Environmental science, 2015-2017
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Environmental science is an interdisciplinary study of the interrelationships between physical, chemical, and biological features of the natural environment. Environmental science incorporates ecology (the study of living organisms and their environment), biology, chemistry, zoology (the study of animal populations and behavior), geology (the study of the Earth's physical constitution), and other disciplines.[1]
Background
Environmental science focuses on the study of how biological, chemical, and physical components in the natural environment interact with themselves and with living organisms such as plants, animals, and human beings. Topics in environmental science include the structure and composition of natural ecosystems, the movement of sunlight, soil, and water through the environment, changes in animal and plant populations, geological formations, the physical and chemical composition of the atmosphere, agriculture, and the sources and effects of air, water, and soil pollution. Environmental scientists perform their work in laboratories and during field research where data samples are collected.[2][3][4]
Further, environmental scientists may oversee commercial development or construction projects that may affect the natural environment. Environmental scientists may recommend practices to minimize potential environmental effects. Federal, state and local governments also employ environmental scientists to collect and study air, water, or land samples for the purpose of understanding and reducing pollution in a given area.[3][4]
Areas of study
Environmental science incorporates several scientific disciplines, some of which are described below:[2][4][3]
- Ecology: Ecology is the study of the relationship between the environment and living organisms. Ecologists observe microscopic organisms, plants, and animals and how they interact with their environments and habitats. Ecology spans several scientific areas of study, including the movement of energy (such as sunlight and nutrients) through the environment, changes to environments and species over decades or centuries, the population and distribution of organisms in a geographic area, and more.
- Earth science (also known as geoscience): Earth scientists study the Earth's physical constitution, including geological layers within and below the Earth's crust, soils, and volcanoes.[5][6][7]
- Atmospheric science: Atmospheric science focuses on the physical and chemical components of Earth's atmosphere, including clouds, gases, and aerosols, and how they affect climate, weather, and living organisms. Atmospheric science incorporates meteorology, which is the study of atmospheric effects on weather conditions, and climatology, the study of normally prevailing weather conditions, such as precipitation, temperature, wind velocity, and more, averaged over decades, centuries, or millennia.[8]
- Environmental chemistry: Environmental chemistry is the study of naturally occurring and human-generated chemicals and how they interact with the atmosphere, ground-level air, soils, surface water, and groundwater.[9]
- Environmental health: Environmental health is the study of environmental factors, such as inorganic chemicals or microbes, and their effects human health and the environment. Environmental health studies may focus on how chemicals and microorganisms contaminate air, soil, or water and how these chemicals and microbes may contribute to illness or disease in human beings at a certain level of exposure.[10]
- Environmental restoration: Environmental restoration is the process of recovering an impaired, damaged, and/or destroyed ecosystem, including oceans, lakes, streams, fields, forests, wetlands, soils, fisheries, and coastlines. Environmental restoration specialists focus on recovering an ecosystem to the point where it contains sufficient biological and physical resources needed to maintain its condition and deal with regular environmental stress (such as heavy rainfall or storms) without further human assistance.[11][12]
See also
Footnotes
- ↑ Global Development Research Center, "Glossary of Environmental Terms," accessed February 23, 2015
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Conserve Energy Future, "What is Environmental Science?" accessed June 5, 2017
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Encyclopedia Britannica, "Environmental science," accessed June 7, 2017
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, "What Environmental Scientists and Specialists Do," accessed February 23, 2015
- ↑ Encyclopedia of Earth, "Ecology," December 15, 2016
- ↑ Cary Institute, "Definition of Ecology," accessed December 15, 2016
- ↑ Science Clarified, "Ecology," accessed December 15, 2016
- ↑ National Aeronautrics and Atmospheric Administration, "Choosing a Career in Atmospheric Science," accessed May 31, 2017
- ↑ American Chemical Society, "Environmental Chemists," accessed February 23, 2015
- ↑ New Jersey Department of Health, "Registered Environmental Health Specialist," accessed February 20, 2015
- ↑ National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, "Environmental Restoration," accessed February 24, 2015
- ↑ U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, "Remediation Technologies," accessed February 23, 2015
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