Ever since people first recognized that their health and well-being were related to the quality of their environment, they have applied thoughtful principles to attempt to improve the quality of their environment. The ancient Harappan civilization utilized early sewers in some cities. The Romans constructed aqueducts to prevent drought and to create a clean, healthful water supply for the metropolis of Rome.
Modern environmental engineering began in the mid-nineteenth century. The introduction of drinking water treatment and sewage treatment in industrialized countries reduced water-borne diseases from leading causes of death to rarities. As societies grew, actions that were intended to achieve benefits for those societies had long-term impacts that reduced other environmental qualities. One example is the widespread application of dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) to control agricultural pests in the 1940s. While the agricultural benefits were outstanding and crop yields increased dramatically, thus reducing world hunger substantially, and malaria was controlled better than it ever had been, numerous species were brought to the verge of extinction due to the impact of DDT on their reproductive cycles.
Leave a Reply