Pravin C Gedam
Environmental issues and extension
Introduction:
Environment is the surrounding of organism. Environment is basic life support. It provides the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat and the land where we live.
“We do not wish to impoverish the environment any further and we cannot for a moment forget the grim poverty of large numbers of people. Is not poverty and need the greatest pollutant.”
-- Indira Gandhi
India is an agrarian society and the adoption of modern techniques and green revolution had brought tremendous growth in food production and made country self sufficient in food. Our agriculture and allied sector contribute near about 22% in GDP, contribute to 21% of thee total export earning and provide livelihood to 67 % of the work force. Not only in agriculture, industrial but in service sector we made a remarkable contribution. India is the largest producer of pulses, tea, and milk and second largest producer of rice, wheat, fruit, vegetable, groundnut, and sugarcane in the world.
India is having 16% of world’s population and only 2.4% of its land area. India is already the second most populous nation in the world. Current estimates for population growth indicate that the human population of the region will double in the next twenty to forty years (World Bank). Hence obviously there is pressure on the natural resources and agriculture. Most of population depends on agriculture. So to meet the need of this population our farmers are using more fertilizer, and pesticide which leads in stagnate the yield. Pesticide consumption rose from less than 1 million tones (technical grade) in 1948 to a maximum of 75 million tones in 1990 (CSE 1999). Also the fertilizer and pesticide takes more time to degrade. These residues are being carried by rain water and pollute the water. Soil fertility, degradation, deficiency of micronutrient and organic matter are the common problem. Agricultural soils contribute towards the emission of Methane and nitrous oxide, the two important green- house gases causing global warming. According to the United States-Environment Protection Agency (US-EPA) estimate in the early nineties based on extrapolation of measurements in USA and Europe, the annual methane emission from Indian rice paddies37.8 Tg (Tg = 101 2 g or million tonnes). Aerobic soils provide an additional sink of 10–20% of annual methane emissions. Agriculture sector contributed over 80% of all-India methane emissions in 1995, including 42% from livestock-related activities, 23% from rice paddy cultivation and 16% from biomass. N2O emission from soil represents a loss of N from the soil system and decreasing N use efficiency (Bhatia ,Pathak and Aggarwal ,2004).
The standard of living of people is growing with the urbanization and industrialization and with the proportion the pollution also increasing. The industrial sector only accounts for 3% of the annual water withdrawals in India, its contribution to water pollution. Wastewater from industrial activities is often contaminated with highly toxic organic and inorganic substances, some of which are persistent pollutants and remain in the environment for many years.
India is very rich in biodiversity with about 6.5% and 12.5% of the world’s animal and plant species, respectively, of which almost 7,000 are endemic to the subcontinent (CSE 1999). But due to the changing climate and global warming these are subjected to endanger. Many endemic species in both freshwater and coastal areas are endangering. Freshwater fish species are the most threatened since they are more susceptible to water pollution and environmental change. Deforestation in the upper watersheds, as well as poor land management practices, have been increasing the sediment load in the rivers, while augmenting surface runoff and decreasing infiltration.
Not only India but also facing the problem of climate change, global warming, pollution, destruction of forest, wild life and biodiversity and. Hence keeping in view the above consequences some the environmental issues discussed below and how extension will support in mitigating the problem of climate change and global warming.
• Climate change
• Global warming
• Pollution
• Biodiversity problem
Climate change:
Climate is the average weather of a given region or area over a given period of time. Long term temperature and precipitation pattern is also called as climate. It is a result of a delicate balance between the sun, atmosphere, oceans, water systems, topography, plants, and all living organisms.(UNEP)
Factors determine climate of a place are
• Rainfall • Temperature
• Sunshine • Distance from the sun
• Humidity • The composition of the atmosphere
• Wind
The atmosphere is made up of 78 %nitrogen, 20.6% oxygen and Carbon dioxide 0.03% remaining 1.37% is made up of inert and traces gases. This 1.37 % trace gases comprises the GHG s (greenhouse gases) such as: Methane, Nitrous oxide, Halocarbons, Ozone and Water vapour. These GHGs are forming the blanket around the earth and trap the sun rays in atmosphere thereby maintaining the ambient temperature. Also sun rays came on earth in short waves and reflect back in long waves .These long waves are being trap by this blanket, this phenomena is called as green house effect.
WHAT IS CLIMATE CHANGE?
The long teem shift in temperature and precipitation pattern is called as climate change. Due to the natural and human activities such as: burning of fossil fuels, Industrialization, urbanization, desertification and many other human activities causing increase in temperature leads to climate change. Human being for there sake over exploit the natural resources and consequently imbalance the ecosystem.
• The climate of the earth is dynamic and always changing
• In the past few million years, there have been spells of ice age and warm periods.
• The causes of the climate change have been natural but in last 150 years, changes in climate witnessed very rapid, definite trend towards warming.
• Last 100 years -human activities - altering chemical composition of the atmosphere - more and more greenhouse gases.
• As the temperature increases, it will lead to changes in m any aspects of the weather such as the precipitation pattern, the amount and distribution, and the wind patterns.
• The glob al impact of this hum an induced and aggravated climate change is open to debate with a great deal of variation about the level and probable implications.
Climate change scenario
• Warming or cooling effect due to increase in troposphere aerosols
• Climate models project increase in global mean temperature about 1.5oC to 5.80C by 2100 (IPCC 2001)
• More extreme droughts and/or floods (intensity as well as frequency)
• Increase in precipitation intensity during winter in higher latitudes
• Decrease in winter precipitation in tropics and subtropics.
• Increase or decrease in potential evapotranspiration according to availability of moisture
• Average sea level rise – saltwater intrusion in costal aquifers
• Water quality problems due to change in water temperature
• Reduction in snow accumulation, change in snowfall and snowmelt patterns
• Affect water demand and supply
CAUSES OF CLIMATE CHANGE
Natural Causes
• Continental drift
• Volcanoes
• Earth’s tilt
• Ocean current
• Comets, meteorites and asteroids.
Continental drift
Scientist believes that there is change in position of the land masses and changes in mountains and water bodies. This shift is called as continental drift. This drift of the continents continues even today ; the Himalayan range is rising by about 1mm (millimeter) every year because the Indian land mass is moving towards the Asian land masses slowly steadily . (UNEP)
Earth’s Tilt
It tilts at an angle of 23.5 ° to the perpendicular plane of its orbital path, completing one revolution around the sun in 365 days. If the earth’s axis were not tilted in this way, there would be no seasons at all Naturally, any change in axial tilt affects the seasons; greater the tilt, greater the difference between the seasons in a given place. (UNEP)
Ocean currents
The 71% of the Earth is cover by ocean and absorb about twice as much of the Sun's radiation as the atmosphere or land surface. Currents in the ocean flow near the surface and also deep below, thus transferring heat all over the earth. Some currents are warm and some are cold which affecting on the temperature, rainfall, and wind patterns.
UNEP state that the region that is strongly influenced by ocean currents is in the North Atlantic. If we compare places at the same latitude in Europe and North America, the effect is immediately obvious. Also some parts of coastal Norway have an average temperature of –2 ° C in January and 14 ° C in July; while places at the same latitude on the Pacific coast of Alaska are far colder up to -1 5 ° C in January and only 10 ° C in July . The warm current along the Norwegian coast keeps much of the Greenland -Norwegian Sea free of ice even in w inter. The rest of the Arctic Ocean, even though it is much further south, re mains frozen. (UNEP)
Volcanoes
Volcanic Eruption releases stratospheric aerosols which block the incoming radiation and affect on temperature.
Mount Pinatuba, in the Philippine islands erupted on 15June 1991emitting thousands of tonnes of gases into the atmosphere. And 0.5 ° C temperature drop was observed for 2 years.
Major eruption of the Tambora volcano in Indonesia, in1815 led to cloud formation, lowering global temperature by as much as 3° C. (UNEP)
3 Comets and meteorites
• They often burn out in the atmosphere before they reach the earth.
• However every few million years they are known to collide with the earth.
• T he impact due to this is a massive explosion and, as in a volcanic eruption, release debris and gases into the air, thereby blocking sunlight for months and leading to a cooler earth.(UNEP)
Human induce causes are
· Burning of fossil fuels
· Change in land use pattern
· Increasing population and demand for food
· Industrialization
· Urbanization
· Deforestation
· Transportation
· Consumerism
Human activities during the past two centuries have elevated to unprecedented levels the atmospheric concentrations of CO2, CH4, N2O, and other greenhouse gases; this is expected to lead to large-scale alterations in the global climate (Houghton et al., 2001)
Impact of climate change on Agriculture
Agriculture mainly depends on rainfall for irrigation. Any change in rainfall patterns poses a serious threat to agriculture, and consequently to the country’s economy and food security. Many Scientists predict that because of global warming and climate change, there is fluctuation as well as uncertainty in rainfall. Also prediction is that Semi-arid regions of western India are expected to receive higher than normal rainfall as temperatures soar, while central India will experience a decrease of between 10 and 20 per cent in winter rainfall by the 2050s.
• Agriculture will be adversely affected by an increase or decrease in the overall amounts of rainfall, but also by shifts in the timing of the rainfall.
• Agriculture will be worst affected in the coastal regions where agriculturally fertile areas are vulnerable to inundation and salinization.
• Cyclonic activity could damage the standing crops.
• Degradation of soil by flood in Himalayan region.
The Madhya Pradesh is bowl of soybean and covers 77 per cent of all agricultural land. Some studies reveal that the yield of soyabean is doubled due to an increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Soybean yields could rise by as much as 50 percent if the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere doubles. But it is found that an increase in carbon dioxide accompanied by an increase in temperature then the result was negative. It seems that soybean yields could actually decrease. If the maximum and minimum temperatures go up by 1°C and 1.5°C respectively, the gain in yield comes down to 35 per cent. Some of the studies are stated below.
· Sinha and Swaminathan (1991) – showed that an increase of 2oC in temperature could decrease the rice yield by about 0.75 ton/ha in the high yield areas; and a 0.5oC increase in winter temperature would reduce wheat yield by 0.45 ton/ha.
· Rao and Sinha (1994) – showed that wheat yields could decrease between 28 to 68% without considering the CO2 fertilization effects; and would range between +4 to -34% after considering CO2 fertilization effects.
Aggarwal and Sinha (1993) – using WTGROWS model showed that a 2oC temperature rise would decrease wheat yields in most places.
· Lat et al. (1996) – concluded that carbon fertilization effects would not be able to offset the negative impacts of high temperature on rice yields.
· Saseendran et al. (2000) – showed that for every one degree rise in temperature the decline in rice yield would be about 6%.
Aggarwal et al. (2002) – using WTGROWS and recent climate change scenarios estimated impacts on wheat and other cereal crops.
The effect on production is expected to vary by crop, and location as well as the magnitude of warming, the direction and magnitude of precipitation change.(Lewandrowski and Schimmelfennig(1999).
Health impact of climate change
Climate change is a major problem now a days caused by the increase of human activities leading to several impact on health. The climatic changes will have wide-ranging harmful effects including increase in heat-related mortality, dehydration, and spread of infectious diseases, malnutrition, and damage to public health infrastructure. Thus we should take appropriate measure to stop this climate change. There are two types of impact direct and indirect
Direct impacts:
The climate has directly affecting to our health. Warming of climate leads to increase in health problems. Greater frequency and severity of heat waves and other extreme weather events leads to increase in the number of deaths. The respiratory and cardiovascular disorders are common. An extreme rise in the temperature will affect people living in the urban areas more than those in the rural areas. This is due to the ‘heat islands’ that develop here owing to the presence of concrete constructions, paved and tarred roads. Higher temperatures in the cities would lead to an increase in the ground-level concentration of ozone thereby increasing air pollution problems.
Indirect impact:
Changes in weather pattern can make congenial environment for many diseases, insect or mosquitoes may increase in the distribution of malaria, and other vector-borne diseases. Food production and productivity can also reduce. Ecological disturbances can be caused by climate change. Fluctuation in the temperature, precipitation, and humidity can influence biological organisms and the processes linked to the spread of infectious diseases.
The rising in the sea levels could lead to erosion and damage to important ecosystems. Rise in temperature causes flood which could take several lives. Hydrological cycle may change which causes uneven distribution of rainfall. The productivity ultimately affects and causes low per unit production. There may be danger to shift in forest area. The drainage in the low-lying areas also affects due to rise in sea level. Climate change could increase air pollution levels by accelerating the atmospheric chemical reactions that produce photochemical oxidants due to a rise in the temperature.
Global warming
It refers to an average increase in the earth temperature which causes change in climate.
Agricultural soils contribute towards the emission of the two most important greenhouse gases i.e. methane and nitrous oxide conyributing 50% and 70%, respectively. Diverse soil, land-use types and climatic conditions, leads to uncertainties in quantification of greenhouse gas emission from agricultural soils in India. The emission of methane and nitrous oxide from different states in India are main contributor in climate change. In case of nitrous oxide, both direct and indirect emissions from agricultural soils in different states have been calculated which shows the upward trend in emission. Human activities during the past two centuries have elevated to unprecedented levels the atmospheric concentrations of CO2, CH4, N2O, and other greenhouse gases; this is expected to lead to large-scale alterations in the global climate (Houghton et al., 2001). The IPCC Second Assessment Report estimated that it may be possible, over the course of the next 50–100 years, to restore about two thirds of the estimated 55 Pg C lost to the atmosphere through cultivation of agricultural soils (Cole et al., 1996).
The rising greenhouse gas emission was seen to be dangerous for human being. With a view to take positive steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions most of the countries around the world joint there hands. The countries were agreed upon the periodically update and publish national inventories of greenhouse gas emission sources and sinks using comparable methodologies. Methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) are two most important greenhouse gases contributing 15 % and 5% respectively which enhancing greenhouse effect.
. The processes like fermentation in ruminants, flooded rice fields, and anaerobic animal waste processing, are the principal sources of methane from agriculture. Aerobic soils also provide an additional sink of 10–20% of annual methane emissions. Only the agriculture sector contributed over 80% of all-India methane emissions including 42% from livestock-related activities, 23% from rice paddy cultivation and 16% from biomass consumption.
European Alps and Cacecasus have lost more than half their volumes since 1850. Glaciers of Mount Kenya lost 7 5% of their area between 1899 and 1987 . (Hasteneath & Krus 1992).Ten percent decrease in annual snow cover over Northern Hemisphere during past 20 years. (Groism an et. al 1994) Spring snowmelt in artic occurred 2 weeks earlier in 1980 s than in 1940 s & 1950s. (Wlash 1991) During 1990 s, large segments of ice sheets of Antarctica broke loose and drifted to the sea and in January 1995 the Northern section of Larsen Ice shelf collapsed abruptly. Kilimanjaro has lost 8 2 % of ice cap since 199 2 . Himalayan Glaciers retreated b y 67 % . (IPCC) Since 1935 , Gangotri receded by an area by about 30 m /yr. (IPCC) Since 1890 , New Zealand glaciers shrunk by 26% . Run-off from Himalayan Mountains could increase b y 11% due to enhanced G H G s emissions over 5 0 years. (IPCC , 2 00 1) Decreased rainfall trends, 6 -8% of norm al/10 0 year ob served in north-east peninsula and north-east India. Increased trends of rainfall b y 10-12 % of norm al/10 0 year ob served in west coast and central peninsula.
Causes are
· Burning of fossil fuels
· Change in land use pattern
· Increasing population and demand for food
· Industrialization
· Urbanization
· Deforestation
· Transportation
· Consumerism
What are the effects of global warming and climate change?
• Effects on the society (water, food ,habitat, health, economic infrastructure such as energy, transport and industry)
• Effects on the environment (rainfall, sea level rise, hurricanes and typhoons, floods and droughts).
• Polar ice melts, causes flood
• Thermal expansion of seawater causes oceans to slowly creep up and swallow low-lying islands.
• Entire forests may disappear
• Biological diversity may reduce because of the disappearance of habitat or reduced migration
What will be the effects of global warming on India?
Increased temperature:
• Surface air temperatures over India are going up at the rate of 0.4°C /100years,
• Mean winter temperatures will increase by 3.2 ° C in the 2050s and 4.5°C by the 2080s, due to GHGs.
• Summer temperatures will increase by 2.2°C in the 2050s and 3.2°C in the 2080s.
• Extreme temperatures and heat spells have already become common over northern India, often causing loss of human life. In 1998 alone, 650 deaths occurred in Orissa due to heat wave
Effect on monsoon:
Ø 11 near-normal monsoons in a row.
Ø India will experience a decline in summer rainfall by the 2050s.
Ø summer rainfall accounts for almost 70 % of the total annual rainfall
Effects on water resources:
• Drinking water,
• Generation of hydroelectric power,
• Water supply and land degradation.
• The monsoon is likely to contribute to flood disasters in the Himalayan catchments.
• The raising of the snowline
• Reducing the capacity of this natural reservoir
Effect on forests:
• Shifts forest regions
• Drier teak dominated forests replacing Sal trees in central India
• Turn over of forest species
• Species extinction and decline in biodiversity.
• Increased dry spells replace deciduous forests
• Forest fires.
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Pollution
Now a day’s air pollution has been becoming problem of concern .Development leads to increase in industrialization, growing cities, increasing traffic, rapid economic development and higher levels of energy consumption. In India also, air pollution is severe problem. Mostly urban areas are very much polluted. Delhi is among the most polluted cities in the world. The major sources of air pollution are industries which release toxic gases, thermal power plants and motor vehicles also release carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons and oxides of nitrogen. Air pollution affecting to environment and ecosystem, ultimately damaging human being by putting them at great health risk. The incidence of respiratory diseases like asthma is found in most of the major cities in India has also increased considerably over the years.
"India, the land of holy rivers, is fast becoming a land of highly polluted and even toxic rivers." (Gupta et al., 1993)
Water pollution is also a serious problem in India. Near about 70% of its surface water resources and groundwater reserves are contaminated by biological, toxic organic and inorganic pollutants (MOWR 2000). It very unsafe for human consumption as well as for other activities such as irrigation and industrial needs. The degraded water quality can make to water scarcity as it limits its availability for both human use and the ecosystem in the future. There may 3rd world war for water only.
The industries and thermal power station are major causes of water pollution. Central Pollution Control Board in 1995 identified severely polluted stretches on 18 major rivers in India (World Bank 1999). The majority of the stretches were found in and around large urban areas. The high incidence of severe contamination near urban areas indicates that the industrial and domestic sector contribution to water pollution is much higher.
Agricultural activities also contributing in the over all impact on water quality. The rapid increase in agro-chemical use has contributed significantly to the pollution of both surface and groundwater resources. Pesticide consumption rose from less than 1 million tones (technical grade) in 1948 to a maximum of 75 million tones in 1990 (CSE 1999). Current pesticide use is estimated at 52 million tones while fertilizer use was over 14 million tones in 1996-97.
Fertilizers and pesticides have entered the water supply through runoff and leaching to the groundwater table and pose a hazard to both human, animal and plant populations. Organisms are used for human consumption can content chemicals in their body which directly goes in body after consumption. These chemicals are also persisting in environment over long periods of time.
The industrial sector accounts for 3% of the annual water withdrawals in India and contribute in water pollution, particularly in urban areas, is considerable. Generation of wastewater from this sector has been estimated at 55,000 million m3 per day, of which 68.5 million m3 are dumped directly into local rivers and streams without prior treatment (MOWR 2000). The Central and State Pollution Control Boards have identified 1,532 "grossly polluting" industries in India, although almost all industries do not comply with emission standards (World Bank 1999).
Highly toxic, organic and inorganic substances are present in the wastewater from industrial activities and also often contaminated with some of persistent pollutants which remain in the environment for many years. Over 50% of the urban organic load in some cities originates from industrial effluent, and heavy metal contamination from thermal power, tannery and mining activities has occurred in several locations (World Bank 1999). Water contamination from industrial areas is compounded due to the usually high concentration of industries over a small area. Increasing industrial development, coupled with inadequate zoning and emissions regulations, will only aggravate the problem in coming years.
All of India’s fourteen major river systems are heavily polluted, mostly from the 50 million cubic meters of untreated sewage discharged into them each year (APCSS 1999). The domestic sector is responsible for the majority of the wastewater generation in India. Combined, the 22 largest cities in the country produce over 7,267 million liters of domestic wastewater per day, of which slightly over 80% is collected for treatment (CSE 1999).
Effect of pollution
· Decrease biological productivity
· Availability of nutrient
· Rise temperature
· Health effects
· Thermal expansion of ocean
· Melting of ice
· Extreme event like drought , flood etc
· Global warming
· Erosion and land degradation
· Acid rain
· Green house effects
· Ozone depletion
· Available water
· Soil fertility and erosion
· Contamination of water
Biodiversity
Definition:
It is define as the variability among living organisms & the ecological complexes of which they are part, including diversity within & between species & ecosystem.
“Biodiversity manifests at species, genetics &ecosystem levels”
The surveys reported by Pearce (1993) and Fankhauser (1995), estimate the total costs of species and habitat loss from climate change to be about US $40 billion per annum for the whole world.
AGRO BIO DIVERSITY IN INDIA
• India is tenth among the plant rich country
• India is home to over 6.5% and 12.5% of the world’s animal and plant species, respectively
• There are 167 crop species & over 350 wild species are presents
• Indian flora comprises about 15000 flowering plants
• India considered to be the centre of origin of 30000-50000 varieties of Rice, Pigeon pea, Mango, Turmeric, Ginger& Sugarcane etc
• India rank seventh of in term of world agriculture contribution
e.g.
Pollution has also had negative effects: in Gujarat, waste by-products from salt production have killed several hectares of mangrove forests (World Bank 1999).
e.g.
Of the country’s 2,200 fish species 3.6% are considered endangered, vulnerable, rare or are of indeterminate status (CSE 1999).
e.g
In north Bihar, where almost 275,000 hectares are wetland areas, eutrophication, agricultural pollutants and drying are threatening the local bird and fish populations, not to mention the livelihood of the residents dependent on the wetland ecosystem (Singh 2000).
Why to protect biodiversity
§ Endangered many endemic species in both freshwater and coastal areas.
§ Endangered many useful plant species
§ Endangered many animal species
§ Migration of birds can be increases
§ Wild species of plants can be use to develop transgenic plant
§ Destruction of economically valuable species
There needs to be an assessment of the extent of livelihood dependence of local communities and their contribution to ecosystem and wildlife conservation.
• The area of PAs must be at least 5% of the geographical area of the country.
• The rights of the people in PAs must be settled in time bound manner.
• Biodiversity conservation must be looked after by the forest department at the central as well as State level, in coordination with other agencies.
• Periodic review is needed of the list of the animals in the different schedules of the Wildlife Protection Act. The species may be added or deleted on the basis of review. The culling /export of the surplus animals may be considered by the Government to avoid man-animal conflict.
• Rules needed for Community Reserves and Conservation Reserves.
• In view of rising PA-people conflicts a third party arbitration mechanism may be explore
Measure to be taken
- Adoption of cost-effective energy-efficient technologies
- Shift to renewable energy source
- Reduce local pollution and greenhouse gas emissions
- Adoption of forest conservation, reforestation, afforestation
- Sustainable forest management practices
- Conservation of biodiversity
- Watershed development programme
- Efficient, fast and reliable public transport systems (e.g.CNG)
- Adoption of participatory approach to forest management, rural energy, irrigation water management and rural development in general
- Rational energy pricing based on long-run-marginal cost
- Increase the spread of energy-efficient and renewable energy technologies,
The world takes action
1 97 2: The Stockholm Conference on Human Environment
1 98 8: T he Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
1 99 0: IPCC released its First Assessment Report
1 99 2: U N Framework Convention on Climate Change was signed by 154 states (plus the E C) at Riode Janeiro
1 99 4: T he convention entered into force
1 99 5: T he IPCC finalized its Second Assessment Report
1 99 7: T he Kyoto Protocol was adopted at C O P-3 in Japan
2 001: T he IPCC finalized its Third Assessment Report 2 8 November–9 December 2005: U NF CCCC O P/MO P1, to be held at Montreal.
The Kyoto protocol (Dec 1997)
According to the protocol, the industrialized countries have to decrease their emission by at least 5.2 % compared to 1990 emission levels, by the 2008-2012.
Earth summit (June 1992)
The summit brought environmental and developmental issues firmly into pubic arena.
Montreal protocol (1987)
It was signed to limit the production of chemical that destroys stratospheric ozone.
Indian scenario
• India is party to the U NF C CC
• India signed this multilateral treaty on 10 June 19 92
• India acceded to the Kyoto Protocol on 26 August 2 00 2
Extension implication
Role of government in environmental education
Ø Environmental education syllabus in academic
Ø National environmental awareness campaign (1986)
Ø Establishment of centre of excellence
Ø Establishment of national and regional museum of natural history
Ø Setting of paryavaran vahinis at the district level
Ø Setting up of eco-club in school
Ø Production and dissemination of films audio-visual, popular publication on the environmental issues
Ø Supporting the organization of seminar, symposia, and conferences on environmental issues
Ø Institutional awards and fellowships
Role of media in environmental education
Ø Establishment of ENVIS centre
Ø The network of media and I.T. is vital to disseminate environmental education and motivating people
Ø Technology practical tool & media act as communication tool
Ø Radio,T.V, newspapers, and journals be used to educate people
Ø Posters, brochures, banners, exhibitions & photos found effective in dissemination of message
Role of NGOs in environmental education
ü NGOs are engaged in implementing various environmental protection programme
ü Mobilize communities in the direction
ü Organizing training programme
ü PRA for planning and programme implementation
Role of extension personnel
Ø To tell farmer what is global warming and make understand the phenomena
Ø Motivate farmer to go organic farming
Ø To make farmer adopt integrated pest management and use of bio-agent in pest control
Ø To make farmer adopt integrated nutrient management
Ø To make adopt the environmental friendly technology like biogas, solar cooker etc.
Conclusion:
The increases in temperature, pollution of water and air, deforestation desertification all are giving cues to human being that in future we will not get safe water to drink, air to breathe if we will not use them judiciously. We are really spoiling our environment and creating a danger to ourselves. There is need to join the hand together to protect our environment. So we all need make a safer future by protecting tree, planting more plants, and try to mitigate pollution by adopting environmental friendly technogies.
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