PROFESSIONAL ETHICS & VALUES (DHU-501)
by Rajib Deb
Q.Causes of Environmental
Degradation
Answer:
1. Land Disturbance: A more basic cause of
environmental degradation is land damage. Numerous weedy (inefficient) plant
species, for example, garlic mustard, are both foreign and obtrusive. A rupture
in the environmental surroundings provides for them a chance to start growing and spreading.
These plants can assume control over nature, eliminating the local greenery.
2. Pollution: Pollution, in whatever form, whether it is air,
water, land or noise is harmful for the environment. Air pollution pollutes the air that we breathe which causes health issues. Water
pollution degrades the quality of water that we use for drinking purposes. Land pollution results in degradation of earth’s surface as a result of human
activities.
3. Overpopulation: Rapid population growth puts
strain on natural resources which results in degradation of our environment.
Mortality rate has gone down due to better a medical facility which has resulted
in increased lifespan. More population simple means more demand for food,
clothes and shelter. You need more space to grow food and provide homes to
millions of people. This results in deforestation which is another factor of
environmental degradation.
4. Landfills: Landfills pollute the environment and destroy the
beauty of the city. Landfills come within the city due the large amount of
waste that gets generated by households, industries, factories and hospitals. Landfills pose a great risk to the health of the environment and the people who
live there. Landfills produce foul smell when burned and cause huge
environmental degradation.
5. Deforestation:Deforestation is the cutting down of trees to make way for more homes and industries.
Rapid growth in population and urban sprawl are two of the major causes of deforestation. Apart from that, use of
forest land for agriculture, animal grazing, harvests for fuel wood and logging
are some of the other causes of deforestation. Deforestation contributes to
global warming as decreased forest size puts carbon back into the environment.
6: Natural Causes: Things like avalanches, quakes,
tidal waves, storms, and wildfires can totally crush nearby animal and plant
groups to the point where they can no longer survive in those areas. This can
either come to fruition through physical demolition as the result of a specific
disaster, or by the long term degradation of assets by the presentation of an
obtrusive foreign species to the environment. The latter frequently happens
after tidal waves, when reptiles and bugs are washed ashore.
Of course, humans aren’t totally to blame for this
whole thing. Earth itself causes ecological issues, as well. While
environmental degradation is most normally connected with the things that
people do, the truth of the matter is that the environment is always changing.
With or without the effect of human exercises, a few biological systems degrade
to the point where they can’t help the life that is supposed to live there.
Q.Effects of Environmental
Degradation
1. Impact on Human Health: Human health might be at the
receiving end as a result of the environmental degradation. Areas exposed to toxic air pollutants can cause respiratory problems like pneumonia and asthma. Millions of
people are known to have died of due to indirect effects of air pollution.
2. Loss of Biodiversity:Biodiversity is important for maintaining balance of the ecosystem in the form of
combating pollution, restoring nutrients, protecting water sources and
stabilizing climate. Deforestation, global warming, overpopulation and
pollution are few of the major causes for loss of biodiversity.
3. Ozone Layer Depletion: Ozone layer is responsible for
protecting earth from harmful ultraviolet rays. The presence of
chlorofluorocarbons, hydro chlorofluorocarbons in the atmosphere is causing the
ozone layer to deplete. As it will deplete, it will emit harmful radiations
back to the earth.
4. Loss for Tourism Industry: The deterioration of environment
can be a huge setback for tourism industry that rely on tourists for their
daily livelihood. Environmental damage in the form of loss of green cover, loss
of biodiversity, huge landfills, increased air and water pollution can be a big
turn off for most of the tourists.
5. Economic Impact: The huge cost that a country may
have to borne due to environmental degradation can have big economic impact in
terms of restoration of green cover, cleaning up of landfills and protection of
endangered species. The economic impact can also be in terms of loss of tourism
industry.
As you can see, there are a lot of things that can
have an effect on the environment. If we are not careful, we can contribute to
the environmental degradation that is occurring all around the world. We can,
however, take action to stop it and take care of the world that we live in by
providing environmental education to the people which will help them pick
familiarity with their surroundings that will enable to take care of environmental concerns thus making it more useful and protected for our
children and other future generations.
Q.What is Environmental
Degradation?
Answer: Environmental degradation is a result of
socio-economical, technological and institutional activities. Degradation
occurs when Earth's natural resources are depleted. These resources which are
affected include: Water, Air, and Soil
The degradation also impacts our: Wildlife, Plants,
Animals, and Micro-organisms
Q. How Environmental Degradation
Occurs ?
Environmental changes are based on many factors
including:
- Urbanization
- Population
growth
- Economic
growth
- Intensification
of agriculture
- Increase
in energy use
- Increase
in transportation
Q. How to Stop Degradation?
Answer: There are ways which we can help to
decrease degradation in our environment. Some of these include:
- Purchase
recycled products
- Conserve
water
- Do not
litter or toss waste into inappropriate places
- Conserve
energy
- Join an
awareness group
- Talk
with others about the impacts of environmental degradation
- Be an
advocate to save our planet!
As the human
population keeps on enlarging, there is a lot of pressure on the
utilization of natural resources. This often causes over-exploitation of the
natural resources, and contributes to environmental erosion. Overpopulation simply
means more pollution and fast extraction of natural resources compared to how
they are being replaced.
Q. Eco-friendly technology
Answer: It is
used to produce environment friendly products by using renewable resources.
This article is an attempt to provide the basic concept of eco-friendly
technology.
Eco-friendly means "being friendly to the
environment". Eco-friendly technology is all about optimization of renewable
resources without harming the environment. Aim of this technology is "do
more by using less". This technology makes sure that we use fewer
resources with full efficiency for gaining more profitability and productivity.
By using this technology we can get energy from the sun, water, wind and sea.
This technology is also known as sustainable technology.
Q. Objectives
There are some main objectives of this technology:
* Energy efficiency
* Ecological sustainable development
* Reducing harmful waste
* Reducing environmental impact
* Making the best use of available resources
*To provide the safe and pollution free environment
Q.Types of eco-friendly energy sources
There are many eco-friendly recourses of energy. Due to the advancement of
technology, we can use them effectively.
Solar Power Energy
The source of solar power energy is sun. It is free of cost and it doesn't
pollute the environment. Sun provides the life to living creatures. Now solar
energy is being considered as an alternative energy resource.
Geothermal Energy
Earth is a great source of heat energy. Human is able to extract this energy in
a very minute fraction. It is the energy which is extracted from the heat
stored by the earth. It is very reliable, sustainable and eco-friendly energy
source. This energy is being used from ancient times.
Wind power Energy
It is generated by wind or moving air. This energy can be generated when air is
moving fast. That is a reason it is not reliable at all the places. It is good
for hill areas , sea side and coastal areas where wind is very fast.
Water power Energy
Water is also a very good source of energy. Where the water flows fast, energy
can be generated and used to produce electricity. Various Dams and reservoirs
are being used as a source of electricity generation.
Tidal power Energy
Earth is mainly covered by the sea; approximately ¾ area of earth is covered
by water. In a sea we can get three types of energy : 1. energy of waves, 2.
energy of tides and 3. Energy of sea current. But it is not easy to convert sea
power to electric power. It needs a lot of investment and advanced technology.
