Assistant Professor

Geography

Digambar Jain College Baraut Baghpat

 Baghpat, Uttar Pradesh, India 

Abstract

Environmental degradation is a burning issue at present for sustainable development. Due to environmental degradation many problems are originated on the earth and atmosphere like that pollution, loss of biodiversity, increasing temperature and depletion of resources. Climate change is the most important challenge for the human and natural resources. Due to development of technologies a lot of environmental problems are facing the world today. Many species has been disappear from the ecosystems due to human activities. The decreasing of biodiversity affected the ecosystems and human being. Due to fulfill the requirement of over growth of population the resources has been reducing rapidly and generating many environmental problems. The availability of fresh water for human being has been decline rapidly due to pollution. Water bodies have been shrinking and the level of underground water has been reducing. Forests are also losing the quality of fresh air and their life. The poor management systems of solid waste management is a big challenge for sustainable development in developing countries.

Key words:- Environmental, Challenges, Pollution, Climate Change, Sustainable Development, Resources.

1. Introduction

Sustainable development is essential for the conservation of the resources and fulfill the requirement of the population in the world. Due to urbanization and industrialization, we achieved the social, economical and infrastructural development but reduced the natural resources to achieve the high economic growth rate. At present the scientist experiment and analysis about the sustainable and unsustainable concept of development. The resources are reducing in alarming rate at present and creating a lot of problems for the next generation. Not only the potable water is reducing but also the water is being polluted due to dissolve many unhealthy minerals in underground water. Everybody knows that urbanization and industrialization created imbalance on earth surface related to development. Development and environmental challenges is a big challenge for sustainable development. Scientist, economist, planners and geographers are engaged to reduce the challenges of environmental degradation and achieve the sustainable development. Many changes has been adopted in transportation systems, industries establishment, urbanization, mining, agriculture, construction, etc. To control the environmental degradation many awareness programmes are launched by the government of India.

2. What is Environmental Degradation?

Environmental degradation is not a new term. It is related to change in biotic and abiotic elements which are surrounding in environment on the earth. Its refer about the degradation of quality of air, water and soil and also refers about the destruction of ecosystems and the extinction of wild life. In other words we can say that the loss of natural resources and the opposite impact of biotic and abiotic elements is the environmental degradation. The lost of quality of biotic and abiotic elements is called environmental degradation.

3. Causes of Environmental Degradation

Human is a major factor of environmental degradation. The result of the environmental degradation is the human activities which is created to complete the requirement of over population. Deforestation, urbanization, industrialization, pollution, global warming, carbon emission excess, mining, agriculture development are the main causes of environmental degradation in India. These causes are as–

(i) High Population Growth

It is a major cause of environmental degradation. The uncontrolled growth of urbanization and industrialization the agriculture land has been reduced and destruction of natural habitats. The pressure of population has been increased on the natural resources in India after 1951. It can be measured by the changing in population density during 1951–2021. High population growth refers to consume the resources in high rate and creation of garbage a huge amount which is responsible for environmental degradation. The growth of population in India is given below in the table–

Table–1

Population Growth in India (1951–2021)

Year	1951	1961	1971	1981	1991	2001	2011	2021*
Population (in crore)	36.11	43.92	54.81	68.33	84.33	102.70	121.02	139.34
Average Annual Growth in %	1.25	1.96	2.20	2.22	2.16	1.97	1.66	1.51

Source: Census of India. (*Projected)

In 1951 the population of India was 36.11 crore and in 2021 it has become 139.34 crore. During in this period it has been changed 103.23 crore. So the pressure of population on the natural resources has been increased in this period. Due to use of natural resources the waste material increased in high rate. So the problem of environmental degradation is increased here.

(ii) Urbanization

The meaning of urbanisation is refers to increase the proportion of people living in urban areas. Due to increase the proportion of urban population the expansion of the urban areas (city and town) occurs on the rural areas. Due to expansion of the urban areas the land of agriculture has been changed into human habitat. The development of settlement generated the environmental degradation problem like that air pollution, water pollution, soil pollution, noise pollution, lost of biodiversity, increase the fossils emission etc. Urbanization is also the result of high growth of population. The growth of urban population is given below in the table–

Table–2

Trends of Urbanization in India (1951–2021)

Census Year	No. of Towns	Urban Population (in Million)	Urban Population (in Percentage)
1951	2843	62.44	17.3
1961	2365	78.94	18.0
1971	2590	109.11	19.9
1981	3378	159.46	23.3
1991	3768	217.55	25.7
2001	4368	285.35	27.8
2011	7935	377.10	31.2
2021*	10166	498.17	35.39

Source: Internet. (*Projected)

In 1951 the urban population was 62.44 million and town was 2843 in India and in 2021 it has become 10166 and the urban population has become 498.17 million. So the area under the buildings, settlements, roads, markets etc. has been increased and the green belt has been destroyed due to expansion of the town/city size. So many environmental problem has been increased in the atmosphere. Air pollution is one of them.

(iii) Industrialization

Developed and developing countries are engaged towards the getting high economic growth rate to use their natural resources. So the rate of establishment of industries is going high at present. Mostly industries are generated many wastages and harmful gases which are responsible to degrade the environment. A large amount of solid waste is generating by the industries and households now a days. Not only wastages are generating by the industries but also air, water pollution is increasing at alarming rate at present. Developing countries have not better technology to reduce the level of carbon dioxide, methane and many harmful gases in the atmosphere. At present a lot of industries are running in the residential areas. They are generating many environmental challenges like that air pollution, water pollution, noise pollution, heap of solid waste etc.

(iv) Uncontrolled Vehicles

The means of transportation is increasing day by day to fulfill the requirement of population. Mostly vehicles are formed on the basis of the intensive use of petroleum products and has increased air pollution at an immense rate. Road transport system is unplanned in the city and the number of vehicles are very rich in metropolitan city. So the vehicular emission increase the pollutants in atmosphere. The emission of carbon dioxide creates the problem of global warming. Heavy traffic congestion increases traffic flow and thus produces more O₃ precursor emissions, leading to more adverse air quality issues. At present within the transport sector, road transport is the largest contributor to global warming. The rate of emissions of green house gas from means of transportation is cars 40%, trucks 34%, planes 11%, boats 11% and trains 4%. Transportation system is not in well formed here. After the development of expressways the problem of traffic jam has been decreased and saved fuel and time for journey.

(v) Deforestation

Deforestation is also responsible to degrade the environment because a million of people are depend on forests for their livelihood. A lot of reasons are responsible for deforestation like that fuflill the requirement of fuel, shifting, agriculture, land sliding, earthquakes, tsunami, volcanic eruption, fire, flood, storm, industrialization, urbanization etc. After industrial revolution the rate of deforestation has been increased to provide the raw material. India has second ranked for the rate of deforestation after decreasing 668400 hectares of forest cover in the period of 1990–2020. Due to deforestation the rainfall has been decreased and forest lost the biodiversity. Besides that the problem of fresh water in urban areas has been increased in India. Due to deforestation the level of green house gases in the atmosphere is increasing. The water holding capacity of the soil is decreasing due to deforestation. At present due to deforestation a lot of creatures has been lost their habitats and decreased the biodiversity.

(vi) Agricultural Development

After green revolution in India in agriculture the rate of use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides has been increased rapidly. Farmers are practicing agriculture farming many times in a year. So many problems are generated to develop the agriculture like that– deforestation, salinity, lost of nutrient in soil, pollution, loss of biodiversity, loss of habitats, increase the green house gases in atmosphere. Underground water level is going down due to high irrigation. The rate of chemical fertilizers consumption was found 137.150 kg/hectare in 2021. It is found very high in Punjab state. Consumption of chemical fertilizers has been increasing in India along with the agriculture development. During in the period 2015–16 to 2020–21 it has been increased around 16%. In India ‘Slash and Burn’ agriculture practice which is made by the schedule tribe in the north east port of India is also responsible to degrade the environment. This burning has had major global impacts and has caused air pollution.

(vii)   Landfills

It is a another factor related to the air, water and soil pollution. Its destroy the quality of air and decreased the beauty of city. Landfills come within the city due to a large amount of waste which is generated by the households, factories, industries, hospitals, agriculture markets etc. It is a great risk for human health and environment health. Landfills generate a foul smell when burned and cause substantial environmental degradation. Due to increasing the population and the households the waste is producing a large scale from it and a huge amount of waste is collecting outside and inside part of the city. Due to chemical reaction and changing the formation of waste harmful gases are generated by the waste and these gases degrade the environment and loss the quality of fresh air which is essential for human beings alive. Not only the air quality is decreased by the waste landfills but also decreased the underground water quality.

4. Types of Environmental Degradation

Basically there are three types of environmental degradation.

When the quality of soil, water and atmosphere is lost their potentiality by the human activities then generated challenges for human beings and creators then we called it environmental degradation.

5. Impact of Environmental Degradation

Environmental degradation generated many challenges for human beings and creators. Livings and non-livings things both are affected by the environmental degradation. Natural resources are losing their quality day by day. Many species has been lost due to deforestation, industrialization, urbanization and agriculture development etc. Effects of environmental degradation are given as–

(i)  Effect on Human Health

Everybody knows that environmental degradation have a negative impact on human health, because polluted air enter in human body and generate the respiratory issues like that pneumonia and asthma. Every year millions of people have died due to the indirect effect of air pollution in the world. Due to decrease the quality of water many diseases are generated by the consumption of the polluted water. Poor people have not fresh water for drinking due to low income. So many diseases entered in their body and lost their immunity power. Due to drinking unsafe water children and pregnant women are in higher risk of health problems. The effects on health from exposure to chemicals and air pollutions vary from allergies to cancer. Transportation facilities are producing many air pollutant at alarming rate which are harmful for human beings. Carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide gases level is going up in the atmosphere and generating many respiratory diseases. The use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides in agriculture is generating the elergies problem and respiratory system problems.

(ii) Effects on Wild Life

Food, shelter, water and space are essential to survive the animals. Due to environmental degradation these resources are reducing rapidly now a days. Due to loss of shelter the food chain of the animals has been broken and polluted water is also responsible to reduce the bio-diversity because in agriculture sector farmers are using pesticides to remove the beeds. So the pesticides is dissolving into surface water and underground water and that water is going highly polluted and becoming poisoned which is harmful to the creatures. Loss of habitats of the wild life is also responsible for the animals breading, foraging, dispersal behaviours and predation rate. The fragmentation and destruction of natural habitats lead to reduction of population size and abundance, change of genetic diversity and extinction of wild life. Environmental degradation also reduce the fertility of the soil due to remove the fertile soil sheets by soil erosion.

Industrialization and urbanization increased the density of transportation vehicles. Forest based industries are reducing the area of natural vegetation. So the shelters of the wild life (animals and creators) are decreasing and converting into the uncovered natural vegetation. A lot of species of creators and plants are affected by slashing the forest. Due to deforestation the problems of human and wildlife conflict, soil erosion, water pollution and habitat loss has been increased rapidly at present. Desertification affect the climate change, migrate the species to other place and disturbed the biogeochemical cycles. A diagram is given here related to the impact of environmental degradation on wildlife–

(iii) Effect on Atmospheric Quality

Many gases are present in the atmosphere which are essential for the life of biotic components. Human, animals, birds, trees, reptiles, plants, insects etc are not alive without oxygen gas which is essential to alive. Due to vehicular emissions and the level of oxygen is decreasing and the level of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrogen oxides, ozone etc. is increasing at present. Environmental Protection Agency has been designated six major air pollutants CO, NO₂, SO₂, O₃, Pb and particulate matter. These pollutants reduce the quality of air and generate the challenges for human health. Due to increase the level of carbon monoxide (CO) by the producer automobiles emissions, fires, industrial process degrade the air quality and creates heart diseases, vision problem and reduce the capabilities of physical and mental of the people. High level of nitrogen oxides (NO₂) is also responsible for breathing problems. High level of sulfur dioxide (SO₂) is responsible to create the problem of asthma and heart diseases. SO₂ is generated by the electricity generation, fossils fuel combustion, industrial processes and automobiles emissions. High level of O₃ gases in atmosphere causes of affect the lung function and breathing problems. Particulate matters are more total for human beings they are the causes of asthma and health diseases. In which areas the level of particular matter is found high such types of diseases are present there. Lead (Pb) is generated by the metal processing, waste incineration fossil fuel combustion is responsible to increase the problems of cardiovascular, learning disabilities.

(iv) Effect on Water Quality

Water essential for the life on the earth. The sources of water are losting the potable quality of water due to water pollution. A lot of causes are present to pollute the water at present. A lot of industries are generating the waste material in solid and liquid form. These waste is dissolving into surface water and underground water. So the quality of water is reducing and generating many challenges for human. Water quality degradation is mostly a result of diffuse source contaminants and the spatial and temporal variability associated with these sources.

6. Environmental Degradation and Sustainability

Many causes are responsible to degradation the environment. Due to degradation of the environment many challenges has been origin on the earth. Environmental degradation is the main factor reducing sustainability. Deforestation, desertification, pollution, retreat of glacier, land degradation, land sliding, loss of biodiversity etc. are the result of environmental degradation. Sustainable development refers about the social and economic development that meets the needs of current generation without undermining the ability of future generation to meet their own need. Sustainable development is a basic concept to fulfill the requirement of present and future generation. Its indicates about the long term impact on environmental degradation and scarcity of the natural resources. Concept of sustainable development provide the methods to management the natural resources. Due to increasing the population the problem of environmental degradation and scarcity of natural resources is going up. So we need to save our resources and utilize on the basis of minimum losses and maximum profits. Some suggestions are given below for sustainable development–

i. Reduce the dependency on natural resources

ii. Control on over population

iii. Accept the model of reduce, reuse, recycle

iv. Control on the vehicle emissions

v. Apply the model of planned city to develop the colonies

vi. Diffuse the awareness about the environmental degradation

vii. Develop the solid waste management system to control the environmental degradation

viii. Develop the solar, tidal and wind energy to reduce the coal mining

Environmental degradation is a burning issue against the developed and developing countries. Social, economical and environmental sustainability is essential for better future of the world. Natural resources cannot be generated. It can be saved only by using many technologies and managements. Air quality of the atmosphere is going down day by day and many problems are increasing due to loosing the quality. The level of water and air pollution is reached on dark zone in some part of India. Flood, drought, cyclone, desertification, deforestation, acid rain, loss of biodiversity is the result of environmental degradation. So we need to accept the concept of sustainable development to save the earth.

References

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