Earth, Energy and Environment

Dr Aparoy
Faculty of Biology
 Contents
Introduction : Multidisciplinary nature of environmental studies; Sustainable development

Natural Resources : Renewable and Non-renewable resources

Ecosystems: Structure, Function, Energy flow in the ecosystem, Ecological Succession, Food
Chains, Details of various Ecosystems. Anthropogenic and natural changes in the Ecosystems.

Biodiversity: Introduction, Importance, Loss of Biodiversity, Species Extinction and

Conservation of biodiversity

Environmental Pollution: Cause, effects and control measures of pollution. Greenhouse gases
and climate change, deforestation. Waste management

Human population growth and resource usage: Environment and human health,
Understanding the human-environment.

Social Issues and the Environment

Reference Books

Textbook of Environmental Studies for Undergraduate Courses by Erach Bharucha

Cover.p65 (ugc.ac.in)

Environmental Studies: From crisis to cure, R. Rajagopalan

Environmental Science: A study of Interrelationships, Eldon D Enger

Marking

Continuous Assessment : 20 marks (Assignments/ Class tests)

Mid Term : 30 marks (Average of 2 or 3 tests)

End Term : 50 marks (Average of 2 or 3 tests)

Google classroom will be the LMS used for providing reading material, assignment
evaluation and online tests
Why do we need to study about Environment ?
● Need to understand modern environmental concepts such as the need to conserve
biodiversity, the need to lead more sustainable lifestyles and the need to use resources
more equitably.
● Need to change the way in which we view our own environment by a practical
approach based on observation and self learning.
● Need to create a concern for our environment that will trigger pro-environmental
action, including activities we can do in our daily life to protect it.
● Environmental science involves an understanding that the natural world is organized
into interrelated units called ecosystems.
● An ecosystem is a region in which the organisms and the physical environment form
an interacting unit.
● Within an ecosystem there is a complex network of interrelationships. For example,
weather affects plants, plants use minerals in the soil and are food for animals,
animals spread plant seeds, plants secure the soil, and plants evaporate water, which
affects weather.
Introduction

● The word environment is usually understood to mean the surrounding conditions that
affect organisms. It is all the physical, chemical and biological factors external to a
person, and all the related behaviours.
● In a broader definition, environment is everything that affects an organism during its
lifetime. In turn, all organisms including people affect many components in their
environment
● Environmental science is an interdisciplinary field that includes both scientific and
social aspects of human impact on the world.
● It is an applied science as its seeks practical answers to making human civilization
sustainable on the earth’s finite resources.
A central factor that makes the study of environmental science so
interesting/frustrating/challenging is the high degree of interrelatedness among seemingly
unrelated factors.

Tug on anything at all and you’ll find it connected to everything else in the universe.

- John Muir

Charles Darwin exemplified this same kind of thinking when he proposed that the production
of seeds in red clover plants in fields in England was directly related to the number of cats in
the area. How ?
 Three philosophical approaches to environmental ethics

Environmental philosophers have developed a

number of theoretical approaches to help us see more
clearly our ethical responsibilities concerning the
environment.
● The first of these theories is
anthropocentrism or human-centered
ethics.
● Anthropocentrism is the view that all
environmental responsibility is derived from
human interests alone.
● The assumption here is that only human
beings are morally significant and have
direct moral standing.
● Since the environment is crucial to human
wellbeing and human survival, we have an
indirect duty toward the environment, that
is, a duty derived from human interests.
● Some anthropocentrists have argued that our
environmental duties are derived both from
the immediate benefit that people receive
from the environment and from the benefit
that future generations of people will
receive.
Chapter 2 Solutions | Environmental Science 12th Edition | Chegg.com
● A second theory of moral responsibility to
the environment is biocentrism or
life-centered environmental ethics.
● According to this theory, all forms of life
have an inherent right to exist.
● A number of biocentrists recognize a
hierarchy of values among species.
● Another group of biocentrists,known as
“biocentric egalitarians,” take the view that
all living organisms have an exactly equal
right to exist.
● Since the act of survival inevitably involves
some killing (for food and shelter) it is hard
to know where biocentric egalitarians can
draw the lines and still be ethically
consistent.

Chapter 2 Solutions | Environmental Science 12th Edition | Chegg.com

● The third approach to environmental
responsibility, called ecocentrism,
maintains that the environment deserves
direct moral consideration and not
consideration that is merely derived from
human or animal interests.
● In ecocentrism it is suggested that the
environment itself, not just the living
organisms that inhabit it, has moral worth.
● Others, go beyond particular ecosystems
and suggest that the biological system on
Earth as a whole has an integrity to it that
gives it moral standing.
● Another version goes even further and
ascribes personhood to the planet,
suggesting that Mother Earth or “Gaia”
should have the same right to life as any
mother
Chapter 2 Solutions | Environmental Science 12th Edition | Chegg.com
Is anthropocentrism bad ?
Why most traditions refer to our Environment as ‘Mother Nature’

Why we have many cultural practices that preserve and protect our natural resources ?

Are we dependent on Environment ?

Respect for nature and all living creatures is not new to India

Did development lead to Environmental degradation ?

 Environmental approaches

As it is never easy to follow one particular ethic in everything, it is sometimes easier to

explain in terms of attitudes or approaches to the environment rather than in terms of
particular ethics.

The three most common approaches are (a) the development approach, (b) the preservation
approach, and (c) the conservation approach.
Development approach

● The development approach tends to be the most anthropocentric of the three. It assumes
that the human race is and should be master of nature and that the Earth and its resources
exist solely for our benefit and pleasure.
● The development approach suggests that improvements in the human condition require
converting ever more of nature over to human use. The approach thinks highly of human
creativity and ingenuity and holds that continual economic growth is itself a moral ideal
for society.
● This mindset has very often accompanied the process of industrialization and
modernization in a country.
Preservative approach

The preservationist approach tends to be the most ecocentric of the three common attitudes toward the
environment.

Rather than seek to convert all of nature over to human uses, preservationists want to see large
portions of nature preserved intact.

Nature, they argue, has intrinsic value or inherent worth apart from human uses. Preservationists have
various ways of articulating their position.

These preservationists wish to keep large parts of nature intact for aesthetic or recreational reasons.
They believe that nature is beautiful and restorative and should be preserved to ensure that wild places
exist for future humans to hike, camp, fish, or just enjoy some solitude.
Conservative approach

The third environmental approach is the conservationist approach.

Conservationism tends to strike a balance between unrestrained development and preservationism.

Conservationism is anthropocentric in the sense that it is interested in promoting human well-being.

But conservationists tend to consider a wider range of long-term human goods in their decisions about
environmental management
What is sustainable development ?

Sustainable development is
development that meets the needs of the
present without compromising the
ability of future generations to meet
their own needs.

The concept of needs goes

beyond simply material needs and
includes values, relationships,
freedom to think, act, and
participate, all amounting to
sustainable living, morally, and Scheme of Sustainable Development This occurs at the
spiritually. confluence of three constituent parts
● Important World Summits from Stockholm to Nairobi to Rio and to Johannesburg has put the world
on notice that achieving sustainable development in the twenty-first century is not an option but an
imperative.

1st UN Conference On The Environment And Sustainable Development [1972]

● The 1972 UN conference in Stockholm highlighted the concerns for preserving and enhancing the
environment and its biodiversity to ensure human rights to a healthy and productive world. The
developing countries argued that their priority was development, whereas the developed countries
made a case for environmental protection and conservation as the prime issue.

● The 1982 Nairobi Summit reviewed the progress in the decade since the Stockholm Conference
and called upon national governments to intensify efforts to protect the environment and stressed
the need for international cooperation. However, the tensions between Western Governments and
the Soviet Union marred progress and commitment toward a Nairobi action plan.
M.M. Shah, in Encyclopedia of Ecology, 2008. Sustainable Development

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/sustainable-development
● In 1983 the United Nations Commission on Environment and Development was created and in 1987, the
Commission issued the Brundtland Report. This report highlighted that equity, growth, and
environmental maintenance are simultaneously possible and that each country is capable of achieving
its full economic potential while at the same time enhancing its resource base.
○ It emphasized three fundamental components to sustainable development: environmental
protection, economic growth, and social equity.
○ The “official” definition of sustainable development was developed for the first time in the
Brundtland Report in 1987.

● In 1992, the Earth Summit brought the world’s governments to deliberate and negotiate an agenda for
environment and development in the twenty-first century.
○ The Earth Summit unanimously adopted the Agenda 21, a comprehensive blueprint of actions
toward sustainable development, including detailed work plans, goals, responsibilities, and also
estimates for funding.
○ Other important accomplishments included the Rio Declaration, a statement of broad principles to
guide national conduct on environmental protection and development, and adoption of treaties on
climate change and biodiversity, and forest management principles. The first principle of the Rio
Declaration states “human beings are at the centre of concerns for sustainable development.”
Additional Reading: https://www.cbd.int/doc/ref/rio-declaration.shtml
● The Johannesburg Declaration on Sustainable Development and the Plan of Implementation, adopted at
the World Summit on Sustainable Development in South Africa in 2002, reaffirmed the global
community's commitments to poverty eradication and the environment, and built on Agenda 21 and the
Millennium Declaration (Millenium Summit, 2000) by including more emphasis on multilateral
partnerships.

● At the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in
June 2012, Member States adopted the outcome document "The Future We Want" in which they decided
to launch a process to develop a set of SDGs and to establish the UN High-level Political Forum on
Sustainable Development.

● In 2013, the General Assembly set up a 30-member Open Working Group to develop a proposal on the
SDGs.

● In January 2015, the General Assembly began the negotiation process on the post-2015 development
agenda. The process culminated in the subsequent adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development, with 17 SDGs at its core, at the UN Sustainable Development Summit in September 2015.
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

The 17 SDGs were adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, with 169 targets
to reach by 2030. The goals and targets are universal, meaning they apply to all countries
around the world, not just poor countries.
Goal 1: No Poverty

End poverty in all its forms everywhere

Goal 2: Zero Hunger

End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable
agriculture

Goal 3: Good Health and Well-being

Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
Goal 4: Quality Education

Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities
for all

Goal 5: Gender Equality

Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

Goal 6: Clean Water and Sanitation

Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
Goal 7: Affordable and Clean Energy

Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all

Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive
employment and decent work for all

Goal 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster
innovation
Goal 10: Reduce Inequalities
Reduce inequality within and among countries

Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities

Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable

Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production

Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
Goal 13: Climate Action

Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts

Goal 14: Life Below Water

Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable
development

Goal 15: Life On Land

Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage
forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
Goal 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to
justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels

Goal 17: Partnerships for the Goals

Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable
development
Additional Reading:
https://www.cbd.int/doc/ref/rio-declaration.shtml

https://sdgs.un.org/goals

https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/blog/2015/09/what-is-sustainable-development/