Scope of Environment.pdf

Scope and function of Environment Studies. Components of Environment.

1. AECC-EVS (Dr. Mansi Rastogi)
Environment Studies-7 Units
Books recommended-1. Kaushik and Kaushik (hindiand
English, (ePDFfor Engavailable)
2. Singh and Gupta (Hindi)

2. Chapter-1
INTRODUCTION TO ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES

3. EnvironmentalStudies
•EnvironmentalStudiesreferstoasystematicstudyof
environment,abranchofappliedsciencethatseekspractical
solutionsforsustenanceofhumancivilization.
•Interdisciplinary,holisticandmissionorientedstudy
•Involvesthestudyandunderstandingofthefactthatevenasingle
phenomenoncanaffecttheenvironmentinavarietyofways
•withvaryingdegreesofcomplexity
•differentperspectives

4. Definitions
ThetermenvironmentisderivedfromaFrenchwordenvironner
whichmeans‘surrounding’.
Environmentisthesumtotalof
•allsocial,economical,biological, physical, and chemical
factors which constitute the human surroundings
•influenceswhichmodifyand determine the development of
life and its associatedcharacteristics.

5. AbioticComponents
•Abioticornon-livingcomponentsof
environmentincludeallthephysicaland
chemicalfactorsthatinfluenceliving
organisms.
•Examplesofabioticcomponentsareair,
water,soil,rocks,etc.

6. BioticComponents
Bioticorlivingcomponentsarethelivingcomponents
ofenvironmentandincludemicrobes,plants,
animals,andhumanbeings.
Components ofEnvironment

8. Multidisciplinary Nature of EnvironmentalStudies
Environmental Studies requires skills that encompass a range of
disciplines including chemistry, biology, earth sciences, atmospheric
science, statistics, mathematics, andgeography.

9. Importance of EnvironmentalStudies
Gaining knowledge about the Productive, aesthetic/recreational
and optional valuesof environment
Assess the environmental impactsinduced byhuman activities.
It gives us basic knowledge of environment and associatedproblems
(exploitation of natural resources, biodiversity threats, pollution,
human induced calamity such as floods, landslides
It helps to achieve sustainable developmentthrough alternative
solutions
It helps to educate people regarding their duties towards the protection
ofenvironment.
It helps in maintaining ecologicalbalance

10. Need for PublicAwareness
Toconservethedwindlingearth’sresources
Checkenvironmentaldegradationbyhumanactivities
Throughmedia
Through organizing seminars &
conferences
Entertainment
Sciencecenters
Through print, broadcast and
internet
Government alone cannot perform all the
clean-upfunctions.
Individual/groupeffortsandinvolvement
ofyouth
Masspublicawareness:newspapers,radio,
televisionstronglyinfluencespublic
opiniononconservingourenvironment.
Methods for PublicAwareness

12. Segments ofEnvironment

13. •Lithosphere:
Solid componets
Crust: < 1%(Thin5-50 km)
Mantle-68%(molten state,
2900-3500km)
Core-Fe metal (inner and outer
3500 km)
•Hydrosphere:Covers 75% of
earth
(oceans, sea,rivers)
•Atmosphere:
~1%:(99% of air) extends to
1600 km from earth’s surface
Consists of O2, CO2
•Biosphere: Alllife(air, O2, N2,
CO2)

14. SustainableDevelopment
The term sustainable development refers
to the development that meets the needs
of the present without compromising the
ability ofthe future generations to meet
their ownneeds.
•Anapproachtodevelopmentthatlookstobalancedifferent,andoften
competing,needsagainstanawarenessoftheenvironmental,socialand
economiclimitationswefaceasasociety.
•Alltoooften,developmentisdrivenbyoneparticularneed,withoutfully
consideringthewiderorfutureimpacts.
•Wearealreadyseeingthedamagethiskindofapproachcancause,from
large-scalefinancialcrisescausedbyirresponsiblebanking,tochangesin
globalclimateresultingfromourdependenceonfossilfuel-basedenergy
sources.

15. •blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for
all
3 pillars of SD
Environment
SocialEconomic
•17 goals
No poverty, Zero hunger, Good health and well being, Quality
education, Gender Equality ………….
Sustainable development goals (SDG’s)

17. Measures for SustainableDevelopment
SD
population
control
Reducing
per capita
demand of
natural
resources
Using
efficient
technologic
aldevices
Sustainable
agriculture
Promoting
environmental
awareness
through
education
Following
the 3Rs
(reduce,
reuse, and
recycling)
approach
Indices
1.Current status
2.Anticipated
Progress gap
between
predicted value
and specified
target (2030)

18. Sustainable Building Materials:Approach

23. Greenbuildings
Greenbuilding(alsoknownasecobuildingsorsustainable
building)referstoastructureandusingprocessthatthroughouta
building'slife-cycle:
fromsitingtodesign,construction,operation,maintenance,
renovation,anddemolitionis
•environmentally responsible
•resource-efficient
Objective of greenbuildings
•Designedtoreducetheoverallimpactofthebuiltenvironmenton
humanhealthandthenaturalenvironment
•Efficientlyusingenergy,water,andotherresources
•Protectingoccupanthealthandimprovingemployeeproductivity
•Reducingwaste,pollutionandenvironmentaldegradation.

25. There have been four stages:
•Pragmatic resource conservation
•Moral and aesthetic nature preservation
•Utilitarian conservation
•Biocentric preservation
STAGES

27. Utilitarianconservation
Utilitarianismisatheoryofmoralitythatadvocatesactionsthatfoster
happinessorpleasureandopposeactionsthatcauseunhappinessor
harm.Whendirectedtowardmakingsocial,economic,orpolitical
decisions,autilitarianphilosophywouldaimforthebettermentofsociety
asawhole.Utilitarianismwouldsaythatanactionisrightifitresultsin
thehappinessofthegreatestnumberofpeopleinasocietyoragroup.
Biocentric preservation
Thetermbiocentrismencompassesallenvironmentalethicsthat"extend
thestatusofmoralobjectfromhumanbeingstoalllivingthingsin
nature"....Biocentristsobservethatallspecieshaveinherentvalue,and
thathumansarenot"superior"tootherspeciesinamoralorethical
sense.

28. 112
BRIEF HISTORY OF ENVIRONMENTALISM
,
Perhaps the
first real
environmental
activists were
theBishnoi
Hindusof
Khejarli, who
were
slaughtered by
the Maharaja
of Jodhpur in
1720 for
attempting to
protect the
forest that he
felled to build
himself a
palace
The Greek
physicians
Hippocrates
and Galen
began to
observe
environmental
health
problems such
as acid
contamination
in copper
miners.
Five thousand
years ago the
Indus
civilisation
ofMohenjo
Darro(an
ancient city in
modern-day
Pakistan),
were already
recognizing
the effects of
pollution on
human health
and practiced
waste
management
and sanitation.
1835, Ralph
Waldo
Emerson
wroteNature,
encouraging
us to
appreciate the
natural world
American
BotanistWillia
m
Bartramand
ornithologistJ
ames
Audubon
dedicated
themselves to
the
conservation
of wildlife.

29. At the end of
the 19th
century, in
Jena,
Germany,
zoologistErns
t
Haeckelwrot
e about
science we
now know as
ecology.
an anti-
nuclear
manifesto in
1955 with
British
philosopher
Bertrand
Russell,
Campaign for
Nuclear
Disarmament,
in the UK
In the early
20th century,
the
chemistAlice
Hamiltonled
a campaign
against lead
poisoning
from leaded
gasoline, and
it took
governments
50 years to
ban leaded
gasoline.
Rachel Carson
brought the
environmenta
l movement
into focus
with the 1962
publication
ofSilent
Spring,
describing the
impact of
chemical
pesticides on
biodiversity.
Rex Weyler
co-founder of
Greenpeace
International
in 1979.
BRIEF HISTORY OF ENVIRONMENTALISM
,