Topic 2: Global Environmental Picture

Instruction: Students are requested to go through the class notes first then read this hand out.

Global Environmental Concerns

We know environment is the aggregate of all of the external factors that affecting the activities
and existence of organisms. These factors may be other living organisms (biotic factors) or
nonliving variables (abiotic factors), such as temperature, rainfall, day length, wind, and ocean
currents. The interactions of organisms with biotic and abiotic factors form an ecosystem. Even
minute changes in any one factor in an ecosystem can influence whether or not a particular plant
or animal species will be successful in its environment.

As early as 1896, the Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius had predicted that human activities
would interfere with the way the sun interacts with the earth, resulting in global warming and
climate change. His prediction has become true and climate change is now disrupting global
environmental stability. The last few decades have seen many treaties, conventions, and protocols
for the cause of global environmental protection.
The environment is being polluted and most of the causes are anthropogenic and some are
natural. At present the whole world is facing environmental problem. The world will face a
massive environmental crisis in the 21st century unless immediate action is taken, according to a
report issued by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) on September 15, 1999. UNEP
billed the report, titled Global Environment Outlook 2000 (GEO-2000), as the most authoritative
assessment of environmental issues ever produced.
According to GEO-2000, there are also several emerging environmental threats, such as the
harmful effects of nitrogen-based fertilizer. Worldwide fertilizer use increased from 14 million
metric tons in 1950 to 145 million metric tons in the late 1980s, resulting in a drastic increase in the
amount of nitrogen in ground and water supplies. Excessive nitrogen has polluted drinking water
supplies and has also contributed to what the report calls “exuberant and unwanted” growth of
algae and other plants in many freshwater habitats. These plants remove oxygen from the water,
killing other organisms1.
There is a close relation between human system and natural systems. And there are four global
trend of this particular concern. They are-
(i) Population Growth.
(ii) Degradation of Soil.
(iii) Global Atmospheric Changes.
(iv) Loss of Biodiversity.

i) Population growth

Population, term referring to the total human inhabitants of a specified area, such as a city,

country, or continent, at a given time. Population study as a discipline is known as demography.
It is concerned with the size, composition, and distribution of populations; their patterns of
change over time through births, deaths, and migration; and the determinants and consequences
of such changes. Population studies yield knowledge important for planning, particularly by
governments, in fields such as health, education, housing, social security, employment, and
environmental preservation. Such studies also provide information needed to formulate
government population policies, which seek to modify demographic trends in order to achieve
economic and social objectives.

1
Encarta, encyclopedia, reference library, 2005.

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 Topic 2: Global Environmental Picture

In our Global Environment, population growth is the current issue which is concerns our
environment so deeply. Therefore, it is so much important to know about the population, its
growth and impact or effect on our global environment.

World Population Growth and Distribution

Every second, on average, four or five children are born some where on the earth. In that same
second, two other people die. This difference between births and deaths means a net gain of
nearly 2.5 more humans per second in the world population. This means we are growing almost
83 million more people per year.
Population growth rates, measured by the annual percentage increase in a country’s population,
are highest in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Growth rates are relatively flat in the United
States, Europe, and the countries of the former Soviet Union. The United Nations (UN), an
accepted authority on population levels and trends, estimates that the world population reached
6 billion in 1999, and is increasing annually by more than 77 million persons. It is continuing to
grow rapidly. Even though the growth rate is gradually slowing, the world population is
projected to reach about 10 billion by the year 2050 2. The rate of increase, 1.3 percent per year, has
fallen below the peak rate of 2 percent per year attained by 1970. By the late 2040s, the UN
estimates, the growth rate will have fallen to about 0.64 percent annually, at which time more
than 50 countries will experience negative growth.

Past and Present Growth

Estimates of world population before 1900 are based on fragmentary data, but scholars agree that,
for most of human existence, long-run average population growth approached approximately
0.002 percent per year, or 20 per million inhabitants. 3 According to UN estimates, the population
of the world was about 300 million in the year ad 1, and it took more than 1,500 years to reach the
500 million mark. Growth was not steady but was marked by oscillations dictated by climate,
food supply, disease, and war.
Starting in the 17th century, great advances in scientific knowledge, agriculture, industry,
medicine, and social organization made possible rapid acceleration in population growth.
Machines gradually replaced human and animal labor. People slowly acquired the knowledge
and means to control disease. By 1900 the world population had reached 1.65 billion, and by 1960
it stood at 3.04 billion.
Beginning about 1950, a new phase of population growth was ushered in when famine and
disease could be controlled even in areas that had not yet attained a high degree of literacy or a
technologically developed industrial society. This happened as a result of the modest cost of
importing the vaccines, antibiotics, insecticides, and high-yielding varieties of seeds produced
2
3

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 Topic 2: Global Environmental Picture

since the 1950s. With improvements in water supplies, sewage-disposal facilities, and
transportation networks, agricultural yields increased, and deaths from infectious and parasitic
diseases greatly declined. Life expectancy at birth in most developing countries increased from
about 35-40 years in 1950 to 66 years by 2000. The rapid decline in deaths among people who
maintained generally high fertility rates led to annual population growth that exceeded 3.1
percent in many developing nations—a rate that doubles population size in 23 years.
Population Projections
Most of the potential parents of the next two decades have already been born. Population
projections over this interval can, therefore, be made with reasonable confidence, barring
catastrophic changes. Beyond two decades, however, uncertainties about demographic
magnitudes and other characteristics of human societies build up rapidly, making any projections
somewhat speculative.

Projections issued in 2000 show the world population increasing from 6.1 billion in 2000 to 7.9
billion in 2025 and 9.3 billion in 2050. “High” and “low” projections for 2025 are 8.4 billion and 7.5
billion respectively.
The average world birth rate is projected to decline from the 1990 level of 26 per 1,000 to 22 per
1,000 at the end of the century and to 17.6 per 1,000 in 2025 (corresponding to a fall in TFR from
3.3 in 1990 to 2.4 in 2025). Because of the expanding share of the population at high-mortality
ages, the average world death rate is expected to decline only slightly; from 9 (per 1,000) in 1990
to 8.4 in 2025. Average world life expectancy, however, is projected to rise from 65 years in 1990
to 71.3 years in 2025.
Wide variations in population growth will undoubtedly persist. In the developed world,
population growth will continue to be very low and in some nations will even decline. Western
Europe as a whole is projected to have a declining population after 2000. U.S. Census Bureau
projections, assuming middle fertility and mortality levels, show U.S. population increasing from
250 million in 1990 to 338 million in 2025 and 403 million in 2050. Thereafter, growth would be
virtually zero. The UN expects the less-developed countries to have steadily falling rates of
population growth. For the less-developed world as a whole, the 1990 growth rate of 2.0 percent
per year is projected to be cut in half by 2025. Africa will remain the region with the highest
growth rate. In 1990 this rate was 3.1 percent; in 2025 it is projected to be about 2.0 percent.
Africa's population would almost triple, from 629 million in 1990 to 1.36 billion in 2025, and then
continue growing at a rate that would almost double the population size in another 35 years.

Population Growth and its effect on our Environment

As the world population continues to grow geometrically, great pressure is being placed on
arable land, water, energy, and biological resources to provide an adequate supply of food while

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 Topic 2: Global Environmental Picture

maintaining the integrity of our ecosystem. This means, a serious concern is that the number of
humans in the world and our impact on the environment will overload the earth’s life-support
systems. Each person creates a certain demand on Earths resources and the demand tends to
increase with greater affluence. Compare, for example, the resources required to support a typical
American or Canadian lifestyle with those required to support indigenous people living along the
banks of the Peruvian Amazon.

Excess
Population Resource depletion pollution Starvation disease
overcrowding unemployment crime misery War
Growth

Poverty

Vital resources are stressed by the dual demands of increasing population and increasing
consumption per person. Around the world we see ground water supplies being depleted,
agricultural soils being degraded, oceans being over fished, oil reserves being drawn down and
forest being cut faster than they can re-grow. According to Thomas Malthus “human populations
tend to increase at an exponential or compound rate, while food production either remains stable
or increase only slowly.” The result according to Malthus is that human population inevitably
outstrips their food supply and eventually collapse into starvation, crime and misery. We can
show a figure which summarizes his theory. A larger population means a larger workforce, more
geniuses, and more ideas about what to do. Along with every new mouth comes a pair of hands.
Proponents of this world view argue that continued economical and technological growth can
both feed the world’s billions and enrich everyone enough to end the population explosion
voluntarily. Yet another perspective on this subject derives from social justice concerns.
According to this worldview, resources are sufficient for everyone. Current shortages are only
signs of greed, waste and oppression. The root cause of environmental degradation, in this view,
is inequitable distribution of wealth and power rather than population size. Whether human
populations will continue to grow at present rates and what that growth would imply for
environmental quality and human life are among the most central and pressing questions in
environmental science.

ii) Degradation of soil

Of all the earth’s crustal resource, the one we take most for granted is soil. We are terrestrial
animals and depend on soil for life. Soil is a marvelous substance, a living resource of astonishing
beauty, complexity, and frailty. It is a complex mixture of weathered mineral materials from
rocks, partially decomposed organic molecules, and a host of living organisms. It can be
considered an ecosystem by itself. Soil is an essential component of the biosphere, and it can be
used sustain ably, or even enhanced, under careful management.
There are at least 20,000 different soil types in the United States and many thousands more
worldwide.4 They vary because of the influences of parent material, time, topography, climate
and organisms on soil formation. Soils are classified according to their structure and composition
into orders, suborders, great groups, subgroups, families and series. The richest farming soils are
the mollisols (formed under grassland) and alfisols (formed under moist, deciduous forests).
North America is fortunate to have extensive areas of these fertile soils.

4,20
Cunningham, W. P. Principles of environmental science, second edition, pp. 77.
21
Encarta, encyclopedia, reference library, 2005.

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 Topic 2: Global Environmental Picture

Without soil organisms, the earth would be covered with sterile mineral particles far different
from the rich, living soil ecosystems on which we depend for most of our food. The activity of the
myriad organisms living in the soil helps to create structure, fertility and till (condition suitable
for tilling or cultivation). Soil organisms usually stay close to the surface, but that thin living layer
can contain thousands of species and billions of individual organisms per hector. Algae live on
the surface, while bacteria and fungi flourish in the top few centimeters of soil. A single gram of
soil (about one-half teaspoon) can contain hundreds of millions of these microscopic cells.
Fertile soil is the foundation for plant growth and food production. This fertile, tillable soil is an
indispensable resource for our continued existence on earth. In parts of Canada and the United
States, temperate climates, abundant water and high soil fertility produce high crop yields that
contribute to high standards of living. Other countries, although rich in land area, has the lack of
suitable soil, topography, water or climate to sustain our levels of productivity. It is estimated
that 25 billion metric tons soil are lost from crop lands each year because of wind and water
erosion.5 That means, around the world, soils are being degraded by erosion, grazing lands are
turning into deserts, irrigated lands are becoming too salty to support crops, water supplies for
irrigation are being depleted, and millions of acres of agricultural land are being sacrificed for
development.
Definitions of degradation are based on both biological productivity and our expectations about
what the land should be like. Often this is a subjective judgment, and it is difficult to distinguish
between human-caused deterioration and natural conditions, like drought. We generally consider
the land degraded when the soil is impoverished or eroded, water runs off or is contaminated
more then normal, vegetation is diminished, biomass production is decreased, or wildlife
diversity diminishes22 (i). On farmlands, this results in lower crop yields. On ranchlands, it means
that fewer livestock can be supported per unit area. On nature reserves, it means lower biological
diversity.

Causes of global soil degradation

physical
degradation, physical
6% degradation
wind
degradation, water degradation
37%
water
degradation, chemical
44% degradation
chemical wind degradation
degradation,
13%

The amount and degree of land degradation vary by region to country. About 20 percent of land
in Africa and Asia is degraded, but most is in either the light or moderate category 6(ii). In Central
America and Mexico, by contrast, 25 percent of all vegetated land suffers moderate to extreme
degradation7. The following figure shows some areas of greatest concern for soil degradation, and
shows the mechanisms for this problem8. Water and wind erosion provide the motive force for
the vast majority of all soil degradation, worldwide, chemical degradation includes nutrient
depletion, salt accumulation, acidification and pollution. Physical degradation includes
5

622-23
7
Cunningham W. P. Principles of environmental science, second edition.
8

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 Topic 2: Global Environmental Picture

compaction by heavy machinery or trampling by cattle, water accumulation from excess

irrigation and poor drainage, and laterization (solidification of iron and aluminum-rich tropical
soil when exposed to sun and rain).
If human populations continue to grow as they have during the twentieth century, it will be
essential to expand food production, even on existence farmland. As the soil is vital resources for
growing crops, it must be keep in our mind, by any how, to protect the soil degradation from the
erosion or others way and conserve it.
With careful husbandry, soil is a renewable resource that can be replenished and renewed
indefinitely. Many new and alternative farming methods reduce soil erosion, avoid dangerous
chemicals, improve yields and make agriculture just and sustainable. Since agriculture is the area
in which soil is most essential and also most often lost through erosion, agriculture offers the
greatest potential for soil conservation and rebuilding. Some rice paddies in Southeast Asia, for
instance, have been farmed continuously for a thousand years without any apparent loss of
fertility. The rice growing cultures that depend on these fields have developed management
practices that return organic material to the paddy and carefully nature the soil’s ability to sustain
life.
While American agriculture hasn’t reached that level of sustainability, there is evidence that soil
conservation programs are having a positive effect. In one Wisconsin study, erosion rates in one
small watershed were 90 percent less in 1975-1993 then they were in the 1930s. 9 Among the most
important elements in soil conservation are land management, ground cover, climate, soil type
and tillage system.
iii) Global atmospheric changes
Pollution is relatively a local problem which affects a given river, lake, bay or the air in a city. But
today scientists are analyzing pollution on a global scale. A case in point is the danger of global
climate change due to carbon dioxide (CO2). It is an unavoidable by-product of burning gasoline
and other liquid fuels from fossil fuels, such as-crude oil, coal and natural gas.
Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a natural component of the lower atmosphere, along with nitrogen and
oxygen. It is required by plants for photosynthesis and is important to the earth atmosphere
energy budget. It is transparent to incoming light from the sun but it absorbs infrared (heat)
radiated from earth surface. This process warms the lower atmosphere in a process known as the
greenhouse effect. Although the concentration of Carbon
dioxide (co2) is a small percentage of the atmosphere, even
slight increase in its volume affects temperature. The developed
countries of the world are producing most of the CO2 which is
harmful for the whole world. This CO2 is producing because of
their industrial work and energy related work. The above
figure shows the condition of CO2 emission of the world
because of industrial works.Because of the large amount of
fossil fuels being burned today, CO2 levels in the atmosphere

Top Ten Countries Producing World CO2 Emissions From Energy

Consumption
CO2
Billion Metric Tons

7 26
Carbon Dioxide

6
Billion Metrictons of

25
5
Carbon dioxide

24
4
3 23
2 22
1 21
0 20
Italy
India

South

South
United
China

United
Russia

Germany
Japan

Canada

France
Mexico

19
924, 25
http://www.eia.doe.gov 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003
Year From 1994-2003

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 Topic 2: Global Environmental Picture

have grown from about 280 ppm (parts per million) or 0.02--% to over 370 ppm 10. It is increasing
at 0.4% per year and is expected to double during the next century. These two figure shows the
emission of CO2 including the anthropogenic emission from the consumption of petroleum,
natural gas coal and from natural gas venting and flaring and the top ten countries namely
United states, China, Russia, Japan, India, Germany, Canada, United Kingdom, South Korea,
Italy, South Africa, France, Mexico which produces more CO2. They do not include industrial
processes, geothermal power generation and municipal solid waste combustion.

iv) Loss of biodiversity

Biodiversity or Biological Diversity, sum of all the different species of animals, plants, fungi, and
microbial organisms living on Earth and the variety of habitats in which they live. Scientists
estimate that upwards of 10 million—and some suggest more than 100 million 11—different
species inhabit the Earth. Each species is adapted to its unique niche in the environment, from the
peaks of mountains to the depths of deep-sea hydrothermal vents, and from polar ice caps to
tropical rain forests.
Rapidly increasing human population, along with the increasing consumption, is
accelerating the conversion of forests, grasslands and wetlands to agriculture and urban
development. Since the invention of agriculture about 10,000 years ago, the human population
has increased from approximately 5 million to a full 6 billion people. During that time, but
especially in the past several centuries, humans have radically transformed the face of planet
Earth. The conversion of forests, grasslands, and wetlands for agricultural purposes, coupled
with the multiplication and growth of urban centers and the building of dams and canals,
highways, and railways, has physically altered ecosystems to the point that destruction of species
has reached its current alarming pace. The expected result is the extermination of most of the
wild plants and animals that occupied those natural habitats. If the species involved have no
populations at other locations they are doomed to extinction by such habitants-destroying the
species they house. Also hundreds of species of birds, fish, mammals, reptiles, amphibians,
butterflies, and innumerable plants are exploited for their commercial value. Even where species
are protected by law their hunting, killing and marketing continues illegally.
Much of the Earth’s great biodiversity is rapidly disappearing, even before we know
what is missing. Most biologists agree that life on Earth is now faced with the most severe
extinction episode since the event that drove the dinosaurs to extinction 65 million years ago.
Species of plants, animals, fungi, and microscopic organisms such as bacteria are being lost at
alarming rates—so many, in fact, that biologists estimate that three species go extinct every hour.
Scientists around the world are cataloging and studying global biodiversity in hopes that they
might better understand it, or at least slow the rate of loss.
Earth is rapidly loosing many of its species. In an estimate it is 4000per year .again many
of the species remain unidentified. It is found that about 1.75 million species have been identified
and 100 million still remain unidentified. At present loss of biodiversity is accelerating because of
mounting habit alteration, pollution and pressure for exploitation.
The underlying cause of biodiversity loss is the explosion in human population, now at 6
billion, but expected to double again by the year 2050. The human population already consumes
nearly half of all the food, crops, medicines, and other useful items produced by the Earth’s
organisms, and more than 1 billion people on Earth lack adequate supplies of fresh water.
In addition, overexploitation of the world's natural resources, such as fisheries and
forests, has greatly outstripped the rate at which these systems can recover. For example, 12 of the

10
Cunningham willium p. ---Principles of environmental science, second edition.
1127
http//gadflyer.com

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13 largest oceanic fisheries are severely depleted. Modern fishing techniques, such as using huge
fishing nets and bottom vacuuming techniques, remove everything in their paths—including tons
of fish and invertebrates of no commercial use. These victims, as well as porpoises and seals that
are also hauled in as accidental catches, are permanently removed from their populations,
significantly altering the ecosystems in which they live.
If we point out the reason of loss of biodiversity the followings will be found
(i) Disruption of wetland habitats through encroachment on and destruction of fauna
migration paths.
(ii) Human encroachment on forest lands for agricultural, settlement and commercial
purposes.
(iii) Indiscriminate felling of trees for fuel and construction resulting in a reduction of
tree cover areas and habitats.
(iv) Over-exploitation of particular resources such as medicinal plants, bamboo and cane
leading to loss of protective habitat.
(v) Over-exploitation of wildlife.
(vi) Monoculture of (HYVs) or less diversified cropping leading to agrochemical build-
up.
(vii) Destruction of mangrove forests. And
(viii) Shifting (slash and burn) agriculture.
Several nations have enacted laws protecting endangered wildlife. An international treaty
known as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora
(CITES) went into effect in 1975 to outlaw the trade of endangered animals and animal parts. In
the United States, the Endangered Species Act (ESA) was enacted in 1973 to protect endangered
or threatened species and their habitats. The Convention on Biological Diversity, held in Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil, in 1992 and ratified by more than 160 countries, obligates governments to take
action to protect plant and animal species.
Three Unifying Themes
We would like to present three interrelated themes that are applicable to changing or giving
direction to the interactions between human and natural systems.
These are:
i. Sustainability.
ii. Stewardship. Sustainability
iii. Sound science.
Environmental
public
policy

Individual
responsibility

Stewardship Sound science

Fig. Three Unifying Themes

These themes will be applied to public policy and individual responsibility throughout the next.
These three unifying themes represent three vital concepts that must be embraced by our society
and employed in the development of environmental public and private environmental concern.
In the following we will show the interrelationship between sustainability, stewardship and
sound science with environmental public policy and private environmental concern.

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 Topic 2: Global Environmental Picture

i) Sustainability
A system or process is sustainable is to say that it can be continued indefinitely without depleting
any of the material or energy resources required to keep it running.

The term was first applied to the idea of sustainable yields in human endeavors such as forestry
and fisheries. Trees, fish and other biological species normally grow and reproduce at rates faster
than that required just to keep their populations stable. Thus, it is possible to harvest a certain
percentage of trees or fish every year without depleting the forest or reducing the fish population
below a certain base number. As
Figure: Sustainable solutions
long as the number harvested stays
with in the capacity of population to
grow and replace itself, the practice Socially
can be continued indefinitely. The desirable
harvest then represents a
sustainable yield. It becomes no
sustainable only when the cutting of
trees or catching of fish exceeds the Sustainable
Solutions
capacity for their present population
to reproduce and grow.
Economically
Feasible
The concept of sustainability can be
extended to include ecosystems. Ecologically
Sustainable ecosystems are entire Viable

natural systems that persist over

time by recycling nutrients and maintaining a diversity of species in balance and by using the sun
as a sustainable energy source.

Sustainable Development:
Sustainable development is as a form of development or progress that “meets the needs of the
present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” The
concept arose in the context of a debate between the environmental and development concerns of
different groups of countries. Development refers to the continued improvement of living
standards by economic growth. Sustainable development concerns with the following criteria:
 Rules.
 Regulation.
 Norms.
 Ethics
 Standards.
Sustainable development means different things of different people and it can be illustrated by
the viewpoints of three important disciplines traditionally concerned with the process involved.
 The economists are mainly concerned with growth, efficiency and maximum use of
resources.
 Sociologist focus on human needs and concepts like equity, empowerment, social
cohesion and cultural identity.
 Ecologists show their greatest concern for preserving the integrity of natural systems,
for living within the carrying capacity of the environment and for dealing effectively
with pollution.
It can be argued that sustainable solutions will be found only where the concerns of these three
groups intersect, as illustrated in the above figure.

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 Topic 2: Global Environmental Picture

There are many dimensions to sustainable development-

 Environmental.
 Social.
 Economic.
 Political.

Nevertheless, like justice, equality, and freedom, it is important to uphold sustainable

development.

ii) Stewardship:
Stewardship is a concept that emerged from slavery. A steward was a slave put in charge of the
master’s households, responsible for maintaining the welfare of the people and the property of
the owner. Modern-day, stewardship is an ethic that provides a guide to actions taken to benefit
the natural world and other people.To present and future generations of people who depend on
the natural world as their life support system. For people with religious convictions, stewardship
stems from are recognition that the world and everything in it belongs to a higher being and,
thus, they are stewards on behalf of God. For others, stewardship becomes a matter of concern
that stems from a deep understanding and love of the natural world and the necessary limitations
on human use of that world. Sometimes stewardship leads people into battle to stop the
destruction of the environment or to stop the population that is degrading human neighborhoods
and health.

Environmentalism to stewardship:
The American council on sustainable development addressed specific actions to keep the
environment sustainable:
 Use the best ecological, social and economic information to manage natural resources.
 Create and promote incentives to stimulate and support the appropriate involvement of
corporations, property owners, resources users and government at all levels in the
individual and collective pursuit of stewardship of natural resources.
 Manage and protect long term productivity, profitability, human health and
environmental quality.
 Create voluntary partnerships among private landowners at the local and the regional
levels to foster environmental responsible management and protection of biological
diversity, with government agencies providing incentives, support and information.

iii) Sound Science:

Science is simply a way of gaining knowledge; the way is called the scientific method. The term
science further refers to all the knowledge gained through that method. The term sound science
to distinguish legitimate science from has been called “Junk science” information that is
presented as valid science but that does not conform to the rigors of the methods and practice of
legitimate science.

Steps of scientific method:

The scientific method rests on certain basic assumptions that most of us accept without argument.
They are:
 The first assumption is that what we perceive with our basic five senses represent the
existence of an objective reality.
 The second assumption is that “objective reality” functions according to certain basic
principles and natural laws that remain consistent through time and space.
 The third assumption is that events do not occur without reasons and that there is an
explainable cause behind every happening.

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 Topic 2: Global Environmental Picture

 The fourth and final assumption is that through our powers of observation, manipulation
and reason, we can discover and understand the basic principles and natural laws by
which the universe functions.

3. Environmental Justice and Equity

The phrases "environmental justice (or injustice)" and "environmental equity (or inequity)
may be interpreted broadly to describe the perceived fairness in the distribution of environmental
quality across groups of people with different characteristics. In this sense, the environmental
impact of any human activity might be evaluated to determine the distribution of environmental
amenities and risks among people categorized according to any population characteristic,
including gender, age, race, and place of residence, occupation, income class, or language. In the
current political context, however, the phrases refer more specifically to the distribution of health
risks resulting from exposure to toxic substances in the residential or occupational environments
of different racial, ethnic, or socio-economic groups. Environmental justices are most actively
advocated today on behalf of Native Americans, Hispanics and black Americans. Relevant
research has focused mainly on land disposal of hazardous waste or air pollution and the
anticipated impacts on urban; black Americans.
The first studies documenting the relationship between the geographic distribution of
environmental pollution and minority populations were published during the 1970s. As early as
1971 in its second annual report to the President, the Council on Environmental Quality
acknowledged that racial discrimination adversely affected the ability of the urban poor to control
the quality of their environments
Environmental equity did not become a national issue, however, until 1982 when national
attention was focused by a protest against the proposed sitting of a landfill for polychlorinated
biphenyls (PCBs) in a predominantly black county in North Carolina. It was then that the phrase
"environmental racism" was coined to refer to those polities and activities which, whether
intentional or unintentional, result in the disproportionate exposure of racial minorities to
environmental hazards. The general observation that racial and ethnic minorities in the United
States might be disproportionately exposed to toxic substances in their residential environments
prompted congressional study of the issue.
The U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) found that, in the southeastern United States,
three of the four commercial hazardous waste landfills were in communities with more blacks
than whites.
The stewardship ethics is concerned not only for the care of the natural world but also for
the establishment of just relationships among humans. This concern for justice has been applied
to the United States in what is called the environmental justice movement. Justice is especially
crucial for the developing world, where unjust relationships often leave people without land,
adequate food or health. Although the issue of international justice is a difficult one, it is clearly
part of the mission of stewardly action to address it.
The degradation of the natural world and concerns about environmental justice have led
many to become involved in efforts to resolve these problems; such people are called
environmentalists, and the worldwide they embrace has become known as environmentalism.

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