Today we will explain everything you have always wanted to know about the ecology. A science that increasingly has more foundation and value. To travel the paths of ecology and environmentalism, however, it is necessary to make a short stop first. Because, although they are sometimes used in a similar way, they are not the same.
“The ecology “It is to environmentalism what sociology is to socialism,” says ironically Jaume Terradas, professor of Ecology at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, today emeritus and honorary. “He environmentalism It is a set of activisms and political movements, while the ecology It’s a science. What happens is that many ecologists are a bit environmentalists, because our knowledge of the relationship between human beings and ecological systems makes us ask for more prudence and more conservation of natural spaces.”
It is a science that draws from biology
The ecology It is a science that draws on biology, chemistry, geology, mathematics or physics. It seeks, just as Humboldt pursued, to understand the complex relationships that living beings maintain among themselves and with their environment, to understand the ins and outs of ecological systems. Environmentalism is, however, a social and political movement of defense of the nature; a movement that had its origins in conservationism like Muir’s, but that today goes much further.
“The relationship between environmentalism and ecology It’s fundamental. Ecology makes us understand that all species are interrelated with each other and with their environment, forming ecosystems,” says Luís Suárez, conservation coordinator at WWF Spain. “As ecology develops and we realize the complexity of these relationships, the response of environmentalism also becomes more complex. Ecology is the basic science that gives us the theoretical information we need.”
Greek past and future in the Anthropocene
In a broad sense, science has been accompanying the history of human beings for thousands of years. Many ancient civilizations handled scientific knowledge and studied anatomy, biology, mathematics or astronomy, among other disciplines. But if there is a classical civilization in which most sciences sink their roots, that is the Greek.
The observation of the Aristotle’s nature or the analysis of the relationship between the environment and the human being by Hippocrates are some of the first signs that mark the path of ecology, as stated in ‘Brief history of ecology’ by the ecologist José María Blanco Martín. Even so, many centuries would still have to pass for the science of ecology began to take shape.
Charles Darwin
Anton van Leeuwenhoek, who studied food chains; Carl Linnaeus, who named thousands of species and developed the idea of the economy of nature; Charles Darwin and the origin of species, or Humboldt himself opened the doors to the birth of the science of ecology during the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. It was precisely after the mid-19th century that the term ecology first appeared in the writings of a fervent defender of Darwin’s theories.
“Ernst Haeckel, a biology scholar, first proposed the term ecology to refer to the study of the relationships of living beings with each other and with the environment,” says Jaume Terradas. “This term was put aside for some time, but at the end of the 19th century some works began to appear that could be assigned to this new line of biological research.”
Ecology develops and gains scientific status
During the 20th century, explains the doctor from the Autonomous University of Barcelona, the ecology develops and gains scientific status with the emergence of new theories and concepts, as well as the publication of detailed and in-depth studies on ecosystems. Today it is a science that tries to advance the understanding of the complex dynamics that govern our planet and, above all, seeks the fit of human beings in all of this.
“We are part of ecological systems and, like all organisms, we alter them. But, in our case, due to the cultural derivations of our evolution, the alteration of the environment It is much deeper,” Terradas emphasizes. “The ecology “It has helped us realize that human beings and their cultures are a result of biological evolution, a culture that has made our relationship with the environment much stronger.”
“We are greatly altering what was diversity before our appearance. In fact, we have been doing it for only 5,000 years, which is when the weight of livestock and agriculture began to be noticed,” he adds. “There is even talk that we are in a new geological phase: the Anthropocene, an era dominated by humans. The science of ecology should help us understand how ecosystems “They react to our impact and make proposals that improve our relationship with the environment.”
Species that disappear
“In those years we perceived the first strong signs of this impact. Species that disappear or alterations to fantastic natural spaces set off the first alarm bells,” explains Luís Suárez. “We had started a path of destruction, although the impacts were still noticeable at a very local level. Little by little, with the passage of time, we have realized that the damage occurs throughout the planet.”
Environmentalism begins as a sum of local movements, quite spontaneous and unstructured, in different countries. Additionally, he drinks from several different sources. “At first, environmentalism focused on the conservation of species and habitats. But it also happens to integrate the antinuclear movement, which in turn integrated other social and pacifist movements”, adds the coordinator of WWF Spain.
WWF y Greenpeace
Between 1961, the year of the founding of WWF, and 1971, the year of the birth of Greenpeace, the environmental movement began to be articulated into increasingly structured associations and organizations. Little by little, it stops being a loosely defined set of local protests and is gaining influence. The verification of climate change and the alarming loss of biodiversity over the following decades would help turn environmentalism into the social movement it is today.
“Environmentalism today has professionalized at all levels to face many challenges. It has incorporated more than just biologists and naturalists, it has added administrators, communicators, lawyers, economists… Environmentalism is more complex and more professional, but it also covers more topics,” says Suárez.
First IPCC report
The publication in 1990 of the first IPCC report – a reference panel of experts in climate science – marks a before and after at the level of communication and social outreach. Suddenly, the rise in sea level, the melting of ice or the future of some emblematic species occupy the front pages and are the subject of political debate. The impact of human beings on their environment, putting their own future in check, becomes a global concern.
“The greatest achievement of environmentalism has been to make a good part of society clear that we have to address a series of environmental challengesstarting with climate change and continuing with the loss of biodiversity”, explains Suárez. “Today, society has even moved ahead of organizations. Young people take to the streets asking for more commitment, more answers. “They have turned climate change into the fight of a generation.”
And, from now on, what. “We have to be able to explain to society that the way out of this crisis is to change our production and consumption model, that we are living above the limits of the planet,” concludes Luís Suárez. To this end, the knowledge that the ecology It will be essential. “Science has to finish understanding the fit, or disengagement, of human beings in ecological systems,” adds Jaume Terradas.
As since the times of Humboldt and Muir, the ecology and environmentalism will continue to travel separate paths. One, guided by science. Another, channeling social protests and political intentions. But the meeting points will continue to exist and will continue to revolve around the planet and our relationship with other beings that inhabit it. News updated in April 2024.