ENVIRONMENT
The environment can be defined as one’s surroundings. The welfare of the community depends on the availability of goods and the availability of goods depends on the availability of resources that come from environment.
Economic Growth and Environment
Soon after Independence, the Government of India adopted a policy of rapid economic development through extensive and intensive exploitation of natural resources. Unfortunately the Government has allowed landlords, private contractors, mine owners and industrialists to encroach upon public lands, and literally loot and destroy forests, water resources and mineral wealth. While economic development has enriched a small group of people-namely, the rich landlords in the villages, the small and large industrialists, the contractors, the smugglers, the bureaucrats and the politicians-environmental degradation which
is the direct result of this economic development has led to tremendous suffering and misery to millions of tribals,traditional craftmen and fisherfolk.It has been responsible for the steady growth in the number of landless labourers’ migration to cities.
Poverty
A major issue is the removal of mass poverty. Indian economy indicates a very high proportion of people below the poverty line.
Poverty is defined on the basis of norms of nutritional requirements, i.e., 2400 calories per person per day for rural areas and 2100 calories for the urban areas. According to Planning Commission estimates in 1999-2000 nearly 260 million people (26 per cent of the population) were living below poverty line. Out of this 193 million in rural areas and 67 million in urban areas. The burden of poverty is very massive. Rapid reduction and eventually the elimination of poverty is, there fore, the most important issue of development. The prevalence of ‘mass poverty’ which is the cause as well as consequence of their low level of development. Poverty is the result of low economic and human resource (education and other professional skills) base of the poor who own a very small portion of the total assets in the form of land, capital, house property etc. The low resource base of the poor also inhibits them from giving education and training to their children. This enables them to earn very low and meager wages and thus perpetuate poverty. In other words, inequality in
the distribution of assets is the principal cause of unequal distribution of opportunities on the other.
Environment – Economy Interaction
Resources include human resources, financial resources and natural resources like land, water, fisheries, minerals, forests,, marine resources, climate, rainfall and topography. Natural resources determine the course of development of a country.
While some natural resources such as land, water, fisheries and forest are renewable others like mineral and mineral oils are exhaustible and can be used only once. The principal objective of resource development is to maximize gross domestic output (GDP) or national production and for this purpose there should be optimum utilization of resources not only in the short period but, in a sustained manner, over the long period.
But the exploitation of natural resources should not result in the disturbance of ecological balace.The unintended side effects of economic development have to be avoided or controlled They include mismanagement of natural resources, large scale deforestation, the unplanned discharge of residues and wastes, the handling of toxic chemicals, growth of slums etc.
Deforestation is directly responsible for greater frequency and intensity of floods, soil erosion, heavy dams built at enormous expense and changes in climate conditions. It has also caused increased suffering to the landless labourers and marginal and small farmers who have steadily lost their traditional sources of
fuel wood and fodder for their cattle. Loss of fuel wood, in turn, has led to the use of cowdung as fuel, resulting in loss of precious organic manure.
Environmental Issues 1) Deforestation
2) Pollution
3)Ground Depletion
4)Climate Change
Climate is weather conditions of a place or area, conditions of temperature, rainfall, wind, etc. The saying goes, “climate is what you expect; weather is what you get.” The word climate describes the general average pattern of the weather in a place over a period of years. Climatologists generally consider 30 years as the time needed to assess the climate of a place. Change is a fundamental characteristic of the environment. Earth’s climate is a result of complex interactions between the sun , atmosphere , oceans , land and biosphere. Relatively small changes in climate
could have a major effect on our resources like food , energy and water. The factors that influence global climate are the aamount of solar energy the earth receives, the condition of the atmosphere , the shape and rotation of the earth , and the currents and other processes of the ocean. The scientific evidence suggest that the earths climate is changing . The atmosphere is warming and this trend will continue. By the year 2050, scientists predict that the world will be warmer by an average of between 1.5degree Celsius and 4.5 degree Celsius. A TASK Group set up by WHO had warned that climate change may have serious impact on human health.
5)Green House Effect.
A glass house used for raising delicate plants is called “green house’. A green house has higher temperature inside than outside though the interior receives less radiation. This is called green house effect. The factors that contribute to its effects are; i) glass walls ii) high carbon dioxide content iii) high water vapour content of air in the green house. They let the short wave radiations pass through them but prevent passage of long wave radiation emitted by the earth’s surface. This makes inside of the green house warmer than outside. As the suns radiation enters the atmosphere, some of it is reflected by the clouds and other particles and the rest reaches the earth. Part of the radiation
reaching the earth is reflected by the earth’s surface while the rest is absorbed. During this process these gases in the atmosphere called green house gases obstruct the shape of heat from the earth into space while allowing radiation from the sun to the earth. Without green house effect it is not possible to sustain life on the plant as the average temperature of the earth would be 18 degree celsius than 15degree Celsius.
The atmospheric gases which are permeable to short wave solar radiation but are strong absorber of long wave relations emitted from the surface of earth are called green house gases. They include
i) Carbon dioxide ii)Methane
iii)Nitrous Oxide
iv) Chlorofluro Carbons v)Hydrofluro carbon gases vi)Perfluro carbons
vii)Sulphur hexafluoride viii) Ozone
ix) Carbon monoxide
The green house gases added to the atmosphere by human activities can significantly affect the amount of heat trapped in the atmosphere over time and leads for global warming which had adverse effect on human life. The Inter –Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) periodically makes an assessment of the atmospheric abundance of green house gases and its possible impact on climate and related issues.
6)Global Warming
Global warming is an increase in the earth’s temperature due to the use of fossil fuels and other industrial professes leading to a build up of green house gases in the atmosphere. Air pollution traps more heat in the atmosphere rendering the earth warmer.
This effect is called global warming.
Causes of Global Warming
The main cause of global warming is green house effect. These include carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide , clorofluro carbons and ozone. Human activities during the last few decades of industrialization and population growth have polluted the atmosphere that it has begun to effect the climate. By burning
large amount of fossil fuels we release huge quanities of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Currently, deforestation also releases carbon trapped in the tissues of the trees. Natural process like volcanic eruptions and earth quake induced fires also contribute to carbon dioxide emissions. The Inter –governmental Panel on Climate Change held earlier in 2007 found that man made additions to the global atmospheric carbon dioxide were indeed responsible for warming .
Effects of Global Warming i) Climate Effects
a) There will be a warming of the earth’s surface and lower atmosphere and a cooling of atmosphere.
b) The warming trend over the earths surface is varied , warming in the tropics is lesser than the global mean by about 2-3 degree celcius depending on seasonal changeswhich in other latitude the average warming might amount for 5-10 degree Celsius increase in temperature.
C) precipitation patterns will be changed. Some areas will become wetter and some areas dryer.
d)Seasonal patterns will change due to the changing of temperature and prcepitation matters.
e) Soil moisture regions will be changed due to the changes in evaporation and precipitation.
f) With the increase in cloud cover over Eurasia in summer, which will enhance the solar heating of the surface and increase the land-sea temperature contrast,tropical mansoon will be driven with more severity and intensity.
g) Wind direction and wind stress over the sea surface will be changed,which will alter ocean cirrents and cause changes in nutrient mixing zones and productivity of the oceans.
7)Rise in Sea Level
The global warming also contributes to rise in sea level due to thermal expansion of ocean and melting of glaciers and Greenland ice sheets.The level of sea has been rising by 1 to 2 mm per year during the 20th century.A rise of even half a metre in sea level would affect human population,one- third of which lives within 60 km of a coast line.Many important birds and fishes inhabiting in coastal salt marshes and estuaries will become extinct die to inundation of their breeding ground.
The direct effects of rise in sea level are:
1) recession of shorelines and wetlands,
2) increased tidal range and estuarine salt-front instruction, and
3) an increase in salt-water contamination of coastal fresh-water aquifers.
Thus a rise in sea level will have a negative impact on human settlements, tourism, fisheries, agriculture, water suppliers and coastal ecosystems.
Impacts on Forests
Forests are highly sensitive to climate change and upto one third of currently forested and conservation of forest inhabitats in a rapidly warming world will present us with new challenges.
Effects on range of species distribution
Each plant and animal species occurs within a specific range of temperature.The global warming will shift the temperature
range,which would affect attitudinal and latitudinal distribution pattern of organisms. Rapid rise in temperature may cause large scale death of many trees, as they are sensitive to temperature stress and many species may disappear.
Effects on human settlements and society
Population would be displaced by the inundation of low-lying coastal plains,deltas, and islands in the next century if efforts to reduce greenhouse gas accumulation in the atmosphere were unsuccessful.
Effects on Food Production
Global warming will reduce crop production due to increased incidence of plant disease and pests, explosive growth of weeds and enhanced bastal rate of respiration of plants. Global warming could produce colder temperature in Russia and northern Europe resulting in the reduction of crop yields.
Effects on health
As the earth becomes warmer, the floods and droughts become more frequent, increase in water-borne diseases,infectious disease carried by mosquitoes and other disease vectors.Temperature change may have an impact on several major categories of diseases including cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, and respiratory disease.
Solutions for global Warming
The following are some of the suggested solutions to prevent global warming
a) Reduction in the use of fossil fuels.
b) Shifting to renewable energy resources that do not emit GHGs.
c) Development of substitutes for chlorofluorocarbons.
d) Increase of the vegetation cover, particularly forest for photosynthetic utilization of CO2.
e) Limiting population
f) Exploring other options to sequester carbon.
g) Adopting practices and technologies to make agriculture sustainable.
h) Reduce deforestation, adopt better forest management practices and undertake afforestation to sequester carbons.
i) Reduce deforestation, adopt better forest management practices and undertake afforestation to sequester carbons.
j) Use fewer automobiles and public transportation immediate and drastic reduction of emissions.