INTRODUCTION:
The natural environment, commonly referred to simply as the environment, is a term that encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth or some region thereof.
The concept of the natural environment can be distinguished by components:
i) Complete ecological units that function as natural systems without massive human intervention, including all vegetation, animals, microorganisms, soil, rocks, atmosphere and natural phenomena that occur within their boundaries.
ii) Universal natural resources and physical phenomena that lack clear-cut boundaries, such as air, water, and climate, as well as energy, radiation, electric charge, and magnetism, not originating from human activity.
iii) The natural environment is contrasted with the built environment, which comprises the areas and components that are strongly influenced by humans. A geographical area is regarded as a natural environment (with an indefinite article), if the human impact on it is kept under a certain limited level.
LIFE:
Although there is no universal agreement on the definition of life, scientists generally accept that the biological manifestation of life is characterized by organization, metabolism, growth, adaptation, response to stimuli and reproduction. Life may also be said to be simply the characteristic state of organisms.
Properties common to terrestrial organisms (plants, animals, fungi, protists, archaea and bacteria) are that they are cellular, carbon-and-water-based with complex organization, having a metabolism, a capacity to grow, respond to stimuli, and reproduce. An entity with these properties is generally considered life. However, not every definition of life considers all of these properties to be essential. Human-made analogs of life may also be considered to be life.
The biosphere is the part of Earth's outer shell — including air, land, surface rocks and water — within which life occurs, and which biotic processes in turn alter or transform. From the broadest geophysiological point of view, the biosphere is the global ecological system integrating all living beings and their relationships, including their interaction with the elements of the lithosphere (rocks), hydrosphere (water), and atmosphere (air). Currently the entire Earth contains over 75 billion tons (150 trillion pounds or about 6.8 x 1013 kilograms) of biomass (life), which lives within various environments within the biosphere.
ENVIRONMENT PROBLEMS & SOLUTIONS:
It is difficult to identify the single greatest threat to the environment, mainly because experts have different opinions on the subject and new scientific information is always coming to light. There are some problems that rank high on any list of environmental issues among these are global warming, over development and exploitation of natural resources.
Today, the challenge that lies before us is to make the state alongwith businesses proactively contribute towards eliminating the above-mentioned problems (rather than striving to reduce its impact), through a regulatory mechanism keeping with the prevailing market structure. In the age of globalisation and liberalisation, economic benefits drive organisations. In otherwords, anticipation of potential economic benefits makes organisations across the world proactively change their policies and strategies of doing business.
Hence, if organisations are made to see that the age-old concept of inverse relation between economics and environmental benefits is obsolete, they will proactively move towards environmental friendly practices. Thus, economics will not only force the change but also sustain the change. Herein, lies the use of "economic instruments" which aim to prevent pollution by harnessing the power of market incentives. To understand the underlying logic of economic instruments, one must understand why pollution arises in the first place.
Economists perceive pollution as a 'market failure', which arises because 'polluters'- are not faced with the full consequences of their production, consumption or disposal choices. The underlying premise for economic instruments is to correct this market failure by placing a cost on the release of pollutants. This will internalise the 'externalities' into the decision making process. Placing a charge, on every unit of effluent released, transforms the manufacturer's decisions regarding how much and how he will produce.
Now the manufacturer must minimize total production costs that consist not only of labor, material, machinery and energy inputs, but also of the effluent generated. The potential benefits of economic instruments can be understood through the concept of 'carbon-tax'. The rationale behind 'carbon tax' is to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions that come from fossil fuels.
*A carbon tax would essentially be a product charge placed on fossil fuels in proportion to their carbon content. Coal which has a higher carbon content than oil and natural gas would thus be taxed relatively more. The rising prices of these fossil fuels would induce companies to use oil and gas in favor of coal; to use more renewables instead of fossil fuels; and to be more efficient in their use of energy generally.
Hence, a carbon tax not only reduces the impact of environmental damages through fossil fuels but also creates the potential required to eliminate it in the future through adoption of renewables. Also, as the scale of fossil fuel use in the economy is high, any carbon tax could raise significant amounts of tax revenue, which could be used to make a significant reduction in existing corporate taxes for relatively greener companies, thereby contributing to an increase in the bottom line.
In consequence, the key benefit of economic instruments is that they would allow a given pollution target to be met for lower overall cost than traditional regulations - a considerable advantage given the perceived high financial burden of regulatory compliance. In addition, they provide potential revenue sources for state or federal governments. Hence, the solution lies in internalising the externalities of businesses by viewing environmental problems as not as problems but opportunities for further growth.
ENVIRONMENT POLLUTION:
Environmental pollution is one of the biggest problems the world faces today. It is an issue that troubles us economically, physically and everyday of our lives. The contamination of the environment is also being linked to some of the diseases that are around currently. Yet, most people do not know about this problem. This shows that environmental pollution is becoming an increasingly worse problem that needs to be taken care of as soon as possible, not only for the good of the environment but also for the people that live in it.
Many factors are present for why environmental pollution has become such a large issue in the world. However, if the people of the world were to address the issue it would definitely help both the environment and it’s people.
There are many activities that can be done by both the common citizen to the governments of the world, which could severally improve the world’s environmental problem. On the other hand, if the current way the world’s environmental problem is being handled continues, catastrophic consequences can follow for the future population.
ENVIRONMENT POLLUTION CAUSES :
We all are aware of environmental pollution. Our planet earth differs from other planets in having an environment. The biosphere in which living beings have their sustenance has oxygen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, argon and water vapour. All these are well balanced to ensure a healthy life in the world. The introduction of contaminants into an environment is called environmental pollution. Due to environmental pollution instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the physical systems or living organisms are caused.
Let us see the types of environmental pollution. The noise, heat, light, water and chemical substances are getting polluted day by day. Due to environmental pollution, the air, water and land are affected. Due to environmental pollution, the drastic changes such as depletion of the ozone layer, global warming and climate change are happening in the world. The release of chemicals and particles from industries and factories cause air pollution.
The surface runoff, liquid spills, waste water discharge and leakage into ground water are the main reasons for water pollution. The toxins spilled on the ground causes soil pollution.The reasons for environmental pollution can be seen one by one. Due to urbanisation, forests are destructed. There is more demand for water. Every single day, tons and tons of domestic waste is dumped. If these wastes are not disposed of properly, that will end in environmental pollution. The pall of smoke and the swirling gases cause constant hazards, polluting and contaminating both air and water.
Necessary safeguard arrangements should be made against environmental pollution.Many crusaders are vehemently protesting against environmental pollution. Nothing in the world is immune and no life is safe. We can very well notice the abnormal behavior of our seasons. But, it is heartening to find that entire world is aware of the menace and all the countries are ready to fight against environmental pollution.
The pesticides and herbicides used by farmers also pollute the land. The industrial activities are contributing for environmental pollution very much. Heaps of mining wastes also contaminate the soil. The environmental pollution is not caused by the fall out from nuclear tests or industries alone. The smoke left by automobiles and other vehicular traffic, the use of synthetic detergents, nitrogen fertilizers cause environmental pollution. If we fail to restore the ecological balance right now, it would be too late tomorrow. So, everybody should organise their activities in such a way to drive away the environmental pollution from earth.
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION:
Environmental protection is a practice of protecting the environment, on individual, organisational or governmental level, for the benefit of the natural environment and (or) humans.
Due to the pressures of population and technology the biophysical environment is being degraded, sometimes permanently. This has been recognised and governments began placing restraints on activities that caused environmental degradation. Since the 1960s activism by the environmental movement has created awareness of the various environmental issues. There is not a full agreement on the extent of the environmental impact of human activity and protection measures are occasionally criticized.
Academic institutions now offer courses such as environmental studies, environmental management and environmental engineering that study the history and methods of environmental protection.
Protection of the environment is needed from various human activities. Waste, pollution, loss of biodiversity, introduction of invasive species, release of genetically modified organisms and toxics are some of the issues relating to environmental protection.
FINEST QUOTES:
The struggle to save the global environment is in one way much more difficult than the struggle to vanquish Hitler, for this time the war is with ourselves. We are the enemy, just as we have only ourselves as allies. ~
Al Gore
Al Gore
~ A margin of life is developed by Nature for all living things - including man. All life forms obey Nature's demands - except man, who has found ways of ignoring them. ~
Eugene M. Poirot
~ We must be certain that the repair to the environment is sufficient to allow wild species to recover and survive. ~
Norm Dicks
~ We must all work together in order to save the environment and the world that we live in from further change. ~
Dave Foreman
~ I think the environment should be put in the category of our national security. Defense of our resources is just as important as defense abroad. Otherwise what is there to defend? ~
Robert Redford
~ We have to shift our emphasis from economic efficiency and materialism towards a sustainable quality of life and to healing of our society, of our people and our ecological systems. ~
Janet Holmes
~ The magnificence of mountains, the serenity of nature - nothing is safe from the idiot marks of man's passing. ~
Loudon Wainwright
~ When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world. ~
John Muir
