By Tanya Burleson
Because environmental
systems are interconnected, environmental science integrates several different
fields to help explain our planet. A few of these are biology, geography, and
economics. These fields, among others, give us logical explanations on how, when,
and what was created and how it impacts our current world. Using the
information discovered helps us make decisions on how we interact with the
world around us.
According to Encyclopedia
Britannica, biology “helps us understand the living world and the ways its
many species (including humans) function, evolve, and interact. Advances
in medicine, agriculture, biotechnology, and many other areas of biology have
brought improvements in the quality of life” (Rogers, Green, Joshi, 2019).
Biology helps us understand our origin, and we evolved. Understanding how we
evolved has led to the development of vaccines, medications, pet care, and so
much more.
Geography, as explained by The
National Geographic, “seeks to understand where things are found and why they
are present in those places; how things that are located in the same or distant
places influence one another over time; and why places and the people who live
in them develop and change in particular ways” (National Geographic
Society, 2012).
Using geography, you can
map out disease infections to find its point of origin. Knowing the origin
point of a disease allows us to isolate it and try to keep it from becoming a
pandemic. Mapping first began in London, England, in 1854 during the cholera
outbreak. “Dr. John Snow represented the deaths per household on a street map.
Using the map, he was able to trace the source of the outbreak to a water pump on the corner of
Broad Street and Cambridge Street. The geographic perspective helped identify
the source of the problem (the water from a specific pump) and allowed people
to avoid the disease (avoiding water from that pump)” (National Geographic Society, 2012).
Appalachian State
University says that economics “helps people understand the world around them.
It enables people to understand people, businesses, markets, and governments,
and therefore better respond to the threats and opportunities that emerge when
things change” (Appalachian State University, n.d.). Economics helps us
understand our resources and how we use them.
An example of these
three sciences working together is the COVID-19 pandemic. The CDC uses the
mapping to track the outbreaks and found that COVID-19 originated in China.
Scientists used biology to study the virus and determine where it originated
from, either a bat or a lab. Economics helped to assess the impact of the
pandemic on our society. Our government leaders were able to use all this
information to make decisions to help slow the spread of the virus.
I believe we all play an essential part in keeping our planet healthy. In my lifetime, I have seen changes in our weather and our seasons. We have gone from snowy winters to icy ones. We have gone from mild summers to record heat. If we all recycled more, limited our waste, and drove less, it would help reduce some of the carbon gases in the air. If we give our atmosphere time to release or use the added carbon, the planet can start to heal itself.
References
Appalachian State University (n.d.). Why study
Economics? Department of Economics. Appalachian State University. Retrieved
from https://economics.appstate.edu/node/245
Cunningham, W.P. & Cunningham, M. A. (2020).
Principles of environmental science: inquiring & application. McGraw-Hill
Education. New York: NY
National Geographic Society. (2012). geography. National Geographic Society. https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/geography/
Rogers, K., Green, E. R. & Joshi, S. H
(2019). biology. Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved
from https://www.britannica.com/science/biology
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