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EVS Notes
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Table of Contents

Unit I Introduction .................................................................................................................. 4

Unit II Ecosystems ................................................................................................................... 14

Unit III Natural Resources ......................................................................................................41

Unit IV Environmental Pollution............................................................................................ 72

Unit V Global Environmental Issues & Policies ..................................................................... 99

Unit VI Biodiversity and Conservation .................................................................................. 124

Unit VII Human Communities and the Environment ..........................................................155

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Part I
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Unit I – Introduction

Objective – Develop ecological citizenship through strong foundation by forming

• Academic foundational knowledge

• Critical linkages bw ecology, society and economy
• Critical thinking

Aim of the course

• Interdisciplinary theoretical knowledge

• Critical thinking – identify issues
• Moral and ethical awareness – develop environmental empathy

Definition of “environment”

• Simply put – your surroundings

• The sum total of all the living and non-living elements of a given area & their interactions
& effect on human life.

Holistic nature of environmental studies

• Environmental studies involve various studies, professions and scopes where one can excel
& find their passion & profession.
• An interdisciplinary understanding is required to grasp the full picture.
• An obvious solution to a problem could be ineffective if it doesn’t consider the other
factors.
• Eg. Declaring areas as protected wildlife reserves could displace inhabitants and lead to
social and economic problems increasing poaching for survival.
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• life sci.
• geo sci.
Sciences • atmos. sci.
• mathemetical
modelling

• Env. law
• Policy consultancy
Law & Policy
• social impact
assessment

• Journalism
Litterature
• columnist

• Impact assessment
Industry & • civil engg.
Engineering • hydrological engg.
• chem engg.

Finance • green finance

The multidisciplinary nature of environmental studies

Components of the environment

Various major constituents of the Earth

• The major components of the environment which support all life on Earth can be broadly
divided into
• It must be noted that 99% of the atmosphere is below 32 km.
o Atmosphere – the total layer of air that surrounds the planet Earth
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▪
▪ Contains oxygen for breathing
▪ Regulates temperature on earth by distributing heat via winds
▪ Can be further divided into several layers
• Troposphere – layer of mixing
o contains nearly all of our weather phenomena and all living
beings including high flying birds.
o Temperature decreases as one increases in altitude, that’s
why one feels cooler on mountain ranges – temperature
decreases at rate of 6.5 *C/km.
o Lower part of troposphere is called boundary layer &
contains surface winds and also pollutants
• Stratosphere –
o Contains 90 % of the ozone layer (O3) which absorbs most
of the harmful UV rays from the Sun.
o Temperature increase as one increase in altitude due to
absorption of UV rays by the ozone layer which generates
heat.
o Airplanes fly at this altitude to avoid turbulence (strong
winds)
•
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• Mesosphere – (Stratosphere + Mesosphere = Middle atmosphere)

o Nothing special happens at this layer
o Temperature again decreases as one goes up in altitude.
• Thermosphere –
o Temperature again increases with altitude due to absorption
of high energy X-rays and some UV rays.
• Exosphere/Ionosphere
o This layer is very important for radio communication –
contains charged ions which reflect back radio waves
making beyond horizon communications possible.
o Hydrosphere – total water present on Earth – surface of Earth is mostly water which
is why it’s also called the blue planet (about 71%)
▪ Regulates temperature – water is a very good retainer of heat (high specific
heat)
▪ Causes weather (rain) – else large areas of land will be deserts
▪ No life can exist without water – drinking
▪ Hydrosphere consists of oceans, lakes, rivers, underground water, etc.
o Lithosphere – rock – total land on surface of Earth (about 29%)
▪ We are standing on the crust of the Earth which is like an eggshell whose
thickness ranges from 40 km (oceanic) to 100 km (plateau)
▪ The lithosphere shields life from the Earth’s core (which is hotter than Sun’s
surface) and provides rich minerals and precious stones.
▪ The lithosphere is actually (7 + 8) major and minor tectonic plates which
float above the mantle. Collision of the plates cause earthquakes.
o Biosphere – The overlapping region zone of atmosphere, hydrosphere, and
lithosphere which supports all life on Earth.
▪ Birds can fly upto 10 km in the atmosphere
▪ Deep sea creatures have been found about 10 km under the oceans.
▪ Bacteria have been found about 8 km underground.
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▪ Biosphere is separated into biomes or huge areas of similar climate and

geography which are all interconnected eg. Tundra, Rainforest, Grasslands,
etc.
o All life that we know of, all of humanity and it’s technological innovations, art and
culture exist in this very small shell, on this very small planet, revolving around a
mid-sized star in a vast probably endless universe – hence we must take care of it
as we have no other place to go.

Sustainability, Sustainable Development (SD) (Scope and Development)

• Definition – Sustainability simply means inter-generational equity – Using resources

judiciously in such a manner that they are left for the next generation.
• The standard definition of sustainable development (SD) was put forth by the Brundtland
Commission report, Our Common Future at the Stockholm Confrence (1972) –
Development which meets the needs of the present without jeopardizing the ability of
future generation to meet their own needs.
•

Why is SD important?
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Components of Sustainable Development

What happens if there is unsustainability?

• Economic – injustice, low income, income inequality

• Social – disharmony, crime, social ills, malpractices, conflict
• Environmental – natural disaster, water scarcity, food insecurity

Reasons for Unsustainability

Human population estimates (historical)

• Human population since most of its existence was stable

• However due to recent developments medicine (antibiotics and vaccines), and nutrition
(green revolution), and socio-economic conditions (industrial revolution) human
population has increased exponentially.
• Resources such as water, food, fiber, timber, metal ores, fossil fuels are either constant or
can incrase only linearly.
• Therefore, if left unchecked, the rate of consumption will exceed rate of replenishment &
resources will be depleted leading to massive social problems.
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Ecological footprint & consumption of various countries

• The total consumption of the planet has exceeded its ability to provide and replenish the
resources.
• However, not all countries are using resources equally; developed countries are
disproportionately using resources – many times as developing nations.

Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)

• Formulated by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) (2015) part of the post 2015
development agenda called Agenda 2030.
• There are 17 goals in total
• Think about the good things you’d like to see around you; no poverty, no hunger, education
for everyone, no gender inequality, no deforestation, etc.
• For each of the below mentioned goals there are indicators which are reported by the
respective governments to monitor the progress of SDGs.
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How to measure sustainability

• Per capita income – How much income is average person making.

• Per capita income (adjusted for inequality) – How much income is average person making
and how equally is it distributed. A highly unequal society is sign of social problems.
• Human Development Index (HDI) – measures three parameters; income, health, education.
• Human Development Index – Inequality adjusted (IHDI) – takes into account variations in
HDI due to extreme inequality.

Brief history of environmentalism

• Anthropologists have found evidence of animal & planet extinctions as far as 50,000 years
ago when the entire human population was only 200,000. This extinction can mainly be
attributed to.
o Deforestation – to make houses and later on for agriculture
o Fires – to clear forests and practice shifting agriculture and cook food
• Overall humans lived in great harmony with nature.
• Epic of Gilgamesh (2100 BC) (Mesopotamic – Iraq) – Mentions about sacred forests
guarded by gods and gods punishing humans by droughts.
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• Vedas (1500 BC) (India) – Humns praising forests, rivers, pastures, etc.
• Buddhism (500 BC) – compassion and empathy for all living things and formations of
nature – the necessity for maintaining balance.
• Jainism – nonviolence, non-harm to any living being.
• Overall humans were instructed to respect nature and live in harmony with it.
• Indus Valley Civilization – well developed sanitation system demonstrating knowledge pof
preventing environmental degradation.
• Mauryan Empire (Ashokan Edicts)
o State has responsibility to preserve forests
o Burning of chaff after harvest was banned – link to Delhi smog
o Polluting water was banned.
• Gupta Empire (Golden Age)
o Fa Hien (Chinese traveler) – noted veterinary hospitals for the treatment of animals
at Patiliputram (probably first in the world).
• Bishnoi sect. of Rajasthan – A sect of Vaishnavite Hinduism founded by Guru Jambeshwar
which holds environmental protection as a divine duty.
o Khejarli Massacre – Hundreds of Bishnois died preventing felling of trees at
Khejarli Village by the Maharaja of Jodhpur for palace construction.
• Indian & in general global cultural consensus is to preserve nature and live in harmony.
• Industrial Revolution (mid 1700s) – profitability & economic progress began to take
precedence over environmental conservation.
o Use of coal to power steam engines and many means of mass production – eg. grain
and textile mills, trains for transport, ships, etc.
o Mass production of goods
o Colonialization to secure raw materials and markets.
o Wars of dominance.
• Environmentalism began in Europe during the early 1800s in response to the environmental
and health degradation cause by Industrial Revolution.
o Societies for the protection of birds and sites of natural beauty and historical
monuments.
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• End of World War II and start of Green Revolution marked adoption of many unsustainable
practices eg. pesticide use.
• The book “Silent Spring (1962) led to a major change in public opinion as it spoke about
the indiscriminate damage done by DDT to the ecology and in particular birds.
• Modern environmentalism can be said to start from the 1970s where international solidarity
and census was formed under the United Nations to collectively work for the environment.
– World Earth Day was celebrated on 22nd April (1970) annually.
• During the 1980s – 1990s the concepts of sustainability, environmental justice, green
economy, renewable energy, began to come into mainstream.
• From the 2000s onwards developing nations such as India, China, Mexico, Philippines, etc.
gained more geopolitical voice and stressed the need for inclusive growth and
development.
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Unit – II Ecosystems

Definition & structure

• Defined by E. Odem (father of modern ecology) – A unit that includes all the organisms
of a given area (community), interacting with physical environment so that flow of
energy leads to exchange of materials between living and non-living parts of the system.
• Energy is everything, is powers life and geographic processes.
• The Sun is the ultimate source of nearly all the energy on Earth.
• All natural processes and ultimately life is possible only because this energy is transferred
from one component to another.
o Wind, waterfalls, liquid water, plants (photosynthesis), etc.

Structure of the ecosystem

• Abiotic (nonliving components)

o Climatic – climate causing
o Edaphic – soil and land characters
• Biotic (living components)
o Produces – fix the sun’s energy into biomass (leaves, seeds, nuts, flowers, sap, etc.)
o Consumers – consume food from producers or each other.
▪ Primary consumers – herbivores (plant eaters) – cow, buffalo, goat, rabbit,
grasshopper, etc.
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▪ Secondary consumer – small carnivores – eat herbivores – snakes, spiders,

fox, etc.
▪ Tertiary consumer – large carnivores – large snakes, insectivorous birds.
▪ Quaternary consumers – apex predators and can also omnivores (eat both)
eat both animals and plants – eg. tiger, lion, eagle, humans
o Decomposers (reducers) – break down dead and decaying biomass and return the
nutrients back into natural cycle – eg. bacteria, fungi, etc.

Functions of an ecosystem

• The ecosystem functions can be classified into

o Energy use and transfer (energy) – food chain
o Biological process (biology) – food chain, food web, ecological succession
o Biogeochemical cycle process (chemicals) – biogeochemical and nutrient cycles

Energy and ecosystems

Energy – The basis for everything in the ecosystem and universe – the source of nearly all the
energy on Earth is the Sun.

• The Earth’s surface receives 343 W/m2 of solar energy on average.

• This energy is “fixed” by the producers (plants including grasses and plankton) as biomass
via photosynthesis whereby carbon dioxide and water is converted to sugars powered by
sunlight.
• This biomass is consumed by herbivores which is added to their biomass.
• Both plants and herbivores are consumed by secondary, tertiary and quaternary consumers.
• When they die – their bodies are consumed and decayed by the decomposers and returned
as simple organic matter back to the natural cycle.
• Note that the chemical reactions for photosynthesis and respiration is completely opposite
and complementary.
o Plants – consume water & carbon dioxide to liberate oxygen & fix carbohydrates
o Animals – consume carbohydrates & oxygen to liberate carbon dioxide.
o This is a beautiful loop that sustains all life on Earth.
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Pyramid of energy

Trophic levels and flow of energy

• Trophic level is a broad classification of an organisms with relation to the level it occupies
with respect to its energy use and processing.
• Note here that energy is NOT CONSERVED – in fact, at each level 90% of energy is lost
as heat and non-reproductive activities such as foraging, fighting, movement, etc.
• Note- that pyramid of energy is always upright without any exception.

Energy Flow Models

• We have learnt that the Sun is the source of all energy on Earth.
• Producers or plants fix that energy via photosynthesis into biomass which is consumed
by primary consumers (herbivores) which are in turn consumed by secondary and tertiary
consumers (carnivores / predators).
• Difference is in the role played by the decomposers
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Single Channel Double Channel “Y-Shaped)

Pictorial
representation

Nature of Unidirectional – energy is fixed from Bidirectional – at each stage some

Energy flow the sun by plants, who store it in their energy from plants, herbivores,
biomass, which is consumed by and carnivores goes to detritovores
herbivores which in turn are which decompose fallen leaves and
consumed by carnivores. dead organisms.
Natural When primary productivity is low – When primary productivity is high
relevance eg. marine ecosystems, almost all – eg. forest ecosystems, where
producers are consumed, leaving very huge amount of biomass
little for detritovores. accumulates for detritovores.
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Biological processes of the ecosystem

Food chain and food web – as we know there are several types of animals and plants in a given
area which all interact with each other in complex ways. However in order to simply and
understand these interactions we have to classify them.

Compare and contrast bw food chain and food web

Attribute Food chain food web

shape linear network
connections (food sources) single multiple
complexity simple complex
Stability low high

• Food chain is a very simplistic representation of biotic interactions which may exist in very
simple or new ecosystems, however in more mature ecosystems, most of the time it is the
food web that dominates.
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Contrast & compare grazing & detritus food chain

• Decomposers are needed when there is accumulation of dead matter, so based on how much
accumulation there is they may play a major or minor role in the particular ecosystem.
• Remember – in large decomposers play a vital role in returning nutrients back to the natural
cycle & preventing diseases by removing dead and decaying matter.
• Animals such as vultures and hyenas are NOT DECOMPOSERS, instead they are
scavengers because they eat and not break down the organic matter.

Pyramid of Biomass

• The biomass avaliable at each trophic level

• Pyramid of biomass in aquatic systems if inverted because the turnover rate of
phytoplankton is so fast. – Sufficient biomass doesn’t accumulate
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Pyramid of Numbers

• The number of organisms avaliable at each trophic level

• Inverted in case of arboreal (tree) ecosystems because of huge biomass of a single tree
and every organisms is reliant on it.

Ecological Succession

• Change in the ecological community structure, composition and interactions within

themselves and abiotic factor with passage of time in a given area.
• Types of succession – primary and secondary

o Primary – succession starting from a totally blank canvas

o Secondary – succession starting from a partially premade ecosystem
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Primary and Secondary ecological succession

• Five steps of ecological succession
1. Nudation – Due to a significant event eg. volcano, landslide, fire, etc, the
ecosystem is stripped bare.
2. Invasion – pioneer “generalist” species enter the blank habitat.
3. Compitition – There is compitition for resources both within species and among
species.
4. Reaction – organisms and species react to compitition, and this changes the
community structure as generalists are replaced by specialists.
5. Stabilization and climax – due to prolonged period of compitition and reaction,
the community type stabilizes.
• Each succession intermediate stage is called a “sere” or seral stage.
• With time and ecological succession the food chain becomes longer and food web becomes
complex as energy is used must efficienty.
• Monoclimax and polyclimax theories.
o Monoclimax – only one climax community is possible in a region
o Polyclimax – several types of climax communities are possible and coexist in a
region at a given time.
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Ecological Productivity

• Rate of biomass generation in a system – measured in a unit of mass or energy per unit of
surface area per unit time eg. g or kcal /m2/yr. (kcal or kilo calorie is a unit of energy)
• Biomass can be measured as either dry mass or total carbon.
• Gross and net productivity: Gross > Net. Net is gross adjusted for respiration and
inefficiencies which is transferred to next trophic level.
• Primary and secondary productivity refers to productivity by plants (autotrophs) and
consumers (heterotrophs) respectively.
• Note that only about 10% of the energy (productivity) is transferred from lower to higher
trophic levels (Pyramid of Energy)

Primary and Secondary Ecological Productivity

• Note that not all energy is transferred from one trophic level to another, most of it is lost
as heat, foraging (looking for food), movement, fighting, and reproduction.

Effect of temperature and moisture (water) on productivity

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Effect of temp. and moisture. On productivity

• In general productivity is directly proportional to temperature (energy) and moisture

(water) as both are the most important components to life.

Productivity of various types of ecosystems

Productivity of various ecosystems

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Homeostasis

Dynamic homeostasis

• The population of a community will continue to grow as long as there are resources.
• At one point due to depletion of resources and effect of predation, it will reach a maximum
then settle into a dynamic equilibrium.
• There will be slight ups and downs of the population but on average it will remain constant
at the carrying capacity.

Biogeochemical cycles
• The phenomenon and mechanism by which chemical substances on the Earth are rotated
through the biotic and abiotic components.

• Biogeochemical cycles can be divided into two types.

o Gaseous – nitrogen, carbon, water, etc.

o Sedimentary – phosphorus, sulfur, etc.

• The nutrients are taken up by biotic (living things) used for various biological processes
& upon waste (urine and feces) deposition and death are returned back to enviornment.
• The role of humans in biogeochemical cycles – Excessive addition or removal
of substances from the natural cycle, affecting the transfer dynamics.
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Hydrological (water) cycle

• Role of humans – global warming increase temperature and use of water in agriculture
as well as ground water exploitation is creating droughts and floods.

Carbon cycle

• Role of humans – emission of huge amt. of CO2 from fossil fuels & destruction of natural
sinks which absorb CO2, forest cover via deforestation.
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Nitrogen Cycle

• Role of humans – emission of huge quantities of NOx in the air from fossil fuel burning,
industries, and decomposition of fertilizers eg. urea release nitrogen compounds.

Phosphorus cycle

• Role of humans – increased input of phosphorus into aquatic bodies from sewage
and detergent discharge leading to nutrient loading and eutrophication.
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Sulfur cycle:-

• Burning of fossil fuels has output huge amounts of sulfur compounds in the atmosphere.
Types of Ecosystems:-
Ecosystem can be classified on the basis of natural and anthropogenic (man-made)
parameter natural artificial
Made by nature humans
Time to stabilize Very long Few months
Genetic diversity high low
Species richness high low
Food chain & nutrient cycle Long complex complete Short incomplete
evolution yes no
stability high low
Shape of Ecosystem No definite shape Circular, rectangular, etc
(geometric shapes)
Examples Forest, swamp, ponds Zoo, farms, gardens
• Ecosystems can be classified based on; dominant (type) of vegetation, climate,
geography, etc.
• The type of vegetation is determined by a large extent by the temperature / light (energy)
& precipitation.
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•
Types of Ecosystems

Average annual temp. and annual precipitation and type of Ecosystem

• As we have discussed climate has two major components; temperature and precipitation
(humidity / rainfall)
• So ecosystems can be classified on these two basis – which determines the (producers)
vegetation (forest and plant type) which in turn determines the consumers
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Type of producer consumer decompose importance threats Indian

ecosystem (vegetation) (pri & sec) r example

activity
Tundra dwarf pri – poor critical role climate W.
– shrubs, in planetary change,
caribou, Himalayas,
cover grasses, temp. permafrost
pikas, parts of
about 10% lichens, regulation melting
arctic J&K,
of Earth’s hares Himachal
surface sec – and
arctic Uttarakhand.
foxes,
bears,
owls,
wolves.
tert.- polar

bear
Evergreen evergreen pri – bacteria, Carbon sinks, deforestation Western
rainforest broadleaved insects, fungi, water cycle Ghats, parts
– occupy trees deer earthworm – retention, of NE, A &
about 7% sec – huge N Islands.
of the frogs, biodiversity,
Earth’s birds, medicinal
surface but monkeys, –
contain and apes economical
50% of tert- plants
biodiversity jaguar,
monkeys,
and apes
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Deciduous deciduous pri – bacteria, carbon deforestatio Forests

forests (shed large fungi, sinks, n, over o
leaves) herbivores earthworm prevent soil exploitation f central
trees (bison, erosion, of forest India;
elephant, retain soil products. Bengal,
deer), Chhattisgar
moisture
insects, h,
rabbits Jharkhand,
sec – Odisha,
fox, large MP, etc.
insects,
lizards
tert – tigers
Grassland grasses pri – bacteria prevent soil land banks of
– mostly with sparse grazers and fungi erosion, encroachmen some major
flatlands tree (horses, retain soil t, rivers
s bison, moisture construction
eg
– and some elephant, . Tarai
cover shrubs
about

20-40% zebra, Grasslands

(depends giraffe) and

on sec – Ban

definition) snake, ni

of Earth’s lizard, Grasslands

land area. foxes tert (Rann

– lions, of
cheetah Kutch)
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Desert – Cacti, Pri – poor due vital role Very Thar desert
arid thorny reptile to heat in sensitive eco
regions shrubs, s, an mineralizatio sys -
may be sparse insects d n of Overgrazing
cold spiny trees. , lack abiotic , land
, sandy camel, o biogeochemi use
or sec – f water cal cycles. diversion
gravel, eg.
foxes,
receives snakes agriculture,
less than construction
25c , etc.
m rain per
year –
cover
more than
20% of
Earth’s
land.
lake/pond Rooted Primary bacteria large sink Local Chilka
– inland plants can of droughts, lake, Wular
be found on – beetles, water destabilizati Lake, Dal
area margins, larvae, hence on of Lake,
(reservoir) with mollusks regulates ecosystem. Loktak
filled fe (snails). local water Lake, etc.
with w Secondar level,
water. submerged y – large prevent
Lake is plants insects, drought,
muc and free- large recharge
h floating fishes, groundwater.
larger than plants. frogs.
Phytoplankt Tertiary
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in o n and
pond
terms of algae on – largest

area and surface. “game”

depth. fishes

stream- Grasses and pri – bacteria drain a Pollution, Ganga,

river – other crustacean catchment effluent Yamuna,
flowin shrubs on s, area of water discharge, Brahmaputra
g water banks and mollusks and return to damming, , etc.
body, algae sec – sea / diverting for
o larger ocean.
n fishes
surface

tert – agriculture
crocodiles,
dolphins – reducing
flow
Estuary – Mangroves, pri – bacteria transitional deforestatio Sundarbans
mouth seagrass crustacean and fungi ecosystem n for
where s, bw fresh & huma
river mollusks saline water n habitation,
enters the sec – effluent
sea. discharge,
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fishes,
snakes,
foxes.
Tert – tiger

Ocean phytoplankt primary bacteria largest climate Indian

and o ns, algae – ecosystem, change, Ocean,
seas – and some crustacean contribute an Arabian Sea.
largest seaweed s and most oxygen d ocean
ecosystem (kelp) on mollusks o acidification
and top sunlight sec n
cover zone Earth,
s about – carbo
70% of the carnivorou n sink
Earth s fish
’s surface. tert –
sharks

/ giant
squid
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Tundra

*Notice the permafrost (permanent layer of ice) and sparse non-woody vegetation of grasses &
shrubs.

Evergreen rainforest

*Notice the dense tree canopy cover

*Receives high rainfall throughout the year.
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Deciduous forest

*Notice the fallen “leaf litter” on the ground & more sparse tree cover
*Receives rainfall seasonally; can be further classified into deciduous most and dry. Grasslands

*Notice vegetation is mostly grasses on a mostly flat terrain with sparse woody trees.
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Deserts

*Notice terrain is mostly sandy, but can be non-sandy also. Vegetation is sparse and mostly shrubs, and
grasses, there can be some isolated trees also eg. Babool.

Lake/Pond

*Notice grasses and non woody trees anchored at the margins, some underwater plants and
microphytes (microscopic plants) algae floating on top.
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River

*Note the flowing water with grasses and shrubs on the river bank, transitioning into woody trees.
Marine (Ocean) ecosystem

*Notice coral reefs very rich in biodiversity (left) and kelp forests (right), both are close to the shore
and water surface so sunlight can penetrate. Phytoplankton live close to surface but are
microscopic. As we move away from the shore, biodiversity decreases. Oceans are huge!
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Estuary

*Notice the river entering the sea, forming several streams, sand banks, and marshes (left). Specially
adapted mangrove trees (Sundari tree) on the banks of Sundarban estuary, strong roots to hold
onto the soil, roots protrude out (aerial root) of the clayey wet soil in structures called
pneumatophores used for gas exchange.

Ecosystem Services

What are some benefits and utility humans get from the ecosystem.
Provisioning: -
• Food and water
• Bioprospecting – useful medicinal or therapeutic compounds
• Raw materials – lumber, hides, fibers
• Genetic resources – wild genes to diversify crops
• Energy – hydel power.
Regulating: -
• Water and air purification
• Carbon sequestration & climate regulation
• Waste decomposition
• Protection from extreme weather events eg. floods, droughts,
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Cultural
• Recreational
• Spiritual
• Religious
Ecosystem preservation and conservation strategies
How are ecosystems damaged?
• Disturbance – change in the conditions of soil, air, water, noise, etc. by pollution, lack of
water, or any other human intervention.
• Fragmentation – reducing the area of the environment from the edges or making them into
patches.

• Education and awareness

o Academic awareness about the structure of the ecosystem, its components,

interactions and importance to humans, and threats posed to it.
o Emotional and ethical awareness among the masses regarding ecosystems and
the need for action.
• Mitigation

o Reduce the damage being done to the ecosystem.

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• Remediation

o Fix and reverse the damage which has already being done.

• Rehabilitation

o Replanting, afforestation, etc. to bring in natural components of the ecosystem

and reintroduce it to the native ecosystem.

• Reclamation

o Incrase the size of the ecosystem to create a buffer zone and prevent damage.

• You will learn more details of how to preserve ecosystem and biodiversity in later units.

• What a person (you) can do at individual level

o Incrase awareness and knowledge about an ecosystem issue

o Reduce ecological footprint

▪ Refuse, reduce, reuse recycle

o Actively participate in ecosystem restoration activities

▪ Afforestation, education drives, fundraisers, etc.

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Unit – 3 Natural Resources

• What is a resource? - anything obtained from nature or the environment to meet our needs
and wants. So, anything can be a resource if it is valued by a section of society.
• Resources are mostly limited – some more than others.
Types of resources

• Natural and artificial – whether they are derived directly from nature or produced
bymankind from other resources taken from nature.
• Exhaustible and Inexhaustible – Whether they can be depleted with use or are practically
unlimited.
• Renewable and nonrenewable – whether can be regenerated after use if use sustainably
ornot.
• Types of resources based on biological origin
o Biotic – living resources eg. plants which are the most important resource of
thistype.
o Abiotic resource – nonliving resources eg. fossil fuels, minerals, etc.
• Types of resources – classification based on utility
o Mineral – used for construction and industry
o Fossil fuels – used for energy
o Alternative or non-conventional sources of energy – sunlight, wind
o Plant products – name some high value plant product – sandalwood
o Animal products – name some high value animal products eg. caviar
o Microorganism products – eg. Yogurt and Cheese (strain specific)
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• Resources are often governed by simple economics supply and demand, the rarer it is,
themore valuable it will be.
o Eg. Why did gold become an universally recognized precious metal & currency.
▪ Gold is shiny, non-reactive, (noble metal)
▪ But it is also rare and its extraction rate from the Earth was constant so
wasits supply.
• Resources are constant or can be increased linearly but human population is increasing
exponentially especially since 1950s – due to advent of antibiotics and green revolution
–food security.

Mineral resources

• Mineral – naturally occurring inorganic element or compound having a chemical

formulaand definite internal structure. - wars have been fought over mineral resources
• Types

o Nonmetallic
▪ Nonmetallic minerals – gravel, marble, granite, etc.
▪ Fuel minerals – peat, coal, crude oil, natural gas – covered in detail
insection of energy resources.
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o Metallic
▪ Ferrous – hematite and magnetite (iron ores)
▪ Non-ferrous – bauxite (aluminum)
• Some common mineral resources
o Iron – found as hematite ore – used for many things including mainly steel
o Manganese – found as pyrolusite – used for steel alloys
o Aluminum – found as bauxite – light and strong with good conduction of heat –
used for kitchen utensils, frames for aircraft, etc.
o Copper – found as chalcopyrite – used mainly for electrical wiring.
• Conservation –
o Use minerals in a planned manner (sustainable use)
o Use alternate materials in place of minerals
o Use better tech. To make even low-grade ores profitable or reduce wastage.
Soil and agricultural resources

• India land use

o Forest – about 23%
o Net sown area – about 46% (nearly half the country is under cultivation)
o Land under construction – 6 %
o Not arable (waste land) – 9 %
o Permanent pastures – 3 %
• Soil is the bedrock of any ecosystem including artificial ecosystem eg. agricultural farms.
• Rich mature soil is a prized resource – wars have been fought over fertile lands
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• N. Indian plans are rich and fertile due to deposition of alluvial soil from the great rivers,
Ganga, Yamuna, etc.
• Components of soil espicially fertile soil
o Parent rock material – what rocks the soil is made up
o Minerals – what minerals are present or deposited in the soil
o Organic matter – increase soil fertility
o Moisture – enable the nutrients to be taken up by plants.
Major types of soil

• Alluvial
o Formed from the deposits of Himalayan rocks and debris and very fertile
• Black (Regur) (cotton) soil
o Formed from weathering of volcanic rocks.
o Rich in minerals (from volcanic precursor) but poor in nitrogen and humus (carbon)
 45

• Red and Yellow

o Develops from igneous crystalline rock precursor in regions of low rainfall
o They are red because of the abundance of iron compounds but poor in nitrogen
and humus (organic matter)
• Laterite
o Found in areas of high temperature and rainfall espicially mountain regions where
rain causes leaching off of nutrients from soil
o Such soils require lots of fertilizers to grow crops but tea and coffee grow well
o Particularly used to grow coffee and tea.
• Arid (desert) soil
o Contains high levels of calcium, and sodium, and other nonmetallic minerals.
o Can be used to grow dry crops such as barley, millet, maize, etc.
• Forest soil
o Loamy and silty soils
o Fertile due to accumulation of biomass from forest.
Major cropping seasons (common in SE Asia – India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal)
• Kharif – summer or monsoons crops which are sown after first week of July include paddy
(rice), sugarcane, pulses, millets, etc.
• Rabi – winter crops sown Nov – Apr, include wheat, peas, mustard, etc.
• Zaid – sown bw Kharif – Ravi in March – June include melons, vegetables.
Types of agricultural resources:-
• Cereal crops – main source of carbohydrates and staple (principle part of diet) – essential
for food security – eg. paddy (rice), and wheat.
• Pulses (dal) – complement to cereals for a wholesome meal – cheap source of proteins.
• Vegetables – source of vitamins and minerals
• Fruits – source of vitamins and minerals
• Oil seeds – cooking oil can be extracted from them eg. mustard, sesame, etc.
• Fiber – can be made into ropes or textile eg. jute, cotton, etc.
• Cash crops – grown mainly to sell and earn money eg. sugarcane, tea, coffee, rubber,
tobacco, spices, etc.
• Horticulture – flowers and ornamental plants for cultural and aesthetic reasons.
 46

• Biofuels / Agro-residues – special crops or agricultural biproducts which can be used

asfuel or to make fuel.
• Medicinal – neem, tulsi, turmeric, ashwagandha, bramhi, etc.

Soil erosion
• Loss of soil due to soil (land pollution) and soil erosion – unwanted addition or removal
• Soil erosion – also called the creeping death of the Earth
o It takes approx. 500-1000y to form the top inch of soil.
o Types of soil erosion
▪ Geogenic – natural due to natural forces of wind, and water. Usually in
thelong-term rate of loss matches rate of new soil formation so not a
problem
▪ Anthropogenic (accelerated) - caused due to human activities
o Classification

▪ Sheet – a thin layer of soil is removed from top – wind – removal of

topvegetation
▪ Rill – fast flowing water removes finger like groves from the soil
▪ Gully – several rills combine to form deeper gullies
▪ Slip – landslides – underneath saturated with water
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▪ Stream bank (riparian) - large flow of water when turning eg. River
bendcut away large parts of the bank with them.
o Prevention – biological and mechanical methods
▪ Afforestation – roots increase the soil integrity and prevent soil erosion
▪ Mulching – covering the topsoil
▪ Prevent excessive grazing of livestock
▪ Berms or tree line at the border of farms to reduce impact of wind and water
• Desertification – conversion of agricultural and other lands to deserts
o Cause
▪ Over grazing
▪ Removal of moisture by over heating or water diversion
▪ Land use change
o Impacts
▪ Loss of ecosystems
▪ Drop in crop productivity – loss of food security
▪ Soil erosion from winds as well as sudden rains.
o Mitigation
▪ Water management – rainwater harvesting
▪ Afforestation – plant roots hold soil together as well as soil moisture
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Natural forest products including medicinal plants

• Types of resources
o Wood – timber wood
o Non wood – leaves, fruits, rubber, resin, honey, etc. - medicinal plants
• Examples of some traditional medicinal plants
o Gooseberry (amla) – relief from cold
o Ashwagandha – calms the nerves, effective in anxiety
o Brahmi – enhances memory
o Neem – sedative and effective against parasites.
• Industries associated with forestry
o Paper and pulp – very polluting – mercaptans (mercury containing biproducts)
–foul odor
o Timber and plywood industry – raw materials for making furniture & packing
material
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o Furniture industry – convert timber, plywood, fabric, etc. to furniture

o Sericulture – silkworm rearing to produce silk thread and textiles
o Apiculture – honey bees and honey
o Latex and resin – rubber, lac, gum, syrup (eg. maple syrup) used to make
consumergoods and foods.
• Livelihood associated with forests
o Tribal who live in close association with nature
▪ Mahua, tendu leaves, lac ornaments
• Deforestation causes
o Over exploitation of forest resources – logging both legal and illegal without
afforestation for compensation.
o Diversion of land to agriculture and residential
o Mining – several minerals are found in forest lands
o Dam building leads to submersion and destruction of forest ecosystem.
o Pollution – degrades forest ecosystem.
o Climate change – including desertification

Effects of dams and mining

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• From a detrimental sense dams and mines are huge earthwork constructions which lead
tolarge scale land use change.
• Forests
o Many minerals are found in forest land – mining causes deforestation from the
mineitself as well as roads, and temporary housing for miners
o Dams submerge large areas of forests leading to their destruction
• Biodiversity
o Both mining and damming lead to destruction of native ecosystems and thus
leadto biodiversity destruction.
• Land use change and degradation – the land is reduced to barren land or submerged under
water.
• Tribal communities
o Habitat destruction causes local communities to lose their traditional way of life
▪ Loss of traditional knowledge – medical knowledge
o Ther are laws such as Forest Rights Act that recognize their traditional rights
andpromises them rehabilitation and relocation.

Land cover and land use change (no need to memorize only study the brief pattern)
• Current approximate land use
o Net sown area – area under cultivation = 46.24 %
o Forests = 23 %
o Land unavailable for cultivation
▪ Rocky arid = 9%
▪ Construction – built up by buildings and roads = 6%
▪ Permanent pastures and grazing lands = 3%
▪ Cultivable waste land (can be salvaged) = 5%
▪ Tree groves = 1%
o Fallow land (not cultivated)
▪ For less than a year = 5%
▪ For more than a year = 3%
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• Causes for land use change

o Growing human population
▪ Agricultural – food security – convert forest land to agricultural.
▪ Housing and infrastructure – convert land into roads, concrete.
• Consequences (results) of land use change
o Land degradation
o Loss of biodiversity
o Climate change
o Soil erosion
Water Resources

• Water is an essential component to life, we can imagine life without carbon, in the form
ofsilicon-based life, but we cannon envision life without water.
• That is why there is so much effort to search for water and in particular liquid water on
other planets. The presence of liquid water would greatly enhance the possibility of life.
• Liquid water only exists in a very narrow temperature range of 100 *C, from 0 – 100 *C.
Below 0 *C it’s trapped in solid form as ice and above 100 *C it’s trapped in vapor form
in atmosphere.
• What makes water so indispensable to life?
o Water is a polar solvent – It has been called a “universal solvent” - meaning it
can dissolve both the enzymes and substrate (biochemicals) and bring them
together forreaction.
o Water can dissolve most of the wastes in the body and excrete them as urine. –
Thisis what makes you thirsty and want to drink water.
o Water has very high specific heat of around 4.2 Joules (1 calorie) to heat 1 kg (1
L)of water by 1 *C. - makes water a very good temperature regulator.
o Water has a high heat of vaporization – when water does turn into vapor, it
removesa lot of heat – animals use this for sweating and cooling off in hot
environments.
o Water is most dense at 4 *C, not when it’s a solid (ice) at 0 *C, this means that
icefloats on water and insulates the water underneath from completely freezing
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▪ This is very important as during ice age many water bodies froze but life
continued under thick ice sheets.
• If 70 % of the Earth is water than why is it a resource, we must be concerned about?

• Only about 2.5 % of the total water on Earth is fresh

o Only a third of that fresh water is useable, the rest is trapped in glaciers & ice caps
o Only about one fourth of that remaining water is avaliable, the rest being trapped
as ground ice and permafrost, as atmospheric and ground moisture.

• Most of the water is used for food production.

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• More water is required to produce meat (primary consumers) than plants (producers).
• Much like pyramid of energy, much more water is required to support the higher up we
goin trophic level because the animal not only drinks water but eats other animals or
plants which themselves need water.
o So yes, that does mean the vegetarian lifestyle is more sustainable but issues are
more complex than that.
o India has one of the least meat consumption per capita in the world, meat is seen
asa luxury rather than staple part of one’s diet.
• More economic uses of water
o Fishing – ponds, lakes, rivers, seas, and oceans.
o Aquaculture – fishing by fencing off part of the water body.
o Pearl culture
o Renewable energy – using the vast energy stored either as ocean thermal
differencebetween water layers, tides, waves, or ocean breezes which directly
come either from the Sun or gravitational effects of the Moon.
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• The ocean is a site of great energy availability which can be harnessed in various ways
tocreate energy for our own use.
o Thermal energy – use the temperature difference among various layers of ocean
water.
o Wind – use the land and sea breeze to spin wind turbines which can be located
offshore.
o Wave – use the power of waves on the ocean surface
o Tidal – use the power of tides to spin turbines.
• Dams
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• Dams are barriers which stop, or redirect the flow of water

• They are ancient inventions – first dam around 4000 yrs ago.
• First dam of India was around 2000 years ago Grand Anicut Dam – Kaveri River - TN
• The stored water can be diverted through irrigation channels to dry areas and used
forirrigation and drinking.
o The largest canal of such type in India is the Indira Gandhi canal which brings
waterfrom Setluj-Beas to Thar desert.
• The potential energy of stored water can also be used to spin a turbine and generate
electricity via turbines in a hydroelectricity plant.

Challenges facing water

Over exploitation of surface & ground water

• As previously studied in the hydrological cycle; fresh water (ground and surface) exists
ina fine balance with saline and atmospheric water in a constant cycle.
• Human activity damage water resource by first depleting and degrading the avaliable
resource and limiting nature’s ability to replenish it.
• Human activities alter the rate of cycling of water.
o Exponential rise in human population has put incredible pressure on limited
waterresource avaliable for agriculture (food security) + industrial + household
(cooking,drinking, bathing) usage.
o Water pollution of lakes and rivers limits the water resource which is avaliable.
o Excessive irrigation led to increased evapotranspiration.
▪ Water becomes vapor when applied to large surface area of hot ground.
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▪ Water leaves through the leaves of crops (transpiration).

▪ Water evaporates from surface or reservoirs which aren’t covered by
vegetation.

▪ Over utilization of groundwater – irrigation and drinking Water

• Destruction of aquifers (swampy / marshy areas responsible
forground water recharge) – land use change

Floods and Droughts

• Caused due to localized excess or lack of water.

• In most regions of the world precipitation (rains) are unpredictable
• Floods
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o Caused due to excess of water in a region causing submersion of land.

o Types
▪ Flash flood – heavy sudden rainfall over an area.
▪ River – heavy rainfall upstream leading to swelling or river
▪ Urban – floods due to heavy rainfall and chocking of drains
▪ Pluvial – heavy rainfall causing flooding without the help of a waterbody
▪ Coastal – floods due to coastal areas being submerged.
o Manmade causes
▪ Climate change
▪ Urbanization – encroaching on flood plains of rivers.
▪ Poor maintenance of drains in cities.
▪ Dam failure.
• Droughts
o Caused by the unavailability of water in a region
o Types
▪ Metrological - Opposite of flood – if there is no rainfall for prolonged time.
▪ Agricultural – the crops can’t extract water from the ground,
jeopardizingfood security.
▪ Hydrological – ground water depletion
▪ Socio-economic – water is unavailable because of the cost, effects the
poormost.
o Manmade causes
▪ Climate change
▪ Land use change and excess water extraction including wastage of water.
▪ Deforestation, soil erosion and desertification.
▪ Excess urbanization.
Water conflicts both international and national
• Turkey and Iraq - Syria over Turkey’s Southeastern Anatolian Project over the
EuphratesRiver
• Ethiopia and Egypt – Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam over Blue Nile.
• India and Pakistan – Indus River – Indus Water Treaty
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• Kaveri water dispute – TN, Karnataka also Kerala and Puducherry (will be covered in
casestudies)

Sustainable watershed management

• Smaller decentralized dams
• Drip irrigation to minimize water wastage
• Cover reservoirs with vegetation to minimize evaporative loss.
• Rainwater harvesting
• Sustainable fisheries.
Energy Resources

• What is energy – It is the ability to do work, it can be mechanical, thermal (heat),

electrochemical, etc.
• 1st law of thermodynamics (study of energy & its transfer) – Energy cannot be created
norcan it be destroyed, only its form can be changed.
o Very important as for all practical purposes all energy on the surface of the Earth
comes from the Sun.
o Nearly all energy resources are a direct or indirect manifestation of the Sun’s
energy.
o Nuclear power – radioactive materials forms an exception as all radioactive
elements were formed in supernova (death of stars before Sun).

Types of energy

• Inexhaustible energy – Those energy which directly depend on the Sun or gravity of
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theMoon and thus for all intents and purposes are limitless
• Exhaustible energy – Those sources of energy which if used unsustainably can be
exhausted
o Nonrenewable energy – sources of energy which are finite and once exhausted
cannot be replenished.
▪ Fossil fuels – hydrocarbons – crude oil, natural gas, coal, peat, etc.
o Renewable energy – sources of energy which if used sustainably and judiciously
can be regenerated.
▪ Biomass, forest, etc.

• Fossil fuels are formed by ancient biomass which get covered by sediment over
millionsof years.
• The carbon compounds in their biomass transforms into fuel following
complexphysiochemical processes.
• It’s this carbon that in conjunction with hydrogen forms hydrocarbons.
• When we burn these hydrocarbons, the energy put into making these compounds
getreleased as heat energy.
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Energy consumption pattern of the world with time.

• Until the 1850s, most energy used was biomass

• The Industrial revolution boosted the use of fossil fuels (coal) as a source of energy
o Move from workshop to factory as means of production
o Export based economy
o Secure raw materials – constant wars and colonialism.
• Discovery of crude oil in Saudi Arabia, at the end of WWII and decolonization and rapid
industrialization led to the exploitation of crude oil
• Natural gas was first a biproduct of crude oil and flared (burnt) off but later also used as
fuel.
• Nuclear power expanded during the 1980s.
• The reason behind explosive growth is population and economic growth
• Currently about 88 % of the world’s energy including fossil fuels and nuclear energy
comes from non-renewable sources.
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Calorific value of some commonly used fuels.

• Calorific value of a fuel is the amount of energy released on burning a certain amount of
that fuel, one common unit of measuring it is in kJ/kg or (kilo Joule of energy per 1 Kg
ofthe fuel)
• The higher the calorific value the higher the efficiency, lesser of that fuel would be
requiredand generally the cleaner it would be.
• We can see from the table above that burning biomass eg. cow dung or wood has the
leastcalorific value because most of it is unburnt and it contains a lot of impurities.

Renewable (alternate) energy

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• As discussed previously 88 % of global energy (2019) comes from non-renewable

sources, since they are the majority, they’re called conventional energy whereas
renewables are called alternative energy sources.
• India’s renewable energy share is actually better than the global average due to
availabilityof perennial rivers enabling hydroelectric power.

Hydroelectric power

• Water (river) stopped, and reservoir created so energy stored as potential energy.
• Water flow maintained over turbine turning potential energy into mechanical &
electricalenergy via generator (dynamo).
• Downside-
o submerge ecosystem
o catastrophic flooding on failure
o Very expensive to build
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Solar power

• Photons (sunlight) strikes a PVC & knocks off electrons (electricity)

• India has 3rd highest installed capacity of solar power after US and China.
• India receives around 300 days of sunshine per year.
• International Solar Alliance (ISA) – HQ Gurugram. – Slogan “One Sun, one world,
onegrid.”
• Financial and technological coordination to promote solar energy.
• Demerits
o PVC panels can be expensive both to manufacture and research into improving
them.
o Do not work very well in cloudy or overcast conditions.
o Create plastic pollution on disposal and the batteries needed in inverters for
powerstorage contain toxic lead and sulphonic acid.
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Wind power

• Wind energy is converted to rotational (kinetic) energy by turbines and then to electrical
energy via a dynamo.
• Mostly exploited in coastal areas due to regular land and sea breeze.
• Demerits
o Can be a threat to birds
o unpredictable
• Agro-residues are residues (biproducts) of agriculture and consist of husks, hulls,
pressedpulp, etc.

• They contain energy by virtue of being biological and once taking and fixing energy
 65

fromthe Sun.
• They can be broken down into simpler compounds by bacteria in an enclosed chamber
toproduce biogas (mostly methane) and the remnants be extracted as fertilizer.
• Biogas can be used as a fuel in both cooking and for generators.
Biofuels – Biologically derived fuel – can be made from agro-residues as the biological source.
• Previously we had discussed that fuels come from fossil fuel source
• However, there are many natural products which also contain hydrocarbons eg. wax,
butter,ghee, etc.

• Agro-residue is crushed and dissolved in water followed by heating and filtration to

extractthe starch (sugar) from biomass.
• The starch solution is then fermented using bacteria which turns the starch into
ethylalcohol (ethanol)
• The water and ethanol solution is then distilled, to extract ethanol, which can then
beblended with petroleum to use in engines.
• India has planned to mandate a 20 % ethanol blending or E20 by 2025.
Contemporary issues related to dams and mines

Issues related to any large project:-

Benefits – employment, irrigation, power generation, economic development
Demerits – Pollution, biodiversity loss, inequality, natural disasters
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Dams

• Issues related to dams

o Reservoir formation behind dam leads to submersion of a lot of land (see picture
above)
o Restriction of downstream flow (see picture above)
o Release of greenhouse gasses from rotting submerged vegetation
o Communities are displaced
o Conflicts related to water
o Risk of accident
Mines

• Issues related to mines

o Pollution – noise, SPM (dust), heavy metal, cyanide (particularly gold),
machineoil.
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o Biodiversity destruction – deforestation, land use change, topsoil destruction.

o Community – displacement, grievances.

Select Case Studies

National Solar Mission

• Started under the National Action Plan for Climate Change (2006)
• Target was 20,000 MW (2022)
• Target revised to 100,000 MW (2022) in 2015
• Method
• Policy – e.g. mandatory renewable purchase requirement for power companies
orminimum unit price.
• Research & development into new PVC tech. to make more efficient.
• Production & manufacturing incentives.
• Phase I
• Nat. Thermal Power Corp. (NTPC) – largest power generator in India –
mandatorysolar power purchase.
• Phase II
• Construction of at least 25 solar parks and ultra mega power projects.
• Phase III
• Encourage domestic PVC production and rooftop solar projects.
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Cauvery Water Dispute

• R. Cauveri originates from Kodagu dist., Karnataka, it and its tributaries flow from
Puducherry & Kerala finally into TN & empty into Bay of Bengal.
• Dispute can be traced back to 1892 bw Mysore & Madras presidency.
• In 1910 the Krishnaraja Sagar dam was constructed & in 1924 an agreement (50 yrs)
wasmade for water sharing
• TN + Puducherry = 75 %
• Karnataka = 23 %
• Remaining = Kerala
• Problems began when states were reorganized in 1956
• Several dams were constructed 1960-80 by Karnataka who asserted that the 50 years
timeperiod of the treaty had elapsed.
• This became problem for TN as they rely on the water for irrigation.
• In 1986 Tamil farmer assoc. approached the SC
• In 1990 Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal (CWDT) was set up.
• In 1991 CWDT gave its interim order which directed Karnataka to release 205 tmc ft
waterto TN
• The interim order was heavily opposed & law & order situation deterioted.
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• In 1998 the Cauvery River Authority (CRA) was formed to implement the order.
• In 2007 CWDT gave its final award
• TN = 419 tmc ft (more than 2x the 1991 awared)
• Karnataka = 270 tmc ft
• Kerala = 30 tmc ft
• Puducherry = 7 tmc ft
• All states except Puducherry approached SC
• The SC (2018) revised TN’s share to 404.25 tmc ft.

Sardar Sarovar Dam

• It was the dream of India’s first home minister and Iron man Shri Sardar Vallabhai Patel,
foundation was laid by India’s first PM, Pt. Nehru.
• It was supposed to use the River Narmada’s water to provide power, irrigation, and
drinking water to drought prone states of Gujarat, Rajasthan, MP, and Maharashtra.
• The dam was inaugurated by PM Shri Narendra Modi in 2017, it is one of the biggest
damns in the world.
• The main concern behind this dam was environmental and social as a lot of land
(vegetation) was going to be submerged (see picture above) and about 40,000 mainly
tribal families.
• The aggrieved people formed the Narmada Bachao Andolan in order to demand for proper
resettlement and rehabilitation.
• Finally the case of heard and solved in the Supreme Court which instructed the govt. to
first rehabilitate and settle the affected people as the damn height was raised every 5m.
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Chipkoo Movement

• Chipkoo means “to hug or stick”

• Started in Alaknanda catchment area of W. Himalayas.
• The villagers (particularly women) were dependent on the forest for; water, firewood, etc.
• Even before the movement there were concerns over floods, deforestation & soil erosion.
• The forest dept. gave contract to loggers for 2500 trees in the Reni forest.
• The loggers were turned back by women who hugged the trees & prevented their felling.
• Loggers returned with police but again were prevented.
• The leader of the movement was Mr. Sundarlal Bahuguna
• The movement started against deforestation but later spread throughout the Himalayan
foothills over several ecological issues including mining, dam construction, etc.

Appiko Movement
• Appiko also means to “hug or stick” in Kannada

• In 1950 Karnataka govt. declared Uttara Kannada forest area as backward & planned
aseries of dams, paper and timber mills.
• The forest area reduced form 80% to 25% by 1980s.
• People replicated the strategies of Chipkoo, too out marches, held protests.
• One thing to note is that these movements were before the age of internet and social media.
 71

Tarun Bharat Sangh (TBS)

• NGO based out of Alwar, Rajasthan

• Community level work including villagers
• Rainwater harvesting
• Installed projects in over thousand villages
• Revived over eleven rivers
• Construction of over 11,000 “johads” ponds.
• Received the Stockholm Water Prize (2015) – equivalent to the Nobel Prize for water
conservation

Participatory model is needed for long term sustainable management

• Excessive top-down control or management attitude is bad for plan implimentation.
• Any plan must include the local communities and socioeconomic realities for it to
be effective & long lasting.
• Management power & financial responsibilities has to be decentralized.
• E.g. Agroforestry
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Environmental Pollution (Unit IV)

The addition of any undesirable material into the environment which is detrimental (damaging) to
health and the environment is called pollution while the polluting agent is called pollutant.

Types of pollution depending on origin of pollutant.

Pollution can be divided into natural & anthropogenic (manmade). Natural sources can be
pollutants also if the pollutants, although natural in origin are present in excess or where they are
detrimental to health and ecosystem.

• Natural – dust from deserts, or volcanic ash and gasses.

• Anthropogenic – Pollution caused by humans, can be classified into many types and will
be discussed further.

Types of pollution depending on their biological degradability

• Biodegradable – wastes which can be digested by decomposers into simpler organic

compounds. eg. Organic pollutants such as “wet garbage” or biomass such as vegetable
peels, newspaper, etc.
• Non-biodegradable – eg. Synthetic materials which cannot be digested by decomposers eg.
Plastic waste.
• What makes a pollutant biodegradable? - If decomposers have enzymes which can break
down that pollutant into simpler organic components to release energy. Meaning can that
pollutant be used as a source of food?

Types of pollution depending on medium of pollutant.

Based on the medium of pollutant, pollution can be divided into

• Air pollution
• Water pollution
• Land (soil) pollution
• Noise pollution
• Radiological (radiation) pollution
• Thermal (heat) pollution
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Air Pollution

Most mobile form of pollution as air is not limited to state or even international boundaries.
If a parcel of air is polluted, then within seconds it can disperse and affect a very large area. If
enough pollution is done, then it can become a in issue concerning several countries or the entire
world.

Types of air pollutants – based on source

• Primary pollutants – directly emitted

o Carbon oxides CO2 and CO – contribute to global warming
o Nitrogen oxides (NOx) – eye and nose irritants and contribute to acid rains
o Sulphur oxides (SOx) – eye and nose irritants and contribute to acid rains
o Volatile organic compounds (VOC) – partially burnt organic compounds & can
cause smog as secondary pollutants. May also be carcinogenic (cancer causing).
o Suspended particulate matter (SPM)
▪ PM 10 – diameter of 10 microns, can cause upper and middle respiratory
problems.
▪ PM 2.5 – diameter of 3.5 microns, can cause lower respiratory problems.
▪ PM 1.0 – emerging pollutant and may be able to directly diffuse across
lungs to the blood.

• Secondary Pollutants – not directly emitted but produced after chemical reactions in the air
between primary pollutants with themselves or other naturally occurring gasses or particles
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o nitric acids and sulphuric acids from reaction of nitrogen and sulfur oxides with
water
o photochemical smog by reaction of VOCs with NOx in presence of sunlight.
o Ground level ozone (O3) form from the reaction of NOx and VOCs.

Causes of air pollution

• Burning of fossil fuels

o Fossil fuels are carbon containing compounds where on combustion (burning) the
carbon in the fuel combines with oxygen in the atmosphere to form CO2 and
releases heat.
o Impurities in the fuel may burn to produce NOx and SOx pollution as well as heavy
metal vapors.
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o Incomplete burning of fossil fuels such as in stoves can produce VOCs which have
a very typical smell.
o Burning of fossil fuels in poorly ventilated areas (lack of oxygen) produces CO
(carbon monoxide) which is a extremely toxic gas.
o Burning of fuels indoors such as traditional “chulahas” (stoves) using biomass eg.
dried wood or cow dung may lead to indoor air pollution as inefficient burning and
impurities in the fuel procures much pollution which is trapped indoors.
• Burning of agricultural residues
o This is a particular case for India, and Delhi NCR in particular.
o Burning of stubble in neighboring states of Punjab, Haryana, Western UP, etc.
creates particulate pollution which affects Delhi NCR espicially in summers.
• Factory / Industry emissions
o Formed due to the burning of industrial chemicals along with fossil fuels.
o May host various toxic chemicals as well as heavy metals.
• Suspended particulate matter (SPM) – particles of dust or any other small matter which is
so small that they can be kept airborne using the slightest gust of wind. The sources of SPM
are any activity which is grinding or crushing material to produce dust.
o Construction – of roads, buildings, etc.
o Cars – dust being kicked up by car tires.
o Mining operations – crushing of rocks to extract minerals creates lots of dust.

Effects of air pollution

• Human health
o breathing is a vital function, and without air, the average human would die in a few
minutes. Therefore, breathing in polluted air has proportionately disastrous effect
on human health.
o The gas exchange of oxygen into the body and CO2 outside takes place in the
deepest part of the lungs which are called the alveoli which are very thin and highly
supplied with blood vessels. Pollutants can accumulate there and cause irrigation
and reduce the efficiency of this gas exchange.
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o WHO estimates that 99% of the human population inhales air which exceeds its
guidelines resulting in 7 million premature deaths globally per year due to outdoor
and indoor air pollution?
o Respiratory disorders can develop from damaged lungs and since the heart is
responsible for pumping oxygenated blood, it can also cause cardiovascular
problems. Together they may be called cardiorespiratory disorders.
o Pollutants also irritate other mucus membranes such as eyes, nose and throat and
can lead to watery eyes, sneezing and coughing.

• Economic
o Human resources are the most important asset of a company or country, not any
machine or computer. So, anything that causes physical or psychological harm to
humans will be detrimental to the economics of a company and country by reducing
the mean annual working days (number of days a person has missed work due to
pir pollution related illness).
o Acid rain can cause damage to buildings and especially to historic marble buildings.
• Environmental & agricultural
o Air pollution is also detrimental to wildlife as they too breathe the polluted air.
o Air pollution harms plant life including agricultural crops
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o It’s been reported in 2014 that in the most air pollution affected regions of India in
2010, crop productivity has halved compared to 1980.
o Loss of agri. Productivity causes a big food security problem.

• Global warming and climate change

o Greenhouse gasses (GHGs) such as CO2, CH4, NO2, SO2, O3 etc. alter the
atmospheric composition and solar budget, that is solar radiation is trapped on the
Earth which warms it over time.
o The gradual warming of Earth causes climate change and extreme climate events
such as floods, droughts, etc.
• Ozone layer depletion
o Ozone O3 is a pollutant in the lower atmosphere (troposphere) but it’s essential in
the upper atmosphere (stratosphere) where it stops harmful UV radiation form
reaching the Earth’s surface.
o Certain pollutants known as chloro fluorocarbons (CFCs) deplete the layer of ozone
in the upper atmosphere.

Prevention and control of air pollution

• Policy:-
o Institutions and mechanisms which monitor air pollutants levels, set standards, and
enforce them through legal and executive framework.
o Air Quality Index (AQI) is a parameter and forecast of daily air quality while
Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) is responsible for monitoring and
enforcing pollution standards.
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Air quality parameters (no need to memorize only understand)

o Motor Vehicles Amendment Act (2019) – the checking of pollution under control
(PUC) certificates have been made more stringent and the fines for violating the
same has been raised.
• Use of public transport
o DTC is that world’s biggest fleet of CNG busses
o Delhi metro
• Use alternate and cleaner fuels
o Promotion of electric vehicles and upcoming green hydrogen fuel cells
o Ujjwala Yojana – make LPG cylinders more accessible in place of burning biomass
to reduce indoor air pollution
o Bharat VI – fuel standards applicable throughout the country since 2020, mandate
cleaner petrol and diesel with fewer impurities.
• Use BEE efficient “5 star” rated appliances
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o Energy efficiency means using less electricity (units), which is produced from
burning fossil fuels.
• Air filters – capture air pollutants from the air or destroy them into less detrimental forms
o Cyclonic filters – air is spun around several times where particulate pollutants get
pushed to the sides and removed.
o Bag filters and wet bag filters – use a bag like filter to remove particulate pollutants.
o Electrostatic filters – separate pollutants using their surface charge.
o Catalytic converts – burn at high temperature and reduce volatile organic
compounds (VOCs) to CO2.

Water Pollution

Water pollution is defined as the addition of substances to water bodies “pollutants” which
are detrimental to both the environment and human health.

Types of water pollutants by source

• Point – pollutant discharge can be definitely attributed to one source eg. a drain discharging
sewage in a river
• Diffused – pollutant discharged spread over an area eg. insecticides being leached from a
farmland to a river.
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Sources and types of pollutants

• Sewage & wastewater – organic waste

o The sewage (latrine water) and other water from kitchen and bathroom are high in
organic pollutants.
o Ideally, they should be treated in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and then
discharged into water bodies.
o They are high in organic compounds which are decomposed by decomposers
(bacteria). In the process the bacteria consume oxygen from the dissolved oxygen
(DO) present in water. This DO is limited and necessary for respiration (breathing)
of different aquatic animals eg. fish, snails, claims, insects, etc. If a lot of organic
waste is discharged, then bacteria population multiplies and consumes all of the DO
resulting in the death of much of the aquatic biodiversity.
o On decomposition this organic wastes also combine with water to produce many
kinds of organic acids and hence make the water acidic.
o Sewage also has a lot of microbes which creates microbial pollution in water bodies
particularly fecal microbes such as E. coli.

• Industrial (chemical) wastes

o There are several industries (most) which require fresh water for either their
industrial processes or for washing and cooling of their machinery.
o This water is often taken from a nearby water body such as river.
o On use, the wastewater should be treated as much as possible before being
discharged.
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o This water contains many times of chemical pollutants such as grease, heavy
metals, solvents, dyes, lubricants, etc. which are extremely harmful and poisonous
to the environment and for humans also.
• Agrochemicals – pesticides, fertilizers, and herbicides from croplands.
o Agrochemicals are applied on farmlands to boost productivity and ensure food
security however not all the applied agrochemicals are absorbed.
o Most of the agrichemicals leach out of the farmlands and end up in waterbodies
with the rain or floods.
o These pesticides and herbicides damage the aquatic biodiversity as well as being
toxic to humans.
o Along with agrochemicals the wastes of farm animals are also rich in antibiotics
used to prevent diseases and end up in water bodies.
• Accidents / leakages.
o Accidental leaks in pipes transporting pollutants, oil, sewage, chemicals, or in
landfills cause leaching of contaminated water to the water table below into ground
water.
• Greenhouse gas (GHG) emission and global warming
o Incrase in global temperature causes rise in water body temperature
o CO2 also dissolved in water forming carbonic acid, H2CO3 leading to acidification
o The combination of warming and acidification causes detrimental effect on
sensitive species and ecosystems.

Effects of water pollution

• Human health
o Water pollution as been theorized to cause about 3.575 million deaths per year
globally from water and sanitation borne illnesses.
o Pollutants present in drinking water may cause the water to have foul smell and
taste, microbial pollution can cause serious diarrheal diseases espicially in children.
o Drinking water having heavy metals or other industrial (chemical) toxins is directly
detrimental to the body as heavy metals tend to replace calcium in the body and
weaken the nervous, skeletal and muscular, and reproductive systems.
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o Bathing with polluted water can also produce skin rashes and irrigations.
o Children and elderly are disproportionately more affected as they have relatively
developing or weak immune systems and stamina.
• Environment and ecology
o Water pollution have detrimental system on sensitive species and make the
ecosystem inhabitable.
o Reduction of the biodiversity as sensitive species migrate or die due to change in
the chemical and physical composition of water.
o Reduction of dissolved oxygen (DO) kills of fishes and other aquatic life.
o Eutrophication – a special case of water pollution when nutrient rich pollutants are
discharged in the water, this causes an explosion of the algal population which is
known as algal bloom which covers the water surface as a green scum. Other plants
such as water hyacinth also explode to take advantage of the abundance of nutrients.
However, when the nutrients are exhausted the algae and hyacinth die and their
accumulated biomass is decomposed by bacteria which deplete the dissolved
oxygen, making the water body absolutely sterile.

Example of Eutrophication
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• Economic
o As discussed previously human health and human capital is the most important
commodity for a country and detriment to the same is a detriment to a country’s
economy.
o Health budget must accommodate for the water borne illnesses
o Public works budget must accommodate for the waste water treatment as well as
purification and supply of drinking water.
o The “har nal se jal” (water from every tap) mission of the Jal Jivan (Water is life)
mission of the Govt. of India has a budget of Rs. 60,000 Cr. (2022-23) and aims to
supply piped drinking water to every rural household by 2023.

Prevention and control of water pollution

• Policy
o Laws and institutions set and enforce standards on water quality. Water is divided
into several categories based on fitness for drinking, bathing, animal use, etc.
o Water has been divided into categories (no need to memorize – just understand)
▪ A – drinking water
▪ B – outdoor bathing
▪ C- drinking after conventional treatment
▪ D – propagation of wildlife and fisheries
▪ E – Irrigation and industrial cooling
o Select max. permissiable levels of pollutants taken from Bureau of Indian Standards
(BIS) 10500 – 2012 (no need to memorize – understand)
▪ Color and taste – agreeable
▪ pH – 6.5 to 8.5
▪ Turbidity – 1 NTU
▪ Total dissolved solids – 500 mg/L
▪ Ammonia – 0.5 mg/L
▪ Anionic detergents – 0.2 mg/L
▪ Chloride – 250 mg/L
▪ Lead – 0.01 mg/L
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▪ Mercury – 0.001 mg/L

▪ DDT – 1 micro gram/L
▪ E. coli (microbial pollutant present in feces) – undectable in 100 mL sample.
o Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) is responsible for monitoring and
enforcing water pollution standards.
• Treatment of sewage water
o There are several steps in which conventional wastewater treatment plants treat
sewage water which includes; filtration and seperation of debris which are disposed
as solid pollution, the polluted water is then left in a settling tank for suspended
debris to settle out, then air (oxygen) is bubbled in the waste water including
introduction of microbes which digest the organic matter into simpler compounds,
which can be collected out as sludge and used as organic fertilizer. The water is
then disinfected by adding chlorine and discharged into the water bodies.

o Creation of more WWTPs and particularly smaller community WWTPs which can
be maintained and financed by smaller communities and do not need huge expertise
or finances to upkeep.
• Industrial effluent treatment plants
o Polluting industries should not be allowed to directly discharge their wastes into
water bodies.
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o Industries should be incentivized and mandated to either have their own or a

collective, combining several similar industrial units, treatment plants.
• The use of agrochemicals should be reduced, and farmers educated on the most efficient
time, and amount to apply them on crops to minimize wastage and leaching.

Soil Pollution

This is the most immobile form of pollution as the pollutant contaminates the soil which
generally remains on one spot.

Sources/ Types

• Industrial wastes
o Disposal of industrial wastes on the ground or soil which can include fly ash from
thermal powerplants, chemical residues, dyes, acids, heavy metals, scrap, etc.

• Agricultural wastes
o Excessive use of agrochemicals such as fertilizer, pesticides, herbicides, etc.
damage the healthy soil parameters and can be leached out in rain water into ground
water or surface water bodies.
• Municipal or commersial wastes
o A lot of wastes are generated from the home and shops or other commersial
establishments which include paper, cardboard, packing material, plastics, broken
glass, scrap metal, etc.
o These wastes are collected and either dumped on empty land or in improper
landfills.
• Biological wastes
o Deposition of human and animal wastes increase microbial populations in an area
and may lead to microbial pollution, contamination of water which leaches from
the soil, and cause disease.
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Effects of soil pollution

• Human health
o Contamination of ground leads to spread of diseases through vectors such as flies,
and mosquitoes.
o Pollutant in ground can also leach out due to rainwater and contaminated ground
water or any surface water body.
• Agriculture and food security
o Soil and good agricultural soil is an asset of any community and country.
Disturbance of soil parameters of pH, ions, metals, etc. leads to poor crop
productivity.
o Poor crop productivity reduces food security and compensation using increasing
agrochemicals further hurts the soil and water.
• Economic
o Agriculture is a corner stone of the Indian economy employing the largest
proportion of the labor force.
o Agricultural products are also exported for forex
o Human health as previously stated is the most important asst for a nation, damage
to which requires capital to address.
• Environment
o Damage to the soil reduces the biodiversity of vegetation and hence has a direct
effect on the ecosystem of the region.
o Vegetation is the producer hence change in its amount and composition will directly
affect the amount and diversity of consumers (fauna or animals) which can be
supported.

Prevention and control

• Afforestation or afforestation
o The presence of trees, plants, shrubs and grasses help create a buffer against
pollution as they are able to absorb and detoxify many pollutants.
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o Vegetation also creates a soil microbial community which can degrade and detoxify
much of the toxins.
• Construction of landfills
o A landfill is a structure where solid wastes are stored and isolated form the
environment.

• Leachate collects at the bottom and can be sampled by a sampling tube for
presence of dangerous microbes.
• There is also sample tube to sample the gasses evolved from the decomposition
of wastes which may be used for generation of electricity
• Normally the landfill site is constructed far from human habitations and sources
of groundwater which is monitored for contamination.
• Use of less agrochemicals and replacement with organic agrochemicals
o Agrochemicals should be reduced by providing expert input on the correct time,
amount and method of applying agrochemicals.
o Agrochemicals should also be replaced with natural agrochemicals which can
degrade easily by microbes and cause less damage.
• Garbage sorting
o Garbage should be sorted at source (your homes) into organic (compostable) and
non-organic which can be further sorted as recyclable (should be recycled) and non-
recyclables which should either be re-used as much as possible or disposed.
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o Garbage sorting reduces the amount of waste being discharged into the
environment.
• waste combustion
o certain wastes can be combusted (burnt) to reduce their volume greatly.
o The air emissions should be captured else it will become air pollution.
• Waste to fuel
o Certain wastes which are rich in carbon can be subject to pyrolysis (high heat in the
lack of oxygen) to make fuel bricks which can be sold for profit.

Radiological Pollution

Radiological pollution is a special type of pollution caused by radioactive materials which

emit either alpha, beta and gamma rays. Alpha rays are the most damaging but travel the least,
gamma rays are the lightest but are very penetrative in nature, and beta rays are intermediate.

• Radiological wastes are most damaging if they are ingested or inhaled and thus end up
inside one’s body.
• They may also cause damage if they are deposited on the body as dust, or one stands near
them.
• Their effect on the body decreases with distance and any obstacle placed between the
pollution and person.

Sources of radiation pollution

• Mining of radioactive ores

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o Radioactive materials are present in very small quantities in their pure forms inside
ores.
o If these ores are mined and the dust extensively accumulates then they post an
elevated risk of radiation poisoning
• Radiological wastes
o Radioactive materials are sometimes discarded as wastes in the biomedical field
(X-ray machines), research laboratories, or from nuclear powerplants.
o These wastes must be properly sealed and disposed.
o They may end up in regular landfills due to negligence.
• Accidents
o Accidents involving nuclear powerplants, laboratories, or nuclear weapons spread
nuclear material in the surroundings.
o Eg. Chernobyl, Three Mile, and Fukushima accidents.

Effects of nuclear pollution

• Health and ecology

o Radioactive pollutants along with being heavy metals and by virtue of that being
toxic also emit highly energetic alpha, beta and gamma rays.
o These rays destroy the DNA of cells and in low doses lead to radiation sickness
symptomized by vomiting, skin burns, and hair loss and in moderate and high doses
increase the chance of cancers.

Preventing radiological pollution

• Policies and prevention

o The best way of addressing nuclear accidents is not having them through robust
policies and engineering to prevent them as much as possible.
o Radioactive waste should be disposed properly in sealed containers in isolated areas
under a radioactive disposal site underground.
o Negligence should be reduced via checks and balances.
• Training and equiptment
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o Agencies should be trained to confirm and contain radioactive pollutants and for
that they must have proper training, safety equiptment and detection and disposal
equiptment.

Thermal pollution

The altering of temperature in water bodies due to human activities, mostly discharge of
hot water used for cooling results in thermal pollution.

Source

• Thermal power plants

o Using water as a coolant
• Industrial plants
o Use water as a component and discharge hot dirty water
o Using water as coolant

Effects

• Destruction of biodiversity and ecology due to increase of water temperature.

Prevention

• Use of cooling ponds which store recently emitted hot water and cool it to ambient
temperature before discharging in water body.
• Use of double cooling loops which has one closed loop (water or oil) to cool the machine
and water is used to cool the first loop so that wastewater is emitted at a lower temperature.

Noise pollution

Pollution that changes the noise profile of a region either volume or composition.

Sources

• Mining – sound of blasting, machines, drilling

• Industrial – sound of machines and factories
• Urban centers – sounds of cars, offices, construction, etc.
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Effects of noise pollution

• Human health
o Hearing problems – hearing loss
o Psychological problems
o Sleeping disorders or difficulty sleeping
• Ecological and environmental problems
o Mass migration due to noise.

Prevention

• Policies on noise pollution – central pollution control board (CPCB)

o Restriction on loudspeakers and loud music at night
o Silence zones – 100m zone around schools, hospitals, etc.
o Regulation on noise level from vehicles, construction machinery, gensets, etc.
• Reduce noise at source
o Use of padding or absorptive materials to reduce noise
o Use of lubricants or ball bearing to reduce friction noise.
o Regular maintenance of machinery.
• Block path to noise
o Barriers on both sides of highways
o Belt of trees on either sides of roads
o Absorb noise
• Increase path length to noise
o Setting up of noise factories as far away from human habitation or ecological zones
as possible.
• Ear protection
o Recipient who works near noise must wear ear protection.
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Solid Waste Management (SWM)

Solid useless material generated by agricultural, industrial or domestic activities. May be

outright hazardous or not. The main issue is that solid wastes hold no economic value hence most
of the time resources have to be spent to properly dispose them.

Classification based on source

• Municipal solid waste

o Mainly wastes produced in the home
o Contains garbage, both organic and inorganic
o Garbage form home should be sorted into the following categories.
▪ Organic – kitchen wastes eg. egg shells, vegetable peels, apple cores, etc
which can be composed in small kitchen or balcony garden.
▪ Non-organic wastes
• Recyclable – these wastes can be recycled into the same material
saving the cost of production the pollution associated with it. They
can be sold to travelling scrap dealers “kabaddi walas” eg. glass
bottles, tin cans, newspapers.
• Non-recyclable – these wastes cannot be recycled and has to be
disposed off in a landfill eg. plastics.
• Industrial waste
o They contain the solid byproducts of industrial processes and can include wastes
such as silica dust, construction debris, broken glass, metal pieces, etc.
o The wastes can be rich in hazardous chemicals espicially heavy metals.
• Agricultural waste
o Composed of agricultural resides or spoilt agricultural matter which are rich in
organic matter.
o Can also include animal wastes (dung), agrochemical residues.
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Control measures

• Source reduction – judicious use of materials to reduce waste as much as possible.

• Segragation – sort waste at the source (in homes in cases of municipal wastes) to improve
the efficiency of waste treatment.
• Follow the 3 Rs
o Reduce – reduce the amount of material usage and thus wastes.
o Reuse – reuse items as much as possible, and repair them so that wastes is
minimized.
o Recycle – use waste materials to recycle back into raw material to reduce the cost
and pollution by mining and processing of new raw materials.
o *Refuse* - Reduce the urge for consumerism and the need to discard perfectly
working things for new ones just because they are of a new model or in fashion.
• Disposal
o Incineration – burning of wastes to reduce its volume, however the generated air
pollutants have to be captures else solid pollution will be converted to air pollution.
o Sanitary landfills

Electronic “E Wastes”

Wastes made from the electronics and appliances used by humans, they have risen
exponentially in the past few decades due to the invention of the transistor and rise of consumerist
culture where electronics have become miniaturized and progressive cheaper.

Nature of e-wastes

• E-wastes contain a lot of silica wafer, and mostly a mix of different metals such as copper,
silver, lead, gallium, platinum, gold, etc. Some of these metals can be commercially
extracted for a profit.

Hazards of E-wastes

• E-wastes are often generated in a particular country but the waste is shipped to developing
poor countries for disassembly and disposal.
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• Often times heat is applied in their purification process which produces metal vapors, acids
are also used to dissolve and extract the metals.
• On improper disposal the metals can leach into the ground and end up in ground or surface
water.

E-waste disposal

• E-wastes can be recycled in properly equipped workshops where workers wear protective
gear.
• Companies which sell electronics and appliances can be taxed before hand to collect their
own waste by using exchange or buy back programs whereby they recycle their products.

Hazardous wastes

Wastes which are of immidiate threat and risk to human health.

• Reactive or corrosive wastes – eg. acids and bases

• Flammable wastes – fuels or other solvents from industry
• Radioactive wastes – spread radiation
• Infectious wastes – wastes from hospitals, laboratories, path labs, etc. which can spread
disease.

Disposal methods

• If possible then the generation of hazardous wastes should be avoided

• Incineration to reduce the reactivity or corrosivity of the wastes
• Final disposal in sealed drums in landfills.

Pollution Case Studies

Ganga Action Plan (GAP)

• The river Ganga holds great cultural and religious importance around 400 mil people live
in the catchment area & depend on the river
• The Ganga Action Plan was launched in 1985 and was largest river cleanup operation in
India
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• Objective to clean water, abate pollution and restore biodiversity.

• Centrally sponsored scheme – R. Ganga declared national river.
• Under the scheme National River Ganga Basin Authority was Established and the PM and
CMs of all states that Ganga flows through were included.
• The scheme was divided into two phases
• Phase I Started in 1985 & inc. three states: UP, Bihar & West Bengal.
• Phase II started in 1993 & inc. seven states: Uttarakhand, UP, Bihar, Jharkhand, West
Bengal, Delhi & Haryana.
• Plan extended to all the tributaries of the Ganga
• National river conservation Plan (NRCP) started
• What is the role of the commissions & committees???
• R. Ganga traverses 11 states & UTs where each state and UT has its own irrigation,
sanitation, pollution, industry, housing, public works, municipal depts.
• There is need to coordinate action between states and depts.
• Central govt. has the admin. And financial resources to carry it out. – CPCB,
ministries, space agencies, etc.
Air pollution issue of Delhi

• Reasons for air pollution in Delhi

o Increasing population including migration into Delhi NCR and other metropolitan
cities.
o Unplanned development – improper land use
o Increased vehicular density – car idling pollution in traffic
o Poor solid waste disposal – open air incineration
o Industrial clusters in and around Delhi NCR
o Large scale construction in housing, commersial and industrial projects
o Stubble burning in adjacent states
• Decisions taken to mitigate the air pollution in Delhi
o Odd Even scheme – minimize the no. of cars on the road.
o Justice Lokur Committee – One man committee appointed by SC to monitor the
stubble burning situation from Haryana, Punjab, and UP.
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o Motor Vehicles Amendment Act (2019) – greatly inc. fine for Pollution Under
Control (PUC) violation
o Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) MoEF (2015) – a set of predetermined
actions to be taken in response to air quality index (AQI) deterioration
▪ Moderate / poor – check garbage burning & enforce emissions at brick kilns
and other industries, force standards at thermal powerplants.
▪ Very poor – prohibit diesel gensets & enhance parking fees.
▪ Severe – close hot mix plants, brick kilns, stone crushers, inc. freq. of road
sweepings with water.
▪ Severe/ emergency – stop entry of trucks except essentials, stop all
constructions.
o Delhi metro – one of the finest mass transport systems of the world.
o DTC – world’s largest mass transport fleet running on CNG.
o Promote roof top solar projects to gather electricity espicially on govt. buildings.
o Promote e – vehicles for clean transport.
o Smog tower – centrifugal and bag filters to clean air – huge smog filters have been
installed in several spots in Delhi to clean the air.
o Water sprinkler trucks – settle out the SPM from the air into ground by trapping
them in water.
o Delhi has greatly expanded its network of electricity charging points for e-vehicles.

Plastic waste management rules

• India plastic waste 9.4 (million tons per annum) MTpa (CPCB 2017-18), out of this 5.6
MTpa is recycled
• Plastic waste mgt rules are applicable to every waste generator, local body, Gram
Panchayat, Manufacturer. Importer, Brand Owner.
• Carry bags (non-disposable) should not be less than 50 micrometer.
• Thicker plastic bags are expensive to manufacture – shopkeepers will charge so customers
will use less.
• They can be easily seen by rag pickers who get paid by the kg to return them for recycling.
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• Waste collection agencies should segregate wastes – it should be done by yourselves

before discarding.
• Local bodies must encourage usage of plastics for road and other constructions as fillers.
• Producers should make it easier for plastics to be segregated – color coded.
• Central Pollution Control Board CPCB and State Pollution Control Board SPCB are
responsible for enforcement of the rules.
• The three R's; reduce, reuse and recycle.

Bhopal Gas Tragedy

• 1984, accident in Union Carbide India Ltd., Bhopal, MP.
• Thousands of poeple lost their lives and it turned out to be the worst industrial disasters of
the world till date.
• The accident was because of several compounding accidents & negligence.
• The plant made Carbaryl a potent insecticide.
• 1-napthol and methyl isocyanate (MIC) used as precursors.
• MIC is extremely volatile & toxic to humans.
• There had been previous small leaks.
• At around 11-12 pm there was a backflow of water to the underground tanks holding MIC
• Around 30T of MIC vaporized & escaped into the atmosphere.
• Control measures to mitigate the accident gas vent scrubber & gas flare failed.
• MIC is heavier than air, so it settled on the ground over parts of Bhopal city.
• MIC is a potent corrosive agent and respiratory toxin.
• Eye irritation, chest pain, cough, vomiting, dizziness.
• Cause of death pneumonia – fluid filling into lungs.
• Aftermath
• Toxic material remains on site.
• Around 2 lakh children were exposed.
• Birth defects such has growth and intellectual defects can still be seen.
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Part II
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Global Environmental Issues and Policies (Unit V)

Global warming and climate change

• All of the energy that falls on the Earth’s surface is from the Sun (solar radiation).
• About 30% of all energy is reflected off Earth (albedo) into space
• 23% is absorbed by the clouds and air.
• 47% is absorbed by the land and ocean.
• What matters from the point of view of global warming is the around 17 % of solar
radiation which is reflected back by the ground and water back into space.
o This is called the atmospheric radiative window or infrared window because the
radiation reflected back is in the infrared range.
o Infrared is a type of radiation which has long wavelength and is invisible to human
eyes, however it’s effects can be felt as heat. In fact you can purchase infrared
heaters which are more efficient than blowers because they directly heat the target
instead of heating the air first.
• Greenhouse gasses (GHGs) absorb heat in this infrared window and again re-emit it back
to the Earth’s surface thus increasing the Earth’s heat budget.
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• Some examples of GHGs; carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrogen dioxide (NO2),
water vapor (H2O), Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), Hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFCs), etc.
• Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the most important anthropogenic (manmade) GHG.

Carbon dioxide levels in the past.

• There are many ways in which carbon dioxide levels can be analyzed in the geologic past.
o Volcanic magma which traps the ambient air as it solidifies
o Antarctic ice also traps ambient air as it compacts – ice cores can be extracted where
the deeper the core, the more in the past it is. If the ice deposition rate is known,
then a timeline from the ice core can be derived.
o Fossilized shellfish in oceans – shell is made from calcium carbonate (CaCO3)
where the carbonate comes from atmospheric carbon dioxide which dissolves in the
water.
• Currently the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide is 420 (April 2021) parts per
million (PPM), meaning that among a million air molecules there’s going to be 420
molecules of carbon dioxide.
• In the graph above one can see that many times in the past the atmospheric levels of CO2
exceeded the present level.
o This is because of geoclimatic events or major geological events such as super
volcanoes, or ice ages, etc which had the potential to affect the entire planet.
o These events took hundreds of thousands to millions of years to occur.
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• The problem with anthropogenic CO2 levels is that it’s happening at a much faster pace,
in the order of decades to centuries as opposed to hundreds of thousands to millions of
years.
o The watershed event associated with anthropogenic CO2 is the industrial age where
burning of coal was intensified and then the petroleum age where crude oil was
extracted.

Global Warming

• The gradual incrase of energy (heat) / temperature of the Earth.

• Examine the graphs above which shows the temperature records for the past hundreds of
millions of years (left) and past centuries with future projection (right).
• Average global temperature were higher than what they are today in the past, however as
with CO2 accumulation in the atmosphere, these events took millions of years, however
anthropogenic global warming is much faster taking decades to centuries.
• Current global warming is calculated at 1.2 *C since the onset of industrial age.
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Reasons for global warming

Anthropogenic
global warming

Emission of Destruction of
GHGs (source) sinks

Emission of GHGs

• Given above is the atmospheric GHG emissions and their source

o CO2 – burning of fossil fuels
o CH4 – agriculture, belching of ruminated farm animals
o Nitrous oxide – industrial processes
o Fluorinated gasses “F gasses” - refrigerants
• One thing which is worth remembering is that although anthropogenically CO2 is the most
prevalent GHG, however when natural sources and anthropogenic sources as combined,
the most prevalent GHG is H2O or water vapor.
• Not all GHGs have the same effect, some are much more potent than others
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• As CO2 is the most well known GHG, so the potency of GHGs is measures against CO2
or ton equivalent of CO2, simply put, how many tons (1000 kg) of that gas would equal
the greenhouse potential of one ton of CO2.

• Different gasses have different residence time in the atmosphere after which they are
degraded or incorporated into something else.
• Combining the different greenhouse potential and residence times, various GHGs have
different potentials depending on the time being considered. – no need to memorize, only
notice that some gasses are much more potent as GHGs than others, even CO2.

Destruction of sinks

• Previously discussed that forests have the potential to absorb GHGs from the atmosphere
and incorporate into their bomass.
• Plants and trees undergo photosynthesis and powered by sunlight and in presence of water,
they source CO2 from the atmosphere and convert it into glucose which is source of food
for them.
• The glucose gets stored in their biomass, the plant grows, makes new bark, leaves,
branches, etc. and the CO2 gets lock away from the atmosphere.
• However, humans are destroying these forests at an increasing rate.
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• Over the past 300 years (just before start of industrial age) and after the agricultural
revolution, the forest cover declined from 52% (just above half) to 38% (above a third).
o Land use change – deforestation to make cropland
o Timber industry
• Most photosynthesis is actually done by phytophankton, microscopic marine organisms
which remove CO2, the increase of CO2 is increasing the ocean acidity which also declines
their population.

Effects of global warming

• Rising sea levels

o Melting of arctic ice caps

o Thermal expansion of water.
o The rising sea level is going to inundate many coastal areas of countries.
o Above map in red shows coastal areas under threat.
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• Agriculture
o Change in agroclimatic zones – specific crops need specific climate patterns.
o Change in cropping patterns – due to change in the agroclimatic zones, even if water
can be provided via irrigation.
o Risk to food security – when cereal crops such as rice, wheat, maize, barley, etc
cannot be grown.
• Environmental (ecological)
o Alteration in the bioclimatic and biogeographic zones
o Animals who cannot adapt will be forced to become extinct or migrate.
• More extreme weather events

o Global warming means more energy in the atmosphere in the form of heat.
o This means more water vapor being present in the atmosphere.
o The presence of more energy and water vapor translates to heavier rainfall and
intensification of droughts and other extreme climate events.
o As previously discussed, water vapor is also a GHG so global warming leads to
more water being vaporized which leads to more GHG and cycle continues.
• Socio-economic
o Migration due to climate change or destruction of homes espicially in coastal areas
due to rising sea levels, making homes in demand and expensive.
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o Change in agroclimatic zones and cropping patterns endangering food security and
making food more expensive.
o Mitigation costs – it takes money to adjust to the climate change requirements.
o Produce economic stress & increase inequality – the people who are already the
poorest will suffer the most
▪ This may lead to social unrest as the gap between haves and have nots
incrase.
o Global economy might lose 10 % of its value by 2050.
o New term – climate change refugees – those people who have been made refugees
due to climate change.
• India is the 5th most vulnerable country to climate change.

Ozone Layer Depletion

Why is there need for an ozone layer

• Solar radiation is not merely made of visible light, in fact visible light forms only a tiny
fraction of the electromagnetic spectrum.
• Solar radiation is in the form of photons which range all the way from very long wavelength
and low energy radio waves which are of no harm to us, to very short wavelength and high
energy Ultraviolet rays.
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• They are called ultraviolet because they lie beyond the violet color (visible).
• UV is in itself a wide rage of radiation type which can be further divided into UV-A, UV-
B and UV-C
o UV-C – shortest wavelength – most energetic, nearly 100 % stopped by ozone layer
o UV-B – medium wavelength- energetic, nearly 95% stopped by ozone layer
o UV-A – long wavelength – less energetic, reach the Earth.
• One should still avoid direct sunlight and apply sunscreen as UV of enough energy has the
potential to cause DNA mutations leading to carcinomas (skin cancer), and premature
wrinkling (aging).
• Sudden burst of UV radiation by the Sun has also been attributed to some mass extinction
events.

How does the ozone layer stop UV radiation

Ozone – oxygen cycle or simply Ozone cycle

• Oxygen exists as O2 or molecular oxygen where it is most stable.

• On absorbing UV radiation, the O2 breaks into two atoms of oxygen, (2O2-).
• The oxygen atoms collide with atoms of nitrogen and oxygen (air molecules) until their
energy or speed is reduced whereby, they combine with a oxygen molecule (O2) to form a
very unstable molecule of ozone (O3).
• When ozone (O3) absorbs UV radiation, it breaks down into molecular oxygen O2 and
again another atomic oxygen or O2- is liberated.
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• This atomic oxygen can recombine with the same molecular oxygen to reform ozone or
with another molecular oxygen depending on its energy.
• This is just a process of energy transfer where the energy of UV radiation is converted to
chemical bonds and heat in the stratosphere.
• The ozone layer is present in the stratosphere and is only 3 mm thick. Remember that ozone
in the stratosphere (upper atmosphere) is good, but in the troposphere (lower atmosphere)
it becomes a pollutant.

Ozone layer depletion

• The ozone layer is only 3 mm thick hence it is very vulnerable to depletion.

• Any gas which can reach the stratosphere and interfere in the ozone layer cycle can be
classed as an ozone layer depleting gas.
• Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are ozone depletory because of their widescale use as
refrigerants and aerosol propellants.
o Nontoxic and odorless
o Nonflammable
o Easily compressible
o cheap
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• On release when CFC reaches the stratosphere, same level as ozone layer, UV radiation
causes one chlorine atom to detach from the CFC molecule.
• This chlorine atom Cl- combines with a ozone O3 molecule to break it into molecular
oxygen O2 and a molecule of chlorine monoxide ClO.
• This molecule of ClO is unstable so it combines with another oxygen atom to form
molecular oxygen and release the Cl- atom back which can participate in thousands of same
reaction.
• Notice how the chlorine atom is breaking down one ozone molecule and preventing another
from being formed, and it can do this thousands of times.

Results of ozone layer depletion and formation of ozone “hole”

• If ozone layer is depleted then harmful UV-B and more concerning and energetic UV-C
reaches the Earth’s surface
• This results in the exposure of organisms including humans to these radiations resulting in
elevated risks of sun burns, skin cancers and eye cataracts.

Acid Rain
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• Typical clear and clean rainwater has a pH of 5 – 5.5 due to dissolving of atmospheric CO2
in the form of carbonic acid H2CO3, hence it is slightly acidic.
• However, the emission of NO2 and SO2 causes these gasses to also dissolve into the
rainwater, leading to formation of strong nitric and sulphuric acid.
• Typically, acid rain has pH of 4.0, also note that the pH scale is not linear but logarithmic
meaning pH=4 is ten times more acidic than pH=5.

Consequences of acid rain

• It can damage crops by altering soil pH. – food security affected

• It can damage buildings espicially iron and marble ones via corrosion.
• Harms biodiversity espicially indicator species such as frogs
• It causes skin irrigation and itching.

Mitigation measures

• Limit the emission of NO2 and SO2 by using cleaner fuels; coal, petrol and diesel.
• Use more alternate fuels such as electric
• Use pollution control devices to capture these gasses before they are released into the
atmosphere.

International Agreements and Treaties

Pollution, global warming, and climate change are global issues. It is every country’s
responsibility to mitigate their effects because, we share the Earth.

United Nation Confrence on Environment & Development (UNCED) “Earth Summit”

• First and largest till date such global meeting held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1992
o It was attended by around 30,000 delegates and 100 heads of states.
• Objective was to discuss economic development as well as environmental concerns.
o Sustainable development and preserve the environment.
• Important declaration in the Conference on Human Environment = “every person deserves
healthy and clean environment.”
• The following important agreements made during the Earth Summit were
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o Global Warming Convention or United Nations Framework Convention on Climate

Change (UNFCCC).
o Rio Declaration on Environment and Development
o The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
o Principals of Forest Management
o Agenda 21 – A set of rules for governments, and NGOs to cooperate on to achieve
sustainable growth

Global Warming Convention or United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

(UNFCCC)

• UNFCCC was an intergovernmental negotiating committee which was formed in New

York in 1992 and signed by 154 nations, now it has been ratified by 197 countries.
o Note that countries which have traditional rivalry with each other and disagree on
most things agree in principle on climate change and need for mitigation.
• Global binding treaty to stabilize and reduce emissions of GHGs to prevent a dangerous
anthropogenic interference with the climate system.
o Treaty is binding but framework is non-binding. - So basically, all countries agree
that GHGs should be reduced but by when, by how much, and who pays the price
is not agreed on completely.
• Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) - scientific and consultative body
which deals in climate change and policy research and advises the UN and member nations.
• Key agreement was the Kyoto Protocol (1997) which was replaced by the Paris Accord
(2015).
• The main source of dispute was the conflict between the developed and developing
countries where the developing countries felt that they were paying the price of the
common climate change by compromising their economic growth.
o The western nations developed at the cost of the environment and developing
countries through practices such as colonialism, slavery, etc.
• Issues discussed were population growth, consumption rates, and finances particularly
demand of developing countries for financial assistance for climate change mitigation.
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• Confrene of Parties (CoP) - annual meeting of members to discuss new matters and assess
the progress.
o Kyoto (1997) (CoP 3)
▪ Kyoto was the old imperial capital of Japan.
▪ A meeting of member countries to set up new standards and mechanisms to
reduce GHG emissions.
▪ The GHGs mentioned under Annex A are; carbon dioxide (CO2), methane
(CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), Sulphur hexafluoride (SF6),
hydrofluorocarbons (HFC) and perfluorocarbons (PFC).
▪ Set up the precedence of common yet differentiated responsibilities.
• Acknowledges that in the past countries have developed at the cost
of others and the environment and they have a bigger responsibility
▪ With regards to emission reduction, countries were goruped into
• Annex I – developed nations which were obligated to reduce
emissions taking 1990 as the base year.
• Non-Annex I – developing countries with no obligations.
▪ Set up flexibility mechanisms or alternate ways to contribute to GHG
reduction – If you can’t reduce directly then help someone else reduce.
• International Emissions Trading – some countries can reduce more
than their share and some cannot reduce, so there is a mechanism to
trade these emissions obligations.
• Clean Development Mechanism – Rich countries can fund GHG
reducing technologies and infrastructure in developing countries to
offset their own emission requirements.
• Joint Implimentation – Developed countries can build projects for
GHG reduction in other countries to reduce their own GHG
emission requirements.
▪ Commitment periods – The Kyoto Protocol was implemented in two phases
or commitment periods
• First – 2008 to 2012
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o CoP 18 (2012) happened in Doha, Qatar where all parties

decided to extend the Kyoto Protocol
• Second 2012 – 2020
o Developed countries would further reduce their GHG
emissions.
o India also declared its policy for voluntary GHG reduction.
o This commitment period was short lived as in 2015 member
nations signed the Paris Accord.
o Paris Accord (2015) (CoP 21)
▪ Replaced the earlier Kyoto Protocol
▪ Non binding targets
▪ All 196 countries signed – landmark.
▪ Objective was to reduce by any means the global temperature by 2 *C pre
industrial levels and preferably under 1.5 *C.
▪ Countries declared their own reduction contributions called Nationally
Determined Contributions (NDC) - as per Paris Accord, it should be
“ambitions.”
▪ India’s NDC = 33-35 % (about a third) by 2030. (very ambitious)
▪ A common development fund of $100 bn.
• Just remember that in the Kyoto Protocol the principal of common yet differential
responsibilities were established. That reducing green house emissions is all our
responsibility but since we have contributed to it differently in the past, so we must do
different amount of effort in the present. And in the Paris Accord the principle of keeping
temperature by any means below 2*C and preferably below 1.5*C and now all countries
were expected to contribute to the best of their abilities which is called nationally
determined contributions (NDC) where India gave a very ambitious target of reduction of
emission by one third.

Montreal Protocol (1987)

• International convention regarding ozone depleting substances; production, consumption

and emissions.
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• Ratified by 197 coutnries in the world making it the first treaty to be ratified by every
country in the world. – It’s a good thing that given our difference we recognize that climate
affects us all.
• Much like Kyoto Protocol it adheres to “common yet differential responsibilities.”
• The treaty involves many halogenated carbon compounds (ozone depletors).
• Phases
o Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) management plan – phase out use of CFCs by
developed and developing countries by 1995 and 2010 respectively.
o Hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC) management plan – phase out use of HCFCs by
developed and developing countries by 2020 and 2030 respectively.
o Hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) management plan – Achieve an 80% reduction by
developed and developing countries by 2034 and 2045 respectively.
• Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
o Objectives
▪ Conservation of biological diversity – protection of biodiversity globally
from extinction.
▪ Proprietary use of biodiversity – the countries or communities which host a
particular biodiversity should get the first benefits of any commersial use.
▪ Just sharing of biodiversity for the common good – countries and
communities cannot monopolize biodiversity and eventually the entire
world should benefit from it.
o Two important agreements under CBD
▪ Cartagena – transport of potentially harmful biodiversity.
▪ Nagoya – Sharing of useful biodiversity
• Ramsar Convention
o Signed in the city of Ramsar, Iran in 1971 it’s the first international treaty that deals
with the conservation of wetlands.
o Internationally important wetlands called Ramsar sites have been marked.
▪ India contains 37 such sites with Chilka Lake, Odisha being the first.
• Convention on Chemical Weapons
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o Chemicals weapons were first used widely in WWI where several gasses were used
such as chlorine, mustard gas, phosgene, etc.
o In WWII, more deadly chemical weapons were developed but they were not used
due to the belief that the other side also had them & it would raise destructive
violence to a unimaginable level.
o The Geneva Convention on the Rule of War prevent the use of chemical weapons
for their indiscriminate effects.
▪ Basically anything which is meant to produce unneeded suffering in an
armed conflict or is indiscriminate is banned.
o However, it doesn’t not prohibit the manufacture, storage and sale of chemicals
weapons nor explicitly ban them in internal conflicts.
o The Convention on Chemical Weapons prohibits the manufacture, stockpiling, sale
and use under any circumstances of such chemical weapons.
o It also stipulates for the immidiate cease of all research into development of
chemical weapons, stopping of production, disclosure and eventual destruction of
all stockpiles.
o There are 193 countries which are signatories including India.
• United Nations Environment Program (UNEP)
o Developed and founded during the Stockholm confrence.
o It monitors the UN’s environmental projects and coordinates them.
o It’s structure is made up of divisions to implement its various agendas
▪ Scientific – conduct scientific studies
▪ Economic – conduct economic studies
▪ Law – environmental law
▪ Policy – formulate or suggest policies to member countries
o Follows the execution of 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs)
• Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES)
o We have previously discussed about endangered species on the IUCN list.
o There exists a worldwide trade and poaching of these species for their; fur, skins,
resins, teeth, horn, tusk, etc.
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o They are valued for their alleged medicinal, religious, supernatural, luxury, etc
values.
o The international trade in illegal wildlife is part of organized crime and funds other
terror, insurgent and drug activities.
▪ Poaching and illegal trade also obviously threaten biodiversity with
extinction.
o The international illegal wildlife trade has been estimated to be around $ 5-20 bn
per annum.
o Sometimes when illegal items are seized from poachers, they can be sold by
certified countries and authorized bodies for research, cultural (museum) and other
purposes, in such cases CITES issues an internationally recognized certificate.
o CITES contains appendix I, II and III containing species depending on their
endangered status.
o India is a very active member of CITES as it’s also an ecological hotspot.
o CITES has been globally signed by 183 countries, which shows the global reserve
and unity in preserving biodiversity.

Sustainable development goals (SDG)

Sustainable Development (SD)

• First adopted at the UN Confrence on Human Environment, Stockholm (1972)

• Defined in the Brundtland Commission report, Our Common Future.
• Defined as “Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the
ability of the future generations to meet their own needs.”
• The concept of sustainability has two components.
o The need to sustain the environment
o Right to develop
• Some essential pre-requisites for achieving sustainable development (SD).
o Human needs should not be beyond the capacity of the environment.
o Poverty reduction – “poverty is the largest polluter” – Indira Gandhi (former PM
of India at Stockholm Confrence)
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o Promote equality of opportunity

o Participation of all sections of society in decision making eg. tribes, women, etc.
o Access to clean energy
o Investment in human capital – health and education
• Three pillars of sustainability
o Social
o Economic
o Environment
• United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) (2015) attended by 193 countries passed the
2030 Development Agenda.
• Outlined 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) to be met by 2030.
1. Eradication of poverty
2. Universal eradication of hunger
3. Universal good health
4. Universal and free primary and secondary education
5. Gender equality and women empowerment
6. Universal availability of clean water and sanitation
7. Access to clean energy
8. Promotion of inclusive and sustainable growth
9. Resilient infrastructure, industrialization and innovation with sustainability in mind
10. Reduce inequality within and among countries.
11. Sustainable cities, and inclusive communities
12. Sustainable consumption and production
13. Climate change action for climate change mitigation
14. Conservation of marine biodiversity
15. Conservation of terrestrial biodiversity
16. Promotion of peace, inclusion and access to justice
17. Forging global partnerships to achieve sustainability
• India’s National Action Plan for Climate Change (NAPCC) & its major missions
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• Launched in 2008 with the objective of creating awareness and preparing India to
meet the challenges of climate change and global warming
▪ India is the 5th most vulnerable country to climate change.
• It created eight national missions
▪ National Solar Mission
▪ National Mission for Enhanced energy Efficiency
▪ National Mission on Sustainable Habitat
▪ National Water Mission
▪ National Mission for Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem
▪ National Mission for a Green India
▪ National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture
▪ National Mission on Strategic Knowledge for Climate Change
• Main Principles of NAPCC
▪ Protection of poor and vulnerable through inclusive strategy
▪ National growth through measures which are sustainable
▪ Use of appropriate technology for adaptation.

Environmental Legislation in India

• The concept of sustainability and environmentalism is not new to India.

• it is present all throughout Indian culture and expressed in our policies
o Mentioned several times in Vedas
o Ashokan edicts
• Environmental awareness in the constitution of India.
o The constitution is the supreme document through which the Indian state is run.
o It embodies the ethos, and beliefs of the nation’s founding fathers and the cherished
ideas of Indian freedom movement.
o During the British colonial time the laws were made more to manage Indian natural
resources for British extraction rather than motive to preserve them for Indians.
o India was the first country to amend its constitution and insert provisions for the
protection of the environment.
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▪ Art-21 Right to life, the most basic fundamental right has been interpreted
by the Supreme Court as right to healthy life in a clean environment.
o The Indian constitution goes beyond environmental concern and contains many
provisions to promote inclusive and sustainable development.

United Nations Confrence on the Human Environment (Stockholm Confrence) (1972)

• Considered a global galvanizing event for environmental concern.

• Countries including India agreed to put environmentalism at the forefront of their national
agendas.
• In 1980 the govt. appointed Tiwari committee to suggest recommendations on
environmental – on its recommendations the Dept. of Environment (DoE) was established
as the nodal agency.
• Further consolidation was done in 1985 when the Ministry of Environment and Forests
(MoEF) was created.
• In 2014 MoEF was renamed to MoEF climate change (MoEFCC) to reflect the additional
responsibilities of climate change.

Some important environmental legislation in India

Wildlife Protection Act (WPA) (1972)

• The act was promulgated to preserve and protect the wildlife (flora and fauna) of India
which was under threat of biodiversity loss.
• Wildlife has been divided into six schedules based on the level of threat it is faced
o Schedule I – highest level of protection and thus highest level of punishment on
illegal poaching.
o Schedule II – high level of protection and cannot be hunted unless and until they
pose danger to human life or are suffering from incurable contagious disease.
o Schedule III and IV – not endangered but poaching attracts less harsh punishment.
o Schedule V – vermin whose killing attracts no punishment
o Schedule VI – regulation in cultivation of certain plants
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• The poaching or removal of protected wildlife is prohibited and can attract stringent
punishment in the form of imprisonment, fines or both.
• State govt. can declare certain areas protected as sanctuaries and national parks which need
management and protection.
o National parks increased from five before the act to over 101 now.
• Constituted the National Board for Wildlife (NBW) – apex body concerning wildlife in
India.
• Prohibited the business of wildlife parts eg. taxidermy unless and until explicitly licensed
by the govt.
• Officials have the power to inspect premises and properties in suspect of illegal wildlife
trade, even without warrant.

Water (Prevention and Control) of Pollution Act (1974)

• Comprehensive act that deals with the quality of water as water has often been called the
elixir of life.
• Constituted the central and state pollution control boards CPCB and SPCB whose
responsibility was to set standards for water and monitor water bodies and industrial
effluents.
• CPCB also had a regulatory and advisory role to formulate policies related to water.
• CPCB also had responsibility to create awareness on the matter of water pollution amongst
the public.
• Later the act was amended to add a water cess component where industries were required
to pay a nominal cess for the use of water which was 70 % refundable in case their effluents
was below standards.

Forest Conservation Act (FCA) (1988)

• Forests are a vital resource of the country

• Forests are a renewable resource but in the face of mismanagement and overexploitation
they can be exploited beyond repair.
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• India has a diverse ecosystem and is one of the mega diverse countries in the world hence
needs particularly good laws to govern the forests of the country.
• The objective of the act was to manage the forest resource and to balance the issue of forest
and biodiversity resources with developmental needs of the people.
• Prevent diversion of forest land for non-forest purposes.
• Under the act the prior permission was required to divert forest land for non forest purposes.
o Non forest purposes included cash crops, plantation, and horticulture.
• The act defined the role of public officials who could be penalized in case of negligence.
• Compensatory afforestation – an effective way to compensate for deforestation required
for development is to plant more trees
o An authority Compensatory Afforestation Management & Planning Authority
(CAMPA) was constituted.
• Additional objectives of the act included
o Environmental stability
o Halt soil erosion
o Increase forest cover
o Meet rural need for firewood, fodder & other minor forest produce
o Increase productivity of forests
o More efficient use of forest produce
o Create mass awareness.

Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act (1981)

• Air pollution was defined and later via amendment noise was also included as an air
pollutant.
• Authorized the CPCB and SPCB to
o Advice the govt. On formulation of laws which would affect air quality
o Set standards
o Monitor emissions
o Impose fines
o Grant permission to industries to be set up with respect to air emissions
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o Run awareness campaigns

Environment Protection Act (EPA) 1986

• Enacted in the aftermath of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy – largest industrial tragedy till date in
the world
• Passed under Art 253 or request of two or more states.
• The Bhopal Gas Tragedy may be thought out as a failure of coordination between various
agencies which include safety, emissions, land use, etc.
• The EPA sought to address that problem as it’s an umbrella legislation made to coordinate
all the present laws and agencies for a common purpose of environment protection and
preservation.
• the act gives extraordinary powers to the central govt. To take measures it deems necessary
to protect the environment.
• The central govt. Can put restriction in an area on any industry or operation it deems overly
polluting or permit them after heavy safeguards.
• Central govt. Can issue direction for the closure, prohibition or modification of any
industry or operation or even disconnect power and water of such industry or operation
which is non compliant.
• Emission and effluent standards with respect to 61 categories of industries have been
notified so far.
• Govt. Has the power to collect samples of water, soil and air and build a case on polluting
industries.
• Govt. Can prescribe industries special procedures for dealing with hazardous wastes.
• Industrial and operations have one year to meet the standards notified by the govt. Or face
action.
• A pvt. Citizen may file a complaint after giving notice of at least 60 days to the concerned
authorities.

Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Regulation of Forest Rights) (FRA) Act
2006
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• Tribes and traditional forest dwellers have been living in and around forests in harmony
with nature for thousands of years.
• However, their way of life was not respected due to colonial mindset and law often saw
them as illegal residents or nuisance
• However, with independence, we (India) have steady moved on to an inclusive legal way
of life where all traditional perspectives of life were respected.
• This act grants recognition of the rights that tribes and other forest dwellers have on their
traditional place and way of life.
• The following rights are guaranteed by the act.
o Title rights – right of ownership of land being farmed to a maximum of 4 Ha.
o Usage rights – right to harvest, use and sell minor forest produce such as; honey,
herbs, firewood, etc.
o Management rights – protecting forests and wildlife.
o Relief and rehabilitation rights - in case of displacement of forest communities,
appropriate rehabilitation and resettlement should be given to them.
o Such rights are only accorded to Bonafide Scheduled Tribes (ST) communities and
people who have been living in that forest for 75 years.
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Unit VI Biodiversity and Conservation

What is biodiversity?

• The variety of total living organisms in a given ecosystem being studies.

• Can also mean the total variation of living organisms on Earth.
• Scientists estimate that there are around 8.7 mil species in the world with only around 1.2
mil being identified & studied.
• All life evolved from one type & possibly one primordial / precursor cell
• Immense variation is due to migration adaptation, evolution and speciation over billions
of years.
• The variation (biodiversity) of only some organisms are given in the figure above. - No
need to memorize, only understand the underlying concept.
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Levels (hierarchy) of biodiversity

• To study collectively millions of species systematically, one must make classifications;

both vertical (hierarchical) and horizontal (groups).
• The hierarchy which matters to us (this course)
o Genetic diversity – variation of the DNA (genes) which determine the physical
nature of the organism eg. Eye color, skin color, certain diseases, etc.
o Organism diversity or species diversity – the no. Of species eg. Tigers, deer,
rabbits, etc. Present in a particular ecosystem.
o Ecosystem diversity – the number of different ecosystems which can exist in a
region eg. Desert ecosystem, lake ecosystem, tundra ecosystem, tropical evergreen
ecosystem, deciduous moist ecosystem, etc.
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Genetic Diversity

• We are all humans, yet we are different; height, eye color, skin color, face shape, even pre-
disposition to certain diseases such as diabetes or certain cancers, so what makes us all part
of the same species but individualistic unique?
• As species is a group of organisms which can interbreed to produce viable offspring.
o Rarely tigers and lions have been bred to produce “ligers” or mares (female horses)
and male donkeys (jacks) have bene bred to produce mules, but they are sterile,
hence tigers and lions and horses and donkeys are distinct species.
• No two individuals, not even twins or clones are genetically the same.
• DNA is called the genetic blueprint of life as it contains the instructions to make all the
proteins and enzymes needed for life.
• DNA is a very long molecule (polymer) which is made up of four (monomer) nucleotide
molecules which are A, T, C, and G, which stand for (adenine, thymine, cytosine, and
guanine) – however you don’t need to remember their names.
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• DNA is very long and cannot fit inside a cell unmodified, hence is it coiled and folded to
form genes (sections of DNA which codes for one physical trait eg. eye color) then they
are folded to form chromosomes.
• The entire set of DNA, genes, and chromosomes in an organism is called its genome.
• These four nucleotides; A, T, C and G can be thought of as letters of the alphabet whose
different permutations and combinations of arrangements form different proteins, much
like combinations of letters form words and sentences.
• As discussed before no two individuals of the same species contain DNA sequences which
are the same, but differ due to mutations and copying errors, which results in different
proteins and thus different physical appearance.

Concept of Gene pool

• Gene variety among population can be considered as a common gene pool.

• Depending on the diversity which itself depends on the pop. Size, it can be said gene pool
is shallow or deep.
• All individuals of the population (members of the same species in a particular area which
can mate with each other) draw from this common gene pool
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• Benefit of deep gene pool is that it gives plenty of potential proteins and thus physical traits
eg. Defense against diseases.
• Cheetahs have notoriously low genetic diversity & shallow gene pool resulting in only 5%
reaching upto adulthood.
Concept of Habitat

• Basically the "living space" of an organism or species within an ecosystem.

• An ecosystem contains many habitats
• Eg. a forest might have a lake (aquatic), forest floor, trees (arboreal), etc.
• The more complex an ecosystem, the more habitats there will be to host species.
• In your home also there are many habitats
• Kitchen corner – mouse
• Sink – cockroaches
• Wall – lizard
• Corners – mosquitoes
• Indoor plants – lady bugs
• Entire ecosystem can exist in your home; lady bugs feeding on indoor plant leaves,
which you water, mosquitoes drink your blood, lizard eats mosquitoes, mouse, and
cockroaches feed on left over food left by you.
• So entire food web exists powered by yourself.
Species Diversity

• How many different species are there living in a particular community within an ecosystem
across different habitats?
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• A community is a collection of different species living in a particular ecosystem in a region.

• Species diversity is not evenly distributed throughout the Earth
• It is highest in tropical & subtropical areas (70% of global biodiversity) - availability of
energy (sunlight) and water.

• Examine the global species diversity in the map given above. – regions having more energy
and moisture have more species diversity
Ecosystem diversity

• Variety (diversity) of ecosystems in a region.

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• Eg. A dry & arid place may only have desert ecosystem.
• A region in upper latitudes may only have tundra ecosystem.
• However, in the tropics & temperate you have many interconnected ecosystems.
• Tropical rain forest
• Lake
• River
• estuary
• The more the types of ecosystems, the more complex the food web and more biodiversity.
• Study the major types of ecosystems distributed globally in the map given above. analyze
the regions; tropics, sub-tropics, temperate, polar regions, etc. where are there more
different types of ecosystems?
India as a Mega-biodiversity zone

What is biogeography?

• Amalgamation of two fields of study; biodiversity and geography

• The study of the geographical distribution of biodiversity.

• Mega-biodiverse countries shown in green above.

• Countries which have great biodiversity with significant endemic species.
• Endemic species – those species which are not found anywhere else.
• India is among the 12th mega-biodiverse countries.
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• 10th place
• Notice that all of them are along the tropics or temperate.
• Alaska (part of US) – hence highlighted in the poles.
Bio-diverse regions of India

• India is among the most biodiverse nations on Earth

• India has only 2% of global landmass but has 8% of all biodiversity.
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• There are 10 bio-geographic regions in India.

• Trans-Himalayas – Extension of Tibetan Plateau, high alt. cold desert.

• Ladakh, Tibetan Plateau, Sikkim Mts.

• 4500-6000m
• Very cold & arid
• Mostly sparse alpine vegetation
• Himalayas – From Kashmir to AP, alpine

• Mountain height decrease from West to East

• Tropical rainforests dominate in the East with lush subtropical & alpine
forests in the West and Middle.
• Producers – oak, chestnut, pine, deodar
• Pri consumer - mountain goat, ibex, musk deer, red panda (East), black
bear.
• Predators - leopard, snow leopard (endangered most of them)
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• Deserts – Inland areas of India

• Characterized by very hot summers and cold winters (sand is poor retainer
of heat) & lack of large body of water.
• Rainfall less than 75 cm per year.
• Mostly xerophytic plants (adapted to very less water).
• Thorny
• Succulent
• Shrubs.
• flora – date palm, Babool, Kikar
• fauna – foxes, camels, lizards, snakes Great Indian Bustard (endangered)
• Semi-arid – between deserts and deccan plain

• Transition zone to the deserts

• Characterized by thorn forest.
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• Hot temperature with little more water availability than deserts.

• Vegetation is again thorny shrubs and grasses, with few trees.
• Fauna - Jackals, leopards, snakes, fox, buffalo.
• Western ghat – mountain range that runs along W. coast of India

• Mountain ranges along W. India

• Mountains are not very tall
• Orographic rain from monsoons produces good rainfall
• Moisture along with temperature produces high biodiversity.
• Evergreen forests
• High endemism.
• Esp. Known for 14 sp. Of legless amphibians
• Deccan plateau – largest zone – triangular plateau to the south covering most of the
Peninsula
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• Largest biogeographic zone of India

• Forms majority of peninsular India
• Flanked by the W and E Ghats
• E Ghats are not so significant b/c of their broken range & low alt.
• Situated on the rain shadow side of the W. Ghats.
• Huge region of varied vegetation; thorn, evergreen with pockets of
evergreen depending of moisture.
• Fauna – chetal, sambar, neelgai,
• Gangatic plain – depositional plain between Himalayas and Deccan

• Depositional plain bw the Himalayas & Peninsular India.

• One of the most fertilize & densely populated regions in the world.
• Topologically mostly flat
• Mostly deciduous forests
• Flora – teak, sal, seesham, khair.
• Fauna – Asian elephant, tiger, one horned rhino, gaur water buffalo, swamp
deer.
• NE India – NE regions excluding AP (which is in Himalayan region)
• Sits at the confluence of Indian, Indo Malayan and Indo-Chinese
biogeographic zones.
• High level of endemic biodiversity
• High moisture due to Himalayas
• Flora – orchids, ferns, evergreen forests
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• Fauna – rhino, leopard, golden langur, rich in primates.

• Coast
• India has a huge coastline so the features are quite varied.
• The backwaters are a distinct feature
• The estuarine regions and mangrove forests are also unique
• Islands
• India has a huge coastline so the features are quite varied.
• The backwaters are a distinct feature
• The estuarine regions and mangrove forests are also unique
Biodiversity hotspots

• A biodiversity hotspot is a biogeographic region which has significant reservoir of

biodiversity and is under threat.
• Conditions
• 0.5 % of the vascular plants must be endemic
• Lost at least 70% of it’s vegetation
• Used for setting conservation priorities.
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• There are four biodiversity hotspots in India.

• The Himalayas
• The Western Ghats
• The Indo Burmese region (NE)
• Islands - Sundaland (A & N islands)
Endemic species of India

• Endemic means only found in a particular region

• 60% of endemic species are found in the Himalayas & W. Ghats.
• Issues facing endemic species
• Habitat loss
• Poaching
• Some endemic species of India – Asiatic Lion (Gir forest), Kashmir Stag, Lion Tailed
Macaque & Purple Frog (W. Ghat)
IUCN red list and categories

• Intl. Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) –

• Intl. organization
• Observer and consultative status at UN
• Red list categories
• Not evaluated (NE) – has not been studied
• Data deficient (DD) – not enough data exists to make assessment
• Least concern (LC) – not need to be concerned
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• Near threatned (NT) – likely to become endangered

• Vulnerable (VU) – high risk of becoming endangered
• Endangered (EN) – high risk of extinction
• Critically endangered (CR) – extreme high risk of extinction
• Extinct in wild (EW) - all known individuals exist in captivity
• Extinct (EX) – no known members exist on Earth.
• Some critically endangered (CR) species of India
• Arthropods (insects)
• Peacock tarantula
• Birds
• Great Indian Bustard
• Fish
• Long comb sawfish
• Reptile
• Gharial
• Amphibian
• Amboli Toad
• Mammal
• Kashmir Stag (Hangul)
• Andaman Shrew
Value of biodiversity
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The problem is that we often see economic value as the only value, but value can be measured in
several ways.

• Indirect value
o Sociocultural
▪ Some species have social and cultural values e.g. Cow, tiger, peacock, basil
(tulsi), peepal, etc.
o Aesthetic
▪ Humans have evolved to see beauty in nature which is why ornamental
plants are sold at great value, or Koi are bred and sold for millions for their
spots, etc
o Ethical
▪ What gives us the right to endanger biodiversity whether it is valuable to
someone or not? – We are not owners of the Earth but mere custodians.
• Direct Value
o Food and fuel – variation in food and fuel sources put less pressure on a single
resource e.g. new indigenous sources of foods makes them disease resistant.
o Drugs and medicines – nature is a master chemist. Chemicals we have difficulty
synthesizing, nature makes in the tons. Many drugs such as quinine, penicillin,
tetracyclines (antibiotic) are derived from trees, fungi, and bacteria respectively.
Several plants have antioxidant and anti-cancer properties.

▪
▪ Given above is a chemical structure of the anti-biotic, penicillin derived
from a fungus, which is arguably the most important drug discovered by
mankind till date.
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o Economic – Many of these points can be monetized for economic benefit; food
security, drugs and medicines (health), aesthetic (tourism), horticulture, etc.

Sacred Groves

• Fragments of forests of varying sizes which hold religious-cultural significance

• Often associated with a local deity, demi-god, temple, monastery, pilgrimage, etc.
• There are around 14,000 sacred groves in India
• Home of some endemic and endangered flora and fauna.
Threats to Biodiversity

• Habitat loss
• Rising human population – agri. land
• Urbanization
• Land use change
• Fragmentation and degradation
• Often habitat is fragmented into smaller pieces due to human action e.g. road
construction dividing a forest in two.
• Pollution – degrades the quality of habitat e.g. a paper pulp mill in forest
• Climate change
• Poaching
• Sometimes for meat (food) but mostly for commersial reasons
• Some animal parts are valued because of their alleged medicinal, supernatural,
aesthetic values.
• It is an international syndicate organized crime worth billion.
• Some commonly poached items
• Skins – tiger, leopard, boa – show piece or to make very exclusive belts,
shoes, bags.
• Teeth – elephant – to make show pieces
• Horn – rhino – alleged medicinal properties, youthful and vigor.
• Countering
• Intl. Union. For Conservation of Nature (IUCN) – list of endangered species
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• Convention on International Trade on Endangered Species (CITES) –

multinational treaty banning trade of endangered biodiversity.
• Poaching, money laundering, organized crime, narcotics, terror – it’s all one
network, and it’s difficult for them to find patronage now.
Biological invasion

• Species with no history or belonging to a region establish themselves and proliferate

rapidly.
• This is because often the new environment is extremely suitable to them & lack of natural
predators.
• Demerit – extremely detrimental to local endemic species and biodiversity as invasive
species out compete endemic ones.
• Invasions happen when new species suddenly get access to a habitat, this occurs either due
to a sudden natural bridge between them e.g. ice bridge, or human introduction.
• Economic loss if the invasive species outcompete an economically significant species.
• Some examples of invasive species
• Lantana – introduced from US as ornamental
• Water hyacinth – ornamental – no predator, cover water bodies.
• Giant African snail – eat vegetation
• American bullfrog – eat small insects and larvae.
• Laws to counter bio. Invasion
• Bio diversity act
• Plant quarantine act
• Environmental protection act
• Livestock importation act.
Mass extinction events

• An event by which a significant portion of the biodiversity is made extinct.

• Occurs due to many reasons; asteroid strike, solar flares, volcanic activity, etc.
• There have been 5 previous mass extinction events with the 6th now ongoing (proposed)
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• Late Ordovician – 440 my ago - 85 % of all species extinct mainly marine clams,
starfishes, sponges, trilobites, etc. – glaciation (global cooling), reduction of global
CO2 – but reason is still debated.
• Late Devonian – 360 my ago – 75 % of all species extinct esp. marine invertebrates
(same as above) – global climate change, global cooling, flow of nutrients from
newly formed plants into the water reducing oxygen – again many reasons and still
hotly debated.
• Late Permian – 250 my ago - 95 % of all species extinct (largest extinction event
targeting mainly marine and terrestrial vertebrates) – reason is though to be
volcanism, large meteor strike but actual reason is debated
• End Triassic – 200 my ago - 80 % of all species extinct esp. marine vertebrates and
terrestrial amphibians – mainly caused due to volcanic activity – but again reason
is debated.
• Cretaceous – 76 % of all species extinct (esp. marine and terrestrial reptiles or
dinosaurs) – caused by massive meteor impact at Chicxulub, Mexico.
Anthropocene mass extinction

• Proposed ongoing extinction event.

• This is the 6th mass extinction event.
• Rate of extinction is 100 times more than previous events.
• Remember that extinction events are sudden in geological timescales but very long in
human civilizational terms.
• Mainly the extinction event is due to
• Loss of habitats (land use change) mainly due to agriculture and need to feed the
exploding human population.
• Climate change – and the inability of some species to adapt.
Biodiversity conservation strategies

Effect of human activities on biodiversity

• Environmental pollution – micro & medium scale

• Damages organisms and reduces biodiversity through death or migration.
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• Climate Change – macro level global change

• Makes climate uninhabitable for biodiversity causing migration.
• Habitat destruction – land use change
• Agriculture – expanding cropland to feed exponentially rising population.
• Urbanization – building concrete and asphalt structures
Types / Methodology of biodiversity conservation

• Ex situ – conservation outside the natural habitat and ecosystem of the organism.
o Zoos
▪ Animals are kept in captivity and people are charged a fee to see them.
▪ Can be used to raise awareness about them.
▪ However, many animals in zoos are neglected and under stress.
o Botanical garden
▪ Plants are kept in greenhouses and grown under supervision.
o Gene bank
▪ Remember genetic level of biodiversity, all traits of an organism is stored
in its genome (total chromosomes, containing all the genes and DNA of the
organism).
▪ The genes can be preserved in gene banks in the form of seeds, pollen,
sperm or eggs.
▪ the DNA sequence of the genes can also be stored on hard disks.
▪ The genetic material is stored at –18 *C where all biological activity stops
so genetic materials are preserved in suspended animation.
• In situ – preservation of biodiversity in its native habitat and ecosystem.
o Biosphere reserve
▪ Large areas which can constitute terrestrial (land), marine (water), and
coastal ecosystems.
▪ As we have discussed nothing in environmental studies or biodiversity
conservation can exist in isolation.
▪ Biosphere reserves approach a hollistic and sustainable manner
in biodiversity preservation.
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▪ Collection of all the biosphere reserves from the World Network of

Biosphere Reserves (WNBR) under UNESCO Man and Biosphere (MAB)
Program
▪ There are over 500 biosphere reserves from 100 countries
▪ India has 18 biosphere reserves – 12 of which are part of UN Man and
Biosphere network
▪ Function
• Conservation of biodiversity
• Development of human, economic and socio-cultural interests
• Logistic in research monitoring and exchange of information.

▪ Biosphere reserve zones

• Transition area – area of cooperation where socioeconomic activity
takes place
• Buffer area – activities are permitted as long as it doesn’t
compromise biodiversity efforts.
• Core Area – only research is allowed.
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▪ Biodiversity reserves in India

• There are 18 biosphere reserves in India with 12 of them being under

the World Network of Biospheres Reserve Program.
• Nilgiri – Western Ghats – Lion tailed macaque.
• Nanda Devi – W. Himalayas – Snow Leapord
• Gulf of Mannar – Coasts (TN) - Dugong (sea cow)
• Nokrek – Eastern Hills – Red Panda
• Sundarbans – Gangetic Delta – Royal Bengal Tiger
• Manas – E. Hills (Assam) - Asiatic Elephant
• Simlipal – Peninsula- Gaur, Elephant
• Dihang-Dibang – E. Himalayas – Mishmi Takin (goat antelope)
• Panchamarhi – Semi Arid – flying squirrel
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• Achanakmar-Amarkanthak – Peninsular – Chital, Sambar, barking

deer, gaur.
• Great Rann of Kutch - Desert - Indian wild ass
• Cold Desert - W. Himalayas – Snow leopard
• Khangchendzonga – E Himalayas (Sikkim) - snow leopard and Red
Panda.
• Agastyamalai – W. Ghat - Nilgiri Thar, Elephant
• Great Nicobar – Islands – Saltwater crocodile
• Dibru Shaikhowa - E. Hills - water buffalo, capped langur
• Seshachalam Hills - E. Ghats (Andhra Pradesh) - Slender Loris
• Panna - Peninsula (moist deciduous) - Chinkara, Neelgai, sloth bear
o National parks and wildlife sanctuaries
▪ Both are in-situ sites of significant biodiversity which needs protection
▪ Both notified by the state govt.
▪ Protected by the Dept. Of Forests under the Wildlife Protection Act 1972.

Wildlife Scantuarary
National Park
Objective typically only
Objective = preservation +
conservation
recreation
Status is comparatively lower
Status is higher
Typically for one primary flora /
Typically for entire ecosystem
fauna.
Land owned by govt.
Pvt. Ownership of land allowed
Human activities prohibited in
Human activities permitted
main area
Grazing or collection of
Grazing or collection of
firewood permitted with
firewood restricted
permission
There are round 106 national
There are about 553 wildlife
parks
sanctuaries
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• Some prominent national parks

o Jim Corbett National Park – Uttarakhand – Oldest – Tiger
o Kaziranga National Park – Assam – world heritage site – one
horned rhino
o Bandhavgarh National Park – MP – Leopards & deer, 50 sp. Of
butterflies.
o Periyar National Park – Kerala – Elephant, Gaur Sambhar
o Jaldapara National Park – West Bengal – One horned rhino,
elephant.
o Note – several biosphere reserves, national parks & wildlife
sanctuaries host some of the same flora or fauna – This points to
habitat fragmentation due to human activities.
o During a time in the past tigers were found in abundance.
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Some technical terms for certain ecological roles

• Keystone species.

o Key stone is the ultimate stone on which both sides of the arch apply force on.
o Keystone species are species which are vital for the stability of the ecosystem.
o Keystone species are often large predators which keep the population under check.
o Elephants are also keystone species as they break old decaying trees & promote
new vegetation.
o Alligators who dig shallow ditches where fresh water can accumulate during dry
spells.
o Beavers dam rivers and create a natural pond ecosystem.
• Flagship species
o Flag ship – the best example of soemthing e.g. a flag ship of a navy the most
powerful ship where the fleet admiral commands from.
o Species which are representatives or ambassadors for their ecosystems.
o They are charismatic & may be symbolic, cultural significant, or iconic.
o E.g. Asiatic lion – symbol of power, sovereignty & present on the Ashoka Stamba
(Lion Capitol).
• Priority species
o Species which are prioritized during conservation
o May be keystone species, endangered, or flagship species.
o E.g. Royal Bengal Tiger, One horned rhino, Asian elephant, etc.
• Indicator species
o Species which are very sensitive to the environment
o Any decline in their populations would indicate environmental degradation.
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o E.g. lichens (air pollution), frogs (water pollution), corals (marine water properties
such as pH, temp., salinity)
• Umbrella species
o A species if protected protests many species in the ecosystem.
o Usually migratory and occupy a large habitat.
o E.g. protection of tigers causes other species in the eco. System to also benefit.

Species introduction and translocation

• The goal of biodiversity preservation is to restore the biodiversity to a condition before

anthropogenic damage
• Fix the damaged ecosystem & introduce to it endangered species
• Genetically diverse
• Self-sustainable
• Healthy – both physically & accustomed to the wild.
• In situ sourcing - Introduce species from one ecosystem to another where they have been
previously eradicated.
• Ex situ sourcing – reintroduce species which have been bred & maintained in captivity to
the wild.
• Translocation – the capture, transport and release of species or ecological material such as
soil from one habitat to another.
Case studies

• Project Tiger
o India has 40,000 tigers in 1947, at one time tigers spread across the sub continent.
o Tigers numbers have been decimated to 1827 (1972) due to
▪ Habitat destruction
▪ Poaching
o Wildlife protection act (1972) was promulgated to combat this.
o Project tiger was launched in 1973
o National Tiger conservation Auth. (NTCA) was set up to coordinate efforts across
states & depts.
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o India has 50 tiger reserves & 100 national parks under Project Tiger covering about
2 % of the geographical area of India.
o Objectives
▪ Protect Bengal tigers from extinction
▪ Ensure safety & security
▪ Repair damaged habitats
o As per the census report by MoEFCC the number of tigers inc. 30% from 1400
(2006) – 2226 (2014) and 3682 (2023)
o India has 75% of the global tiger population.
o World tiger day celebrated on 29th of July
o Tiger census is conducted by
▪ Camera trapping – each tiger has unique stripe pattern – M-STrIPES
(software mgt & tracking of tiger population)
▪ DNA fingerprinting.
o Reasons for rise of tiger population in India
▪ Preventing human activities in core area and restricting activity in buffer
area.
▪ Intensive research into the ecosystem dynamics & heath and constant
monitoring.
▪ Good wireless communication and coordination bw the forest dept.
▪ Intensive patrolling and counter poaching activities.
▪ Coordination with the police & intelligence agencies to catch poachers.
▪ Improved water availability to promote vegetation & thus greater
availability of prey.
▪ Stringent punishment for violators.
▪ Intl. treaties & cooperation to both monitor & protect tiger populations. As
well as prevent poaching.
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• Project Elephant
o Launched in 1992 by the MoEFCC
o Nat. Elephant Conservation Auth. (NECA) war formed to coordinate actions across
dept. & states.
o World elephant day celebrated on 12th Aug
o Objective
▪ Protect & conserve elephants & habitats
▪ Assist states for welfare of wild elephants
▪ Address man-animal conflicts.
o India has 32 elephant reserves
o Monitoring Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE) – program by CITES to identify
and reduce cases of elephant killing
o Haathi Mera Sathi Campaign – Elephant my friend campaign – spread awareness
among the public regarding elephants to reduce human – elephant conflict.
o Aims
▪ Ecological restoration with water sources to encourage vegetation.
▪ Elephant corridors – Areas connecting large grazing lands of elephants.
▪ Deter poaching & illegal trade of ivory
▪ Scientific & accurate census and research.
▪ Manage human-elephant conflicts by limiting human activities in elephant
habitat & less lethal techniques of deterring elephants.
▪ Over 500 humans & 100 elephants die each year in human-elephant
conflicts.
▪ About 50 elephants are killed annually to prevent damage
▪ Reasons are destruction & fragmentation of habitats & elephants coming to
farmlands for food.
• Vulture breeding program
o Vultures are scavengers which serve a critical role in environment
o Clean carcasses & prevent spread of diseases.
o Population was 80 mil before 1990 but few thousands were left by 2009.
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o Reasons for decline

o Application of pesticides & biological magnification esp. Diclofenac.
o Impact
▪ Accumulation of carcasses & associated diseases in the enviornment.
▪ Increase of other scavengers such as dogs & rats due to availability of more
food.
o Solution
▪ Create awareness
▪ Limit the use of pesticides
▪ Set up vulture conservation & breeding centers – total of 9 set up already.
▪ Vulture restaurants – feeding stations for vultures.
• Project Indian Bustard
o One of the heaviest flying birds, weighing upto 15 kgs.
o Once a contender for India’s national bird but now critically endangered.
o Now limited to desert & arid regions of NW India.
o Recently set up captive breeding centers and fence off breeding and feeding
habitats.
• Crocodile conservation project
o In India there are three species of crocodiles; Gharial, Mugger, and saltwater
crocodile.
o Crocodile pop. Reached verge of extinction due to
▪ Habitat destruction
▪ Poaching – crocodile skin and body parts for medicines.
▪ Over fishing – getting caught in nets.
o Crocodile breeding program began in 1975
o Assistance was provided by UNDP
o One of the most sucessful programs in the world where pop. Has inc. from 70
(1975) to 70,000 (present).
o There are 11 crocodile sanctuaries and one crocodile breeding and training center.
▪ Mainly rear and release of well laid eggs.
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• Silent Valley Movement

o Silent valley is called so because the lack of noisy cicadas.

o Tropical forest situated in Palghat dist, Kerala.
o One of the most biodiverse regions in the world.
o In 1973 the govt. proposed a hydel powerplant over the Kunthipura river flowing
through the valley
o A local movement started under the Kerala Sastriya Sahitya Parishad (KSSP) which
organized meetings, and awareness campaigns.
o The union govt. appointed Swaminathan comm. To study feasibility of the project.
o The comm. Recommended against the project, suggesting the area be converted to
a biosphere reserve.
o The union govt. approved the recommendation and in 1985 the national park was
declared for the people.
o A victory for people’s ecological movement.
• Save Western Ghats Movement
o W. Ghats are one of the four biodiversity hotspot of India
o They have tropical evergreen vegetation and great biodiversity.
o The W. Ghats are older than the Himalayas and about 50 mil. Yrs. Eco. System
whereas, humans entered only 15,000 yrs ago.
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o Save the Western Ghats Movement (SWGM) (1987-88) agitated via public
awareness campaigns and marches
▪ Mining activity
▪ Habitat destruction and land use change
▪ Dam and other infrastructure such as road construction.
o It has been estimated that only a third of the original ecosystem exists in its pristine
form, that too is fragmented.
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Unit VII – Human Communities and the Environment

Human population growth

• The study of composition of human populations; growth rate, fertility, age cohorts, etc. is
called demography.
• As per official United Nations population estimates revision (2012) the global population
was around 7.2 bn in mid 2013.
• It has been estimated that human population will reach 8.1 bn by 2025 and 9.6 bn by 2050.
• What is responsible for the population growth – population growth depends one two
factors; birth and death rate.
o Birth rate
▪ Momentum – the base population of the Earth is already high and the high
population has a momentum of its own which will take time to reduce and
reverse.
o Death rate
▪ Agriculture – Green Revolution has increased agricultural productivity and
increased food security. In the past many used to die from famine and
starvation, which is a rarity now.
• Wherever starvation is seen it’s mostly because of lack of economic
access to food rather than physical unavailability of food. This is
mainly due to war and other internal conflicts.
▪ Medical care – antibiotics and vaccines – greatly reduced the death rate
from diseases which would otherwise prove fatal.
▪ Sanitation – better understanding of sanitation the cause behind several
communicable diseases and sanitation infrastructure.
• Defecation near sources of water was one of the biggest reasons for
cholera and dysentery which killed lots of children, however the
development of sewer systems has reduced that.
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• Global population is very unevenly distributed.

• Population of the world expressed as area

o Population clusters are determined by

▪ Climate – mild climate attract human habitations
▪ Water – populations usually grow close to places of water
▪ Fertile soil – agriculture ensures food security to support a large population
▪ Socio-economic reasons – places of employment and industry causes
migration.
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• Population distribution in India

• Inequal distribution of human populations exert immense pressure on the environment.

• Resultant poverty causes people to adopt an unsustainable mode of life. – Indian PM at
Stockholm Confrence – “Poverty is the biggest polluter.”

Impact of population growth on environment, human health & welfare.

• The exponential growth of human population mainly affects the environment (including
humans) in two ways.
o Increasing demand for limited natural resources.
▪ Food & clean water
▪ Living space and agricultural land
▪ Forests – coast lines for fish
▪ Minerals from the Earth
o Increasing negative externalities
▪ Pollution
▪ Socioeconomic inequality & tensions – crime
• Effect of population growth on the environment
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o Deforestation
o Land use change
o Biodiversity loss
o Loss of environment quality due to pollution
• The negative effects of increasing population and population density can be mitigated using
superior technology and policies.
o Technology
▪ Agrochemicals such as pesticides and fertilizers which has greatly
improved the agricultural productivity.
▪ Better sanitation and hygiene – greatly reduced death from preventative
diseases caused by dense human habitations.
▪ Medical sciences such as antibiotics and vaccines – reduced death rate from
diseases, many of which are communicable & increase with population
density.
▪ Renewable energy – reduce the pressure on conventional fossil fuels
▪ Energy efficient electronics – reduce the pressures on conventional fossil
fuels by consuming less power.
o Policies
▪ International treaties limited the emission of greenhouse or ozone depleting
gasses through transfer of technology or common mitigation funds.
▪ Better policing, social security, and justice delivery to reduce inequality.
▪ Wildlife protection and management laws to manage and improve
biodiversity in a sustainable banner taking into account all the stake holders.

Carbon footprint

• Carbon, in the form of carbon dioxide (CO2) is the most notorious greenhouse gas (GHG)
• Apart from CO2 there are other GHGs as well such as methane, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur
dioxide, etc., those can also be expressed as carbon dioxide equivalent as many of them are
more potent GHGs than even CO2.
• It is an indirect measure of human activity which mostly involves the burning of fossil fuel
or consumption of energy
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• Measured in tons of CO2 emitted per year.

• Can be measured for the Entire Earth, continents, countries, states, and even households.
• How can you as students reduce your carbon footprint
o Use AC and heater less often – open windows, plant garden, better architecture to
promote air flow and heat retention or dispersal.
o Use public transport to reduce fossil fuel consumption.
o Use energy efficient electronics (LED lights, BLDC fans, 5 star mixers, etc) to
reduce power consumption.
o Reduce food waste as food production also produces GHG.
o Undertake or participate in educational or afforestation programs to increase the
sinks to absorb and fix carbon from the atmosphere.
o Reduce your intake of processed foods as more resources such as energy, water,
fertilizers go into and CO2 is released from production of processed foods as
compared to their unprocessed versions.

Resettlement and rehabilitation

• Sometimes for the greater good it becomes necessary to divert land for use of a large project
eg. Dams, mines, factories, railway tracks, stations, military installations, etc.
• The it becomes necessary to displace tribes, and other peoples who traditionally live on the
land for many years as their home and depend on it for their livelihood.
• Most of the times these communities are marginal and socioeconomically weak, therefore
special care has to be taken for their rehabilitation and resettlement as not to cause them
discomfort.
• Case study – Tehri Dam
o One of the highest dam in the world on the Himalayan Mountain ranges on the
rivers Bhagirathi and Bhilangana which receive their flow from the Gangotri
glacier.
o Reasons for opposing the dam construction
▪ Rivers are considered sacred
▪ The site is located on seismic zone
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▪ About 5200 Ha of land would get submerged – land was taken from about
11,000 land owning families.
▪ The dam construction would affect one town, 37 villages fully and 88
villages partially submerged.
▪ Tehri Bandh Sangarsh Committee (TBSC) (Terhri Dam Struggle Front) was
established in opposition to the dam construction.
• Organized Satyagraha
• Spread mass awareness.
o Rehabilitation plan
▪ Two components urban and rural
▪ Those who lost 50% or more of their land were considered fully affected
whereas, those who lost less than 50% were considered partially affected.
▪ Those who lost their lands were provided with
• Cash compensation
• Land compensation
• Resettlement in blocks as not to uproot and separate social
structures.
• All communal amenities should be provided in the resettlement
colonies.
▪ The Tehri Bandh Sangarsh Committee filed a writ petition in the Supreme
Court and highlighted the following shortcomings of the scheme.
• Faulty estimation of total number of people affected
• Land allotted was already under severe stress
• Land and cash were allotted for the landowners but nothing for those
who were landless.
• Alleged objectionable pressure tactics adopted to convince people.
• Undervaluing immovable assets such as land and houses in
compensation calculation.
• Presence of monuments and other caltural sites which cannot be
compensated.
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Environmental Movements

• The rise in environmentalism is rooted in the rising mass consciousness of Earth’s

exploitation.
• Rise in cultural and environmental ethics has been a turning point in policy formulation.
• The rise of industrialization, and commercialism had caused various governments to ignore
the realities of the grassroots.
• The masses (common citizens) who depend on the environment for their immidiate needs
in resources; clean water, food, minor produce to sell, grazing land, etc. resort to various
means to get their voices heard espicially in a democratic country such as India.
o Protest
o Satyagraha
o Awareness programs
• India also has a unique culture of Gandhian philosophy which works in conjunction with
democracy.
• Mahatma Gandhi was also a very prominent environmentalist who advocated the
importance of gram panchayats, decentralized govt. and environmental concerns.
• India has witnessed movements on environmental issues focused upon biodiversity loss,
deforestation, loss of heritage sites, rehabilitation of ecological refugees and access to
natural resources.

Characteristics of environmental movements

• Stems from question of social justice

• Eco-feminism plays an important role
• Socio-economic threats eg. large international trawlers fishing in coastal areas, harming
employment of fisherpersons.
• Grassroots support
• Non-violent
• Generate mass support due to spreading awareness in media and now social media.
• Has a strong ethical component – eg. animals preforming in circus attracts condemnation
of middle class.
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Case studies

Chipko, Appiko, Silent Valley, and Narmada Bachao Movements were covered earlier.

Bishnois of Rajasthan

• Small tribal community belonging to Khejri village, Rajasthan.

• Nature lovers and environmental preservationists.
• They have mixed environmentalism with religious practices – a sect of Hinduism.
• The sect was started by Guru Maharaj Jambaji who instructed that god is everywhere and
to protect the manifestation of god; forests, and wildlife.
• They can be considered the first eco-warriors of India who protested against deforestation
by local Rajas, the British and even industrialists.
• The Chipkoo movement was deeply inspired by their motivation and dedication towards
environmentalism.

Environmental Justice

• Social movement that addresses inequitable access to environmental resources & exposure
to negative externalities (pollution, land use degradation, etc.)
• Environmental and socio-economic inequalities often go hand in hand.
• Very important as globally societies transition from feudalism or authoritarianism to
democratic where all citizens have a say in decision-making process.
o Democracies are the most stable form of govt. and are the future of the world.
o This was realized by India much before the world in 1947 on independence and
cemented in 26th Jan 1952 (Republic Day) when the entire Constitution of India
came into force.
• It encompasses several fields such as; social studies, ecology, economics, jurisprudence,
politics, conflict resolution, policy, etc.
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• The Environmental Kuznets curve states that on initial increase in economic development
there is deterioration of the environment as the economic development is unsustainable.
However, there reaches a point where environmental and sustainability consciousness
along with more efficient technology leads to preservation and restoration of the
environment on further improvement of economic development.

National Green Tribunal (NGT) & its importance

• National Green Tribunal (NGT) came into existence after the National Green Tribunal Act
(2010).
• The NGT Act was enacted on the recommendation of the Supreme Court
• India is the third country after Australia and New Zealand to have such a tribunal.
• The law was framed by the Law Commission for several reasons
o Comply with international standards of environmental treaties.
o Enforce the principle of polluter pays
o Create a body with expertise in adjudicating in environmental matters
• The tribunal has been vested with special judicial powers to discharge its unique
responsibilities.
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• The tribunal is divided into five zones; north, south, east, west and central, its headquarters
is in New Delhi.
• The chairperson’s office is the main bench containing 10-20 judicial and 10-20
environmental experts.
• Chairperson is a retired judge of the Supreme Court and each bench has one judicial and
environmental expert.
• A person can approach the NGT for relief or compensation for environmental damages
• The NGT can reverse govt. orders if any activity or even decision is contrary to the
following laws. The decision of the NGT is final and binding.
o Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act
o Water (Prevention and control of pollution) Cess Act
o Forest (Conservation Act)
o Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act
o Environment (Protection) Act
o Public Liability Insurance Act
o Biological Diversity Act
• Any case, even a civil one which has an environmental component can be brought within
the preview of the NGT.

Environmental Philosophy

Environmental Ethics

• Ethics – branch of philosophy that deals with what is right and what is wrong.
• Environmental preservation is a part of universal ethics or what cultures across the world
considers right and ideal, this is because cultures across the world have realized that people
must live in harmony with nature for a peaceful and long existence.
• Culture – ideas, customs, social behavior, institutions, etc of a community.
• Ethics and culture are interrelated, and both are essential for environmental outlook and
preservation.
• Eastern cultures are espicially known for their association with nature.
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Role of religions in Environmental preservation

• Zoroastrianism
o Founded by Zarathustra somewhere around 1400-1200 BC.
o One of the oldest religion predominantly based in around Persia (modern day Iran)
– Iran was home to great ancient empires of Achaemenid and Sassanid.
o They believed that the Earth and environment is the creation of sublime goodness
of the “good one” Ahuramazda.
o Evil forces constantly wage battle, and one manifestation of this battle is the
destruction of natural resources and the environment.
o Zoroastrians consider the universe to be made out of the basic components of;
Earth, water, sky, plants, man, cattle, fire, purity and cleanliness which must be
kept pure.
o Tower of Silence – on death, the corpse is washed and placed on high platforms
where vultures and birds of prey clear the flesh and expose the bones and thus
complete the cycle of nature.
• Judaism.
o Oldest of the Abrahamic religions
o People is crated in god’s image and it’s the duty of man to preserve the environment
o People will be rewarded in the afterlife for service to the environment preservation.
• Christianity
o The Garden of Eden was the gift of god to humankind
o God is supreme and has created the universe and humans are made in his image and
endowed with the responsibility to maintain and preserve it.
o Humans are supposed to live in a harmonious relationship with nature.
• Islam
o Allah created the universe and every natural thing within it.
o People are guardians of but not owners of the Earth.
o The Islamic criminal legal code, Sharia, contains many provisions related to
environmental law, including judicial use of resources, preventing contamination,
pollution, and maintaining hygiene.
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• Hinduism
o The oldest still practiced religion
o Rig Vedic Age mentions worship of many natural phenomenon such as thunder,
rain, rivers, fertility, sun, etc. and attributes divine status to them.
o Hinduism believes in reincarnation or that humans depending on their deeds can be
born as other animals and in doing so they circulate among the environments.
o Nature is divine and worshipped; mountains, rivers, trees, soil, fertility, etc.
• Buddhism
o Buddhism is an atheistic faith, there is no god.
o However, Buddhism puts very strong emphasis on mental peace, wellness and
compassion for a universal wellbeing.
o Buddhism believes in Karma, and promotes compassion and preservation for all
living beings and not only humans.
o If you harm nature, what effect will it have on you, no doubt you will suffer.
• Jainism
o Nonviolence “Ahimsa” is a very strong tanent of Jainism.
o One should not cut trees, dig the ground let alone harm animals, or waste water.
• Sikhism
o Human beings are an integral part of nature and should respect and preserve it
o Balance between the elements are necessary for the proper continuation of the
universe.
• Baha’I faith
o Respect for the immutable scientific laws the govern the universe
o Humans are a part of nature but has been given special status because of their
intellect
o But by no means humans are above nature and have the authority to destroy it.
• Sarna religion and many such folk religions
o Practiced mainly by tribes who live in central India
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o Worship nature and deties which are direct manifestations of trees, rivers, rocks,
rain, thunder, etc.
o Celebrate seasons.

Environmental communication and public awareness

• Awareness is the first stop to solving any problem, that is the recognition that there is a
problem and dissemination of information about the same among the people.
• We are all busy in our lives and duties so it’s not possible for us to have information about
every matter including environmental matters, we may be sympathetic towards it but
without proper information we will be ignorant.
• Therefore, it’s important for not only the government but also students, activists and
citizens to spread awareness about relevant issues.
• This environmental communication, public awareness and environmental education is not
limited to formal education but should also be disseminated in all forms of media for
consumption of the people.
• It’s only via education and understanding that we can gain a better technical understating
about the delicate balance of nature, what are the threats posed and how to scientifically
counter as well as reverse the damages.
• The supreme court directive (Apr 22 2004) has made it mandatory to prove formal
environmental education and adoption of a model syllabuse prepared by NCERT. It has
been introduced as a compulsory subject from std. I – XII and been made part of university
education.

Case studies

• CNG vehicles in Delhi

o Delhi is unfortunately having one of the poorest air qualities in the world which is
made worse during the winter months due to stagnant cold air over Delhi.
o Vehicular emissions is a major contributor to this problem which has pollutants
such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, heavy metals from fuel
impurities, volatile organic compounds (VOC), suspended particulate matter
(SPM), etc.
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o From just 500,000 vehicles in 1981, the incrase of vehicles has been prolific, with
80,000 vehicles travelling through Delhi from 8 pm and 6 am (Delhi Traffic Police)
rate of just over two per second.
o Looking at the unique population, geographic conditions of Delhi the supreme court
ordered on 28th July 1998 that all commersial vehicles in Delhi must be converted
to compressed natural gas (CNG) or liquified petroleum gas (LPG) is a much
cleaner burning gas than petrol and more so diesel.
o A network of CNG stations came up to cater to this need rapidly.
o The CNG fleet of Delhi, Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) low floor busses is
the largest such fleets in the world.
o Air pollution in Delhi has come down as a result of this measure.
o The DTC fleet in conjunction with the Delhi Metro serves as one of the best public
transport systems in the world.
• Swaccha Bharat Abhiyan (Clean India Campaign)
o Launched on 2nd Oct (Gandhi Jayanti), 2014
o Mahatma Gandhi highly regarded sanitation and cleanliness.
o Main objectives
▪ Construction of indivudual, cluster and community toilets.
▪ Eliminate or severely limit open defecation – which leads to outbreak of
communicable diseases.
▪ Declare India Open Defecation Free (ODF) by 2019
▪ Monitoring toilets for their proper and continued use
▪ Public awareness regarding the demerits of open defecation – there are some
cultural aspects which frowns upon toilet construction inside home.
▪ Solid and liquid waste management in villages through gram panchayats
▪ Water pipelines to supply all homes with clean potable water by 2019.
▪ Separate toilets for boys and girls by 15th Aug 2015 in all govt. schools and
all Anganwadis.
▪ Sustainable and environmentally friendly toilets.
▪ Eliminate the inhuman practice of manual scavenging
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o It’s important to note that not all toilets are good, and there are dry toilets which
have to be cleaned manually (manual scavenging).
o Dry toilets are illegal and under Swaccha Bharat Abhiyan are being replaced or
retrofitted as flush toilets.
• National Environmental Awareness Campaign (NEAC)
o NEAC is an undertaking by the MoEFCC, Govt. of India.
o Objective is to create a national level awareness program
o It takes up an annual fresh environmental agenda.
o Conducts widespread outreach program involving NGOs, schools, universities, and
common citizens to spread awareness.
• National Green Corps (NGC)
o Program under MoEFCC
o Since its inception in 2001-2002 it has established eco clubs in around 1,20,000
schools
o Each club would contain about 50-60 students with a teacher in charge.
o Take up environmental awareness and education programs
o Engage with the community
o Promote scientific temper
o Organize seminars, and conferences.
o Under eco field trips
o Mobilize citizens and other children for afforestation or cleanliness drivers.