BIORESOURCE PROGRAMME FOR SCHOOL CHILDREN   Environmental Hazards by Eightina Paul Back to students page

Our earth, was formed from a ring of gases from the sun.. this mass took 150 million years to condense to form the earth we see today.

The wonderful sun rise

dancing sea and

the erupting volcanoes

are all the splendors of nature.

And to its beauty, we have the animals, plants, fishes, algae, fungi, lichens, wonderful sea weeds and microbes and of course the humans.

But what we humans are doing with these  natural treasures? We exploit and exploit and exploit them. Today we humans have spread in this world like anything.   Eventually, this increase of one master species leads to an ecological imbalance affecting the wondrous biodiversity of this beautiful world.

Our globe has crossed through the stone age, metal age, space age, information age and now we are in the garbage.

Yes, we are in the garbage and now we have  made our home a mere dustbin.

Where is a place on this  earth without wastes?

Will it be the dashing sea? hissing mountain? silent sky?  - NO  

Our people have already made their remarkable contributions  to these areas and there is no place on this earth without wastes.

The most common term used for the dumping of wastes into nature is pollution.

This is of many kinds like air  pollution, land pollution, water pollution ,thermal pollution, nuclear pollution, etc....etc....



 

A healthy water system and the polluted water

As a consequence, what do we have now?

Global warming, sea level rise (glacier melting), green house effect, increase of carbon-di-oxide in the atmosphere, temperature rise of the world and several other scientific threats.

Glacier melting

Wastes are nothing but misplaced resources. Appropriate use of these wastes can help us reduce pollution to a very great extent.

Anything, instead of getting released into the atmosphere as such can be treated ,processed and then sent; so that the nature can accept and assimilate it.

So, lets reduce ,refuse, reuse and recycle     

and,

Care for the earth so that it will take care of our blooming generations in future.good luck. have energetic starts,clever solutions, effective application and we will have fruitful results.

India is one of the signatories of the international convention to cuDue to increase in population density, the per capita land availability has decreased to 0.12 ha. The land area under forests is just 11% as against the required 33%rb pollution. As a result of this, diesel vehicles and 15-year-old vehicles are to be banned to control vehicular pollution in cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, etc. Vehicular emission checks have been made mandatory for all vehicles

Water scarcity due to ground water depletion is the major problem in India. The population has tripled since 1950 and the water demand has multiplied to double the sustainable yield of the aquifers. Aquifer depletion could bring down India's potential crop harvest by 25%. More than 230 blocks in our country are facing a severe shortage of water resources. Vanishing wetlands, heavily silted tanks and shrinking reservoirs are the other problems concerned with water resources in India.

India has a total land area of about 329 mha, of which only 266 mha is under proper usage

Modernisation started with improved and efficient energy usage. India consumes 15% of the world's energy. No nation can depend on only one form of energy. It will have to be a mix of biomass, solar, coal, petroleum, natural gas, hydro and nuclear energy, each supplying not more than 20% of the total energy needs of a nation.

Non-conventional energy sources would reduce carbon di-oxide emissions by 5%, sulphur di-oxide emission by 10% and nitrogen oxide emissions by 15% thus reducing pollution.

With  the increasing population pressure, the need for increased food production resulted in the "Green revolution" of the 1960

Groundwater depletion for agriculture is twice the rate of recharge. Agriculture has degraded 125 mha of land with monoculture, salinization and water logging. Intensive agriculture has converted many fertile lands to waste lands.

Our population  has crossed the one billion mark leading to a population density of 290 persons/km2.

India spends a sizable portion of its revenue on health problems. In the 36 major cities of India this accounts for about Rs. 9000 crores per year!

A noise level of 80 decibels creates tension and increases blood pressure. Continuous exposure to noise levels above 85 db results in tinnitus, while a level of 115-120 db can result in permanent deafness and at times leads to fatigue. Even the foetus in the mother's womb is disturbed by noise pollution.

Each of us has a role to play in rehabilitating our environment. Let us not forget that the environment is nothing but an extension of the individual. We belong to the earth; the earth does not belong to us.

Even if one is affected, the effects are reflected on the others, and their constituents. Therefore, proper resource utilization, and conservation and maintenance of the ecological balance is the need of the hour.

If  this  is  the  condition in one countries of the 195 countries in the world, then what would be the condition of the whole world?

    ..........thank you.........