stroduction to Environmental Studies UT Kel (0) | trols Reed and Sustainable Development evening after evening, fers of our native Earth, res seriously whether ‘As we watch the sun go down, through the smog across the poisoned wat we must ask ourselv jer planet we rally wish some future universal historian on another Plott to say about us: ‘With all their genius: and with allt eae they ran out of foresight and air and food and water and ideas: addi of Progress, sea level rise, sustainable development a tiny island 150 km south of Kolkata in Delta, will soon vanish under the sea. sea. Two other islands in the region red and more are likely to follow. sttwo cyclones hit the Sundarbans Means more coastal @ water moving in on Scanned with CamScanner— Environmental Studies He gives the following reasons for the erosion and sloking of the islands: © The sea level is going up and this is caused by cli- mate change. +» Coastal mangroves were cut down to make way for “Gang The mangroves used to bind the topsoll, but now the soil is being washed away. © The farmers also used to dig wells to get fresh wa- ter for irrigating thelr fields. But in time, the under- ground reservoirs emptied and then collapsed. The rainfall has also shifted to post-monsoon period 4ffecting food production. This change in the rainfall patter is also very likely due to climate change. The change in the climate, ingress of sea water, and the shrinking habitats are also affecting the local species like the Bengal tiger and the Cheetal deer. ‘Some mangrove species are also being threatened with extinction due to increased salinity as well as pollution from industrial effluents. Between 1989 and 2009, there was a 5% loss in forest cover. There are about 100 islands over an area of 9000 sq km in the Sundarbans. The rising sea could drown many of the islands during the coming decades. About 1.35 million people are currently at high risk from sea level rise, storm surges, and coastal flooding, 24 million others face moderate risk. ‘Already about 10,000 people have become refugees in other Islands, while some have moved to Kolkata, ‘Over the next 15 years, 70,000 more could be displaced, ‘As Ghoramara shrinks in size, its people have been moving further inland or to the larger island of Sagar. What will they do when Sagar itself begins to disappear? ' What does the Story of Vanishing Islands Indicate? The islands of the Sundarbans are not unique in their predicament. All over the world, countries consisting of small low-lying islands such as Tuvalu, Kiribati, and the Solomon Islands are facing the effects of the rising sea. The Maldives and Bangladesh could also face severe erosion in the future. Sea level rise and severe weather are just two examples of the impact of climate change (Chapter 14). Almost every aspect of our lives will be affected by this phenomenon. Climate change is the defining issue of this century. It is the biggest threat humanity has ever faced. The way we respond to this threat will shape the lives of the current and and sustainable world. succeeding generations. Hence, the underlying theme of this edition of the book is climate change. It is for you, the reader, to environmental crisis and climate change and join the movement to create a safe derstand the seriousness of the Scientists and many analysts are clear that we do not have much time. If we do not act fast, doomsday will be on us soon (Box 1.1). ‘Minutes to Midnight ‘The world is just ‘3 minutes’ away from a major catastr- phe arising from climate change and nuclear weapons. ‘The Doomsday Glock has been set to 11.57 pm. The Doomsday Clock was created in 1947 by the Board of the magazine The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. The Bulletin was founded in 1945 by scientists who created the atomic bomb. Shocked by the devastation caused by the Hiroshima bomb, the scientists wanted to raise awareness about the dangers of rucsear technology. The Clock is a symbolic indicator that warns the ‘Public about how dose the world is to 2 potentially Civilization-ending catastrophe. Each year, the magazine's Board analyses threats to humanity’ survival to decide where the Doomsday Clock’s hands should be set. The closer the Clock is to midnight, the loser we are to global calamity. In 1947, the Clock was set to 11.53 p.m. Since then the Clock was moved forward and backward depending ‘on the state of the nuclear threat. When the US and the erstwhile USSR conducted their first tests of the hydrogen bomb, the hands were moved to 11.58 pm.In 11991, when the world’s superpowers signed the Strategi ‘Arms Reduction Treaty, the Clack was set to 11:43 Pim. Scanned with CamScanner‘The Globai ¢; vl onmental Crisis and Sustainable Development Now, the Clock has ene tee On eka 2 universally pose extraordinary and undeniable threats to the « climate change, yy uinerabiity to continued existence of humanity, and world leaders a ales emerging in cnc ear MeePONS, have led to act with the speed or on te scale required tm January 2015, the Board set the pons: to protect citizens from potential catastrophe. These sald: ‘Doomsday Clock failures of political leadership endanger every person on earth. re Really a {sThe an Global Environmental and Climate Crisis? re are indi new terms that Sat0F8 of the current state of the planet, drawn from various reports. (The end-of-the-book Glossary) chapter are explained in subsequent chapters and also in the Vv Global warming and climate change 7 aa are clear signs of global warming and the resultant climate change: Average ao temperatures have been rising during the twentieth century and the first decade of the twenty-first century was the warmest on record. Worldwide, extreme weather including droughts, floods, and storms has become more common. Glaciers all over the world are melting. In India, eight out of ten warmest years occurred during the decade_200) In 2013, the’ very’severe cyclone Phailin made landfall on the Odisha coast, affecting 12 million people. Weather patterns have changed drastically in many parts of the country. V Population * The world population reached 7 billion in 2011 andis expected to reach 10 billion by 2100. It took just 12 years for the population to increase from 6 to 7 billion. The larg est share of population growth is expected in countries that are currently low-income ones. India’s population was about 1.3 billion in early 2015. By 2050, with a projected popu- lation of 1.65 billion, we will be the most populous country in the world. V Water and sanitation ‘© Two billion people live in countries that are already water-stressed and, by 2025, two- thirds of the world population may suffer water stress. Some 80 countries suffer from serious water shortages now. Half the world population lacks sanitation facilities. @ During 1911-2014, India lost 50% of its lakes and wetlands to other uses. More than ee Se ae 60,000 villages are without a single source of drinking water. Over 110 million rural sascholds are without toilets. Y Biological diversity © Worldwide, of the known species, 30% of amphibians, 25% of mammals, 12% Ar birds, 25% of reptiles, and 21% of fish species are threatened with exsinction. ‘The current extinction rate is estimated to be 100 to 1000 times the rate at which spe- Ges naturally disappear: 01 Scanned with CamScanner- ns oe. * Mote that 10% of India's recorded wild flora and fama are threatened and Many are on the verge of extinction, Forests © During the decade 2000-2010, the world lost around 13 million ha of fae year. Tropical forests are being cleared at the rate of 70,000 to 170,000 sq km annually (equal to 20-50 soccer fields per minute). * India has lost about 94 million ha of natural forests since 2000. Land © Each year, 6 million ha of agricultural land are lox due to desertification and soil degradation. This los, affects about 250 million people in the world. About 40% of India’s land has been degraded. We lose 5.3 billion tonnes of topsoil every year. Dur. ing 2007-2014, 57,000 ha of land were diverted for industrial and non-agricultural uses. © At least 1 billion people in the world breathe un- healthy air and 3 million die annually due to air pol- lution. Air pollution levels are still above the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines in most developing countries. —— eee ¢ WHO said in 2014 that Indian cities were among those with the highest levels of air pollution. India 'as the highest rate of deaths caused by chronic respiratory diseases in the world, primarily caused by 1ch pollution. Ocean and coastal areas Overfishing and ocean acidification is placing all of marine life at risk, Large areas of “the ooran have Bec dead snes without oy Lie Wee ae groves and corals that perform vital ecological functions have been destroyed. * Industrial eMuents, domestic waste, agricultural runof, shipping activity, and offshore exploration cause heavy pollution of the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, Over the past 40 years, India too has lost more than 50% of its mangrove forests Energy * More than 2 billion people in the world go without adequate energy supplies. Even by 2050, nearly 3 billion people, mostly in rural areas in Africa and Asia, will continu to rely on fuelwood for cooking and heating, while about | billion people will have no access to electricity. ¢ India imports more than 80% of its oil needs, primarily {0 feed the transportation sector: Urbanization * More than half the world’s population now lives in urban areas, compared to little more than one-third in 1972. About one-quarter of the urban Population lives below the poverty line. Scanned with CamScannerThe Global & ‘vironmental Crisis and Sustainable Development * About 239 : urban ee «Population in India's rnilion-plus cities five in slums Just 33% of S have access to piped system. Environmens piped sewage sY tal governance eee ternational negotiations over several years have not led to any agreement on limiting Wine pent £88 missions and tackling climate change ; ; He be has many environment Haand regulations, the implementaem has sbvavy Been las. In adion the rales are often e838 ‘mpeaiments to rapid economic and the government i always under pressure to relax them. You can find many more such examples in regular andl special FePOrS 2° the state of the ‘onment (Boxes |.2 and 1.3). pyre OFTHE PLANET Regular Reports « The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) _healthofthe plans war woridwiiiferg; see also ee periodically a comprehensive global tate Chapter Box 9.1). onment teport, caled the Gobel Eur, «The centre for science and EMronens (cse), ronment Outlook (GEO), There is also a special GEO New Delhi, a public interest research and advocacy for the youth (httpy/www.unep.org/geo/). roanization, sues an Annual State of India's Envi- + The Workdwatch Institute, an independent research _ronment Report (wwwcseindia.org). coxganization in the US, publishes an annual State of The International Union for Conservation of Nature the World report that lists the significant events of (UCN) publishes a Red List of threatened species of the previous year and covers current environmental _ the world (www.ucn.org; see ‘also Chapter 9, Box 9.2). topics (www.worldwatch.org). « WWF International brings out every other year the Living Planet Report, a science-based analysis of the "STATE OF THE PLANET: Examples of Thematic and Special Reports «UN World Water Development Report, published + UN Millennium Eeasystem Assessment Report of very three years so far and annually from 2015 2005 (wwwsmillenniumassessment.orgi $2 also (www.unwaterorg; see also Chapter 5, Box 5.1). Chapter 2, Box 2.2). « fotadical Assessment Reports from the UN Inter- ¢ Report of the World Commission on Dams, pub- ‘governmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC).The lished in 2000 (www.uneporg/dams/WCD/. Fifth Report was released in 2014 (wwwipcc-ch; see also Chapter 14). “The picture is lear: Severe environmental degradation is happening all over the world. Whatisthe reason for thisdepressing state of affairs? Scientistsand environmentalists are clear that human activities have led to this crisis. Should We Not Worry More about Problems such as Poverty, Armed Conflicts, and Terrorism than about the Environment? It is true that the world is facing many serious issues such as: ‘© Wars, local conflicts, and terrorism Exploding population Agricultural crisis » Widespread hunger, poverty, and extreme inequalities Scanned with CamScanner- Environmental Studies Key idea © Massive diaplacement of people due to environmental changes and de. 1, We are consuming velopment projects Natural resources © Emergence of new diseases at arate much © Corruption in politics and government ‘higher than that at_ ff * Economic downturn and financial crises which nature can : _ 7 ‘ regenerate them. ff However, all such issues and the environmental crisis are interrelated. Here 2 Asweconsume the FP are some examples of such connections: resources, we are © Conflicts of any kind degrade the environment through the planting of landmines, destruction of irrigation systems and water resources, interfer. cence in planting, harvesting crops, etc. There is also the real danger of fu. ture wars being fought over scarce resources like oil and water. Rapid increase in population puts €normous pressure on natural resources such as water, land, and biological diversity. Reaver Need an | © Environmental degradation Teads to droughts, crop failures, and rural pov. erty, It also forces people to migrate to cities looking for livelihood. This in turn creates unsustainable urban demand for water, power, sanitation, and soon. © Toxic waste from cities and industries give rise to new diseases. © Corruption enables the violation of environmental laws and regulations, leading to greater degradation. Surely nature will take care of the environmental problems over time? The earth has existed for 5 billion years, humanity for 3 to 5 million years, and civilization for 10,000 years. The earth and all its living beings have survived many crises and cataclysmic events. Looking back over centuries, nature seems to have absorbed disturbances and stayed always in balance. Thousands of species have survived over a long period and, consequently could be expected to continue to exist forever. Will we not survive the current environmental crisis too? The earth will surely survive this crisis and many species may survive too, but we may be wrong in assuming that humanity will also continue to exist forever. The reason is that there is something different happening now. Tn the past, changes in nature were always slow but that is no longer true, Human activities have drastically increased the pace at which things change. What is happening nov can be described by a simple mathematical curve or graph—the exponential growth of a quantity with time. This curve is relatively flat in the beginning, but becomes steeper and steeper with time (Read Box 1.4 for an explanation of exponential growth.) Suppose you invest (1000 in a bank, which gives you the balance will be 21210 (81100 + 110), Thus, eve? an annual interest of 10%. You ask the bank to reinvest year, an increased amount of int “ erest gets the interest eared every year (We call this compound — the principal. What will be the accumulated amount?! interest.) At the end of the frst year, your account will the end of 50 years? Guess the amount before e239 have grown to 1100, At the end of the second year, further! Scanned with CamScannerThe Global Environmental criss and Sustainable Development In 50 years, the amous wo ore than 917,00" You gui have grown e009 a i Rot know the Graeresimated the value. Tne grant Nave surely Compare this growth with inceret. The Intal deposit or Tross ect simple ! “me ona amount of {interest (€100) every om ie . 5 end of 50 yer the total amount wl peony t sont tia a + Interest of 5000). You ‘com ni 3 Sa atowce ke sone cena 2 ‘Mathematically, any growth i . ” s ex nse lsat a constant rate per time perog, ther 7 than a constant amount. If you show exponential growth as a graph, the shape of the curve will be fe the letter J. Figure 1.1 shows the oe growth of your o “ smenent of 100 a cong en ce : compare the growth with a simple ive Showing Exponential Interest of same value. FIGURE1.1. Cur ‘Many natural phenomena exhibit exponent value. You can get the doubling time by dividing For example, the population of the sod the number 70 ty the growth rate of the quantity. fhas been increasing exponentially. With every case of | This formula is derived from the basic mathematics of growth we associate’a doubling time: This exponential growth. World population doubles every ‘s roughly the time it takes for the quantity to double 45 years or so. Four such mega phenomena or spikes have been occurring, with profound implications for life on earth. These are the four quantities that are growing exponentially: © Size of the human population (Fig. 1.2) © Production and consumption of goods and services (Fig, 1.3) @ Concentration of carbon dioxide gas in the atmosphere (Fig, 1.4) © Number of biological species becoming extinct every year (Fig, 1.5) 'A remarkable fact is that, in each case, the curve was flat over centuries until. the spike began in recent times, What makes matters worse is that the four spikes are srrerconnected, each amplifying the others. Let us take a closer look at these four phenomena. Are There Too Many People on Earth? ‘The exponential growth in human population began in 1650 and now, every three days, the size increases as much as it did in a whole century before. We have to provide the current 73 billion people (and billions more to come) with food, water, shelter, education, medical facilities, and so on. This task looks even more formidable in the light of the impact of the other three spikes. Chapter 16 deals with the topic of population growth. Are We Consuming Too Much? iking around 1900 and the steady ount of natural resources used up every year began spiking aroun: an — Hod wo extraordinary levels of unsustainable consumption Inthe mad Scanned with CamScannerSRA avoninontal Studien wy warn omer eae 2 2 £ Maione of Pacgee 2: IP rs t | | FIGURE 1.2 Growth of Population g 3 g parts per mation, volume) g g 8 08 in the atmoephere ( 8 Year FIGURE 14 Growth of Carbon Diox ide Emission (POA 1000 15002000 : 5 Near FIGURE 1.3 Growth of Consumption Fira a FIGURE1.5 Growth in Loss of S Scanned with CamScanneroil, and 7 ronmen > Be tal Cr 0 consume rm, al Crisis and Sustainable Development & an nate occurred Sr rpeatite been very low. The ace Man bina Suing the last four centuries have decimate plant and animal species. iologists believe that we have now entered the fastest mA extinction rate in in Chapters 9 wi 1. ua whale these quantities spike over the last two or three centuries? \e reason is that there has been a fundamental change in the man-environment relationship. How has the Man-Environment Relationship Changed? This change began with the Scientific and Industrial Revolutions that occurred in Europe in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Man’s new attitude towards nature came from the Idea of Progress which is based on these beliefs: ¢ Humans are a superior species and can indefinitely exploit nature. @ Our progress towards a better life would be linear and continuous. F Science and technology would help us in this quest for ceaseless Progress and develop- ment. “Through colonialism and other ways, the Idea of Progress was conveyed to large parts of the world. Today, most countries swear by this notion of growth and development through gy, and industrial expansion. science, technolo} a so rapialy that we are now living beyond our means, Our ‘We went on exploiting nature ‘Ecological Footprint is getting larger and larger. What is Ecological Footprint? Aseume that you five in a small house i & city, Let us say that the house is surrounded by +a small garden and there isa compound wall that marks your plot of land, Can you isolate yourself in your home and continue to live indefinitely? ‘You cannot, since you need many things from outside: food, walt material of different sors and so on. Your garden may give ‘you some vegetables, but it veannot provide you all the food items you need. ‘There may be a yeiiJon your land, but the water ‘may not be potable and you may have to depend on outside inking water. ee vak the question: How large a land will you need just 10 sustain yourself is your Ecological Footprint. Scanned with CamScanneroess*OnmMental Studies 7 Let us do a mental experiment. Take the physical area of Chennai and cover it with a muge glass hemisphere. We let in sunligh hy do not allow any material to enter or leave the enclosure. How long wi: city survive? Not many days! the The city cannot produce enough food for all the people. There yy severe water scarcity because the tankers from the surrounding vi b stop entering the city. The enormous amount of solid waste generated a" day cannot be sent away oF dumped into the sea. The air trapped ae hemisphere will soon become so polluted that people will find it diffcyy breathe. The ‘Carrying Capacity’ of the city area is not sufficient to sae i ulation. Ciel nen d the size of the glass hemisphere to take ‘Suppose we are able to expani i more anti more of the surrounding area, Assume also that this area has natural resources like a mini-earth. We can now ask another question: How large shoul, the area covered, if we want the city to survive indefinitely on the land, water, and en resources available within the hemisphere? That area is the Ecological Footprint of the iy Most cities have huge needs and draw their requirements from a very large ar, surrounding the city. The Ecological Footprint of any large city is many, many times than its actual area. Similarly, we can talk about the Ecological Footprint of a country. Ory US with that of an Indian citizen. can compare the Footprint of a citizen of : | We can express Ecological Footprint either in units of area or as the ratio ofthe a required to the actual area of the entity. For example, if a city requires for its survival nary three times its geographical spread, then its Ecological Footprint is three. How is our environmental crisis connected to the idea of Ecological Footprint? ‘The larger the Footprint, the more is the consumption of natural resources and the mor is the environmental degradation. Most of the world’s cities and many developed countries have Footprints greater than one. What is the Ecological Footprint of Humanity as a Whole? ‘The answer may surprise you. Humanity’s Ecological Footprint is more than 1.5. Thati, we now require 50% more than the earth’s area to sustain our consumption of naturl resources! Our Footprint is also increasing steadily. How is that possible? Common sense tells us that we could not be using resources fro an area larger than that of the earth! We have only one earth. If our Footprint is 1.5, hor are we surviving at all? We survive because each year we are using up more than our annual share of the earth! resources. By June or so, we use up ecological resources that the earth regenerates in tt a year! The rest of the year, we survive by dipping into our quota of the future. inn a craw more eee tren pipe than the amount of natural recharge. We ca at can re-populate. i is te rate at which new trees grow. ‘populate. Our logging of trees is faster that Instead of living within the ‘ i , Key idea Humanity’s a is in the ‘annual interest’ that nature gives us, we ba Ecologia Foarint s ii eles ‘natural capital’. In a sense, we are ting teas already . long i ( ; oad 6 to our children and grandchildren. We are living beyond os Scanned with CamScannerThe Globa 7 “vironmental criss and Sustainable Developme In gene; ‘ral, i te faster than it on, A si ating Wa! ; Nit using resources 6 and cre for a short wean bur [toutes faster than they CA rennet le his ca cas our well-beipns? %FH00t u is is called ‘ecological evershoo! «of resour -s on whi Anotha 8 depends ltimately leads to the drastic deplete? other reason -ople of earth consume veer yey Bumanity survives ecological overshoot is that the poorer PE pl 100) what Is Carrying Capacity and i, Carrying Capacity ref low does It Relate to Ecological Footprint? oe = ei lan‘ Corey ttc in ec arrying Capaci ‘erned about the nad the future: a : Capo mayen te rer cay and consent nc That is because hi humans, however, calculating the Camying Capacity i as distinct from ‘nen heen chan eomee comme, in cds of living, and tha kgact or abe One et ne oes ee proauctv 9 Ecologi ¢s in technology cannot also be easily predicted: oo fay Footprint, on the other hand, is only concerned the present and Pat Footprint ula of asking how many people could be supported OP the planet, Ea a atime PPeessary to Support all OF gical productio on the planet in a given year under that year’s sand ng, bilo production, and technology? This a queton chat +2 year gwered through ee What has the World Done about the Environmental Crisis? Even by the 1960s, the adverse environmental impact was becoming clear. Books like Rachel Carson's Silent Spring (1962) environmental movement. "The UN Conference on Human Environment in 1972 held in Stockholm was the first international initiative to discuss environmental problems. Ip 1983, the UN set up the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) with Gro Harlem Brundtland of Norway as the Chairperson. The WCED Report, called Our Common Future, emphasized the need for an integration of economic and ecological systems. “The Commission supported the concept of ‘Sustainable Development. What is Meant by Sustainable Development? ‘The WCED Report gave the following definition: Sustainable devel is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of tare generations to med thir xn ‘This definition implies that economic development and environmental conservation could go together. Ls this possible or sit just a dream? We will return to this question toward the end of the book (Chapter 19). "After we discuss the diverse aspects of the environmental possible solutions, we will be in a better position to examine the concepts of development. of consumption, For of unbridled economic growth et the tone for an crisis and the sustainability and sustainable What Happened after the Stockholm Meeting? ‘After Stockholm, the major effort was the UN Conference on Environment and Development {UNGED, called Barth Suri held in 1992 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Attended by more Scanned with CamScannerEnvironmental Studies Ultimately, it is a question of changing one’s mindset and taking greater care in the of natural resources. If that happens to # sufficiently large number of people, we begin to manage the resources in @ wise and sustainable way. We will return to this question in the final chapter of the book. REVIEW: A SUMMARY OF THE KEY eR ad ronmental indicators show that the world isfacing a global crisis. this century. It is the biggest threat we have ever faced. @ Climate change is the defining issue of Siac are the cause of the crisis We consume natural resources at an ever-increasing rat, without ging nature time to regenerate «We also pollute the world so much that nature cannot absorb al oft © Our unsustainable way of living can only lead to a catastrophe. sustainable way of Ting ¢ rooted in our attitude of domination and exploitation of nature, based on the © The environmental cri Idea of Progress. ‘@ Many phenomena like population and consumption have been growing exponentially over the past 0 years or so. This has never happened before. ‘@ The concept of Ecological Footprint expresses the amount of land needed to sustain the lifestyle of an entity—a person, a city, a country, etc. @ Humanity’s Ecological Footprint is already more than 1.5. That is, we now require 50% more. than the earths area to sustain our consumption of natural resources. ° a have been several international conferences over the issues of environment and development Mt implementation ofthe agreementshas been poor. = —SOS~S~*S . pilae the environment has to be an interdisciplinary one. @ If we joir i in forces and change our ways of ving, we can still stop the destruction and save humanity Scanned with CamScanner