Course Description: Environmental Science

 

What do you think would happen if all of the trees in the rainforest were cut down, or if chemicals were spilled in a river, or if snow and rain fall increased drastically? How does the natural world work? How do humans interact with, and affect the environment? How do we find ways to deal with these effects on the environment? 

Environmental science is the field of science that studies the interactions of the physical, chemical, and biological components of the environment. Environmental science is an interdisciplinary field that incorporates information and ideas from multiple disciplines. Within the natural sciences, such fields as biology, chemistry, and geology are included in environmental science. When most people think of environmental science, they think of these natural science aspects, but what makes environmental science such a complex and broad field is that it also includes fields from the social sciences and the humanities.

At this current time, the world around us is changing at a very rapid pace. Some changes are beneficial, but many of the changes are causing damage to our planet. The field of environmental science is a valuable resource for learning more about these changes and how they affect the world we live in. Due to the increase in the human population, natural resources are being used up at a more rapid rate than in the past. Although renewable natural resources can be replenished, when they are used too rapidly, they cannot be replenished fast enough to meet human demand. By studying what is happening in the environment, how humans are affecting it, and how it is changing, it may be possible to develop solutions to our depletion of natural resources and ecosystem services.

 

*This class is a science elective.