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Introduction to Environmental Measurements
Published in Somenath Mitra, Pradyot Patnaik, Barbara B. Kebbekus, Environmental Chemical Analysis, 2018
Somenath Mitra, Pradyot Patnaik, Barbara B. Kebbekus
The entire world is the environmental scientist's laboratory. Environmental science takes for its own the study of the composition of the atmosphere, water, soil, and how materials are taken up and given back by plants and animals. It examines the transport of various chemical species, elements, and compounds, among the atmosphere, the hydrosphere, the geosphere, and the biosphere. Of great importance in the development of this branch of science has been the realization that human activities are having an increasing effect, frequently not for the better, on the natural environment.
Introduction
Published in Danny D. Reible, Fundamentals of Environmental Engineering, 2017
Engineering involves the application of fundamental scientific principles to the development and implementation of technologies needed to satisfy human needs. For environmental engineering the body of knowledge whose application defines the discipline is environmental science and the goal of the discipline is satisfying present and future human needs through protection of the environment. Such a broad definition, however, does little to define the actual function of an environmental engineer. Even the core science, environmental science, includes aspects of each of the physical, natural, and life sciences. This has made it difficult to characterize environmental engineering and has led to widely varying views as to its focus and responsibilities.
Sustainable Development: How to Avoid Collapse and Build a Better Society
Published in John C. Ayers, Sustainability, 2017
From an environmental science perspective, sustainable development is defined as “development without growth in throughput of matter and energy beyond regenerative and adsorptive capacities” (Goodland and Daly 1996). Sustainable development improves the human condition by meeting human needs in both the short and long term, but a country is truly sustainable only if its environmental impact, best measured by the ecological footprint, is less than its biocapacity.
The contrasting roles of science and technology in environmental challenges
Published in Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology, 2019
Nikolaos Voulvoulis, Mark A. Burgman
In line with the definitions above, environmental science, as the process of understanding how humans interact with the natural environment, and environmental technology, as the process of applying this understanding to address environmental challenges, can be distinguished as interdependent and complementary. Environmental science studies the mechanisms and processes underlying our interactions with the natural environment, the implications for the environment of the complexity and uncertainty brought on by economic, technological and social change (Walls, Brody, Dillon, & Stevenson, 2014); while environmental technology allows us to apply this knowledge and take the actions necessary to prevent, prepare for, or mitigate environmental risks. Environmental Technology has the potential to transform how we interact with nature and allow society to apply available scientific knowledge to truly progress; with “progress” an axiological or a normative concept, which should be distinguished from such neutral descriptive terms as “change” (Niiniluoto, 1995).