Sustainable Development Issues: A Comprehensive Overview, Summaries of Environmental Science

Download Sustainable Development Issues: A Comprehensive Overview and more Summaries Environmental Science in PDF only on Docsity!

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

ISSUES

Maryam Zafar

M. Phil NUST

President Gold Medalist

CSS Syllabus

• I. History of Environmental Thought :- Environment and Sustainable Development, History of Environmental Movements, Industrial and Agriculture Revolution, United Nations Conference on Human Environment 1972, Our Common Future 1987, Rio Summit 1992, Agenda 21, World Summit on Sustainable Development 2002, Millennium Development Goals.
• II. Sustainable Development Issues :- Population growth, Poverty, Biodiversity loss and its Conservation, Energy security (energy conservation and alternative energy resources), Urbanization and sustainable cities, Carrying capacity and ecological footprint. Food security and sustainable agriculture. Ecological restoration.
• III. Interdisciplinary nature of Environmental Science :- Orientation on convergence of various social and natural sciences to evolve a new discipline of environmental science: Environmental Biology, Environmental Chemistry, Environmental Physics, Environmental Microbiology, Environmental Toxicology, Environmental Economics, Environmental Geology, Environmental Geography, Environmental Biotechnology, Environmental Sociology.
• IV. Environmental Pollution :- Air Pollution, Water Pollution, Soil Pollution, Noise Pollution, Solid Waste, Water Logging & Salinity, Deforestation, Desertification, Eutrophication, Global and regional air pollution problems (Greenhouse effect, Global Warming/Climate Change, Ozone Depletion, Acid Rain).

Population growth

Population growth

• A population can be defined as “ a

group of individuals of the same

species inhabiting an area ”.

• The very great and continuing

increase in human population in

modern times is termed as

Population explosion.

Population Growth

• Biological Reasons for Population Growth
• Obviously, the most important determinant of the rate at which human populations grow is related to the number of women in the population who are having children and the number each will have.
• The total fertility rate of a population is the number of children born per woman per lifetime.

Some factors that have helped the population growth are:

• High production of food and better technologies for storage, processing and distribution.
• Better medical facilities provided during childbirth and under five years age by immunization.
• In the developed countries, population has started declining because of: - Better medical and family planning facilities. - The educated people who know about ‘the abuses of overpopulation have small family.

Human Population: Malthus’s Human Population Theory

• In 1798 T.R. Malthus published an essay on population; the great economist outlined the problem of population graphically and stated that human population tends to increase in geometrical pattern (1- 2 - 4 - 8.......) whereas the food production increases by arithmetic progression (1- 2 - 3 - 4.........). This is called as theory of human population growth proposed by Malthus.

Consequences of Continued Population Growth

• It can lead to depletion of resources.
• Severe competition for food and space.
• Increase in psychological stress and strain.
• Rapid pollution of environment.
• Large scale unemployment.

BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION

Biodiversity

• Biodiversity is the vast array of all the species of plants, animals, insects and the microorganisms inhabiting the earth either in the aquatic or the terrestrial habitats. The human civilization depends directly or indirectly upon this biodiversity for their very basic needs of survival–food, fodder, fuel, fertilizer, timber, liquor, rubber, leather, medicines and several raw materials.

LOSS OF BIODIVERSITY

• Natural Causes: Species arise through

processes of mutation , isolation , and

natural selection.

• Human-Caused Extinction: I n a

variety of ways through ignorance or

carelessness

Direct impact Indirect impact Hunting and food Gathering Habitat destruction Fishing Exotic species Introductions Trade in Animal Products Diseases Harvesting wild plants Pollution Pet and scientific trade Predator and pest control

Measuring Biodiversity

• Diversity can be defined as the number of species found in a community.
• Alpha Diversity: It indicates the number of species in a single community. The index can be used to compare the number of species in different ecosystem type.
• Beta Diversity: It indicates the degree to which species composition changes along an environmental gradient.
• Gamma Diversity: It indicates the rate at which additional species are encountered as geographical replacements within a habitat type in different localities

Threats to Biodiversity:

Habitat Destruction

Invasive Species

Pollution

Population

Overharvesting

Commercial Products and Live Specimens

Adoption of conservation approaches

• In-situ conservation: It can be defined as the conservation of plants and animals in their native ecosystem (natural habitats) or even man made ecosystem, where they naturally occur. This type of conservation is applicable to wild flora and fauna as conservation is achieved through protection of populations in their natural ecosystems. The concept of protected areas falls under this category e.g. National Parks, Sanctuaries and Biosphere reserves etc.
• Ex-situ conservation: It can he defined as the conservation of plants and animals away from their natural habitats, which includes collection of samples of genetic diversity and their treatment in the laboratory, where they are cultured. The concept of ‘ gene banks’ has primarily become the talk for ex- situ conservation as it is important for conservation of agricultural crops and forestry based aforestation programmes.