On the basis of your reading of the passage below make notes on it, using headings & Sub headings. Use recognizable abbreviations wherever necessary (minimum 4).
Make a summary of the passage in about 50 words.
1. Deforestation and hazardous gaseous emission lead to environmental pollution. During the last 10 years, the world has witnessed severe rise in environmental pollution. We all live on planet earth, which is the only planet known to have an environment, where air and water are two basic things that sustain life.
2. The sources and causes of environmental pollution include the Industrial activities: The industries all over the world that brought prosperity and affluence, made inroads in the biosphere and disturbed the ecological balances. The pall of smoke, the swirling gases, industrial effluents and the fall-out of scientific experiments became constant health hazards, polluting and contaminating both air and water. The improper disposal of industrial wastes is the main sources of soil and water pollution.
3. The smoke emitted by vehicles using petrol and diesel and the cooking coal also pollutes the environment. The urbanization and the rapid growth of industrialization are causing through environmental pollution the greatest harm to the plant life, which in turn is causing harm to the animal kingdom and the human lives. Due to the increase in population, particularly in developing countries, there has been surge in demand for basic food, occupation and shelter. The world has witnessed massive deforestation to absorb the growing population and their demands.
4. We can very well notice the abnormal behaviour of the seasons - the cycle developing clogs in its wheels; and the worried experts fear that the disturbed balance in the biosphere has assumed such serious proportion that very soon our world would be uninhabitable. It is heartening to find the entire world is aware of the menace. Some of the advanced countries have already taken some measures to meet it. If we fail to restore the ecological balance right now, it would be too late tomorrow.
Answers
Answer:
In this chapter, the writer raises an issue towards the deteriorating health of the earth. As human beings have been exploiting natural resources from decades, presently the condition has made the environment critical. In 1972, the Green Movement helped environmentalists to raise awareness about the harmful condition of the earth and since then there has been no looking back as the movement has been successfully educating people about the conservation of the environment.
Earth is like a patient whose health is declining and it is our duty to improve it. In 1987, the term Sustainable Development was used by the World Commission on Environment and Development. A zoo in Lukasa, Zambia has a cage in which a sign reads ‘The World’s most dangerous animal’ and inside there is a mirror. It gives a message that human beings are the most dangerous animals. Brandt Commission raised a question “Are we to leave our successors a scorched planet of advancing deserts, impoverished landscapes and ailing environment?”
There are four principal biological systems that form the foundation of the global economic system - fisheries, grasslands, forests, and croplands. These four systems also provide food and raw materials for industries except for minerals and synthetics. With these systems becoming unsustainable, fisheries will collapse, the forest will slowly disappear, grasslands will turn into a barren wasteland and croplands will become worse.
In poor countries, forests are being cut down for fuelwood which is used for cooking purposes. There are some areas where the cost of fuelwood is more than the cost of food. It is leading to deforestation at an alarming rate.
One of the reasons for the exploitation of the environment is the increasing population. It is observed that about one million population is increasing in every four days. This is not a good sign. There is an urgent need to control overpopulation in the world. Development is the best contraceptive for this problem as it will help in reduction in fertility, increase in education and income and improvement in health.
We must see the world as a whole and not as dissociated parts. It is a holistic and ecological view. According to Lester brown, we have not inherited the earth from our forefathers but we have borrowed it from our future generations.
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