Chapter 1

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 ENVIRONMENTAL CRISIS
 The environmental crisis as a dramatic, irreversible worsening of the environment
leading to significant welfare losses.
 Environmental crisis is due to the humans in the process of destroying the world such
that in the next decades, earth cannot support life.
 As viewed, environmental degradation is led by unrestricted population growth and
its concomitant pressure on biological resources.
 When there is adverse environmental conditions such as drought, there won’t be
enough resilience for the environment to return to its normal state.
 In the developed countries industrial development is using resources such as oil into
process produces extensive environmental pollution.
 ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION
 Environmental degradation is deterioration of the environment through depletion of
resources such as air, water and soil, the destruction of ecosystems.
 It is an issue of living conditions especially in the cities becoming in tolerate due to
inhaling of polluted air and drinking of contaminated water.
 Over-utilization of the available sources of energy and food, will inevitably lead to
disaster.
 Humans over-utilize the environmental resources and hope to live sustainably for the
generation to come.
 People have the perception of thinking that it is the problem of the government and the
industry to combat environmental degradation as they use the perception of “NIMBY”.
 THE ROLE OF HUMAN DECISION-MAKING
 Different cultures exist side by side in similar natural environments while
similar cultures can also develop in divergent natural areas.
 Unique places occupied by people in the environment is important to study their
decision-taking processes and behavior within the framework determined by
nature.
 People are not ruled by physical laws, they are controlled by complex and
heterogeneous cultural heritage.
 Their interaction is linked with their perception of and their behavioral response
to it.
 System approach on environmental crisis
 System is a set of rules, an arrangement of things or a group of related things that work
towards a common goal.
 An example of a system is all the organs that work together for digestion.
 Thermodynamic system will be used as an example, as it consist of matter and energy.
The exchange of matter and energy continually occurs with the environment around it.
 System in this example may be regarded as a forest or river.
 Within a thermodynamic system, there are three kinds of system which can be easily
recognized
 Open, closed and isolated system.
In an isolated system there is no interaction between the system and surrounding
environment, such system are used in laboratories for research purposes.
Closed system is a physical system that doesn’t exchange matter with its surrounding's.
Open system is a system that exchanges energy and matter with its surroundings.

Normal environment like forest are “open” system, the exchange of energy and matter floor
freely between the system.
Energy enters the forest where trees grow but leaves and soil gets transported by rivers and
heavy rainfalls out of the systems to adjoining system.
Through changed land use, and agricultural practice associated with human leads to
environmental crisis
Environmental system's characteristic's is that they exhibit a certain structure which is
maintained equilibrium by a constant exchange of matter and energy.
 Functioning of the system

The functioning of the system takes according to the actions of :

Stimuli (input)
Processing in the system
Response (output)
 Need for System approach to SOLVE Environmental
complexities
Analysis of the dynamics of the Environmental problem

The Environmental
problem is complex and
needs a System approach
to clear the possibilities a
Dynamic analysis can not
account for

This is caused
Components
being
interdependent on
one anothoer
Many parts of the Environment are inter-dependent on each other To:

 Sustain food supply(complex food chains)

These factors form a
 Create a particular type of weather in the Environment
Specific Habitat for
 Create certain Topography a specific range of
animals to live in
 Create a certain Climate
 Create certain Vegetation

Example 1 : How different species The land and natural processes create Sustainable supply of food in
Herbivores have enough
Grass Land
Stable population of a Animal population Well composed Bio grass
GRASS SPECIES e.g e.g millions of soil EFFECT will maintain Carnivores have enough
SHRUBS bacteria Complex Food Chains herbivorous animals

Violating any of the factors

that MAINTAIN this Food Food supply in the ECOSYSTEM of
Chain affect the rest of the this ENVIROMENT IS THUS
Environment’s Food supply MAINTAINED
 Example 2: How violating one factor that makes up an Environment affects the
rest of the Environment using the grass land as reference

Soil organisms,
Removing a part birds and animals Food Chain of the
of the grassland that depend on organisms is
for Farming the grass are affected
affected

If abandoned land
Piece of land
Land becomes a no longer
is prone to wind
wasteland natural
and water erosion

NB: The same is true for a tropical

forest when trees are cleared
 Sustainable use of an Environment

Therefore to use an Environment on its Ideal level humans should:

Observe the Understand
Acquire
Study components the dynamic
Environment’s
components of interactive relations
functioning
nature separately linkage between the
knowledge
system components
One can then
know how to
use the
Observe the Use a
Resources in
overall System
the
picture approach
Environment
sustainable
 An ecosystem is most basic functional unit in nature,
and can described as the area where the interdependent
interaction between biotic and abiotic components
takes place, within a spatially regulated organisation
through the use of energy and a variety of raw
materials.
 Why do we need a systems approach to
study the environment?

 The daunting and complex challenge to find a solution

for sustainable living, is to utilize the vantage point of
viewing the environment as an ecosystem; portraying the
interrelationship between all elements.
 Analysing each component of the ecosystem according to their
specific natural laws.
 Understanding the dynamics of the interrelationships between the
components
 Synthesising components and processes of the ecosystem.
 Understanding the impact of humans on the ecosystem
 Studying use and misuse of resources by humans