Environmental science: a synthesis.
The science of ecology is the study of the relationships among organisms and between organisms and their environment, the scientists engaged in this area are called ecologists.
Environmental science has its roots in natural history, the study of where and how organisms carry out their life cycles. Natural history observations were the foundation for science of ecology, the study of environmental factors and how organisms interact with them. Resource management and resource technology also are significant features of environmental science. You probably know that natural resources are classified as either nonrenewable resources or renewable resources. Metal ores, coal, and oil are examples of nonrenewable resources. Biological resources, such as forests and fisheries are classified as renewable resources. But some biological resources are not truly renewable. When a forest is removed in such a way that the soil is left unprotected, for instance, erosion by wind and water may so depredate soil conditions that it is not possible for a new forest to become established.
Finally, environmental science deals with priorities. What conditions of the environment are best for people, for native vegetation and animals and for maintaining usability of the land? How do you balance costs, economic benefits and environmental impacts? How do you determine acceptable levels of risk? Where does armed conflict between countries, its threat or its defendence, fit into the setting of proprieties? Human priorities are linked strongly, on the one hand, with economic and political expediencies and, on the other hand, with ethics. All of the above questions are difficult and their relevance is demonstrated daily on television news programs and in written news reports and analyses. In the end, each of us will decide, through our priorities, actions and inactions, what the future of Earth will be.
Ex. 1.5 Answer the following questions: 1) What does environmental science deal with? 2) Why is environmental science a composite entity? 3) What made the foundation for the science of ecology? 4) What are significant features of environmental science? 5) Do you know how natural resources are classified? 6) Can you give an example when some biological resources are not truly renewable? 7) What priorities does environmental science deal with? Ex. 1.6 Find in the text the definition of: 1) environmental science; 2) natural history; 3) renewable resources; 4) human ecology.
Ex. 1.7 With a partner, try to decide whether the following statements are true or false: 1) Every aspect of human behavior has some relationship to the natural environment. 2) All biological resources are classified as renewable resources. 3) Humans have had the most rapid and drastic impact upon Earth. 4) Human priorities are never linked with ethics. 5) Resource management is a significant feature of environmental science. 6) All biological resources are truly renewable.
Ex 1.8 Give Russian equivalents for: Relationship, to be engaged in, entity, to involve, behaviour, to carry out, to interact, fishery, to remove, to establish, species, to inhabit, impact, to accelerate, to be faced with, to deal with, degradation, priority, acceptable, to maintain, usability, threat, expedience, relevance, a composite entity, to incorporate, resource management, renewable and nonrenewable resources, soil conditions, to depredate species, at an accelerating rate, economic benefits, on the one hand, on the other hand, relevance. Ex. 1.9 Complete the following with appropriate words and phrases: 1) Environmental science has its roots in … 2) Natural resources are classified as … 3) Biological resources are … 4) We are faced with the … 5) Humans have had the … 6) Human priorities are linked with … 7) Environmental science deals with … 8) Each of us will decide … 9) Our impact on environment is …
Ex.1.10 Give as many collocations as possible and translate them into Russian. Use them in sentences of your own: general (biology, education, meaning, trends, …) basic (assumptions, features, principles, subdivisions, …) to found (a university, a tradition, a theory, a laboratory, …) to consult (a reference book, a teacher, your scientific adviser, the dictionary, …)
Ex. 1.11 Look back in the text and use the context to guess the meaning of the following phrasal verbs (two-part verbs): to make up, to carry out, to account for, to bring about, to bring out, to deal with, to look for, to look forward to, to focus on, to bear on, to give up, to keep to, to find out, to face with, to concentrate on.
Ex. 1.12 Form nouns using the following suffixes and translate them into Russian: - tion ((s)sion) – accumulate, appreciate, assume, investigate, observe, suggest, predict, generalize, populate, interact, depredate, determine, classify, compose, found; - ance (ence) – accept, exist, occur, depend, patient, tolerant, differ; - ment – develop, measure, settle, require; move, enjoy, govern; - ist – nature, ecology, specialty, pedology, communism, journal; -ee – employ, train, interview; - ity (iety, y) – special, fertile, necessary, useable, immune, anxious, peculiar.
Ex. 1.13 Form the opposite of the following words by using the prefixes and translate them into Russian: non – acid, resistant, renewable, sense, smoking, stop; un – able, common, cultivated, explored, known, usual, healthy, necessary, important, popular, satisfactory, satisfying, happy; in – capable, efficient, human, exhaustible, essential, attentive, directly; dependent, experienced, secure; de – to compose, to increase, formation, promotion; dis – advantage, order, integration, appearance, satisfaction, satisfied, loyal, pleased. Ex. 1.14 Agree or disagree with the statements given below. Use the phrases in the box:
1) More attention ought to be paid to ecology. 2) We are actually ruining our own habitat. 3) Modern technology does not affect nature in any way. 4) Man has violated laws of nature and is going to pay for it. 5) What most people now breathe is very clean air and they have no idea about pollution. 6) Some biological resources are not truly renewable. 7) Each of us will decide what the future of Earth will be. 8) We needn’t worry about the resources of our environment for they are inexhaustible. 9) Technical progress has greatly affected nature. 10) Environmental science is a multidisciplinary academic field that integrates physical, biological and information sciences to the study of the environment, and the solution of environmental problems.
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Environmental science is a composite entity, incorporating natural sciences – such as biology, chemistry, earth science, physics and medicine – and social science – such as economics, political science and sociology. It also involves history, mathematics and statistics, technology, business and management, law, ethics, philosophy, religion, morality and aesthetics. Every aspect of human behavior has some relationship to the natural environment.
Of all animal species that ever have inhabited Earth, humans have had the most rapid and drastic impact upon it. Our impact is accelerating because our numbers are increasing at an accelerating rate. We are faced with the “population – resource – environment dilemma”: how can we deal with the needs of more people, while making the most of limited resources and minimizing environmental degradation. This problem is the prime focus of environmental science. At its heart, it is a problem of human ecology, the interaction of humans with the environment.
