Environment Management

Issues relevant to India

Air pollution: Origin can be traced back to the time when man started using firewood for cooking Air pollution began to increase in the beginning of 20th century with industrial revolution, development of transportation system which led to large scale consumption of diesel, petrol, coal & natural gas. The greatest industrial disaster leading to serious air pollution took place in Bhopal where extremely poisonous Methyl Iso Cyanate (MIC) gas was accidently released from Union Carbide pesticide manufacturing plant on the night of Dec,2,1984.

Bhopal gas tragedy

On 2nd December, 1984 - 12:30 AM at Union Carbide pesticide plant at Bhopal - MIC was released into the atmosphere
40,000 kg of the lethal gas was released.

Reasons behind the tragedy:

MIC needs to be kept below 5 degree centigrade under pressure. Safety valve was poorly maintained & was defective

It is estimated that temperatures rose upto 350 degrees in the tank

Impact on people?

About 20,000 people died due to gas poisoning 5.7 lakh people suffered major health problems MIC mainly affects the lungs causing breathing problems. It made people vulnerable to TB & other lung related problems.

Causes of Airpollution

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Natural causes Volcanoes dust, sulphur other gases Forest fires

These pollutants tend to remain in the atmosphere for a short time and do not lead to permanent atmospheric change

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Man made causes Emissions from vehicles Emissions from industries Emissions from man made gases CFC from refrigerators, deodorants, air conditioners etc..

Control Measures for Air Pollution

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Electrostatic precipitators: highly efficient filters that can remove fine particulate matter like dust & smoke from air stream Particulate scrubbers: Polluted gas stream is brought into contact with a scrubbing liquid to remove pollutants Dust cyclones that use rotational effect & gravity to remove pollutants

Water pollution

71% of earth covered with water 97% of this water is found in oceans too salty to drink or for irrigation 3% is fresh water 2.997% locked in polar ice caps Thus only 0.003% of earths total volume of water is available in the form of ground water, lakes & rivers stc..

Causes of water pollution

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Domestic wastage Industrial sewage Excess use of fertilizers in agricultural field, which seeps through the ground Accidental oil spills

Global Warming

Global warming rise in the average temperature of the earths atmosphere due to enhanced green house effect
Induced by emission of greenhouse gases into the air.

Global Warming
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The main Green House gases are: Carbon di oxide : 72% Methane principle component of natural gas Ozone & Water Vapour Greenhouse gas absorbs & emits radiation from the sun greenhouse effect

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Reasons for GHG becoming thicker: CO2 emissions from burning of fossil fuels Vehicular emissions Before industrial revolution, human activities released very few gases into the atmosphere, hence there was not much rise in temperature. The present temperature is 1 to 1.5 degrees warmer than what it was 100 yrs also

Implications of global warming

Rise in global temperature: Global temperatures are expected to rise by 6 degrees by the year 2100 2. Rise in sea level: Due to rising temperatures, polar ice caps will melt, resulting into release of more water into the sea, thereby rising sea levels
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Sea levels are expected to rise by 10 to 90 cm by the year 2100, causing flooding of low lying areas. Rise in sea level may drown several island nations like Bangladesh, Thailand & Vietnam Low lying nations like Maldives, Mauritius etc. may go under sea Indian coastal cities like Mumbai, Kolkata & Chennai are also at risk.

Implications of Global Warming

3. Climatic Change: Cyclones, storms & hurricanes are occurring more frequently

Monsoons - more variable & less predictable So when it rains, it pours heavily leaving farmers desperate after the storm to cope with destroyed crops, floods & then months of water scarcity

Warmer temperatures mean greater evaporation & more moisture in the atmosphere

Similarly, dry regions are prone to lose still more moisture leading to severe droughts & desertification

4. Depleted fresh water supply: Salt water intrusion from rising sea level will reduce the quality & quantity of fresh water Major concern billions of people on earth already lack access to fresh water. 5. Food shortage: Dry land agriculture depends solely on rain may get affected due to change in monsoon pattern Crop yield will get affected due to rise in temperatures

6. Increased diseases: Higher temperatures are expected to increase some already existing diseases like diarrhea, malaria etc.. Reports suggest that 175 million children will be affected every year by frequent natural diseases caused due to climatic change. 900 million children will be affected by water shortage in the next generation.

Alaska

1914

2011

Arizona

June 2002

Dec 2003

What can be done to reduce global warming?

Turn off your computer or the TV when youre not using it.
Take shorter showers. Heating water uses energy. Keep rooms cool by closing the blinds, shades, or curtains.

Turn off the lights when you leave a room. Use compact fluorescent bulbs.

Ozone Layer depletion

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Earths atmosphere is divided into 3 regions: Troposphere Stratosphere Mesosphere Stratosphere extends from 10 to 50 km from the earths sruface In between troposphere & stratosphere, there is a region called ozone layer made of ozone gas (O3)

Ozone layer acts as a filter for harmful solar ultraviolet UV-B rays It absorbs 90 99 % of suns high frequency UV light Ozone is produced & destroyed naturally in the atmosphere which resulted in a well balanced equilibrium Ozone formation & destruction: O + O2 : O3 (Ozone formation) O3 : O2 + O (Ozone destruction)

Ozone is formed when oxygen molecules absorb UV radiation, less than 240 nanometers. Ozone is destroyed when UV wavelength is more than 290 nanometers.

Scientists have measured a thinning of ozone layer, mainly at the South pole. This phenomenon is known as ozone hole.

Reasons:

O3 is highly reactive and easily broken down by man made gases like Chlorine, Bromine etc. These gases are found to be responsible for most of ozone layer depletion. The ozone depleting process occurs when CFCs (Chloro Fluro Carbons)- used in refrigerators and air conditioners are released into atmosphere. Winds efficiently mix and evenly distribute the CFCs in the troposphere.

This ozone depleting substances (ODS) do not dissolve in rain, are extremely stable, and have a long life span. After several years, they reach the stratosphere. In stratosphere, strong UV light breaks ODS molecules into chlorine and bromine atoms which destroys ozone. It is estimated that one chlorine atom can destroy about 10,000 to 1,00,000 ozone molecules, before it is finally removed from the stratosphere

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Effects of ozone layer depletion: Increased penetration of solar UV-B radiation, is likely to affect eyes, causes skin cancer and other diseases.

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Increased radiation is likely to affect ecosystems.

High radiation can also affect aquatic life- fish, shrimp and other amphibians.

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Role & functions of Government

Management of environment is possible only through concerted efforts of all components of society government & non governmental organizations, industrialists & the general public E.g: Most forests areas are owned by govt. building dams, roads, railways etc. requires govt approval

Govt. has to apply various rules & control so as to manage the environment
In India, Central & State govt. own, control & develop all the forests, dams, power stations, roads, railways ports & even industries For this purpose, in 1985, Govt. of India created the Dept. of Environment & Ministry of Environment & Forests.

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Role Ministry of Environment & Forest: Planning, protection & coordination of environment & forestry programmes Conservation & survey of flora, fauna, & wildlife Prevention & control of pollution & afforestation Regeneration of degraded areas & protection of overall environment

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Functions of govt.
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Policy formulation: environmental standards, setting environmental goals & integrating environmental protection into development Policy implementation: responsibility for environmental monitoring & execution of environmental protection Policy enforcement: regulatory role to monitor breach of environmental regulations & penalizing the offender.

Present Status of Environment Management in India In India, and in many other developing countries, industrial approach to control pollution has so far been only to attend to the worst complaints. The main method of pollution control is the End of pipe treatment method- wastes generated at various stages in the production processes are treated to acceptable levels by installing appropriate waste treatment systems.

The method of treating waste at the end of pipe pollution control measure is not a right solution in the long run because: Waste treatment facilities require substantial initial investment and also incurs a considerable regular operating expenses Waste is unutilized resource The organization will never think of adopting a less polluting and cleaner technology. This approach may not be conducive for striving towards Sustainable development.

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Environment Management system in India

The main environmental management approach in India is through the following: Management based on standards and Management based on regulatory instruments

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Management through standards:

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Standards are the prominent means for regulation of environmental quality They define environmental targets and establish permissible amount of concentration of particular substances or discharges into air, water and land.

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Types of standards: (AETP3) Ambient environmental quality standard: Effluent or emission standard: Technology based standard: Example: Use of scrubber, Electrostatic precipitation etc. Performance standard : Example: BOD (Biological oxygen demand) should be less than 30 mg/liter Product standard Process standard

Management based on regulatory instruments:

The granting or withholding of permits, licenses or other authorizations is another important tool for controlling pollution.
One advantage of permits and licenses is, - all the pollution control obligations for the industrial unit can be prescribed in one single document

Industrial units are required to obtain the consent of the concerned State Pollution Control Boards(SPCB) to operate the unit. Such consent is subject to the unit complying with the prescribed standards The polluting units are persuaded by SPCBs to take steps to comply with the prescribed standards

Sustainable Development

Development that meets the needs of the present, without compromising the ability of the future generation to meet their own needs

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Strategies to implement sustainable development: Industries must be classified into different categories E.g : ensure water intensive industries like paper industry are located near areas with plenty of water & in areas of water scarcity, only non water based industries should be allowed like = electronic industries

2. Cells should be set up to monitor pollution & continuously study the levels of pollution. 3. A technological change should be adopted

4. Satellite cities should be created million plus cities