Lancaster Environment Centre

Many of the changes occurring on Earth at the beginning of the 21st century are unprecedented in their rates and scope. Never before has one species moderated the biology, chemistry and physics of the Earth in the way that Man is now doing. These changes in, for example, biodiversity, atmospheric composition, land use, and resource exploitation, are having effects on the global environment and are posing challenges to scientists and policy makers as never before.

The provision of clean air and water, ensuring the security of adequate food supplies and distribution, the development of renewable sources of energy, the maintenance of global biodiversity and the prevention of disease are just some of the many priorities facing us as the world's population continues to grow and aspire to higher standards of living.

A Unique Role to Play

Environmental scientists have a unique role to play in these developments and their understanding of how the Earth system works has already had major benefits. For example, by studying the chemistry and physics of the atmosphere, environmental scientists were able to alert the world community to the occurrence and dangers of ozone depletion in the upper atmosphere, information which, to their credit, politicians rapidly responded to.

Global warming is only at the forefront of the political debate due to the efforts of environmental scientists, and it is these scientists who are helping shape our vision of the future as we learn more about the sustainable limits the environment inevitably places on the way we live.

Of course science does not hold all the answers, but at Lancaster University we believe that a first-class education in the environmental sciences does offer a route to a satisfying and rewarding career, in which an individual can make a difference.