Overview
- Rapport Building
- About the lesson and author:
- Comprehension
- Activities and Project Work
Rapport Building
- What are the bigger challenges for the world in this century?
- What are the bigger factors of various diseases in developing and underdeveloped countries?
Why do you know about the echo system? How can it be balanced? - Who is Greta Thunberg and why is she popular globally?
Unit-1 Text
One cannot recall any movement in world history which has gripped the imagination of the entire human race so completely and so rapidly as the Green Movement which started nearly twenty-five years ago. In 1972 the world’s first nationwide Green party was founded in New Zealand. Since then, the movement has not looked back.
We have shifted — one hopes, irrevocably — from the mechanistic view to a holistic and ecological view of the world. It is a shift in human perceptions as revolutionary as that
introduced by Copernicus who taught mankind in the sixteenth century that the earth and the other planets revolved around the sun. For the first time in human history, there is a growing worldwide consciousness that the earth itself is a living organism — an enormous being of which we are parts. It has its own metabolic needs and vital processes which need to be respected and preserved.
The earth’s vital signs reveal a patient in declining health. We have begun to realise our ethical obligations to be good stewards of the planet and responsible trustees of the legacy to future generations.
The concept of sustainable development was popularised in 1987 by the World Commission on Environment and Development. In its report, it defined the idea as “Development that meets the needs of the present, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs”, i.e., without stripping the natural world of resources future generations would need.
In the zoo at Lusaka, Zambia, there is a cage where the notice reads, ‘The world’s most dangerous animal’. Inside the cage there is no animal but a mirror where you see yourself. Thanks to the efforts of a number of agencies in different countries, a new awareness has now dawned upon the most dangerous animal in the world. He has realised the wisdom of shifting from a system based on domination to one based on partnership.
Scientists have catalogued about 1.4 million living species with which mankind shares the earth. Estimates vary widely as regards the still-uncatalogued living species — biologists reckon that about three to a hundred million other living species still languish unnamed in ignominious darkness.
Comprehension Questions
- What is the Green Movement, and why is it described as a significant shift in human perception?
- How does the text compare the revolutionary shift brought about by the Green Movement to the teachings of Copernicus in the sixteenth century?
- What is the concept of sustainable development, and how was it popularized by the World Commission on Environment and Development in 1987?
- What message is conveyed by the notice at the zoo in Lusaka, Zambia, regarding ‘the world’s most dangerous animal’? How has this perception changed over time?
- According to the text, approximately how many living species are catalogued by scientists, and what is the estimated number of still-uncatalogued species?
Unit-2 Text
One of the early international commissions which dealt, inter alia, with the question of ecology and environment was the Brandt Commission which had a distinguished Indian as one of its members — Mr L.K. Jha. The First Brandt Report raised the question — “Are we to leave our successors a scorched planet of advancing deserts, impoverished landscapes and ailing environment?”
Mr Lester R. Brown in his thoughtful book, The Global Economic Prospect, points out that the earth’s principal biological systems are four — fisheries, forests, grasslands, and croplands — and they form the foundation of the global
economic system. In addition to supplying our food, these four systems provide virtually all the raw materials for industry except minerals and petroleum-derived synthetics. In large areas of the world, human claims on these systems are reaching an unsustainable level, a point where their productivity is being impaired. When this happens, fisheries collapse, forests disappear, grasslands are converted into barren wastelands, and croplands deteriorate. In a protein-conscious and protein- hungry world, over-fishing is common every day. In poor countries, local forests are being decimated in order to procure firewood for cooking. In some places, firewood has become so expensive that “what goes under the pot now costs more than what goes inside it”. Since the tropical forest is, in the words of Dr Myers, “the powerhouse of evolution”, several species of life face extinction as a result of its destruction.
It has been well said that forests precede mankind; deserts follow. The world’s ancient patrimony of tropical forests is now eroding at the rate of forty to fifty million acres a year, and the growing use of dung for burning deprives the soil of an important natural fertiliser. The World Bank estimates that a five-fold increase in the rate of forest planting is needed to cope with the expected fuelwood demand in the year 2000.
James Speth, the President of the World Resources Institute, said the other day, “We were saying that we are losing the forests at an acre a second, but it is much closer to an acre-and-a-half to a second”.
Comprehension Questions
- Who was a distinguished Indian member of the Brandt Commission, and what was one of the central questions raised in the First Brandt Report regarding the environment?
- According to Mr. Lester R. Brown, what are the earth’s principal biological systems, and why are they significant for the global economic system?
- What are some of the consequences when human claims on the earth’s biological systems reach an unsustainable level, as mentioned in the text?
- How does the text highlight the challenges related to over-fishing and deforestation in the context of environmental sustainability?
- According to the World Bank and James Speth, what alarming rates of change are observed in the degradation of tropical forests, and what are the implications of this trend?
Unit-3 Text
Article 48A of the Constitution of India provides that “the State shall endeavour to protect and improve the environment and to safeguard the forests and wildlife of the country”. But what causes endless anguish is the fact that laws are never respected nor enforced in India. (For instance, the Constitution says that casteism, untouchability and bonded labour shall be abolished, but they flourish shamelessly even after forty-four years of the operation of the Constitution.) A recent report of our Parliament’s Estimates Committee has highlighted the near catastrophic depletion of India’s forests over the last four decades. India, according to reliable data, is losing its forests at the rate of 3.7 million acres a year. Large areas, officially designated as forest land, “are already virtually treeless”. The actual loss of forests is estimated to be about eight times the rate indicated by government statistics
A three-year study using satellites and aerial photography conducted by the United Nations, warns that the environment has deteriorated so badly that it is ‘critical’ in many of the eighty-eight countries investigated.
There can be no doubt that the growth of the world population is one of the strongest factors distorting the future of human society. It took mankind more than a million years to reach the first billion. That was the world population around the year 1800. By the year 1900, a second billion was added, and the twentieth century has added another 3.7 billion. The present world population is estimated at 5.7 billion. Every four days the world population increases by one million.
Fertility falls as incomes rise, education spreads, and health improves. Thus, development is the best contraceptive. But development itself may not be possible if the present increase in numbers continues.
The rich get richer, and the poor beget children, which condemns them to remain poor. More children do not mean more workers, merely more people without work. It is not suggested that human beings be treated like cattle and compulsorily sterilised. But there is no alternative to voluntary family planning without introducing an element of coercion. The choice is really between control of the population and perpetuation of poverty.
The population of India is estimated to be 920 million today — more than the entire populations of Africa and South America put together. No one familiar with the conditions in India would doubt the hope of the people would die in their hungry hutments unless population control is given the topmost priority.
Comprehension Questions
- What is the purpose of Article 48A of the Indian Constitution, and why does the author express concern about the enforcement of laws in India?
- According to the text, what issues are highlighted in a recent report by India’s Parliament’s Estimates Committee, particularly concerning India’s forests?
- What findings are presented from a three-year study conducted by the United Nations regarding the environment, and how is its condition described in many countries?
- How has the global population changed over the centuries, and what impact does the growth of the world population have on the future of human society?
- What perspective does the text offer on the relationship between population growth, poverty, and the need for voluntary family planning in India?
Unit-4 Text
For the first time in human history, we see a transcending concern — the survival not just of the people but of the planet. We have begun to take a holistic view of the very basis of our existence. The environmental problem does not necessarily signal our demise, it is our passport for the future. The emerging new world vision has ushered in the Era of Responsibility. It is a holistic view, an ecological view, seeing the world as an integrated whole rather than a dissociated collection of parts.
The industry has the most crucial role to play in this new era of responsibility. What a transformation would be effected if more
businessmen shared the view of the Chairman of Du Pont, Mr Edgar S. Woolard who, five years ago, declared himself to be the Company’s “Chief Environmental Officer”. He said, “Our continued existence as a leading manufacturer requires that we excel in environmental performance.”
Of all the statements made by Margaret Thatcher during the years of her Prime Ministership, none has passed so decisively into the current coin of English usage as her felicitous words: “No generation has a freehold on this earth. All we have is a life tenancy — with a full repairing lease”. In the words of Mr Lester Brown, “We have not inherited this earth from our forefathers; we have borrowed it from our children.”
Comprehension Questions
- What significant change in human perspective is mentioned in the text, and how does it relate to the survival of both people and the planet?
- What is the concept of the “Era of Responsibility” as described in the text, and how does it encourage a holistic and ecological view of the world?
- How does the text highlight the role of industry, particularly citing the example of the Chairman of Du Pont, Mr. Edgar S. Woolard, in addressing environmental concerns?
- What memorable statement by Margaret Thatcher is referenced in the text, and what message does it convey about our relationship with the Earth?
- According to Mr. Lester Brown, what perspective does he offer regarding the earth and our responsibility toward it, especially in relation to future generations?
Activities and Project Work
Reflect your Thoughts–
- Simple living and high thinking can help to conserve our environment.
- Elaborate on the concept of sustainable development.
- Comment on the future of the nation and elaborate on the role of technology in India.
Debate-
- Climate change is caused by humans.
- Climate change affects the animals’ Lives.
- It is hopeless to Stop climate change
Discussion-
Deforestation causes climatic change.
Climate change affects the farm and food.
Vocabulary related to climate
- Climate: The long-term average of weather conditions in a particular region, including temperature, precipitation, and wind patterns.
- Global Warming: The gradual increase in the Earth’s average temperature due to human activities like burning fossil fuels.
- Greenhouse Effect: The trapping of heat in the Earth’s atmosphere by greenhouse gases, leading to a rise in temperature.
- Carbon Footprint: The total amount of greenhouse gases, primarily carbon dioxide, emitted by an individual, organization, or activity.
- Climate Change: Long-term alterations in temperature, weather patterns, and other climate parameters, often driven by human activities.
- Climate Resilience: The ability of a system or community to withstand and adapt to the impacts of climate change.
- Mitigation: Actions taken to reduce or prevent the emission of greenhouse gases to limit climate change.
- Adaptation: Strategies and measures to adjust and respond to the effects of climate change, enhancing resilience.
- Renewable Energy: Energy sources like solar, wind, and hydroelectric power that are sustainable and produce fewer greenhouse gas emissions.
- Emission: The release of greenhouse gases, primarily carbon dioxide, into the atmosphere.
- Drought: A prolonged period of abnormally low rainfall leading to water scarcity.
- Fossil Fuels: Non-renewable energy sources like coal, oil, and natural gas that release carbon dioxide when burned.
- Paris Agreement: An international treaty aimed at limiting global warming and mitigating climate change effects.
- Sea Level Rise: The increase in the average level of the world’s oceans due to melting glaciers and thermal expansion.
- Deforestation: The clearing of forests, which reduces carbon sequestration and contributes to climate change.
- Ozone Layer: A protective layer of ozone in the Earth’s stratosphere that absorbs harmful ultraviolet radiation.
- Extreme Weather: Unusual, severe, and often destructive weather events, such as hurricanes, droughts, and heatwaves.
- Sustainability: The practice of using resources in a way that does not deplete or harm the environment for future generations.
- Carbon Neutrality: Achieving a balance between the amount of carbon emissions produced and the amount removed or offset.
- Climate Action: Collective efforts, policies, and actions taken to address climate change and reduce its impact globally.