This articles discusses the functioning of environmental engineering and its importance to the modern day society.
As evident from its name, environmental engineering deals with making environment better by making the right use of science and technology. Environmental engineering was introduced with an intention to improve the quality of their environment, as people had become aware of the fact that a cleaner environment was necessary for maintaining good health.
Scope of environmental engineering
Environmental engineering covers quite a large number of areas. It is concerned with control of air and water pollution, removal of pollutants, treatment of sewage water, disposal and removal of wastes, recycling, etc. It is also concerned with studying the affects a project being intended can have on the environment in the future.
Components of environmental engineering
This branch of engineering has its constituents drawn from various branches of engineering. It would not be possible to work in this field without having at least a basic knowledge of other fields like chemistry, biology, zoology, ecology, and civil, chemical or mechanical engineering.
Functioning of environmental engineering
Whenever a new project is being proposed, environmental engineers are dispatched to the site to analyze if the project will have any negative impact on the environment of the area. Then they apply scientific and engineering principles to assess the impact of the project on different factors in that area like air, water, flora, fauna, ecology, etc. They are also responsible for designing the water lines and sewage disposal systems. They have to see that the sewage does not go directly into the seas and leads to pollution there.
Demand for environmental engineers
The role of environmental engineers has gained a lot of importance in the recent years. Due to growth of industries in most countries and booming economies, it has become extremely important to curb all types of pollutions so as to keep the environment clean.
Apart from this, there is also the hue and cry about green house gas emissions. All industrial nations are being persuaded to sign the Kyoto protocol which sets a cap on the carbon emissions by industrialized nations. Even though the protocol lets the developing countries free for now, these countries also have a duty to protect to keep their environment clean. Hence, the governments in these countries must have proper norms in place to curb pollution and proper laws to prevent the industries from emitting too high quantities of greenhouse gases.
Environmental engineers also try to keep noise pollution under check and try to minimize excessive utilization of natural resources which can destroy the ecological balance.
