Fundamental principles of environmental science and sustainability

Environmental Science

Environmental fundamentals

Defining environmental science: The quest for sustainability

Environmental science or environmental studies are defined as the "study of a range of environments, from the bodies we live, to the physical structures, institutions and industries we build, to the politics, languages and cultural practices we use to communicate, and to the earth and its complex multitude of animals, flora and bio-physical elements and processes" (What is environmental science, 2012, York University). The word derives from the French world 'environs,' which means everything around us (What is environmental science, 2012, York University). A critical component of environmental studies has become how to enhance the sustainability of human life in conjunction with the environment. Humans today are not seeking simply to understand the environment but to live in harmony with it. Environmentalism seeks to acknowledge that humans are part of the environment, not merely consumers of it. "Sustainability creates and maintains the conditions under which humans and nature can exist in productive harmony, that permit fulfilling the social, economic and other requirements of present and future generations" (What is sustainability, 2012, EPA).

Human technological development, until recently, has largely been to the detriment, rather than the enhancement of the natural world. The rise of global warming is clearly correlated to the rise in industrialization. "In Earth's history before the Industrial Revolution, Earth's climate changed due to natural causes not related to human activity. Most often, global climate has changed because of variations in sunlight... These natural causes are still in play today, but their influence is too small or they occur too slowly to explain the rapid warming seen in recent decades" (Global warming, 2012, NASA: 4). Since 1950, the process of global warming has rapidly escalated and changed the earth in a permanent fashion. "Warming modifies rainfall patterns, amplifies coastal erosion, lengthens the growing season in some regions, melts ice caps and glaciers, and alters the ranges of some infectious diseases" (Global warming, 2012, NASA: 4).

Sustaining the environment in a positive fashion is necessary for humans to survive, as well as the animals, plants, and other living organisms dependent upon the planet. Many hope that just as technology 'got us into this mess,' it can also extricate us. 'Greening' technology has become not simply a popular buzzword amongst politicians but also an industry. One notable success in recent years that seems promising is hybrid technology for cars. "We need to focus on battery technology to solve consumer concerns about charging time, travel speed, and distance. We also need to improve the effectiveness of mass transit, and take a closer look at other alternative fuel technology on the horizon, such as hydrogen" (Leech 2009). Toyota was originally mocked for its introduction of the snub-nosed Prius, but now it is considered a prescient step on the part of the Japanese automotive firm.

However, overall trends in the developing world, where car ownership is expanding at the most rapid rate, show that cultural associations of large cars with affluence remain difficult to eradicate. In China, "2010 SUV sales are up 108% vs. The same period in 2009, with 372,527 units sold" (SUV boom underway in China, 2012, Auto Blog). The short-term desire to impress one's neighbors often outweighs any sense of commitment to the health of the planet. Although in the U.S., hybrid sales experience a spike when gas prices increase, they are far from dominant.

And even more fundamental lifestyle changes are required for the environment to flourish. As well as changing driving habits, the world must also change the way it eats. Historically, the more affluent a society becomes, the more meat it consumes. Today, "an estimated 30% of the earth's ice-free land is directly or indirectly involved in livestock production...livestock production generates nearly a fifth of the world's greenhouse gases - more than transportation" (Bittman 2008). Although the consumption of meat in the developed world has remained constant, in the developing world it is increasing, creating more demand for resource-draining factory farming. Per capita meat consumption has doubled since 1961 (Bittman 2009). The world will have to change the way it eats as well as the way it drives and views progress to reverse the environmental degradation caused by global warming. Scientists have created laboratory-produced animal 'meat' as a potential solution to the demand for meat and earth's contracting resources: "The scientists extracted cells from the muscle of a live pig and then put them in a broth of other animal products. The cells then multiplied and created muscle tissue" (Britten 2009). But like most forms of 'green' technology, the ability of this to be feasible on a wide scale (much less nutritious or palatable) remains an open question.

Radical environmentalism stresses that true improvements in the ecosystem will still not come without sacrifice and technology is not the answer. The manifesto of the Deep Ecology movement asserts: "Nature does not exist to serve humans. Rather, humans are a part of nature, one species among many. All species have the right to exist for their own sake, regardless of their usefulness to humans...humans must learn to live within nature, according to nature's laws, and learn to accept our role as one among many" (What is deep ecology, 2012, Center for Deep Ecology). Consider the current calls to increase consumption to improve the economy. While more consumption is good for people in the short run, it is not necessarily good for the planet in the long run.