationship occurred from the dawn of humankind with invention of simple tools and continues into modern technologies. The importance of stone tools, some 2.5 million years ago, is considered fundamental in the human development, during the initial hunter and gatherer society of men and women. Where men were the hunters and women were the gatherers. The control of fire by early humans and the associated development of cooking was the spark that radically changed the human evolution. The early adva...

1.4. Economy and Politics and their role in the Environment: Economy as a noun means the state of a country or region in terms of the production and consumption of goods and services and the supply of money or careful management of available resources. An economy is the system according to which the money, industry, and trade of a country or region are organized. A country's economy is the wealth that it gets from business and industry. Economy is the use of the minimum amount of money, time, or other resources needed to achieve something, so that nothing is wasted.  Economy in its broadest sense is defined as a social domain that emphasizes the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the production, use, and management of resources'. It involve economic agents. Economic agents are the individuals, businesses, organizations, or governments. Economic agents perform economic activity. Economic activity is spurred by production which uses natura...

1.3. Sociology, Art, Culture and their Relationship with the Built Environment: Sociology means interaction of people to make a family unit, social group, community and society. Sociology is the study of the development, structure, and functioning of human society or the study of social problems. [i]   Art means skills that a social group acquire to create artefacts and then appreciate the work of art in the form of paintings, sculpture, music, dance, clothes, literature, and architecture etc. Art is the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power. [ii]   Culture is the outcome of collective knowledge & wisdom passed from one generation to another. Culture is the ideas, customs, and social behavior of a particular people or society. Culture is the way of life of a group of people including their behavi...

1.2. Components of Physical and Non-Physical Aspects of the Environment: The components of physical and nonphysical aspects of the environment can be obtained by the physical and nonphysical elements that composed the environment on this planet. It is like thought, action and the material and its integration and repercussions. The part of the human environment that includes purely physical factors as soil, climate, water supply. The physical environment can be defined as that which operates on an ongoing basis regardless of persons in it. The physical environment then affects the actions of and outcomes concerning the people within it. The physical environment includes land, air, water, plants and animals. Buildings and other infrastructure and all of the natural resources that provide our basic needs and opportunities for social and economic development. Say for example you are playing a sport and it is a windy and sunny day. You have to adjust your game to ensure that you ...