Spring 2025

Env 107
Introduction to Environmental
Science
Faculty: Prof. Dr.Md. Anisur Rahman Khan
(ARK)
Basic Concepts
 About the Course Teacher (Faculty)
• Dr. Md. Anisur Rahman Khan (ARK), Ph.D,
• Professor , Department of Microbiology, University of
Dhaka
• Adjunct Faculty (Part-time Professor),
• Department. of Environmental Science &
Management (ESM), NSU
• Cell phone No: 01771587853
• Email Address: [email protected]
• My Office hour to meet students:
• Room No. SAC 703: Thursday and Saturday (RA)
1:00 am to 2:30 pm and 4:30 pm to 5:30 pm
 Profile of the Faculty
• Postdoctoral Study in Microbial Biotechnology . Department of
Applied Microbiology, National Food Research Institute, Japan. 1998
to 2000
• Postdoctoral Study in Molecular Biology and Genetic Engineering,
Department of Molecular Biology, National Institute of Bioscience
and Biotechnology, Japan. 1997 to 1998.
• Postdoctoral Study in Industrial Biotechnology. German National
Institute of Biotechnology (GBF), Germany. 1996
• Ph. D. in Applied Microbiology, Department of Bioresource science,
Ehime University, Japan. 1990 to1993.
• M. Sc. in Microbiology from the Department of Microbiology,
Faculty of Biological sciences, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. 1982
to1983 (Exam. held in 1988).
• B. Sc. Hons. from the Department of Soil, Water and Environment,
Faculty of Biological sciences, University of Dhaka, Dhaka-1000,
Bangladesh. 1980 to 1982 (Exam. held in 1985).
 Work Experience
• Professor : April, 2003 – Present : Department of Microbiology,
University of Dhaka
• Chairman : September, 2006 – June, 2009 : Department of
Microbiology, University of Dhaka
• Associate Professor : September, 1997 – March, 2003 : Department
of Microbiology, University of Dhaka
• Chairman : January, 1997 – March, 1997 : Department of
Microbiology, University of Dhaka
• Assistant Professor: October, 1993 – September, 1997 :,
Department of Microbiology, University of Dhaka
• Lecturer : November, 1988 - October, 1993 : Department of
Microbiology, University of Dhaka.
• Part-time Professor: January, 2008 – April, 2010: Department of
Microbiology & Biochemistry, NSU
• Part-time Professor: January, 2008 – Present: Department of
Environmental Science & Management (DESM), NSU
Who are you?

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 What is Science ?
• The word science is simply an anglicize
version of the Latin scientia, which means
knowledge.
• Science, derived from "knowing" in Latin, is
a process for producing knowledge.
• It depends on making precise observations of
natural phenomena and on formulating
reasonable theories to make sense out of
those observations
 What is Environment ?
• Environment is everything that affects a living
organism (any unique form of life.
• Environment (from the French envirormer: to
encircle or surround) can be defined as
• (1) the circumstances and conditions that
surround an organism or a group of organisms or
(2) the social and cultural conditions that affect
an individual or a community.
• Since humans inhabit the natural world as well
as the "built" or technological, social, and
cultural world, all constitute important parts of
our environment.
 Environment: the total of our surroundings
a. All of the biotic (organisms themselves, their
food, interactions, and living things) and abiotic
factors (sunlight, soil, air, water, climate, and
pollution) that act on an organism, population, or
ecological community and ultimately determine
its form and survival;

b. the aggregate of social and cultural conditions

that influence the life of an individual or
community.
 What is Environment?

 The surroundings or conditions in which a

person, animal, or plant lives or operates.

 All the things (living and non-living) around

us is part of our environment.
Environment: biotic elements
(All living things)

Source: IAN symbol

Environment: abiotic elements
(All non-living things)

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 What is Environmental Science ?
• Environmental science is the systematic study
of our environment and our place in it.
• Environmental science is highly
interdisciplinary. It integrates information
from biology, chemistry, geography,
agriculture, and many other fields.
• To apply this information to improve the
ways we treat our world, environmental
scientists also incorporate knowledge of
social organization, politics, and the
humanities.
 Why Study Environmental Science?
Environmental science is an interdisciplinary
science that uses concepts and information
from natural sciences such as ecology,
biology, chemistry, and geology and social
sciences such as economics, politics, and
ethics to help us understand
(1)how the earth works,
(2)how we are affecting the earth's life-
support systems (environment), and
(3)how to deal with the environmental
problems we face.
Many different groups of people are
concerned about environmental issue.
 Introduction
What is Environmental Science?
It is an interdisciplinary science that help us to
understand……

 How the earth works?

 How life on the earth is sustained?
 What leads to environmental problem?
 How these problems can be solved?
What is Environmental Science ?
 Major Environmental Concerns
Shrimp, Mangroves, and Pickup Trucks: Local and Global
Connections Reveal Major Environmental Concerns
• Maitri Visctak owns a small plot of land along the coast of southern Thailand and
wanted to improve life for his family, and he succeeded. A growing demand for
shrimp as a luxury food and overfishing of wild shrimp had fueled growth of the
world market for farmed shrimp from a $1.5 billion industry 30 years ago to an S8
billion business today. In the early 1990s, Mr. Visetak began farming shrimp in two
small ponds. Within two years, he had accumulated enough capital to purchase two
pickup trucks-in Thailand a clear indica­tion of financial Success. By then, though, his
ponds were contaminated with shrimp waste, antibiotics, fertiizers, and pesticides.
Shrimp could no longer live in the ponds. And there was an even more widespread
effect: Pollutants escaping from the ponds threatened survival of the area's
mangrove trees. Like thou­sands of other shrimp farmers in Southeast Asia, India,
Africa, and Latin America, Mr. Visetak considered abandoning these ponds and
moving on to others.
• Maitri Visetak is trying to feed his family in the best way he knows how, but along
with thousands of other shrimp farmers in the World, he is unwittingly contributing to
destruction of coastal mangroves, one of the world's valuable ecosystems. Half of
the world's mangrove forests have been destroyed and with them a major source of
food for local human populations and breeding grounds for much of the tropical
world's sea life. The United Nations Environment Program has estimated that one-
fourth of the destruction of mangroves can be traced to shrimp farming.
Environmentalists have become alarmed, and in many areas local people have
staged protests against shrimp farming. With the world's population expected to
increase from 6.2 billion to 9 bil­lion by the middle of the twenty-first century,
 Major themes of environmental science
Maitri Visetak's story illustrates the major themes of
environmental science. The major themes of environmental
science are:
• First, people and nature are intimately connected, and changes
in one lead to changes in the other.
• Second, human population increase is a major contributor to
environmental problems.
• Third, industrial develop­ment and urbanization have serious
environmental consequences.
• Fourth, unsustainable use of resources must be replaced with
sustainable practices.
• Fifth, local changes can have global effects.
• Sixth, environmental issues involve values and attitudes as well
as scientific understanding.
Maitri Visetak's story also illustrates important questions that we
all must face. Which individual actions contribute to
environmental degradation? What actions can people, both as
individuals and as groups, take to limit environmental damage?
 Mangroves
Natural Degraded
Mangroves Mangroves
 Purpose of studying Environmental
Science
Basic Purpose is Sustainability:
• In the past environmental
resources used faster than they
could replenish.
• We have extracted the minerals,
oils and groundwater without the
concern of their limits
• So, many of these resources are
no longer in abundance
• We must have to learn how to
sustain our environmental
resources so that they continue
provides the benefit to us
Sustainability must be used.
 Goal: Sustainability.
What is Sustainability ?
• Sustainable: The involvement and
use of natural products and energy
in a way that does not harm the
environment.
• Definition varies depending on the
purposes like social, economic or
environmental sustainability.
• Sustainability: A search for ecological
stability and human progress that
can last over the long term. It is the
ability of a system to sustain longer,
 Sustainable Development

Development means bettering peoples lives.

Sustainable Development then means
progress in human wellbeing that can
extend or prolong over generations rather
than just a few years.

Gro Herlam Bruntland defined sustainable

development as "which meets the needs of the present
without compromising the ability of future generations
to meet their own needs”.

Ref: Our Common Future“ (1987) by the World

Commission on Environment and Development (also
called the"Brundtland Report")
 Sustainability
• Sustainability has two scientific definitions:
sustainable resource harvest, such as a
sustainable supply of timber, meaning that
the same quantity of that resource can be
harvested each year (or other harvest
interval) for an unlimited or specified
length of time without decreasing the
ability of that resource to continue to
produce the same harvest level.
• Sustainable ecosystem, meaning an
ecosystem that is still able to maintain its
essential functions and properties even
though we are harvesting one of its
resources.
 Carrying capacity

The carrying capacity of an environment is the amount of

organism within a region that the environment can
support sustainably. [given the food, habitat, water,
and other resources available]
Carrying capacity refers to the number of individuals who
can be supported in a given area within natural
resource limits, and without degrading the natural
social, cultural and economic environment for present
and future generations. The carrying capacity for any
given area is not fixed. It can be altered by improved
technology, but mostly it is changed for the worse by
pressures which accompany a population increase.
Carrying capacity is a concept related to sustainability.
It is usually defined as the maximum number of
individuals of a species that can be sustained by an
environment with­out decreasing the capacity of the
environment to sustain that same amount in the future.
 Carrying capacity
As the environment is degraded, carrying
capacity actually shrinks, leaving the
environment no longer able to support
even the number of people who could
formerly have lived in the area on a
sustainable basis. No population can
live beyond the environment's carrying
capacity for very long. When we ask
"What is the maximum number of
people that the Earth can sus­tain?" we
are asking about the Earth's carrying
capacity ­and we are also asking about
sustainability
 Carrying Capacity
Carrying Capacity
 Science and Values

Science and Values

Deciding what to do about an environmental problem
involves both values and science.
Placing a value on various aspects of the environment
requires knowledge and understanding of the science
but also depends on our judgments concerning the uses
and aesthetics of the environment and on our moral
commitments to other living things and to future
generations.
Ecological knowledge provides options for
environmental action, choices are determined in part by
our values; science tells us what we can do, while our
values help us determine what we should do.
 Placing a value on the environment
How do we place a value on any aspect of our
environment?
• The value of the environment is based on
following justifications:
– Aesthetic,
– creative,
– recreational,
– inspirational,
– moral,
– cultural,
– ecological, and
 Placing a value on the environment
• Aesthetic justification has to do with appreciation of
the beauty of nature. (e.g. many people find
wilderness scenery beautiful and would rather live
in a world with wilderness than without it).

• Nature is an aid to human creativity/inspiration

(creative/inspiration justification).

• Moral justification has to do with the belief that

various aspects of the environment have a right to
exist and that is our moral obligation to allow them
to continue or help them to persist.
Ecological value: some factors that is essential to larger
life support functions, even though it may not benefit
an individual directly ((e.g. mangrove )
Aesthetic value: the beauty of nature. Required for
recreation , inspiration and creativity
SRH G&E DU 34 05/07/2025
 Environmental values
Moral justification:
Conduct considered as good for the environment. It has led to the
development of another discipline-environmental ethics. Moral
justification has to do with the belief that various aspects of the
environment have a right to exist and that is our moral
obligation to allow them to continue or help them to persist.
Examples of Environmental Injustice are:
• Relocation of tanneries from developed countries to Bangladesh
in 1960s and 1970s
• Textile dying and finishing
• Disposal of hazardous waste in poor countries by rich countries
• Relocation of power hungry and polluting industries from
developed countries to under-developed countries
Moral justification: Value Judgment
 ValueBiodiversity
Categorizing of Environment
Values

Direct Use Value: product that can be used directly. In other

words, tangible
benefit that we get from biodiversity. For example. Wood, fodder,
fuel etc..

Indirect Use Value: Intangible benefit or service that we get from

biodiversity. For example. flood control.

Ecosystem
Services
 Ecosystem services
• Provisioning • Regulating • Cultural
Millenium Assessment (2005)

Goods produced Benefits obtained Non- material

or provided by from regulation of benefits from
ecosystems ecosystem ecosystems
processes

Production Regulation Information

Functions Functions Functions
Photo credits (left to right, top to bottom): Purdue University, WomenAid.org, LSUP, NASA, unknown, CEH Wallingford, unknown, W.
 Provisioning Services
Goods produced or provided by ecosystems
• Food
– Crops
– Livestock
– Capture Fisheries
Millenium Assessment (2005)

– Aquaculture
– Wild Foods
• Fiber
– Timber
– Cotton, Hemp, Silk
– Wood Fuel
• Energy
• Genetic Resources
• Biochemicals
• Freshwater
 Regulating Services
Benefits obtained from regulation of ecosystem
processes
• Air Quality Regulation
• Climate Regulation
– Global (CO2 sequestration)
Millenium Assessment (2005)

– Regional and local

• Erosion Regulation
• Nutrient Regulation
• Water Purification
• Disease Regulation
• Pest Regulation
• Pollination
• Natural Hazard Regulation
 Cultural Services
Non-material benefits obtained from
ecosystems
• Spiritual and Religious Values
• Knowledge Systems
Millenium Assessment (2005)

• Educational values
• Inspiration
• Aesthetic Values
• Social Relations
• Sense of Place
• Recreation and Ecotourism
 Major Environmental and resource Problems
Air Pollution
• Global climate change Biodiversity Depletion
• Stratospheric ozone • Habitat destruction
depletion • Habitat degradation
• Urban air pollution • Extinction
• Acid deposition Food Supply Problems
• Overgrazing
• Outdoor pollutants
• Farmland loss and
• Indoor pollutants
• Noise Major degradation
• Overfishing
Environmental and
• Coastal pollution
resource Problems
• Soil erosion
• Soil salinization
Water Pollution
• Soil waterlogging
• Sediment
• Water shortages
• Nutrient overload
• GW depletion
• Toxic chemicals
• Biodiversity loss
• Infectious agents Waste Production • Malnutrition
• Oxygen depletion • Solid waste
• Pesticides • Hazardous waste
• Oil spills
• Thermal pollution
 Major Environmental Issues
 Air, water and soil pollution
 Waste disposal
 Climate Change
 Global warming
 Acid rain
 Ocean acidification
 Biodiversity loss
 Deforestation
 Over population
 ……………
 ……………..
Why we need to study environmental
science?
 Awareness
 Knowledge
 Attitude
 Skill
 Evaluation ability
 Participation and Knowledge
Sharing
 ………………
Themes of World
Environment Day
 Why is Environmental science
Importance of Environmental Science
Important?
Awareness
Accepting the Problem
Understanding the Problem

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 Why is Environmental science
Importance of Environmental Science
Important?

Knowledge
Basic Understanding of the Situation and it’s Consequences

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Moral justification: Value Judgment
 Skills
How to do it?

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 Educational
Environmen
tal
Political
Evaluatio Social
n Ability Aesthetic

 Is the existing solution working

properly?
 Do we need to re-think about the
Problem?
Is that ALL?

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What’s NEXT?

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 What is the Purpose of this Separation?
Can we start thinking of A BUSINESS from
HERE?

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Participation and Knowledge
Sharing

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