Chapter 4.

Environment
4.1& 4.2 Introduction
Ecology
• Oikos: home or surrounding, logos: study
• Ecology: Science of interrelationship between organisms and their relationship
with the environment
Ecosystem
• Natural unit which consists of biotic communities and their abiotic environment
• Basic functional unit in ecology, Types: Freshwater, grassland, marine, desert
Characteristics of ecosystem
1. Biotic component: producer (green plants), consumers (animals), decomposers
(microorganisms)
2. Abiotic component: air, water, soil
3. Energy flow: sun main source of energy
4. Matter
5. Interrelationship
6. Biological integration
7. Flexibility
8. Ecological regulation

Human impact on environment/ecosystem

• Destruction or modification of habitat
• Overexploitation for commercial, scientific and education purpose
• Overgrazing for domestic animals
• Change in arable land
• Forestry
• Traditional rural practice
• Industrialization, Urbanization
• Mining and quarrying
• Pressure from introduced plants
• Population pressure
• Use of drugs and chemicals
• Destruction of ecological balance

Environmental sanitation
• Cleaning of environment
Environmental sanitation includes the following:
1. Collection and disposal of refuse and sewage from houses, buildings and other
public places
2. Proper ventilation for the control of indoor air pollution: fresh air circulation
3. Sufficient light in the buildings for healthy conditions of human body
4. Heating
 Local environmental issues: water pollution, air pollution, noise pollution, solid waste
pollution, deforestation, land degradation
Global environmental issues: Global warming, Acid rain deposition, Ozone layer
depletion.

4.3 Conservation of Environment

Environmental conservation can be defined as process to maintain the environment nature

surrounding us that contains many population (flora and fauna) that need each other from
destruction to the continuity of future generations.

1) Deforestation: Deforestation is the process of changing land use from forests to a

non-forest use. Western Europe has already lost over 99% of its primary forest.
Today, deforestation programs focus on the major rain forests of the tropics.
- Current tropical tree planting programs are not keeping pace with this rate of
deforestation. Countries in these areas are often under-developed and striving for
economic improvement.
2) Polluted rivers: The waste water and liquids from plants and factories are linked
with nearby river water, which are polluted when they release disposal from these
units. People in Developing/Undeveloped countries also pollute rivers by using the
water in these rivers for washing clothes, utensils, bathing and other activities.
3) Air Pollution-GHG-Ozone depletion-Climate change

The action that can be taken to conserve or protect the environment are:-
- Modify industrial process so that less GHG are emitted as byproduct.
- Use as less fossil fuels as possible.
- Biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste materials have to be disposed after
separating them.
- Compost heap or a compost bin can be used to recycle waste food and other
biodegradable materials.
- Avoid unnecessary packaging of products.
- Plant more trees. They help in absorbing excess carbon dioxide.
- Never dispose left over chemicals, oils, or other harmful substances down the drain,
or dump them under the ground, or in water bodies or burn them in the garden. This
causes pollution.
- Do not burn any waste, especially plastics. The smoke may contain polluting gases.
- Recycle, recycle and recycle!
 4.4 Optimum Utilization of Natural Resources

We can‟t stop utilizing natural resources at once. We need to utilize them for our
survival and comfort. But we should be careful that we are using them optimally. This
can ensure the conservation of our natural environment and the continuity of supply to
the future generations.
Optimum utilization of natural resources can be termed as “natural resource
economics”.

Natural resource economics deals with the supply, demand, and allocation of the
Earth's natural resources. One main objective of natural resource economics is to better
understand the role of natural resources in the economy in order to develop more
sustainable methods of managing those resources to ensure their availability to future
generations.
- Resource economists study interactions between economic and natural systems, with
the goal of developing a sustainable and efficient economy.

4.5 Renewable and Non Renewable Resources

Nonrenewable
• Energy source which will be exhausted
• Coal, petroleum products

Renewable
• Energy source which can supply continuously
• Hydropower (including micro-hydro), biogas, solar, and wind energy
Biomass: fuelwood, agricultural residues, and animal waste

Biogas
• Methane-rich gas produced by methanogenic bacteria by anaerobic digestion of
animal and human excreta
• Use: for cooking

Solar
• Traditional use: drying crops, clothes, fuelwood, and others.
• Two methods of utilizing solar energy: solar thermal systems for heating water
and solar photovoltaic systems for generating electricity

Wind
• Wind power for grinding grains, generating electricity
 Hydropower
• Electricity from hydropower, clean energy

Impact of technology in Nepal

• Economy: economic development, increase in GDP and per capita income
• Employment: Numerous employment opportunities in several sectors, e.g. cottage
industries, transportation industry, some manufacturing industries
• Social value: decline in the population growth and increase in literacy rate,
comfortable life, social transformation due to electricity, telephone, radio, televisions,
rise in life expectancy, decrease in child mortality rate
• Environmental pollution

4.6 Conflict of Resources

- Historically, many wars have been fought over the possession or control of vital
resources: water, arable land, gold and silver, diamonds, copper, petroleum, and so
on.
- Conflict over resources figured prominently in the inter-imperial wars of the 16th,
17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, and laid the groundwork for World War I.
- Resource conflict was less prominent during the Cold War period, when ideological
disputes prevailed, but has become more prominent in the Post-Cold War era.
Indeed, many of the conflicts of the 1990's—including those in Angola, Chechnya,
Chiapas, Congo, Indonesia, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Somalia and Sudan—were driven
largely or in part by competition over the control of critical sources of vital
materials.
- As was true in the past, conflict over resources remains a significant feature of the
world security environment.

One can of course that the current resurgence of conflict over resources is nothing more
than a return to past practice, when such disputes were a common feature of the
international landscape. To some degree, this is true. But it is also evident that resource
conflict is becoming more frequent and more pronounced in some areas as the demand for
certain materials comes to exceed the available supply. For example, an acute shortage of
arable land and fresh water seems to have been a significant factor in several conflicts,
including those in Chiapas, Rwanda, and Zimbabwe. The same conditions appear to be
developing in other areas of scarcity.

Competition over the control of valuable oil supplies and pipeline routes has emerged as a
particularly acute source of conflict in the 21st century. With the demand for oil growing
and many older sources of supply (such as those in the United States, Mexico, and China)
in decline, the pressure on remaining supplies—notably those in the Persian Gulf area, the
Caspian Sea basin, South America, and Africa—is growing ever more intense. To
complicate matters, many of the major producing fields and pipelines are located in or near
areas of instability or have come under attack from guerrillas and terrorists. Many analysts
also believe that competition for oil was a factor in the 1991 Persian Gulf conflict and the
2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq. (See Klare, "Global Petro-Politics," "The Deadly Nexus," and
"The Geopolitics of War" in Selected Bibliography [to come].)

Several factors underlie the increased frequency and intensity of resource conflict in the
21st Century. These are: (1) economic globalization; (2) unsustainable consumption; (3)
population growth; and (4) economic warfare in poor and developing countries.

Economic globalization: The growing internationalization of finance and trade is having

an effect on many worldwide phenomena, including the demand for and consumption of
basic resources. Globalization increases the demand for resources in several ways, most
notably thought the spread and acceleration of industrialization. As nations become
industrialize, their need for many resources—especially energy, timber, and minerals—
grows substantially. Most manufacturing processes require large supplies of energy plus a
wide range of raw materials. With globalization, therefore, we have seen a substantial
increase in the consumption of these materials by the newly-industrialized countries
(NICs). For example, the consumption of energy by the developing countries is rising by
3.7 percent per year—nearly three times the rate for the older industrialized countries
(source: U.S Dept. of Energy, International Energy Outlook 2002). This means that the
competition for access to energy supplies (and other vital materials) will grow ever more
intense in the years ahead.

Unsustainable consumption: Although the global stocks of most vital materials are
sufficient for current requirements, the consumption of many of them is growing at such a
rapid pace that serious scarcities could arise in the year ahead. This is especially true for oil
and water, two of the world's most vital resources. The earth possesses only a certain
amount of conventional (i.e., liquid) petroleum—perhaps 2,500 billion barrels—and, over
the past 140 years, approximately one-third of this amount has been consumed. But because
the global consumption of oil is rising so quickly, we are likely to consume the next one-
third by 2020. At this point, it will prove very difficult to satisfy the global demand for oil
unless vast new reserves are found or new more fuel-efficient vehicles enter widespread
use. Worldwide water use is also growing at an unsustainable rate as more and more people
move to cities and acquire water-intensive devices like dishwashers and indoor showers. As
the available supply of these and other vital materials dwindle, the competition for access to
remaining resources will surely increase.

Population growth: The world's human population is expected to grow by about three
billion people between now and 2050 (rising from 6.2 billion people in 2002 to about 9.3
billion in 2050). Obviously, all of these additional humans will require food, shelter,
clothing, energy, and other necessities. Theoretically, the early as a whole possesses
sufficient stocks of the necessary materials to satisfy these needs, but unfortunately many of
the countries with the highest levels of population growth are located in areas where the
where the availability of some vital resources is in doubt. This is especially true for two
critical materials: water and arable land. Severe scarcities of both have already developed in
parts of Africa, Asia, and Latin America where population rates are especially high. This
could lead to intense competition for access to these resources in the years ahead. In
particular, it could provoke conflict over the distribution of shared water resources in such
areas as the Nile and Jordan river basins, where water is already scarce and the combined
population is expected to triple over the next 50 years.

Economic warfare: Conflict over resources often occurs in poor and divided countries that
possess only one or two major sources of wealth, such as diamonds, copper, or old-growth
timber. In these countries, whoever exercises control over these resources has a chance of
accumulating significant wealth, while everyone else is usually destined to live in poverty.
In well-regulated states, these resources are controlled by the government and the proceeds
from their exploitation are divided reasonably fairly among the population at large; in
dysfunctional or failed states, however, various factions or warlords are likely to fight over
these critical sources of wealth. These factions may exploit ethnic or religious animosities
in order to recruit supporters for the endeavors, but it is the pursuit of resource wealth and
not the legacy of ethnic hatred that drives these conflicts. This was true, for example, of the
conflicts in Angola and Sierra Leone, which were largely driven by a struggle over
lucrative diamond fields.

It is the combination of all these factors, more than anything else, that is contributing to the
growing intensity of global resource competition. But such competition need not have
result in violent conflict. Many disputes over critical sources of key materials can be
resolved through compromise, adjudication, technological innovation, conservation, and
conventional market mechanisms.

Technological innovation could result, for example, in the development of more efficient
means of water desalination, allowing the low-cost conversion of sea water into fresh
water. Likewise, the widespread use of hybrid (gas/electric) vehicles and hydrogen-
powered fuel cells could reduce the global requirement of petroleum. Market mechanisms,
such as an increase in the price of oil, would spur conservation and the development of new
sources of energy. And international adjudication can assist in the resolution of disputes
over offshore boundaries and the allocation of shared water supplies.

But these approaches will only work if the states involved are committed to the non-violent
resolution of resource disputes and to the equitable allocation of the world's precious
resources. Unfortunately, states are sometimes inclined to view resource competition as a
zero-sum game and to securitize vital sources—that is, view them as "national security"
interests that must be protected at all costs, including human blood.
 4.7 Global Environmental Issues

Global warming (Greenhouse effect)

Global warming
• Rise in global mean temperature of the earth

Solar energy: short wave radiation

Energy radiated from the earth‟s surface: long wave radiation

Greenhouse effect
• Concept of conventional greenhouse with glass: transmit short wave radiation,
opaque to long wave radiation
• Greenhouse effect: effect caused by greenhouse gases in the atmosphere in
which short wave radiation is transmitted to the earth‟s surface, but the long
wave radiation from the earth is absorbed thereby increasing the temperature

Greenhouse gases
• Group of about 20 gases responsible for the greenhouse effect through their ability
to absorb long wave terrestrial radiation
• occupy less than 1% of total volume of atmosphere
• Major greenhouse gases
→ CO2: major, responsible 60% of total GHG
→ CH4
→ NOx, mainly N2O: responsible 7% of total GHG
→ Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC): responsible 25% of total GHG
→ O3
→ Water vapor

Cause of global warming: Enhancement of green house effect due to anthropogenic

activities
Sources of GHG
• CO2: Burning of fossil fuels (oil, gas and coal), large scale deforestation
• CH4: large scale decomposition of organic matter in swamps, rice paddy,
livestock yards, cattle rising, biomass burning
• N2O: soil and fertilizer, groundwater and oceans, combustion
• CFC: using refrigerant, air-conditioning, fire extinguisher, cleaning solvent,
blowing agent, aerosol spray
• O3: upper natural environment

Prediction of global warming

• Using global circulation models (GCM): computer analysis of mathematical
equations that model earth‟s atmosphere
 Impact of global warming
• Rise in temperature: 0.3 to 0.6 deg c in the last century
• Sea level rise: due to thermal expansion of water on oceans and melting of ice
caps and glaciers, 1-2 mm/year over the last century, flooding of coastal areas,
beach erosion, saltwater intrusion into coastal areas
• Effect on water resources: change in the pattern of evaporation and
precipitation, increase in evaporation and precipitation, more precipitation on
the form of rain, increase in runoff
• Effect on storms and desertification: more storms, expansion of deserts and
sub-arid areas with higher evaporation
• Socio-economic effect: chances of disease due to high temperature, increase in
poverty due to flood and drought
• Ecological effect: effect on agriculture and forest ecosystem

Countermeasures
• Environmental taxes on GHG emissions
Using the revenue of tax to develop permanent and stable funding for
improved efficiency and developing renewable energy sources

International efforts to control global warming

1. Atmospheric scientists meeting in Geneva in 1990
• Steps to reduce emission of GHGs: industrialized nations could reduce CO2
emission by
20% by 2005
2. Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992
• Signing of treaty to stabilize emissions of GHGs at year 1990 level by year
2000
3. Global warming conference in Berlin in 1995
• Binding time table for reduction in GHGs emission after year 2000
4. International conference in Kyoto, Japan in 1997
• Kyoto protocol: set of binding emission targets and timelines for developed
nations

Acid rain

PH: measure of H ion concentration, range: 0-14, 7: neutral, <7: acidic, <7: alkaline
Rainwater: naturally acidic, with PH of about 5.6
Acid rain: Rainwater with PH<5.6 that results from air pollution caused by human
activities

Causes
• Emission of SO2 and NOx into the atmosphere
- Natural source: decomposition and forest fire, volcanic eruptions
- Anthropogenic: burning of fossil fuels, industrial process and gasoline powered
automobiles
• Transformation into mild sulfuric or nitric acid by combining with water vapor
• Dissolution of H2SO4, HNO3 and oxides of Nitrogen and Sulfur and other gases in
cloud containing rain and settling down of acid rain
Wet deposition: the pollutant material that comes down with rain, includes particulates and
gases
Dry deposition: the material reaching the ground by gravity during dry intervals, includes
particulates and gases and aerosols

Impact of acid rain

• Lowering of PH in lakes and rivers, springs, wells, harming fish and aquatic life
• Decline in forest, reduction in pollination of crops, crop quality and quantity
• Deterioration of building materials, e.g. steel, paint, plastics, cement,
masonry, limestone, marble, sandstone
• Potential infiltration to groundwater and increase in solubility of toxic materials
(Pb,Cu, Zn) in groundwater
• Effect on human health: due to acidic surface and groundwater consumption,
respiratory
illness, asthma
• Corrosion of water pipes, dissolving metals, e.g. lead , cupper and iron in water
pipes causing direct harm to human through consumption
• Damage to soil
fertility

Countermeasures
a. Technological approaches
1. pre-combustion: choose fuel with low S and N content or treat the fuels, physical and
chemical process to remove S and N
2. Reduce emission of pollutants during combustion, e.g. catalytic or coal-limestone
combustion
3. post-combustion: reduce emissions by high efficiency removal techniques,
e.g. scrubber b. Environmental clean up and restoration
e.g. liming of acidified surface water bodies (for neutralization) to save or restore
many important resources
c. Technical measure to reduce CO2 emission
1. Improve the efficiency of fuel to useable ends
2. Direct removal of CO2: technique for removal of CO2 from atmosphere by power plant
3. Reduction of CO2 by forestry
4. Cleaner energy production, e.g. photovoltaic, wood or wind

Ozone Depletion

• Important role with regard to atmospheric chemistry in both troposphere and the
stratosphere
• Pollutant at ground level, but stratospheric O3 is crucial for life on the earth:
blocks/absorbs most of the harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays coming from the sun, thus
protecting plants and animals
 Effect of UV
• Human skin cancer, eye cataracts, suppression of immune system response
• Effect on plants and aquatic life

Ozone hole: ozone depleted region over Antarctica

O3: unstable molecule, balance between formation and removal
Main cause of O3 depletion: presence of Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) in atmosphere
Source of CFC: using refrigerant, air-conditioning, fire extinguisher, cleaning solvent,
blowing agent,
aerosol spray

From CFC, release of Cl atom by UV, acts as catalyst for destruction of O3

Countermeasures
• Adoption of environmentally safe alternatives to CFCs for refrigeration and thermal
insulation
• Reduction in CFC use

4.8 Environmental Issues of Nepal

- Being a member global community, all the environment issues of the world are Nepal‟s
too, but there are some areas where the effect is seen very clearly.
1) Receding ice in the Himalayas: due to global warming, the layer of ice in the Himalayas
is melting faster than in the past. This can cause;
i) Flash flooding due to sudden melting of glaciers
ii) If the process continues and eventually all the snow is melted, all of Nepal‟s rivers will
dry up. Unimaginable anarchy can be caused by the lack of fresh water. Also, in such
„worst case scenario‟, our beautiful Himalayas will be changed into mass of bare rocks
only.
2) Effect of global warming on habitat and life style of people, especially in the Himalayan
area
E.g. rain fall in Mustang area. Houses there are not prepared for rain as it didn‟t rain there
for centuries
3) Effect of global warming on agriculture: reproductive cycle of crops and even cattle
modified. Proliferation of new weeds and insects
4) New diseases due to new environmental conditions, e.g., spreading of mosquito
populations due to warmer conditions