Economics 6 Marks Question

With a view to curtail the damaging impact of industrialisation on environment. Government has taken following steps for protection, conservation and development of the government:

1. Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) was constituted as a statutory body in 1974.
2. Government set up “Common effluent Treatment Plants" (CETPs) in industrial estates. In September, 2006, Environment Impact Assessment was formed to make environmental planning more efficient, transparent and decentralised.
3. A National Clean Development Mechanism Authority has been set up to receive projects for evaluation and approval of carbon market under Kyoto Protocol.
4. Government has notified standards for emissions and effluents.
5. Government is regulating the string of industries.
6. Government is monitoring compliance to environmental standards.
7. Legal action is being taken up for non compliance.

In India, air pollution is widespread in urban areas where vehicles are the major contributors and in a few other areas which have a high concentration of industries and thermal power plants. Vehicular emissions are of particular concern since these are ground level sources and thus, have the maximum impact on the general population. The number of motor vehicles has increased from about 3 lakh in 1951 to 67 crore in 2003. In 2003, personal transport vehicles (two-wheeled vehicles and cars only) constituted about 80% of the total number of registered vehicles thus, contributing significantly to total air pollution load.
India is one of the ten most industrialised nations of the world. But this status has brought with it unwanted and unanticipated consequences such as unplanned urbanisation, pollution and the risk of accidents. The CPCB(Central Pollution Control Board) has identified 17 categories of industries (large and medium scale) as significantly polluting.

Environment is defined as the total planetary inheritance and the totality of all resources biotic and abiotic. Biotic resources include all living elements such as birds, animals and plants, forests, fisheries, etc. Abiotic elements include air, water, land, etc. Two main problems related to environment:

1. Threat to poverty-induced environmental degradation.
2. Threat of pollution from affluence and a rapidly growing industrial sector.

Main functions of environment.The environment performs four vital functions:

1. It supplies renewable resources (which can be used without fearing their depletion or exhaustion, e.g.. trees in the forest) and non-renewable resources (which get exhausted with extraction and use, e.g., ‘fossil fuel’).
2. It assimilates wastes, i.e., the wastes generated are within the assimilating capacity of the environment.
3. It sustains life by providing genetic and bio diversity. This implies that the resource extraction is not above the rate of regeneration of the resource.
4. It provides aesthetic services like scenery etc.

The environmental crisis has now taken a global turn and is not limited to just a country or two. The basic reasons being:

1. The rapidly growing population of the developing countries, which is putting immense pressure on the available limited resources.
2. Affluent consumption and production standards of the developed countries have also put a lot of burden on the existing environment.
3. Use of resources and the waste generated beyond the absorptive capacity of the environment.
4. Rapidly growing industrial sector and pollution from affluence have led to water contamination, air pollution and noise pollution. These have led to the spread of a number of diseases.
5. Increase in the number of vehicles on the road using non-eco-friendly fuel as petrol and diesel are the major contributors to the environmental crisis, by way of noise and air pollution. Their emissions are very harmful for all living beings.

India has rich quality of natural resources in plenty. It is clear from the following points:

1. India has rich quality of soil, hundreds of rivers and tributaries, lush green forests, abundant mineral deposits under the land surface, vast stretch of the Indian Ocean, mountain ranges, etc.
2. The black soil of the Deccan Plateau is particularly suitable for cultivation of cotton. It has lead to concentration of textile industries in this region.
3. The Indo-Gangetic plains-spread from the Arabian Sea to the Bay of Bengal-are one of the most fertile, intensively cultivated and densely populated regions in the world.
4. India’s forests provide green cover for a majority of its population and natural cover for its
   wildlife.
5. Large deposits of iron-ore, coal and natural gas are found in the country. India alone accounts for nearly 20 pecent of the world’s total iron-ore reserves.

Bauxite, copper, chromate, diamonds, gold, lead, lignite, manganese, zinc, uranium, etc. are also available in different parts of the country.

1. Air pollution: Air pollution is perhaps the most severe environmental problem. It also has a serious impact on public health causing serious breathing disorders and diseases. Motor vehicles are one of the chief source of air pollution. Forest fires also cause air pollution. Often these fires result from illegal logging of rain forests. The result of air pollution is devastating as seen from its impact on global warming and ozone layer depletion.
2. Industrialisation: The evil effects of industrialization and deforestation for agricultural extension are now visible. Oxygen, essential for breathing, has become polluted. Carbon dioxide and other fuel gases have spread in the atmosphere, causing acid rain. Forests have been disappearing and lakes have dried. Water from rivers is not even fit to bathe in. The development pattern of the West has now become universal. When it was adopted by poor countries with dense population, the problem of pollution became visible and acute. This led to the rapid depletion of natural resources-water, forests and land, started rapidly.
3. Water contamination: World's water quality is deteriorating. One of the most serious problem is the lack of sewage system in urban areas. The relative absence of controls on industrial emissions also has led to the degradation of water resources. Many factories continue to dump their liquid waste into rivers without treatment. Lack of regulation on agricultural chemicals has led to damage of water resources. The growing number of small-scale mines operate with little or no environmental precautions. This makes the mining sector an increasingly large source of water pollution.
4. Illiteracy: Human activities can cause major damage to environment, especially to our crucial or vital resources. If unchecked, they will endanger the human society at large, and the plant and animal kingdoms. We must protect our environment to sustain life. Thus, people must learn to act fast in this direction by being responsible beings through literacy.

The major sources of air pollution in urban areas are growing industrialisation and increasing traffic of vehicles. Smoke and effluents emitted by the industrial units are responsible for industrial pollution, especially in case of such industries like iron and steel, paper, chemicals, etc. Small scale industries make their own contribution to air pollution. Thermal power plants release high quantity of ash and other pollutants into air.
Harmful effects of air pollution:

1. It can cause irritation of the eyes, nose and throat, leading to upper respiratory infections.
2. It affects the health of people and animal in the long run.
3. It can damage crops and forests.
4. It can contaminate and destroy the food supply.
5. It results in global warming caused by carbon dioxide building up in the environment.

The present thinking with regard to relationship between nature and development is that there should be maximum exploitation of natural resources for development. As a result, people are using nature beyond its carrying capacity. Our present technology is creating a number of environmental problems. A number of non-degradable materials are being produced in present day through the production technology. Following are the some important reasons responsible for the heavy burden on nature:

1. Rise in human population in underdeveloped countries.
2. Affluent consumption style in developed countries.
3. Misuse of production technology in almost all the countries and poor planning of development.

As a result of above, there is a reckless use of resources creating negative effects on the society.
The negative effects of development on nature are:

1. Pollution,
2. Degradation of resources.

"Development that meets the need of the present generation without compromising the ability of the future generation, to meet their own needs" is known as sustainable development. It can be achieved by:

1. Decreasing the absolute poverty of the poor by providing long lasting livelihood that are secure.
2. Resource depletion should be minimal and utilization be optional
3. Human population be limited to a level within the carrying capacity of the environment.
4. Technological progress should be input efficient and not input consuming.
5. Renewable resources should be extracted on a sustainable basis. Inefficiencies which crop up from pollution should be speedily checked upon.
6. Rate of depletion of non-renewable resources should be lesser than the rate of their creation.

Effects of population explosion on environment:

1. The adverse effects of a growing population include environmental degradation, air and land traffic congestion, pollution of all kinds, water shortages, soaring urban housing costs, increased crowding, loss of prime agricultural land and social stress.
2. Our land area is quickly consumed as more people require more space to live, work, and play, scenic countryside shrink, parks become more crowded.
3. As population grows, taxes increase in order to maintain social services and education, and to continually add costly infrastructure such as schools, hospitals, prisons, roads, and systems for the disposal of sewage and other waste.
4. Population with relatively high standards of living in industrialised countries use large amounts of energy and generate disproportionately large per capita quantities of "greenhouse gases" (which cause global warming) and toxic pollutants, so even small population increase in such countries can have disproportionate adverse impacts.

The quality of our daily lives deteriorates as population grows; overpopulation both worsens, and frustrates attempts to solve social maladies such as crime, psychological stress, and homelessness.

Soil erosion is a naturally occurring process on all land.
The agents of soil erosion are water and wind, and human activities which hinder the natural processes. Soil erosion may be a slow process that continues relatively unnoticed, or it may occur at an alarming rate causing serious loss of top soil.

1. Tillage and cropping practices which lower soil organic matter levels, cause poor soil structure and result in increase in soil erosion.
2. The steeper, the slope of a field, the greater is the amount of soil loss from erosion by water.
3. Soil erosion is caused if the soil has no or very little vegetative cover of plants and/or crop residues.
4. Excess tillage can contribute to soil structure breakdown and increased erosion.
5. The lack of windbreaks (trees, shrubs, residue, etc.) allows the wind to put soil particles into motion for greater distances, thus, increasing soil erosion. Certain conservation measures can reduce soil erosion by both water and wind:

• Tillage and cropping practices, as well as land management practices, directly affect the overall soil erosion problem and solutions on a farm.
• When crop rotation or changing tillage practices are not enough to control erosion on a field, a combination of approaches or more extreme measures might be necessary. For example, contour plowing, strip cropping, or terracing may be considered.

1. Pollution refers to the degraded environmental quality on account of rising population of the developing countries and affluent consumption and production standards of the developed countries in turn putting a lot of pressure on the environment.
2. As a result the extinction of many resources and the wastes generated being beyond the absorptive capacity of the environment.
3. Rising population, rapidly growing industrial sector and pollution from affluence have led to degraded environmental quality by way of water contamination (70% of water in India is polluted), air pollution and noise pollution have led to an increase in the incidence of water-borne diseases and respiratory problems along with hearing loss.
4. Vehicles are considered as the major contributors to the air and noise pollution Vehicular emissions are a serious matter of concern as they have the maximum impact on the population at large. Number of vehicles have increased by leaps and bounds in the country, in an unplanned manner.
5. ncreased vehicles are not only contributing to air pollution and noise pollution but are also a source of increased risk of accidents.

There are two views on how economic development affects environment:According to first view, economic development degrades our environment by using natural resources for production of goods and services. Economic development results in pollution in the form of air pollution, water pollution and land pollution. According to second view, economic development improves environment quality. The discovery of new materials and sources not only use less of natural resources, but sometimes replace them. Thus, with economic development, degradation of environment decreases.
From the above discussion, we find that relationship between environment and economic development is dynamic and complex. It is difficult to decide whether the economic development leads to degradation of environment or not. Undoubtedly, economic development leads to excessive extraction of natural resources and generation of pollutants, but it introduces new processes, materials and discoveries. We should be careful and ensure that the economic development should not damage the environment.

Yes, the environmental crisis is a very recent phenomenon; the sparks of such crisis were never visible in the past. In the early centuries before industrialisation, the population growth was on a tight rein. The demand of the environmental resources was much lower than its supply. Environment supported the world's population in the past as the rate of usage of the resources was lesser. Also, the rate of regeneration of resources exceeded the rate with which the resources were exploited. In other words, the threat of environment crisis was never felt in the past as the exploitation of natural resources was within the carrying capacity of the environment. But, today, due to heavy industrialisation, urbanisation, man has started exploiting nature to its maximum. Nuclear and industrial wastes being dumped into the water bodies, pollution of land and air has affected the environment in three-fold manner. Now, the rate of exploitation of natural resources is lagging behind the rate of regeneration of the natural resources. Consequently, the mounting pressure on the carrying capacity of the environment is paving the way for environmental crises.

'Sustainable development' is development that meets the need of the present generation without compromising the ability of the future generations to meet their own needs.
The four strategies for sustainable development are:

1. Use of non-conventional sources of energy: In India the use of LPG and gobar gas in rural areas and the use of CNG as fuel in urban areas, wind power, solar power along with the mini hydel power plants which are environment-friendly can generate enough power to meet local demand.
2. Raditional knowledge: Practices have been more a component of the environment and not its controller. With the sudden onslaught of the western system of treatment, the traditional treatment systems like Ayurveda, Unani, Tibetan and folk systems were ignored. But now these are in great demand again for treatment of chronic health problems.
3. Biocomposting: Farmers had over a period of last five decades totally neglected the use of compost and completely switched over to chemical fertilisers, which adversely affected the productive land and water bodies. But now in large numbers, the farmers have again started using compost made from organic wastes of various kinds. Earthworms can convert organic matter into compost faster.
4. Biopest Control: Due to the green revolution more and more use of chemical pesticides for higher yield led to the contamination of food products, like milk, meat and fish, soil, water bodies and even ground water were polluted with pesticides.

But now efforts are being made to bring in better methods of pest control like the ones based on plant products like neem trees are proving quite useful. Also, there is widespread awareness about various animals and birds which help in controlling pests. Like snakes are one of the prime group of animals which prey upon rats and various other pests. Owls, peacocks and lizards also play an important role in preying upon vermin and pests.

Global warming is an average increase in the temperature of the atmosphere near the earth's surface, which can lead to changes in global climate patterns.
Causes of environmental crisis:

1. Rapid growth of world population placing increasing scarce resources is degrading the global ecosystem.
2. Carbon emission have greatly increased over the past 200 years.

The problem of environmental crisis has emerged in recent times because discovered coal, factories and motor vehicles, leading to more of carbon dioxide in the environment. Increased population wants to live with refrigerators, televisions and motor vehicles with air conditioning.
This puts tremendous pressure on governments all over the world to provide more and more electricity. Most electricity is produced by burning coal and other fossil fuels. Thus, the greatest advances in humanity's capacity to harness energy and meet its own ends has led to environmental crisis in recent times.

1. The rising population of the developing countries and the affluent consumption and production standards of the developed nations have put a huge stress on the environment in terms of its functions of supplying resources and assimilating wastes.
2. Many resources are becoming extinct since their use is beyond the carrying capacity of the environment leading to an environmental crisis.
3. In earlier times, the demand for environmental resources and services was much less than their supply. Due to urbanisation, increased demand for goods and services has led to advanced industrialisation. This has caused pollution which is more than the absorptive capacity of the environment.
4. The rate at which the resources are extracted by man has been more than the rate of regeneration of the resources, causing serious environmental problems.

The alarming environmental problems of today are to be speedily arrested by adopting the following ways:

1. Strict measures should be taken to check the rapidly growing population. Resource depletion should be minimised and the renewable resources should be extracted on a sustainable basis i.e. rate of extraction should be lesser than the rate of regeneration.
2. Use of non-conventional sources of energy like solar and wind should be propogated on a large scale.
3. In the case of non-renewable resources their rate of depletion should be as less as possible i.e. their usage should be prudently made. LPG as a clean fuel and gobar gas be used in rural areas.
4. Usage of CNG in urban areas as a green fuel for vehicles especially in public transport system, would go a long way to check air pollution.
5. Mini-hydel plants be utilized for generating electricity locally.
6. Bio-composting process should now be widely used to increase the production.
7. To meet the challenge of pollution better methods of pest control should be used. Wide awareness about various birds and animals in this direction has to be spread via media to make many unknown facts known.

The steps involved in attaining sustainable development in India are:

• Use of non-conventional sources of energy: This will help in reducing our dependency on thermal power and hydel power. Thus, use of non-conventional sources of energy will help in ensuring sustainable development.
• LPG, Gobar gas in rural areas: Use of LPG and gobar gas in rural areas will help in reducing the extraction of firewood for fuel. Thus, it will help in reducing air pollution and felling of trees.
• CNG in urban areas: As the example of Delhi shows, increased use of CNG in urban areas can help in improving air quality.
• Wind power: Wind power is a renewable source of energy and can be harnessed with available technology. Many wind farms are already operational in India.
• Solar power through photovoltaic cells: Solar panels are being used for powering traffic lights and hoardings in many cities. Solar cells are also being used in water heaters and for lightning purposes.
• Mini-hydel plants: Mini hydel plants can be ideal for hilly areas which have large number of streams. Mini hydel plants can help in supplying electricity to remote areas and also in preventing transmission losses.

Solar Power:
Benefits:

1. Virtually maintenance free.
2. Relatively easy to install.
3. Solar panels can provide plentiful power during the long hours of summer sun.

Limitations:

1. In areas that experience a lot of overcast or low light days, the output is not that good, though still considerable.
2. It is not available at night or when there is a dense cloud cover. This makes it unreliable.
3. Solar power is currently significantly more expensive and requires action by consumers e.g., installing solar panels.

Wind Power:
Benefits:

1. In high wind areas (at least 12mph), wind generators produce power, more cost effectively than solar. Wind's long-term technical potential is believed to be 5 times current global energy consumption or 40 times the current electricity demand.
2. A moderate proportion of wind generation can be connected without the need for a storage. The cost of maintenance and storage is comparatively lower compared to any other source of energy-renewable or non-renewable.
3. Power output from wind varies though it can be predicted with a fair degree of confidence many hours ahead.

Limitations:

1. Repair (even under warranty) can be quite costly, especially on freestanding towers because of crane costs, labour for taking a wind generator down and putting it back up, shipping costs to the retailer or manufacturer etc.
2. Wind generators require foundation work such as concrete anchors, good wires etc., depending on the chosen tower design.
3. The trees might have to be cleared, a practice against the conservation of resources. The birds killed by wind turbines could also cause concern.

Two serious adverse environmental consequences of development in India are:

1. Air Pollution: In India, air pollution is becoming a serious environmental issue in the urban areas of the country. Industrial emission and vehicular emission are seen as the major contributor to this. Carbon emissions, green house gas emissions are deteriorating the health standard of the country. Recently, Delhi government launched an odd-even vehicle policy to curb the problem of air pollution.
2. Land degradation: Land degradation is also emerging as a major consequence of development. It is due to deforestation, improper management of land, use of chemicals in agricultural activities, unplanned irrigation systems, et These factors lead to reduction in quality of soil, increase in harmful chemicals, soil erosion, etc.

India’s environmental problems pose a dichotomy because in rural areas of the country environmental issues arise due to poverty – people have to rely on forest wood and agricultural waste as the fuel for cooking and other related activities; And due to lack of water distribution facilities and awareness about sanitation, daily chores take place at the banks of open water bodies which provide water for drinking. In urban areas, environment issues occur due to maintaining of affluent living standards–industrialization, urbanisation contribute massively towards environment degradation. Further, land gets degraded due over-utilisation, water bodies get polluted due to sewage and industrial waste, air quality degrades and natural resources are getting depleted.

Two major environmental issues facing the world today are global warming and ozone depletion.
Global warming: Global warming is a gradual increase in the average temperature of the earth’s lower atmosphere as a result of the increase in greenhouse gases since the Industrial Revolution. Much of the recent observed and projected global warming is human-induced. It is caused by man-made increases in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases through the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation.
Ozone depletion: Ozone depletion refers to the phenomenon of reductions in the amount of ozone in the stratosphere. The problem of ozone depletion is caused by high levels of chlorine and bromine compounds in the stratosphere. The origins of these compounds are chlorofluorocarbons (CFC), used as cooling substances in airconditioners and refrigerators, or as aerosol propellants, and bromofluorocarbons (halons), used in fire extinguishers.

Land degradation means toss of fertility of land. Six of the factors responsible for land degradation are:

1. Loss of vegetation occuring due to de lore station.
2. Unsustainable fuel wood and fodder extraction.
3. Extraction of around water in excess of the recharge capacity.
4. Non-adoption of adequate soil conservation measures.
5. Improper crop rotation.
6. Indiscriminate use of agro-chemicals such as fertilizers and pesticides.

Following are the benefits associated with solar power:

1. It is relatively easy to install solar panels which help to generate solar power.
2. Solar panels, once installed, does not require much maintenance.
3. These panels provide sufficient solar power during the long summer days and one does not have to face the problem of power cuts.

Following are the limitations associated with solar power:

1. It is not suitable for areas where sunlight is less or which are generally overcast.
2. Solar power is not available at night.
3. The initial cost of establishing solar panels is more and it requires active action by the consumers.

Opportunity cost is the cost in terms of foregone opportunities of doing things. There has been a reversal of supply-demand relationship for environmental quality. We are now faced with increased demand for environmental resources and services but their supply is limited due to overuse resulting from rise in population, affluent consumption patterns and industrialization. Many resources have become extinct and the wastes generated are beyond the absorptive capacity of the environment. This negative environmental Impact has high opportunity costs as explained below:

1. The industrial development in past has polluted and dried up rivers and other aquifers making water an economic good. Cleaning up of polluted rivers and replenishing water resources require huge investments.
2. The intensive and extensive extraction of both renewable and non-renewable resources are exhausted. Some of these vital resources and huge amount of funds need to be spent on technology and research to explore new resources.
3. The health costs of degraded environmental quality are also present as decline in air and water quality have resulted in increased incidence of respiratory and water-borne diseases.
4. Global environmental issues such as global warming and ozone depletion also contribute lo increased financial commitments for the government. Thus, it is clear that the opportunity costs of negative environmental impacts are high.

Four strategies of sustainable development in our locality:

1. Use of Eco-Friendly Fuel: The fuels such as petrol and diesel emit huge amount of carbon dioxide that add to the Green House impact. In order to control pollution, the use of CNG and LPG should be promoted. These fuels are cleaner and eco-friendly. Also pooling of vehicles in the locality should be promoted.
2. Use of Renewable Resources: India being a tropical country is well endowed with sunlight, water and wind energy. These natural resources are renewable and pollution free. Thus, attempts should be made to harness solar and wind energy by employing different technologies and to go for rain water harvesting. It would help in sustainable economic development.
3. Recyclable Products: The household waste materials like newspapers, old bottles, used batteries, etc should be accumulated and should be distinguished as bio-degradable and non-biodegradable wastes. The bio-degradable wastes are those wastes that can be decomposed and can be used as manure for organic farming. The non-biodegradable wastes like plastic, etc should be recycled and re-used. Use of polythene bags should be discouraged,
4. Judicious Use of Electricity: Electricity is a resource which is used in all households in our locality. It is one such resource which is already in short supply and may not be available to future generations if we do not start using it judiciously. Therefore, the easiest strategy for sustainable development is to use power in an efficient mariner without wasting it. This can be done by using energy efficient equipments.