Environment and Sustainable Development

The word environment is derived from the French word 'Environ' which means to 'encircle or surround'. The environment is every broad concept and involves everything that affects an organism during its life time. It is the totality of all social, biological, physical, and chemical elements individually as well as collectively that compose nature and human-made surroundings. It refers to the total of conditions which surround, affect and influence the survival, growth and development of people, animals or plants. As defined in the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986,"environment includes water, air and land and the inter-relationship which exists among and between water, air and land, and human beings, other living creatures, plants, micro-organisms and property. Hence (d) is the correct answer.

The environment may be divided into biotic and abiotic environment. The biotic environment is made up of biotic factors, that is all living things in the environment. The abiotic or physical environment is made up of  all the physical factors that affect organisms, e.g. temperature, light intensity, the amount of available water etc.

Generally, environment can be classified as physical, cultural and biological environment. Physical environment includes landforms, water bodies, climate, soils, rocks, minerals, etc. Biological environment includes plants, animals, microorganisms, etc. whereas cultural environment include man-made features such as economical, social and political elements.

Sustainable development is important for well being of human society. Sustainable development has been defined in many ways. The most frequently quoted definition is from out common future, also known as the Brundtland Report : "Sustainable development is development that meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generation  to meet their own needs".

After the submissions of the report Our Common Future, also known as the Brundtland Report, which was published by World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) in 1987, the discussion on ' Sustainable Development was started.

The concept of sustainable development was emphasized by the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), which defined it as 'Development that meets the need of the present generation without compromising the ability of the future generation to meet their needs. Sustainable development is a matter of inter- generational sensibility in respect of the use of natural resources. The main objective of sustainable development is the just and prudent use of natural resources, it's conservation and proper management. This term was explained in the WCED (World Commission on Environment and Development) report of 1987 titled "Our common future". Sustainable development was fully supported in the Agenda-21 (Rio Declaration) declared in Earth Summit held in 1992. Sustainable development was a prominent issue of the Johannesburg Summit 2002. Notably, the United Nations has identified 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which have to be realized by 2030. A Sustainable Development Index has also been initiated to measure the progress made by different nations in the direction of achieving these goals. Importantly India was ranked 121 out of 163 nations in Sustainable Development Index 2022.

Conservation of biological diversity, prevention and control of pollution, decreasing poverty, all are important for Sustainable Development. It is imperative for achieving the goal of sustainable development to make policies on information about our environment and ecology. Presently sustainable development has become an alternative approach to the theories of development. Certain information are required for policy formulation on sustainable development.

The sustainable Development Goals or Global Goals are a collection of seventeen interlinked objectives adopted by UN in 2015 to serve as a "shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future". List of Proposed 17 Sustainable Development goals to be attained by 2030.
GOAL 1 : no Poverty
GOAL 2: Zero Hunger
GOAL 3: Good health and well being
GOAL 4: Quality Education
GOAL 5: Gander Equality
GOAL 6: Clean Water and Sanitation
GOAL 7: Affordable and Clean Energy
GOAL 8: Decent work and Economic Growth
GOAL 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
GOAL 10 : Reduced Inequality
GOAL 11 : Sustainably Cities and Communities
GOAL 12 : Responsible Consumption and Production
GOAL 13 : Climate Action
GOAL 14 : Life Blow Water
GOAL 15: Life on Land
GOAL 16 : Peace and Justice Strong Institutions
GOAL 17: Partnerships to achieve the Goal.

The decay of organic matter, volcanic action, respiration and burning of fossil fuel etc  contribute carbon dioxide to the carbon cycle, whereas plants use carbon dioxide in the process of photosynthesis. Thus plants do not add carbon dioxide to the carbon cycle rather they release oxygen and consume carbon dioxide. Three natural allotropes of elemental carbon are fullerene, graphite and diamond. Besides, as a compound, it is found as carbon dioxide, carbonate and Hydrogen carbonate.

The decay of organic matter, volcanic action, respiration and burning of fossil fuel etc  contribute carbon dioxide to the carbon cycle, whereas plants use carbon dioxide in the process of photosynthesis. Thus plants do not add carbon dioxide to the carbon cycle rather they release oxygen and consume carbon dioxide. Three natural allotropes of elemental carbon are fullerene, graphite and diamond. Besides, as a compound, it is found as carbon dioxide, carbonate and Hydrogen carbonate.

The water cycle is driven primarily by the energy from the sun. This solar radiation  drives the cycle by evaporating water from the oceans, lakes and rivers. It forms water vapour and clouds, where water droplets eventually gain enough mass to fall back to earth. The water cycle is essentially a closed system, meaning that the volume of water that is in the hydrosphere today is the same amount of water that has always been present in the earth system.

If the humidity is high there is more moisture in the air and so more chance of clouds forming and rain falling if the temperature drops. The higher the humidity the greater the water vapour, and the more rain we're likely to see.

Many transplanted seedlings do not grow because most of the root hairs are lost during transplantation. The function of root hairs is to collect water and mineral nutrients present in the soil and take this solution up through the roots to the rest of the plant. These are made up of cellulose and nominal Pectin which helps it as a gelling agent with the soil. Another reason is the use of fertilizers which increases the concentrations of the soil and make it difficult for plants to absorb water. This situation causes desiccation of plant cells causing the leaves turn brown.

The thin layer of gases surrounding the earth is called the atmosphere. The majority of the Earth's atmosphere consists of a high amount of Nitrogen, along with smaller amounts of Oxygen and Carbon Dioxide.

Air is a mixture of gases. By volume , about 78% of this mixture is nitrogen and about 21% is oxygen. Carbon dioxide, argon, methane, ozone and water vapour are also present in very small quantities.

Redon is not present in the air.

The dry air/atmosphere around us is a mixture of gases, mainly Nitrogen and Oxygen, but containing much smaller amounts of water vapour, Argon, and Carbon Dioxide and very small amounts of other gases.

The dry air/atmosphere around us is a mixture of gases, mainly Nitrogen and Oxygen, but containing much smaller amounts of water vapour, Argon, and Carbon Dioxide and very small amounts of other gases.

The dry air/atmosphere around us is a mixture of gases, mainly Nitrogen and Oxygen, but containing much smaller amounts of water vapour, Argon, and Carbon Dioxide and very small amounts of other gases.

We need oxygen to survive and therefore we depend on trees and plants to provide this oxygen. To make food for themselves, trees go through a process known as photosynthesis where they take in carbon dioxide from the air and release oxygen back into the atmosphere. Hence option (d) is the correct answer.

Trees contribute to the environment by providing oxygen, improving air quality, climate amelioration, conserving water, preserving soil and supporting wildlife. Hence they clean the environment and are not the reason behind air pollution. In addition to this, trees on both sides of roads reduce the sound pollution by reducing the intensity of sound.

Amazon forest is estimated to Produce, through Photosynthesis, about 20 percent of the total oxygen in the earth's atmosphere, hence named 'Lungs of Earth'. Amazon Forest contains nearly a third of all the tropical rainforests left on Earth.