Environmental Issuses

Environmental Issues

Environmental issues are harmful aspects of human activity on the biophysical environment. Environmentalism, and that started in the 1960s, addresses environmental issues through advocacy, education and activism.

The carbon dioxide equivalent of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere has already exceeded 400 parts per million with total long-term GHG exceeding 455 parts per million. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Report This level is considered a tipping point. The amount of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere is already above the threshold that can potentially cause dangerous climate change. We are already at risk...It's not next year or next decade, it's now. Report from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Scientific grounding

The level of understanding of has increased markedly in recent times through especially with the application of the now a multi-disciplinary academic study taught and researched at many universities. This is used as a basis for addressing environmental issues.

Large amounts of data have been gathered and these are collated into reports, of which a common type is the publications. A recent major report was the, with input from 1200 scientists and released in 2005, which showed the high level of impact that humans are having on ecosystem services.

Organizations

Environmental issues are addressed at a regional, nation or international level by government organisations. The largest international agency, set up in 1972, is the brings together 83 states, 108 government agencies, 766 Non-governmental organizations and 81 international organizations and about 10,000 experts and scientists from countries around the world. International includes, Governments enact and enforce and this is done to differing degrees around the world.

Solutions

Sustainability is the key to prevent or reduce the effect of environmental issues. There is now clear scientific evidence that humanity is living unsustainable, and that an unprecedented collective effort is needed to return human use of natural resources to within sustainable limits. For humans to live sustainably, the Earth's resources must be used at a rate at which they can be replenished.

Concerns for the environment have prompted the formation of, political parties that seek to address environmental issues. Initially these were formed in Australia, New Zealand and Germany but are now present in many other countries.

Economic magic, environmental failures

Pollution Deforestation Wildlife trade, the aspirations of more than one billion people. These are some of the critical issues that India grapples with every day. But as the country’s population and economy continue to grow, the need to find solutions becomes more urgent every day. Across India, concern is mounting over an ever growing list of environmental problems.  More people means increased pressure on natural resources from water to forests, while an economy in high-gear is leaving a trail of pollution that’s affecting not only India, but the rest of the world too.

Deforestation

India is witnessing a rising demand for forest-based products. This is causing deforestation and encroachment into forest protected areas, which leads to a severe loss of natural resources.

           It is estimated that total industrial round wood consumption in India could exceed 70 million m³ per year by the end of the decade 350,000 large shipping containers, while domestic supply would fall short of this figure by an estimated 14 million m.

          As the nation will have to depend heavily on imports to meet this growing demand, there is fear that this could result in loss of high conservation value forests and biodiversity elsewhere.

Pollution

Increasing competition for water among various sectors, including agriculture, industry, domestic, drinking, energy generation and others, is causing this precious natural resource to dry up. Increasing pollution is also leading to the destruction of the habitat of wildlife that lives in waterways.

Environmental problems

We all know the world has its problems, particularly where the environment is concerned. But not too many of us know the details, and the stories behind those problems. On our website, many environmental problems, effects and disasters are described. Here, these are summarized. The links will bring you to related informational pages.

Environmental Issues

This part of the global issues web site attempts to highlight some of the environmental issues and concerns that have an effect on all of us from what we do, to what we don’t do.

Environmental Issues in India

There are many environmental issues in India. Air pollution, water pollution, garbage, and pollution of the natural environment are all challenges for India. The situation was worse between 1947 through 1995. According to data collection and environment assessment studies of World Bank experts, between 1995 through 2010, India has made one of the fastest progress in the world, in addressing its environmental issues and improving its environmental quality. Still, India has a long way to go to reach environmental quality similar to those enjoyed in developed economies. Pollution remains a major challenge and opportunity for India. Environmental issues are one of the primary causes of disease, health issues and long term livelihood impact for India.

Causes

Some have cited as the cause regarding the environmental issues. Others believe economic development is key to improving India's environmental management and preventing pollution of the country. It is also suggested that India's growing population is the primary cause of India's environmental degradation. Systematic studies challenge this theory. Empirical evidence from countries such as Japan, England and Singapore, each with population density similar or higher than India, yet each enjoying environmental quality vastly superior to India, suggests population density may not be the only factor affecting India's issues.

Major Issues

Major environmental issues are forest and agricultural degradation of land, resource depletion water, mineral, forest, sand, rocks etc. public health, loss of, loss of in ecosystems, livelihood security for the poor.

The major sources of pollution in India include the rampant burning of fuel wood and biomass such as dried waste from livestock as the primary source of energy, lack of organised garbage and waste removal services, lack of sewage treatment operations, lack of flood control and monsoon water drainage system, diversion of consumer waste into rivers, cremation practices near major rivers, government mandated protection of highly polluting old public transport, and continued operation by Indian government of government owned, high emission plants built between 1950 to 1980.

Air pollution, poor management of waste, growing water scarcity, falling groundwater tables, water pollution, preservation and quality of forests, biodiversity loss, and land soil degradation are some of the major environmental issues India faces today. India's population growth adds pressure to environmental issues and its resources.

Population growth and environmental quality

There is a long history of study and debate about the interactions between population growth and the environment. According to a British thinker, for example, a growing population exerts pressure on agricultural land, causing environmental degradation, and forcing the cultivation of land of poorer as well as poorer quality. This environmental degradation ultimately reduces agricultural yields and food availability, causes famines and diseases and death, thereby reducing the rate of population growth.

Population growth, because it can place increased pressure on the assimilative capacity of the environment, is also seen as a major cause of air, water, and solid-waste pollution. The result, Malthus theorised, is an equilibrium population that enjoys low levels of both income and environmental quality. Malthus suggested positive and preventative forced control of human population, along with abolition of poor laws.

Malthus theory, published between 1798 and 1826, has been analyses and criticized ever since. The American thinker, for example, observed with his characteristic piquancy in dismissing Malthus, Both the jay hawk and the man eat chickens, but the more jay hawks, the fewer chickens, while the more men, the more chickens. Similarly, the American economist criticized Malthus's theory. He noted that the facts of human history have proven the predictions of Malthus and of the Neo to be flawed. Massive population growth in the 20th century did not result in a, The possible reasons include, increase in human knowledge, rapid increases in productivity, innovation and application of knowledge, general improvements in farming methods, mechanization of work, the introduction of high-yield varieties of wheat and other plants, the use of  to control crop pests.

More recent scholarly articles concede that whilst there is no question that population growth may contribute to environmental degradation, its effects can be modified by economic growth and modern technology. Research in environmental economics has uncovered a relationship between environmental quality, measured by ambient concentrations of air pollutants and per capita income. This so-called environmental shows environmental quality worsening up until about $5,000 of per capita income on purchasing parity basis, and improving thereafter. The key requirement, for this to be true, is continued adoption of technology and scientific management of resources, continued increases in productivity in every economic sector, entrepreneurial innovation and economic expansion.

Other data suggests that has little correlation to environmental quality and human quality of life. India's population density, in 2011, was about 368 human beings per square kilometre. Many countries with population density similar or higher than India enjoy environmental quality as well as human quality of life far superior than India. 

Water Pollution

India is recognized as has having major issues with, predominately due to untreated sewerage. Rivers such as the Ganges, the Yamuna and, all flowing through highly populated areas, thus polluted.

Discharge of untreated sewage is the single most important cause for pollution of surface and ground water in the India. There is a large gap between generation and treatment of domestic waste water in the India. The problem is not only that India lacks sufficient treatment capacity but also that the sewage treatment plants that exist do not operate and are not maintained. The majority of the government-owned sewage treatment plants remain closed most of the time due to improper design or poor maintenance or lack of reliable electricity supply to operate the plants, together with absentee employees and poor management. The waste water generated in these areas normally percolates in the soil or evaporates. The uncollected wastes accumulate in the urban areas cause unhygienic conditions and release pollutants that leaches to surface and groundwater.

According to a World Health Organization study, out of the India's 3,119 towns and cities, just 209 have partial sewage treatment facilities, and only 8 have full waste water treatment facilities. Over 100 Indian cities dump untreated directly into the Ganges river. Investment is needed to bridge the gap between 29000 million litre per day of sewage India generates, and a treatment capacity of mere 6000 million litre per day.

Other sources of water pollution include agriculture run off and small scale factories along the rivers and lakes of India. Fertilizers and pesticides used in agriculture in northwest have been found in rivers, lakes and ground water. Flooding during monsoons worsens India's water pollution problem, as it washes and moves all sorts of solid garbage and contaminated soils into its rivers and wetlands.

Air Pollution

Air pollution in India is a serious issue with the major sources being fuel wood and biomass burning, fuel adulteration, vehicle emission and traffic congestion. Air pollution is also the main cause of the, which is causing the to be delayed. India is the world's largest consumer of fuel wood, agricultural waste and biomass for energy purposes. Traditional fuel wood, crop residue and dung cake dominates domestic energy use in rural India and accounts for about 90% of the total. In urban areas, this traditional fuel constitutes about 24% of the total. Fuel wood, agri waste and biomass cake burning releases over 165 million tonnes of combustion products into India's indoor and outdoor air every year. These biomass-based household stoves in India are also a leading source of greenhouse emissions contributing to climate change.

The annual crop burning practice in northwest, north India and eastern, after monsoons, from October to December, are a major seasonal source of air pollution. Approximately 500 million tons of crop residues is burnt in open, releasing smoke, soot, NOx, SOx, PAHs and particulate matter into the air. This burning has been found to be a leading cause of smog and haze problems through the winter over Punjab, cities such as Delhi, and major population centers along the rivers through West Bengal. In other states of India, rice straw and other crop residue burning in open is a major source of air pollution.

Vehicle emissions are another source of air pollution. Vehicle emissions are worsened by fuel adulteration and poor fuel combustion efficiencies from traffic congestion and low density of quality, high speed per 1000 people.

On per capita basis, India is a small emitter of carbon dioxide greenhouse. In 2009, IEA estimates that it emitted about 1.4 tons of gas per person, in comparison to the United States’ 17 tons per person, and a world average of 5.3 tons per person. However, India was the third largest emitter of total in 2009 at 1.65 Gt per year, after China 6.9 Gt per year and the United States 5.2 Gt per year. With 17 percent of world population, India contributed some 5 percent of human-sourced carbon dioxide emission, compared to China's 24 percent share.

The was passed in 1981 to regulate air pollution and there have been some measurable improvements. However, the 2012 ranked India as having the poorest relative air quality out of 132 countries.

Solid waste pollution

Trash and garbage is a common sight in urban and rural areas of India. It is a major source of pollution. Indian cities alone generate more than 100 million tons of solid waste a year. Street corners are piled with trash. Public places and sidewalks are despoiled with filth and litter, rivers and canals act as garbage dumps. In part, India's garbage crisis is from rising consumption. India's waste problem also points to a stunning failure of governance.

In 2000, India's Supreme Court directed all Indian cities to implement a comprehensive waste-management programme that would include household collection of segregated waste, recycling and composting. These directions have simply been ignored. No major city runs a comprehensive programme of the kind envisioned by the Supreme Court.

Indeed, forget waste segregation and recycling directive of the India's Supreme Court, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development estimates that up to 40 percent of municipal waste in India remains simply uncollected. Even theoretically controlled by stringent rules that require hospitals to operate incinerators, is routinely dumped with regular municipal garbage. A recent study found that about half of India's medical waste is improperly disposed of.

Municipalities in Indian cities and towns have waste collection employees. However, these are unionised government workers and their work performance is neither measured nor monitored.

Some of the few solid waste landfills India has, near its major cities, are overflowing and poorly managed. They have become significant sources of greenhouse emissions and breeding sites for disease vectors such as flies, mosquitoes, cockroaches, rats, and other pests.

In 2011, several Indian cities embarked on projects of the type in use in Germany, Switzerland and Japan. For example, New Delhi is implementing two incinerator projects aimed at turning the city’s trash problem into electricity resource. These plants are being welcomed for addressing the city’s chronic problems of excess untreated waste and a shortage of electric power. They are also being welcomed by those who seek to prevent water pollution, hygiene problems, and eliminate rotting trash that produces potent greenhouse gas methane. The projects are being opposed by waste collection workers and local unions who fear changing technology may deprive them of their livelihood and way of life.

Along with waste-to-energy projects, some cities and towns such as Pune, Maharashtra is introducing competition and the privatisation of solid waste collection, street cleaning operations and bio-mining to dispose the waste. A scientific study suggests public private partnership is, in Indian context, more useful in solid waste management. According to this study, government and municipal corporations must encourage PPP-based local management through collection, transport and segregation and disposal of solid waste.

Noise Pollution

The which is in New Delhi gave a significant verdict on in 2005. Unnecessary of vehicles makes for a high level of noise in cities. The use of for political purposes and for sermons by temples and mosques makes noise pollution in worse. In January 2010, Government of India published norms of permissible noise levels in urban and rural areas.

Land or Soil pollution

In March 2009, the issue of attracted press coverage. It was alleged to be caused by ponds of stations, which reportedly lead to severe birth defects in children in the and districts of. The news reports claimed the uranium levels were more than 60 times the maximum safe limit. In 2012, the Government of India confirmed that the ground water in Malwa belt of Punjab has uranium metal that is 50% above the trace limits set by the United Nations World Health Organization. Scientific studies, based on over 1000 samples from various sampling points, could not trace the source to fly ash and any sources from thermal power plants or industry as originally alleged. The study also revealed that the uranium concentration in ground water of Malwa district is not 60 times the WHO limits, but only 50% above the WHO limit in 3 locations. This highest concentration found in samples was less than those found naturally in ground waters currently used for human purposes elsewhere, such as Finland. Research is underway to identify natural or other sources for the uranium.

Greenhouse gas emissions

India was the third largest emitter of in 2009 at 1.65 Gt per year, after China 6.9 Gt per year and the United States 5.2 Gt per year. With 17 percent of world population, India contributed some 5 percent of human-sourced carbon dioxide emission, compared to China's 24 percent share. On per capita basis, India emitted about 1.4 tons of carbon dioxide per person, in comparison to the United States’ 17 tons per person, and a world average of 5.3 tons per person.

Environmental issues and Indian law

Since about the late 1980s, the Supreme Court of India has been pro-actively engaged in India's environmental issues. In most countries, it is the executive and the legislative branches of the government that plan, implement and address environmental issues; the Indian experience is different. The Supreme Court of India has been engaged in interpreting and introducing new changes in the environmental jurisprudence directly. The Court has laid down new principles to protect the environment, re-interpreted environmental laws, created new institutions and structures, and conferred additional powers on the existing ones through a series of directions and judgments.

      The Court’s directions on environmental issues goes beyond the general questions of law, as is usually expected from the highest Court of a democratic country. The Supreme Court of India, in its order, includes executive actions and technical details of environmental actions to be implemented. Indeed, some critics of India's Supreme Court describe the Court as the Lords of Green Bench or Garbage Supervisor. Supporters of India's Supreme Court term these orders and the Indian bench as pioneering, both in terms of laying down new principles of law, and in delivering environmental justice.

      The reasons for the increasing interjection of India's Supreme Court in governance arenas are, experts claim, complex. A key factor has been the failure of government agencies and the state owned enterprises in discharging their Constitutional and Statutory duties. This has prompted civil society groups to file public interest complaints with the Courts, particularly the Supreme Court, for suitable remedies. Public interest litigation and judicial activism on environmental issues extends beyond India's Supreme Court. It includes the High Courts of individual states.

India's judicial activism on environmental issues has, some suggest, delivered positive effects to the Indian experience. Proponents claim that the Supreme Court has, through intense judicial activism, become a symbol of hope for the people of India. As a result of judicial activism, India's Supreme Court has delivered a new normative regime of rights and insisted that the Indian state cannot act arbitrarily but must act reasonably and in public interest on pain of its action being invalidated by judicial intervention.

India's judicial activism on environmental issues has, others suggest, had adverse consequences. Public interest cases are repeatedly filed to block infrastructure projects aimed at solving environmental issues in India, such as but not limiting to water works, expressways, land acquisition for projects, and electricity power generation projects. The litigation routinely delays such projects, often for years, whilst rampant pollution continues in India, and tens of thousands die from the unintended effects of pollution. Even after a stay related to an infrastructure project is vacated, or a court order gives a green light to certain project, new issues become grounds for court notices and new public interest litigation.

Judicial activism in India has, in several key cases, found state-directed economic development ineffective and a failure, then interpreted laws and issued directives that encourage greater competition and free market to reduce environmental pollution. In other cases, the interpretations and directives have preserved industry protection, labour practices and highly polluting state-owned companies detrimental to environmental quality of India. Proactive measures should be taken to conserve the depleting environment.

Forests and conservation

Ecological issues are an integral and important part of environmental issues challenging India. Poor air quality, water pollution and garbage pollution – all affect the food and environment quality necessary for ecosystems.

India is a large and diverse country. Its land area includes regions with some of the world's highest rainfall to very dry deserts, coast line to alpine regions, river deltas to tropical islands. The variety and distribution of forest vegetation is large. India is one of the 12 mega bio diverse regions of the world.

Indian forests types include tropical evergreens, tropical deciduous, swamps, mangroves, sub-tropical, montane, scrub, sub-alpine and alpine forests. These forests support a variety of ecosystems with diverse flora and fauna. Until recently, India lacked an objective way to determine the quantity of forests it had, and the quality of forests it had.

Forest cover measurement methods

 India deployed a bureaucratic method to estimate forest coverage. A land was notified as covered under Indian Forest Act, and then officials deemed this land area as recorded forest even if it was devoid of vegetation. By this forest-in-name-only method, the total amount of recorded forest, per official Indian records, was 71.8 million hectares. Any comparison of forest coverage number of a year before 1987 for India, to current forest coverage in India, is thus meaningless, it is just bureaucratic record keeping, with no relation to reality or meaningful comparison.

            In the 1980s, space satellites were deployed for remote sensing of real forest cover. Standards were introduced to classify India's forests into the following categories.

Forest Cover: defined as all lands, more than one hectare in area, with a tree canopy density of more than 10 percent. Such lands may or may not be statutorily notified as forest area. 

Very Dense Forest: All lands, with a forest cover with canopy density of 70 percent and above

Moderately Dense Forest: All lands, with a forest cover with canopy density of 40–70 percent

Open Forest: All lands, with forest cover with canopy density of ten to forty percent

Mangrove Cover: Mangrove forest is salt tolerant forest ecosystem found mainly in tropical and sub-tropical coastal and/or inter-tidal regions. Mangrove cover is the area covered under mangrove vegetation as interpreted digitally from remote sensing data. It is a part of forest cover and also classified into three classes viz. very dense, moderately dense and open.

Non Forest Land: defined as lands without any forest cover

      Scrub Cover: All lands, generally in and around forest areas, having bushes and or poor tree growth, chiefly small or stunted trees with canopy density less than 10 percent

      Tree Cover: Land with tree patches blocks and linear outside the recorded forest area exclusive of forest cover and less than the minimum mapable area of one hectare

    Trees Outside Forests: Trees growing outside Recorded Forest Areas

The first satellite recorded forest coverage data for India became available in 1987. India and the United States cooperated in 2001, using Landsat MSS with spatial resolution of 80 metres, to get accurate Indian forest distribution data. India thereafter switched to digital image and advanced satellites with 23 metres resolution and software processing of images to get more refined data on forest quantity and forest quality. India now assesses its forest distribution data biennially. The 2007 forest census data thus obtained and published by the Government of India suggests the five states with largest area under forest cover as the following,

Madhya Pradesh: 7.64 million hectares

Arunachal Pradesh: 6.8 million hectares

Chhattisgarh: 5.6 million hectares

Orissa: 4.83 million hectares

Maharashtra: 4.68 million hectares

India hosts significant, 12.6%, and 6.0% of species. In recent decades, human encroachment has posed a threat to India's wildlife, in response, a system of and, first established in 1935, was substantially expanded. In 1972, India enacted the and to safeguard crucial habitat; further federal protections were promulgated in the 1980s. Along with, India now hosts, four of which are part of the, are registered under the. These laws did not have the effect they intended. In 1985, India created the Ministry of Environment and Forests. This was followed by a National Forest Policy and the major government reforms of early 1990s. Over the last 20 years, India has reversed the deforestation trend. Specialists of the United Nations report India's forest as well as woodland cover has increased. A 2010 study by the Food and Agriculture Organisation ranks India amongst the 10 countries with the largest forest area coverage in the world the other nine being Russian Federation, Brazil, Canada, United States of America, China, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Australia, Indonesia and Sudan. India is also one the top 10 countries with the largest primary forest coverage in the world, according to this study.

    In 2003, India set up a National Forest Commission to review and assess India's policy and law, its effect on India's forests, its impact of local forest communities, and to make recommendations to achieve sustainable forest and ecological security in India. The report made over 300 recommendations including the following,

India must pursue rural development and animal husbandry policies to address local communities need to find affordable cattle fodder and grazing. To avoid destruction of local forest cover, fodder must reach these communities on reliable roads and other infrastructure, in all seasons year round.

The Forest Rights Bill is likely to be harmful to forest conservation and ecological security. The Forest Rights Bill became a law since 2007.

The government should work closely with mining companies. Revenue generated from lease of mines must be pooled into a dedicated fund to conserve and improve the quality of forests in the region where the mines are located.

Power to declare ecologically sensitive areas must be with each Indian state.

The mandate of State Forest Corporations and government owned monopolies must be changed.

Government should reform regulations and laws that ban felling of trees and transit of wood within India. Sustainable agro-forestry and farm forestry must be encouraged through financial and regulatory reforms, particularly on privately owned lands.

Current Environmental Issues

Look around. Does the summer seem hotter than it was last year Does it seem like the monsoon has given up on a schedule and does just as it pleases Does it seem weird that there are freak storms and floods Do you see the green cover rapidly shrinking on Planet Earth and the pollution levels rising You aren't the only one who's witnessing all this. It's happening the world over. Alarming climatic changes, deforestation, destruction of habitat, and extinction of species as well as rising pollution levels are only some of the current environmental issues that we are faced with. Ironically, humans have to combat several such 'man-made' effects that have harmed Mother Nature in many ways, over the years. 'What you sow is what you reap'. Ring a bell? Resisting the temptation to get all condescending, let's get an insight into some of the major environmental issues that we need to deal with currently.

Global Warming

Global warming is one of the major issues that we are being faced with today. The term signifies an increase in the atmospheric temperature near the earth's surface, which is caused due to various reasons. Scientists are of the opinion that a rise in the carbon dioxide levels will further aggravate the situation.

            The greenhouse effect causes the earth's heat to be trapped in the atmosphere, which results in the increase in temperatures. Global warming has thus caused a change in the climate of the earth, causing temperatures to rise. This, in turn, has an effect on various species dependent on the basic laws of nature. A change in the same makes survival a difficult issue. A warmer earth also causes changes in the rainfall patterns and thus affects humans, plants and animals as well.

Ozone Deletion

Chlorofluorocarbons are considered to be the main cause of ozone depletion. The term ozone depletion implies a decline in the quantity of ozone in the earth's stratosphere. The loss of ozone in the lower stratosphere was first recorded in Antarctica in the 1970s. As we all know, the earth's atmosphere is composed of many layers, ozone forms one such layer in the stratosphere. CFCs are used in aerosol sprays as well as air conditioners. These, when released into the atmosphere add to the ozone depletion. The ozone hole in the Antarctic is caused primarily due to this CFCs. Due to ozone depletion, humans are faced with various other problems such as dealing with the harmful effects of UV rays. These affect not only humans, but also affect plants and various species of animals as well.

Loss of Natural Recourses

With the alarming rate of increase in population, the loss of natural resources has become one of the major concerns. Issues like deforestation, animal extinction, shortage of water, lack of space and food are only some of the concerns brought on by the lack of resources. There are many reasons that lead to the loss of natural resources increasing demands brought on by population explosion, disregard for nature, human greed. This, in turn, affects the varied ecosystems.
              

Activities such as overfishing and hunting have even led many species of fish and animals respectively to the brink of extinction. Forests are being cleared to meet the rising demands for the need of paper, wood and land. Mining and burning of fossil fuels have led to further depletion of resources. Then again, this is merely scratching the surface.

Nuclear Problems

Nuclear energy is generated from the splitting of uranium atoms. This energy is used to create steam, which in turn is used to produce electricity. While there are definite advantages of generating nuclear power, what stands equally true is the fact that the process of producing the same harms the environment in many ways. The process of converting uranium into usable energy produces radioactive waste 2000 metric tons of radioactive waste is generated in a year in the USA alone which is extremely harmful for human, animal and plant health at many levels.

         Along with that, the storage of nuclear power at a plant, as well as the fact that most other equipment in the plant will also convert into radioactive material over time and remain radioactive for several years is a major threat. While decaying, radioactive material releases certain particles which leads to damaging effects on health, like cancer. Along with these health concerns, production of nuclear energy also leads to several other harmful effects like emission of carbon dioxide during mining, transport, waste management and other processes of producing nuclear energy, usage of excessive water and water discharge. This will, in turn, affect the environment at many levels.

Energy Crisis

The impact of energy on human life is probably only second to agriculture and forestry. That having been said, the negative impact that energy, as a source, has on the environment is quite far-reaching. Energy of any kind, may it be thermal, hydro, and nuclear or electric has led to several environmental concerns.

          Where earlier the concerns were restricted to the local arena, the issues have now become global. Energy and the activities related to energy production lead to hazards of some form or the other. Extraction of raw material for production emission of carbon dioxide, transportation, and the conversion to usable forms of resources have a harmful effect. Along with that, it has also led to concerns like acid rain, the greenhouse effect as well as global warming.

Improper Waste Management

Wastes can be of several kinds industrial, nuclear, chemical, domestic, and each can lead to environmental degradation. From excessive plastic used at home to the radioactive waste produced by nuclear plants, the impact can be disastrous.

           Not only are these wastes harmful on their own, but the techniques of waste management and disposal adds to this problem manifold. Emissions from industries as well as toxic by-products like mercury, crude oil, plastic and lead are not properly disposed off. They are dumped into the oceans and soil, thus leading to disastrous impacts on all life forms.

         Of these, oil spills have become another major concern. These wastes lead to the destruction of natural habitats of both plants and animals and other species as well, in both land and water. They therefore make the environment toxic. Along with increasing the risk of extinction of several species, it also leads to other health concerns such as the development of fatal diseases like cancer and lead poisoning.

          These are some of the current environmental issues we are facing today. With an effort from each individual, we can only hope to save our planet from being destroyed.

Pollution

Pollution is something that we face on an everyday basis. It is probably a problem that we may have become immune to, given our fast-paced lives and the fact that it is being treated as a hackneyed issue, where a lot is spoken about but nothing concrete is ever done.

           Air pollution occurs with the addition of harmful chemicals into the earth's atmosphere. The main pollutants of air are carbon monoxide, CFCs, nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide.

        Water pollution is caused when wastes are released into the water and contaminates it.

       Soil pollution takes place when the soil is contaminated due to various industrial activities.

      Noise pollution occurs when the noise levels crosses the normal decibel level. This can have a harmful effect on one's hearing and lead to more severe after-effects, both physical and psychological,

Biodiversity

The variety of life on Earth, its biological diversity, is commonly referred to as biodiversity. The number of species of plants, animals, and microorganisms, the enormous diversity of genes in these species, the different ecosystems on the planet, such as deserts, rainforests and coral reefs are all part of a biologically diverse Earth. Appropriate conservation and sustainable development strategies attempt to recognize this as being integral to any approach. In some way or form, almost all cultures have recognized the importance of nature and its biological diversity for their societies and have therefore understood the need to maintain it. Yet, power, greed and politics have affected the precarious balance.

Loss of Biodiversity and Extinctions

It has long been feared that human activity is causing massive extinctions. Despite increased efforts at conservation, it has not been enough and biodiversity losses continue. The costs associated with deteriorating or vanishing ecosystems will be high. However, sustainable development and consumption would help avert ecological problems.

Climate Change and Global Warming

The climate is changing. The earth is warming up, and there is now overwhelming scientific consensus that it is happening, and human-induced. With global warming on the increase and species and their habitats on the decrease, chances for ecosystems to adapt naturally are diminishing. Many are agreed that climate change may be one of the greatest threats facing the planet. Recent years show increasing temperatures in various regions, and or increasing extremities in weather patterns.

         This section explores some of the effects of climate change. It also attempts to provide insights into what governments, companies, international institutions, and other organizations are attempting to do about this issue, as well as the challenges they face. Some of the major conferences in recent years are also discussed.

Global Dimming

Research has shown that air pollutants from fossil fuel use make clouds reflect more of the sun’s rays back into space. This leads to an effect known as global dimming whereby less heat and energy reaches the earth. At first, it sounds like an ironic savior to climate change problems. 

However, it is believed that global dimming caused the droughts in Ethiopia in the 1970s and 80s where millions died, because the northern hemisphere oceans were not warm enough to allow rain formation. Global dimming is also hiding the true power of global warming. By cleaning up global dimming-causing pollutants without tackling greenhouse gas emissions, rapid warming has been observed, and various human health and ecological disasters have resulted, as witnessed during the European heat wave in 2003, which saw thousands of people die.

Un Framework Convention on Climate Change

The world mostly agrees that something needs to be done about global warming and climate change. The first stumbling block, however, has been trying to get an agreement on a framework. In 1988, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was created by the United Nations Environment Programe and the World Meterological Organization to assess the scientific knowledge on global warming. The IPCC concluded in 1990 that there was broad international consensus that climate change was human induced. That report led way to an international convention for climate change, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, signed by over 150 countries at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992. This section looks at this Convention and some of the main principles in it.

List of environmental issues

This is a list of environmental issues. As such they relate to the anthropogenic effects on the natural environment.

Climate change: Global warming, Global dimming, Fossil fuels, Sea level rise, Greenhouse gas, Ocean acidification, Shutdown of thermohaline, Environmental impact of the coal industry.

Conservation

Ecosystems: Anoxic waters, Biodiversity, Biosecurity, Coral bleaching, Edge effect, Habital destruction, Habitat fragmentation, Illegal dumping.

Fishing: Blast fishing, Bottom trawling, By- Catch, Cetacean bycatch, Gillnetting, Illegal, Unreported and unregulated fishing, Environmental effects of fishing, Overfishing, Marine pollution, whaling

Forests: Clear cutting, Deforestation, Illegal logging

Natural resources: Recourses depletion, Exploitation of natural resources

Species: Habitat destruction, Holocene extinction, Invasive species, Poaching, Pollinator decline, Red listed species, Species extinction, Wildlife trade, Genetic diversity.