Dated : 30th December 2020

Environmental Sciences Assignment

Submitted by:
Name: Gauri Thakur Roll No.: 20/86505
Course & year: B.Sc. Chemistry Honors (1st year, 1st sem.)

Submitted to:
Mrs. Swati Majumdar Ma’am

[Year]
Contents:
Nuclear disaster & Chemical disaster

Rain water harvesting

Smog & Acid rain

Swachh Bharat Mission

Solar energy
Solar energy
Nuclear Disaster & Chemical Disaster
Nuclear Disaster

Definition
 An accident taking place in any nuclear facility that includes a nuclear reactor or radioactive
sources, leading to a large-scale release of radioactivity in the environment.

Examples of Events, causes and effects

 Chernobyl disaster (1986) – was the result of a flawed reactor design that was
operated with inadequately trained personnel. The resulting steam explosion
and fires released at least 5% of the radioactive reactor core into the
environment. 31 people died as a direct result of the disaster and estimated
93,000 - 200,000 people died afterwards due to radiation.

 Fukushima Daiichi disaster (2011) – occurred following a major earthquake,

a 15 metre tsunami disabled the power supply and cooling of three Fukushima
Daiichi reactors, causing a nuclear accident on 11 March 2011. All three cores
largely melted in the first three days. There were counted 2,129 disaster related
deaths and 154,000 evacuations.

Chemical disaster

Definition
The accidental release of large amounts of toxins into the environment, effects of
which are determined by the toxicity of the chemical, its speed in spreading, its composition and the 
spill site.
 
Examples of Events, causes and effects

 Bhopal gas tragedy (1948) - was a gas leak incident at the Union

Carbide India Limited (UCIL) pesticide plant in Bhopal, Madhya
Pradesh, India. It happened because water entered a tank containing
Methyl isocyanate which caused chemical reactions leading to
increase of temperature upto 200 °C. At least 30 tonnes of methyl
isocyanate gas killed more than 15,000 people and affected over
600,000 workers.
 Rain Water Harvesting
Definition
Rainwater harvesting (RWH) is the collection and storage of rain, rather than allowing it to run
off. Rainwater is collected from a roof-like surface and redirected to a tank, cistern, deep pit (well,
shaft, or borehole), aquifer, or a reservoir with percolation.

Advantages
 It is easy to Maintain
 Provides independent water supply
 It reduces water bills
 It is suitable for irrigation
 It reduces demand on ground water
 It is very supplemental in drought
 Helps reduce floods and soil erosion
 Provides rainwater for drinking purpose
 Also serves several non-drinking purposes


Rain water harvesting in India

 Tamil Nadu is the first state in India which has made rooftop rainwater harvesting structure
compulsory to all the houses across the state there are legal provisions to punish the
defaulters.

 Rooftop rainwater harvesting is being successfully adapted to store and conserve water in
even the most backward villages of Karnataka like Gendathur. The net amount of rainwater
harvest annually amounts to 1,00,000 litres.

 In semi-arid and arid regions of Rajasthan particularly in Bikaner, Phalodi and Barmer
almost all the houses traditionally have underground tank for storing drinking water 
 Smog & Acid rain
Smog

Definition
It is a type of intense air pollution consisting of fog or haze intensified by smoke or other
atmospheric pollutants The word "smog" was coined is a contraction of the words smoke and fog
to refer to smoky fog due to its opacity and odour.

Types and causes

1. Industrial (London) smog - grayish,sulfurous smog due to burning of fuels like coal & oil.
2. Photochemical (L.A.) smog – brownish smog due to automobile gases’ reaction with solar radiation.

Effects
 allergies and irritation of the eyes, chest, nose and throat chronic diseases like asthma and rickets
 birth defects and low birth weights premature deaths because of respiratory and cancer diseases
 risks of road accidents or even plane crash

Acid Rain

Definition
Rain or any form of precipitation that contains high levels of nitric and sulfuric acids. Normal
rain is slightly acidic, with a pH of 5.6, while acid rain generally has a pH between 4.2 and 4.4.

Causes
1. Natural Sources - volcanic emissions, decaying vegetation, wildfires and biological processes that
generate acid rain forming gases. Lightning strikes also naturally produce nitric oxides.
2. Man-made sources - air pollution sources emitting sulfur and nitrogen gases like factories, power
generation facilities, and automobiles and use of coal.

Effects
 It washes away nutrients necessary for it alters the composition of the soil causing high pH.

 It causes respiratory and skin issues in animals and humans. It is harmful to aquatic life as it causes
water pollution.

 It causes the corrosion of water pipes and leaching of heavy metals such as iron, lead and copper
into drinking water.

 It damages the buildings and monuments made up of stones and metals like Taj Mahal and Statue
of Liberty
 Swachh Bharat Mission
Overview and Objective
Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (SBA), or Clean India Mission is a country-wide
campaign initiated by the Government of India under Prime Minister Sh. Narendra Modi in 2014 in two
phases - The core objectives of the first phase (2nd October 2014 - October 2019) of the mission were to
reduce open defecation and improve management of municipal solid waste in both urban and rural areas.
The second phase (to be implemented 2020-21 – 2024-25) will focus on sustaining gains of the first phase
and improving management of the solid and liquid wastes.

Initiatives
 Construction of individual household level toilets - 90 million toilets in rural india at a projected cost
of ₹1.96 lakh crore.
 Appointment of CPWD to dispose of waste from government offices.
 The Ministry of Railways planned to have the facility of cleaning on demand, clean bed-rolls from
automatic laundries, bio-toilets, dustbins in all non-ac coaches.
 The Swachh Bharat Swachh Vidyalaya campaign - cleanliness drive along with the school's teachers
and students .
 Swachh Bharat Mission mobile app is being used by people and government organisations for
achieving the goals and spreading awareness.
 Swachh Survekshan - extensive sanitation survey across several hundred cities to check the progress
and impact of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and to foster a spirit of competition among the cities.
 Provision of dustbins at almost all the public places.

Impact
 In 2018, the national sanitation coverage rose to 90% from 38.7%.
 100 million individual household level toilets rural areas and 6 million household and nearly 6 million
community and public toilets in urban areas constructed.
 4,234 cities and more than 600,000 villages across the country have declared themselves open
defecation free (ODF).
 Construction of toilets under the program led to a reduction in incidence of sexual assault against
women.
 Clean environment in public and tourist places.
 Solar Energy
Definition
Solar energy is radiant light and heat from the Sun that is harnessed using a range of ever-evolving
technologies such as solar heating, photovoltaics, solar thermal energy, solar architecture, molten salt
power plants and artificial photosynthesis.

Utility
 For cooking using solar cookers.
 Solar Energy panels for industries that require electricity at higher level.
 For battery charging in appliances that absorb and convert the day light into electrical
energy.
 Active solar hot water systems and passive hot water systems.
 Many satellites work on the concept of radiation absorption from the Sun.
 For separating salt from sea water.
 Wind energy is a consequence of solar energy and is used to generate electricity.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Solar Energy

Advantages Disadvantages
Easy to maintain - cost is low Requires a lot of space
Less electricity bill Causes pollution
Development of technology Not cost-effective
Renewable source of energy Energy storage is expensive
Wide applications Cost of set up is high

 India's solar installed capacity was

35,739 MW as of 31 August 2020