ENVIRONMENTAL CRISIS AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

THE WORLD’S LEADING

ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS
u The depredation caused by industrial and transportation toxins
an plastic in the ground; the defiling of the sea, rivers, and
water beds by oil spills and acid rain; the dumping of urban
waste.
u Changes in global weather patterns (flash floods, extreme
snowstorms, and the spread of deserts) and the surge in
ocean and land temperatures leading to a rise in sea levels
(as the polar ice caps melt because of the weather), plus the
flooding of many lowland areas across the world.
u Overpopulation.
u The exhaustion of the world’s natural non-renewable
resources from oil reserves to minerals to potable water.
THE WORLD’S LEADING
ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS
u A waste disposal catastrophe due to the excessive amount of
waste (from plastic to food packages to electronic waste)
unloaded by communities in landfills as well as on the ocean;
and the dumping of nuclear waste.
u The destruction of million-year-old ecosystems and the loss of
biodiversity (destruction of the coral reefs and massive
deforestation) that have led to the extinction of particular
species and the decline in the number of others.
u The reduction of oxygen and the increase in carbon dioxide in
the atmosphere because of deforestation, resulting in the rise
in ocean acidity by as much as 150 percent in the last 250
years.
THE WORLD’S LEADING
ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS
u The depletion of the ozone layer protecting the planet from the sun’s
deadly ultraviolet rays due to chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in the
atmosphere.
u Deadly acid rain as a result of fossil fuel combustion, toxic chemicals
from erupting volcanoes, and the massive rotting vegetables filling up
garbage dumps or left on the streets.
u Water pollution arising from industrial and community waste residues
seeping into underground water tables, rivers, and seas.
u Urban sprawls that continue to expand as a city turns into a
megalopolis, destroying farmlands, increasing traffic-gridlock, and
making smog cloud a permanent urban fixture.
THE WORLD’S LEADING
ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS
u Pandemics and other threats to public health arising from wastes
mixing with drinking water, polluted environments that become breeding
grounds for mosquitoes and disease-carrying rodents, and pollution.
u A radical alteration of food systems because of generic modifications in
food production.
TYPES OF ENVIRONMENTAL
ECOSYSTEMS
q FOREST ECOSYSTEMS
q GRASSLAND ECOSYSTEMS
q DESERT ECOSYSTEMS
q TUNDRA ECOSYSTEMS
q FRESHWATER ECOSYSTEMS
q MARINE ECOSYSTEMS
 KEY TERMS

ECOSYSTEM BIODIVERSITY
u It is a large community of u It is the variety of life in
living organisms (plants, the world or in a particular
animals and microbes) in habitat or ecosystem.
a particular area.
 KEY TERMS

POLLUTION ECOLOGY
u It is the introduction of u It is the branch of biology
contaminants into the which studies the
natural environment that interactions among
cause adverse change. organisms and their
environment.
 KEY TERMS
GREENHOUSE
EFFECT FOSSIL FUEL
u It is the warming that u It is a fuel formed by
happens when certain natural processes, such
gases in Earth's as anaerobic
atmosphere trap heat. decomposition of buried
These gases let in light dead organisms,
but keep heat from containing energy
escaping, like the glass originating in ancient
walls of a greenhouse. photosynthesis.
 CLIMATE
CHANGE
It is a change in the statistical
distribution of weather patterns
when that change lasts for an
extended period of time. Climate
change may refer to a change in
average weather conditions, or
in the time variation of weather
within the context of longer-term
average conditions.
GLOBAL WARMING

u It is the observed century-scale rise in the

average temperature of the Earth's
climate system and its related effects.
IMPACTS OF GLOBAL
WARMING
u HOTTER DAYS
u RISING SEA LEVELS
u MORE FREQUENT AND INTENSE
EXTREME WEATHER EVENTS
u OCEANS ARE WARMING AND
ACIDIFYING
RESPONSES TO GLOBAL
WARMING
u CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION
§ It consists of actions to limit the magnitude or rate of long-term
climate change.
u CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION
§ It is a response to global warming that seeks to reduce the
vulnerability of social and biological systems to relatively sudden
change and thus offset the effects of global warming.
u CLIMATE ENGINEERING
§ It is the deliberate and large-scale intervention in the Earth’s
climate system, usually with the aim of mitigating the adverse
effects of global warming.
SUSTAINABILITY
u It is the
development that
meets the needs of
the present without
compromising the
ability of future
generations to
meet their own
needs.
THE BASIC PRINCIPLES OF
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
u The principle of holistic approach. Things must be viewed as a
system of inter-related elements, the elements themselves also being
systems interacting with one another. Any intervention may trigger
ripple effects even in remote systems. So local challenges can be
adequately addressed relying on the knowledge of the wider
environment and global trends alike.
u Principle of intra-generational and inter-generational solidarity.
The interests of sustainable development are focused on people. The
development and environmental needs of present generations must be
addressed without compromising the ability of future generations to
meet their own needs.
THE BASIC PRINCIPLES OF
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
u The principle of social justice. The right to adequate conditions for
living must be recognized and fundamental human rights must be
guaranteed for all. All people should have equal opportunities for
acquiring knowledge and skills required to become worthy members of
society.
u The principle of sustainable management of resources. Sustainable
management of resources with a view to the limitations of the carrying
capacity of the environment; by using natural resources in a prudent
and thrifty way it preserves resources required for future development.
Biodiversity is also a natural resource and we attach high priority to its
conservation.
THE BASIC PRINCIPLES OF
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
u The principle of integration. In the course of elaborating, evaluating,
and implementing sectoral policies, plans, and programmes, economic,
social, and environmental considerations and their relationships must
also be taken into account to ensure that they can mutually reinforce
each other. Local, regional, and national activities must be coordinated.
u The principle of utilizing local resources. Efforts should be made to
supply the needs of communities on a local level, from local resources.
Local features and diversity should be preserved. Preservation and
sustainable utilization of the man-made environment and cultural
heritage are also very important tasks.
THE BASIC PRINCIPLES OF
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
u The principle of public participation. Adequate access to information
affecting social/economic life and the environment, to information on
decision making processes must be provided for all. People’s
knowledge about sustainable development, its social/economic and
environmental implications, and about sustainable solutions and
approaches must be clarified and enhanced. Public participation in
decision making should be strengthened.
u The principle of social responsibility. To enable sustainable
development and to make a higher quality of life possible,
unsustainable patterns of production and consumption must be
changed. Businesses’ social responsibility must be strengthened, along
with cooperation between the private and the public sector.
THE BASIC PRINCIPLES OF
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
u The principle of precaution and prevention. The precautionary approach
means that wherever the possibility of severe or irreversible damage is
perceived, a lack of complete scientific certainty may not be used as an
excuse for delaying effective action to prevent damage to the environment
or endangering human health; i.e. action must be taken in view of the
gravity of the perceived threat. Human activities must be planned and
carried out in line with this precautionary principle and activities damaging
or polluting the environment endangering natural systems and human
health must be prevented and - where it is not possible – reduced, and
finally, damages must be restored to their original state as far as possible.
u The polluter pays principle. Prices must reflect the real costs paid by
society for activities involved in consumption and production as well as for
their impacts, including the costs of using natural resources. Those
engaged in activities damaging/polluting the environment must pay for
damage caused to human health or the environment.