Professional Documents
Culture Documents
C.B. Dua
R. Gupta
For, so sustained by sacrifice, the Gods will give you the food of your desire. Whoso enjoys their
gift, yet gives nothing, is a thief, neither more nor less.
People should use the world unselfishly in order to maintain the natural balance and to repay
God for the gifts he has given
. Bhagavad Gita
To her whose feet are washed by the ocean, who wears the Himalayas as her crown, and is
adorned with the gems of rishis and kings, to Mother India, do I bow down in respect.
PREFACE
If the world is saved, it will be saved by people with changed minds, people with a new vision.
It will not be by people with old vision and new programmes. Daniel Quinn
One of the major concerns of this millennium is taking good care of the environment which
nurtures all of us. We have now been living in a situation where environmental degradation is
occurring at an unprecedented pace. Environmental studies should be made mandatory in schools
and colleges. There is just no double opinion on this. With the release of pollutants into the
atmosphere on a huge scale and subsequent rise in the levels of global warming, planet Earth is
inching forth an irreversible disaster. If the coming generations are not made aware of the
disaster one could be geared up for such undesirable consequences that are beyond description.
Hence the immediate need of the day is bringing about an awareness of the environment and its
problems at all levels. Sincere efforts are needed to re-establish our links with the environment.
We must protect the environment from ourselves. It is our own life style, greed, selfishness and
lack of awareness that is the starting point of all the problems related to the environment. The
great scientist Albert Einstein has said you cannot solve a problem with the same mind-set
which created it at the first place. It is only when we truly begin to see ourselves as an
indivisible part of the environment, and then there would be a fundamental shift in our mind set
towards its conservation.
The book entitled Environmental Science : Creating a Hopeful Future has been written
keeping in mind the need of undergraduate students from various engineering and science
colleges of all Indian universities.
We would like to thank my colleagues, family members and all other motivational factors that
directly or indirectly enabled us to publish this book.
C. B. Dua
R. Gupta
SYLLABUS
Bachelor of Computer Applications
EVSC 101 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
Objective/s and Expected outcome:
Upon successful completion of the course, students should be able to:
1. Measure environmental variables and interpret results
2. Evaluate local, regional and global environmental topics related to resource use and
management
3. Propose solutions to environmental problems related to resource use and management
4. Interpret the results of scientific studies of environmental problems
5. Describe threats to global biodiversity, their implications and potential solutions
SECTION-A
Introduction: Definition and scope and importance of multidisciplinary nature of environment.
Need for public awareness.
(2)
Natural Resources: Natural Resources and associated problems, use and over exploitation, case
studies of forest resources and water resources.
(4)
Ecosystems: Concept of Ecosystem, Structure, interrelationship, producers, consumers and
decomposers, ecological pyramids-biodiversity and importance. Hot spots of biodiversity.
(4)
Environmental Pollution: Definition, Causes, effects and control measures of air pollution,
Water pollution, Soil pollution, Marine pollution, Noise pollution, Thermal pollution, Nuclear
hazards. Solid waste Management: Causes, effects and control measure of urban and industrial
wastes. Role of an individual in prevention of pollution. Pollution case studies. Disaster
Management : Floods, earthquake, cyclone and landslides.
(5)
SECTION-B
Social Issues and the Environment: From Unsustainable to Sustainable development, Urban
problems related to energy, Water conservation, rain water harvesting, watershed management.
Resettlement and rehabilitation of people; its problems and concerns. Case studies.
Environmental ethics: Issues and possible solutions. Climate change, global warming, acid rain,
ozone layer depletion, nuclear accidents and holocaust. Case studies. Wasteland reclamation.
Consumerism and waste products.Environment Protection Act. Air (Prevention and Control of
Pollution) Act. Water (Prevention and control of pollution) Act. Wildlife Protection Act, Forest
Conservation Act, Issues involved in enforcement of environmental legislation Public awareness
(5)
Human Population and the Environment, Population growth, variation among nations.
Population explosion Family Welfare Programme. Environment and human health, Human
Rights, Value Education, HIV/AIDS. Women and child Welfare. Role of Information Technology
in Environment and human health. Case studies
(4)
Human Population and the Environment: Population growth, variation among nations.
Population explosion Family Welfare Programme. Environment and human health, Human
Rights, Value Education, HIV/AIDS. Women and child Welfare. Role of Information Technology
in Environment and human health.