• The economic development that we have achieved so far has come at a very heavy price at the cost of environmental quality.
  • Liberalization, Privatisation and Globalisation (LPG) have resulted in the development of the economy but with adverse consequences on our environment.
  • Therefore, we have to bear in mind the adverse consequences of the past development path on our environment and consciously choose a path of sustainable development.

MEANING OF ENVIRONMENT

Definition: Environment is defined as the total planetary inheritance and the totality of all resources.

  • Environment is the sum total of external forces which surround us.
  • It includes all the biotic and abiotic factors that influence each other.
  • Biotic Elements: Biotic elements include all living elements like birds, animals and plants, forests, fisheries, etc.
  • Abiotic Elements: Abiotic elements include non-living elements like air, water, land, etc.

Functions of the Environment

  1. Provides resources for production: The environment supplies renewable and non-renewable resources.
    • Renewable resources are those which can be used without the possibility of the resource becoming depleted or exhausted, like trees, fish, etc.
    • Non-renewable resources are those, which get exhausted with extraction and use, like fossil fuels.
    • The natural resources provided by the environment are used as inputs for production.
  2. Environment assimilates waste: The process of production and consumption activities generates a lot of wastage, which is absorbed by the environment.
  3. Environment sustains life: Some necessities of life (sun, soil, water and air) are part of the environment. Therefore, the environment sustains life by providing these essential elements.
  4. It provides aesthetic services: The environment includes land, forests, water bodies, rainfall, air, atmosphere, etc. People enjoy the scenic beauty of these elements (like that of hill stations). Such elements help in improving the quality of life. The environment is able to perform these functions without any interruption as long as the demand for these functions is within its "Carrying Capacity.

​​​​​​​'Carrying Capacity' implies two things:

  • Resource extraction should remain below the rate of resource regeneration.
  • The generation of waste should remain within the absorption capacity of the environment.
  • If these two conditions are not fulfilled, then the environment fails to perform its vital function of life sustenance and it leads to the situation of 'Environmental Crisis

Reasons for Environmental Crisis

  1. The population explosion and the advent of the industrial revolution have increased the demand for environmental resources, but their supply is limited due to overuse and misuse.
  2. The intensive and extensive extraction of both renewable and non-renewable resources has exhausted some of the vital resources. Due to this, a huge amount of money is spent on technology and research to explore new resources.
  3. Extinction of many resources and continuous rise in population has also resulted in an environmental crisis.
  4. Due to affluent consumption and production standards of the developed world, the wastes generated are beyond the absorptive capacity of the environment.
  5. The development process has polluted the atmosphere and waters and there is a decline in air and water quality (70% of water in India is polluted). It has resulted in an increased incidence of respiratory and water-borne diseases.
  6. The expenditure on health is also rising. Global environmental issues such as global warming and ozone depletion also contribute to the increased financial commitments of the government.
  7. Thus, it is clear that the opportunity costs of negative environmental impacts are high and environmental issues of waste generation and pollution have become critical today.

Reversal of Supply-Demand relationship: Reason for Environment Degradation

  • In the Past, Demand was less than Supply In the early days of civilization, demand for environmental resources and services was much less than their supply.
    • Pollution was within the absorptive capacity of the environment; and
    • Rate of resource extraction was less than the rate of regeneration of these resources.
  • As a result, environmental problems did not arise.
  • Presently, Demand is more than Supply
  • In the present period, the demand for resources is in far excess of supply, i.e. demand is beyond the rate of regeneration of the resources. With the population explosion and with the advent of the industrial revolution, the pressure on the absorptive capacity of the environment has increased tremendously.
  • Thus, a reversal of supply-demand relationship is responsible for the degradation of the quality of the environment.