ENGLISH Answer the Questions [2 MARKS]

Over-population is one of the strongest factors responsible for a nation’s poverty and unemployment. It disturbs the earth’s principal biological systems leading to degradation of environment. The author highlights the problem of over-population by pointing out the mental setup of the poor who feel more children means more workers to earn money. They do not realise that more children only means more unemployed people. He argues that development is the best contraceptive, which includes spread of education, improvement of health and rise in income. Spread of education leads to awareness among people, which in turn results in a fall in the ‘fertility’ rate. The author makes a comment which emphasises the never ending circle of population and poverty by asserting that “The choice is really between control of population and the perpetuation of poverty.”

There are four principal biological systems of the earth. These systems are fisheries, forests, grasslands and croplands. However, due to the increasing demand of human beings to such an ‘unsustainable’ extent, the productivity of these systems is being hampered. The excessive demand results in deterioration and depletion of these resources. A country where protein is consumed on a large scale, overfishing is common, which leads to the collapse of fisheries in that area. Grasslands have been turned into deserts and production of crops is decreasing. The forests are destroyed in large proportions to obtain firewood. Depletion of tropical forests has also led to the extinction of several species.

The notice signifies that there is depletion of resources and deterioration of environment. Man is responsible for this and his own survival is threatened.

The lines that support the title of the chapter are given below:
1. The earth’s vital signs reveal a patient in declining health.
2. Are we to leave our successors a scorched planet of advancing deserts, impoverished landscapes and ailing environment?
3. …… the environment has deteriorated so badly that it is ‘critical’ in many of the eighty- eight countries investigated.

Over-population leads to the issues of poverty and unemployment. The vicious circle of population and poverty will continue unless the root cause, i.e., population is taken care of. It hampers the development of a country. It leads to the consumption of the natural resources at a much faster rate. The fossils consumed, the respurces depleted, the forests, cleared, the heat produced, the global warming caused are all the repercussions of the fast growing population.

Over the decades, a change has come in the perception of the people in respect to the planet. The human’ perception has shifted to a ‘holistic and ecological view of the world’. Earth is a living organisms that has limited resources. These resources will not last forever. The earth has its metabolic needs that require to be preserved. The need of the hour is ‘sustainable development’ which propounds that need of meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising with those of future generations. The present problems are not necessarily fatal for us but they are a ‘passport for future’. This is the ‘Era of Responsibility’ that calls for a responsible action from us. We must realise that the earth belongs as much to the future generation as much it belongs to us.

As we learn in the text, the first Brandt Report raised the above mentioned question about the deteriorating condition of the planet. Earth is like a ‘patient in declining health’. The depletion of forests, grasslands, fisheries and croplands are the result of excessive demand for resources. Over-population has led to a severe strain on the health of our planet. We must realise soon that in this ‘Era of Responsibility’ it is solely our duty to preserve our planet. We must realise that the earth belongs as much to the future generation as much to us. Rather making it our property, we should do our best to preserve it for the generations we have ‘borrowed it from’.

India, the biggest democracy in the world, is condemned for its easy attitude towards laws. Laws are constituted but never respected nor enforced in our country. For instance, the Indian Constitution mentions that casteism, untouchability and bonded labour shall be abolished; however, these evils flourish barefacedly even today. The author points out that Article 48-A of the Indian Constitution, propounds that “the State shall endeavour to protect and improve the environment and to safeguard the forests and wildlife of the country”. However, little is done in favour of this.
What we see is a near “catastrophic depletion” of forests’ over the last four decades. Forests are disappearing over the decades at the rate of 3.7 million acres a year. Areas that are officially designated as forest land, in reality, are treeless. The actual loss of forests is eight times the rate pointed by the government statistics.

Due to an extensive cutting of forests, firewood has become more expensive than the food being cooked in the pot.

Mrs Thatcher’s warning is very timely and life-saving. It says that no generation has the absolute ownership of the natural wealth on the earth and below the surface. We are here only as tenants. And to keep the earth in good form is our moral obligation. In the words of Lester Brown, the present generation has not inherited the earth as their sole-ownership property from the forefathers. In fact, we have borrowed it from our children and we shall have to return it to them in a better condition.

The industry has to play a vital role in the survival of the human race. It has to shoulder the responsibility of keeping the industrial growth sustainable. This is because the industry has already taken a heavy toll on our natural resources.

The world today is reduced to a village, thanks to the rapid means of transport and communication. Any problem affecting one part can spread like wildfire and affect the whole world. Hence, we have to tackle every problem on a big scale, involving the entire world. This is called the holistic view of the world. No country can stand apart in isolation; we are all inhabitants of the planet Earth.

The present population of India has crossed 100 crores. It is more than the entire population of Africa and South America put together. Millions would die of hunger or disease unless population control is enforced strictly.

Development or better standard of living is the most effective contraceptive to check population growth. Birth rate falls as education spreads and incomes rise. But the present increase in numbers puts the clock back. The poor beget more children than the rich. So they continue to be poor and unemployed. It is not possible to sterilise human beings compulsorily. Voluntary family planning alone can control the population and fight poverty.

The strongest factor distorting the future of our race is the rapid growth of population. The world took one million years to reach the figure of 100 crores in 1800. But by 1900, the world population had doubled. In the twentieth century, the population rose by 3.7 billion. Today, the world population is about 600 crore.

Laws in our country are neither respected nor enforced. They are broken without any fear. For example, the constitution of India has abolished casteism, untouchability and bonded labour. But all these social evils are flourishing shamelessly even after seventy years of independence.

 Article 48A of the constitution calls upon the states to protect and improve the environment, the forests and wildlife of the country. But this provision is rarely acted upon and enforced.

According to figures collected, India is losing its forests at the rate of nearly 4 million acres a year. The actual loss could be eight times the rate shown in official figures.

Forests have existed on the earth long before man came on the scene. But the way the trees are being felled, the deserts will overtake us before long. The world is losing forests at a rate of five crore acres a year. Actually, the loss is an acre and a half per second. The use of dung for burning instead of providing organic fertiliser to the soil is much to be blamed for a decrease in forests.

With the rapid growth of population, the requirement of protein has also gone up. Hence, overfishing has become intense and common. As for the forests, the people are destroying them for firewood and to create land for farming. With deforestation, many species of wildlife are also facing extinction.

In large parts of the world, man is tapping all available natural resources to meet his needs. He is clearing the forests, overfishing in the seas, harming the pasturelands with his flocks of sheep and harvesting the maximum number of crops on the cultivable land.

The four principal biological systems, according to Mr Lester Brown, are fisheries, forests, grasslands and croplands. They supply our food in addition to providing raw materials for industry. Then there are minerals and petroleum which are extracted from deep inside the earth.

The international commission in its report posed a very poignant question to those who are plundering all the natural resources for their own use today. The Report raised a question as to what sort of world we are going to leave for our descendants. It seems we are going to pass on to our children only deserts and barren lands and unhealthy environment.

Man is undoubtedly the master of the earth. He is guided by the principle of domination over wildlife, the minerals and food available on the planet. The fact is that he is sharing the earth with millions of other living species. He has no right to turn into deserts or wastelands. He has a moral duty to leave it in a healthy state for his successors.

The notice in a cage in Zambia zoo blames a man for all the nuisance, destruction and dangers to life on the earth. He is over-greedy and ill-natured. He is harming the air, water and the soil. He is doing more harm to the planet than all the wild animals.

Our natural resources are not unlimited, except for the sun and the ocean. When we use the forests and fisheries and other resources we ought not to forget the needs of future generations. The two inexhaustible sources of energy are the sun and the sea. The forests are sustainable, they grow again if we do not destroy them mindlessly. Our development plans should be tailored in such a way that we do not rob our progeny of their share.

We, truly speaking, are not the absolute owners of this earth. It is common property. It belongs as much to us as to the future generation. We must not tap all its natural resources for our own consumption. We are just the trustees of this planet: so we should keep it healthy.

There is a growing worldwide awareness that the earth is a living organism, and we humans are its parts. The earth has its own needs which should be respected. We have a moral duty to save the world from destruction.

The Green Movement is gaining momentum in the world today. Started in 1972 in New Zealand, It has created awareness about saving the earth as a whole. Saving forests, fisheries and natural resources for future generations have become a grave concern.

Our planet, the Earth, is passing through a bad phase. Its health is declining. The sources of food and other factors necessary for healthy living are drying up. All four chief systems are depleting fast. Fisheries, forests, pasturelands and agriculture have been overtopped.

It is tragic that man has forgotten that his very existence was once in the forest. Lust for money is depleting the forest cover. Industrialisation and urbanisation have resulted in the unmindful and merciless butchering of forests. The extinction of various wild animals and beautiful bird species is the result of deforestation. Flood, drought, famine, scanty rainfall, earthquake are nothing but silent revenge of nature.
The man has started repenting and he seeks forgiveness of nature. He has become aware of the vagaries of nature. The need for intensive forestry is being realised. The man has realised that in the conservation of the forests is hidden his own conservation and welfare. Not only man’s well being but the well being of all the creatures on this earth is directly linked with the preservation of forests. A poet has rightly said—
“One Impulse front the vernal wood
May teach port nature of man
Of moral evil and of good
Than all the sages can”
Forests and life on this earth arc interlinked. Had there been no forests, this very earth would have been annihilated long ago.

Due to rapid growth in population, more and more people come to the cities in search of employment. This growing population needs housing, jobs and other infrastructure. As cities expand to accommodate this ever-increasing population and development takes place, all concern for ecology is forgotten. Rules and regulations regarding the protection of the environment are flouted everywhere. As a result, trees are cut at a large scale to make way for flyovers and metro trains, green cover land is converted into colonies for people. Diesel driven trucks and buses pollute the atmosphere. As more and more people fall sick with breathing and heart problems, the government takes note and wakes up to address the situation. The use of CNG vehicles in Delhi and ban on all vehicles more than sixteen years old are some of the ways adopted by the administration to curb the evil of pollution. This year farmers have been warned not to burn the stubble in their fields after harvesting their paddy crop. This used to pollute the air in Delhi and other cities. These are some of the ways to control pollution.

Deterioration in environmental purity is directly proportionate to the economic activities of man. Rapid industrial growth has polluted the natural environment. Environment pollution causes global warming and it is a threat to the whole civilization. Human demands are increasing but resources are limited. Reckless and nonstop exploitation of natural resources has endangered the purity of the environment. Unknown diseases and extinction of many species of plants, animals and birds are the visible impacts. It is ironical that a man who needs the environment the most is destroying its purity and endangering the coming generation. We have realised the hazards and are adopting measures to rectify our mistakes. The ever-increasing population is the main culprit. So to give proper impetus to population stabilisation, a movement is the need of the hour. The ever-increasing population is swallowing the resources our mother earth provides. A proper balance is required between our needs and resources. Earth will be a safe and healthy place for our posterity if we take care of it today.