Environment and Sustainable Development
Notes
Environment
Environment is defined as the total planetary inheritance and the totality of all resources.
It includes all the biotic and abiotic factors that influence each other.
- Biotic elements/ factors include all living elements—the birds, animals and plants, forests, fisheries etc.
- Abiotic elements include non-living elements—air, water, sunlight, land etc.
Functions of Environment
The environment performs four vital functions:
- It supplies both renewable and non-renewable resources.
- Renewable resources are those which can be used without the possibility of the resource becoming depleted or exhausted. That is, a continuous supply of the resource remains available. Examples of renewable resources are the trees in the forests and the fishes in the ocean.
- Non-renewable resources are those which get exhausted with extraction and use, for example, fossil fuel.
- It assimilates waste.
- It sustains life by providing genetic and bio diversity.
- It also provides aesthetic services like scenery etc.
Note: The environment is able to perform these functions without any interruption as long as the demand on these functions is within its carrying capacity.
Carrying capacity of the environment
It means that the resource extraction is not above the rate of regeneration of the resource and the wastes generated are within the assimilating capacity of the environment.
When this is not so, the environment fails to perform its vital function of life sustenance and this results in an environmental crisis.
Absorptive capacity of the environment Absorptive capacity means the ability of the environment to absorb degradation.
Environmental crisis
(Give an account for the current environmental crisis.)
Today the world is facing the problem of environmental crisis. The main factors responsible for this are:
1. The rising population of the developing countries and the affluent consumption and production standards of the developed world have placed a huge stress on the environment in terms of its
first two functions – supplying resources and assimilating waste. Consequently,
a) Many resources have become extinct and
b) the wastes generated are beyond the absorptive capacity of the environment. This has resulted in environmental crisis.
- Due to past development, rivers and other aquifers has polluted and dried up making water an economic good.
- The intensive and extensive extraction of both renewable and non-renewable resources has exhausted some of the vital resources and we are compelled to spend huge amounts on technology and research to explore new resources.
- Due to degraded environmental quality — decline in air and water quality (seventy per cent of water in India is polluted), incidence of respiratory and water-borne diseases have increased which has added to the health cost. Hence the expenditure on health is also rising.
- Global environmental issues such as global warming and ozone depletion also contribute to increased financial commitments for the government.
Thus, it is clear that the opportunity costs of negative environmental impacts are high.
Global warming
Global warming is a gradual increase in the average temperature of the earth’s lower atmosphere as a result of the increase in greenhouse gases since the Industrial Revolution. During the past century, the atmospheric temperature has risen by 1.1°F (0.6°C) and sea level has risen several inches.
Much of the recent observed and projected global warming is human-induced. It is caused by man-made increases in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
Factors contributing to global warming
- Burning of coal and petroleum products (sources of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, ozone);
- Deforestation, which increases the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere;
- Methane gas released in animal waste; and Increased cattle production, which contributes to deforestation, methane production, and use of fossil fuels.
A UN Conference on Climate Change, held in Kyoto, Japan, in 1997, resulted in an international agreement to fight global warming which called for reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases by industrialised nations. The atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide and CH4 have increased by 31 per cent and 149 per cent respectively above pre-industrial levels since 1750.
Effects of global warming
- Melting of polar ice with a resulting rise in sea level and coastal flooding;
- Disruption of drinking water supplies dependent on snow melts;
- Extinction of species as ecological niches disappears;
- More frequent tropical storms; and
- An increased incidence of tropical diseases.
Reversal of Supply-Demand relationship for environmental resources
(Is the environmental problem new to this century?)
There has been a complete reversal of supply-demand relationship for environmental resources
- In the early days when civilisation just began, or before this phenomenal increase in population, and before countries took to industrialisation, the demand for environmental resources and services was much less than their supply.
- Also, the pollution was within the absorptive capacity of the environment and the rate of resource extraction was less than the rate of regeneration of these resources. Hence environmental problems did not arise.
- But with population explosion and with the advent of industrial revolution to meet the growing needs of the expanding population, the demand for resources for both production and consumption went beyond the rate of regeneration of the resources; the pressure on the absorptive capacity of the environment increased tremendously – this trend continues even today.
- Thus, we are now faced with increased demand for environmental resources and services but their supply is limited due to overuse and misuse. Hence there has been a reversal of supplydemand relationship for environmental quality. Today the environmental issues of waste generation and pollution have become critical.
Ozone Depletion
Ozone depletion refers to the phenomenon of reductions in the amount of ozone in the stratosphere.
Cause of ozone depletion
The problem of ozone depletion is caused by high levels of chlorine and bromine compounds in the stratosphere. The origins of these compounds are:
- Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC), used as cooling substances in air conditioners and refrigerators, or
- As aerosol propellants, and bromofluorocarbons (halons), used in fire extinguishers.
Effects of ozone depletion
As a result of depletion of the ozone layer, more ultraviolet (UV) radiation comes to Earth and causes damage to living organisms.
- UV radiation seems responsible for skin cancer in humans;
- It also lowers production of phytoplankton and thus affects other aquatic organisms. It can also influence the growth of terrestrial plants.
A reduction of approximately 5 per cent in the ozone layer was detected from 1979 to 1990.
Montreal Protocol
As the ozone layer prevents most harmful wavelengths of ultraviolet light from passing through the Earth’s atmosphere, its depletion has generated worldwide concern. This led to the adoption of the Montreal Protocol i.e. banning the use of chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) compounds, as well as other ozone depleting chemicals such as carbon tetrachloride, trichloroethane (also known as methyl chloroform), and bromine compounds known as halons.
State of India’s environment
- India has abundant natural resources in terms of rich quality of soil, hundreds of rivers and tributaries, lush green forests, plenty of mineral deposits beneath the land surface, vast stretch of the Indian Ocean, ranges of mountains, etc.
- The black soil of the Deccan Plateau is particularly suitable for cultivation of cotton, leading to concentration of textile industries in this region.
- The Indo-Gangetic plains — spread from the Arabian Sea to the Bay of Bengal — are one of the most fertile, intensively cultivated and densely populated regions in the world.
- India’s forests, though unevenly distributed, provide green cover for a majority of its population and natural cover for its wildlife.
- Large deposits of iron-ore, coal and natural gas are found in the country.
- India accounts for nearly 8 per cent of the world’s total iron-ore reserves. Other minerals like bauxite, copper, chromate, diamonds, gold, lead, lignite, manganese, zinc, uranium, etc. are also available in different parts of the country.
However, the developmental activities in India have resulted in pressure on its finite natural resources, besides creating impacts on human health and well-being.
‘The threat to India’s environment poses a dichotomy—threat of poverty-induced environmental degradation and, at the same time, threat of pollution from affluence and a rapidly growing industrial sector.’ Comment.
The given statement implies that the threat to India’s environment is of two dimensions—threat of poverty induced environmental degradation and the threat of pollution from affluence and a rapidly growing industrial sector.
Poverty induced environmental degradation is mainly caused by cutting of trees to use as firewood, overgrazing of animals, pollution of water resources, encroachment into forest land and other poverty induced reasons.
At the same time affluence in living standards and a rapidly growing industrial sector is also causing environmental degradation (posing a threat for today’s environment). With affluence (wealth) the demand for goods and services increases which necessitates the need for increasing production resulting in increase in demand for resources as well as rise in pollution through vehicles and industries. Also, it involves deforestation, use of non-degradable items like plastics and the negative externalities of industrialization such as air, water and land pollution.
The most pressing environmental concerns of India.
Some of the most pressing environmental concerns of India are air pollution, water contamination, soil erosion, deforestation and wildlife extinction.
The priority issues identified are:
- Land degradation
- Biodiversity loss
- Air pollution with special reference to vehicular pollution in urban cities
- Management of fresh water and
- Solid waste management.
Land degradation
Land degradation refers to a decline in the overall quality of soil, water or vegetation condition, commonly caused by human activities.
Land in India suffers from varying degrees and types of degradation stemming mainly from unstable use and inappropriate management practices.
Causes of land degradation: Some of the factors responsible for land degradation are:
- Loss of vegetation occurring due to deforestation
- Unsustainable fuel wood and fodder extraction
- Shifting cultivation
- Encroachment into forest lands
- Forest fires and over grazing
- Non-adoption of adequate soil conservation measures
- Improper crop rotation
- Indiscriminate use of agro-chemicals such as fertilisers and pesticides
- Improper planning and management of irrigation systems
- Extraction of ground water in excess of the recharge capacity
- Open access resource and
- Poverty of the agriculture-dependent people.
Deforestation
Deforestation refers to cutting, clearing and removal of rainforest, where land is thereafter converted to a non-forest use.
- Deforestation is rising at such a rapid scale that it has totally disturbed the ecological balance of the country.
- The per capita forest land in the country is only 0.06 hectare against the requirement of 0.47 hectare to meet basic needs, resulting in an excess felling of about 15 million cubic metre forests over the permissible limit.
- It leads to soil erosion, occurrence of more floods, changes in climate etc.
Soil erosion
Soil erosion takes place when the surface soil washed away through excessive rains and floods. Deforestation is one of the major reasons for soil erosion.
As per the estimates, soil is being eroded at a rate of 5.3 billion tonnes a year, which is in excess of recharge capacity. As a result of which the country loses 0.8 million tonnes of nitrogen, 1.8 million tonnes of phosphorus and 26.3 million tonnes of potassium every year. According to the Government of India, the quantity of nutrients lost due to erosion each year ranges from 5.8 to 8.4 million tonnes.
India supports approximately 17 per cent of the world’s human and 20 per cent of livestock population on a mere 2.5 per cent of the world’s geographical area. The high density of population and livestock and the competing uses of land for forestry, agriculture, pastures, human settlements and industries exert an enormous pressure on the country’s finite land resources.
Air pollution
Air pollution is the presence of materials in air in such concentration, which are harmful to man and the environment.
- In India, air pollution is widespread in urban areas where vehicles are the major contributors and in a few other areas which have a high concentration of industries and thermal power plants.
- Vehicular emissions are of particular concern as these are ground level sources and have the maximum impact on the general population.
- The number of motor vehicles has increased from about 3 lakhs in 1951 to 23 crores in 2016. In 2016, personal transport vehicles (two-wheeled vehicles and cars only) constituted about 85 per cent of the total number of registered vehicles, thus, contributing significantly to total air pollution load.
- India is one of the ten most industrialised nations of the world. However, this status has brought with it unwanted and unanticipated consequences such as unplanned urbanisation, pollution and the risk of accidents. The CPCB (Central Pollution Control Board) has identified seventeen categories of industries (large and medium scale) as significantly polluting.
Pollution Control Boards
In order to address two major environmental concerns in India, viz. water and air pollution, the government set up the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in 1974. This was followed by states establishing their own state level boards to address all the environmental concerns.
Main functions of Pollution Control Boards
- They investigate, collect and disseminate information relating to water, air and land pollution, lay down standards for sewage/trade effluent and emissions.
- These boards provide technical assistance to governments in promoting cleanliness of streams and wells by prevention, control and abatement of water pollution, and improve the quality of air and to prevent, control or abate air pollution in the country.
- These boards also carry out and sponsor investigation and research relating to problems of water and air pollution and for their prevention, control or abatement.
- They organise, through mass media, a comprehensive mass awareness programme for the same.
- The PCBs prepare manuals, codes and guidelines relating to treatment and disposal of sewage and trade effluents.
- They assess the air quality through regulation of industries.
- In fact, state boards, through their district level officials, periodically inspect every industry under their jurisdiction to assess the adequacy of treatment measures provided to treat the effluent and gaseous emissions.
- They also provide background air quality data needed for industrial siting and town planning.
- The pollution control boards collect, collate and disseminate technical and statistical data relating to water pollution. They monitor the quality of water in 125 rivers (including the tributaries), wells, lakes, creeks, ponds, tanks, drains and canals.
Note: The above points highlight the challenges to India’s environment. The various measures adopted by the Ministry of Environment and the central and state pollution control boards may not yield reward Unless we consciously adopt a path of sustainable development.
Chipko or Appiko
- The Chipko Movement, which aimed at protecting forests in the Himalayas.
- In Karnataka, a similar movement took a different name, ‘Appiko’, which means to hug.
- On 8 September 1983, when the felling of trees was started in Salkani forest in Sirsi district, 160 men, women and children hugged the trees and forced the woodcutters to leave. They kept vigil in the forest over the next six weeks.
- Only after the forest officials assured the volunteers that the trees will be cut scientifically and in accordance with the working plan of the district, did they leave the trees.
- When commercial felling by contractors damaged a large number of natural forests, the idea of hugging the trees gave the people hope and confidence that they can protect the forests.
- On that particular incident, with the felling discontinued, the people saved 12,000 trees. Within months, this movement spread to many adjoining districts.
- Indiscriminate felling of trees for fuelwood and for industrial use has led to many environmental problems.
- Twelve years after setting up of a paper mill in Uttar Kanara area, bamboo has been wiped out from that area. “Broad-leaved trees which protected the soil from the direct onslaught of rain have been removed, the soil washed away, and bare laterite soil left behind. Now nothing grows but a weed”, says a farmer. Farmers also complain that rivers and rivulets dry up quicker, and that rainfall is becoming erratic. Diseases and insects earlier unknown are now attacking the crops.
- Appiko volunteers want the contractors and forest officials to follow certain rules and restrictions. For instance, local people should be consulted when trees are marked for felling and trees within 100 metres of a water source and on a slope of 30 degrees or above should not be felled.
Sustainable development
Sustainable development is a kind of development that minimises environmental problems and meets the need of the present generation without compromising the ability of the future generation to meet their own needs.
Hence, sustainable development is the development which will allow all future generations to have a potential average quality of life that is at least as high as that which is being enjoyed by the current generation.
The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), defined it as:
‘Development that meets the need of the present generation without compromising the ability of the future generation to meet their own needs’.
Edward Barbier defined sustainable development as one which is directly concerned with increasing the material standard of living of the poor at the grass root level — this can be quantitatively measured in terms of increased income, real income, educational services, health care, sanitation, water supply etc. In more specific terms, sustainable development aims at decreasing the absolute poverty of the poor by providing lasting and secure livelihoods that minimise resource depletion, environmental degradation, cultural disruption and social instability. Sustainable development is, in this sense, a development that: (a) meets the basic needs of all, particularly the poor majority, for employment, food, energy, water, housing, and
(b) ensures growth of agriculture, manufacturing, power and services to meet these needs.
The Brundtland Commission emphasises on protecting the future generation. This implies that we have a moral obligation to hand over the planet earth in good order to the future generation; that is, the present generation should bequeath a better environment to the future generation. At least we should leave to the next generation a stock of ‘quality of life’ assets no less than what we have inherited.
The present generation can promote development that enhances the natural and built environment in ways that are compatible with:
- conservation of natural assets;
- preservation of the regenerative capacity of the world’s natural ecological system; and (iii) avoiding the imposition of added costs or risks on future generations.
How to achieve sustainable development
According to Herman Daly, a leading environmental economist, to achieve sustainable development, the following needs to be done:
- Limiting the human population to a level within the carrying capacity of the environment.
- Technological progress should be input efficient and not input consuming.
- Renewable resources should be extracted on a sustainable basis, that is, rate of extraction should not exceed rate of regeneration.
- For non-renewable resources rate of depletion should not exceed the rate of creation of renewable Substitutes.
- Inefficiencies arising from pollution should be corrected.
Note: Promotion of natural resources, conservation, preserving regenerative capacity of ecological system and avoiding the imposition of environmental risks on future generations would lead to sustainable development.
Strategies for sustainable development
- Use of non-conventional sources of energy
- India, is hugely dependent on thermal and hydro power plants to meet its power needs. Both of these have adverse environmental impacts.
- Thermal power plants emit large quantities of carbon dioxide which is a greenhouse gas. It also produces fly ash which, if not used properly, can cause pollution of water bodies, land and other components of the environment. Hydroelectric projects inundate forests and interfere with the natural flow of water in catchment areas and the river basins.
Wind power and solar rays are cleaner and greener energy sources but are not yet been explored on a large scale due to lack of technological devices.
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- Wind power: In areas where speed of wind is usually high, wind mills can provide electricity without any adverse impact on the environment. Wind turbines move with the wind and electricity is generated
- Solar Power through Photovoltaic Cells
- India is naturally endowed with a large quantity of solar energy in the form of sunlight. We use it in different ways. With the help of photovoltaic cells, solar energy can be converted into electricity. These cells use special kind of materials to capture solar energy and then convert the energy into electricity.
- This technology is extremely useful for remote areas and for places where supply of power through grid or power lines is either not possible or proves very costly. (In recent years India is taking efforts to increase the power generation through solar. India is also leading an International body called International Solar Alliance (ISA)).
Both the techniques (wind and solar power) are totally free from pollution. Although their initial cost is high, but the benefits are such that the high cost gets easily absorbed.
- Use of cleaner fuels
A. LPG, Gobar Gas in Rural Areas
- Households in rural areas generally use wood, dung cake or other biomass as fuel. This practice has several adverse implications like deforestation, reduction in green cover, wastage of cattle dung and air pollution.
- To overcome this situation, use of LPG and gobar gas plants are being promoted (through easy loans and subsidies) as they are cleaner fuels and help in reducing household pollution to a large extent.
B. CNG in Urban Areas
- In urban areas, the use of CNG is being promoted to be used as fuel.
- In Delhi, the use of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) as fuel in public transport system has significantly lowered air pollution and the air has become cleaner.
- In the last few years many other Indian cities also began to use CNG.
2. Mini-hydel Plants
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- In mountainous regions, streams can be found almost everywhere. A large percentage of such streams are perennial.
- Mini-hydel plants use the energy of such streams to move small turbines.
which generate electricity and can be used locally.
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- Such power plants are more or less environment-friendly as:
- they do not change the land use pattern in areas where they are located;
- they generate enough power to meet local demands.
- they do not require large scale transmission towers and cables and avoid transmission loss.
3. Traditional Knowledge and Practices
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- Traditionally, Indian people have been close to their environment. All practices relating to our agriculture system, healthcare system, housing, transport etc., used to be environment friendly.
- Only recently have we drifted away from the traditional systems and caused large scale damage to the environment and also our rural heritage. Now, it is time to go back.
- For example, India is very much privileged to have about 15,000 species of plants which have medicinal properties. About 8,000 of these are in regular use in various systems of treatment including the folk tradition.
- With the sudden onslaught of the western system of treatment, we ignored our traditional systems such as Ayurveda, Unani, Tibetan and folk systems.
- Now a days these healthcare systems are in great demand again for treating chronic health problems. Every cosmetic produce — hair oil, toothpaste, body lotion, face cream etc is herbal in composition.
- These products environment friendly and are relatively free from side effects as they do not involve large-scale industrial and chemical processing.
4. Use of Bio composting
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- To increase agricultural production, the use of chemical fertilisers has increased significantly.
- This has adversely affected large areas of productive land as well water bodies including ground water system due to chemical contamination.
- Also, the demand for irrigation has been going up year after year.
- Farmers, in large numbers all over the country, have again started using compost made from organic wastes of different types.
- In certain parts of the country, cattle are maintained only because they produce dung which is an important fertiliser and soil conditioner.
- Earthworms can convert organic matter into compost faster than the normal composting process. This process is now being widely used. Indirectly, the civic authorities are benefited too as they have to dispose reduced quantity of waste.
5. Bio-pest Control
With the advent of green revolution, the use of chemical pesticides for higher yield has increased. The adverse impacts of these are:
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- Food products were contaminated.
- Soil, water bodies and even ground water were polluted with pesticides.
- The milk, meat and fishes were found to be contaminated.
Measures taken to pest control:
- Several types of pest controlling chemicals have been isolated from neem and are used for controlling pests.
- Mixed cropping and growing different crops in consecutive years on the same land have also helped farmers.
- In addition, awareness is being spread about various animals and birds (like snakes, lizards, owls, peacocks etc.) which help in controlling pests.