ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING

SIXTH SEMESTER (CE)

BIJU PATNAIK UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

MODULE-I
THE MULTIDISCIPLINARY NATURE OF ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES
1. DEFINITION, SCOPE AND IMPORTANCE
2. NEED FOR PUBLIC AWARENESS

1. DEFINITION, SCOPE AND IMPORTANCE

Definition: Environmental studies deal with every issue that affects an organism. It is
essentially a multidisciplinary approach that brings about an appreciation of our natural world
and human impacts on its integrity. It is an applied science as its seeks practical answers to
making human civilization sustainable on the earth‟s finite re-sources. Its components
include biology, geology, chemistry, physics, engineering, sociology, health, anthropology,
economics, statistics, computers and philosophy.
Scope: As we look around at the area in which we live, we see that our surroundings were
originally a natural landscape such as a forest, a river, a mountain, a desert, or a combination
of these elements. Most of us live in landscapes that have been heavily modified by human
beings, in villages, towns or cities. But even those of us who live in cities get our food supply
from surrounding villages and these in turn are dependent on natural landscapes such as
forests, grasslands, rivers, seashores, for resources such as water for agriculture, fuel wood,
fodder, and fish. Thus our daily lives are linked with our surroundings and inevitably affects
them. We use water to drink and for other day-to-day activities. We breathe air, we use
resources from which food is made and we depend on the community of living plants and
animals which form a web of life, of which we are also a part. Everything around us forms
our environment and our lives depend on keeping its vital systems as intact as possible. Our
dependence on nature is so great that we cannot continue to live without protecting the
earth‟s environmental resources. Thus most traditions refer to our environment as „Mother
Nature‟ and most traditional societies have learned that respecting nature is vital for their
livelihoods. This has led to many cultural practices that helped traditional societies protect
and preserve their natural resources. Respect for nature and all living creatures is not new to
In-dia. All our traditions are based on these values. Emperor Ashoka‟s edict proclaimed that
all forms of life are important for our well-being in Fourth Century BC. Over the past 200
years however, modern societies began to believe that easy answers to the question of
producing more resources could be provided by means of technological innovations. For
example, though growing more food by using fertilizers and pesticides, developing better
strains of domestic animals and crops, irrigating farmland through mega dams and
developing industry, led to rapid economic growth, the ill effects of this type of development,
led to environmental degradation. The industrial development and intensive agriculture that
provides the goods for our increasingly consumer oriented society uses up large amounts of
natural resources such as water, minerals, petroleum products, wood, etc. Non-renewable
resources, such as minerals and oil are those which will be exhausted in the future if we
continue to extract these without a thought for subsequent generations. Renewable resources,
such as timber and water, are those which can be used but can be regenerated by natural
processes such as regrowth or rainfall. But these too will be depleted if we continue to use
them faster than nature can re-place them. For example, if the removal of timber and
firewood from a forest is faster than the regrowth and regeneration of trees, it can-not
replenish the supply. And loss of forest cover not only depletes the forest of its resources,
such as timber and other non-wood products, but affects our water resources because an
intact natural forest acts like a sponge which holds water and releases it slowly. Deforestation
leads to floods in the monsoon and dry rivers once the rains are over. Such multiple effects
on the environment resulting from routine human activities must be appreciated by each one
of us, if it is to provide us with the resources we need in the long term. Our natural resources
can be compared with money in a bank. If we use it rapidly, the capital will be reduced to
zero. On the other hand, if we use only the interest, it can sustain us over the longer term.
This is called sustainable utilisation or development.
Importance: Environment is not a single subject. It is an integration of several subjects that
include both Science and Social Studies. To understand all the different aspects of our
environment we need to understand biology, chemistry, physics, geography, resource
management, economics and population issues. Thus the scope of environmental studies is
extremely wide and covers some aspects of nearly every major discipline. We live in a world
in which natural resources are limited. Water, air, soil, minerals, oil, the products we get from
forests, grasslands, oceans and from agriculture and livestock, are all a part of our life support
systems. Without them, life itself would be impossible. As we keep increasing in numbers
and the quantity of resources each of us uses also increases, the earth‟s re-source base must
inevitably shrink. The earth cannot be expected to sustain this expanding level of utilization
of resources. Added to this is misuse of resources. We waste or pollute large amounts of
nature‟s clean water; we create more and more material like plastic that we dis-card after a
single use; and we waste colossal amounts of food, which is discarded as garbage.
Manufacturing processes create solid waste byproducts that are discarded, as well as
chemicals that flow out as liquid waste and pollute water, and gases that pollute the air.
Increasing amounts of waste cannot be managed by natural processes. These accumulate in
our environment, leading to a variety of diseases and other adverse environmental impacts
now seriously affecting all our lives. Air pollution leads to respiratory diseases, water
pollution to gastro-intestinal diseases, and many pollutants are known to cause cancer.
Improving this situation will only happen if each of us begins to take actions in our daily
lives that will help preserve our environmental resources. We cannot expect Governments
alone to manage the safeguarding of the environment, nor can we expect other people to
prevent environmental damage. We need to do it our-selves. It is a responsibility that each of
us must take on as one‟s own.
2. NEED FOR PUBLIC AWARENESS:
As the earth‟s natural resources are dwindling and our environment is being increasingly
degraded by human activities, it is evident that something needs to be done. We often feel
that managing all this is something that the Government should do. But if we go on
endangering our environment, there is no way in which the Government can perform all these
cleanup functions. It is the prevention of environment degradation in which we must all take
part that must become a part of all our lives. Just as for any disease, prevention is better than
cure. To prevent ill-effects on our environment by our actions is economically more viable
than cleaning up the environment once it is damaged. Individually we can play a major role
in environment management. We can reduce wasting natural resources and we can act as
watchdogs that inform the Government about sources that lead to pollution and degradation
of our environment. This can only be made possible through mass public awareness. Mass
media such as newspapers, radio, television, strongly influence public opinion. However,
someone has to bring this about. If each of us feels strongly about the environment, the press
and media will add to our efforts. Politicians in a democracy always respond positively to a
strong publicly supported movement. Thus if you join an NGO that supports conservation,
politicians will make green policies. We are living on spaceship earth with a limited supply
of resources. Each of us is responsible for spreading this message to as many people as
possible.
Institutions in Environment: There have been several Government and Non-government
organizations that have led to environmental protection in our country. They have led to a
growing interest in environmental protection and conservation of nature and natural
resources. The traditional conservation practices that were part of ancient India‟s culture have
however gradually disappeared. Public aware-ness is thus a critical need to further
environmental protection. Among the large number of institutions that deal with
environmental protection and conservation, a few well-known organizations include
government organisations such as the BSI and ZSI, and NGOs such as BNHS, WWF-I, etc.
 Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), Mumbai
 World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF-I), New Delhi
 Center for Science and Environment (CSE), New Delhi
 CPR Environmental Education Centre, Madras
 Centre for Environment Education (CEE), Ahmedabad
 Bharati Vidyapeeth Institute of Environment Education and Research (BVIEER), Pune
 Uttarkhand Seva Nidhi (UKSN), Almora
 Kalpavriksh, Pune
 Salim Ali Center for Ornithology and Natural History (SACON), Coimbatore
 Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun
 Botanical Survey of India (BSI)
 Zoological Survey of India (ZSI)
People in Environment: There are several internationally known environ-mental thinkers.
Among those who have made landmarks, the names that are usually mentioned are Charles
Darwin, Ralph Emerson, Henry Thoreau, John Muir, Aldo Leopald, Rachel Carson and EO
Wilson. Each of these thinkers looked at the environment from a completely different
perspective.
Charles Darwin wrote the „Origin of Species‟, which brought to light the close relationship
between habitats and species. It brought about a new thinking of man‟s relationship with
other species that was based on evolution. Alfred Wallace came to the same conclusions
during his work.
Ralph Emerson spoke of the dangers of commerce to our environment way back in the
1840s.
Henry Thoreau in the 1860s wrote that the wilder-ness should be preserved after he lived in
the wild for a year. He felt that most people did not care for nature and would sell it off for a
small sum of money.
John Muir is remembered as having saved the great ancient sequoia trees in California‟s
forests. In the 1890s he formed the Sierra club, which is a major conservation NGO in the
USA.
Aldo Leopald was a forest official in the US in the 1920s. He designed the early policies on
wilderness conservation and wildlife management.
Rachel Carson in 60‟s published several articles that caused immediate worldwide concern
on the effects of pesticides on nature and mankind. She wrote a well-known book called
„Silent Spring‟ which eventually led to a change in Government policy and public awareness.
EO Wilson is an entomologist who envisioned that biological diversity was a key to human
survival on earth. He wrote „Diversity of Life‟ in 1993, which was awarded a prize for the
best book published on environ-mental issues. His writings brought home to the world the
risks to mankind due to manmade disturbances in natural ecosystems that are leading to the
rapid extinction of species at the global level.
There have been a number of individuals who have been instrumental in shaping the environ-
mental history in our country. Some of the well-known names in the last century include
environmentalists, scientists, administrators, legal experts, educationists and journalists.
Salim Ali’s name is synonymous with ornithology in India and with the Bombay Natural
History Society (BNHS). He also wrote several great books including the famous „Book of
Indian Birds‟. His autobiography, „Fall of a Sparrow‟ should be read by every nature
enthusiast. He was our country‟s leading conservation scientist and influenced environmental
policies in our country for over 50 years.
Indira Gandhi as PM has played a highly significant role in the preservation of India‟s
wildlife. It was during her period as PM, that the network of PAs grew from 65 to 298! The
Wildlife Protection Act was formulated during the period when she was PM and the Indian
Board for Wildlife was extremely active as she personally chaired all its meetings. India
gained a name for itself by being a major player in CITES and other International
Environmental Treaties and Accords during her tenure. BNHS frequently used her good will
to get conservation action initiated by the Government.
S P Godrej was one of India‟s greatest supporters of wildlife conservation and nature aware-
ness programs. Between 1975 and 1999, SP Godrej received 10 awards for his conservation
activities. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1999. His friendship with people in power
combined with his deep commitment for conservation led to his playing a major advocacy
role for wildlife in India.
M S Swaminathan is one of India‟s foremost agricultural scientists and has also been
concerned with various aspects of biodiversity conservation both of cultivars and wild
biodiversity. He has founded the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation in Chennai, which
does work on the conservation of bio-logical diversity.
Madhav Gadgil is a well-known ecologist in India. His interests range from broad ecological
issues such as developing Community Biodiversity Registers and con-serving sacred groves
to studies on the behaviour of mammals, birds and insects. He has written several articles,
published papers in journals and is the author of 6 books.
M C Mehta is undoubtedly India‟s most famous environmental lawyer. Since 1984, he has
filed several Public Interest Litigations for supporting the cause of environmental
conservation. His most famous and long drawn battles supported by the Supreme Court
include protecting the Taj Mahal, cleaning up the Ganges River, banning intensive shrimp
farming on the coast, initiating Government to implement environmental education in schools
and colleges, and a variety of other conservation issues.
Anil Agarwal was a journalist who wrote the first report on the „State of India‟s
Environment‟ in 1982. He founded the Center for Science and Environment which is an
active NGO that supports various environ-mental issues.
Medha Patkar is known as one of India‟s champions who has supported the cause of
downtrodden tribal people whose environment is being affected by the dams on the Narmada
river.
Sunderlal Bahugna’s Chipko Movement has become an internationally well-known
example of a highly successful conservation action program through the efforts of local
people for guarding their forest resources. His fight to prevent the construction of the Tehri
Dam in a fragile earthquake prone setting is a battle that he continues to wage. The Garhwal
Hills will always remember his dedication to the cause for which he has walked over
20,000km.
NATURAL RESOURCES
Our environment provides us with a variety of goods and services necessary for our day to
day lives. These natural resources include, air, water, soil, minerals, along with the climate
and solar energy, which form the non-living or „abiotic‟ part of nature. The „biotic‟ or living
parts of nature consist of plants and animals, including microbes. Plants and animals can only
survive as communities of different organisms, all closely linked to each in their own habitat,
and requiring specific abiotic conditions. Thus, forests, grasslands, deserts, mountains, rivers,
lakes and the marine environment all form habitats for specialised communities of plants and
animals to live in. Interactions between the abiotic aspects of nature and specific living
organisms together form ecosystems of various types. Many of these living organisms are
used as our food resources. Others are linked to our food less directly, such as pollinators and
dispersers of plants, soil animals like worms, which recycle nutrients for plant growth, and
fungi and termites that break up dead plant material so that micro-organisms can act on the
detritus to re-form soil nutrients.
History of our global environment: About ten thousand years ago, when mankind changed
from a hunter-gatherer, living in wilderness areas such as forests and grasslands, into an
agriculturalist and pastoralist, we began to change the environment to suit our own
requirements. As our ability to grow food and use domestic animals grew, these „natural‟
ecosystems were developed into agricultural land. Most traditional agriculturists depended
extensively on rain, streams and rivers for water. Later they began to use wells to tap
underground water sources and to impound water and created irrigated land by building
dams. Recently we began to use fertilizers and pesticides to further boost the production of
food from the same amount of land. However we now realize that all this has led to several
undesirable changes in our environment. Mankind has been overusing and depleting natural
resources. The over-intensive use of land has been found to exhaust the capability of the
ecosystem to support the growing demands of more and more people, all requiring more
intensive use of resources. Industrial growth, urbanisation, population growth and the
enormous increase in the use of consumer goods, have all put further stresses on the
environment. They create great quantities of solid waste. Pollution of air, water and soil have
begun to seriously affect human health.
Changes in land and resource use
During the last 100 years, a better health care delivery system and an improved nutritional
status has led to rapid population growth, especially in the developing countries. This
phenomenal rise in human numbers has, in the recent past, placed great demands on the
earth‟s natural resources. Large stretches of land such as forests, grasslands and wetlands
have been converted into intensive agriculture. Land has been taken for industry and the
urban sectors. These changes have brought about dramatic alterations in land-use patterns and
rapid disappearance of valuable natural eco-systems. The need for more water, more food,
more energy, more consumer goods, is not only the result of a greater population, but also the
result of over-utilization of resources by people from the more affluent societies, and the
affluent sections of our own.
Industrial development is aimed at meeting growing demands for all consumer items. How-
ever, these consumer goods also generate waste in ever larger quantities. The growth of
industrial complexes has led to a shift of people from their traditional, sustainable, rural way
of life to urban centers that developed around industry. During the last few decades, several
small ur-ban centers have become large cities; some have even become giant mega-cities.
This has in-creased the disparity between what the surrounding land can produce and what
the large number of increasingly consumer-oriented people in these areas of high population
density consume. Urban centers cannot exist with-out resources such as water from rivers and
lakes, food from agricultural areas, domestic animals from pasture lands and timber, fuel
wood, construction material and other resources from forests. Rural agricultural systems are
de-pendent on forests, wetlands, grasslands, rivers and lakes. The result is a movement of
natural resources from the wilderness ecosystems and agricultural sector to the urban user.
The magnitude of the shift of resources has been increasing in parallel with the growth of
industry and urbanisation, and has changed natural landscapes all over the world. In many
cases, this has led to the rapid development of the urban economy, but to a far slower
economic development for rural people and serious impoverishment of the lives of
wilderness dwellers. The result is a serious inequality in the distribution of resources among
human beings, which is both unfair and unsustainable.
Earth’s Resources and Man: The resources on which mankind is dependent are provided by
various sources or „spheres‟.
1) Atmosphere
 Oxygen for human respiration (metabolic requirements).
 Oxygen for wild fauna in natural ecosystems and domestic animals used by man as food.
 Oxygen as a part of carbon dioxide, used for the growth of plants (in turn are used by
man).
The atmosphere forms a protective shell over the earth. The lowest layer, the troposphere, the
only part warm enough for us to survive in, is only 12km thick. The stratosphere is 50
kilometers thick and contains a layer of sulphates which is important for the formation of
rain. It also contains a layer of ozone, which absorbs ultra-violet light known to cause cancer
and without which, no life could exist on earth. The atmosphere is not uniformly warmed by
the sun. This leads to air flows and variations in climate, temperature and rainfall in different
parts of the earth. It is a complex dynamic system. If its nature is disrupted it affects all man-
kind. Most air pollutants have both global and regional effects. Living creatures cannot
survive without air even for a span of a few minutes. To continue to sup-port life, air must be
kept clean. Major pollutants of air are created by industrial units that release various gases
such as carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and toxic fumes into the air. Air is also polluted by
burning fossil fuels. The buildup of carbon dioxide which is known as „greenhouse effect‟ in
the atmosphere is leading to current global warming. The growing number of scooters,
motorcycles, cars, buses and trucks which run on fossil fuel (petrol and diesel) is a major
cause of air pollution in cities and along highways. Air pollution leads to acute and chronic
respiratory diseases such as various lung infections, asthma and even cancer.
2) Hydrosphere
 Clean water for drinking (a metabolic requirement for living processes).
 Water for washing and cooking.
 Water used in agriculture and industry.
 Food resources from the sea, including fish, crustacea, and sea weed, etc.
 Food from fresh water sources, including fish, crustacea and aquatic plants.
 Water flowing down from mountain ranges harnessed to generate electricity in
hydroelectric projects.
The hydrosphere covers three quarters of the earth‟s surface. A major part of the hydrosphere
is the marine ecosystem in the ocean, while only a small part occurs in fresh water. Fresh
water in rivers, lakes and glaciers, is perpetually being renewed by a process of evaporation
and rain-fall. Some of this fresh water lies in underground aquifers. Human activities such as
deforestation create serious changes in the hydrosphere. Once land is denuded of vegetation,
the rain erodes the soil which is washed into the sea. Chemicals from industry and sewage
find their way into rivers and into the sea. Water pollution thus threatens the health of
communities as all our lives depend on the availability of clean water. This once plentiful
resource is now be-coming rare and expensive due to pollution.
3) Lithosphere
 Soil, the basis for agriculture to provide us with food.
 Stone, sand and gravel, used for construction.
 Micronutrients in soil, essential for plant growth.
 Microscopic flora, small soil fauna and fungi in soil, important living organisms of the
lithosphere, which break down plant litter as well as animal wastes to provide nutrients for
plants.
 A large number of minerals on which our industries are based.
 Oil, coal and gas, extracted from under-ground sources. It provides power for vehicles,
agricultural machinery, industry, and for our homes.
The lithosphere began as a hot ball of matter which formed the earth about 4.6 billion years
ago. About 3.2 billion years ago, the earth cooled down considerably and a very special event
took place - life began on our planet. The crust of the earth is 6 or 7 km thick and lies under
the continents. Of the 92 elements in the lithosphere only eight are common constituents of
crustal rocks. Of these constituents, 47% is oxygen, 28% is silicon, 8% is aluminium, and 5%
is iron, while sodium, magnesium, potassium and calcium constitute 4% each. Together,
these elements form about 200 common mineral compounds. Rocks, when broken down,
form soil on which man is dependent for his agriculture. Their minerals are also the raw
material used in various industries.
4) Biosphere
 Food, from crops and domestic animals, providing human metabolic requirements.
 Food, for all forms of life which live as interdependent species in a community and form
food chains in nature on which man is dependent.
 Energy needs: Biomass fuel wood collected from forests and plantations, along with other
forms of organic matter, used as a source of energy.
 Timber and other construction materials.
This is the relatively thin layer on the earth in which life can exist. Within it the air, water,
rocks and soil and the living creatures, form structural and functional ecological units, which
together can be considered as one giant global living sys-tem, that of our Earth itself. Within
this frame-work, those characterised by broadly similar geography and climate, as well as
communities of plant and animal life can be divided for convenience into different
biogeographical realms. These occur on different continents. Within these, smaller
biogeographical units can be identified on the basis of structural differences and functional
aspects into distinctive recognizable ecosystems, which give a distinctive character to a
landscape or waterscape. Their easily visible and identifiable characteristics can be de-
scribed at different scales such as those of a country, a state, a district or even an individual
valley, hill range, river or lake. The simplest of these ecosystems to understand is a pond. It
can be used as a model to under-stand the nature of any other ecosystem and to appreciate the
changes over time that are seen in any ecosystem. The structural features of a pond include its
size, depth and the quality of its water. The periphery, the shallow part and the deep part of
the pond, each provide specific conditions for different plant and animal communities.
Functionally, a variety of cycles such as the amount of water within the pond at different
times of the year, the quantity of nutrients flowing into the pond from the surrounding
terrestrial ecosystem, all affect the „nature‟ of the pond.
Natural cycles between the spheres: All four spheres are closely inter-linked systems and
are dependent on the integrity of each other. Disturbing one of these spheres in our
environment affects all the others. The linkages between them are mainly in the form of
cycles. For instance, the atmosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere are all connected through
the hydrological cycle. Water evaporated from the hydrosphere (the seas and fresh-water
ecosystems), forms clouds in the atmosphere. This becomes rain, which provides moisture for
the lithosphere, on which life depends. The rain also acts on rocks as an agent of erosion and
over millions of years have created soil, on which plant life grows. Atmospheric movements
in the form of wind, break down rocks into soil. The most sensitive and complex link-ages
are those between the atmosphere, the hydrosphere and the lithosphere on the one hand, with
the millions of living organisms in the biosphere on the other. All living organisms which
exist on earth live only in the relatively thin layer of the lithosphere and hydrosphere that is
present on the surface of land and in the water. The biosphere which they form has countless
associations with different parts of the three other „spheres‟. It is therefore essential to
understand the inter-relationships of the separate entities soil, water, air and living organisms,
and to appreciate the value of preserving intact ecosystems as a whole.
1. RENEWABLE AND NON-RENEWABLE RESOURCES
Ecosystems act as resource producers and processors. Solar energy is the main driving force
of ecological systems, providing energy for the growth of plants in forests, grasslands and
aquatic ecosystems. A forest recycles its plant material slowly by continuously returning its
dead material, leaves, branches, etc. to the soil. Grasslands recycle material much faster than
forests as the grass dries up after the rains are over every year. All the aquatic ecosystems are
also solar energy dependent and have cycles of growth when plant life spreads and aquatic
animals breed. The sun also drives the water cycle. Our food comes from both natural and
agricultural ecosystems. Traditional agricultural ecosystems that depended on rainfall have
been modified in recent times to produce more and more food by the addition of extra
chemicals and water from irrigation systems but are still de-pendent on solar energy for the
growth of crops. Moreover modern agriculture creates a variety of environmental problems,
which ultimately lead to the formation of unproductive land. These include irrigation, which
leads to the development of saline soil, and the use of artificial fertilizers eventually ruin soil
quality, and pesticides, which are a health hazard for humans as well as destroying
components vital to the long-term health of agricultural ecosystems. To manufacture
consumer products, industry requires raw materials from nature, including water, minerals
and power. During the manufacturing process, the gases, chemicals and waste products
pollute our environment, unless the industry is carefully managed to clean up this mess.
2. NATURAL RESOURCES AND ASSOCIATED PROBLEMS
The unequal consumption of natural resources: A major part of natural resources are
today consumed in the technologically advanced or „developed‟ world, usually termed „the
North‟. The „developing nations‟ of „the South‟, including India and China, also over use
many re-sources because of their greater human population. However, the consumption of
resources per capita (per individual) of the developed countries is up to 50 times greater than
in most developing countries. Advanced countries produce over 75% of global industrial
waste and green-house gases. Energy from fossil fuels is consumed in relatively much greater
quantities in developed countries. Their per capita consumption of food too is much greater
as well as their waste of enormous quantities of food and other products, such as packaging
material, used in the food industry. The USA for example with just 4% of the world‟s
population consumes about 25% of the world‟s resources. Producing animal food for human
consumption requires more land than growing crops. Thus countries that are highly
dependent on non-vegetarian diets need much larger areas for pastureland than those where
the people are mainly vegetarian.
Planning Landuse: Land itself is a major re-source, needed for food production, animal
husbandry, industry, and for our growing human settlements. These forms of intensive
landuse are frequently extended at the cost of „wild lands‟, our remaining forests, grasslands,
wetlands and deserts. Thus it is essential to evolve a rational land-use policy that examines
how much land must be made available for different purposes and where it must be situated.
For in-stance, there are usually alternate sites at which industrial complexes or dams can be
built, but a natural wilderness cannot be recreated artificially. Scientists today believe that at
least 10 percent of land and water bodies of each eco-system must be kept as wilderness for
the long-term needs of protecting nature and natural resources. Land as a resource is now
under serious pressure due to an increasing „land hunger‟ to produce sufficient quantities of
food for an exploding human population. It is also affected by degradation due to misuse.
Land and water re-sources are polluted by industrial waste and rural and urban sewage. They
are increasingly being diverted for short-term economic gains to agriculture and industry.
Natural wetlands of great value are being drained for agriculture and other purposes. Semi-
arid land is being irrigated and overused. The most damaging change in landuse is
demonstrated by the rapidity with which forests have vanished during recent times, both in
India and in the rest of the world. Forests provide us with a variety of services. These include
processes such as maintaining oxygen levels in the atmosphere, removal of carbon dioxide,
control over water regimes, and slowing down erosion and also produce products such as
food, fuel, timber, fodder, medicinal plants, etc. In the long term, the loss of these is far
greater than the short-term gains produced by converting forested lands to other uses.
The need for sustainable lifestyles: The quality of human life and the quality of ecosystems
on earth are indicators of the sustainable use of resources. There are clear indicators of
sustain-able lifestyles in human life.
 Increased longevity
 An increase in knowledge
 An enhancement of income.
These three together are known as the „Human development index‟.
The quality of the ecosystems has indicators that are more difficult to assess.
 A stabilized population.
 The long term conservation of biodiversity.
 The careful long-term use of natural resources.
 The prevention of degradation and pollution of the environment.
Non-renewable resources
These are minerals that have been formed in the lithosphere over millions of years and
constitute a closed system. These non-renewable resources, once used, remain on earth in a
different form and, unless recycled, become waste material.
Non-renewable resources include fossil fuels such as oil and coal, which if extracted at the
present rate, will soon be totally used up. The end products of fossil fuels are in the form of
heat and mechanical energy and chemical com-pounds, which cannot be reconstituted as a
resource.
Renewable resources
Though water and biological living resources are considered renewable they are in fact
renewable only within certain limits. They are linked to natural cycles such as the water
cycle.
 Fresh water (even after being used) is evaporated by the sun‟s energy, forms water vapour
and is reformed in clouds and falls to earth as rain. However, water sources can be overused
or wasted to such an ex-tent that they locally run dry. Water sources can be so heavily
polluted by sewage and toxic substances that it becomes impossible to use the water.
 Forests once destroyed take thousands of years to regrow into fully developed natural
ecosystems with their full complement of species. Forests thus can be said to be-have like
non-renewable resources if over-used.
 Fish are today being over-harvested until the catch has become a fraction of the original
resource and the fish are incapable of breeding successfully to replenish the population.
 The output of agricultural land if mismanaged drops drastically.
 When the population of a species of plant or animal is reduced by human activities, until it
cannot reproduce fast enough to maintain a viable number, the species be-comes extinct.
 Many species are probably becoming extinct without us even knowing, and other linked
species are affected by their loss.
a) Forest Resources
1. Use and overexploitation: Scientists estimate that India should ideally have 33 percent of
its land under forests. Today we have only about 12 percent. Thus we need not only to protect
existing forests but also to increase our forest cover. People who live in or near forests know
the value of forest resources first hand because their lives and livelihoods depend directly on
these re-sources. However, the rest of us also derive great benefits from the forests which we
are rarely aware of. The water we use depends on the existence of forests on the watersheds
around river valleys. Our homes, furniture and paper are made from wood from the forest.
We use many medicines that are based on forest produce. And we depend on the oxygen that
plants give out and the removal of carbon dioxide we breathe out from the air. Forests once
extended over large tracts of our country. People have used forests in our country for
thousands of years. As agriculture spread the forests were left in patches which were con-
trolled mostly by tribal people. They hunted animals and gathered plants and lived entirely on
forest resources. Deforestation became a major concern in British times when a large amount
of timber was extracted for building their ships. This led the British to develop scientific
forestry in India. They however alienated local people by creating Reserved and Protected
Forests which curtailed access to the resources. This led to a loss of stake in the conservation
of the forests which led to a gradual degradation and fragmentation of forests across the
length and breadth of the country. Another period of over utilisation and forest degradation
occurred in the early period following independence as people felt that now that the British
had gone they had a right to using our forests in any way we pleased. The following years
saw India‟s residual forest wealth dwindle sharply. Timber extraction continued to remain the
Forest Department‟s main concern up to the 1970s. The fact that forest degradation and
deforestation was creating a serious loss of the important functions of the forest began to
over-ride its utilisation as a source of revenue from timber.
2. Deforestation: Where civilizations have looked after forests by using forest resources
cautiously, they have prospered, where forests were destroyed, the people were gradually
impoverished. Today logging and mining are serious causes of loss of forests in our country
and all over the world. Dams built for hydroelectric power or irrigation have submerged
forests and have displaced tribal people whose lives are closely knit to the forest. This has
become a serious cause of concern in India. One of India‟s serious environmental problems is
forest degradation due to timber extraction and our dependence on fuel wood. A large
number of poor rural people are still highly dependent on wood to cook their meals and heat
their homes. We have not been able to plant enough trees to support the need for timber and
fuel wood. The National Forest Policy of 1988 now gives an added importance to JFM.
Another resolution in 1990 provided a formal structure for com-munity participation though
the formation of Village Forest Committees. Based on these experiences, new JFM
guidelines were issued in 2000. This stipulates that at least 25 per cent of the income from the
area must go to the com-munity. From the initiation of the program, until 2002, there were
63,618 JFM Committees managing over 140,953 sq. km of forest under JFM in 27 States in
India. The States have tried a variety of approaches to JFM. The share for village forest
committees ranges from 25 per cent in Kerala to 100 per cent in Andhra Pradesh, 50 per cent
in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Orissa and Tripura. In many States 25 per cent of the revenue is
used for village development. In many States non-timber forest products (NTFPs) are
available for people free of cost. Some States have stopped grazing completely; some have
rotational grazing schemes which have helped in forest regeneration.
3. Timber extraction, mining and dams: These are invariably parts of the needs of a
developing country. If timber is overharvested the ecological functions of the forest are lost.
Unfortunately forests are located in areas where there are rich mineral resources. Forests also
cover the steep embankments of river valleys, which are ideally suited to develop hydel and
irrigation projects. Thus there is a constant conflict of interests between the conservation
interests of environmental scientists and the Mining and Irrigation Departments. What needs
to be understood is that long-term ecological gains cannot be sacrificed for short-term
economic gains that unfortunately lead to deforestation. These forests where development
projects are planned can displace thousands of tribal people who lose their homes when these
plans are executed. This leads to high levels of suffering for which there is rarely a
satisfactory answer.
b) Water resources
The water cycle, through evaporation and precipitation, maintains hydrological systems
which form rivers and lakes and support in a variety of aquatic ecosystems. Wetlands are
intermediate forms between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and contain species of plants
and animals that are highly moisture dependent. All aquatic ecosystems are used by a large
number of people for their daily needs such as drinking water, washing, cooking, watering
animals, and irrigating fields. The world depends on a limited quantity of fresh water. Water
covers 70% of the earth‟s surface but only 3% of this is fresh water. Of this, 2% is in polar
ice caps and only 1% is usable water in rivers, lakes and subsoil aquifers. Only a fraction of
this can be actually used. At a global level 70% of water is used for agriculture about 25% for
industry and only 5% for domestic use. However this varies in different countries and
industrialized countries use a greater percentage for industry. India uses 90% for agriculture,
7% for industry and 3% for domestic use. One of the greatest challenges facing the world in
this century is the need to rethink the overall management of water resources. The world
population has passed the 6 billion mark. Based on the proportion of young people in
developing countries, this will continue to increase significantly during the next few decades.
This places enormous demands on the world‟s limited freshwater supply. The total annual
fresh-water withdrawals today are estimated at 3800 cubic kilometers, twice as much as just
50 years ago (World Commission on Dams, 2000). Studies indicate that a person needs a
minimum of 20 to 40 liters of water per day for drinking and sanitation. More than one
billion people worldwide have no access to clean water, and to many more, supplies are
unreliable. India is expected to face critical levels of water stress by 2025. At the global level
31 countries are already short of water and by 2025 there will be 48 countries facing serious
water short-ages. The UN has estimated that by the year 2050, 4 billion people will be
seriously affected by water shortages. This will lead to multiple conflicts between countries
over the sharing of water. Around 20 major cities in India face chronic or interrupted water
shortages. There are 100 countries that share the waters of 13 large rivers and lakes. The
upstream countries could starve the downstream nations leading to political unstable areas
across the world. Examples are Ethopia, which is upstream on the Nile and Egypt, which is
downstream and highly dependent on the Nile. International accords that will look at a fair
distribution of water in such areas will become critical to world peace. India and Bangladesh
already have a negotiated agreement on the water use of the Ganges.
1. Use & Overutilization of surface and groundwater: With the growth of human
population there is an increasing need for larger amounts of water to fulfill a variety of basic
needs. Today in many areas this requirement cannot be met. Overutilization of water occurs
at various levels. Most people use more water than they really need. Most of us waste water
during a bath by using a shower or during washing of clothes. Many agriculturists use more
water than necessary to grow crops. There are many ways in which farmers can use less
water without reducing yields such as the use of drip irrigation systems. Agriculture also
pollutes surface water and underground water stores by the excessive use of chemical
fertilizers and pesticides. Methods such as the use of biomass as fertilizer and nontoxic
pesticides such as neem products and using integrated pest management systems reduces the
agricultural pollution of surface and ground water. Industry tends to maximise short-term
economic gains by not bothering about its liquid waste and releasing it into streams, rivers
and the sea. In the longer term, as people become more conscious of using „green products‟
made by eco-sensitive industries, the polluter‟s products may not be used. The polluting
industry that does not care for the environment and pays off bribes to get away from the cost
needed to use effluent treatment plants may eventually be caught, punished and even closed
down. Public awareness may increasingly put pressures on industry to produce only eco-
friendly products which are already gaining in popularity.
Global climate change: Changes in climate at a global level caused by increasing air
pollution have now begun to affect our climate. In some regions global warming and the El
Nino winds have created unprecedented storms. In other areas, they lead to long droughts.
Everywhere the „greenhouse effect‟ due to atmospheric pollution is leading to increasingly
erratic and unpredictable climatic effects. This has seriously affected regional hydrological
conditions.
2. Floods: Floods have been a serious environmental hazard for centuries. However, the
havoc raised by rivers overflowing their banks has be-come progressively more damaging, as
people have deforested catchments and intensified use of river flood plains that once acted as
safety valves. Wetlands in flood plains are nature‟s flood control systems into which
overfilled rivers could spill and act like a temporary sponge holding the water, and preventing
fast flowing water from damaging surrounding land. Deforestation in the Himalayas causes
floods that year after year kill people, damage crops and destroy homes in the Ganges and its
tributaries and the Brahmaputra. Rivers change their course during floods and tons of
valuable soil is lost to the sea. As the forests are degraded, rain-water no longer percolates
slowly into the sub-soil but runs off down the mountainside bearing large amounts of topsoil.
This blocks rivers temporarily but gives way as the pressure mounts allowing enormous
quantities of water to wash suddenly down into the plains below. There, rivers swell, burst
their banks and flood waters spread to engulf peoples‟ farms and homes.
3. Drought: In most arid regions of the world the rains are unpredictable. This leads to
periods when there is a serious scarcity of water to drink, use in farms, or provide for urban
and industrial use. Drought prone areas are thus faced with irregular periods of famine.
Agriculturists have no income in these bad years, and as they have no steady income, they
have a constant fear of droughts. India has „Drought Prone Areas Development Programs‟,
which are used in such areas to buffer the effects of droughts. Under these schemes, people
are given wages in bad years to build roads, minor irrigation works and plantation programs.
Drought has been a major problem in our country especially in arid regions. It is an
unpredictable climatic condition and occurs due to the failure of one or more monsoons. It
varies in frequency in different parts of our country. While it is not feasible to prevent the
failure of the monsoon, good environmental management can reduce its ill effects. The
scarcity of water during drought years affects homes, agriculture and industry. It also leads to
food short-ages and malnutrition which especially affects children. Several measures can be
taken to minimise the serious impacts of a drought. However this must be done as a
preventive measure so that if the monsoons fail its impact on local people‟s lives is
minimised. In years when the monsoon is adequate, we use up the good supply of water
without trying to conserve it and use the water judiciously. Thus during a year when the rains
are poor, there is no water even for drinking in the drought area. One of the factors that
worsen the effect of drought is deforestation. Once hill slopes are denuded of forest cover the
rainwater rushes down the rivers and is lost. Forest cover permits water to be held in the area
permitting it to seep into the ground. This charges the underground stores of water in natural
aquifers. This can be used in drought years if the stores have been filled during a good
monsoon. If water from the underground stores is overused, the water table drops and
vegetation suffers. This soil and water management and afforestation are long-term measures
that reduce the impact of droughts.
Water for Agriculture and Power Generation: India‟s increasing demand for water for
intensive irrigated agriculture, for generating electricity, and for consumption in urban and
industrial centers, has been met by creating large dams. Irrigated areas increased from 40
million ha. in 1900 to 100 million ha. in 1950 and to 271 million ha. by 1998. Dams support
30 to 40% of this area. Although dams ensure a year round supply of water for domestic use,
provide extra water for agriculture, industry, hydropower generation, they have several
serious environmental problems. They alter river flows, change nature‟s flood control
mechanisms such as wetlands and flood plains, and destroy the lives of local people and the
habitats of wild plant and animal species. Irrigation to support cash crops like sugarcane
produces an unequal distribution of water. Large landholders on the canals get the lion‟s
share of water, while poor, small farmers get less and are seriously affected.
Sustainable water management: „Save water‟ campaigns are essential to make people
everywhere aware of the dangers of water scar-city. A number of measures need to be taken
for the better management of the world‟s water resources. These include measures such as:
 Building several small reservoirs instead of few mega projects.
 Develop small catchment dams and protect wetlands.
 Soil management, micro catchment development and afforestation permits recharging of
underground aquifers thus reducing the need for large dams.
 Treating and recycling municipal waste water for agricultural use.
 Preventing leakages from dams and canals.
 Preventing loss in Municipal pipes.
 Effective rain water harvesting in urban environments.
 Water conservation measures in agriculture such as using drip irrigation.
 Pricing water at its real value makes people use it more responsibly and efficiently and
reduces water wasting.
 In deforested areas where land has been degraded, soil management by bonding along the
hill slopes and making „nala‟ plugs, can help retain moisture and make it possible to re-
vegetate degraded areas.
Managing a river system is best done by leaving its course as undisturbed as possible. Dams
and canals lead to major floods in the monsoon and the drainage of wetlands seriously affects
areas that get flooded when there is high rainfall.
4. Dams: Today there are more than 45,000 large dams around the world, which play an
important role in communities and economies that harness these water resources for their
economic development. Current estimates suggest some 30-40% of irrigated land
worldwide relies on dams. Hydropower, another contender for the use of stored water,
currently supplies 19% of the world‟s total electric power supply and is used in over 150
countries. The world‟s two most populous countries – China and India –have built around
57% of the world‟s large dams.
Dams problems
 Fragmentation and physical transformation of rivers.
 Serious impacts on riverine ecosystems.
 Social consequences of large dams due to displacement of people.
 Water logging and salinisation of surrounding lands.
 Dislodging animal populations, damaging their habitat and cutting off their migration
routes.
 Fishing and travel by boat disrupted.
 The emission of greenhouse gases from reservoirs due to rotting vegetation and carbon
inflows from the catchment is a recently identified impact.
Large dams have had serious impacts on the lives, livelihoods, cultures and spiritual
existence of indigenous and tribal peoples. They have suffered disproportionately from the
negative impacts of dams and often been excluded from sharing the benefits. In India, of the
16 to 18 million people displaced by dams, 40 to 50% were tribal people, who account for
only 8% of our nation‟s one billion people. Conflicts over dams have heightened in the last
two decades because of their social and environmental impacts and failure to achieve tar-gets
for sticking to their costs as well as achieving promised benefits. Recent examples show how
failure to provide a transparent process that includes effective participation of local people
has prevented affected people from playing an active role in debating the pros and cons of the
project and its alternatives. The loss of traditional, local controls over equitable distribution
remains a major source of conflict.
c) Mineral Resources
A mineral is a naturally occurring substance of definite chemical composition and
identifiable physical properties. An ore is a mineral or combination of minerals from which a
useful sub-stance, such as a metal, can be extracted and used to manufacture a useful product.
Minerals are formed over a period of millions of years in the earth‟s crust. Iron, aluminum,
zinc, manganese and copper are important raw materials for industrial use. Important non-
metal resources include coal, salt, clay, cement and silica. Stone used for building material,
such as granite, marble, limestone, constitute another category of minerals. Minerals with
special properties that humans value for their aesthetic and ornamental value are gems such
as diamonds, emeralds, and rubies. The luster of gold, silver and platinum is used for
ornaments. Minerals in the form of oil, gas and coal were formed when ancient plants and
animals were converted into underground fossil fuels.
Minerals and their ores need to be extracted from the earth‟s interior so that they can be used.
This process is known as mining. Mining operations generally progress through four stages:
1. Prospecting: Searching for minerals.
2. Exploration: Assessing the size, shape, location, and economic value of the deposit
3. Development: Work of preparing access to the deposit so that the minerals can be
extracted from it.
4. Exploitation: Extracting the minerals from the mines.
1. In the past, mineral deposits were discovered by prospectors in areas where mineral
deposits in the form of veins were exposed on the surface. Today, however, prospecting and
exploration is done by teams of geologists, mining engineers, geophysicists, and geochemists
who work together to discover new deposits. Modern prospecting methods include the use of
sophisticated instruments like GIS to survey and study the geology of the area.
The method of mining has to be determined depending on whether the ore or mineral de-posit
is nearer the surface or deep within the earth. The topography of the region and the physical
nature of the ore deposit are studied.
Mines are of two types – surface (open cut or strip mines) or deep or shaft mines. Coal,
metals and nonmetalliferous minerals are all mined differently depending on the above
criteria. The method chosen for mining will ultimately de-pend on how maximum yield may
be obtained under existing conditions at a minimum cost, with the least danger to the mining
personnel. Most minerals need to be processed before they become usable. Thus „technology‟
is dependent on both the presence of resources and the energy necessary to make them
„usable‟.
Mine safety: Mining is a hazardous occupation, and the safety of mine workers is an
important environmental consideration of the industry. Surface mining is less hazardous than
underground mining. Metal mining is less hazardous than coal mining. In all underground
mines, rock and roof falls, flooding, and inadequate ventilation are the greatest hazards.
Large explosions have occurred in coal mines, killing many miners. More miners have
suffered from disasters due to the use of explosives in metal mines.
Mining poses several long-term occupational hazards to the miners. Dust produced during
mining operations is injurious to health and causes a lung disease known as black lung, or
pneumoconiosis. Fumes generated by incomplete dynamite explosions are extremely
poisonous. Methane gas, emanating from coal strata, is hazardous to health although not
poisonous in the concentrations usually encountered in mine air. Radiation is a hazard in
uranium mines.
2. Environmental problems: Mining operations are considered one of the main sources of
environmental degradation. The extraction of all these products from the lithosphere has a
variety of side effects. Depletion of available land due to mining, waste from industries,
conversion of land to industry and pollution of land, water and air by industrial wastes, are
environ-mental side effects of the use of these non-renewable resources. Public awareness of
this problem is of a global nature and government actions to stem the damage to the natural
environment have led to numerous international agreements and laws directed toward the
prevention of activities and events that may adversely affect the environment.
d) Food resources
Today our food comes almost entirely from agriculture, animal husbandry and fishing.
Although India is self-sufficient in food production, it is only because of modern patterns of
agriculture that are unsustainable and which pollute our environment with excessive use of
fertilizers and pesticides. The FAO defines sustainable agriculture as that which conserves
land, water and plant and animal genetic resources, does not degrade the environment and is
economically viable and socially acceptable. Most of our large farms grow single crops
(monoculture). If this crop is hit by a pest, the entire crop can be devastated, leaving the
farmer with no income during the year. On the other hand, if the farmer uses traditional
varieties and grows several different crops, the chance of complete failure is lowered
consider-ably. Many studies have shown that one can use alternatives to inorganic fertilizers
and pesticides. This is known as “Integrated Crop Management”.
1. World food problems: In many developing countries where populations are expanding
rapidly, the production of food is unable to keep pace with the growing demand. Food
production in 64 of the 105 developing countries is lagging behind their population growth
levels. These countries are unable to produce more food, or do not have the financial means
to import it. India is one of the countries that have been able to produce enough food by
cultivating a large proportion of its arable land through irrigation. The Green Revolution of
the 60‟s reduced starvation in the country. However many of the technologies we have used
to achieve this are now being questioned.
 Our fertile soils are being exploited faster than they can recuperate.
 Forests, grasslands and wetlands have been converted to agricultural use, which has led to
serious ecological questions.
 Our fish resources, both marine and inland, show evidence of exhaustion.
 There are great disparities in the availability of nutritious food. Some communities such
as tribal people still face serious food problems leading to malnutrition especially among
women and children.
These issues bring in new questions as to how demands will be met in future even with a
slowing of population growth. Today the world is seeing a changing trend in dietary habits.
As living standards are improving, people are eating more non-vegetarian food. As people
change from eating grain to meat, the world‟s demand for feed for livestock based on
agriculture increases as well. This uses more land per unit of food produced and the result is
that the world‟s poor do not get enough to eat. Women play an extremely vital role in food
production as well as cooking the meal and feeding children. In most rural communities they
have the least exposure to technical training and to health workers trained in
teaching/learning on issues related to nutritional aspects. Women and girls frequently receive
less food than the men. These disparities need to be corrected. In India there is a shortage of
cultivable productive land. Thus farm sizes are too small to sup-port a family on farm
produce alone. With each generation, farms are being subdivided further. Poor environmental
agricultural practices such as slash and burn, shifting cultivation, or „rab‟ (wood ash)
cultivation degrade forests. Globally 5 to 7 million hectares of farmland is degraded each
year. Loss of nutrients and over-use of agricultural chemicals are major factors in land
degradation. Water scarcity is an important aspect of poor agricultural outputs. Salinization
and water logging has affected a large amount of agricultural land worldwide. Loss of genetic
diversity in crop plants is another issue that is leading to a fall in agricultural pro-duce. Rice,
wheat and corn are the staple foods of two thirds of the world‟s people. As wild relatives of
crop plants in the world‟s grasslands, wetlands and other natural habitats are being lost, the
ability to enhance traits that are resistant to diseases, salinity, etc. is lost. Genetic engineering
is an untried and risky alternative to traditional cross breeding.
Food Security: It is estimated that 18 million people worldwide, most of whom are children,
die each year due to starvation or malnutrition, and many others suffer a variety of dietary
deficiencies. The earth can only supply a limited amount of food. If the world‟s carrying
capacity to produce food cannot meet the needs of a growing population, anarchy and conflict
will follow. Thus food security is closely linked with population control through the family
welfare program. It is also linked to the availability of water for farming. Food security is
only possible if food is equitably distributed to all. Many of us waste a large amount of food
carelessly. This eventually places great stress on our environmental resources. A major
concern is the support needed for small farmers so that they remain farmers rather than
shifting to urban centers as unskilled industrial workers. International trade policies in regard
to an improved flow of food across national borders from those who have surplus to those
who have a deficit in the developing world is another issue that is a concern for planners who
deal with International trade concerns. „Dumping‟ of underpriced foodstuffs produced in the
developed world, onto markets in undeveloped countries undermines prices and forces
farmers there to adopt unsustainable practices to compete.
Fisheries: Fish is an important protein food in many parts of the world. This includes marine
and fresh water fish. While the supply of food from fisheries increased phenomenally
between 1950 and 1990, in several parts of the world fish catch has since dropped due to
overfishing. In 1995 FAO reported that 44% of the world‟s fisheries are fully or heavily
exploited, 16% are already overexploited, 6% are depleted, and only 3% are gradually
recovering. Canada had to virtually close down cod fishing in the 1990s due to depletion of
fish reserves. Modern fishing technologies using mechanized trawlers and small meshed nets
lead directly to overexploitation, which is not sustainable. It is evident that fish have to breed
successfully and need to have time to grow if the yield has to be used sustainably. The worst
hit is the small traditional fishermen who are no match for organized trawlers.
Loss of Genetic diversity: There are 50,000 known edible plants documented worldwide. Of
these only 15 varieties produce 90% of the world‟s food. Modern agricultural practices have
resulted in a serious loss of genetic variability of crops. India‟s distinctive traditional varieties
of rice alone are said to have numbered between 30 and 50 thousand. Most of these have
been lost to the farmer during the last few decades as multinational seed companies push a
few commercial types. This creates a risk to our food security, as farmers can lose all their
produce due to a rapidly spreading disease. A cereal that has multiple varieties growing in
different locations does not permit the rapid spread of a disease. The most effective method
to introduce desirable traits into crops is by using characteristics found in the wild relatives of
crop plants. As the wilderness shrinks, these varieties are rapidly disappearing. Once they are
lost, their desirable characteristics cannot be introduced when found necessary in future.
Ensuring long-term food security may depend on conserving wild relatives of crop plants in
National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries. If plant genetic losses worldwide are not slowed
down, some estimates show that as many as 60,000 plant species, which accounts for 25% of
the world‟s total, will be lost by the year 2025. The most economical way to prevent this is
by expanding the network and coverage of our Protected Areas. Collections in germplasm,
seed banks and tissue culture facilities, are other possible ways to prevent extinction but are
extremely expensive. Scientists now believe that the world will soon need a second green
revolution to meet our future demands of food based on a new ethic of land and water
management that must be based on values which include environmental sensitivity, equity,
and biodiversity conservation of cultivars and in-situ preservation of wild relatives of crop
plants. This must not only provide food for all, but also work out more equitable distribution
of both food and water, reduce agricultural dependence on the use of fertilizers and pesticides
(which have long term ill effects on human wellbeing) and provide an increasing support for
preserving wild relatives of crop plants in Protected Areas. Pollution of water sources, land
degradation and desertification must be rapidly reversed. Adopting soil conservation
measures, using appropriate farming techniques, especially on hill slopes, enhancing the soil
with organic matter, rotating crops and managing watersheds at the micro level are a key to
agricultural production to meet future needs. Most importantly food supply is closely linked
to the effectiveness of population control programs worldwide. The world needs better and
sustainable methods of food production which is an important aspect of landuse management.
Alternate food sources: Food can be innovatively produced if we break out of the current
agricultural patterns. This includes working on new avenues to produce food, such as using
forests for their multiple non-wood forest products, which can be used for food if harvested
sustainably. This includes fruit, mush-rooms, sap, gum, etc. This takes time, as people must
develop a taste for these new foods. Medicines, both traditional and modern, can be harvested
sustainably from forests. Madagascar‟s Rosy Periwinkle used for child-hood leukemia‟s and
Taxol from Western Yew from the American Northwest as an anticancer drug are examples
of forest products used extensively in modern medicine. Without care, commercial
exploitation can lead to early extinction of such plants. Using unfamiliar crops such as Nagli,
which are grown on poor soil on hill slopes is another option. This crop grown in the Western
Ghats now has no market and is thus rarely grown. Only local people use this nutritious crop
themselves. It is thus not as extensively cultivated as in the past. Popularising this crop could
add to food availability from marginal lands. Several crops can be grown in urban settings,
including vegetables and fruit which can be grown on waste household water and fertilizers
from vermicomposting pits. Several foods can be popularized from yet un-used seafood
products such as seaweed as long as this is done at sustainable levels. Educating women
about nutrition, who are more closely involved with feeding the family, is an important
aspect of supporting the food needs of many developing countries. Integrated Pest
Management includes preserving pest predators, using pest resistant seed varieties and
reducing the use of chemical fertilizers.
e) Energy resources
The sun is the primary energy source in our lives. We use it directly for its warmth and
through various natural processes that provide us with food, water, fuel and shelter. The sun‟s
rays power the growth of plants, which form our food material, give off oxygen which we
breathe in and take up carbon dioxide that we breathe out. Energy from the sun evaporates
water from oceans, rivers and lakes, to form clouds that turn into rain. Today‟s fossil fuels
were once the forests that grew in prehistoric times due to the energy of the sun.

Chemical energy, contained in chemical compounds is released when they are broken down
by animals in the presence of oxygen. In India, manual labour is still extensively used to get
work done in agricultural systems, and domestic animals used to pull carts and ploughs.
Electrical energy produced in several ways, powers trans-port, artificial lighting, agriculture
and industry. This comes from hydel power based on the water cycle that is powered by the
sun‟s energy that supports evaporation, or from thermal power stations powered by fossil
fuels. Nuclear energy is held in the nucleus of an atom and is now harnessed to develop
electrical energy.
We use energy for household use, agriculture, production of industrial goods and for running
transport. Modern agriculture uses chemical fertilizers, which require large amounts of
energy during their manufacture. Industry uses energy to power manufacturing units and the
urban complexes that support it. Energy-demanding roads and railway lines are built to
transport products from place to place and to reach raw materials in mines and forests. No
energy related technology is completely „risk free‟ and unlimited demands on energy increase
this risk factor many fold. All energy use creates heat and contributes to atmospheric
temperature. Many forms of energy release carbon di-oxide and lead to global warming.
Nuclear energy plants have caused enormous losses to the environment due to the leakage of
nuclear material. The inability to effectively manage and safely dispose of nuclear waste is a
serious global concern. At present almost 2 billion people worldwide have no access to
electricity. While more people will require electrical energy, those who do have access to it
continue to increase their individual requirements. In addition, a large pro-portion of energy
from electricity is wasted during transmission as well as at the user level. It is broadly
accepted that long-term trends in energy use should be towards a cleaner global energy
system that is less carbon intensive and less reliant on finite non-renewable energy sources. It
is estimated that the currently used methods of using renewable energy and non-renewable
fossil fuel sources together will be insufficient to meet foreseeable global demands for power
generation beyond the next 50 to 100 years. Thus when we use energy wastefully, we are
contributing to a major environmental disaster for our earth. We all need to become
responsible energy users. An electrical light that is burning unnecessarily is a contributor to
environmental degradation.
1. Growing energy needs: Energy has always been closely linked to man‟s economic growth
and development. Present strategies for development that have focused on rapid economic
growth have used energy utilization as an index of economic development. This index
however, does not take into account the long-term ill effects on society of excessive energy
utilisation. Between 1950 and 1990, the world‟s energy needs increased fourfold. The
world‟s demand for electricity has doubled over the last 22 years! The world‟s total primary
energy consumption in 2000 was 9096 million tons of oil. A global average per capita that
works out to be 1.5 tons of oil. Electricity is at present the fastest growing form of end-use
energy worldwide. By 2005 the Asia-Pacific region is expected to surpass North America in
energy consumption and by 2020 is expected to consume some 40% more energy than North
America. For almost 200 years, coal was the primary energy source fuelling the industrial
revolution in the 19th century. At the close of the 20th century, oil accounted for 39% of the
world‟s commercial energy consumption, followed by coal (24%) and natural gas (24%),
while nuclear (7%) and hydro/renewables (6%) accounted for the rest. Among the
commercial energy sources used in India, coal is a predominant source accounting for 55% of
energy consumption estimated in 2001, followed by oil (31%), natural gas (8%), hydro (5%)
and nuclear (1%). In India, biomass (mainly wood and dung) accounts for almost 40% of
primary energy sup-ply. While coal continues to remain the dominant fuel for electricity
generation, nuclear power has been increasingly used since the 1970s and 1980s and the use
of natural gas has increased rapidly in the 80s and 90s.
2. Types of energy: There are three main types of energy; those classified as non-renewable;
those that are said to be renewable; and nuclear energy, which uses such small quantities of
raw material (uranium) that supplies are to all effect, limitless. However, this classification is
inaccurate because several of the renewable sources, if not used „sustainably‟, can be
depleted more quickly than they can be renewed.
i) Non-renewable energy
To produce electricity from non-renewable re-sources the material must be ignited. The fuel
is placed in a well contained area and set on fire. The heat generated turns water to steam,
which moves through pipes, to turn the blades of a turbine. This converts magnetism into
electricity, which we use in various appliances. Non-Renewable Energy Sources: These
consist of the mineral based hydrocarbon fuels coal, oil and natural gas, that were formed
from ancient prehistoric forests. These are called „fossil fuels‟ because they are formed after
plant life is fossilized. At the present rate of extraction there is enough coal for a long time to
come. Oil and gas resources however are likely to be used up within the next 50 years. When
these fuels are burnt, they produce waste products that are released into the atmosphere as
gases such as carbon dioxide, oxides of sulphur, nitrogen, and carbon monoxide, and all
causes of air pollution. These have led to lung problems in an enormous number of people all
over the world, and have also affected buildings like the Taj Mahal and killed many forests
and lakes due to acid rain. Many of these gases also act like a greenhouse letting sunlight in
and trapping the heat inside. This is leading to global warming, a raise in global temperature,
increased drought in some areas, floods in other regions, the melting of icecaps, and a rise in
sea levels, which is slowly submerging coastal belts all over the world. Warming the seas
also leads to the death of sensitive organisms such as coral.
Oil and its environmental impacts: India‟s oil reserves which are being used at present lie
off the coast of Mumbai and in Assam. Most of our natural gas is linked to oil and, because
there is no distribution system, it is just burnt off. This wastes nearly 40% of available gas.
The processes of oil and natural gas drilling, processing, transport and utilisation have serious
environmental consequences, such as leaks in which air and water are polluted and accidental
fires that may go on burning for days or weeks be-fore the fire can be controlled. During
refining oil, solid waste such as salts and grease are produced which also damage the
environment. Oil slicks are caused at sea from offshore oil wells, cleaning of oil tankers and
due to shipwrecks. The most well-known disaster occurred when the Exxon Valdez sank in
1989 and birds, sea otters, seals, fish and other marine life along the coast of Alaska was
seriously affected.

Oil powered vehicles emit carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide, nitrous oxide, carbon monoxide
and particulate matter which is a major cause of air pollution especially in cities with heavy
traffic density. Leaded petrol, leads to neuro dam-age and reduces attention spans. Running
petrol vehicles with unleaded fuel has been achieved by adding catalytic converters on all the
new cars, but unleaded fuel contains benzene and butadene which are known to be
carcinogenic compounds. Delhi, which used to have serious smog problems due to traffic,
has been able to reduce this health hazard by changing a large number of its vehicles to CNG,
which contains methane. Dependence on dwindling fossil fuel resources, especially oil,
results in political tension, instability and war. At present 65% of the world‟s oil reserves are
located in the Middle East.
Coal and its environmental impacts: Coal is the world‟s single largest contributor of
greenhouse gases and is one of the most important causes of global warming. Many coal-
based power generation plants are not fitted with devices such as electrostatic precipitators to
reduce emissions of suspended particulate matter (SPM) which is a major contributor to air
pollution. Burning coal also produces oxides of sulphur and nitrogen which, combined with
water vapour, lead to „acid rain‟. This kills forest vegetation, and damages architectural
heritage sites, pollutes water and affects human health. Thermal power stations that use coal
produce waste in the form of „fly ash‟. Large dumps are required to dispose of this waste
material, while efforts have been made to use it for making bricks. The transport of large
quantities of fly ash and its eventual dumping are costs that have to be included in calculating
the cost-benefits of thermal power.
ii) Renewable energy
Renewable energy systems use resources that are constantly replaced and are usually less pol-
luting. Examples include hydropower, solar, wind, and geothermal (energy from the heat
inside the earth). We also get renewable energy from burning trees and even garbage as fuel
and processing other plants into biofuels.
* Hydroelectric Power
This uses water flowing down a natural gradient to turn turbines to generate electricity known
as „hydroelectric power‟ by constructing dams across rivers. Between 1950 and 1970,
Hydropower generation worldwide increased seven times. The long life of hydropower
plants, the renew-able nature of the energy source, very low operating and maintenance costs,
and absence of inflationary pressures as in fossil fuels, are some of its advantages.

* Solar energy: In one hour, the sun pours as much energy onto the earth as we use in a
whole year. If it were possible to harness this colossal quantum of energy, humanity would
need no other source of energy. Today we have developed several methods of collecting this
energy for heating water and generating electricity.
Solar heating for homes: Modern housing that uses air conditioning and/ or heating are
extremely energy dependant. A passive solar home or building is designed to collect the sun‟s
heat through large, south-facing glass windows. In solar heated buildings, sunspaces are built
on the south side of the structure which act as large heat absorbers. The floors of sunspaces
are usually made of tiles or bricks that absorb heat throughout the day, then release heat at
night when it‟s cold. In energy efficient architecture the sun, water and wind are used to heat
a building when the weather is cold and to cool it in summer. This is based on design and
building material. Thick walls of stone or mud were used in traditional architecture as an
insulator. Small doors and windows kept direct sunlight and heat out. Deeply set glass
windows in colonial homes, on which direct sunlight could not reach, permit-ted the glass
from creating a greenhouse effect. Verandahs also served a similar purpose. Traditional
bungalows had high roofs and ventilators that permitted hot air to rise and leave the room.
Cross ventilation where wind can drive the air in and out of a room keeps it cool. Large
overhangs over windows prevent the glass from heating the room inside. Double walls are
used to prevent heating. Shady trees around the house help reduce temperature.
Solar water heating: Most solar water-heating systems have two main parts: the solar
collector and the storage tank. The solar energy col-lector heats the water, which then flows
to a well-insulated storage tank.
A common type of collector is the flat-plate collector, a rectangular box with a transparent
cover that faces the sun, usually mounted on the roof. Small tubes run through the box,
carrying the water or other fluid, such as antifreeze, to be heated. The tubes are mounted on a
metal absorber plate, which is painted black to absorb the sun‟s heat. The back and sides of
the box are insulated to hold in the heat. Heat builds up in the collector, and as the fluid
passes through the tubes, it too heats up.
Solar water-heating systems cannot heat water when the sun is not shining. Thus homes must
also have a conventional backup system. About 80% of homes in Israel have solar hot water
heaters.
Solar cookers: The heat produced by the sun can be directly used for cooking using solar
cookers. A solar cooker is a metal box which is black on the inside to absorb and retain heat.
The lid has a reflective surface to reflect the heat from the sun into the box. The box contains
black vessels in which the food to be cooked is placed.
India has the world‟s largest solar cooker pro-gram and an estimated 2 lakh families that use
solar cookers. Although solar cookers reduce the need for fuel wood and pollution from
smoky wood fires, they have not caught on well in rural areas as they are not suitable to
traditional cooking practices. However, they have great potential if marketed well.
Other Solar-Powered Devices: Solar desalination systems (for converting saline or brackish
water into pure distilled water) have been developed. In future, they should become important
alter-natives for man‟s future economic growth in areas where fresh water is not available.
* Photovoltaic energy: The solar technology which has the greatest potential for use
throughout the world is that of solar photo voltaic cells which directly produce electricity
from sunlight using photovoltaic (PV) (also called solar) cells.
Solar cells use the sun‟s light, not its heat, to make electricity. PV cells require little
maintenance; have no moving parts, and essentially no environmental impact. They work
cleanly, Photovoltaic Cells safely and silently. They can be installed quickly in small
modules, anywhere there is sunlight. Solar cells are made up of two separate layers of silicon,
each of which contains an electric charge. When light hits the cells, the charges begin to
move between the two layers and electricity is produced. PV cells are wired together to form
a module. A module of about 40 cells is enough to power a light bulb. For more power, PV
modules are wired together into an array. PV arrays can produce enough power to meet the
electrical needs of a home. Over the past few years, extensive work has been done in
decreasing PV technology costs, increasing efficiency, and extending cell lifetimes. Many
new materials, such as amorphous silicon, are being tested to reduce costs and automate
manufacturing.
PV cells are commonly used today in calculators and watches. They also provide power to
satellites, electric lights, and small electrical appliances such as radios and for water
pumping, highway lighting, weather stations, and other electrical systems located away from
power lines. Some electric utility companies are building PV systems into their power supply
networks.
PV cells are environmentally benign, i.e. they do not release pollutants or toxic material to
the air or water, there is no radioactive substance, and no catastrophic accidents. Some PV
cells, however, do contain small quantities of toxic substances such as cadmium and these
can be released to the environment in the event of a fire. Solar cells are made of silicon
which, although the second most abundant element in the earth‟s crust, has to be mined.
Mining creates environmental problems. PV systems also of course only work when the sun
is shining, and thus need batteries to store the electricity.
* Solar thermal electric power: Solar radiation can produce high temperatures, which can
generate electricity. Areas with low cloud levels of cover with little scattered radiation as in
the desert are considered most suitable sites. Ac-cording to a UNDP assessment, STE is
about 20 years behind the wind energy market exploitation, but is expected to grow rapidly in
the near future.
Mirror energy: During the 1980s, a major solar thermal electrical generation unit was built in
California, containing 700 parabolic mirrors, each with 24 reflectors, 1.5 meters in diameter,
which focused the sun‟s energy to produce steam to generate electricity.

Mirror Energy
Solar thermal systems change sunlight into electricity, by focusing sunlight to boil water to
make steam.
* Biomass energy: When a log is burned we are using biomass energy. Because plants and
trees depend on sunlight to grow, biomass energy is a form of stored solar energy. Although
wood is the largest source of biomass energy, we also use agricultural waste, sugarcane
wastes, and other farm byproducts to make energy.
There are three ways to use biomass. It can be burned to produce heat and electricity,
changed to a gas-like fuel such as methane, or changed to a liquid fuel. Liquid fuels, also
called biofuels, include two forms of alcohol: ethanol and methanol. Because biomass can be
changed directly into liquid fuel, it could someday supply much of our transportation fuel
needs for cars, trucks, buses, airplanes and trains with diesel fuel replaced by „biodiesel‟
made from vegetable oils. In the United States, this fuel is now being produced from soybean
oil. Researchers are also developing algae that produce oils, which can be converted to
biodiesel and new ways have been found to produce ethanol from grasses, trees, bark,
sawdust, paper, and farming wastes. Organic municipal solid waste includes paper, food
wastes, and other organic non-fossil-fuel derived materials such as textiles, natural rubber,
and leather that are found in the waste of urban areas. Currently, in the US, approximately
31% of organic waste is recovered from municipal solid waste via recycling and composting
programs, 62% is deposited in landfills, and 7% is incinerated. Waste material can be
converted into electricity by combustion boilers or steam turbines. Note that like any fuel,
biomass creates some pollutants, including carbon dioxide, when burned or converted into
energy. In terms of air pollutants, biomass generates less relative to fossil fuels. Biomass is
naturally low in sulphur and therefore, when burned, generates low sulphur dioxide
emissions. However, if burned in the open air, some biomass feedstock would emit relatively
high levels of nitrous oxides (given the high nitrogen content of plan material), carbon
monoxide, and particulates.
* Biogas: Biogas is produced from plant material and animal waste, garbage, waste from
house-holds and some types of industrial wastes, such as fish processing, dairies, and sewage
treatment plants. It is a mixture of gases which includes methane, carbon dioxide, hydrogen
sulphide and water vapour. In this mixture, methane burns easily. With a ton of food waste,
one can produce 85 Cu. M of biogas. Once used, the residue is used as an agricultural
fertilizer. Denmark produces a large quantity of biogas from waste and produces 15,000
megawatts of electricity from 15 farmers‟ cooperatives. Lon-don has a plant which makes 30
megawatts of electricity a year from 420,000 tons of municipal waste which gives power to
50,000 families. In Germany, 25% of landfills for garbage produce power from biogas. Japan
uses 85% of its waste and France about 50%. Biogas plants have become increasingly
popular in India in the rural sector. The biogas plants use cow dung, which is converted into a
gas which is used as a fuel. It is also used for running dual fuel engines. The reduction in
kitchen smoke by using biogas has reduced lung conditions in thousands of homes. The
fibrous waste of the sugar industry is the world‟s largest potential source of biomass energy.
Ethanol produced from sugarcane molasses is a good automobile fuel and is now used in a
third of the vehicles in Brazil. The National Project on Biogas Development (NPBD), and
Community/ Institutional Biogas Plant Program promote various biogas projects. By 1996
there were already 2.18 million families in India that used biogas. However China has 20
million households using biogas!
* Wind Power: Wind was the earliest energy source used for transportation by sailing ships.
Some 2000 years ago, windmills were developed in China, Afghanistan and Persia to draw
water for irrigation and grinding grain. Most of the early work on generating electricity from
wind was carried out in Denmark, at the end of the last century. Today, Denmark and
California have large wind turbine cooperatives which sell electricity to the government grid.
In Tamil Nadu, there are large wind farms producing 850 mega-watts of electricity. At
present, India is the third largest wind energy producer in the world.

The power in wind is a function of the wind speed and therefore the average wind speed of an
area is an important determinant of economically feasible power. Wind speed increases with
height. At a given turbine site, the power avail-able 30 meters above ground is typically 60
per-cent greater than at 10 meters.
Over the past two decades, a great deal of technical progress has been made in the design,
siting, installation, operation, and maintenance of power-producing wind mills (turbines).
These improvements have led to higher wind conversion efficiencies and lower electricity
production costs.
Environmental Impacts: Wind power has few environmental impacts, as there are virtually no
air or water emissions, or radiation, or solid waste production. The principal problems are
bird kills, noise, effect on TV reception, and aesthetic objections to the sheer number of wind
turbines that are required to meet electricity needs.
Although large areas of land are required for setting up wind farms, the amount used by the
turbine bases, the foundations and the access roads is less than 1% of the total area covered
by the wind farm. The rest of the area can also be used for agricultural purposes or for
grazing.
Siting windmills offshore reduces their demand for land and visual impact.
Wind is an intermittent source and the intermittency of wind depends on the geo-graphic
distribution of wind. Wind therefore cannot be used as the sole resource for electricity, and
requires some other backup or stand-by electricity source.
* Tidal and Wave Power: The earth‟s surface is 70% water. By warming the water, the sun,
creates ocean currents and wind that produces waves. It is estimated that the solar energy
absorbed by the tropical oceans in a week could equal the entire oil reserves of the world – 1
trillion barrels of oil. The energy of waves in the sea that crash on the land of all the
continents is estimated at 2 to 3 million megawatts of energy. From the 1970s several
countries have been experimenting with technology to harness the kinetic energy of the ocean
to generate electricity.
Tidal power is tapped by placing a barrage across an estuary and forcing the tidal flow to pass
through turbines. In a one-way system the in-coming tide is allowed to fill the basin through a
sluice, and the water so collected is used to produce electricity during the low tide. In a two-
way system power is generated from both the incoming as well as the outgoing tide.
Tidal power stations bring about major ecological changes in the sensitive ecosystem of
coastal regions and can destroy the habitats and nesting places of water birds and interfere
with fisheries. A tidal power station at the mouth of a river blocks the flow of polluted water
into the sea, thereby creating health and pollution hazards in the estuary. Other drawbacks
include offshore energy devices posing navigational hazards. Residual drift current could
affect spawning of some fish, whose larvae would be carried away from spawning grounds.
They may also affect the migration patterns of surface swimming fish. Wave power converts
the motion of waves into electrical or mechanical energy. For this, an energy extraction
device is used to drive turbo-generators. Electricity can be generated at sea and transmitted
by cable to land. This energy source has yet to be fully explored. The largest concentration of
potential wave energy on earth is located between latitudes 40 to 60 degrees in both the
northern and southern hemispheres, where the winds blow most strongly. Another developing
concept harnesses energy due to the differences in temperature between the warm upper
layers of the ocean and the cold deep sea water. These plants are known as Ocean Thermal
Energy Conversion (OTEC). This is a high tech installation which may prove to be highly
valuable in the future.
* Geothermal energy: is the energy stored within the earth (“geo” for earth and “thermal”
for heat). Geothermal energy starts with hot, molten rock (called magma) deep inside the
earth which surfaces at some parts of the earth‟s crust. The heat rising from the magma
warms underground pools of water known as geothermal reservoirs. If there is an opening,
hot underground water comes to the surface and forms hot springs, or it may boil to form
geysers. With modern technology, wells are drilled deep below the surface of the earth to tap
into geothermal reservoirs. This is called direct use of geothermal energy, and it provides a
steady stream of hot water that is pumped to the earth‟s surface.

Geo-Thermal Energy
In the 20th century geothermal energy has been harnessed on a large scale for space heating,
industrial use and electricity production, especially in Iceland, Japan and New Zealand.
Geothermal energy is nearly as cheap as hydro-power and will thus be increasingly utilised in
future. However, water from geothermal reservoirs often contains minerals that are corrosive
and polluting. Geothermal fluids are a problem which must be treated before disposal.
* Nuclear Power
In 1938 two German scientists Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassman demonstrated nuclear fission.
They found they could split the nucleus of a uranium atom by bombarding it with neutrons.
As the nucleus split, some mass was converted to energy. The nuclear power industry
however was born in the late 1950s. The first large-scale nuclear power plant in the world
became operational in 1957 in Pennsylvania, US. Dr. Homi Bhabha was the father of Nuclear
Power development in India. The Bhabha Atomic Research Center in Mumbai studies and
develops modern nuclear technology. India has 10 nuclear reactors at 5 nuclear power
stations that produce 2% of India‟s electricity. These are located in Maharashtra (Tarapur),
Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Gujrat. India has uranium from mines in Bihar.
There are deposits of thorium in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The nuclear reactors use Uranium
235 to pro-duce electricity. Energy released from 1kg of Uranium 235 is equivalent to that
produced by burning 3,000 tons of coal. U235 is made into rods which are fitted into a
nuclear reactor. The control rods absorb neutrons and thus adjust the fission which releases
energy due to the chain reaction in a reactor unit. The heat energy produced in the reaction is
used to heat water and produce steam, which drives turbines that produce electricity. The
drawback is that the rods need to be changed periodically. This has impacts on the
environment due to disposal of nuclear waste. The reaction releases very hot waste water that
damages aquatic ecosystems, even though it is cooled by a water system before it is released.
The disposal of nuclear waste is becoming an increasingly serious issue. The cost of Nuclear
Power generation must include the high cost of disposal of its waste and the
decommissioning of old plants. These have high economic as well as ecological costs that are
not taken into ac-count when developing new nuclear installations. For environmental
reasons, Sweden has decided to become a Nuclear Free Country by 2010. Although the
conventional environmental impacts from nuclear power are negligible, what overshadows all
the other types of energy sources is that an accident can be devastating and the effects last for
long periods of time. While it does not pollute air or water routinely like oil or biomass, a
single accident can kill thou-sands of people, make many others seriously ill, and destroy an
area for decades by its radioactivity which leads to death, cancer and genetic deformities.
Land, water, vegetation are destroyed for long periods of time. Management, storage and
disposal of radioactive wastes resulting from nuclear power generation are the biggest
expenses of the nuclear power industry. There have been nuclear accidents at Chernobyl in
USSR and at the Three Mile Island in USA. The radioactivity unleashed by such an accident
can affect mankind for generations.
Energy Conservation: Conventional energy sources have a variety of impacts on nature and
human society. India needs to rapidly move into a policy to re-duce energy needs and use
cleaner energy production technologies. A shift to alternate energy use and renewable energy
sources that are used judiciously and equitably would bring about environmentally friendly
and sustainable lifestyles. India must reduce its dependency on imported oil. At present we
are under-utilizing our natural gas resources. We could develop thousands of mini dams to
generate electricity. India wastes great amounts of electricity during transmission. Fuel wood
plantations need to be enhanced and management through Joint Forestry Management (JFM)
has a great promise for the future. Energy efficient cooking stoves or „chulas‟ help the
movement of air through it so that the wood is burnt more efficiently. They also have a
chimney to prevent air pollution and thus reduce respiratory problems. While over 2 lakh
improved chulas have been introduced throughout the country, the number in active use is
unknown as most rural people find it to be unusable for several reasons. TERI in 1995
estimated that in India 95% of rural people and 60% of urban poor still depend on firewood,
cattle dung and crop residue for cooking and other domestic purposes. Biomass can be
converted into biogas or liquid fuels i.e. ethanol and methanol. Biogas digesters convert
animal waste or agricultural residues into gas. This is 60% methane and 40% CO2 generated
by fermentation. The commonly used agro waste is dung of domestic animals and rice husk,
coconut shells, straw or weeds. The material left after the gas is used acts as a fertilizer.
Small hydro-generation units are environment-friendly. They do not displace people, destroy
forests or wildlife habitats or kill aquatic and terrestrial biodiversity. They can be placed in
several hill streams, on canals or rivers. The generation depends on flowing water due to
gravity. However, this fails if the flow is seasonal. It is easy to waste energy but cheaper to
save it than generate it. We can conserve energy by preventing or reducing waste of energy
and by using resources more efficiently. People waste energy because government subsidies
it. If the real cost was levied, people would not be able to afford to waste it carelessly.
f) Land resources
1. Land as a resource: Landforms such as hills, valleys, plains, river basins and wetlands
include different resource generating areas that the people living in them depend on. Many
traditional farming societies had ways of preserving areas from which they used resources.
Eg. In the „sacred groves‟ of the Western Ghats, requests to the spirit of the Grove for
permission to cut a tree, or extract a resource, were ac-companied by simple rituals. The
outcome of a chance fall on one side or the other of a stone balanced on a rock gave or
withheld permission. The request could not be repeated for a specified period. If land is
utilized carefully it can be considered a renewable resource. The roots of trees and grasses
bind the soil. If forests are depleted, or grasslands overgrazed, the land becomes unproductive
and wasteland is formed. Intensive irrigation leads to water logging and salination, on which
crops cannot grow. Land is also converted into a non-renewable resource when highly toxic
industrial and nuclear wastes are dumped on it. Land on earth is as finite as any of our other
natural resources. While mankind has learnt to adapt his lifestyle to various ecosystems world
over, he cannot live comfortably for instance on polar ice caps, on under the sea, or in space
in the foreseeable future. Man needs land for building homes, cultivating food, maintaining
pastures for domestic animals, developing industries to provide goods, and sup-porting the
industry by creating towns and cities. Equally importantly, man needs to protect wilderness
area in forests, grasslands, wetlands, mountains, coasts, etc. to protect our vitally valuable
biodiversity. Thus a rational use of land needs careful planning. One can develop most of
these different types of land uses almost anywhere, but Protected Areas (National Park‟s and
Wildlife Sanctuaries) can only be situated where some of the natural ecosystems are still
undisturbed. These Protected Areas are important aspects of good landuse planning.
2. Land Degradation: Farmland is under threat due to more and more intense utilisation.
Every year, between 5 to 7 million hectares of land worldwide is added to the existing
degraded farmland. When soil is used more intensively by farming, it is eroded more rapidly
by wind and rain. Over irrigating farmland leads to salinisation, as evaporation of water
brings the salts to the surface of the soil on which crops cannot grow. Over irrigation also
creates water logging of the topsoil so that crop roots are affected and the crop deteriorates.
The use of more and more chemical fertilizers poisons the soil so that eventually the land
becomes unproductive. As urban centers grow and industrial expansion occurs, the
agricultural land and forests shrink. This is a serious loss and has long term ill effects on
human civilisation.
3. Soil erosion: The characteristics of natural ecosystems such as forests and grasslands
depend on the type of soil. Soils of various types support a wide variety of crops. The misuse
of an ecosystem leads to loss of valuable soil through erosion by the monsoon rains and, to a
smaller extent, by wind. The roots of the trees in the forest hold the soil. Deforestation thus
leads to rapid soil erosion. Soil is washed into streams and is transported into rivers and
finally lost to the sea. The process is more evident in areas where deforestation has led to
erosion on steep hill slopes as in the Himalayas and in the Western Ghats. These areas are
called „ecologically sensitive areas‟ or ESAs. To prevent the loss of millions of tons of
valuable soil every year, it is essential to preserve what remains of our natural forest cover. It
is equally important to reforest denuded areas. The linkage between the existence of forests
and the presence of soil is greater than the forest‟s physical soil binding function alone. The
soil is enriched by the leaf-litter of the forest. This detritus is broken down by soil micro-
organisms, fungi, worms and in-sects, which help to recycle nutrients in the sys-tem. Further
losses of our soil wealth will impoverish our country and reduce its capacity to grow enough
food in future.
* ROLE OF AN INDIVIDUAL IN CONSERVATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES
Until fairly recently mankind acted as if he could go on forever exploiting the ecosystems and
natural resources such as soil, water, forests and grasslands on the Earth‟s surface and
extracting minerals and fossil fuels from underground. But, in the last few decades, it has
become increasingly evident that the global ecosystem has the capacity to sustain only a
limited level of utilization. Biological systems cannot go on replenishing resources if they are
overused or misused. At a critical point, increasing pressure destabilizes their natural balance.
Even biological resources traditionally classified as „renewable‟ - such as those from our
oceans, forests, grass-lands and wetlands, are being degraded by over-use and may be
permanently destroyed. And no natural resource is limitless. „Non-renewable‟ resources will
be rapidly exhausted if we continue to use them as intensively as at present.
The two most damaging factors leading to the current rapid depletion of all forms of natural
resources are increasing „consumerism‟ on the part of the affluent sections of society, and
rapid population growth. Both factors are the results of choices we make as individuals. As
individuals we need to decide;
 What will we leave to our children? (Are we thinking of short-term or long-term gain?)
 Is my material gain someone else‟s loss?
Greed for material goods has become a way of life for a majority of people in the developed
world. Population growth and the resulting shortage of resources most severely affect people
in the developing countries. In nations such as ours, which are both developing rap-idly, and
suffering from a population explosion; both factors are responsible for environmental
degradation. We must ask ourselves if we have perhaps reached a critical flash point, at
which economic „development‟ affects the lives of people more adversely than the benefits it
provides.
What can be done to save electricity?
 Turn off lights and fans as soon as you leave the room.
 Use tube lights and energy efficient bulbs that save energy rather than bulbs. A 40-watt
tube light gives as much light as a 100 watt bulb.
 Keep the bulbs and tubes clean. Dust on tubes and bulbs decreases lighting levels by 20 to
30%.
 Switch off the television or radio as soon as the program of interest is over.
 A pressure cooker can save up to 75% of energy require for cooking. It is also faster.
 Keeping the vessel covered with a lid during cooking, helps to cook faster, thus saving
energy.
* EQUITABLE USE OF RESOURCES FOR SUSTAINABLE LIFESTYLES
Reduction of the unsustainable and unequal use of resources and control of our population
growth are essential for the survival of our nation and indeed of human kind everywhere. Our
environment provides us with a variety of goods and services necessary for our day-to-day
lives, but the soil, water, climate and solar energy which form the „abiotic‟ support that we
derive from nature, are in themselves not distributed evenly throughout the world or within
countries. A new economic order at the global and at national levels must be based on the
ability to dis-tribute benefits of natural resources by sharing them more equally among the
countries as well as among communities within countries such as our own. It is at the local
level where people subsist by the sale of locally collected resources, that the disparity is
greatest. „Development‟ has not reached them and they are often unjustly accused of
„exploiting‟ natural resources. They must be adequately compensated for the removal of the
sources to distant regions and thus develop a greater stake in protecting natural resources.
There are several principles that each of us can adopt to bring about sustainable lifestyles.
This primarily comes from caring for our Mother Earth in all respects. A love and respect for
Nature is the greatest sentiment that helps bring about a feeling for looking at how we use
natural resources in a new and sensitive way. Think of the beauty of a wilderness, a natural
forest in all its magnificence, the expanse of green grassland, the clean water of a lake that
sup-ports so much life, the crystal clear water of a hill stream, or the magnificent power of
the oceans, and we cannot help but support the conservation of nature‟s wealth. If we respect
this we cannot commit acts that will deplete our life supporting systems.