Poverty and Environment Course Code: ECON/EMGT 4214 Friday From 8.30-11.30 A.M
Poverty and Environment Course Code: ECON/EMGT 4214 Friday From 8.30-11.30 A.M
Poverty and Environment Course Code: ECON/EMGT 4214 Friday From 8.30-11.30 A.M
Lesson 4 – Environmental
P.B. Dharmasena degradation
0777 613234, 0717 613234
P.B. Dharmasena
dharmasenapb@ymail.com , dharmasenapb@gmail.com
0777 613234, 0717 613234
dharmasenapb@ymail.com , dharmasenapb@gmail.com
https://independent.academia.edu/PunchiBandageDharmasena
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Punchi_Bandage_Dharmasena/contributions
https://independent.academia.edu/PunchiBandageDharmasena
http://www.slideshare.net/DharmasenaPb
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Punchi_Bandage_Dharmasena/contributions
http://www.slideshare.net/DharmasenaPb
THE ENVIRONMENT
Environment: the total of our surroundings
• All the things around us
with which we interact:
• Living things
• Animals, plants, forests, fungi,
etc.
• Non-living things
• Continents, oceans, clouds,
soil, rocks
• Our built environment
• Buildings, human-created
living centers
• Social relationships and
institutions
Humans exist within the environment
• Humans exist within the
environment and are part
of nature.
– Our survival depends on a
healthy, functioning
planet.
• We are part of the natural
world.
– Our interactions with its
other parts matter a great
deal.
• This idea is fundamental
to environmental science
Humans and the world around us
• Humans depend
completely on the
environment for survival.
– Enriched and longer
lives, increased wealth,
health, mobility, leisure
time
• But natural systems have
been degraded
– Pollution, erosion, and
species extinction
– Environmental changes
threaten long-term
health and survival.
Causes of Environmental Degradation
9
Social Factors
Economical Factors
Institutional Factors
Social Factors are:
10
Population
Poverty
Urbanization
Economic Factors are:
Growing
11
transport activities
Expansion of chemical based
industry
The manufacturing technology
adopted by most of the industries
which generally is based on intensive
resource and energy use
Non-existent or poorly functioning
markets for environmental services
Market distortions created by price
controls and subsidies
Institutional Factors are:
12
• Pollution loses
33% of potential
water
• Since the 1950s, global
demand for water has
tripled.
• Groundwater quantity and
quality are declining due to
over-pumping, runoff from
fertilizers and pesticides,
and leaking of industrial
waste.
• Half a billion people live in
countries defined as water-
stressed or water-scarce;
– By 2025, that figure is
expected to be between
2.4 billion and 3.4
billion.
Disappearing water…
In many parts of India and
China, groundwater is depleting
at the rate of 1.5 meters per year
Available Drinking water
• Global Warming
• Emission of greenhouse
gases
• Global climate change
• Reduced net oxygen levels
• Biosphere instability
• And others
Statistics of Deforestation
• More than 12 million hectares of forest land is lost to
urbanization or allied activities each year. This has
resulted in a rapid global decline in some regions. For
example:
– In Nigeria 81% of its original forest cover is now
permanently lost.
– The forests of Central America are down by two-thirds
lowlands, since 1950.
– Countries like India, Mexico, Philippines, Thailand,
Indonesia, Bangladesh, Myanmar, China, Sri Lanka, the
Congo and Ghana have lost much more than 50% of their
rainforest cover.
• Damage to forests,
believe it or not,
affects every
citizen's living
standard
horned lizard
Biodiversity is in Danger
• Biodiversity is
essential to life on
Earth and holds
untold treasures
for the future
• Recovery times
from the great
extinctions took
10’s of millions of
years
• “Accumulation of
greenhouse gases in the
atmosphere, including
carbon dioxide, is tied to
rising and extreme change
in temperatures, and more
severe storms.
• The sea level has risen an
estimated 10-20
centimetres, largely as a
result of melting ice
masses and the expansion
of oceans linked to
regional and global
warming.
• Small island nations and
low-lying cities and
farming areas face severe
flooding.”
“Over the last half century, land degradation has
reduced cropland by an estimated 13 % and
pasture by 4 %.”
Solution to Over-population
Natural Causes of Environmental Degradation