Environmental Science An Interdisciplinary Science Interrelatedness Web Environmental

Environmental Science An Interdisciplinary Science

Interrelatedness Web Environmental Science

There are many different fields of study that relate to and influence environmental science. 1. Biology influences environmental science because all the living things in the environment, especially humans can change the environment 2. Chemistry influences it because there are molecular interactions between organisms that must be understood. For example how energy is passed from organism to organism.

3. Physics is used to understand the flux in material in the environment as well as to build mathematical models of environmental phenomenon. 4. Earth sciences are used to understand the changes in the nonliving environment. 5. Economics, government and law are all used to understand the impact of good and bad environmental practices, how laws may influence the bettering of the environment 6. Ethics is used to understand the right and wrong of environmental actions.

Why are Environmental Problems Difficult To Solve ? 1. Everyone thinks they know the best solution 2. People argue from a position of belief instead of knowledge 3. Failure to recognize that environmental problems are intrinsically complex 4. Just blame Corporate America, your parents, the establishment, whatever and abdicate personal responsibility

An acute, but subtle and unrecognizable problem in society today is a slow move away from the idea that we live in a "rational" world, to an idea that the world can act arbitrarily. This can largely be attributed to the following: • Science has been tremendously devalued - it is not understood as a process. Science fiction often substitutes for reality. • People are losing the skill to distinguish between credible and incredible information sources. • People think we are a lot smarter than we really are and that problems have therefore been solved.

ØThese issues are extremely relevant to environmental debate. If we all act arbitrarily and just "make-up" the relevant physics, then no convergence can be achieved. ØIf a newspaper headline says that 1 billion salmon are killed a day by Bonneville dam - most people will just believe that. In other words, a) number mean nothing to us and b) we have lost our desire to ask questions and ask to see the data which means anyone can sell the public anything, these days. ØThere is an increasing tendency for everyone to act in their own self-interest. Again, if this is done in an arbitrary way it exacerbates the problem.

Why is science important and not boring? Science is a process whereby aspects of a problem are discovered. It is a process without answers but a process that points to the kinds of questions which should be asked. It is this process, as applied to particular environmental problems, that we will study during this term.

The fundamental problem: U. S. 307, 417, 652 World 6, 783, 455, 636 Sep 11, 2009 These people need energy and resources. Sustainable growth may be a myth but managing resources in an intelligent, responsible and long term way is not a myth. But to do that requires an understanding of basic scientific principles and methods of data acquisition and analysis.