NATIONAL OPEN UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA 
          
                                       
                                       
                      SCHOOL OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 
          
          
                                       
                              COURSE CODE (ESM 104) 
          
          
                                       
                 COURSE TITLE: INTRODUCTION TO ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE  
        INTRODUCTION TO ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE (ESM: 104) 
                        
                        
                        
                        
                        
                        
                        
       
                        
                   Course Writer 
                   Cecilia Medupin 
                School of Science & Technology 
               National Open University of Nigeria 
       
       
       
       
                 
              UNIT 1: ENVIRONMENT 
               
              Table of Contents 
               
              1.0    Introduction 
              2.0    Objectives  
              3.0    Main Content 
                     3.1    Meaning of Environment 
                     3.2    Types of Environment 
                     3.3    What is new in Environmental Science 
                     3.4    Man-Environment Interaction 
              4.0    Conclusion 
              5.0    Summary 
              6.0    Tutor Marked Assignment 
              7.0    References and other Resources 
               
              1.0    INTRODUCTION 
               
                     Now that you have gone through the guide, you should have acquired a 
                     general overview of what this unit is all about, and how it links specifically 
                     to the course. This unit will help you acquire basic understanding of the 
                     meaning and types of environment, and environmental science. 
                      
                     Before we do this, let us have a view of what you should learn in this unit, as 
                     indicated in the unit objectives below. 
               
              2.0    OBJECTIVES 
                      
                     At the end of this unit, you should be able to: 
               
                 •  Define the term environment 
                 •  Identify the different types of environment 
                 •  Highlight what is new in environmental science 
                 •  Describe the nature of man-environment interaction 
               
              3.0    MAIN CONTENT 
               
               
               
               
              3.1    Meaning of Environment 
               
                     The  term  “environment”  according  to  Alan  Gilpin  (1976)  in  his  book 
                     entitled “Dictionary of Environmental Terms” is the region, surroundings or 
                     circumstances  in  which  anything  exists;  everything  external  to  the 
                     organisms. 
               
                     The environment or an organism according to him includes: 
                  i.     The purely physical or abiotic milieu in which it exists, e.g. geographical 
                         location, climatic conditions, and terrain. 
                  ii.    The organic or biotic milieu including non-living organic matter and all 
                         other organisms, plants and animals in the region including the particular 
                         population to which the organism belongs 
               
               
              Strictly speaking, the effective environment is everything external to the organism 
              which effects the fulfillment of that organism. 
               
              The environment of the human being includes: the abiotic factors of land, water, 
              atmosphere,  climates,  sound,  odours,  and  tastes;  the  basic  factors  of  animals, 
              plants, bacteria and viruses and the social factor of aesthetics. 
               
              In Nigeria, in spite of much published speeches, there is no legislation that clearly 
              defines environment. In the U.S.A and Canada, the general pattern adopted is that 
              of  National  Environmental  Protection  Agency  (N.E.P.A)  1969.  Accordingly, in 
              Section  1  (c)  of  the  Ontario  Environmental  Assessment  Act  (1971),  the 
              environment is defined as follows: 
                  i.     Air, land and water 
                  ii.    Plant and animal life, including 
                  iii.   The social, economic and cultural conditions that influence the life of 
                         man or community 
                  iv.    Any building, structure, machine or device or thing made by man 
                  v.     Any solid, liquid, gas, odour, heat, sound, vibration or radiation resulting 
                         directly or indirectly from the activities of man, or 
                  vi.    Any part  of  combination  of  the  foregoing  and  the  inter  relationships 
                         between any two or more of them (in or of Ontario) 
               
              In this definition, the biophysical and socio-cultural systems are not dichotomized. 
              They  are  viewed  interactively.  In  this  course,  therefore,  our  definition  and