NOTES IN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE

Prepared by: N. R. Bautista

BIOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES OF ACHIEVING SUSTAINABILITY

The aim of Environmental Science is to understand the natural world and be able to solve environmental problems. Since Environmental Science is a multidisciplinary course, it is not just learning from disciplines like biology, chemistry, climatology, anthropology, forestry and agriculture, but also we need to know and understanding of sociology, law, ethics, economics and psychology, as solutions usually fall under social arenas. It is actually in mankinds way of managing sustainably our limited natural resources that we can live in harmony with others here in our planet Earth, as we know that the Earth is a closed system. Sustainability means that the present population must meet their needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Below are some of the principles for achieving sustainability and adoption of these principles would be useful in reshaping human society to be environmentally sound. 1. Conservation Conservation is the use of only the amount of resources we need, and to use them efficiently. Inefficient use of resources is wasteful, which produces stress on the source of resources, and will result in limited resources for others. Also, if this is not followed, life will be limited only to a narrow region on Earth where conditions are mild and food abundant. 2. Recycling This is the reuse of materials over and over. Remember that the Earth is a closed system, a system that does not receive any inputs from the outside except sunlight. Other materials like water, nutrients, air and soil are continuously recycled through biological and geologic processes and is used over and over. Without recycling, natural ecosystems will quickly collapse and life will come to an abrupt halt as the Earths resources are extinguished. 3. Renewable Resources Use Natural systems also persist because they rely principally on renewable resources air, water, soil, animals and plants. The energy of life comes from the Sun, a vast but unrenewable resources. Without any plants, to capture the suns energy, most lifeforms cannot survive on the planet. Renewable resources have to be used gradually, and given time to renew, or else they will gone. Also, pollution can cause problems in the restoration of these resources. 4. Restoration Natural systems endure because they are capable of repairing damage or regenerating. This is seen in areas where affected life is regenerated back after a flood, fire, or volcanic eruption. Biologically, restoration can be seen in the animals body immune system to counteract infection, clotting of blood when tissues are cut, repair of new tissues or growing of new cells, regeneration of new organs, or replacing dead organisms with new ones through reproduction.

5. Population Control The number of population in area also affects the use of the resources. A certain area only has a specific carrying capacity, which is the ability of an area to provide food and support a number of individuals, and for them to live comfortably for an indefinite time. Population is imposed by food supply and materials needed. There is usually checks and balance in the environment wherein too much population will cause if widespread mortality until it levels down to a minimum or as if it resets itself. As Thomas Malthus, a British cleric and scholar, once said: Human society needs to check population in a humane way, or else, hunger, disease and war will control it in an inhumane way. 6. Adaptability Finally, natural systems persist because of the capacity of organisms within them to change through time, that is, to evolve and adapt. Evolution is a process wherein minor variations in physical attributes is present in a population, and these variations are selected by nature to perform better than others. Only the organisms with favorable attributes survives. This leads to structural, functional, and behavioral changes in a species called adaptation, which increases the organisms changes of survival and reproduction in a particular location. If any of these principles are altered, problems arise in the environment. These includes overpopulation, or extermination of populations, pollution, depletion of natural resources (overfishing, over-grazing, deforestation), habitat destruction (land use), occurrence of epidemics, and wars.