16 / Basics of Environmental Science
being published by the middle 1970s. More ‘green’ titles were issued in the early 1980s, but by the
end of the decade large numbers of copies were being returned to publishers unsold and by the early
1990s most publishers would not accept books with titles suggesting anything remotely ‘ecological’,
‘environmental’, or ‘green’.
This should surprise no one. When times are hard people worry most about their jobs, their homes,
and whether they will be able to feed their families. It is only when they have economic security that
they feel able to relax sufficiently to turn their attention to other matters. The preservation of species
or of a tranquil, attractive countryside in which to walk means little to the homeless teenager begging
for food or the single mother whose child needs shoes.
It should surprise no one, but there is an important lesson to be learned from it. All governments now
accept the need for environmental reform, but a perceptual gulf exists between rich and poor which
parallels that between rich and poor within nations. In poor countries facing high levels of infant
mortality and chronic shortages of supplies necessary for the provision of health care, housing, and
education, the most pressing needs relate to the provision of employment and industrialization based,
so far as possible, on the exploitation of indigenous resources. Environmental hazards seem less
urgent, and efforts by the rich to persuade the poor to move them higher up the international agenda
can be seen as attempts to increase development costs and so perpetuate economic inequality. It is
well to remember that environmental issues that seem self-evidently urgent to Europeans and North
Americans may not seem so to everyone.
End of chapter summary
Like the life and earth sciences, the environmental sciences comprise elements taken from many
other disciplines. The all-round environmental scientist must be part biologist, part ecologist, part
toxicologist, part pedologist (soil scientist), part geomorphologist, part limnologist (student of
freshwater systems), and part meterologist, as well as being familiar with ideas taken from many
other disciplines. In helping to resolve the disputes that frequently arise over conservation and land
use, the environmental scientist must also possess tact and political skill.
It is important that the environmental scientist remain a scientist. Environmentalism consists in
campaigning and proselytising in pursuit of essentially idealogical objectives. It is not necessarily
based on scientific assessment, nor should it be, because its appeal is primarily moral. This means
there is a clear difference between environmental science and environmentalism and the two should
not be confused.
End of chapter points for discussion
- To what extent is our attitude to the natural world linked to our level of economic prosperity?
- To what extent are environmentalist campaigns informed by science?
- What does Gaia hypothesis assert?
See also
Formation of the Earth (section 6)
Weathering (section 8)
Coasts, estuaries, sea levels (section 10)
Greenhouse effect (section 13)
Evolution and structure of the atmosphere (section 14)
Dating methods (section 19)