Assignment of Environmental studies:

Q1) Explain the Scope & Importance of Environmental studies.

Ans:Scope of Environmental studies:

-Conservation of natural resources

-Ecological aspects

-Pollution of the surrounding natural resources

-controlling the Pollution

-Social issues related to it

-Impacts of human population on the environment

Importance of Environmental studies:

-The hazardous impact of intensive agricultural practices and people will be made aware of these
impacts. This will help society to move towards sustainable agricultural practices.

• The aspects of mining operations involving exploration of resources, degradation of land and social
unrest due to displacement will be studied. Understanding these issues will help in f inding the solution.

• Various global problems like green house effect, global warming, acid rain etc. will be discussed. The
knowledge of these will help in finding the solutions.

• The negative impacts of deforestation and awareness in this regard will give an acceleration to
afforestation, social forestry etc.

Importance of Environmental studies:

-The importance of conserving wildlife and ways to do so.

• Understanding of various problems associated with energy intensive life styles, will probably help in
judicious use of energy resources.

• Impact of water scarcity and this will help us in changing our approach towards misuse of water
resources. • It will help in assessing and evaluating the effects of various environmental hazards.etc.

Promotes the use of eco-friendly technology or engineered technology. • Educate us to conserve our
fast depleting natural resources. • promote reduce, reuse & recycle the waste material. • Helps in
inculcating the attitudes, values and strong feeling of concern for the environment and the motivation
to act in protecting and improving it.

Q2) Describe the concept of sustainability. List the three pillars of sustainability.
Ans: Sustainable development was defined in the World Commission on Environment and
Development's 1987 Brundtland report ´Our Common Future` as 'development that meets the needs
of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs'.

Sustainable development: means, we need to look after our planet, our resources and our people to
ensure that we can live in a sustainable manner. i.e. from generation to generation.

Three pillars of sustainability: social sustainability, economic sustainability & environmental

sustainability.

3) Write a note on biodiversity.

Ans:

Biological Diversity deals with the degree of nature's variety in the biosphere. These variety can be
observed at 3 levels

1. Genetic Diversity

2. Species Diversity

3. Ecosystem Diversity

There are at present 1.8 million species known and documented by scientists in the world. However,
scientists have estimated that the number of species of plants and animals on Earth could vary from
1.5 to 20 billion! This means that the majority of species are yet to be discovered!

Some of the countries with higher biodiversities than India are located in South America, such as
Brazil, and South-east Asian countries, such as Malaysia and Indonesia. The species found in these
countries, however, are different from our own. This makes it imperative to preserve our own
biodiversity as a major economic resource. While few of the other 'mega-diversity nations' have
developed the technology to exploit their species for biotechnology and genetic engineering, India is
capable of doing so.

Throughout the world, the value of biologically-rich natural areas is now being increasingly
appreciated as being of unimaginable value. International agreements, like the World Heritage
Convention, attempt to protect and support such areas. India is a signatory to the convention and has
included several protected areas as World Heritage Sites. These include Manas on the border between
Bhutan and India, Kaziranga in Assam, Bharatpur in UP, Nandadevi in the Himalayas, and the
Sunderbans in the Ganges delta in West Bengal.

India has also signed the Convention in the Trade of Endangered Species (CITES), which is intended to
reduce the utilization of endangered plants and animals by controlling trade in their products and in
the pet trade.