Overview

Environmental science is the study of the natural processes that occur in the environment and how humans affect them. The ideas of environmental science are closely related to ecology, the branch of science that deals with the interrelationships of plants, animals, and the environment. At times, the two words have been used interchangeably, especially during the last part of the twentieth century.

The rise of environmental science as a discipline occurred in the last three decades of the twentieth century. Researchers had studied plants and animals, but concepts tended to stay in the academic realms of pure botany or zoology. People thus had little knowledge or interest in the environment.

A group of writers were responsible for the eventual change in this situation. The turning point was the publication of a book by Rachel Carson called Silent Spring. The...