Home > Environment > Our Changing Environment > THE GOALS OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE

THE GOALS OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE

Unlike biology, geology, chemistry, and physics— sciences that seek to establish general principles about how the natural world functions— environmental science is, by its very nature, an ap­plied science, a form of problem solving: it is the search for constructive alternatives to environmen­tal damage. The science of ecology, a discipline of biology that studies the interrelationships between living organisms and their environment, is the basic tool of environmental science, and so we begin our study with a detailed treatment of ecol­ogy. Using what we have learned about ecology, we

The Earth Summit

In June 1992, representative from around the world met in Rio de Janeiro. Brazil, for a summit conference officially called the United Nation Conference on Environment and Development.  Countries attending the conference examined environmental problems that cross international borders problems that are truly global in nature: pollution and deterioration of the planet's atmosphere and oceans; destruction of forests; and a decline n the number and kinds of living organisms. It is easy for the representatives of a country to say that that country supports a cleaner environment but the actual specifies what is going to be done, how soon, how much its going to costs and who’s going to pay are very difficult to agree upon. The issue were discussed and debated at 1992 Earth summit included. Climate change: A treaty that would curb carbon dioxide emission, thereby reducing the green house effect. Although no timetable was agreed upon, the treaty at least starts the process of stabilizing carbon dioxide emissions. Biological Diversity: A treaty that would decrease the rate of extinction of the world’s endangered species. Deforestation: A statement of principle regarding the destruction of the world’s forest. Agenda 21: A complex action plan for the 21^st century in which developed nations would provide money to help developing countries become industrialized without harming the environment. Earth Charter (the Rio Declaration): A statement of philosophy about environment and development.

The statement of principles on deforesta­tion was originally to have been a legally binding treaty that would stop developing nations from burning tropical forests. Developing countries objected that the treaty unfairly focused and did not address the logging of old-growth forests in the United States, Canada, and Europe. When a compromise could not be reached, the treaty was scrapped for a weaker statement that is not legally binding. The pre summit negotiations for the remaining topics were equally complex. In general the poorer developing nations felt that their top priority had to be economic survival rather than saving the environment. They express the willingness to follow the environmental mandates of industrialized countries, but if only these countries contributed money to help them protect the environment. Industrialized nations, for their part, acknowledged that they had some responsibilities toward developing nations but also stressed that the current rapid population growth and industrialization of developing nations threatens to do more environmental damage than was done by developed countries when they were becoming industrialized. Thus, developed countries want developing countries to focus on slowing their rates of population growth and industrialization in order to preserve environment.

Although the Earth summit did not accomplish all that environmentalists had hopped it would, it was a resounding success in many ways. It was largest international gathering ever to concentrate on serious environmental issues, and, because it received so much international attention, it increased worldwide awareness of global issues. Also the earth summit demonstrated just how far apart developed and developing nations stand on many issues. This awareness will be needed in future negotiation of international environmental issues.

then directly address human population growth and three of the major results of that growth: increasing need for energy, depletion of resources, and rising pollution. Many of the environmental problems we consider in this hook are serious ones that must he addressed—if not by us, then unavoidably by our children.

Environmental science is not, however, simply a “doom and gloom” listening of problems coupled with predictions of a bleak future. To the country it focuses, and our focus as individuals and as world citizen, is on identifying, understanding and solving problems that we and our ancestors have cre­ated. A great deal is being done, and more must be done—at individual, country, and worldwide levels—to address the problems of today's world. Most environmental issues are complex, however, and cannot be solved by science alone because they interact with numerous competing interests and goals (see Meeting the Challenge: The Earth Sum­mit). We fill a considerable amount of space in this text examining some successful approaches to envi­ronmental problems and exploring other problems that defy easy solutions.