Geography
India's Environmental Issues
India faces a range of environmental issues, including air and water pollution, deforestation, soil erosion, and climate change. Rapid industrialisation and urbanisation have contributed to these problems, as have population growth and unsustainable agricultural practices. The government has implemented various policies and initiatives to address these issues, but progress has been slow.
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8 Key excerpts on "India's Environmental Issues"
- Singh, Vir(Authors)
- 2021(Publication Date)
- Biotech(Publisher)
Part-I CLIMATE CHANGE PERSPECTIVES AND ISSUES This ebook is exclusively for this university only. Cannot be resold/distributed. Chapter 1 Environmental Issues in India: A Perspective A.K. Dikshit and Raj Kumar Introduction Environmental pollution is one of the most serious problems facing humanity and other life forms on our planet earth. The environmental problems in India are also growing rapidly due to economic development and fast increase in population. India’s present population of 1.2 billion people is putting a strain on the environment, infrastructure and the country’s natural resources. Industrial pollution, soil erosion, deforestation, rapid industrialization, urbanization and land degradation are some of the major environmental problems that need to be properly addressed. Air Pollution There are four reasons for air pollution, namely emissions from vehicles, thermal power plants, industries and refineries. Coal meets more than half of the country’s energy need and is used for nearly three-quarters of electricity generation. However, Indian coal has high ash content and burning this resource causes environmental degradation. Reliance on coal as major source has led to a nine-fold jump in carbon emissions over the past forty years. Vehicle emissions are responsible for 70 per cent of the country’s air pollution. Air pollution from vehicle exhaust and industry is a worsening problem for India. Exhaust from vehicles has increased eight-fold over the levels twenty year ago while industrial pollution has risen four times over the same period. Air quality is worst in big cities like Chennai, Delhi and Kolkata This ebook is exclusively for this university only. Cannot be resold/distributed. etc. Exhaust from vehicles, dust from construction debris, industrial waste, burning of municipal and garden waste are all on the rise. The levels of respirable suspended particulate matter (RSPM) or dust in the air have continued to increase in the recent past.
eBook - PDF- Kumar, Arvind(Authors)
- 2021(Publication Date)
- Daya Publishing House(Publisher)
Chapter 1 Environmental Issues: A Critical Review Arvind Kumar and Chandan Bohra Environmental Science Research Unit, Post Graduate Department of Zoology, S.K.M. University, Dumka - 814 101, Jharkhand Introduction Nature is fascinating. It embodies the spirit of the creator. The soft green leaf moving gently in the breeze, the drop of dew quivering on the petal of rose, the koel singing hidden in a mango grove, all are so enchanting, so enthralling! No less is the child with its hazel eyes, silken hair, rosy cheeks, toothless mouth and tender skin. Its father, the man, too is very handsome and is perhaps the most unique creation of God, unique in the sense that it is man who has made the world so beautiful. But for him, nature would not have been so enjoyable as it is. He has converted wild forests into parks, gardens, orchards and cities, and deserves all praise for that. But in doing that and in his attempts to make life more and more comfortable, he often destroyed forests thoughtlessly, polluted air and water recklessly and despoiled nature ruthlessly. The inevitable consequence was an ominous deterioration of the environment. Environmental problems have attracted the attention of a wide cross-This ebook is exclusively for this university only. Cannot be resold/distributed. section of people all over the world during the last two decades. People are becoming increasingly conscious of a variety of problems like global warming, ozone layer depletion, acid rain, famines, droughts, floods, scarcity of fuel, firewood and fodder, pollution of air and water and problems from hazardous chemicals and radiation which have adverse effects on the environment. No nation in the world has been spared nor any citizen untouched. India, at the time of independence was among the protest countries with little infrastructure for development.
eBook - PDF- Kumar, A(Authors)
- 2021(Publication Date)
- Daya Publishing House(Publisher)
Chapter 14 Indian Environmental Challenges The key environmental challenges that the country faces relate to the nexus of environmental degradation with poverty in its many dimensions, and economic growth. These challenges are intrinsically connected with the state of environmental resources, such as land, water, air and their flora and fauna. The proximate drivers of environmental degradation are population growth, technology and consumption choices, and poverty, leading to changes in relations between people and ecosystems, and development activities such as intensive agriculture, polluting industry, and unplanned urbanisation. However, these factors give rise to environmental degradation only through deeper causal linkages, in particular institutional failures, resulting in lack of clarity or enforcement of rights of access and use of environmental resources, policies which provide disincentives for environmental conservation (and which may have origins in the fiscal regime), market failures, (which may be linked to shortcomings in the regulatory regimes), and governance constraints. Environmental degradation is a major causal factor in enhancing and perpetuating poverty, particularly among the rural poor, when such degradation impacts soil fertility, quantity and quality of freshwater, air quality, forests, and fisheries. The dependence of the rural poor, in particular, tribal societies on their natural resources, especially biodiversity, is self-evident. The poor are particularly vulnerable to loss of resilience in ecosystems. Large reductions in resilience may mean that the ecosystems, on which livelihoods are based, break down, causing distress. The loss of the environmental resource base can result in certain groups of people being made destitute, even if overall, the economy shows strong growth. Further, urban environmental degradation, through lack of (or inappropriate) waste This ebook is exclusively for this university only. Cannot be resold/distributed.
eBook - ePub- Marshall M. Bouton(Author)
- 2019(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
produshan (pollution) has now become popular because the problem increasingly affects both urban and rural areas.In this chapter, we will refer to the environment as comprising all of India's terrain, its natural resources, and all living things. In India, the environmental movement is concerned with a broad range of issues that are affected by the availability of natural resources, particularly land, water, and fuel. The quality of the environment has an impact on health and hygiene, which require access to water, particularly potable water.A Rich and Diverse Environment
India's environment is shaped for the most part by the monsoon regime, which is characterized by a 100-day spell that yields 85 percent of the year's total rainfall. The monsoon is preceded and followed by long, dry, and mostly hot periods. Although the annual average precipitation is higher than that of any other continent except South America and twice that of the annual average for Asia as a whole, the unequal distribution of water renders large areas of the country deficient.A little more than half of India's 329 million hectares is cultivated. The bulk of farming takes place in the Indo-Gangetic plain, considered one of the potentially richest agrarian belts in the world. While the region receives more rain and sunshine than the American Midwest or the Soviet Ukraine, its standard of living falls far short of those areas. Due to improper land and water management techniques, the region experiences some of the worst poverty in the world.The Himalayas have a unique ecosystem and play a key role in the monsoon regime. Stretching 2,500 kilometers along the north of India, the mountains form a natural barrier and ensure that rains fall over the Indo-Gangetic belt. Without the Himalayas, cool winds from Mongolia would sweep across the northern Indian plains, rendering them too dry for agriculture. The Himalayas also serve as the source of life-giving water for huge numbers of people living south of the range. The Ganges and its tributaries carry rich alluvial soil, which under normal conditions enriches the earth for farming. Uncontrolled soil erosion, however, has caused enormous damage.
eBook - PDF- Prasad, A G Devi(Authors)
- 2021(Publication Date)
- Daya Publishing House(Publisher)
The other forms of pollutions are induced by human activities (anthropogenic) and the effect may range from slight to heavy. Actually man is the most powerful environmental agent spearheaded by modern technology capable of modifying the environment according to his needs to a great extent. Man made environment includes technologies, industrial revolution, agricultural implements, transportation, housing, dam-building, channelization of energy sources like hydro, thermal and atomic energy, etc. Understanding the Causes and Change in the Environment Present India is facing many important environmental challenges which currently threaten both the development of India and the outlook for its future (Divan and Rosencranz, 2001). The state of India’s environment is upset at the hands of uncontrolled human activities, and these ecological ailments are affecting social growth potential. Decrease of land quantity, increasing air pollution, increasing population growth rate, depletion of water resources, loss of indigenous species of flora and fauna and the background of overwhelming poverty are depicted in the report to detract from the positive growth of Indian people and the country as a whole (Geetanjoy, 2008). Thus, India’s rapid growth is driving equally rapid environmental destruction and therefore, this paper brings out some of the important causes that lead to change in the environments, which are as follows: i. Increasing Human Population and Its Impact on Environment This ebook is exclusively for this university only. Cannot be resold/distributed. The earth’s expanding human population and industrial growth have been known to cause serious environmental disasters. At the end of 2011, India’s population reached 1.21 billion and its economy is growing at 8.5%, the fastest after China (Govindasamy, 2012). Due to the population pressure, India pushes ahead with aggressive industrial development.
- Singh, M P, Soma Dey(Authors)
- 2021(Publication Date)
- Daya Publishing House(Publisher)
In this chapter attempt is made to identify the priority areas and the strategies, in Indian context, to solve the current problems that should lead to sustainable development. Contrary to Western concept of conflict with nature, our basic philosophy has been of harmony with nature. However, during last 150 years or so we have been following the former one. Today, the whole world, particularly the developing countries face a near crisis situation, both economic and environmental. The words economics and This ebook is exclusively for this university only. Cannot be resold/distributed. ecology have the same root, oikos (meaning house). While economics deals with financial house keeping, ecology deals with environmental housekeeping. Time has now come when sustainability in development has to enter in our planning process. There are two major threats to the environments : (i) possible nuclear war, and (ii) unprecedented demographic pressure due to population explosion. This led to over-utilisation of natural resources and harnessing the forces of nature for the use of growing human population. The net result is spread of desertification, soil maladies, floods and droughts, urban congestion, extinction of species and pollution of land, water and air. Therefore, this is high time we work for environmental management i.e. proper resource use and resource management. In Indian context the following are the environmental problems where priority action is needed : (1) Population stabilisation (2) Integrated land use planning (3) Healthy cropland and grassland (4) Woodland and revegetation of marginal lands (5) Conservation of biological diversity (6) Control of water and air pollution (7) Development of non-polluting renewable energy systems (8) Recycling of wastes and residues (9) Human settlements (10) Environmental education and awareness (11) Updating environmental law, and (12) New dimensions to national security.
eBook - PDF- Judith Rosales(Author)
- 2019(Publication Date)
- Society Publishing(Publisher)
Rapid growth in population, expansion of cities, and emerging industrial production intensified environmental problems globally. These problems are diverse and dramatic, because they encompass practically all constituents of the natural human environment: organic and inorganic nature, natural resources, and climate. Anthropogenic pressure on the Earth’s environment reached its peak in the 20 th century resulting in a number of irreversible consequences manifesting themselves in the 21 st century. Increased economic activity, irrational use of resources, wasteful practices, overpopulation, urbanization, and armed conflicts has inflicted our planet with damages which can have catastrophic effects. Thus, it is in the larger good of future generations that a proper framework must be implemented with regard to the use of environmental resources. Environment and Its Issues in the Contemporary World 5 1.1.1. Physical and Social Environment Environmental factors, broadly defined, are critical to understanding the health and well-being of the population. Such factors include the resources that individuals have in their physical surroundings, their perceptions of the quality of their neighborhood and communities, and the nature and extent of their personal social networks. As discussed in the previous section, environmental resources and conditions may have different value to different communities. A detailed study of variables such as gender, age, and occupational class helps in understanding variations in the health and economic status of population subgroups. These factors may affect health and economic outcomes directly and indirectly. It is important to understand in detail about the range of personal, social , economic, and environmental factors that influence the health of older population. Housing conditions are an important aspect of the quality of life.
- Rattan Lal, David O. Hansen, Norman Uphoff(Authors)
- 2016(Publication Date)
- CRC Press(Publisher)
Factors Influencing Environmental Degradation and Pollution in India 201 It has been estimated that air pollution in 35 large Indian cities killed 52,000 people in 1995, a 28% increase from the early 1990s. Calcutta has been quoted as one of the five worst cities in the world, in terms of exposure of children to air pollution by sulfur dioxide, particulates and nitrogen oxides. It is quite common to see people in Delhi and other major cities wearing face masks in the city and traffic to avoid breathing the heavy gaseous emissions. C LIMATIC C HANGES Emissions of carbon dioxide and effluent gases such as nitrous oxide (N 2 O) from industry and automobiles, and methane (CH 4 ) emissions from various sources as well as carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) are believed to be having significant global impacts on the ozone layer (Parry, 1990). A United Nations review in October 2000 concluded that, if global emissions are not curtailed drastically, the earth’s surface temperature might increase from as little as 2.7ºC to as much as 11ºC over the next century (Edwards and Pimentel, 2001). Such increases would have major impacts on ocean levels, water availability and crop production. India is one of the eight nations making the highest contributions to global emissions and, it seems likely that, with the rapid rates of increase in industrialization and automobile use, gaseous emissions from the Indian subcontinent will increase significantly in the future. In India itself, this could result in major changes in precipitation that would have serious effects on irrigated crops, although some current scenarios suggest precipitation might increase in India if temperatures rose. CONCLUSIONS Although Indian agriculture has been very successful in increasing crop productivity in the past, it faces severe obstacles in maintaining such increases to keep pace with predicted population increases in the long term.
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