New Approaches to Environmental Science and Environmental Management
There has been a marked trend towards supporting holistic approaches to environmental science and environmental management in recent years. Eighty years on modern holistic theory is still poorly defined, although it implies acceptance that the whole is bigger than the sum of the parts and the idea that modern science has unwisely tended towards scientific view that everything is explainable from the basic principles as well as by focused and objective research using of data to prove a case through isolation of fields of study from each other.
General research seeks to comprehend the totality of problems rather than their components. Resultantly, the simplest environmental problems tend to be so complex that an effective complete approach is difficult. There are situations where a general approach is to be welcomed. Unfortunately, there are many situations where it will not work and there are dangers in over-enthusiastic use. With pressures for general approaches and popular interest in self-styled science and anti-scientific theories, commonly presented by the media as truth, care is needed to ensure that support for science is not eroded.
Popular pressure also tends to polarize support for research. There are some fields that are attractive to citizens and politicians, and others are not, even though they may be vital. Another pressure is the growing demand, and therefore funding, for applied research rather than studies into what has no obvious practical outcome. Fatefully, many of the practical benefits we enjoy have been generated through pure, not applied, research.
The Structure of Our Environment
Since the early 1970s, popular texts have occasionally published ‘laws of ecology’, The laws of ecology, often summarized by Barry Commoner, a prominent biologist, are a set of principles that describe the interactions within ecosystems. Here are the four laws that underscore the importance of understanding and respecting ecological relationships to promote sustainability and environmental health.
Everything is connected to everything else: This principle emphasizes the interdependence of all organisms within an ecosystem. Changes in one part of the ecosystem can affect other parts in complex ways.
Everything must go somewhere: In nature, there is no “away.” Waste produced by one organism can become a resource for another. This highlights the importance of recycling and waste management.
Nature knows best: This principle suggests that natural processes have evolved to maintain balance and sustainability. Human interference often disrupts these processes, leading to unintended consequences.
There is no such thing as a free lunch: This emphasizes that every action has a cost. Exploiting natural resources without considering the environmental impact can lead to depletion and degradation of the ecosystem.
Commoner’s work emphasized the interconnectedness of human activities and environmental health, and he advocated for sustainable practices and policies. He was often referred to as the “Paul Revere of ecology” for his efforts to raise public awareness about environmental issues because of his tireless efforts to alert the public to environmental issues and advocate for change. Much like Paul Revere’s famous midnight ride to warn the American colonies of the approaching British forces, Commoner sounded the alarm about the environmental impact of human activities.
Interaction of Living Organisms and Non-living Elements
Living organisms, including humans, and non-living elements of the environment interact, frequently in complex ways. Modern definitions includes the study of the structure and function of nature, the study of interactions between organisms (biotic) and their non-living (abiotic) environment and the science of the relations of organisms to their total environment. Ecology is frequently a guide for environmental management, environmentalism and environmental ethics, suggesting limits and opportunities, and providing many key concepts and techniques.
Humans either adapt to, or seek to modify, their environment to achieve security and well-being or to satisfy greed and cultural goals. In making modifications, people create a ‘human environment’. Human ecology developed in the early twentieth century to facilitate the study of people and their environment, expanded in the 1960s and 1970s. A field that currently seems to be expanding, and which can be very useful for environmental management, is political ecology. Political ecologists seek to build foundations for sustainable relations between society and the environment in the real world.
The global complex of living and dead organisms forms a relatively thin layer, the biosphere. The term ‘ecosphere’ is used to signify the biosphere interacting with the non-living environment, biological activity being capable of affecting physical conditions even at the global scale. For example, through the formation of oxygen, and the sequestration carbonates in the oceans.
Carbon sequestration refers to the process of capturing and storing carbon dioxide (CO₂) to moderate its impact on global climate change. When it comes to carbonates, the process is known as mineral sequestration. This involves capturing CO₂ and converting it into stable carbonate minerals. The CO₂ is often injected into underground rock formations, where it reacts with minerals to form stable carbonates. This process effectively locks away the carbon for thousands to millions of years. The other type of sequestration is basalt storage, the method of mineral sequestration involving injecting CO₂ into basaltic rock formations. The CO₂ reacts with the basalt to form carbonate minerals, ensuring long-term storage. Ocean Sequestration is another approach to enhance natural processes in the oceans, such as promoting the growth of marine organisms that can absorb CO₂ and convert it into carbonate sediments.
These methods are considered non-volatile because they permanently remove CO₂ from the atmosphere. This makes them a promising solution for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and combating climate change.
The global ecosphere can be divided into various climates, the pattern of which has changed in the past and will doubtless do so in the future. Climate may be affected by one or more of many factors such as variation in incoming solar energy due to fluctuations in the Sun’s output or possibly dust in space. This may be due to variation in the Earth’s orbit or change in its inclination about its axis.
The variation may be due to the change in composition of the atmosphere such as the alterations in the quantity of dust, gases or water vapour present, that may be caused by factors such as biological activity, human pollution, volcanicity, and impacts of large comets or asteroids. This may also be due to the altered distribution of continents, changes in oceanic currents, or fluctuation of sea- level that may expose or submerge continental shelves.
Hence, the environmental managers must not assume that climate is fixed and stable.
The Natural System: Ecosystem
The biosphere is composed of many interacting ecosystems or alternatively called ecological systems, the boundaries between which are often indistinct, taking the form of transition zones, called ecotones, where organisms from adjoining ecosystems. It is possible for some organisms to be restricted to an ecotone only.
Large land ecosystems or biomes are areas with a prevailing regional climax vegetation and its associated animal life, in effect, regional-scale ecosystems. Biomes, such as desert biomes or grassland biomes, often mainly reflect climate, but can also be shaped by the incidence of fire, drainage, soil characteristics, grazing, trampling and so on.
There are, in general, two ways of viewing ecosystems. One is the community (biotic) approach, in which research may be conducted by individuals. And the second, the functional approach that implies studying energy flows or materials transfers, best investigated by a multidisciplinary team.
Once we understood, ecosystems can often be demonstrated, consenting prediction of future behaviour. There are isolated systems implying to more or less closed to input and output of materials and energy. There are closed systems that implies to prevent input/output of materials, but not energy. There are open systems where boundaries may be difficult to recognise and these allow free input/output of materials and energy.
Many of the Earth’s ecosystems are open systems. They are often interdependent, which presents environmental management with huge challenges. Alternatively, however, our ecosystems may be classified as natural ecosystems that are unaffected by humans. There is modified class of ecosystems involving some change is due to humans and of controlled ecosystems, in which, whether by accident or design, humans play a dominant role.
Mapping of Ecosystems
A naturalist might map the ecosystem of an animal, say migratory nature animals or birds, by reference to the resources it uses, so the area may alter with the seasons. Such an ecosystem would incorporate several distinct components such as valleys, mountain forests, coastlands and plains so on, each of which could itself be recognised as an ecosystem.
Ecosystems can be subdivided, according to local physical conditions, into habitats i.e. places where group of organisms live, populated by characteristic mixes of plants and animals. Within an ecosystem change in one variable may affect one or more, perhaps all other variables.
There are few ecosystems where there are no complex energy flows and exchanges of materials across their boundaries. To simplify study, ecologists have attempted to enclose small natural ecosystems, create artificial laboratory versions and study quite simple. Precise environment experiments are valuable for those seeking to establish what effects changing global climate and carbon dioxide will have on crops and wild flora and fauna.
Ecosystem researchers must ensure that they are looking at realistic assumptions, not over-simple abstractions, or misconceptions. In practice, adopting an ecosystems approach can be difficult and, when it is possible, results may sometimes be all together disappointing. However, since each ecosystem has developed under a different set of variables, each has a different capacity to resist stresses and to recover.
In addition, humans often upset regulatory mechanisms, so response may be distorted. When ecosystems are exposed to stress, some responses may be immediate and others delayed, perhaps for decades. So, to manage ecosystems effectively, it is essential to know longer-term behaviour as well as shorter-term response.
Ecosystems adjust to agitation through regulatory mechanisms. When the relation- ship between input and output to the system is inverse, it is termed negative feedback. The opposite is positive feedback, whereby an effect is sufficiently exaggerated. There is a risk that positive feedback may result in a runaway reaction, which is especially dangerous if it damages a crucial biogeochemical or bio geophysical cycle.
Urban ecosystems are of growing importance. Until quite recently, the world population was mainly non-urban. By now, after rapid urbanisation, over 50 per cent of people live in cities all over the world and the percentage is invariably increasing. Many of the largest, fastest growing cities are in poor and underdeveloped countries and pose severe environmental problems. Urban ecosystems have far-reaching sources drawing inputs from a huge catchment.
Cities also influence decision making that affects rural areas. The discharge of polluted effluent contaminates the air flowing past, and generate huge amounts of refuse. Even in developed countries, urban environments are a challenge for environmental management. In recent years, there has been a shift in interest from just coping with city problems to seeking strategies for sustainable cities.
However, there is a long way to go before there are practical solutions. Engineering and institutional developments alone will not provide solutions for urban transport, water supply, sanitation, control of crime, or improving social cohesion. For effective environmental management, there must be a better understanding of urban environments and economies, and how they interact with rural surroundings.
