Environmental Management: Test Your Understanding
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From a humanistic perspective, what is the central problem that environmental managers seek to address?
Environmental management seeks to address the central problem of how to permit technology to
evolve continuously while limiting the degree to which this process alters natural ecosystems.
Why is environmental management more important today than it was 100 years ago?
Sample answer: As the human population continues to increase, and especially with global climate
change and technological advancements, people today have the ability to affect the environment
more globally and more intensely than ever before. In the past, with less population pressure and fewer
carbon dioxide emissions, the environment may have had a chance to recover. Therefore, people today
need to consciously develop and employ both individual and societal strategies to avoid further nega-
tive environmental effects.
Critical Thinking: An industrial farm wants to sink a new well within a city's watershed. The city's utility is
actively managing a hard water problem. Which management technique is the best to use in this situation,
and why?
Sample answer: Because the well is a new project, environmental analysis is the best technique to use.
The city is already dealing with its hard water problem, but officials need to understand how the new
well might affect the city's water supply.
