8/7/2019 Environmental Ethics Lecture 4

1/17

Environmental Ethics

8/7/2019 Environmental Ethics Lecture 4

2/17

Environmental Ethics Environmental problems in India due to a number of causes :

1) Growing Human & Animal populations leading toexploitation of resources

2) Extensive damages to systems caused by developmentalactivities

3)Policies of Central & State governments have notincorporated environmental accounting principles , hencemany developmental projects have been conceived for theirshort term gains without considering their long termecological & social impact .

Hence 50 years post independence, although the country hasachieved great gains in industry & agriculture , it has failed onthe family planning, poverty alleviation & environmentalprotection fronts.

8/7/2019 Environmental Ethics Lecture 4

3/17

Environmental destruction :

1) Land

2) Water

3) Air 4) Forests

5) Dams

6)Habitat

7) Health

8/7/2019 Environmental Ethics Lecture 4

4/17

Air Pollution

8/7/2019 Environmental Ethics Lecture 4

5/17

AIR Air we breathe is threatened by two forms of pollution

1) Gaseous discharge

2) Dust particles

for eg (a) Hydrocarbons released when fossil fuels are burnt -

-- resulting in distress for people with asthma, bronchitis etc

(b)Harmful emissions from coal burning factories & Electricutility plants cause acid rain "which damages forests & lakes

Coal emissions also cause the Green house effect where

gases form a layer , traps suns heat & prevent the earth from

cooling. This will cause harmful dramatic changes in theecosystem.

(c)During some manufacturing process air borne carcinogens

are emitted which cause cancer . These toxins responsible for

more than 20,000 cancer deaths per year .

8/7/2019 Environmental Ethics Lecture 4

6/17

Land

8/7/2019 Environmental Ethics Lecture 4

7/17

Deforestation

8/7/2019 Environmental Ethics Lecture 4

8/17

LAND

As fodder becomes scarce people & animalsturn to forests.

E.g. In Chambal Valley more than 10 % ofvillagers have been completely depopulated .Although mineral production has increasedten folds , the minning operations havedepopulated hundreds of villages & destroyedseveral million hectares of good crop & forestland.

8/7/2019 Environmental Ethics Lecture 4

9/17

Water

8/7/2019 Environmental Ethics Lecture 4

10/17

Water India is one of the wettest country in the world

Due to deforestation India is expected to face water shortage.Soil conservation has been neglected such that every year

large portion of monsoon water disappears into sea.

S

ource of water Pollution 1)Municipal Industrial facilities

2) Oil Spills

3) Run off from farm lands & construction sites & urban areas

4) In areas which are heavily industrialized ,water pollutionlevels are high

5) Ground water pollution due to tons of hazardous

substances buried in the ground or dumped in in adequate

storage sites

8/7/2019 Environmental Ethics Lecture 4

11/17

Water ( cont)

Lack of facilities for disposal of non- salvageable industrial

waste & sewage leads to pollution of water supply,

contamination of soil with parasite & their ova.

8/7/2019 Environmental Ethics Lecture 4

12/17

Narmada Valley project

8/7/2019 Environmental Ethics Lecture 4

13/17

Dams Large dams construction are the most controversial

environmental issue .

Problems :

1) Dams drown half a million hectares of forest land -

-- Deforestation 2) Dams affect life of numerous local people who are

mostly tribals. Rehabilitation measures for the

displaced is highly pathetic .

3) Soil erosion

4) pollution

5) wild life destruction

8/7/2019 Environmental Ethics Lecture 4

14/17

Dams (cont)

Although these projects promise thousands of megawatts of

electricity & millions of hectares of irrigated land , in the long

run the environmental destruction they cause is much more

than the gains. Hence it is better to have small earthen dams

which are economically profitable and ecologically sound.

Eg of current projects which damage the ecosystem are

1) Narmada Basin development programme ( cost more than

25,000 crore displacing one million tribal people )

2) Koelkaro project in Bihar

3) Indravati project covering states of Orissa, AP, MP &Maharashtra

4) Kopili project in Meghalaya

8/7/2019 Environmental Ethics Lecture 4

15/17

Health

1)WHO study analyzed food samples & found 50 % to becontaminated with pesticides & residues with 30 % exceeding

the permissible limits .

2)Thousands of workers dying because of occupationaldiseases caused by asbestos dust, slate pencil dust etc.

3) Malaria, dengue fever, Japanese encephalitis etc caused

because of steady degeneration of environment .

8/7/2019 Environmental Ethics Lecture 4

16/17

Towards a Human World Order

The most critical concerns facing the world community for

next 15 20 years

1) Food:-Some cannot afford to consume for survival while

others are privileged to consume only for enjoyment

2)Population :-One million people added to population every

5 days and 90 % of this increase is in poorer nations. Indias

population already risen to over a billion. 3) Environment :- Air, water , land destruction

4) Health :- 80 % in world without adequate health care , One

billion suffering from malnutrition & tropical parasite disease.

5) Housing :-About 800 million people lack adequate shelter.In third world cities , 250 million live in slums & sleep on

pavements

6) Education & Literacy :- Only 47 % of worlds school- age

children attending schools. In some countries illiteracy % is 70

% and in some it is 90 %

8/7/2019 Environmental Ethics Lecture 4

17/17

Towards a Human World Order (cont) 7) Unemployment:-About 20 million out of work in developed

countries & an estimated 455 million jobless or

underemployed in developing countries

8) Transnational Corporations :-Some TNC s have more

assets & higher income than many nations . Their power is

extensive --- South Africa, Chile, Brazil -- some of these

corporations involve d in toppling of local governments,interference in labour organizations, & elimination of small

local enterprises through unfair practices Eg Union carbide &

Bhopal Gas tragedy .

Hence we are at crisis point . But should this crisis be a

breakdown or can it also be a breakthrough.