Major Environmental

Challenges and their solutions

Lecture 3: Introduction to Environment
Impact of Population Growth On Natural
Resources

• Ecological Footprints
• Carrying capacity
Ecological Footprint

Ecological foot print

(How much land
area each one of us
requires from the
planet earth to
meet the living
standards of today)
Definition

The impact of a person or community on the

environment, expressed as the amount of land required
to sustain their use of natural resources.
  an average per-person Ecological Footprint
worldwide is of 2.8 global hectares, compared to 1.7
global hectares per person of available bio capacity.

(Bio capacity represents the productivity of the Earth’s

ecological assets. A global hectare is a biologically
productive hectare with world average productivity.)

So, We already are living beyond earth’s means, using around 39%
higher living a looming ecological credit
• Global Footprint Network estimates that, as of 2014,
humanity has been using natural capital 1.7 times as
fast as Earth can renew it.

• This means humanity's ecological footprint

corresponds to 1.7 planet Earths.
What for??????????????????
• The ecological footprint measures human demand on
nature,
i.e., the quantity of nature it takes to support people
or an economy.
• It tracks this demand through an
ecological accounting system.
Ecological Accounting

• The accounts contrast the biologically productive area people use for
their consumption to the biologically productive area available within
a region or the world.
• Biocapacity - the productive area that can regenerate what people
demand from nature.
• In short, it is a measure of human impact on Earth's ecosystem and
reveals the dependence of the human economy on natural capital.
More of Ecological Accounting
……………………
• It refers to Environmental accounting

• It is a field that identifies resource use, measures and communicates costs of a

company’s or national economic impact on the environment.

• Costs include costs to clean up or remediate contaminated sites, environmental

fines, penalties and taxes, purchase of pollution prevention technologies and
waste management costs.
 Carrying Capacity
HOW MANY PEOPLE CAN OUR WORLD SUPPORT?

Carrying capacity is the maximum number of species an

environment can support indefinitely.
Give a title to this Picture
Carrying Capacity cont…………………..
• Human population, now over 7 billion, cannot continue to grow
indefinitely.
• There are limits to the life-sustaining resources earth can provide us.
• There is a carrying capacity for human life on our planet.
• Every species has a carrying capacity, even humans.
• However, it is very difficult to calculate human carrying capacity.
• Carrying capacity estimates involve making predictions about future
trends in demography, resource availability, technological advances
and economic development.
Identify What is
Happening Here???
 ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION
 Environmental Pollution can be defined as any undesirable change in physical, chemical,
or biological characteristics of any component of the environment i.e. air, water, soil
which can cause harmful effects on various forms of life or property.

 Pollution: The term pollution can be defined as influence of any substance causing
harmful effects, and uneasiness to the organisms

 Pollutant:- Any substance causing harmful effects or uneasiness to the organisms, then
that particular substance may be called as the pollutant.
 Major Environmental Concerns

Land Air Water

• Scarce • Air pollution • Degradation of
Resources • Acid Rain Water quality
• Deforestation • Global Warming • Quantity of
• Solid waste and Climate Fresh water
Disposal Change available
• Scarce Cropland • Noise pollution
 Soil and Land Pollution
Land Pollution Soil Pollution
Land pollution may be understood as Soil pollution is the contamination
the deterioration of the earth's land of soil with harmful substances that
surfaces, often directly or indirectly as can adversely affect the quality of
a result of man's activates. the soil and the health of those
living on it.
Causes of Land and Soil pollution

Land Soil
• Industrialization • Pesticides, insecticides, fertilizers.
• Mining • Excessive use of chemicals increase
• Construction activities salinity.
• Nuclear waste • It adversely affects the micro-
organism present in it causing soil to
• Urbanization lose fertility.
Plastic Bags
Garbage of Plastic Bags Plastics in the Oceans
Every year, around 500 • 12 million barrels of oil used to produce 30
billion (500000000000) billion plastic bags a year
plastic bags are used • Millions of these bags are dumped every
worldwide. year.
So many that over one • Average use time of a bag is only 12 min!
million bags are being • These bags are not only
used every minute and hurting our oceans but
they're damaging our they are wasting energy &
environment. polluting our
environment.
****
Air Pollution
Air pollution is one such form that refers to the

contamination of the air, irrespective of indoors

or outside. A physical, biological or chemical

alteration to the air in the atmosphere can be

termed as pollution. It occurs when any

harmful gases, dust, smoke enters into the

atmosphere and makes it difficult for plants,

animals and humans to survive as the air

becomes dirty.

Causes:
Oxygen
Oxygen-Cycle
 The Cost of Oxygen !! Very Interesting !!

In one day a human being breathes oxygen equivalent to 3 cylinders.

Lets say each oxygen cylinder on an average costs Rs. 700/-, without subsidy.

So, in a day one uses Oxygen worth Rs. 2,100/- and for a full year it is Rs. 7,66,500/- and, If we consider an
average life span of 65 years; the costs of oxygen we use become a staggering sum of Rs. 500,00,000/- = Rs. 50
million. All this oxygen is derived free of cost from the surrounding trees.
Very few people look at trees as a RESOURCE and there is extensive tree cutting going on everywhere which
must stop

*****
Noise pollution

• Any unwanted sound which

disturbs the daily life activities is
called noise pollution.

• Noise pollution effects are

devastating effecting the hearing
ability, sleep and conservation.
Acid Rain
• Normal Rain pH 5.0 to 5.5
• Rain having pH less than 4.
• Acidic in nature
• Can be of two types

Wet Deposition Dry Deposition

Acid rain Acidic particles
Snow Smoke
Fog  
Cloud vapor with a pH less than 5.6
Sources of Acid Rain
Anthropogenic
Natural Sources
Sources
Volcanic eruption Smoke emitted
from auto mobiles

Earth quake Emission of gases

from chimneys

Reaction of SO2
and CO2 with Fossil fuel burning
water.

Forest Fire
Forest fire
 Effects of Acid Rain
• Effects of Acid Rain on Aquatic life
• Effects on Plants and soil
• Effects on Buildings And Building Materials
• sulfuric acid in the rain chemically reacts with the calcium
compounds in the stones (limestone, sandstone, marble and
granite) to create gypsum, which then flakes off.
 Effects of Acid Rain on human:

• Contribute to human respiratory diseases such as bronchitis and

asthma.
• Can leak toxic metals such as lead and copper from water pipes into
drinking water.
• Decreases atmospheric visibility.
• Lower profits and causes job losses because of lower productivity in
fisheries, forests and farms.
Some Major Impacts:
• Soil degradation: The soil needs to maintain an optimum pH value
for biological activities to flourish. So, whenever acid rain seeps into
the soil, it alters the optimum pH level that reverses the chemical and
biological activities.
• Damage to trees and vegetables: Acid rain penetrates into the
soil and dissolves the most vital nutrients needed by trees. Acid rain
also discharges lots of aluminum into the soil around the trees that
renders them incapable of taking up water. Thus, the trees and
vegetation become highly vulnerable to disease and pest attack.
• Effects on marine life: Acid rain has a tendency of altering the pH
and aluminum concentrations, in turn, greatly affecting the pH
concentration in surface waters and in consequence, fish and other
aquatic life-forms are hugely affected. At pH levels below 5, most fish
eggs cannot hatch.

• Health implications: Acid rain may not have direct effects on

human health. However, the dry depositions in the air that form acid
rain can negatively impact human health by causing respiratory
problems and difficulty in breathing when inhaled. Children and those
who already have respiratory health conditions such as asthma are
adversely affected.
• Acidification of water: Acidification of surface waters is the
immediate effect of acid rain. Rivers, brooks, lakes, and oceans have
greatly become acidic as a result of acid rain when it precipitates over
these surface waters. Due to high acidity levels in these surface
waters, fish and other aquatic life forms have been adversely affected.
Some lakes, rivers and streams in China, North America, and Europe have
become highly acidic to an extent that they cannot support any life forms,
creating what is termed as “dead zones.”
• Corrosive effect: Acid rain has corrosive effects because it eats into
metals and stone. As a result, it has led to weathering of buildings,
corrosion of metals, and peeling of paints on surfaces. Building
structures made of marble and limestone are mostly affected by acid
rain as the acid eats the calcium compounds in the structures. This
effect has damaged buildings, gravestones, statues and historic
monuments.
Climate Change
A substantial change in average climate of the region including the
temperature, precipitation and wind pattern is called climate change.

Causes of Climate change

• Burning of fossil fuels

• Increase in population
• Deforestation
• Changes in land use pattern
• Excessive use of chemicals
Climate change
Effects
• Floods and droughts
• Extinction of species
• Population and birth defects
Prevention and Control
• Use energy efficient sources
• Better waste management
• Encourage recycling and
reuse
 Green House Effect

A greenhouse gas is any gaseous compound in the atmosphere

that is capable of absorbing infrared radiation, thereby trapping
and holding heat in the atmosphere. By increasing the heat in
the atmosphere, greenhouse gases are responsible for
the greenhouse effect, which ultimately leads to global
warming.
 Deforestation
Deforestation is the permanent destruction of forests in order to
make the land available for other uses. 

Causes
• To make more land available for housing and urbanization.
• To harvest timber to create commercial items such as paper,
furniture and homes.
• To create ingredients that are highly prized consumer items, such
as the oil from palm trees.
• To create room for cattle ranching. 
Deforestation
Prevention
Effects
• Climate change • Replantation
• Loss of plants and animal • Avoid excessive clearing of
species forests
• Disturbance in water cycle
• Soil erosion and risk of floods
• Life quality
• Depletion of resources
 Water Pollution
Water pollution is an undesirable change in the state of water, contaminated with
harmful substances.

• Water pollution is the contamination of water bodies like lakes, rivers, oceans,

aquifers and groundwater. Water pollution occurs when pollutants are discharged
directly or indirectly into water bodies without adequate treatment to remove
harmful compounds.

Causes of Water pollution

Marine dumping
Industrial waste
Sewage
Chemicals
Agricultural runoff
Human dependency on water

Human consumption

Food production

Personal hygiene

Industrial production

Energy generation

Environmental protection
 Water issues
Water Shortage

• LEVELS of Water do not meet the human needs

Water Stress

• The Quality of water does not meet the requirement of

human population

Water Security

• Access to SAFE drinking water

 Water Pollution cont………………

Effects Prevention
• Water borne diseases • Treatment of water before
disposal
• Damages crops and
animals health • Avoid oil and other spillage
• Environmental impacts • Avoid agricultural runoff in
water
• Avoid industrial waste water
in water
End