ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE

Unit 1: Ecosystems

Introduction
‘Environment’ is derived from the French word Environment which means to encircle or
surround.
All the biological and non-biological things surrounding an organism are thus included in
environment.
Environment is Thus defined as “the sum total of water, air and land, inter-
relationships that exist among them and with the human beings, other living organisms
and property”.

Multidisciplinary nature of environmental studies

Thus, in order to study environment, one needs knowledge inputs from various disciplines.

• Life Sciences including Botany, Zoology, Microbiology, Genetics, Biochemistry and

Biotechnology help in understanding the biotic component and their interactions.
• The physical and chemical structure of the abiotic components and energy transfer
and flow are under-stood with the help of basic concepts of Physics, Chemistry,
Geology, Atmospheric Science, Oceanography and Geography.
• Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science serve as effective tools in
environmental modelling and management.
• Subjects like Education, Economics, Sociology and Mass communication provide the
inputs for dealing with the socio-economic aspects associated with various
developmental activities.
• A synthesis with Environmental Engineering, Civil Engineering, Hydraulics and
Chemical Engineering form the basis for various technologies dealing with the control
of environmental pollution, waste-treatment and development of cleaner technologies
that are important for protection of the environment.
• Environmental laws provide the tools for effective management and protection of the
environment.
Environmental Studies, therefore, is a multidisciplinary subject where different aspects are
deal with a holistic approach
Ecosystems:
The term Ecology was coined by Earnst Haeckel in 1869. It is derived from the Greek words
Oikos- home + logos- study. So, ecology deals with the study of organisms in their natural
home interacting with their surroundings. The surroundings or environment consists of other
living organisms (biotic) and physical (abiotic) components. Modern ecologists believe that
an adequate definition of ecology must specify some unit of study and one such basic unit
described by Tansley (1935) was ecosystem. “An ecosystem is a group of biotic communities
of species interacting with one another and with their non-living environment exchanging
energy and matter”. Now ecology is often defined as “the study of ecosystems”.

An ecosystem is an integrated unit consisting of interacting plants, animals and

microorganisms whose survival depends upon the maintenance and regulation of their biotic
and abiotic structures and functions.
The ecosystem is thus, a unit or a system which is composed of a number of subunits, that are
all directly or indirectly linked with each other. They may be freely exchanging energy and
matter from outside—an open ecosystem or may be isolated from outside—a closed
ecosystem
ECOSYSTEM CHARACTERISTICS
Ecosystems show large variations in their size, structure, composition etc. However, all the
ecosystems are characterized by certain basic structural and functional features which are
common.
STRUCTURAL FEATURES
Composition and organization of biological communities and abiotic components constitute
the structure of an ecosystem.
I.Biotic Structure
The plants, animals and microorganisms present in an ecosystem form the biotic component.
(a) Producers: They are mainly the green plants, which can synthesize their food themselves
by making use of carbon di oxide present in the air and water in the presence of sunlight by
involving chlorophyll, the green pigment present in the leaves, through the process of
photosynthesis. They are also known as photo autotrophs (auto=self; troph=food,
photo=light).
There are some microorganisms also which can produce organic matter to some extent
through oxidation of certain chemicals in the absence of sunlight. They are known as
chemosynthetic organisms or chemo-autotrophs. For instance, in the ocean depths, where
there is no sunlight, chemoautotrophic sulphur bacteria make use of the heat generated by the
decay of radioactive elements present in the earth’s core and released in ocean’s depths. They
use this heat to convert dissolved hydrogen sulphide (H2S) and carbon dioxide (CO2) into
organic compounds.
(b) Consumers: All organisms which get their organic food by feeding upon other organisms
are called consumers, which are of the following types:
(i) Herbivores (plant eaters): They feed directly on producers and hence also known as
primary consumers. e.g. rabbit, insect, man.
(ii) Carnivores (meat eaters): They feed on other consumers. If they feed on herbivores they
are called secondary consumers (e.g. frog) and if they feed on other carnivores (snake, big
fish etc.) they are known as tertiary carnivores/consumers.
(iii) Omnivores: They feed on both plants and animals. e.g. humans, rat, fox, many birds.
(iv) Detritivores (Detritus feeders or Saprotrophs): They feed on the parts of dead organisms,
wastes of living organisms, their cast-offs and partially decomposed matter e.g. beetles,
termites, ants, crabs, earthworms etc.
(c) Decomposers: They derive their nutrition by breaking down the complex organic
molecules to simpler organic compounds and ultimately into inorganic nutrients. Various
bacteria and fungi are decomposers.
In all the ecosystems, this biotic structure prevails. However, in some, it is the primary
producers which predominate (e.g. in forests, agroecosystems) while in others the
decomposers predominate (e.g. deep ocean).
II. Abiotic Structure
The physical and chemical components of an ecosystem constitute its abiotic structure. It
includes climatic factors, edaphic (soil) factors, geographical factors, energy, nutrients and
toxic substances.
(a) Physical factors: The sunlight and shade, intensity of solar flux, duration of sun hours,
average temperature, maximum-minimum temperature, annual rainfall, wind, latitude and
altitude, soil type, water availability, water currents etc. are some of the important physical
features which have a strong influence on the ecosystem.
We can clearly see the striking differences in solar flux, temperature and precipitation
(rainfall, snow etc.) pattern in a desert ecosystem, in a tropical rainforest and in tundra
ecosystem.
(b) Chemical factors: Availability of major essential nutrients like carbon, nitrogen,
phosphorus, potassium, hydrogen, oxygen and sulphur, level of toxic substances, salts
causing salinity and various organic substances present in the soil or water largely influence
the functioning of the ecosystem.
FUNCTIONAL FEATURES
Every ecosystem performs under natural conditions in a systematic way. It receives energy
from the sun and passes it on through various biotic components and in fact, all life depends
upon this flow of energy.
The major functional attributes of an ecosystems are as follows:
(i) Food chain, food webs and trophic structure.
(ii) Energy flow.
(iii) Cycling of nutrients (Biogeochemical cycles).
(iv) Primary and Secondary production.
(v) Ecosystem development and regulation.
Tropic structure: The structure and functions of the ecosystem are interrelated and influence
each other. The flow of energy is mediated through a series of feeding relation ships in a
definite sequence or pattern which is known as Food chain. Nutrients too move along the
food chain. The producers and consumers are arranged in an ecosystem in a definite manner
and their interaction along with the population size is expressed together as Trophic structure.
Each food level is known as Trophic level and the amount of living matter at each Trophic
level at a given time is known as standing crop or standing biomass.
(i) FOOD CHAINS
• The sequence of eating and being eaten in an ecosystem is known as food chain.
• All organisms, living or dead, are potential food for some other organism and thus,
there is essentially no waste in the functioning of a natural ecosystem.
Some common examples of simple food chains are:
Grass → grasshopper → Frog → Snake → Hawk (Grassland ecosystem)
 Phytoplankton’s → water fleas → small fish → Tuna (Pond ecosystem)
Each organism in the ecosystem is assigned a feeding level or trophic level depending on its
nutritional status. Thus, in the grassland food chain, grasshopper occupies the Ist trophic
level, frog the IInd and snake and hawk occupy the IIIrd and the IVth trophic levels,
respectively.
The decomposers consume the dead matter of all these trophic levels. In nature, we come
across two major types of food chains.
1. Grazing food chain: It starts with green plants (primary producers) and culminates in
carnivores. All the examples cited above show this type of food chain. Another example
could be
Grass → Rabbit → Fox

Small fish

Phytoplanktons Zooplanktons
(Algae, diatoms)

Cornivorous
fish

AFig.
grazing foodfood
3.2. A grazing chain
chainin
in a pond
pondecosystem.
ecosystem

2. Detritus food chain: It starts with dead organic matter which the detritivores and
decomposers consume. Partially decomposed dead organic matter and even the decomposers
are consumed by detritivores and their predators. An example of the detritus food chain is
seen in a Mangrove (estuary) II.

Dead mangrove
tree leaves

Detritus feeders
Phytoplanktons Carnivores

Decomposers (Bacteria, fungi)

A detritus food chain in an estuary based on dead leaves of mangrove trees

Leaf litter → algae → crabs → small carnivorous fish → large carnivorous fish (Mangrove
ecosystem)
Dead organic matter → fungi → bacteria (Forest ecosystem)
FOOD WEB
Food chains in ecosystems are rarely found to operate as isolated linear sequences. Rather,
they are found to be interconnected and usually form a complex network with several
linkages and are known as food webs. Thus, “food web is a network of food chains where
different types of organisms are connected at different trophic levels, so that there are a
number of options of eating and being eaten at each trophic level.”

Significance of food chains and food webs

Food chains and food webs play a very significant role in the ecosystem because the two
most important functions of energy flow and nutrient cycling take place through them.
• The food chains also help in maintaining and regulating the population size of
different animals and thus, help maintain the ecological balance.
• Food chains show a unique property of biological magnification of some chemicals.
ECOLOGICAL PYRAMIDS
Graphic representation of tropic structure and function of an ecosystem, starting with
producers at the base and successive trophic levels forming the apex is knows as an
ecological pyramid.
Ecological pyramids are of three types:
a) Pyramid of numbers: It represents the number of individual organisms at each trophic
level. We may have upright or inverted pyramid of numbers, depending upon the type of
ecosystem and food chain as shown in below Fig.
Top carnivores
Top carnivores
Hawks, Lion, Tiger
other birds

Carnivores Frogs, birds Carnivores Snakes, foxes,

lizards
Herbivores Insects Herbivores Insects, birds

Producers Grasses Producers Trees

(a) (b)

Hyper parasites Fleas, microbes

Parasites Lice, bugs

Herbivores Birds

Producers Trees

(c)

• A grassland ecosystem (Fig. a) and a pond ecosystem show an upright pyramid of

numbers. The producers in the grasslands are grasses and that in a pond are phyto
planktons (algae etc.), which are small in size and very large in number. So the
producers form a broad base. The herbivores in a grassland are insects while tertiary
 carnivores are hawks or other birds which are gradually less and less in number and
hence the pyramid apex becomes gradually narrower forming an upright pyramid.
• In a forest ecosystem (Fig. b), big trees are the producers, which are less in number
and hence form a narrow base. A larger number of herbivores including birds, insects
and several species of animals feed upon the trees (on leaves, fruits, flowers, bark
etc.) and form a much broader middle level. The secondary consumers like fox,
snakes, lizards etc. are less in number than herbivores while top carnivores like lion,
tiger etc. are still smaller in number. So the pyramid is narrow on both sides and
broader in the middle.
• Parasitic food chain shows (Fig. c) an inverted pyramid of number. The producers
like a few big trees harbour fruit eating birds acting like herbivores which are larger in
number. A much higher number of lice, bugs etc. grow as parasites on these birds
while a still greater number of hyper parasites like bugs, fleas and microbes feed upon
them, thus making an inverted pyramid.
b) Pyramid of biomass: It is based upon the total biomass (dry matter) at each trophic level in
a food chain. The pyramid of biomass can also be upright or inverted.
Carnivores

Snakes, frog, birds

Squirrel, rabbit,
Herbivores
insects

Producers Grasses,
herbs
(a)
above Fig. (a, b) shows pyramids of biomass in a forest and an aquatic ecosystem. The
pyramid of biomass in a forest is upright in contrast to its pyramid of numbers. This is
because the producers (trees) accumulate a huge biomass while the consumers’ total biomass
feeding on them declines at higher trophic levels, resulting in broad base and narrowing top.
Tertiary Carnivores Big fish

Carnivores Small fish

Herbivores Insects
Producer

Phytoplanktons
s

(b)

The pond ecosystem shows an inverted pyramid of biomass (Fig. b). The total biomass of
producers (phytoplankton’s) is much less as compared to herbivores (zooplanktons, insects),
Carnivores (Small fish) and tertiary carnivores (big fish). Thus the pyramid takes an inverted
shape with narrow base and broad apex
c) Pyramid of Energy: The amount of energy present at each trophic level is considered for
this type of pyramid. Pyramid of energy gives the best representation of the trophic
relationships and it is always upright.

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 Top carnivores

Carnivores

Herbivores

Producers

At every successive trophic level, there is a huge loss of energy (about 90%) in the form of
heat, respiration etc. Thus, at each next higher level only 10% of the energy passes on.
Hence, there is a sharp decline in energy level of each successive trophic level as we move
from producers to top carnivores. Therefore, the pyramid of energy is always upright as
shown in Fig.
 Unit 2: Natural Resources
Life on this planet earth depends upon a variety of goods and services provided by the nature,
which are known as Natural resources. Thus water, air, soil, minerals, coal, forests, crops and
wildlife are all examples of natural resources. Any stock or reserve that can be drawn from
nature is a Natural resources .
CLASSIFICATION OF RESOURCES
Resources can be classified in the following ways:
(A) Living and non-living resources
Living resources are biological resources that are used by human beings e.g. forests,
croplands, animal resources.
Non-living resources are not derived from biological materials e.g. soil, land, water.
(B) Renewable and non-renewable resources
Renewable resources which are in exhaustive and can be regenerated within a given span of
time e.g. forests, wildlife, wind energy, biomass energy, tidal energy, hydro power etc. Solar
energy is also a renewable form of energy as it is an inexhaustible source of energy.
Non-renewable resources which cannot be regenerated in a time span e.g. Fossil fuels like
coal, petroleum, minerals etc. Once we exhaust these reserves, the same cannot be
replenished. Even our renewable resources can become non-renewable if we exploit them to
such extent that their rate of consumption exceeds their rate of regeneration. For example, if a
species is exploited so much that its population size declines below the threshold level then it
is not able to sustain itself and gradually the species becomes endangered or extinct.
It is very important to protect and conserve our natural resources and use them in a judicious
manner so that we do not exhaust them. Itdoes not mean that we should stop using most of
the natural resources. Rather, we should use the resources in such a way that we always save
enough of them for our future generations.
WATER RESOURCES
Water is an indispensable natural resource on this earth on which. all life depends. About
97% of the earth’s surface is covered by water and most of the animals and plants have 60-
65% water in their body.
Water-A Unique Resource
Water is characterized by certain unique features which make it a marvelous resource:
i. It exists as a liquid over a wide range of temperature i.e. from 0° to 100°C.
ii. It has the highest specific heat, due to which it warms up and cools down very slowly
without causing shocks of temperature jerks to the aquatic life.
iii. It has a high latent heat of vaporization. Hence, it takes a huge amount of energy for
getting vaporized. That’s why it produces a cooling effect as it evaporates.
iv. It is an excellent solvent for several nutrients. Thus, it can serve as a very good carrier
of nutrients, including oxygen, which are essential for life. But, it can also easily
dissolve various pollutants and become a carrier of pathogenic microorganisms.
v. Due to high surface tension and cohesion it can easily rise through great heights
through the trunk even in the tallest of the trees like Sequoia.
vi. It has an anomalous expansion behavior i.e. as it freezes, it expands instead of
contracting and thus becomes lighter. It is because of this property that even in
extreme cold, the lakes freeze only on the surface. Being lighter the ice keeps floating,
whereas the bottom waters remain at a higher temperature and therefore, can sustain
aquatic organisms even in extreme cold.
DAMS- BENEFITS AND PROBLEMS
Big dams are often regarded as a symbol of national development. However, there are several
other issues and problems related to these. Fig. 2.2 depicts various aspects associated with big
dams.
BENEFITS OF DAMS
River valley projects with big dams have usually been considered to playa key role in the
development process due to their multiple uses. India has the distinction of having the largest
number of river-valley projects. The tribal’s living in the area pin big hopes on these projects
as they aim at providing employment and raising the standard and quality of life. The dams
have tremendous potential for economic upliftment and growth. They can help in checking
floods and famines, generate electricity and reduce water and power shortage, provide
irrigation water to lower areas, provide drinking water in remote areas and promote
navigation, fishery etc.
ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS DUE TO DAMS
The environmental impacts of big-dams are also too many due to which very often the big
dams become a subject of controversy. The impacts can be at the upstream as well as
downstream levels.
(A) The upstream problems include the following:
(i) Displacement of tribal people
(ii) Loss of forests, flora and fauna
(iii) Changes in fisheries and the spawning grounds
(iv) Siltation and sedimentation of reservoirs
(v) Loss of non-forest land
(vi) Stagnation and waterlogging near reservoir
(vii) Breeding of vectors and spread of vector-borne diseases
(viii) Reservoir induced seismicity (RIS) causing earthquakes
(ix) Growth of aquatic weeds.
(x) Microclimatic changes.
(B) The downstream impacts include the following:
(i) Water logging and salinity due to over irrigation
(ii) Micro-climatic changes
(iii) Reduced water flow and silt deposition in river
(iv) Flash floods
(v)Salt water intrusion at river mouth
(vi) Loss of land fertility along the river since the sediments carrying nutrients get
deposited in the reservoir
(vii) Outbreak of vector-borne diseases like malaria
Thus, although dams are built to serve the society with multiple uses, but it has several
serious side-effects. That is why now there is a shift towards construction of small dams or
mini-hydel projects.
FOREST RESOURCES
Forests are one of the most important natural resources on this earth. Covering the earth like a
green blanket these forests not only produce innumerable material goods, but also provide
several environmental services which are essential for life.
About 1/3rd of the world’s land area is forested which includes closed as well as open forests.
Uses of Forests
Commercial uses: Forests provide us a large number of commercial goods which include
timber, firewood, pulpwood, food items, gum, resins, non-edible oils, rubber, fibers, lac,
bamboo canes, fodder, medicine, drugs and many more items.
Half of the timber cut each year is used as fuel for heating and cooking. One third of the
wood harvest is used for building materials as lumber, plywood and hardwood, particle board
and chipboard. One sixth of the wood harvest is converted into pulp and used for paper
industry. Many forest lands are used for mining, agriculture, grazing, and recreation and for
development of dams.
Ecological uses: While a typical tree produces commercial goods worth about $ 590 it
provides environmental services worth nearly $ 196, 250.
The ecological services provided by our forests may be summed up as follows:
Production of oxygen: The trees produce oxygen by photo-synthesis which is so vital for life
on this earth. They are rightly called as earth’s lungs.
Reducing global warming: The main greenhouse gas car-bon dioxide (CO2) is absorbed by
the forests as a raw material for photosynthesis. Thus forest canopy acts as a sink for CO2
thereby reducing the problem of global warming caused by greenhouse gas CO2
Wild life habitat: Forests are the homes of millions of wild animals and plants. About 7
million species are found in the tropical forests alone.
Regulation of hydrological cycle: Forested watersheds act like giant sponges, absorbing the
rainfall, slowing down the runoff and slowly releasing the water for recharge of springs.
About 50-80 %of the moisture in the air above tropical forests comes from their transpiration
which helps in bringing rains.
Soil Conservation: Forests bind the soil particles tightly in their roots and prevent soil
erosion. They also act as wind-breaks.
Pollution moderators: Forests can absorb many toxic gases and can help in keeping the air
pure. They have also been reported to absorb noise and thus help in preventing air and noise
pollution.
DEFORESTATION
Deforestation is the permanent destruction of forests in order to make the land available for
other uses. Some other statistics
Major Causes of Deforestation
(i) Shifting cultivation: There are an estimated 300 million people living as shifting
cultivators who practice slash and burn agriculture and are supposed to clear more than 5 lakh
ha of forests for shifting cultivation annually. In India, we have this practice in North-East
and to some extent in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and M.P which contribute to nearly half of the
forest clearing annually.
(ii) Fuel requirements: Increasing demands for fuel wood by the growing population in India
alone has shooted up to 300-500 million tons in 2001 as compared to just 65 million tons
during independence, thereby increasing the pressure on forests.
(iii) Raw materials for industrial use: Wood for making boxes, furniture, railway-sleepers,
plywood, match-boxes, pulp for paper in-dustry etc. have exerted tremendous pressure on
forests. Plywood is in great demand for packing tea for Tea industry of Assam while fir tree
wood is exploited greatly for packing apples in J&K.
(iv) Development projects: Massive destruction of forests occur for various development
projects like hydroelectric projects, big dams, road construction, mining etc.
(v) Growing food needs: In developing countries this is the main reason for deforestation. To
meet the demands of rapidly growing population, agricultural lands and settlements are
created permanently by clearing forests.
(vi) Overgrazing: The poor in the tropics mainly rely on wood as a source of fuel leading to
loss of tree cover and the cleared lands are turned into the grazing lands. Overgrazing by the
cattle leads to further degradation of these lands.
Major Consequences of Deforestation
Deforestation has far reaching consequences, which may be outlined as follows:
(i) It threatens the existence of many wild life species due to destruction of their natural
habitat
(ii) Biodiversity is lost and along with that genetic diversity is eroded.
(iii) Hydrological cycle gets affected, thereby influencing rainfall.
(iv) Problems of soil erosion and loss of soil fertility increase.
(v) In hilly areas it often leads to landslides
ENERGY RESOURCES
Energy consumption of a nation is usually considered as an index of development. This is
because almost all the developmental activities directly or indirectly dependent upon energy.
We find wide disparities per capita energy use between the developed and the developing
nations.
The first form of energy technology probably was the fire, which produced heat and the early
man used it for cooking and heating purposes. Wind and hydropower have also been in use
for the last 10,000 years. The invention of steam engines replaced the burning of wood by
coal and coal was later replaced to a great extent by oi1. In 1970’s due to Iranian revolution
and Arab oil embargo the prices of oil shot up. This ultimately led to exploration and use of
several alternate sources of energy.
RENEWABLE AND NON-RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES
A source of energy is one that can provide adequate amount of energy in a usable form over a
long period of time. These sources can be of two types:
(1) Renewable resources which can be generated continuously in nature and are
inexhaustible e.g. wood, solar energy, wind energy, tidal energy, hydropower, biomass
energy, bio-fuels, geo- thermal energy and hydrogen. They are also known as non-
conventional sources of energy and they can be used again and again in an endless manner.
(2) Non-renewable resources which have accumulated in nature over a long span of
time and cannot be quickly replenished when exhausted e.g. coal, petroleum, natural gas and
nuclear fuels like uranium and thorium.
Wood is a renewable resource as we can get new wood by growing a sapling into a tree
within 15-20 years but it has taken millions of years for the formation of coal from trees and
cannot be regenerated in Our life time, hence coal is not renewable. We will now discuss
various forms of renewable and non-renewable energy resource.
Renewable Energy Resources (Alternate Energy Resource)
Solar Energy: Sun is the ultimate source of energy, directly or indirectly for all other forms
of energy. The nuclear fusion reactions occurring inside the sun release enormous quantities
of energy in the form of heat and light. The solar energy received by the near earth space is
approximately 1.4 kilojoules/ second/ m2 known as solar constant.
Traditionally, we have been using solar energy for drying clothes and food-grains,
preservation of eatables and for obtaining salt from sea water. Now we have several
techniques for harnessing solar energy. Some important solar energy harvesting devices .
(i) Solar heat collectors: These can be passive or active in nature. Passive solar heat
collectors are natural materials like stones, bricks etc. Or material like glass which absorb
heat during the day time and release it slowly at night. Active solar collectors pump a heat
absorbing medium (air or water) through a small collector which is normally placed on the
top of the building.
(ii) Solar cells: They are also known as photovoltaic cells or PV cells. Solar cells are made of
thin wafers of semi-conductor materials like silicon and gallium. When solar radiations fall
on them, a potential difference is produced which causes flow of electrons and produces
electricity. Silicon can be obtained from silica or sand, which is abundantly available and
inexpensive. By using gallium arsenide, cadmium supplied or boron, efficiency of the PV
cells can be improved. The potential difference produced by a single PV cell of 4 ern- size is
about 0.4-0.5 volts and produces a current of 60 milli amperes
 FIG 1 A solar pump run by electricity produced by solar cells.

A group of solar cells joined together in a definite pattern form a solar panel which can
harness a large amount of solar energy and can produce electricity enough to run street-light,
irrigation water pump etc.
Solar cells are widely used in calculators, electronic watches, street lighting, traffic signals,
water pumps etc. They are also used in artificial satellites for electricity generation. Solar
cells are used for running radio and television also. They are more in use in remote areas
where conventional electricity supply is a problem.

Fig 2 Solar cell.

(iii) Solar cooker: Solar cookers make use of solar heat by reflecting the solar radiations
using a mirror directly on to a glass sheet which covers the black insulated box within which
the raw food is kept. A new design of solar cooker is now available which involves a
spherical reflector (concave or parabolic reflector) instead of plane mirror that has more
heating effect and hence greater efficiency.
The food cooked in solar cookers is more nutritious due to slow heating. However, it has the
limitation that it cannot be used at night or on cloudy days. Moreover, the direction of the
cooker has to be adjusted according to the direction of the sun rays.
 FIG 3 Simple box-type solar cooker.

Wind energy: The high speed winds have a lot of energy in them as kinetic energy due to
their motion. The driving force of the winds is the sun. The wind energy is harnessed by
making use of wind mills. The blades of the wind mill keep on rotating continuously due to
the force of the striking wind. The rotational motion of the blades drives a number of
machines like water pumps, flour mills and electric generators. A large number of wind mills
are installed in clusters called wind farms, which feed power to the utility grid and produce a
large amount of electricity. These farms are ideally located in coastal regions, open
grasslands or hilly regions, particularly mountain passes and ridges where the winds are
strong and steady. The minimum wind speed required for satisfactory working of a wind
generator is 15 km / hr. Natural Resources
The wind power potential of our country is estimated to be about 20,000 MW, while at
present we are generating about 1020 MW. The largest wind farm of our country is near
Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu generating 380 MW electricity.
Wind energy is very useful as it does not cause any air pollution. After the initial installation
cost, the wind energy is very cheap. It is believed that by the middle of the century wind
power would supply more than 10% of world’s electricity.

Hydro power: The water flowing in a river is collected by constructing a big dam where the
water is stored and allowed to fall from a height. The blades of the turbine located at the
bottom of the dam move with the fast moving water which in turn rotate the generator and
produces electricity. We can also construct mini or micro hydel power plants on the rivers in
hilly regions for harnessing the hydro energy on a small scale, but the minimum height of the
waterfalls should be 10 meters. The hydropower potential of India is estimated to be about 4
ll
x l0 KW-hours. Till now we have utilized only a little more than 11% of this potential.
Hydropower does not cause any pollution, it is renewable and normally the hydro power
projects are multipurpose projects helping in controlling floods, used for irrigation,
navigation etc. However, big dams are often associated with a number of environmental
impacts .
Tidal energy: Ocean tides produced by gravitational forces of sun and moon contain
enormous amounts of energy. The ‘high tide’ and ‘low tide’ refer to the rise and fall of water
in the oceans. A difference of several meters is required between the height of high and low
tide to spin the turbines. The tidal energy can be harnessed by constructing a tidal barrage.
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During high tide, the sea-water flows into the reservoir of the barrage and turns the turbine,
which in turn produces electricity by rotating the generators. During low tide, when the sea-
level is low, the sea water stored in the barrage reservoir flows out into the sea and again
turns the turbines.

FIG 5 Water flows into the reservoir to turn the turbine at high tide (a), and flows out
from the reservoir to the sea, again turning the turbine at low tide (b).

There are only a few sites in the world where tidal energy can be suitably harnessed. The Bay
of Fundy, Canada having 17-18 m high tides has a potential of 5,000 MW of power
generation. The tidal mill at La Rance, France is one of the first modern tidal power mill. In
India, Gulf of Cambay, Gulf of Kutch and the Sunder ban deltas are the tidal power sites.
Non Renewable Energy Sources
These are the fossil fuels like coal, petroleum, natural gas and nuclear fuels. These were
formed by the decomposition of the remains of plants and animals buried under the earth
millions of years ago. The fuels are very precious because they have taken such a long time to
be formed and if we exhaust their reserves at such a fast rate as we have been doing, ever
since we discovered them, then very soon we will lose these resources forever.
Coal : Coal was formed 255-350 million years ago in the hot, damp regions of the earth
during the carboniferous age. The ancient plants along the banks of rivers and swamps were
buried after death into the soil and due to the heat and pressure gradually got converted into
peat and coal over millions of years of time. There are mainly three types of coal, namely
anthracite (hard coal), bituminous (soft coal) and lignite (brown coal). Anthracite coal has
maximum carbon (90%) and calorific value (8700 kcallkg.) Bituminous, lignite and peat
contain 80, 70 and 60% carbon, respectively. Coal is the most abundant fossil fuel in the
world. At the present rate of usage, the coal reserves are likely to last for about 200 years
and if its use increases by 2% per year, then it will last for another 65 years.
India has about 5% of world’s coal and Indian coal is not very good in terms of heat capacity.
Major coal fields in India are Raniganj, Jharia, Bokaro, Singrauli, and Godavari valley. The
coal states of India are Jharkhand, Orissa, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh
and Maharashtra. Anthracite coal occurs only in J & K.
When coal is burnt it produces carbon dioxide, which is a greenhouse gas responsible for
causing enhanced global warming. Coal also contains impurities like sulphur and therefore as
it burns the smoke contains toxic gases like oxides of sulphur and nitrogen.
Petroleum: It is the lifeline of global economy. There are 13 countries in the world having
67% of the petroleum reserves which together form the OPEC (Organization of Petroleum
Exporting Countries). About 1I4th of the oil reserves are in Saudi Arabia.
At the present rate of usage, the world’s crude oil reserves are estimated to get exhausted in
just 40 years. Some optimists, however, believe that there are some yet undiscovered
reserves. Even then the crude oil
reserves will last for another 40 years or so. Crude petroleum is a complex mixture of alkane
hydrocarbons. Hence it has to be purified and refined by the process of fractional distillation,
during which process different constituents separate out at different temperatures. We get a
large variety of products from this, namely, petroleum gas, kerosene, petrol, diesel, fuel oil,
lubricating oil, paraffin wax, asphalt, plastic etc.
Petroleum is a cleaner fuel as compared to coal as it burns completely and leaves no residue.
It is also easier to transport and use. That is the reason why petroleum is preferred amongst
all the fossil fuels.
Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG): The main component of petroleum is butane, the other
being propane and ethane. The petroleum gas is easily converted to liquid form under
pressure as LPG. It is odorless, but the LPG in our domestic gas cylinders gives a foul smell.
This is, in fact, due to ethyl mercaptan, a foul smelling gas, added to LPG so that any leakage
of LPG from the cylinder can be detected instantaneously.
Oil fields in India are located at Digboi (Assam), Gujarat Plains and Bombay High, offshore
areas in deltaic coasts of Godavari, Krishna, Kaveri and Mahanadi.
Natural Gas: It is mainly composed of methane (95%) with small amounts of propane and
ethane. It is a fossil fuel. Natural gas deposits mostly accompany oil deposits because it has
been formed by decomposing remains of dead animals and plants buried under the earth.
Natural gas is the cleanest fossil fuel. It can be easily transported through pipelines. It has a
high calorific value of about 50KJ/G and burns without any smoke.
Currently, the amount of natural gas deposits in the world are of the order of 80, 450 g m “.
Russia has maximum reserves (40%), followed by Iran (14%) and USA (7%). Natural gas
reserves are found in association with all the oil fields in India. Some new gas fields have
been found in Tripura, Jaisalmer, off-shore area of Mumbai and the Krishna-Godavari Delta.
Natural gas is used as a domestic and industrial fuel. It is used as a fuel in thermal power
plants for generating electricity. It is used as a source of hydrogen gas in fertilizer industry
and as a source of carbon in tyre industry.
Compressed Natural Gas (CNG): It is being used as an alternative to petrol and diesel for
transport of vehicles. Delhi has totally switched over to CNG where buses and auto rickshaws
run on this new fuel. CNG use has greatly reduced vehicular pollution in the city.
 Unit 3: Environmental Pollution

For normal and healthy living a conducive environment is required by all the living beings,
including humans, livestock, plants, microorganisms and the wildlife.
The favourable unpolluted environment has a specific composition. When this composition
gets changed by addition of harmful substances, the environment is called polluted
environment and the substances polluting it are called pollutants.

Environmental pollution can, therefore, be defined as any undesirable change in the

physical, chemical or biological characteristics of any component of the environment
(air, water, soil), which can cause harmful effects on various forms of life or property.
Environmental pollution could be of various types
AIR POLLUTION
Air pollution can, therefore, be defined as any undesirable change in the physical,
chemical or biological characteristics of air, which can cause harmful effects on various
forms of life or property.
It is an atmospheric condition in which certain substances (including the normal constituents
in excess) are present in concentrations which can cause undesirable effects on man and his
environment. These sub-stances include gases, particulate matter, radioactive substances etc.
• Gaseous pollutants include oxides of sulphur (mostly SO2, SO3) oxides of nitrogen
(mostly NO and NO2 or NOx), carbon monoxide (CO), volatile organic compounds
(mostly hydrocarbons) etc.
• Particulate pollutants include smoke, dust, soot, fumes, aerosols, liquid droplets,
pollen grains etc.
• Radioactive pollutants include radon-222, iodine-131, strontium-90, plutonium-239
etc.
Sources of Air Pollution
The sources of air pollution are natural and man-made (anthropogenic).
Natural Sources: The natural sources of air pollution are volcanic eruptions, forest fires, sea
salt sprays, biological decay, photochemical oxidation of terpenes, marshes, extra terrestrial
bodies, pollen grains of flowers, spores etc. Radioactive minerals present in the earth crust
are the sources of radioactivity in the atmosphere
Man-made sources: Man made sources include thermal power plants, industrial units,
vehicular emissions, fossil fuel burning, agricultural activities etc. Thermal power plants have
become the major sources for generating electricity in India as the nuclear power plants
couldn’t be installed as planned. The main pollutants emitted are fly ash and SO2.
Metallurgical plants also consume coal and produce similar pollutants. Fertilizer plants,
smelters, textile mills, tanneries, refineries, chemical industries, paper and pulp mills are
other sources of air pollution.
Automobile exhaust is another major source of air pollution. Automobiles release gases such
as carbon monoxide (about 77%), oxides of nitrogen (about 8%) and hydrocarbons (about
14%). Heavy duty diesel vehicles spew more NOx and suspended particulate matter (SPM)
than petrol vehicles which produce more carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons.
Classification: On the basis of origin of pollutants
a)Primary pollutants : These are emitted directly from the point sources . Ex: Smoke,
dust…etc.
b) Secondary pollutants : These are formed by interaction of primary pollutants with other
primary pollutants (or) primary pollutants with natural constituents of atmosphere. Ex: Smog,
PAN
Effects of air pollution: Air pollution has adverse effects on living organisms and materials

Effects on Human Health:

 • Human respiratory system has a number of mechanisms for protection from air
pollution. Bigger particles (> 10 µm) can be trapped by the hairs and sticky mucus in
the lining of the nose. Smaller particles can reach tracheobronchial system and there
get trapped in mucus.
• They are sent back to throat by beating of hair like cilia from where they can be
removed by spitting or swallowing. Years of exposure to air pollutants (including
cigarette smoke) adversely affect these natural defences and can result in lung cancer,
asthma, chronic bronchitis and emphysema (damage to air sacs leading to loss of lung
elasticity and acute shortness of breath).
• Suspended particulates can cause damage to lung tissues and diseases like asthma,
bronchitis and cancer especially when they bring with them cancer causing or toxic
pollutants attached on their surface.
• Sulphur dioxide (SO2) causes constriction of respiratory passage and can cause
bronchitis like conditions.
• In the presence of suspended particulates, SO2 can form acid sulphate particles, which
can go deep into the lungs and affect them severely.
• Oxides of nitrogen especially NO2 can irritate the lungs and cause conditions like
chronic bronchitis and emphysema.
• Carbon monoxide (CO) reaches lungs and combines with haemoglobin of blood to
form carboxyhaemoglobin. CO has affinity for haemoglobin 210 times more than
oxygen. Haemoglobin is, therefore, unable to transport oxygen to various parts of
the body. This causes suffocation. Long exposure to CO may cause dizziness,
unconsciousness and even death.
• Many other air pollutants like benzene (from unleaded petrol), formaldehyde and
particulates like polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) toxic metals and dioxins (from
burning of polythene) can cause mutations, reproductive problems or even cancer.
• Hazardous materials like Asbestos, Mercury, Arsenic and radioactive materials
cause lung diseases and effect to other organs like brain, kidney, liver, heart….etc
Effects on Plants:
• Air pollutants affect plants by entering through stomata (leaf pores through which
gases diffuse), destroy chlorophyll and affect photosynthesis.
• Pollutants also erode waxy coating of the leaves called cuticle.
• Cuticle prevents excessive water loss and damage from diseases, pests, drought and
frost.
• Damage to leaf structure causes necrosis (dead areas of leaf), chlorosis (loss or
reduction of chlorophyll causing yellowing of leaf) or epinasty (downward curling of
leaf), and abscission (dropping of leaves). Particulates deposited on leaves can form
encrustations and plug the stomata. The damage can result in death of the plant.
Effects on aquatic life:
• Air pollutants mixing up with rain can cause high acidity (lower pH) in fresh water
lakes.
• This affects aquatic life especially fish. Some of the freshwater lakes have
experienced total fish death.
Control of Air pollution
Air pollution can be minimized by the following methods:

• Use non-conventional sources.

• Shifting to less polluting fuels.
• Planting more trees.
• Use transport system like bicycle…etc.
• Using low sulphur coal in industries.
 • Minimize activities which cause pollution like transportation and energy production.
• Reduction of pollution at sources.
Global Warming
• Troposphere, the lowermost layer of the atmosphere, traps heat by a natural process
due to the presence of certain gases. This effect is called Green House Effect as it is
similar to the warming effect observed in the horticultural greenhouse made of glass.
• The amount of heat trapped in the atmosphere depends mostly on the concentrations
of “heat trapping” or “greenhouse” gases and the length of time they stay in the
atmosphere. The major greenhouse gases are carbon dioxide, ozone, methane, nitrous
oxide, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and water vapours.
• Heat trapped by greenhouse gases in the atmosphere keeps the planet warm is called
global warming.

Space
Sun
Carbon dioxide, water vapours,
methane, nitrous oxide, ozone
Heat
in the atmosphere
radiations
Solar
radiations

Re-radiated
heat radiations

Greenhouse Effect
The enhanced greenhouse effect will not only cause global warming but will also affect
various other climatic and natural processes.
(i) Global temperature increase: It is estimated that the earth’s mean temperature will rise
between 1.5 to 5.5°C by 2050 if input of greenhouse gases continues to rise at the present
rate. Even at the lower value, earth would be warmer than it has been for 10,000 years.
(ii) Rise in Sea Level: With the increase in global temperature sea water will expand.
Heating will melt the polar ice sheets and glaciers resulting in further rise in sea level.
Current models indicate that an increase in the average atmospheric temperature of 3°C
would raise the average global sea level by 0.2–1.5 meters over the next 50–100 years.
One meter rise in sea level will inundate low lying areas of cities like Shanghai, Cairo,
Bangkok, Sydney, Hamburg and Venice as well as agricultural lowlands and deltas in Egypt,
Bangladesh, India, China and will affect rice productivity. This will also disturb many
commercially important spawning grounds, and would probably increase the frequency of
storm damage to lagoons, estuaries and coral reefs.
In India, the Lakshadweep Islands with a maximum height of 4 meters above the level may
be vulnerable. Some of the most beautiful cities like Mumbai may be saved by heavy
investment on embankment to prevent inundation.
Life of millions of people will be affected, by the sea level rise who have built homes in the
deltas of the Ganges, the Nile, the Mekong, the Yangtze and the Mississippi rivers.
(iii) Effects on Human Health: The global warming will lead to changes in the rainfall
pattern in many areas, thereby affecting the distribution of vector-borne diseases like malaria,
filariasis, elephantiasis etc.
Areas which are presently free from diseases like malaria, schistosomiasis etc. may become
the breeding grounds for the vectors of such diseases. The areas likely to be affected in this
manner are Ethiopia, Kenya and Indonesia. Warmer temperature and more water stagnation
would favour the breeding of mosquitoes, snails and some insects, which are the vectors of
such diseases.
Higher temperature and humidity will increase/aggravate respiratory and skin diseases.
(iv) Effects on Agriculture: There are different views regarding the effect of global warming
on agriculture. It may show positive or negative effects on various types of crops in different
regions of the world. Tropical and subtropical regions will be more affected since the average
temperature in these regions is already on the higher side. Even a rise of 2°C may be quite
harmful to crops. Soil moisture will decrease and evapotranspiration will increase, which may
drastically affect wheat and maize production.
Increase in temperature and humidity will increase pest growth like the growth of vectors for
various diseases. Pests will adapt to such changes better than the crops.
To cope up with the changing situation drought resistant, heat resistant and pest resistant
varieties of crops have to be developed.
Ozone Layer Depletion
For the last 450 million years the earth has had a natural sunscreen in the stratosphere called
the ozone layer. This layer filters out harmful ultraviolet radiations from the sunlight and thus
protects various life forms on the earth.
Ozone is a form of oxygen. The molecule of oxygen contains two atoms whereas that of
ozone contains three (O3). In the stratosphere ozone is continuously being created by the
absorption of short wave-length ultraviolet (UV) radiations. Ultraviolet radiations less than
242 nanometres decompose molecular oxygen into atomic oxygen (O) by photolytic
decomposition.
O2 + hv → O + O

The atomic oxygen rapidly reacts with molecular oxygen to form ozone.
O + O2 + M → O3 + M

(M is a third body necessary to carry away the energy released in the reaction).
Ozone thus formed distributes itself in the stratosphere and ab-sorbs harmful ultraviolet
radiations (200 to 320 nm) and is continuously being converted back to molecular oxygen.
O3 + hv → O2 + O

Absorption of UV radiations results in heating of the stratosphere.

The net result of the above reactions is an equilibrium concentration of ozone. Ozone
concentration in about 24 km of the stratosphere i.e. from 16 km to 40 Km away from earth is
about 10 ppm (as com-pared to 0.05 ppm concentration of harmful tropospheric ozone). This
equilibrium is disturbed by reactive atoms of chlorine, bromine etc. which destroy ozone
molecules and result is thinning of ozone layer generally called ozone hole
The amount of atmospheric ozone is measured by ‘Dobson Spectrometer’ and is expressed in
Dobson units (DU). One DU is equivalent to a 0.01 mm thickness of pure ozone at the
density it would possess if it were brought to ground level (1atm) pressure. Normally over
temperate latitude its concetration is about 350 DU, over tropics it is 250 DU whereas at
subpolar regions (except when ozone thinning occurs) it is on an average 450 DU. It is
because of the stratospheric winds which transport ozone from tropical towards polar regions
Effects of Ozone Depletion
• Ozone depletion in the stratosphere will result in more UV radiation reaching the
earth especially UV-B (290-320 nm). The UV-B radiations affect DNA and the
photosynthetic chemicals. Any change in DNA can result in mutation and cancer.
Cases of skin cancer (basal and squamous cell carcinoma) which do not cause death
but cause disfigurement will increase.
• Easy absorption of UV rays by the lens and cornea of eye will result in increase in
incidents of cataract.
• Melanin producing cells of the epidermis (important for hu-man immune system) will
be destroyed by UV-rays resulting in immuno-suppression. Fair people (can’t produce
enough melanin) will be at a greater risk of UV exposure.
• Phytoplanktons are sensitive to UV exposure. Ozone deple-tion will result in decrease
in their population thereby affect-ing the population of zooplankton, fish, marine
animals, in fact the whole aquatic food chain.
• Yield of vital crops like corn, rice, soybean, cotton, bean, pea, sorghum and wheat
will decrease.
• Degradation of paints, plastics and other polymer material will result in economic loss
due to effects of UV radiation resulting from ozone depletion
 Unit 4
WASTE MANAGEMENT
SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT
Solid waste (waste other than liquid or gaseous) can be classified as municipal, industrial,
agricultural, medical, mining waste and sewage sludge.

Sources of Urban and Industrial Wastes

Urban waste consists of medical waste from hospitals; municipal solid wastes from homes,
offices, markets (commercial waste) small cottage units, and horticulture waste from parks,
gardens, orchards etc.

• Waste from homes (Domestic waste) contains a variety of discarded materials like
polyethylene bags, empty metal and aluminium cans, scrap metals, glass bottles,
waste paper, diapers, cloth/rags, food waste etc.

• Waste from shops mainly consists of waste paper, packaging material, cans, bottles,
polyethylene bags, peanut shells, eggshells, tea leaves etc.

• Biomedical waste includes anatomical wastes, pathological wastes, infectious wastes

etc.

• Construction/demolition waste includes debris and rubbles, wood, concrete etc.

• Horticulture waste and waste from slaughter houses include vegetable parts, residues
and remains of slaughtered animals, respectively.
• Industrial waste: Industrial waste consists of a large number of materials including
factory rubbish, packaging material, organic wastes, acids, alkalis and metals etc.
During some industrial processing large quantities of hazardous and toxic materials
are also produced. The main sources of industrial wastes are chemical industries,
metal and mineral processing industries. Radioactive wastes are generated by nuclear
power plants. Thermal power plants produce fly ash in large quantities. Solid wastes
from other types of industries include scrap metal, rubber, plastic, paper, glass, wood,
oils, paints, asphalt, tars, dyes, scrap leather, ceramics, abrasives, slag, heavy metals,
asbestos, batteries.

The urban solid waste materials that can be degraded by micro-organisms are called
biodegradable wastes. Examples of this type of waste are vegetable wastes, stale food, tea
leaves, egg shells, peanut shells, dry leaves etc. Wastes that cannot be degraded by micro-
organisms are called non-biodegradable wastes. For example, polyethylene bags, scrap metal,
glass bottles etc.

Effects of Solid Wastes

Municipal solid wastes heap up on the roads due to improper disposal system. People clean
their own houses and litter their immediate surroundings which affects the community
including themselves. This type of dumping allows biodegradable materials to decompose
under uncontrolled and unhygienic conditions. This produces foul smell and breeds various
types of insects and infectious organisms besides spoiling the aesthetics of the site.
Industrial solid wastes are sources of toxic metals and hazardous wastes, which may spread
on land and can cause changes in physico-chemical and biological characteristics thereby
affecting productivity of soils. Toxic substances may leach or percolate to contaminate the
ground water.

In refuse mixing the hazardous wastes are mixed with garbage and other combustible waste.
This makes segregation and disposal all the more difficult and risky. Various types of wastes
like cans, pesticides, cleaning solvents, batteries (zinc, lead or mercury) radioactive materials,
plastics are mixed up with paper, scraps and other non-toxic materials which could be
recycled. Burning of some of these materials produce dioxins, furans and polychlorinated
biphenyls, which have the potential to cause various types of ailments including cancer.

Management of Solid Waste: For waste management we stress on ‘three R’s’-Reduce, reuse
and recycle before destruction and safe storage of wastes.

(i) Reduction in use of raw materials: Reduction in the use of raw materials will
correspondingly decrease the production of waste. Reduced demand for any metallic product
will decrease the mining of their metal and cause less production of waste.

(ii) Reuse of waste materials: The refillable containers which are discarded after use can be
reused. Villagers make casseroles and silos from waste paper and other waste materials.
Making rubber rings from the discarded cycle tubes which are used by the newspaper
vendors, instead of rubber bands, reduces the waste generation during manufacturing of
rubber bands. Because of financial constraints poor people reuse their materials to the
maximum.

(iii) Recycling of materials: Recycling is the reprocessing of discarded materials into new
useful products.

(i) Formation of some old type products e.g. old aluminium cans and glass bottles are melted
and recast into new cans and bottles.

(ii) Formation of new products: Preparation of cellulose insulation from paper, preparation of
fuel pellets from kitchen waste. Preparation of automobiles and construction materials from
steel cans.

The process of reducing, reusing and recycling saves money, energy, raw materials, land
space and also reduces pollution. Recycling of paper will reduce cutting of trees for making
fresh paper. Reuse of metals will reduce mining and melting of ores for recovery of metals
from ores and prevent pollution

Discarding of Solid Wastes

For discarding wastes the following methods can be adopted:

(i) Sanitary landfill: In a sanitary landfill, garbage is spread out in thin layers, compacted and
covered with clay or plastic foam.

In the modern landfills the bottom is covered with an impermeable liner, usually several
layers of clay, thick plastic and sand. The liner protects the ground water from being
contaminated due to percolation of leachate. Leachate from bottom is pumped and sent for
treatment. When landfill is full it is covered with clay, sand, gravel and top soil to prevent
seepage of water. Several wells are drilled near the landfill site to monitor if any leakage is
contaminating ground water. Methane produced by anaerobic decomposition is collected and
burnt to produce electricity or heat.

(ii) Composting: Due to shortage of space for landfill in bigger cities, the biodegradable yard
waste (kept separate from the municipal waste) is allowed to degrade or decompose in an
oxygen rich medium. A good quality nutrient rich and environmental friendly manure is
formed which improves the soil conditions and fertility.

(iii) Incineration: Incinerators are burning plants capable of burning a large amount of
materials at high temperature. The initial cost is very high. During incineration high levels of
dioxins, furans, lead and cadmium may be emitted with the fly ash of incinerator. Dioxin
level may reach many times more than in the ambient environment. For incineration of
materials, it is better to remove batteries containing heavy metals and plastic containing
chlorine before burning the material. Prior removal of plastics will reduce emissions of
dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).

e-WASTE MANAGEMENT

"Electronic waste" or "E-Waste" may be defined as discarded computers, office electronic

equipment, entertainment device electronics, mobile phones, television sets, and refrigerators.
This includes used electronics which are destined for reuse, resale, salvage, recycling, or
disposal.
 Unit 5: SOCIAL ISSUES AND THE ENVIRONMENT

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Sustainable development is defined as “meeting the needs of the present without

compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

Sustainable development implies using the natural resources in such a manner

which doesn’t eliminate or diminish their usefulness for future generations eg: coal, crude oil;
forests_. Hence, the concept of Sustainable Development could be termed development
without destruction.
Measures for Sustainable Development: Following are the measures for the sustainable
development:
1. Population Control: Population growth should be limited to the desirable level. Slow
human population growth, reduce the stress on global life.
2. Biodiversity (variety of life on earth and how the living things interact with each
other) must be conserved.
3. Recycling of wastes: Recycle at least 60% of the materials which are discarded now
as trash.
4. Reduced Consumption: Lifestyle should be shifted to lesser consumption of
resources.
5. Efficient usage of Resources: Resources should be renewed or reused. For eg: solar
energy should be encouraged.
6. Water Resource Management: Some of the consequences of poor water resource
management such as
(A) River flooding; (B) Silting of reservoirs, ponds, lakes;
(C) over exploitation of groundwater; (D) Water logging by over irrigation
(E) Improper drainage (F) Pollution of water bodies
are to be taken up for implementation. So, Sustainable development insists optimum
management of water resources locally and globally.

7. Integrated Land use planning: Using lands for agriculture, forestry, fodder cultivation,
industrial growth, traffic etc should be planned.
8. Creating Awareness: Creation of environmental awareness and spreading
environmental education among the people is must for fruitful results..

Threats To Sustainability: Though the measures are adopted for implementation of

Sustainable Development , some of the threats such as Energy depletion; climate system
collapse; ecological collapse; Economic slump etc are reduce the sustainability of life.
• Energy depletion: The availability of crude oil resources are less and usage is more
and more. Since the increased number of human beings mainly dependent on energy
source especially fossil fuels, the future generation will have to work hard to
restructure the way they live.
• Climate system collapse: Huge quantities of Green House Gases have been releasing
into the atmosphere over the last 100 years. And more is being released every day,
future generation may be unstable with the climate systems of floods, storms,
droughts, extreme temperatures etc
 • Ecological collapse: Numerous industries are coming up by consuming the natural
resources and releasing the toxic substances into the atmosphere. These substances
cause soil pollution, air pollution; water pollution and in turn causing the imbalance of
ecosystem.
• Economic slump: Although the world has never had an economic recession all over,
there may be a global economic depression may takes place because of the destruction
of ecosystem.

ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION
• Education plays a very important role in dealing with the global issue.
• Environmental Education is an integral process, which deals with man’s
interrelationship with his (natural and man made) surroundings viz., relation of
population, pollution, resource allocation, resource depletion, conservation,
technology; urban and rural planning.
• Environmental Education is intended to promote the awareness and understanding of
the environment among the citizens. Hence, Environmental Education is meant to
bring about the required changes in knowledge, understanding attitudes and skills
pertaining to the environment, conservation and ecological balance.
• So, Environmental Education must be considered as a solution for all environmental
problems and the goal of Environmental Education should be to improve and enhance
the quality of life.

The objectives of Environmental Education are:

• Awareness--- to help individuals acquire an awareness of environment and its allied
problems.
• Knowledge--- to acquire basic understanding of the environment
• Skills--- to acquire the skills for solving environmental problems. Participation-to
develop responsibility regarding environmental problems to ensure appropriate action
to solve those problems.

Importance of Environmental Education:

The importance of environmental protection has long been recognized in our country. Article
51 (g) of the constitution states “ It shall be the duty of every citizen to protect and improve
the Natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers, wild life” etc..
Education about environment provides learners with the know how on environment.
Education for environment will be concerned about conservation, preservation and
upgradation.
Conservation of Natural Resources: As the human population increases, greater demands are
placed upon the available natural resources. Large areas of the earth are being converted for
the exclusive use of man. Thus, many valuable natural resources, which were available
yesterday are not seen today.
At present, world environment is suffering critical stress not only by utilization of natural
resources but also with the environmental damage inflicted by deforestation, species loss and
climate change. So, a new environmental ethic with responsibility is required to recognize the
earth’s limited capacity of natural resources. This ethic must motivate the people to effect the
needed changes.
The global population had already crossed 6 billions and may reach 8 billions by 2019 while
the per capita availability of forests, pasture lands, crop lands etc will be decreased.
Resources consumption in developed countries causes significant pollution problems,
environmental degradation and resource depletion. For eg: an average US citizen consumes
50 times as much as the average citizen of India.
Hence, there must be a holistic way of thinking regarding the management of land resources,
water resources, forest resources etc..
Over-exploitation of resources: The over-use or over-harvesting of plants, animals or natural
resources threatens the Earth’s biodiversity is called as overexploitation.
Over-exploitation causes diminishing of resources which include medicinal plants, forest
wood, grazing pastures, fish stocks, forests; water aquifers and species extinctions. If over-
exploitation is sustained, it can lead to the destruction of the environment.
Over-hunting has been a significant cause of the extinction of hundreds of species including
whales large mammals etc. Commercial hunting, both legal and illegal is the principal threat.
Deforestation, Desertification, Extinction of species; Soil erosion; Fossil fuel depletion;
Ozone depletion; increase of Green House Gases etc may arise from over-exploitation of
natural resources.