Environmental Management

Module 1 : Introduction & Definition of

Environment

Faculty Name : Dr. Ashwini Naik

Lecture 1

Introduction & Definition of

Environment
Course Objectives:

1. Understand and identify environmental issues relevant to India and global

concerns

2. Learn concepts of ecology

3. Familiarize environment related legislations

3 Lecture 1 – Introduction to Environment Management

Course Outcomes

CO1: Understand the concept of environmental management.

CO2: Understand ecosystem and interdependence, food chain etc.

CO3: Understand and interpret environment related legislations

Lecture 1 – Introduction to Environment Management

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Module 1 Contents

 Significance of Environment Management for contemporary managers

 Career opportunities

 Environmental issues relevant to India

 Sustainable Development

 The Energy scenario

Lecture 1 – Introduction to Environment Management

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Reference Book

 Environmental Management: Principles and Practice, C J Barrow, Routledge

Publishers London, 1999

 A Handbook of Environmental Management Edited by Jon C. Lovett and David

G. Ockwell, Edward Elgar Publishing

 Environmental Management V Ramachandra and Vijay Kulkarni, TERI Press

 Indian Standard Environmental Management Systems — Requirements With

Guidance For Use, Bureau Of Indian Standards, February 2005

 Environmental Management: An Indian Perspective, S N Chary and Vinod

Vyasulu, Maclillan India, 2000

 Introduction to Environmental Management, Mary K Theodore and Louise

Theodore, CRC

Lecture 1 – Introduction to Environment

6 Management
What is Environment Management ?

Lecture 1 – Introduction to Environment

7 Management
Introduction

 Environmental management seeks to steer the development process to take

advantage of opportunities, try to avoid hazards, mitigate problems, and prepare
people for unavoidable difficulties by improving adaptability and resilience.

 Environmental management is a process concerned with human–environment

interactions

 Seeks to identify: what is environmentally desirable;

 What are the physical, economic, social and technological constraints to achieving
that;

 What are the most feasible options

Lecture 1 – Introduction to Environment

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Management
Characteristics of EM

 It supports sustainable development;

 It is often used as a generic term;
 It deals with a world affected by humans
 It demands a multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary or even ‘holistic’ approach;
 It has to integrate and reconcile different development viewpoints;
 It seeks to co-ordinate science, social science, policy making and planning;
 It is a proactive process;
 It generally embraces the precautionary principle;
 It recognises the desirability of meeting, and if possible exceeding, basic
human needs;
 The timescale involved extends well beyond the short term, and concern
ranges from local to global;
 It should identify opportunities as well as address threats and problems;

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Lecture 1 – Introduction to Environment Management
 Definition of EM

 An approach which goes beyond natural resources management to encompass the

political and social as well as the natural environment . . . it is concerned with questions
of value and distribution, with the nature of regulatory mechanisms and with
interpersonal, geographic and intergenerational equity (R. Clarke, Birkbeck College,
University of London: personal communication).

 Environmental management – a generic description of a process undertaken by

systems-oriented professionals with a natural science, social science, or, less commonly,
an engineering, law or design background, tackling problems of the human altered
environment on an interdisciplinary basis from a quantitative and/or futuristic
viewpoint

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Lecture 1 – Introduction to Environment Management
Scope of EM

Environmental management must do three things:

(1) identify goals;

(2) establish whether these can be met;
(3) develop and implement the means to do what it deems possible.

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Lecture 1 – Introduction to Environment Management
A typical scheme of practice adopted for environmental
management

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Lecture 1 Introduction to Environment Management
The evolution of environmental management

 Since prehistory, humankind has accumulated environmental know-how and

developed strategies for exploiting nature.

 To help regulate and sustain resource use people often evolved taboos, superstitions
and common rights, formulated laws to improve stewardship, and

 For centuries some have undertaken resource inventories

Lecture 1 – Lecture 1 Introduction to Environment

13
Management
Motivation for environmental management

 Pragmatic reasons – fear or common sense makes people or administrators

seek to avoid a problem.
 Desire to save costs – it may be better to avoid problems or counter them
than suffer the consequences: pollution, species extinction, human deaths,
costly litigation.
 There may also be advantages in waste recovery, energy conservation and
maintaining environmental quality.
 Compliance – individuals, local government, companies, states and so on
may be required by laws, national or international agreement to care for the
environment.
 Shift in ethics – research, the media, individuals or groups of activists may
trigger new attitudes, agreements or laws.
 Macro-economics – promotion of environmental management may lead to
economic expansion: a market for pollution control equipment, use of
recovered waste, more secure and efficient energy and raw materials
supply; or there may be advantages in ‘internalising externalities’.
Lecture 1 – Lecture 1 Introduction to Environment
14 Management
 The nature of environmental management

 ‘Management’ is difficult to define precisely – it is a dynamic process which can include

many aspects: reduction of uncertainty, leadership and motivation.

 In addition, ethics, management skills, quality standards, codes of conduct and

transparency are increasingly important.

 Environmental managers once consulted mainly with natural science advisers, planners
and administrators

 Environmental managers now commonly deal with historical data, policy formulation,
social capital and institutional issues, qualitative socio-economic information, social
development, social impact assessment, political ecologists, economists, lawyers,
business personnel, anthropologists and others

 A growing number of businesses and institutions employ environmental managers and

promote the field.

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Lecture 3 – The nature of environmental management
Cont..

 Environmental management has become more co-ordinatorial and participatory

and much more integrative; and it has also spread widely beyond the Western
‘liberal’ democracies where it originated.

 Environmental managers have to prompt awareness by using evidence from

environmental historians, palaeoecologists, archaeologists, geologists, those
modelling and forecasting future social, economic and social changes, and
others interested in human–environment interactions.

 Efforts to improve human material well-being and security have rarely been well
planned, intended to benefit a broad swathe of society and avoid environmental
damage.

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The process and goals of environmental management

 sustaining and, if possible, improving existing resources;

 the prevention and resolution of environmental problems;
 establishing limits;
 founding and nurturing institutions that effectively support environmental
research, monitoring and management;
 warning of threats and identifying opportunities;
 where possible improving ‘quality of life’;
 identifying new technology or policies that are useful.

Lecture 3 – The nature of environmental

17 management
Cont…

 Effective environmental management also demands ‘scoping’ (deciding

goals and setting limits on efforts) before starting to act;

 Some environmental managers express their overall vision and goals by

publishing environmental policy statements – to show intent, identify
priorities and principles, and to give a sense of purpose.

 Environmental managers must ensure there is an optimum balance

between environmental protection and allowing human liberty.
 Establishing where that balance lies depends largely on accepted ethics

 Environmental managers tend to follow risk-aversion strategies, including:

 working to safe minimum standards;
 adopting sustainability constraints;
 following a ‘win–win’ or ‘least regrets’ approach (i.e. actions which seek
benefits whatever the outcome or seek to reduce unwanted impacts,
respectively).

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 Approaches to environmental management

 Ad hoc approach: approach developed in reaction to a specific situation.

 Problem-solving approach: follows a series of logical steps to identify problems and

needs and to implement solutions (see Figure 1.1).

 Systems approach: for example,

● ecosystem (mountain; high latitude; savanna; desert; island; lake and so on)
● agro-ecosystem
 Regional approach: mainly ecological zones or biogeophysical units, which may
sometimes be international (i.e. involve different states, e.g. an internationally
shared river basin).
For example, ● watershed , river basin, coastal zone, island, command area
development authority (irrigation-related) . administrative region ,sea (e.g.
Mediterranean; North Sea; Baltic; Aral Sea, etc.).

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Cont..

 Specialist discipline approach: often adopted by professionals.

For example, air quality management ,water quality management,
land management , environmental health ,urban management
,ocean management , human ecology approach , tourism
Management/ecotourism , conservation area management.
 Strategic environmental management approach:
 Voluntary sector approach: environmental management by, or encouraged
and supported by, NGOs.
For example, debt-for-nature swaps , private reserves , ‘ginger
groups’ which try to prompt environmental management , private
funding for research or environmental management.
 Commercial approach: environmental management for business/public
bodies.
 Political economy or political ecology approach
 Human ecology approach

Lecture 3 – The nature of environmental

20 management
Classification EM
Environmental management may be subdivided into a number of fields,
 sustainable development issues;
 environmental assessment, modelling, forecasting and ‘hindcasting’ (using history or
palaeoecology for future scenario prediction), and impact studies;
 corporate environmental management activities;
 pollution recognition and control;
 environmental economics;
 environmental enforcement and legislation;
 environment and development institutions (including NGOs) and ethics; environmental
management systems and quality issues;
 environmental planning and management;
 assessment of stakeholders involved in environmental management;
 environmental perceptions and education;
 community participation for environmental management/sustainable development;
 institution building for environmental management/sustainable development;
 biodiversity conservation;
 natural resources management
 environmental rehabilitation/restoration;
 environmental politics;
 environmental aid and institution building.

Lecture 3 – The nature of environmental

21 management
The concept of ‘limits’ to development

 levels of consumption of the population (i.e. lifestyle);

 the type of technology used to satisfy consumption and dispose of waste

(Harrison, 1990);

 environmental conditions and/or environmental change.

Lecture 3 – The nature of environmental management

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Time Horizon of World Model

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 Environmental issues relevant to India

 Environmental problems are becoming serious in India because of the

interacting effects of increasing population density, industrialization and
urbanization, and poor environmental management practices.

Some of the major factors responsible for increasing the severity of the
problems.

 Lack of political commitment

 lack of a comprehensive environmental policy,
 poor environmental awareness,
 functional fragmentation of the public administration system
 poor mass media concern, and
 prevalence of poverty

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Major Environmental issues

Lecture 4: Environmental issues relevant to

25 India
Pollution of Environmental Media

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 Air Pollution

 The emission of any impurity

into the air, such as smoke
(including tobacco smoke),
dust, cinders, solid particles,
gases, mists, fumes, odours and
radioactive substances.

 Air pollution and smoke

in New Delhi

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 Smoke from Factories

 Wadala residents say factory

fumes are triggering
headaches

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Water Pollution

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India
Surface Water Pollution

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Ground Water Pollution

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Marine Water Pollution

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 Land Pollution:

 Plastic bag and general

waste dump beside
communal toilets on
riverbank

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Major Concerns

Causes
illness &
Death
TRANSBO Damage to
UNDARY Ecosystem
IMPACTS- & Habitat

Loss of
Economic
Plant &
Conseque
Animal
nces
Life
Loss of
Natural
Resources

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Global Environmental Problems

 Everything that surrounds or affects an organism during its lifetime is collectively

referred to as its environment.

 Human civilization and globalization are the dominant culprits of constant

change in the global environment in present scenario.

 Various processes that can be said to contribute to the global environmental

problems include pollution, global warming, ozone depletion, acid rain, depletion
of natural resources, overpopulation, waste disposal, deforestation and loss of
biodiversity.

 One of the major impacts is the release of large quantities of carbon dioxide and
other greenhouse gases in atmosphere as the result of burning of fossil fuels by
industries and automobiles.

 The result is the worldwide pollution problem, temperature fluctuation of our

planet, ozone hole and possible change in Earth’s climate.

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Global Environmental Problems

 Loss of forests, damage to water bodies (lakes and ponds) and their
ecosystems by acid rain, over-exploitation of natural resources, massive
extinction of species due to habitat destruction and other well-known causes
worldwide are connected with environmental issues globally.

 The rapidly growing demographic structure and globalization are leading to a

number of environmental issues because of the uncontrolled urbanization,
industrialization, deforestation and loss of useful agriculture land.

 The global environmental health impact remains profoundly perturbing.

 Unsafe water, poor sanitation and hygiene conditions, air pollution and global
climate change accounts for nearly a tenth of deaths and disease burden
worldwide.

 Due to above-mentioned environmental issues, our planet is facing severe

environmental crisis.

 Current environmental problems lead to disasters and tragedies.

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Hazardous wastes and Chemicals

Lecture 4: Environmental issues relevant to India

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Major Concerns

ILLEGAL DUMPING

TRANSPORT AND DISPOSAL OF HAZARDOUS WASTES

INTERNATIONAL TRADE IN HAZARDOUS CHEMICALS

CAUSE OF SERIOUS DAMAGE TO WATER SOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT

PERSISTENCE AND BIOACCUMULATION OF CERTAIN ORGANIC POLLUTANTS

Lecture 4: Environmental issues relevant to India

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Land Degradation

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Major Concerns

Disruption
Lower Soil Forced Lack Of Food
Poverty Of Water Drought
Productivity Migration Security
Cycle

Lecture 4: Environmental issues relevant to India

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Acid Rain

 Acid rain describes any form of precipitation that contains high levels of nitric and
sulfuric acids. It can also occur in the form of snow, fog, and tiny bits of dry material
that settle to Earth. Normal rain is slightly acidic, with a pH of 5.6, while acid
rain generally has a pH between 4.2 and 4.4.

Causes of acid rain

 Rotting vegetation and erupting volcanoes release some chemicals that can
cause acid rain
 The biggest sources are coal-burning power plants, factories, and
automobiles.
 When humans burn fossil fuels, sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides
(NOx) are released into the atmosphere.

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A virtual tree graveyard of Norway spruce in Poland bears the scars of acid
rain. Caused when rain droplets absorb air pollution like sulfur and nitrogen
oxides, acid rain weakens trees by dissolving nutrients in the soil before plants
can use them.

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Effects of Acid rain

 Sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides are not primary greenhouse gases that
contribute to global warming, one of the main effects of climate change.

 Acid rain has many ecological effects, especially on lakes, streams,

wetlands, and other aquatic environments.

 Some species can tolerate acidic waters better than others. However, in an
interconnected ecosystem, what affects some species eventually affects
many more throughout the food chain, including non-aquatic species such
as birds.

 Acid rain and fog also damage forests, especially those at higher elevations.

 The effects of acid rain, combined with other environmental stressors, leave
trees and plants less healthy, more vulnerable to cold temperatures, insects,
and disease.

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Global Warming

 Since the Industrial Revolution, the global annual temperature has

increased in total by a little more than 1 degree Celsius, or about 2 degrees
Fahrenheit.

 Between 1880—the year that accurate recordkeeping began—and 1980, it

rose on average by 0.07 degrees Celsius (0.13 degrees Fahrenheit) every
10 years.

 Since 1981, however, the rate of increase has more than doubled

 For the last 40 years, we’ve seen the global annual temperature rise by 0.18
degrees Celsius, or 0.32 degrees Fahrenheit, per decade.

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Causes of Global warming

 Global warming occurs when carbon dioxide (CO2) and other air pollutants
collect in the atmosphere and absorb sunlight and solar radiation that have
bounced off the earth’s surface.

 Normally this radiation would escape into space, but these pollutants, which
can last for years to centuries in the atmosphere, trap the heat and cause
the planet to get hotter.

 These heat-trapping pollutants—specifically carbon dioxide, methane,

nitrous oxide, water vapor, and synthetic fluorinated gases—are known as
greenhouse gases, and their impact is called the greenhouse effect.

 our current era of global warming is directly attributable to human activity—

specifically to our burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil, gasoline, and
natural gas, which results in the greenhouse effect.

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Impact of Global Warming

 Scientists agree that the earth’s rising temperatures are fueling longer and
hotter heat waves, more frequent droughts, heavier rainfall, and more
powerful hurricanes.

 In 2015, for example, scientists concluded that a lengthy drought in

California—the state’s worst water shortage in 1,200 years—had been
intensified by 15 to 20 percent by global warming.

 The earth’s ocean temperatures are getting warmer, too—which means that
tropical storms can pick up more energy. In other words, global warming
has the ability to turn a category 3 storm into a more dangerous category 4
storm.

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Impact of Global Warming

 The impacts of global warming are being felt everywhere.

 Extreme heat waves have caused tens of thousands of deaths around the
world in recent years.

 And in an alarming sign of events to come, Antarctica has lost

nearly four trillion metric tons of ice since the 1990s.

 Disappearing glaciers, early snowmelt, and severe droughts will cause more
dramatic water shortages and continue to increase the risk of wildfires in the
American West.

 Rising sea levels will lead to even more coastal flooding on the Eastern
Seaboard, especially in Florida, and in other areas such as the Gulf of
Mexico.

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Impact of Global Warming

 Forests, farms, and cities will face troublesome new pests, heat waves,
heavy downpours, and increased flooding. All of these can damage or
destroy agriculture and fisheries.

 Disruption of habitats such as coral reefs and alpine meadows could drive
many plant and animal species to extinction.

 Allergies, asthma, and infectious disease outbreaks will become more

common due to increased growth of pollen-producing ragweed, higher
levels of air pollution, and the spread of conditions favorable to pathogens
and mosquitoes.

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Steps to reduce global warming

 Reduce your own carbon footprint by taking a few easy steps:

 Make conserving energy a part of your daily routine and your decisions as a
consumer.

 When you shop for new appliances like refrigerators, washers, and dryers, look
for products with the government’s ENERGY STAR® label; they meet a higher
standard for energy efficiency than the minimum federal requirements.

 When you buy a car, look for one with the highest gas mileage and lowest
emissions. You can also reduce your emissions by taking public transportation
or carpooling when possible.

 Voice your support of climate-friendly and climate change preparedness

policies, and tell your representatives that equitably transitioning from dirty fossil
fuels to clean power should be a top priority—because it’s vital to building
healthy, more secure communities.

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Hazardous wastes

 Hazardous waste is waste that has substantial or potential threats to public

health or the environment.

 Hazardous waste can be the by-products of manufacturing processes or

discarded commercial products.

 Hazardous waste can be specifically defined by Environmental Protection

Agency regulations or can be wastes that exhibit at least one of four
characteristics—ignitability, corrosivity, reactivity, or toxicity.

 Hazardous waste treatment and disposal facilities must be permitted to

accept and treat a specific type of hazardous waste.

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Hazardous-waste management
 The collection, treatment, and disposal of waste material that, when improperly handled,
can cause substantial harm to human health and to the environment.

 Hazardous wastes can take the form of solids, liquids, sludge's, or contained gases, and
they are generated primarily by chemical production, manufacturing, and other industrial
activities.

 They may cause damage during inadequate storage, transportation, treatment, or disposal
operations.

 Improper hazardous-waste storage or disposal frequently contaminates surface water

and groundwater supplies as harmful water pollution and can also be a source of
dangerous land pollution.

 People living in homes built near old and abandoned waste disposal sites may be in a
particularly vulnerable position.

 In an effort to remedy existing problems and to prevent future harm from hazardous
wastes, governments closely regulate the practice of hazardous-waste management.

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Hazardous-waste characteristics

 Hazardous wastes are classified on the basis of their biological, chemical,

and physical properties.

 These properties generate materials that are either toxic, reactive, ignitable,
corrosive, infectious, or radioactive.

 Toxic wastes are poisons, even in very small or trace amounts.

 They may have acute effects, causing death or violent illness, or they may
have chronic effects, slowly causing irreparable harm.

 Some are carcinogenic, causing cancer after many years of exposure.

 Others are mutagenic, causing major biological changes in the offspring of

exposed humans and wildlife.

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Hazardous-waste characteristics

 Reactive wastes are chemically unstable and react violently with air or
water.
 They cause explosions or form toxic vapours.
 Ignitable wastes burn at relatively low temperatures and may cause an
immediate fire hazard.
 Corrosive wastes include strong acidic or alkaline substances. They destroy
solid material and living tissue upon contact, by chemical reaction.
 Infectious wastes include used bandages, hypodermic needles, and other
materials from hospitals or biological research facilities.
 Radioactive wastes emit ionizing energy that can harm living organisms.
 Because some radioactive materials can persist in the environment for
many thousands of years before fully decaying, there is much concern over
the control of these wastes.

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Transport of hazardous waste

 Hazardous waste generated at a particular site often requires transport to an

approved treatment, storage, or disposal facility.

 Because of potential threats to public safety and the environment, transport is

given special attention by governmental agencies.

 Highway shipment is the most common because road vehicles can gain access
to most industrial sites

 Railroad trains require expensive siding facilities and are suitable only for very
large waste shipments.

 Hazardous wastes can be shipped in tank trucks made of steel or aluminum

alloy, with capacities up to about 34,000 litres (9,000 gallons).

 They also can be containerized and shipped in 200-litre (55-gallon) drums.

Specifications and standards for cargo tank trucks and shipping containers are
included in governmental regulations.

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Treatment, storage, and disposal

 Several options are available for hazardous-waste management. The most

desirable is to reduce the quantity of waste at its source or to recycle the
materials for some other productive use.
 Treatment
 Hazardous waste can be treated by chemical, thermal, biological, and
physical methods.
 Chemical methods include ion exchange, precipitation, oxidation and
reduction, and neutralization.
 Among thermal methods is high-temperature incineration, which not
only can detoxify certain organic wastes but also can destroy them.
 Special types of thermal equipment are used for burning waste in either
solid, liquid, or sludge form.
 These include the fluidized-bed incinerator, multiple-hearth furnace,
rotary kiln, and liquid-injection incinerator.
 One problem posed by hazardous-waste incineration is the potential
for air pollution.

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Treatment, storage, and disposal

 Biological treatment of certain organic wastes, such as those from

the petroleum industry, is also an option. One method used to treat hazardous
waste biologically is called land farming.

 Food or forage crops are not grown on the same site.

 Microbes can also be used for stabilizing hazardous wastes on previously

contaminated sites; in that case the process is called bioremediation.

 Physical treatment, on the other hand, concentrates, solidifies, or reduces the

volume of the waste.

 Physical processes include evaporation, sedimentation, flotation, and filtration.

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Surface storage and land disposal

 Two basic methods of land disposal include landfilling and underground

injection.
 Prior to land disposal, surface storage or containment systems are often
employed as a temporary method.
 Landfilling of hazardous solid or containerized waste is regulated more
stringently than landfilling of municipal solid waste.
 Hazardous wastes must be deposited in so-called secure landfills, which
provide at least 3 meters (10 feet) of separation between the bottom of the
landfill and the underlying bedrock or groundwater table.
 One option for the disposal of liquid hazardous waste is deep-well injection,
a procedure that involves pumping liquid waste through a steel casing into a
porous layer of limestone or sandstone.
 High pressures are applied to force the liquid into the pores and fissures of
the rock, where it is to be permanently stored.

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Surface storage and land disposal

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Surface storage and land disposal

 Temporary on-site waste storage facilities include open waste piles and ponds
or lagoons. New waste piles must be carefully constructed over
an impervious base and must comply with regulatory requirements similar to
those for landfills.
 waste disposal
 The collection, processing, and recycling or deposition of the waste
materials of human society. Waste is classified by source and composition.
 Waste materials are either liquid or solid in form, and their components may
be either hazardous or inert in their effects on health and the environment.
 The term waste is typically applied to solid waste, sewage (wastewater),
hazardous waste, and electronic waste.
 In industrialized countries, municipal liquid waste is funneled
through sewage systems, where it undergoes wastewater treatment, or
sewage treatment.
 This process removes most or all of the impurities from wastewater, or
sewage, before they can reach groundwater aquifers or surface waters such
as rivers, lakes, estuaries, and oceans.

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wastewater-treatment plant : Wastewater-treatment plants remove chemical
or biological waste from water

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Ozone Depletion

 Ozone depletion describes two distinct but related phenomena observed

since the late 1970s:
 (1) a steady decline in the total amount of ozone in
earth’s stratosphere (i.e., the ozone layer), and
 (2) a much larger springtime decrease in stratospheric ozone around
earth’s polar regions.
 The latter phenomenon is referred to as the ozone hole.
 The details of ozone-hole formation in the polar differ from those of mid-
latitude thinning, but the most important process of both of which is catalytic
destruction of ozone by atomic halogens.
 The main source of these halogen atoms in the stratosphere is photo
dissociation of man-made halocarbon refrigerants, solvents, propellants and
foam-blowing agents (including chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and others).
 These compounds are transported into the stratosphere by winds after
being emitted at the surface. Both types of ozone depletion increase as the
emissions of halocarbons increase.

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Ozone Depletion

 The main source of these halogen atoms in the stratosphere is photo

dissociation of man-made halocarbon refrigerants, solvents, propellants and
foam-blowing agents (including chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and others).
 These compounds are transported into the stratosphere by winds after
being emitted at the surface. Both types of ozone depletion increase as the
emissions of halocarbons increase.
 Most of the atmosphere's ozone is found within the stratosphere. This
ozone layer has an essential-to-life role: it absorbs much of the incoming
solar ultraviolet radiation, providing thus vital protection from this radiation to
all organisms living at Earth's surface.
 It should not be confused with the ground-level ozone, which is a harmful
secondary air pollutant resulting indirectly from human activities.
 Stratospheric ozone has been created in the atmosphere gradually and can
be considered as a product of life on Earth, which began around 3.5 billion
years ago.

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Endangered species

 An endangered species is a type of organism that is threatened by

extinction.
 Species become endangered for two main reasons: loss of habitat and loss
of genetic variation.
 A loss of habitat can happen naturally. Dinosaurs, for instance, lost their
habitat about 65 million years ago.
 Human activity can also contribute to a loss of habitat.
 Development for housing, industry, and agriculture reduces the habitat of
native organisms. This can happen in a number of different ways.
 Development can also endanger species indirectly. Some species, such as
fig trees of the rain forest, may provide habitat for other species.
 As trees are destroyed, species that depend on that tree habitat may also
become endangered.

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Endangered species

 Plants such as vines, fungi such as mushrooms, and insects such as

butterflies live in the rain forest canopy. So do hundreds of species of
tropical birds and mammals such as monkeys.
 As trees are cut down, this habitat is lost. Species have less room to live
and reproduce.
 Loss of habitat may happen as development takes place in a species range.
 Loss of habitat can also lead to increased encounters between wild species
and people. As development brings people deeper into a species range,
they may have more exposure to wild species.
 Genetic variation is the diversity found within a species. It’s why human
beings may have blond, red, brown, or black hair. Genetic variation allows
species to adapt to changes in the environment. Usually, the greater the
population of a species, the greater its genetic variation.

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Endangered species

 Loss of genetic variation can occur naturally. Cheetahs are a threatened

species native to Africa and Asia. These big cats have very little genetic
variation.
 They cannot adapt to changes in the environment as quickly as other
animals, and fewer cheetahs survive to maturity. Cheetahs are also much
more difficult to breed in captivity than other big cats, such as lions.
 Human activity can also lead to a loss of genetic variation. Overhunting
and overfishing have reduced the populations of many animals.

Monoculture, the agricultural method of growing a single crop, can also
reduce genetic variation. Modern agribusiness relies on monocultures.
 However, farmers must use fertilizers and pesticides to ensure healthy
crops because the plant has almost no genetic variation.

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Endangered species

 Plant breeders often go back to wild varieties to collect genes that will help
cultivated plants resist pests and drought, and adapt to climate change.
However, climate change is also threatening wild varieties.
 Species that are not threatened by extinction are placed within the first two
categories—least concern and near-threatened. T

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Endangered life species

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Endangered life species

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Endangered life species

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Loss of Biodiversity

 Biodiversity loss, also called loss of biodiversity, a decrease

in biodiversity within a species, an ecosystem, a given geographic area,
or Earth as a whole.
 Biodiversity, or biological diversity, is a term that refers to the number
of genes, species, individual organisms within a given species, and
biological communities within a defined geographic area, ranging from the
smallest ecosystem to the global biosphere.
 Biodiversity loss describes the decline in the number, genetic variability, and
variety of species, and the biological communities in a given area.
 The primary drivers of biodiversity loss are influenced by the exponential
growth of the human population, increased consumption as people strive for
more affluent lifestyles, and reduced resource efficiency.

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Loss of Biodiversity

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Natural biodiversity loss

 An area’s biodiversity increases and decreases with natural cycles.

 Biodiversity loss is typically associated with more permanent ecological

changes in ecosystems, landscapes, and the global biosphere.

 Natural ecological disturbances, such as wildfire, floods, and volcanic

eruptions, change ecosystems drastically by eliminating local populations of
some species and transforming whole biological communities.

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Human-driven biodiversity loss

 Humans (Homo sapiens), their crops, and their food animals take up an
increasing share of Earth’s land area.

 Researchers estimate that the current rate of species loss varies between
100 and 10,000 times the background extinction rate (which is roughly one
to five species per year when the entire fossil record is considered).

 In addition, a 2019 report by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform

on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services noted that up to one million plant
and animal species are facing extinction due to human activities.

 Forest clearing, wetland filling, stream channeling and rerouting, and road
and building construction are often part of a systematic effort that produces
a substantial change in the ecological trajectory of a landscape or a region.

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Important drivers of Biodiversity Loss

Habitat loss and degradation—which is any thinning, fragmentation, or

destruction of an existing natural habitat—reduces or eliminates the food
resources and living space for most species. Species that cannot migrate are
often wiped out.
Invasive species—which are non-native species that significantly modify or
disrupt the ecosystems they colonize—may outcompete native species for food
and habitat, which triggers population declines in native species. Invasive
species may arrive in new areas through natural migration or through human
introduction.
Overexploitation—which is the harvesting of game animals, fish, or other
organisms beyond the capacity for surviving populations to replace their
losses—results in some species being depleted to very low numbers and
others being driven to extinction.

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Important drivers of Biodiversity Loss

Pollution—which is the addition of any substance or any form of energy to

the environment at a rate faster than it can be dispersed, diluted, decomposed,
recycled, or stored in some harmless form—contributes to biodiversity loss by
creating health problems in exposed organisms. In some cases, exposure may
occur in doses high enough to kill outright or create reproductive problems that
threaten the species survival.
Climate change associated with global warming—which is the modification
of Earth’s climate caused by the burning of fossil fuels—is caused by industry
and other human activities. Fossil fuel combustion produces greenhouse
gases that enhance the atmospheric absorption of infrared
radiation (heat energy) and trap the heat,
influencing temperature and precipitation patterns.

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Ecological effects

 The weight of biodiversity loss is most pronounced

on species whose populations are decreasing.
 The loss of genes and individuals threatens the long-term survival of a
species.
 The wholesale loss of populations also increases the risk that a particular
species will become extinct.
 Biodiversity loss also threatens the structure and proper functioning of the
ecosystem.

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Economic and societal effects

 Biodiversity loss affects economic systems and human society.

 Humans rely on various plants, animals, and other organisms for food,
building materials, and medicines, and their availability as commodities is
important to many cultures.
 The loss of biodiversity among these critical natural resources threatens
global food security and the development of new pharmaceuticals to deal with
future diseases.
 Simplified, homogenized ecosystems can also represent an aesthetic loss.

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Thank You