Environmental physics should be on a par with quantum physics or optics

24 Sep 2025

As climate change intensifies, environmental physics must be taught to every physics undergraduate, explains Peter Hughes

Damaging effects. We now live in an increasingly urban world, with cities expanding into megacities that are causing significant environmental damage. (Courtesy: iStock/Daniel Stein)

The world is changing rapidly – economically, geopolitically, technologically, militarily, and environmentally. But when it comes to the environment, many people feel the world is on the cusp of catastrophe. That’s especially true for anyone directly affected by recurring environmental disasters, such as drought or flooding, where mass outmigration is the only option.

The challenges are considerable, and the crisis is urgent. But we know that physics has already contributed enormously to society, and environmental physics can make a huge difference by identifying, addressing, and alleviating the problems at stake. However, physicists will only be able to make a difference if we put environmental physics at the centre of our university teaching.

Grounded in physics

Environmental physics is the study of how living organisms respond to their environment within the framework of physical principles and processes. It examines interactions among the biosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere, lithosphere, geosphere, and atmosphere. Stretching from geophysics, meteorology, and climate change to renewable energy and remote sensing, it also covers soils and vegetation, the urban and built environment, and the survival of humans and animals in extreme environments.

Environmental physics was pioneered in the UK in the 1950s by the physicists Howard Penman and John Monteith, who were based at Rothamsted Experimental Station, one of the world's oldest agricultural research institutions. In recent decades, environmental physics has become increasingly prevalent in universities worldwide.

Some UK universities either teach environmental physics in their undergraduate physics degrees or include elements of it in their ecological science degrees. That’s the approach taken, for example, by University College London and the universities of Cambridge, Leicester, Manchester, Oxford, Reading, Strathclyde, and Warwick.

When it comes to master’s degrees in environmental physics, there are 17 related courses in the UK, including nuclear and ecological physics at Glasgow and radiation and environmental protection at Surrey. Even the London School of Economics has elements of environmental physics in some of its business, geography, and economics degrees via a “physics of climate” course.

But we need to do more. The interdisciplinary nature of environmental physics means it overlaps with not just physics and maths but also agriculture, biology, chemistry, computing, engineering, geology, and health science.

Indeed, recent developments in machine learning, digital technology, and artificial intelligence (AI) have had an impact on environmental physics – for example, through the use of drones in environmental monitoring and simulations – while AI algorithms can catalyse modelling and weather forecasting. AI could also, in the future, be used to predict natural disasters, such as earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, and volcanic eruptions, and to assess the health implications of environmental pollution.

Environmental physics is both exciting and challenging, with solid foundations in mathematics and the sciences, supported by experiments conducted in the lab and in the field. Environmental measurements are a great way to learn about uncertainty, monitoring, and modelling, while providing scope for project and teamwork. A grounding in environmental physics can also open the door to many exciting career opportunities, as ongoing ecological change means ongoing environmental research will be vital.

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Solving major regional and global environmental problems is a key part of sociopolitics, and therefore, ecological physics plays a special role in the public arena. It enables students to develop presentational and interpersonal skills to influence decision-makers at the local and national levels.

Taken together, a module on environmental physics should be a component of every undergraduate degree at a minimum, ideally carrying the same weight as quantum, statistical, or optical physics. Students of environmental physics have the potential to be enabled, engaged, and ultimately empowered to meet the demands of the future.

Peter Hughes is the first chair of the IOP’s Environmental Physics Group education committee, which aims to advance environmental physics in schools, colleges, and universities.

FROM PHYSICSWORLD.COM      25/12/2025