Environmental sociology studies which aspect?

• A. How humans affect the environment and how the environment affects humans
• B. The political economy of energy
• C. The psychology of consumption
• D. The physics of weather

Answer: (D)

Environmental sociology examines the reciprocal relationship between human societies and the natural world. It looks at how people, institutions, and cultures shape the environment through actions like land use, resource extraction, pollution, and technology, and, in turn, how environmental conditions—such as climate change, pollution, or scarcity—affect social life, institutions, and everyday practices. This dual focus is why the broader option that includes both directions is the best fit. The other topics belong to more specific areas: the political economy of energy centers on power and policy around energy systems; the psychology of consumption studies individual attitudes and behaviors rather than the social and environmental connection; and the physics of weather is the domain of meteorology and natural science, not sociology.