Fundamentals of Environment

Unit 03

Unit 03
03.1 Introduction Objective

Environment and Human Population

03.2 Man- Environment interaction Human Population growth Agricultural revolution Industrial revolution Self Assessment Questions 03.3 Consequences of over population Business and Environment Poverty and Environment People and Environmental sustainability Case Study Self Assessment Questions 03.4 Summary 03.5 Glossary 03.6 Terminal Questions 03.7 Answers

03.1 Introduction
In the earlier unit we learnt about the economic and social significance of ecosystems. We have also become familiar with concept of ecological footprints and the impact of anthropogenic activities on them. Let us study about the nexus between man and environment in this unit. We will also discuss how the man-made action in creating a sustainable environment has shaped up the present day environment.

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When man first appeared on earth planet, he had very little awareness about the role of the environment around him. Because of his limited knowledge, he lived within the provisions of earth's natural surroundings. This in effect did not disturb the equilibrium between man and environment of the planet earth. As millenniums moved ahead, man on earth grew curious of his surroundings and started exploring it. Ultimately it leads to inventions and technological advancements that had profound impact in shaping the environment. Human beings reside within the environment and are dependent on the environment for their survival. We can classify environment into natural and artificial environment. Human beings have used both their mind and technology to make use of their natural environment and transform it into a more intensive artificial environment. The natural environment has its own special balance. But, the intensive activities of the society have destroyed this balance and have caused severe environmental problems. Apart from these activities, deforestation, extinction of biological resources, global population explosion and the growing demand for food have caused many environmental problems for human beings. . The unsustainable use of resources such as water and land by human beings have caused the following problems: Severe degradation of land Increasing poverty and starvation Increasing water demand Declining water quality Increasing energy demand.

In this unit, let us study in detail about the interactions involving man and environment, impact of human growth and the development of a sustainable environment. Objective After studying this unit, you will be able to: figure out nexus between man and environment

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describe how exponential human growth has lead to resource depletion explain how business operations interact with environment discuss role of people in environmental sustainability

03.2

Man- Environment interaction

Humans are unique animals in the degree to which they can modify their environment. They change the environment to suit their needs, through clearing or planting vegetation, diverting or drilling for water, breeding crops and livestock, constructing roads, buildings, railways, etc. As such they have great positive and negative impacts on the environment. People are dependent on the biotic and abiotic environment for provision of all resources food, water, space, air, climatic conditions, etc. The environment serves mankind with innumerable purposes. Some of the ways by which we derive benefits from the environmental services are: Deforestation to build houses, infrastructure Oil energy Water domestic, industry Forests and Trees Source of food and CO2 sequestration Minerals diamond, gold, coal Farming Fishing Ecotourism

Water resources are indispensible for the survival of life and are an integral part of economic development activities. Rivers, lakes, artificial reservoirs are essential sources of water and depleting level of ground water resources implies the need for their sustainable utilisation. We can consider coal, oil and gas as fossil fuels as they resulted due to the transformation of the organic remains of plants and animals that inhabited the pre-historic age. The oil resource accounts for about 40 % of the worlds energy and helps to meet 96 % of transportation energy

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requirement. Forests provide fuel wood which is used as the main source of fuel in most parts of our country. Also timbers obtained from forests are used for construction purposes. It also provides shelter to numerous species and helps to conserve biodiversity. Vegetation, especially trees, has a great ecological impact on human beings and the natural environment. As tree roots conserve water, they stabilise the soil and prevent soil erosion. Minerals obtained from earths crust are essential for industrial activities and it determines the rate of economic development of any country. Fishing activities act as major source of food for majority of population. Controlled exploitation of marine resources could derive numerous benefits for the mankind. Tourism is another recently developed environmental service that aids in economic growth of a country and also plays a role in protecting the biodiversity of particular areas. Even though we benefit from the environment, it can create restrictions on our activities by the occurrence of harsh weather conditions e.g. precipitation, sun; natural hazards - storms, hurricanes; soil types.

Human Population growth India's landscape is just 2.4% of the total world area whereas its population is over 1.21 billion people (2011 census), which is greater than one-sixth of the population of the world. India already accounts for 17.5% of the world's population. It is expected to become the world's most populous country by 2025 even surpassing China. Indias population is expected to reach 1.6 billion by 2050. More than 50% of Indias population is below the age of 25 and more than 65% is just below the age of 35. It is projected that, in 2020, the average age of an Indian will be only 29 years, against 37 for China and 48 for Japan. About 72.2 % of Indias population live in about 638,000 villages. The remaining 27.8 % live in more than 5,100 towns and 380 extended cities or town areas.

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The interactions of births, deaths, and migration determine the total population increase in a given period of time. A bar chart arranged vertically and showing the distribution of a population by age and sex can be used to represent the population pyramid. Usually, the younger ages are shown at the bottom of the population pyramid, with females on the right and males on the left. Similarly, we can define the Sex Ratio as the number of males per 100 females in a population. In the previous two centuries, most of the world's population could be found in Asia. A relatively lesser percentage of the total world population lived in North America, Latin America and Oceania. Europe had the second greatest percentage of people after Asia. But, Europes population is decreasing while Africa's is increasing., The Industrial Revolution that began in Europe in 1800 caused its share of global population to increase. Twothirds of the world's population lives in Asia. The U.S and Oceania together only account for less than 5 percent of the total worlds population. By 1900, the rapid growth of population in Europe, Latin America, and North America reduced Asia's share of the world population to 57 percent. Currently, the less developed regions have the highest rates of population growth. Hence, their share of world population is expected to increase in the future. The following figure 3.1 represents the projected growth of population that may be considered in terms of low, medium or high projections.

Figure 03.1 Total world population Projected

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Source: Registrar general of India Asia's population increased again in 2000 to 60 percent of the world total. But, if current trends persist, in 2050, the population of Asia will show a slight decrease. In 2050, Asia may account for 57 percent of the world population, but Africa's population may increase to about 20 percent. The following figure 3.2 represents the total population increase over a period of time in different regions of the world.

Figure 03.2 Total estimated Population in the world Source: www.wikipedia.com In less developed countries, there is a disproportionate increase in urban population due to rural-to-urban migration and the natural increase in population. The urban areas accounted for only 10 percent of the world's

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population a century ago. The population of the urban areas had increased to 29 percent by 1950, and today it has risen to 49 percent. By the year 2030, the population of the urban areas (ranging from market towns to megacities) is expected to increase to 60 percent of the world's population. More than 25 urban areas may have 10 million people by 2025 and eight urban areas may have more than 20 million people each. The projections for 2025 indicate that only two of the 10 largest urban areas will be in the more developed countries. The figure 03.3 shows the differences in birth and death rate of population in India.

Figure 03.3 Birth and Death rate in India (Source: Registrar general of India) Population pyramids are graphs that depict the age structure of a population in terms of age and gender. Normally population pyramids show the data for males on the left and for females on the right. The age categories are in increasing intervals of five years and are labeled up the center axis. The horizontal axis shows a measure of millions. The figure 03.4 depicts the population increase and the rate of population growth.

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Figure 03.4 Growth rate of Population in India Source: Registrar general of India The population pyramid that represents the age composition of the population existing in India and China is as given below. The projected increase in population of India and China in 2050 is also represented by the following figure 03.5.

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Figure 03.5 Population pyramid characteristics of India and China (Source: US census Bureau) There is a growing concern about the rapid population growth in the country due to its widespread impacts. The following points describe the effect of overpopulation on humans: One of the most important effects is the occurrence of environment degradation. The excessive population resulted in rapid industrialization and urbanization. Overexploitation of natural resources occurred due to industrial activities and to meet the demands of growing population.

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The deforestation has resulted in the reduction of forest cover and will eventually affect the climate including rainfall. The considerable magnitude of air pollution also leads to an increase in the number of people suffering from respiratory diseases and may lead to fatal effects and serious health hazards. Occurrence of ground water and surface water contamination leads to various water borne diseases.

So far we have learnt the impact of overpopulation on the environment and the way by which it affects the economic growth of the nation. Such impeding measures in economic growth have been countered by the occurrence of revolutions in the agricultural and industrial sectors. Let us now discuss how these revolutions shaped up the economic growth to mitigate the effects imposed due to over-population.

Agricultural revolution The agricultural production in India was not sufficient enough to meet its own needs from during the period of 1947-1965. The substantial shipments of food grains from the United States helped to mitigate the effects of the severe droughts which could have caused famine in the mid-1960s. We can trace the origin of the Green Revolution to the late 1960s. The success of the Green Revolution helped India to attain self-sufficiency in food grains by the end of the 1970s. But, the Green Revolution was limited only to wheat crop and the northern states in India like Punjab. Therefore, it could not increase the income levels in the widespread rural areas of India. In the 1980s, the second wave of the Green Revolution occurred. This included almost all the crops including rice and extended to the whole country. Hence, it resulted in an increase in the income of the people living in rural areas. The second wave of Green Revolution helped in Indias economic development.

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During the Green Revolution, new high yielding varieties (HYVs) of wheat, maize and rice were introduced. These HYV seeds responded with higher yields when more fertilizer were applied and resulted in significant raise in output. In the developing countries, although there was only a 20 percent increase in the area planted with HYV seeds, the yields of rice and wheat increased by 75 percent between 1965 and 1980. The production increased two-fold in India between 1960 and 1993. The total annual grain production increased from 77 Mt to 201.5 Mt during this period. In the same way, 4.5 million new hectares was brought under irrigation throughout the world between 1950-51 and 1965-66. 9 million new hectares were brought under irrigation between 1965-66 and 1979-80. In India, tube wells and canals were the two sources of irrigated agricultural water. Tube wells draw water from underground aquifers using electrical pumps. Dammed reservoirs supply water to canals. Many tube wells, dams, and canals were constructed due to the Green Revolution. In India, tube wells and canals supplied water to about 20 percent of the total irrigated land by late 1980s. In India, more than 33 percent of the agricultural land was irrigated by 1989. In 1950s the total irrigated area was 21 million hectares. But this increased to 39 million hectares by 1980. The construction of dams by the government and the drilling of tube wells by farmers helped to extend the irrigated area. In India, the use of pesticides has increased greatly due to the greater production of cash-crops. About 2000 t of pesticides were annually used in the mid-1950s and more than 80000 t were used by the mid-1980s. Chemical pesticides were used on only 80,000 ha of Indias cropland in 1960. But today, they are used in 6 million hectares. The Green Revolutions commercial approach to agriculture was intensified when farmers invested in new farming machinery like tractors, mechanical threshers and electric pumps using the profits earned. . The introduction of such equipment created new needs for electricity, fuels, and maintenance. So, the marketing systems were modified to help subsistence farmers to sell their crops. This resulted in a transition from subsistence to commercial agriculture. The growth in production of rice

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and wheat due to the green revolution project carried out in India is as shown below in figure 03.6.

Figure 03.6 Impact of green revolution in Indian agriculture production Some advantageous effects of green revolution upon the environment can be summarised as follows: The Green Revolution resulted in a four-time increase in the production of rice and wheat and transformed Indias fertile areas into granaries. India no longer depended on other countries for food grains. It helped the nation to progress towards the path of self-sufficiency. Increase in Production / yield than conventional methods. The economic situation of small and marginal farmers improved due to better yield, control on insects and pests and the use of sophisticated machineries.

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Better land use by employing two and three crop pattern. Advent of new seeds with better yield and disease fighting capability.

Though it offered innumerable benefits, green revolution had a profound effect on the environment as a whole. They can be summarised as follows: The Green Revolution resulted in a reduction in the natural fertility of the soil. The processes of Green Revolution led to depletion and pollution of water. The residues of the biocides in food crops and their contamination of drinking water pose a health hazard to both the farmers who use them and the general public. Tolerance limits of pesticide residues in food were established by the World Health Organization (WHO). A research of food, including cereals, eggs and vegetables, in India, revealed that 30% of the sample exceeded the tolerance limits. All the 75 samples of breast milk collected from women in Punjab showed residues of DDT and BHC. But, it not been established that these suspected carcinogens are directly related to an increase in diseases or deaths. A loss of genetic diversity has resulted due to the spread of modern commercial agriculture and introduction of new varieties of crops. Considering the benefits derived by green revolution project, the disadvantages offered by them is quite naturally overlooked.

Industrial revolution The Industrial Revolution happened between 1760 and 1850. During this revolution, fundamental changes gradually occurred in agriculture,

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transportation, textile and metal manufacture, the social structure and economic policies. A greater supply of food and raw materials resulted due to the advancements in agricultural techniques and practices. The introduction of new technology increased the efficiency, production and profits. The growth of commerce and foreign and domestic trade were the factors that resulted in the growth of the Industrial Revolution. As most of these conditions were closely interrelated, the increased activity in one contributed to an increase in the activity of another. The following table 03.1 depicts the projected economic growth of top 10 major economies in the world. India is projected to increase its economic growth in the future, thereby attaining the third rank among the world countries by the year 2020.

Table 03.1 Projected economic growth among world countries Before the era of mechanisation, the organisation of the textile industry was complex and highly inefficient. There were many local variations. The invention of modern technologies caused many changes in the textile industry. Rivers and canals had been used as a means of internal transportation for a long time. Raw materials, finished products, food and people

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required a faster, reliable, and less expensive mode of transportation. The modern transport mechanism was greatly beneficial to the industrial development. The advancements in transportation acted as a catalyst to the Industrial Revolution as they greatly determined the cost and availability of manufactured products. The Industrial Revolution greatly influenced man-environment relationship and Earths ecology. The Industrial Revolution drastically changed all facets of human lifestyle. Some of the major points are as summarised below: Industrial revolution lead to the mass production of food for the world population. The worldwide human population growth serves as the best evidence of the effect of the Industrial Revolution on the modern world. The use of factories and mass production has led to a depletion of certain natural resources The pollution that has resulted from factories involves not only airborne emissions but land and water pollution as well. Industries contribute largely to an increase in carbon emissions in the atmosphere thereby leading to global warming. Self Assessment Questions 1. According to census 2011, India ranks as the world's . most populous country. (a) first (b) second (c) third (d) fourth 2. .. are graphs that show the structure of a population by age and gender. 3. The Green Revolution at first started in the late (a) 1950 (b) 1960 (c) 1980 (d) 1990

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03.2

Consequences of over population

Overpopulation is regarded as a major hindrance factor in economic development of any country. Uncontrolled increase in population leads to many ill-effects. Numerous negative effects are known to occur due to an increased load of population and hence they can be summarised mainly into categories based on their impacts of social and ecological conditions. Social Impacts of Population Growth The population explosion has resulted in many serious problems. These problems include food-scarcity, over-crowding, poverty, increased consumption, encroachment on monuments, stress on common social facilities and civic services. Let us now discuss more about these problems. Food Scarcity: The population explosion has resulted in severe economic disparities, competition for resources, inflation, malnutrition, hunger and mass starvation. The population growth has widened the gap between the poor and the rich. A common effect of these problems is malnutrition. In developing countries, the poorest people do not get sufficient calories that will ensure good health. Almost half of the children below the age of five are affected by malnutrition in Ethiopia. Malnutrition causes failure of senses, damages vital organs and results in mental disorders. It is estimated that about 5 to 20 million people die due to starvation yearly worldwide. Overcrowding: There is only a limited place available for habitation on Earth. The population explosion has resulted in greater demand for land and has adversely impacted agricultural areas and forests. This has resulted in the migration of people to cities in search of job opportunities. This has made cities overcrowded. Agricultural lands and semi-urban lands located near cities are being used for construction activities. The overcrowding in cities has further aggravated the problems of pollution and insanitation which have resulted in epidemics. Green lands in urban areas and sea beaches are being reclaimed for housing and industrial activities.

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Poverty: The main causes of poverty are population explosion, unequal distribution of resources, increasing cost of living, insufficient education and employment, environmental degradation, demographic trends and reduced welfare incentives. We can define the extreme form of poverty as the lack of basic human needs like food, clothing, housing, clean drinking water, and medical facilities. People in Africa, Asia, and Latin America suffer the most due to lack of financial resources. The people of these countries frequently suffer from famine, malnutrition, epidemics, outbreaks of diseases and war. Poverty has resulted in increase in drug addiction, crime and mental illness in developed countries. Increasing Consumption: Although the population in some countries of the world has nearly stabilised, the life style of the people in these countries has become consumption based. Ecologists around the world have observed that there is greater resource consumption by powerful people and developed countries when compared to weak and poor people, and developing or under-developed nations. For example, although the United States is not overpopulated, it accounts for about 40 percent of the resource consumption of the world and is responsible for the production of about 20 percent of carbon dioxide (a greenhouse gas) of the world. The United Nations states that although only 20 percent of the population of the world live in developed and richest countries, they consume about 86 percent of the resources of the world. Ecological Impacts of Population Growth Population growth has impacted both the physical and biological components of our environment. Impacts of Population Growth on the Physical Environment The utilisation, overuse and misuse of physical resources like land, air, and water increased greatly due to population growth. Population growth has necessitated greater agricultural production which requires more cultivable land and the use of advanced agricultural methods. Clearing of forests and reclamation of wet lands, ponds and green belts have made more cultivable land available. Advanced agricultural methods require more water, fertilizers and pesticides. The use of pesticides and

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fertilizers has made the soil infertile. Clearing of forests, also has seriously impacted the environment which has become imbalanced. Population growth requires more means of transport. It has resulted in greater consumption of fossil fuels and has caused more air, land and water pollution. Different types of pollutions cause many problems in the physical environment and also seriously affect the biological environment.

Impacts of population growth on biological environment Population growth has adversely impacted the biological environment as it greatly stresses almost all the biological systems, including flora, fauna and biological diversity. Clearing of forests has been done for setting up industries and making new towns and cities. This has destroyed the habitats of many birds and animals. Large-scale destruction of habitats has also resulted due to the intensive agriculture practices (like shifting cultivation) and mining. People and animals are migrating to other places due to the frequent water crises and this stresses the resources of those areas. The increasing consumer culture and population explosion have increased the generation of waste. This has resulted in the outbreak of serious epidemics and deaths of people in most parts of the world.

Business and Environment Population growth imposes more resource demands on ecosystems and enhances the impacts of our global footprint. Natural resources are vulnerable and finite. The environmental effects of anthropogenic actions (processes or materials derived from human activities) are becoming more evident. The air and water quality is decreasing greatly, overfishing is taking place in oceans, pests and diseases can be found even beyond their historical boundaries, and deforestation is increasing flooding downstream. A study has revealed that since the beginning of industrialisation, anthropogenic activities have greatly transformed or

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degraded about 40-50 percent of Earths ice-free land surface, overexploited 66 percent of marine fisheries and increased atmospheric CO2 by more than 30 percent. It is also reported that, in the last two thousand years, approximately 25 percent of Earths bird species have become extinct. There is greater awareness in the society that human activities are limiting and threatening the ecosystem services. To provide information to decision-makers, economic values, frequently based on the cost of replacement with anthropogenic alternatives, are being assigned to many ecosystem services. The current challenge of assigning economic value to nature, for example through biodiversity banking, is causing transdisciplinary shifts in how we perceive and manage the environment, business opportunities, social responsibility, and the future of our species. Many businesses voluntarily try to reduce their environmental impact. The law requires industries that utilise or generate hazardous waste to regulate their businesses. A business can derive significant benefits by decreasing their environmental impact. Any organisation that takes part in green or environmentally friendly activities to make sure that all its products, processes and manufacturing activities address on-going environmental concerns adequately and at the same time be profitable is a sustainable business. We can also define sustainable business as a factor that meets the needs of the present world without compromising the ability of the future generations to meet their own needs. Sustainability is the process of examining the methods of designing products that take advantage of the present environmental condition and the performance of a companys products that use renewable resources. Sustainable businesses also analyse inputs and identify the products that cause harm to the environment and attempt to identify green alternatives that can function at the same or a better level and, preferably, at a lower cost. Company leaders also consider the life cycle

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costs for inputs of items purchased. They consider the inputs costs in terms of energy use, regulations, storage, and disposal. The economic initiatives of a business can include transforming materials through remanufacturing, changing harmful gases into clean energy, generating greener power, and using fuel economically. Another element of a sustainable business is Designing for the Environment (DFE). Through this process users can analyse the possible environmental impacts of a product and the processes employed in manufacturing that product. A common example of a sustainable business initiative is the process of going paperless. Sustainable business practices, on a higher level, can include reviewing processes in the elimination or recycling of waste, ensuring the recyclability of all products, and using alternatives energies in order to eliminate the use of non-renewable resources. Poverty and Environment An intricate relationship between the poverty and environment is regarded as a cyclic process with each of them capable of influencing the other. Similarly, an exact definition of poverty is difficult to be made. Poverty is defined in terms of needs. It is generally perceived as an economic or social condition and has significant influences on policy. We generally use income or consumption measures to map poverty. We can consider a person to be poor if the personal income or consumption of the person is below the established poverty line. But, it is proper to consider personal income only for the salaried class as it is not applicable to the poor. Most of the poor people depend on selfproduction and informal-sector activities wherein the concept of profit is not clear. Consumption of goods and services was considered a better poverty indicator in the 1960s as it is more stable over time when compared to income. The concept of capabilities was introduced by the noted Nobel laureate, Amartya Sen, to replace the basic needs concept. This concept considers material well-being, opportunities and capabilities (what

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people can or cannot do). According to UNDP, we can define poverty as the deprivation in the most essential capabilities of life, including leading a long and healthy life, being knowledgeable, having adequate economic provisioning and participating fully in the life of the community.1 Although the implications of poverty are many, we can consider it to be one of the main reasons for environmental destruction. It can be regarded that poor people cannot practise sustainable development in their present state of existence. We can save the environment only by eliminating poverty through economic growth. Socioeconomic, institutional and cultural factors mediate the relationship between poverty and environment. We can use the concept of environmental entitlements to understand the relationships between environment and poverty. According to this approach the links between environmental change and impoverishment are indirect. These links are mediated by the interaction of the poor people with specific environments that are structured by macro-level processes. The two main attributes of environmental entitlements are access to resources and control over the resources use. We can define environmental entitlements in terms of: Government legislation Markets Common property resource-management arrangements Land tenure Customary rights Resources like capital and technology that can be used effectively Gender roles.
1

http://www.unep.org/training/programmes/Instructor%20Version/Part_2/Activities/D imensions_of_Human_WellBeing/Poverty/Core/Some_Basic_Poverty_Definitions.pdf

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It is widely accepted that poor people living in the rural areas of developing countries are dependent on natural resources for their livelihoods. We can reduce poverty by improving the poor peoples access to and control of environmental resources.

People and Environmental sustainability It is expected in the near future that the fossil fuel from oil fields will be exhausted. It may not be possible to meet the food demands using the existing agro systems. There will be overgrazing of pastures by domestic animals and many problems will be created due to the soil, water and air pollution resulting from industrial growth. There may not be sufficient fishes for fishing in the sea. The discharge of industrial chemicals into the atmosphere will create bigger ozone holes that will adversely affect human health. The industrial gases released will increase global warming. Due to this, there will be a rise in the sea levels which will flood all low-lying areas, submerge coastal agricultural fields, towns and cities. The depletion of fresh water will result in water famines which will create unrest among the world countries. The regional biological diversity is important in the production of new industrial and medicinal products. Hence, many biotechnologically advanced nations and the biorich countries will want to control them. This could lead to grave economic conflicts. Ecosystem degradation can result in thousands of species becoming extinct. This will destabilise the valuable natural ecosystems. Many other environmental problems can also be caused in the future due to the increasing human population and intensive use of resources. We can avert these problems by building awareness among the people about the environment. This will help to bring about a change in the peoples lifestyle. Human beings depend on the physical environment (both natural and man-made) in many ways. Hence, sustaining the desired environmental conditions directly influences social sustainability. The economic viability is greatly dependent on environmental resources and service flows.

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Therefore, economic sustainability is dependent on environmental sustainability. Some issues that can lead to destabilisation of environmental sustainability are: Habitat destruction of native species Environmental pollution due to the discharge of chemicals and other materials Climate changes due to greenhouses gas emissions Fossil fuel depletion The basic prerequisites for achieving sustainable development are reduction of poverty and enhanced human development. A disturbing trend that can be seen within and across countries is the growing inequity. If this is not addressed soon, it will result in greater social conflict and increase the rate of deterioration of the ecosystem. We must use innovative measures to address these issues. It is essential to move away from traditional responses that rely on the benefits of economic growth trickling down to the people below the poverty line. We must adopt policy responses that necessitate broader participation, provide greater opportunities and empower the poor to begin their own development process.

Activity 1: Suggest some measures to promote sustainable management of resources thereby protecting the environment from deterioration. How will you address the ever growing demand for fossil fuels among the society through other alternative measures?

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Case Study

Case study 1: The world's worst recorded food disaster, the Bengal Famine, occurred in 1943 in British-ruled India. In Eastern India alone (that included the present day Bangladesh) an estimated four million people died of hunger in 1943. An initial theory proposed that the acute shortfall in food production in the area was responsible for the catastrophe. But, the noted Indian economist Amartya Sen (recipient of the Nobel Prize for Economics, 1998) disagreed with this theory. He established that although food shortage contributed to the problem, due to the hysteria of World War II, the British rulers only gave a low priority to food supplies. The Indian traders further exploited the hysteria and hoarded food so that they could sell it at higher rates. However even after the British left India in 1947, India continued to face the repercussions of the Bengal Famine. Hence, food security became an important item on free Indias agenda. The Green Revolution resulted due to this awareness. Legislative measures were also introduced to prevent the hoarding of food for profit by businessmen. But, even today we apply the term Green Revolution to the period from 1967 to 1978. The efforts taken to achieve food self-sufficiency between 1947 and 1967 were not completely successful. More priority was given to expanding the farming areas until 1967. But newspapers continued to report starvation deaths. In a perfect illustration of Malthusian economics, the population grew at a more rapid rate than food production. Hence there was a drastic need to increase yield which was enabled by the Green Revolution. Source: http://teacherweb.ftl.pinecrest.edu/snyderd/APHG/Unit%205/GreenRev. htm

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Case Study 2: Female infanticide is the practice of killing of baby girls on purpose as the birth of females is not preferred. This practice is prevalent in rural India. Even though the government has tried to abolish this practice for many years, the gender imbalance of India has become worse recently. The number of girls per 1,000 boys aged 0-6 declined from 945 to 927, throughout the nation, between 1991 and 2001. This ratio has reduced to lesser than 800 girls per 1,000 boys in some parts of India. A government minister stated that in the past 20 years, ten million girls have been killed by their parents in India, either before their birth or immediately after their birth. For example, every fourth girl child given birth in Punjab is regarded to be killed. By 2011 census, about 10 lakh (1,000,000) girl child would be killed in a year. (Stop Murdering The Girl Child, Tribune, Correspondent or Reporter, Sep 26, 2007) Self Assessment Questions 4. Overpopulation leads to natural resource depletion. (True/False) 5. Dr. Amartya sen introduced the term of .............. to define poverty. 6. Poverty and environmental degradation are interrelated to each other. (True/False) 7. Sustainable development can mitigate the problem of poverty. (True/False)

03.4

Summary

Let us recapitulate some important concepts that we have discussed in this unit: We can classify environment. environment into natural and artificial

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India accounts for 17.5% of the world's population. It is estimated that, by 2025, India will become the world's most populous country. The total population increase that results from the interaction of births, migrations and deaths in a given period of time is termed population increase. The graphs that depict the age structure of a population in terms of age and gender are referred to as population pyramids. India achieved food self-sufficiency due to agricultural revolution by the end of the 1970s. 1760 is generally considered the eve of the Industrial Revolution. India is projected to increase its economic growth in the future, thereby attaining the third rank among the world countries by the year 2020. An intricate relationship between the poverty and environment is regarded as a cyclic process with each of them capable of influencing the other. The basic prerequisites for achieving sustainable development are reduction of poverty and encouraging human development.

03.5

Glossary

Population Pyramid: A bar chart, arranged vertically, that shows the distribution of a population by age and sex. By convention, the younger ages are at the bottom, with males on the left and females on the right. Doubling Time: The number of years that it takes for the population of an area to increase two-fold at the present population growth rate.

03.6 Terminal Questions

1. Give a detailed note on population growth in India.

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2. What are the consequences of overpopulation? 3. Explain the nexus between poverty and environment 4. Write a brief note on Green revolution and its consequences in India.

03.7
SAQ

Answers

1. (b) second 2. Population pyramid 3. (b) 1960 4. True 5. Capability 6. True 7. True Terminal Questions 1. Write on the census 2011 report, demography, population pyramids. 2. Write about social and ecological impacts. Refer section 13.3 3. Refer section 13.3 4. Refer section 13.2 References

1. Erdogan and Ozsoy, 2007, Population growth, Journal of Turkish

science education, Vol. 4, (2), 22.

2. Govindan Parayil, 1992, The Green Revolution in India: A Case

Study of Technological Change, Technology and Culture, 33 (4), pp. 738-739.

3. FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization), 1995, World

Agriculture: Towards 2010, Rome: FAO.

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E-Reference 1. www.censusindia.net 2. www.wikipedia.org 3. www.encyclopaediabritannica.org 4. http://www.unep.org/training/programmes/Instructor%20Version/ Part_2/Activities/Dimensions_of_Human_WellBeing/Poverty/Core/Some_Basic_Poverty_Definitions.pdf

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