Republic of the Philippines

DR. EMILIO B. ESPINOSA SR. MEMORIAL STATE

COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE AND TECHNOLOGY
(MASBATE STATE COLLEGE)
www.debesmscat.edu.com
Cabitan Mandaon, Masbate
 FINAL – TERM MODULE

BASIC ECOLOGICAL CONCEPTS

Overview
All living things are composed of atoms that bond together to form molecules. The basic atoms found in an
organism are carbon atoms to which are linked varying numbers of hydrogen atoms in varying arrangements. Molecules
of this composition are called organic molecules, which account for why organisms are so named. Oxygen is another
atom that links with carbon and hydrogen; together, these three (CHO) form the bigger molecules of sugars,
carbohydrates, and lipids. When nitrogen links with CHO to make CHON, an amino acid or protein is formed, to which
may bond phosphorus or sulfur.

These, in turn, compose the nucleoplasm (nucleus, nucleolus, and nuclear sap) and the cytoplasm (cytosol and
organelles), which make up the cell. Cells group together to form a tissue, which is an aggregation of cells performing a
common function or functions. Tissues compose an organ, which is an aggregation of tissues usually forming a definite
shape, and performing a definite function within an organ system. An organ system is a group of organs that perform
coordinated functions together to keep the organism alive and functioning well. The scope of biology includes the study of
all these and may extend to the level of the organism, such as behavior, and the organism's mechanisms for interacting
with its environment.

Ecology starts from the study of the organism, overlapping with biology in this level, such as in how an individual
would behave in its own group or in relation to the environment, but the primary focus would be in finding commonalities in
the behavior of individuals to define and predict the behavior of the group. An organism is any living thing. A group of
organisms that is similar in appearance, behavior, and genetic makeup belongs to the same species. The biological
species concept states that members of a species are those individuals that are genetically related enough to be able to
interbreed and produce fertile offspring.

The ultimate check of the classification is the fertility of the offspring because individuals can mate but the
resulting offspring is not fertile, as in the classic example of a horse that is interbred with a donkey producing a mule,
which is sterile and cannot therefore perpetuate the species.

Population
The group of individuals belonging to one species and is found together in a defined area at a certain time is
called a population. Examples would be all the dogs in a house, all the maya birds in a campus, all the mahogany trees
in a province, all the whale sharks in the Philippines, and all the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes in the world.

A population possesses characteristics that more empirically describe the group such as (1) population density, (2)
dispersion, (3) natality, (4) mortality, (5) growth, (6) age distribution, and (7) reproductive potential.

Population Density
Population density describes the degree of crowdedness of a population in a given area. Crude density may be
computed from the number of individuals or the total population biomass per unit space, such as seven dogs in a 1000 m*
compound, or nine tons of rice per hectare of rice land. Ecological or specific density describes the number or biomass
per unit of space that is actually available to the population.
For example, all the estuarine crocodiles in the Philippines would be crude density, which would have for denominator the
total area of the country's estuarine waters; on the other hand, ecological density would be all the estuarine crocodiles in
the smaller total area of the localities where they are endemic.

Dispersion
Dispersion is the distribution of organisms over the space where they are found. Three patterns have been
observed: clumped, random, and uniform. The clumped distribution is the most common type of pattern since the soil or
medium on which the organisms are found in nature are not uniform. Nutrient rich areas are patchy. In terrestrial
ecosystems, for example, nutrient rich spots are signified by the clumps of plants growing on them while poorer spots are
bald. Random distribution is rare in nature, occurring only where the soil is generally rich so that the plants can grow
and thrive anywhere. Uniform distribution is found in artificial cultivated areas such as orchards.

Exercise 1
 Look around in your immediate vicinity at growing vegetation. Identity thee dispersion patterns of wild grasses,
shrubs, and trees. Visit an orchard, a cornfield, or a sugarcane or pineapple plantation. Explain the causes of the different
dispersion patterns in these areas.

Natality/Mortality
Natality corresponds to what is termed in humans as birth rate or the number of new individuals produced in the
population for a period of time, for example, 2.3 babies per day; or 2 bacteria per 20 minutes; or 12 mice in 8 weeks.

Mortality is known as death rate in human demographics, or the number of deaths in a given time period.
Although mortality may be a helpful population indicator, the more descriptive aspect is that of survival rate which may be
expressed as 1-M, With M representing mortality.

Growth
Growth is an important feature of a population since the increase or decrease of population size determines its
interaction with other populations in the community and its impact on the environment. A population that finds a favorable
environment with abundant resources would increase in exponential fashion as described by a growth curve that shoots
up almost in a straight line only to be stopped at a point where the maximum capacity of the environment to support the
population has been reached.

The end point is called the carrying capacity level of the specific environment, designated by "r" which is the
level at which the environmental resources, including space, are overexploited, straining the capacity of the environment
to survive. The exponential growth curve configures into a J or may form several Js that always stop at the carrying
capacity level. A sigmoid or S curve starts to rise slowly and falls always within the carrying capacity level. This signifies a
population that grows slowly and utilizes the available resources sustainably.

Age Distribution
Age distribution classifies the population according to age brackets or to general age groups such as
prereproductive, reproductive, postreproductive (Odum, 1971). Age groups may be represented by age.

Exercise 2
What are the advantages and disadvantages of each of the three types of age Pyramids in terms of
socioeconomic implications on the country? Consider the labor face, the earning potential in a family and in the society,
and the number of dependents. Divide each figure into three age classes: young, middle, and old. Draw what you envision
each pyramid to be like after 20 years.

Reproductive Potential
The reproductive potential of a population is its theoretical capacity to produce the maximum number of offspring
in ideal conditions. The concept is exemplified by the scenario of a couple of flies that under ideal conditions can mate
and overpopulate the planet several times. Happily, this will always remain a theoretical scenario since in reality, the
limiting factors in the environment prevent the attainment of the fundamental niche and the full reproductive potential of
the population.

Community
There are several populations in an area. In grassland, one would find populations of grasshoppers, maya birds,
frogs, snakes, grasses, herbs and shrubs, and many others. Together, all these populations would form the ecological or
biotic community, which may be named after its dominant species or life form (Thalassia community, grassland
community, nangrove commanity), or its outstanding physical feature (sandy beach community, pond community), or
function (pastureland, cropland). A population is generally conceived to be composed of a number greater than one but in
some cases, a population may be represented by an individual.

The community has properties that may be used to further clarify its composition and its interaction with the
environment, like species dominance, diversity, relative abundance, species richness and evenness.

Dominance
Dominance is attained by a species in a community by virtue of a greater number of individuals, or by size such
as the overwhelming sizes of sequo1a trees, or any other attribute that enables the species to control the community.

Diversity
 Diversity is the opposite of dominance, a case where no single species has a greater number or biomass or other
relative importance than other species in the community. There are two opposing theories about diversity-one say that a
diverse community is more stable; the other states that stability is found in more homogeneous communities. The first
claims that a greater number of species or species richness is good for the community. In addition, the more evenly
distributed the number of individuals are to each species, the more diverse, hence, the more stable the community is.
Diversity, which includes species richness and evenness, may be measured using indices (Odum, 1971)

Ecosystem
The community is always situated in a place where the population can eat, be sheltered, and reproduce. The
setting includes necessary nonliving components such as soil, water, air, and the cycles that keep and renew them, which
are collectively called the biogeochemical cycles. Together, they compose the nonliving environment. Thus, the biota
composed of the community, the abiota or their nonliving environment, and their interactions together form a system that
supports life on the earth. This is the ecosystem, the basic unit of ecology because it includes the living and nonliving
components. The size of an ecosystem may vary as the area being defined. For example, the Pacific Ocean with its
countless populations of marine animals, plants, fungi and bacteria, eubacteria and archaea set in saline waters and
substratum, and sea air and all the dynamics binding them together is a marine ecosystem. So is a small glass aquarium
with a few goldfishes, a janitor fish, some snails and water plants. Some distinguish between natural systems and
manmade systems including artificial ecosystems set up in laboratories tor experimental purposes and which are called
microecosystems.

A large community may be distinguished by a climax vegetation or outstanding feature and be called a biome,
such as a grassland biome, a forest biome, a lake biome, or a biome. All the biomes in the world together form the
biosphere which is defined as the domain of all the living organisms and which covers the lowest part of the atmosphere,
called the troposphere; all the bodies of water where life is found, called the hydrosphere; and the soil domain called
lithosphere. Some scientists recognize an ecosphere, which is the biosphere and all the interactions Occurring in them.

Bioenergetics
Energy is necessary for maintaining the life processes of organisms. The sun is the source of all the energy that
goes into the ecosystem. Solar energy is radiated on to the earth where a tiny fraction of it (a little over 1%) is tapped by
plants and used in photosynthesis. In this process, solar energy is released in the form of light waves called photons
which cause the molecules in the plant's green pigment, the chlorophyll, to undergo changes that eventually produce
sugars from carbon and water. The sugars, mainly glucose, contain what is called photochemical energy that can be
used by the plant for its own food, growth and maintenance. Because plants produce their own food without direct
assistance from other organisms, they are called autotrophs (self- feeders). They are also recognized as the producers
of the ecosystem because they tap solar energy which otherwise would be unavailable for the rest of the organisms, and
because they feed the other organisms.

Organisms that feed on plants are called herbivores, while organisms that feed on other organisms are called
carnivores. The herbivores and carnivores depend on plants and other organisms for their food, and are therefore called
heterotrophs (other-feeders) and are considered as the consumers of the ecosystem. Organisms that consume both
plants and animals are called omnivores.

Food Chain
In ecosystems, the sequence of eating and being eaten may be described by a food chain. An example of a food
chain is a grazing food chain. The consumers are ranked according to the order of feeding in the chain. Each level or link
in the chain is called a trophic level. All plants and photosynthetic organisms are called producers and occupy the first
level. All the plant feeders are herbivores and occupy the second level. All those that feed on herbivores and other
consumers are called carnivores and occupy different levels according to what they feed on.

Another example of a grazing food chain is that found at sea where the producers are the microscopic algae
called phytoplankton, upon which the microscopic zooplankton graze. The zooplankton may be fed on by shrimp, which
may be eaten by a small fish, which in turn will be food to a bigger fish, which becomes prey to bigger fishes, and then to
man. These food chains do not always describe what happens in reality because grass may also be grazed on by either a
caterpillar, a beetle, a rabbit, or a cow, while the grasshopper may be eaten by a salamander, a bird, or a cat. In the case
of the marine food chain, the zooplankton may be fed on by a coral, a clam, or a crab, while the fish may be fed on by a
jellyfish, a squid, or a bird. Because of these myriad possibilities, it becomes obvious that a realistic representation of the
trophic structure in an ecosystem is not a food chain but a food web.
Food Web
 There are two major types of food webs in the ecosystem: the grazing food web already described, and the less
conspicuous soil-based detrital food web. The grazing food web is the more conspicuous type because it is usually
composed of large plants and animals that are familiar to people but it is not the major food web in terrestrial and in some
aquatic ecosystems, except for example at sea and in lakes. Detritus, the collective term for all organic debris or once
living parts of organisms, such as leaves, twigs, barks that had fallen off, or skin, carcass, feces, are the sources of food
for a great number of heterotrophic invertebrates and microscopic organisms that decompose or break these matter down
deriving nutrition from them (thus they are called detritivores) and then returning the minerals to the soil. Examples of
these are ants, termites, earthworms, millipedes, snails, beetles, spiders, crickets, mites, bacteria and fungi.

The food webs are pathways of energy flow in the ecosystem, which start from the sun, is tapped by plants
through photosynthesis tranferred to herbivores through grazing, then to carnivores through predation, and then to
detritivores through the detritus food web. In each of these levels, energy is expended in respiration and goes out as heat
or waste energy. The energy produced in photosynthesis is called primary production because it is the first production
of energy in the ecosystem. The total energy produced in the process is called gross primary production from which
would be taken the energy to be spent on the plant metabolic processes, which collectively are called respiration. After
energy spent in respiration is subtracted from gross primary production, the remaining energy that is stored as substance
in the organisms is called net primary production. The energy acquired by heterotrophs from feeding on other
organisms is called secondary production.

Laws of Energy
The flow of energy in the ecosystem is governed by two laws. The First Law of Thermodynamics states that
energy is never created nor destroyed but is transformed from one form to another. This is exemplified by the
transformation of solar energy into photochemical energy in the plant, which then transfers to the consumers, and which
transforms into mechanical energy as the consumers move or do work, and is finally released as heat energy.

The Second Law of Thermodynamics states that as energy is transformed, it degrades or diminishes. Studies
on the amount of energy transferred through the different trophic levels show that only some 10% of the original energy
gets to the next trophic level each time, most of it having been expended in the metabolic activities in the previous level.
This means that if there are 1000 calories in a certain weight of grass consumed, the grasshopper retains only 100
calories of that, with 900 calories spent during its energy expending metabolic processes (respiration) and the frog that
eats the grasshopper will get only 10 calories of it, and the snake gets only one calorie.

Biogeochemical Cycles
The interaction between the organisms and the environment in an ecosystem is well illustrated in the cycling of materials
between them. Substances that organisms need to survive are called nutrients such as water, carbon, oxygen, nitrogen
and sulfur. Nutrients move through the ecosystem in cycles called biogeochemical cycles where bio refers to the living
organisms, "geo" refers to the inorganic molecules such as those found in rocks, air and water, and "chemical" refers to
the interactions of elements between them. The cycles show how nutrients are conserved as they are used over and over
again. A nutrient is ordinarily concentrated either in the atmosphere, hydrosphere, or lithosphere, as its pool. Nutrients
that undergo gaseous cycles are found in the atmosphere and the ocean while those that undergo sedimentary cycles are
from the soil and rocks.

Limiting Factors and the Law of Tolerance

Certain environmental laws govern the survival of organisms in relation to the nutrients that they need.
The Law of the Minimum states that when there is not enough of a certain nutrient in the environment, the
growth of the organism that needs that nutrient will be severely limited. Studies also show that too much of any nutrient
will likewise limit growth, giving rise to the Law of Limiting Factors.

It is observed that in the ecosystem, organisms vary in their responses to limiting factors and the Law of
Tolerance states that they have specific ranges of minimum and maximum limits of tolerance that affect their survival,
growth, and reproduction and, therefore, their abundance and distribution in nature.

Sunlight and temperature are two important physical factors that limit the distribution and abundance of
organisms. Sunlight, the ultimate energy source of the ecosystem, is vital to survival. However, too much of it, particularly
direct exposure to its ultraviolet rays, would kill the protoplasm resulting in the death of the organism. As the initiator of
photosynthesis, a minimal fraction of sunlight is needed by all plants but within that fraction, the amounts tolerated by
plants vary. Some aquatic and terrestrial plants thrive better in less light while others, such as plants in warm deserts, can
tolerate more light. In gardens, one can observe that some plants, particularly trees, can tolerate the full sun for the whole
day while some prefer morning sun or afternoon sun, filtered sunlight or shade. Some plants have a light saturation point,
beyond which additional sunlight will not result in greater photosynthesis. There are plants that actually undergo less
photosynthesis beyond their saturation point. There are also plants that do not have a saturation point at all. Plants may
respond morphologically to the amount of available light as when leaves grow larger and thinner in areas with less light.

Temperature rhythms, Just like light, moisture, and tide rhythms control the daily and seasonal patterns of
activities of organisms and are mainly responsible for the zonation and stratification of plants and animals on land and in
water habitats. These determine which species Would thrive in a certain area and would limit survival particularly in places
where temperature extremes are found. Some aquatic algae are known to survive in hot springs with temperatures of
73°C while tubeworms and echinoderms are known to thrive in submarine thermal vents with temperatures of about
400°C. Tolerances to temperature variations differ among organisms. Constant temperatures result in inhibition,
depression or slowing down of organisms that are used to fluctuating environmental temperatures. Temperature ranges
vary more on land than in water since water is temperature butter. lt Is not surprising, therefore, that water organisms
have narrower tolerance limits for temperature.

The limits of tolerance of a species in relation to a nutrient or an environmental requirement may be described by
a bell shaped curve. Figure11 below shows the ordinate (X-axis) representing the environmental gradient such as sunlight;
the abscissa (y-axis) represents the organism's response. The left and right zones would represent the extremes that are
not tolerable to the organism, while the middle of the bell would represent the optimum condition that is most favorable for
the success of the organism in the environment

Species Interactions
The population of two species may positively or negatively affect the existence of one another in the community.
We call this species interaction. We broadly categorize these interactions into: positive-positive, negative-negative,
positive-negative, positive-zero, or negative-zero, depending on how each benefits from, or is adversely affected by, the
other.

Mutualism
Mutualism refers to the interaction between two species where both are benefitted. This is an example of a
positive-positive interaction. This is also referred to as symbiosis. Mutually beneficial relationships between organisms
are either facultative or obligatory. When both species benefit from the interaction but each can live without the other, it
is called a facultative mutualism. In obligate mutualism, neither one of two interacting species can survive for long
without the other.

A concrete example of a mutualistic relationship is between autotrophs and heterotrophs. Autotrophs are
dependent on the carbon dioxide given off by heterotrophs to photosynthesize and produce food while heterotrophs are
dependent on the oxygen released by autotrophs (in the process of photosynthesis) in order to survive. Another example
of a mutualistic (obligate mutualism) relationship is between the yucca plant and the yucca moth. The yucca is dependent
on the moth for pollination and the moth is dependent on the seeds of the plant as food for its larvae (Enger & Smith,
2000). The relationship of roots of legumes and nitrogen-fixing bacteria and the intimate association of fungus and roots of
higher plants are other examples of this relationship. The absorptive area of the roots of legumes is enlarged by the
Rhizobium bacteria and provides the plants with nitrogen molecules that it can use for growth; at the same time the
rhizobium obtains nourishment from the roots (Miller, 1994). On the other hand, the extensive fungal filaments absorb
mineral ions from the soil, some of which are used by the plant; and the fungus absorbs some sugars and nitrogen-
containing compounds from the root (Starr & Taggart, 1987).

Competition
Competition is an example of a positive-negative interaction where two species (interspecific competition) or
two individuals of the same species (intraspecific competition) strive to obtain the same limited resource. In this
relationship, one is benefitted and the other is negatively affected. Competition happens when two species or individuals
of the same species in a community rely on similar limiting resources such as food, sunlight, water, nutrients or space. An
example of interspecific competition is when different species of understory vegetation in a closed- canopy tropical rain
forest compete for the very little light that reaches the forest floor. Plant species that can tolerate less sunlight lives and
attains optimum growth under the shade while the light-loving ones tend to have stunted growth in the same condition. In
a plantation forest, the fast-growing species (usually exotics) overtop the slow-growing ones. Examples of intraspecific
competition include cultured tomato plants competing for the same water and nutrients, dense regeneration of narra
(Pterocarpus indicus) trees, woodpeckers competing for the holes in dead trees to use for nesting sites and a herd of
cattle competing for green grasses.
 In interspecific competition, the population growth of a species may be limited by the density of a competing
species, which may be complicated. For example, if several bird species in a grassland ecosystem feed on a limited
population of worms or insects, the high density of birds may have a negative impact on the population growth of worms
or insects. Similarly, the birds may compete for nesting sites, shelters, or any other resource that is in short supply. This
only shows that the more similar the two species are, the more intense is the competition between them because they
compete for closely similar requirements. If one species is more adapted to live in a certain environment than the other,
the less fit species must evolve into a slightly different niche in order to survive. This is an example of competitive
exclusion. The laboratory experiments of G.F. Gause in the 1930s of two species of paramecium (P. caudatum and P.
aurelia) proved that these two species established a stable population when grown separately but when grown together, P.
aurelia. drove the other species to extinction (Odum, 1971; Smith, 1996; Miller, 1994).

There are two categories of competition that both apply to different species or individuals of the same species.
When organisms actually fight for a resource, it is called interference competition. If the organisms have equal access
to a specific resource but differ in how quickly or efficiently they exploit it, the interaction is exploitative competition
(Smith, 1996; Enger and Smith, 2000; Odum, 1971).

Predation
Predation is an example of a positive-negative interaction wherein the predator (organism that benefits) eats the
prey (the negatively affected organism). The predator is normally bigger in size than the prey, has acute senses to look
for potential prey and has adaptations like claws, teeth, fangs, or stingers that help catch the organisms on which it feeds,
Examples of predator-prey interaction are snake and chicken, snake and frog, and eagle and rabbit.

The predator-prey relationship should be viewed from the perspective of population rather than from the individual
perspective. This view helps in understanding the beneficial role of the interaction in checking the populations of prey to
maintain balance in an ecosystem. For example, locusts could become overpopulated in the absence of predators like
frogs, birds and lizards.

Other authors view the predator-prey relationship as a form of mutualism since both organisms actually benefit
from the interaction. The predator captures its food to survive and grow while the prey population is maintained such that
competition for resources is minimized.

Parasitism
Parasitism is another type of negative-positive interaction wherein the host (negatively affected organism)
provides nourishment to the parasite (organism that benefits). Parasites that live entirely or part of their life cycle within
their hosts (e.8. tapeworm, malarial parasite, SARS virus) are called endoparasites while others that feed on the external
surface or the host (e.g., mosquitoes, aphids, leeches) are called ectoparasites. The parasite cannot live without its host.

Parasitism could cause physical and physiological effects on the host. Severe attacks of parasites could lead to
the death of the host or may weaken it so that the host succumbs to secondary infections. Examples of parasitism that
resulted in the mass destruction of its host (because the host is unable to develop defenses) include the pine shoot moth
that affected the pine trees in the Luzon Cordillera region of the Philippines, the jumping lice (Heteropsylla cubana) that
destroyed the ipil-ipil plantation in the mid-1980s nationwide, cadang-cadang (a coconut virus), to name a few.

Commensalism
Commensalism is a form of positive-zero interaction wherein the commensal (organism that benefits), also
referred to as "hitchhiker” attaches itself to the host while the host is neither helped nor harmed by the interaction (Starr
& Taggart, 1987). Examples of commensal organisms are algae that grow on the shells of aquatic turtles, barnacles,
epiphytes that cling to trees, and trees providing nesting sites to birds. In the ocean, sharks are found to have remora
smaller fish, attached to them. The remora has a sucker on the top of its head that can attach to the shark. In this way, it
can hitchhike as the shark swims along. When the shark feeds, the remora obtains small bits of food that the shark
misses. The shark does not appear to be positively or negatively affected by the remoras (Enger & Smith, 2000).
Amensalism
Amensalism is an example of a negative-zero interaction wherein one organism is inhibited while the other is not
affected. Allelopathy is an example of amensalistic interaction wherein the amensal (the organism that negatively affects)
secretes substances that affects/limits the growth of the other organism but the interaction is not beneficial to the amensal.
Bagras (Bucalyptus deglupta) and cogon (Imperata cylindrica) are examples of plant species that have allelophatic effects
on other plants.

ENVIRONMENTAL CRISES

Overview
Environmental science is a relatively young field of study and is brought about by the need to study not only the
natural environment but also how humans are changing it. Ecosystems were once thought to be robust and self-restoring
but are now recognized to be either fragile or too abused to recover spontaneously.

It has been shown in several cases that if the Earth were left in its natural state, there would be no environmental
problems at all. The biogeochemical cycles and everything in nature would remain in perfect balance, as illustrated in the
carbon-oxygen cycle.

The total amount of carbon dioxide normally produced by plants, animals, humans, and all other living things,
large or small, could all be taken up by plants in photosynthesis and is equivalent to the total amount of oxygen that they
produce. All the other processes involving the deposits on, conversion, and uptake of carbon and oxygen are in perfect
harmony and balance. Then comes factories, vehicles, and combustion activities that tip the balance hard towards carbon
and then the problems follow: air pollution, the greenhouse effect, global warming, and a host of other consequences. If
we are to continue to enjoy living in the planet a little more and to leave some habitable spots and a few non-extinct plants
and animals to our children, we have to look at, and address, the environmental problems prevailing today.

ANTHROPOGENIC IMPACT
Historically, human behavior towards the environment has been strongly influenced by survival needs. The
earliest humans were supposed to have been nomadic hunter-gatherers. They lived off the land until there was nothing
much to be consumed. Then they would move off to find new areas. During that time, there were only a few humans so
that even as they moved off to fresher grounds, the exploited areas could recover. Today, the rate of human utilization of
environmental resources exceeds several times the rate of potential regeneration, The net effect is environmental
degradation.

Sociocultural Factors
Tne degradation of the environment is attributed partly or wholly to man’s social and cultural practices. Kaingin
farming, overuse of Common property resources, and convenient modern lifestyles are human practices that affect the
environment. Overpopulation also contributes to environmental degradation.

Kaingin Farming
Kaingin farming, also referred to as swidden farming, shifting cultivation, and slash and burn cultivation,
involves a process of clearing up a forest, burning, planting, harvesting, transferring to another area within the forest, and
going back to the originally cultivated area. This is considered as an ecologically sound practice because after two to
three years of cultivation when the soil becomes less fertile, the farmer has to move into a more fertile area. Farmers have
indicators of good sites. They allow the land to rest in what is termed as the fallow period. The cycle of clearing and
transferring takes about 15 years. This is enough time for the soil to rejuvenate. However, with the rapidinflux of lowland
migrants into the uplands, this practice becomes unsustainable because the fallow period of about 15 years is reduced to
less than one year or none at all. This practice results in the degradation of upland areas because more and more farming
activities are done even in steep slopes. The lowland-migrant farmers do not observe the proper farming practices suited
for the uplands.

Overuse of Common Property Resources

Overuse of common-property resources, a principle also known as tragedy of the commons, is another
example of a social factor that leads to environmental degradation. This is based on the greed mentality of using or
getting the available resources for the reasons of "If I don’t use or get this resource, someone else will” and “The little bit I
use or pollute is not enough to matter”. However, if these will be the principles of millions of people worldwide, the result
will be overexploitation, exhaustion or destruction of the resource. A localized example of this is the throwing of house
hold garbage and settlements of industries into the Pasig River. It each household would throw one piece of an empty
bottle of shampoo each week into the river, each household would contribute 52 bottles in a year. If, for example, there
are 1,000 households along the river, there would be 52,000 pieces in a year. The cumulative effect would lead to the
death of the river.

Convenient Modern Lifestyle

and the "Throwaway Society"
Convenient modern lifestyles and the "throwaway society concept are becoming so common in urban centers and
even in progressive provinces. The use of instant coffee, noodles, diapers, excessive use of plastics, styrofoams, and
other disposables, air conditioning units, the bloom of fastfood stores, and other modern conveniences, are degrading the
environment because of the air, soil, and water pollution that result. The evidence of pollution is seen during rainy days
when canals are clogged with plastics that results in the flooding of city streets.

Overpopulation
More people means that there is a need for more food and other resources, and per capita there will be less living
space, less land, less water, more garbage, more energy expenditure, more pollution, more disturbance, and destruction
of the environment. At least one theory predicts that the environment will crash in this century.

The world population of more than seven billion today continues to increase and is expected to exceed 10 billion
in 2050. The rate of increase is nearing 100 million per year with 95% of the increase occurring in the developing
countries (Von Weizsacker, et al., 1999). This is set against the unchanging area of the earth and its fast depleting
resources. The fastest growing populations are those in the poorest countries of the world where many are uneducated,
cannot read and write, where the women are financially dependent on their husbands and the children are required to
work (Enger & Smith, 2000).

The scenario of unchecked population growth implies more problems for the environment. The decreasing fuel
resources will continue to be reduced as industrialized countries maintain their consumption levels and newly
industrialized countries try to catch up. Even if their population growth rates are low, countries like the United States make
a greater impact on the environment. One American affects the environment to a greater degree than 20 Indians or
Bangladeshis. A study by a Canadian team headed by William Rees of the University of British Columbia concluded that if
everyone in the world would consume resources and pollute the environment like the Canadians, we would need three
globes to accommodate us all (Von Weizsacker, et al., 1999). Food security will be a problem in the Third World where
more forests and mountains will be converted to croplands, promoting erosion, nutrient depletion, and desertification. The
need for more housing and commercial space will lead to the further conversion of forests, estuaries and wildlife areas.
There will be greater incursion into marine, freshwater, and estuarine areas for food and water sources. As more garbage
is produced more air, water, and terrestrial pollution will result.

The Philippine population is increasing rapidly and is projected to increase from the current 80 million to 99.7
million in 2010 and 113.3 million in 2020 (www.popcom, 2003). The doubling time of 10 years is shorter than that of
Mexico at 32 years, and is very short compared to that of the US at 116 years and Canada at 136 years (Enger & Smith,
2000).

The environmental crises that beset the Earth describe a domino effect that starts from human activities. The first
and most visible of human impacts on the environment is the garbage problem. Solid, hazardous and toxic wastes pollute
the air, soil and water. Air pollution includes the accumulation of greenhouse gases that cause global climate change,
being experienced as global warming, and erratic weather such as the El Nino and La Nina phenomena. Ozone
destruction and acid rain are effects of air pollution that further destroy the environment and cause illness and death to
organisms. Human use and abuse of natural resources have degraded the different ecosystems and destroyed habitats
leading to extinction of organisms,

GARBAGE PROBLEM
As the world population continues to increase, so does the world garbage disposal problem. The mountainous
garbage dumps and the heated and oftentimes violent arguments over where to dump garbage is proof of the worsening
problem with no tenable solution yet in sight. The growing affluence of the world leads to greater acquisitiveness and with
it the desire for new things and the discarding of the old. The throw- away society has spread, from the rich countries of
the First World to the Third World where people exposed to Western culture by mass media endeavor to live like
Americans and Europeans whose fast-paced lifestyles prefer disposable products over greener alternatives. The "small is
beautiful slogan of technology production where the latest models of computers and other electronic gadgets are getting
smaller and smaller seems like an environment friendly call until one realizes that as newer and newer models are
snatched up, the old ones are being discarded into the environment.
Solid Waste
The United Státes Environmental Protection Agency reports that the US alone produces 11 billion tons of solid
wastes each year. About a third come from mines as tailings and overburdens, smelter slags, and other residues.
Industrial wastes compose from 90 to 400 million tons, household and commercial wastes 300 million tons and hazardous
wastes from 60 to 250 million tons. Developed countries produce more garbage than developing countries. Each day, an
American may produce something like four lbs. of waste while a citizen of a less developed country would produce only a
fourth of that. Every man, woman and child in the US produce 1.24 tons of garbage every year, twice as much as in
Europe or Japan, and five to ten times as much as in developing countries (Buchholz, 1998; Cunningham & Saigo, 1995).
Garbage has become a huge problem because of lack of dumping sites and the risks posed to health through direct
exposure, or contamination of water, soil, and air.

Open Dumps
In most developing countries, open dumps are the sites of garbage disposal, Such as in the biggest city in the
world, Mexico City, where 10,000 tons of trash is generated daily. In the Philippines, there are at least 10 huge open
dumps, the most popular of which is Smokey Mountain, where a tragic avalanche of garbage took several lives on July 10,
2000. Open dumps expose garbage to flies, rats and other vermin that then become carriers of diseases. People,
including young children, sort through the piles to salvage items for recycling or food and this exposes them to a host of
diseases. In the Philippines, 64% of solid waste is composed of plastics, 24% of glass and metals (Tabora, 1999). Vacant
lots, roadsides and backs of buildings can host heaps of garbage which should be in sanitary landfills. In Metro Manila
and suburbs alone, the daily bulk of garbage is 6,000 tons and only two-thirds is being collected by the government; the
rest litter the streets and clog the waterways (Choong, 2000).

Ocean Dumping
Another wrong disposal practice, ocean dumping, has been done for decades in the belief that the oceans are a
bottomless dumpsite. Some 25,000 metric tons of packaging, half a million bottles, cans and plastic containers, 150,000
tons of fishing gear, 1,000 km of nets crude oil, and unknown other wastes get dumped at sea each year. In the United
States, the practice stopped only in 1988. This certainly affects in no little way the marine environment and all its
inhabitants.

Landfills
ln the US about 75% of solid waste is disposed of in landfills the waste is compacted and covered with soil before
a new layer is dumped on. A subterranean trench is dug around the pile to trap the leachate which is then pumped to the
top for filtering out the chemicals. After a few years, the dump can be converted into a park, a golf course, an athletic field,
or a wildlife area. Because rain and air are virtually kept out of the compacted garbage in a landfill, very little
decomposition takes place, leaving a mummified heap. Only 25% decompose in the first 15 years, most of the rest remain
undecomposed for at least four decades. Newspapers take up as much as 16% of these trash and do not decompose
quickly, coming out readable at any age while plastics compose 13%. The problem today is the lack of landfill sites
worldwide due to the greater awareness about the risks associated with garbage. A recent strategy is using technology to
make landfills cleaner and safer and building residences on them.

Incineration
Incineration is an alternative method of waste disposal, which reduces the volume of waste by 90% and removes
99% of the toxins. The heat can be sold to generate electricity and with effective pollution controls, add little to air pollution.
However, 25% of the original waste remains as toxic residues, which are disposed of in landfills and may contain lead,
mercury, dioxin,.cadmium, and other toxic metals. NIMBY (not in my backyard) movements oppose both landfills and
incineration, which makes it difficult to find new incineration sites. Further, incineration discourages recycling because it
would be easier to throw away paper, glass, plastics, and other wastes to be burned.

Recycling
Recycling could reduce considerably the amount of garbage by reusing glass, plastics, aluminum, metals, scrap
iron, and other materials. This would reduce air, water, and land pollution. Humus would be useful for planting while
rotting matter could be used to produce biogas. Using Scrap iron to produce steel requires 60% less energy and 40% less
water than iron ore. The process also reduces the accompanying air pollution by 89% and water pollution by 76%. Air
pollution is reduced 95% and water pollution by 97% when aluminum recycled and requires 90 less energy than mining
and processing its source, bauxite. Added to the list is the prevention of further deforestation when paper is recycled
(Bucholz, 1998).
 Composting biodegradable garbage will produce soil conditioner and fertilizer but only very little composting is
actually done. For example about 1% of the yard waste in the US is composted. It is believed that from 18% to 60% of
solid waste could be composted.

Hazardous and Toxic Wastes

Hazardous wastes include ignitable, corrosive, reactive, or toxic materials. Ignitable materials are those that might
easily ignite. Corrosive materials are those that could bore through steel due to acidity. Reactive materials are those
which explode as a reaction to contact with water or compression. Toxic materials are poisonous and may endanger
human health.

Every year, at least 1,000 new chemicals are produced, including countless synthetics that do not decompose in
nature. These chemicals stay in the environment for decades, exposing organisms to toxic effects, particularly as
carcinogens (cancer causing), or are converted by organisms to more toxic forms.

In the United States, toxic wastes used to be dumped anywhere and any manner until the Love Canal incident in
Niagara Falls, New York in 1976. In this incident, a chemical and plastics company dumped drums of toxic chemical
wastes into an old canal after which the site was covered, sold, and became the site of an elementary school, a playing
field, and several hundred homes. After years of unusually heavy rains and snow, the canal overflowed in 1976 bringing
chemicals into basements of houses. The government had the place evacuated and the residents relocated. Damage
suits amounting to several millions of dollars were filed against the company, the country and the school with claims for
personal injury, wrongful death and property damage, backed with the discovery of 11 carcinogens, including dioxin in the
air, water, and soil After the incident, the RCRA (Resource Conservation and Recovery Act) was passed in 1976 to
protect groundwater from toxic pollution and preventing contamination that would put human health at risk. This provided
for strict monitoring of hazardous materials "from cradle to grave”- from production to disposal (Cunningham & Saigo,
1995).

Nuclear Waste
Nuclear waste is the gravest concern among all types of wastes because of its potential risk to living organisms,
particularly to human health. Sublethal effects cause long term disabilities or such dreaded morbidities as cancer and
mutations, radioactive wastes persist in theenvironment. High level nuclear wastes have very long half-lives (time before
the waste reaches non-dangerous levels) of some 10,000 years. Nuclear power stations and fuel reprocessing plants
discharge cooling water that contains radioactive wastes into the sea. So do nuclear-powered and submarines. Solid
radioactive wastes have been dumped into the sea since 1946 but since 13 has been regulated so that only intermediate
and low level waste (with half-lives of less than 50 years ) encased in concrete and packed in steel drums. It is expected
that when these containers eventually corrode, a radioactive substances shall have decayed much and the slow release
shall ensure procedure is still not 100% safe and accidents do happen.

The problem of toxic waste disposal is illustrated in the Khian Sea incident. Loaded with one month’s production
of ash weighing 14,000 tons from the municipal incinerator in Philadelphia, the Khian Sea set sail on August 31, 1986 in
search of a dumping place for its cargo that contained such toxins as arsenic, mercury, and dioxins. It started to dump
4,000 tons in Haiti but Greenpeace alerted the authorities who then ordered the ship to take the wastes elsewhere.
Wandering from port to port for 24 months in four continents, The Khian sea changing names twice (Felicia, then
Pelacano) to hide its identity and doubtless, its intention. The toxic cargo was still onboard when suddenly, somewhere in
the Indian Ocean between Singapore, Sri Lanka and Colombo, it disappeared. Everyone assumed that the toxic cargo
was dumped into the sea.

Every year, of some 60 million metric tons of hazardous and toxic wastes, about 3 million tons are dumped into
the sea. In 1989, a treaty was signed by 105 nations requiring the receiving count to give permission for the dumping of
toxic waste on their shores. Exporting wastes to other countries is attractive because it costs a lot to dispose of toxic
wastes in the source country ($800-per barrel in the US) than in other countries ($50 in Africa). In 1994, the UN passed a
resolution completely banning international transport of toxic waste (Cunninghamn & Saigo, 1995).
POLLUTION
A pollutant may be defined as a substance whose presence, quantity, physical or chemical reactions pose a risk
to health or to the environment. Pollution may be defined as the introduction of a substance that is deleterious to health
or to the environment. Contamination is the altering of the state or quality of an organism or environment due to the
unnatural increase in the amounts of a certain substance. A pollutant may be a substance that is naturally occurring in the
environment but due to certain factors has increased in quantity thus posing a threat to the ecological community. An
example is sediment which is natural in coral reefs but when inordinately increased due to anthropogenic factors may kill
corals. Thus the elevated amount or sediment will contaminate the otherwise good quality of seawater. The deleterious
effects of a pollutant may include illness, physical or physiological abnormality, genetic mutation, cancer, or death. The
saying goes, "Too much of a good thing is poison. A worse situation is having too much of a bad thing as in the case of
many pollutants but are present in the environment today, threatening humans, animals, plants and all other organisms,
as well as their habitats.

Air Pollution
In most parts of the world today, one cannot breathe easily anymore. Since the Industrial Revolution, the
burgeoning industries and the continuously evolving transportation facilities have dumped increasing amounts of pollutive
substances into the air. In the 1980s, developing countries in Asia, Latin America, and Africa joined the race for
industrialization, which led to the burning of greater amounts of fossil fuel. Fossil fuel is the collective term given to coal,
petroleum, oil, kerosene, gasoline, and natural gas, which can be burned to produce energy. This carbon-derived fuel
comes from dead plants and animals, which had undergone decomposition for millions of years, usually under the sea,
transforming them into the different combustible forms already mentioned.

The developed countries use much more energy in comparison with less developed countries. A Canadian or an
American uses twice as much energy as does a Frenchman or Japanese, and about 25 times as does an African. Energy
usage varies in different regions of the world. In North America, 30% of the energy is used for residential and commercial
purposes while 90% in Africa is used for residential purposes; the latter mostly for cooking due to the high cost and
scarcity of fuel. Developing countries that strive to industrialize use relatively cheaper machines or obsolete ones that are
inefficient and that produce more pollution.

Asian capitals are becoming very polluted. Mexico City, with the world's most polluted air, is being replaced by
Seoul which has greater concentrations of sulfates and nitrates; New Delhi is the fourth polluted city. Air pollution levels
China are 10 times higher than WHO standards (Asiaweek, 2000). The countries with relatively cleaner air are Singapore,
Japan and Malaysia.

Smog
Smog is the urban signboard of pollution. Its name is derived from the combination of smoke and fog that
describes the unsightly pall of brownish to black haze that hangs in the horizon in polluted Cities. It composed of a cocktail
of pollutants that threatens health. The technical term for it is photochemical smog because it results from chemical
reactions in the presence of sunlight. A primary component of smog is tropospheric ozone which is highly toxic; nitric acid,
formaldehyde, and peroxyacyl nitrate (PAN) are the other major components, The negative effects of smog include eye
irritation, serious respiratory problems and memory loss.

Major Air Pollutants

The two major groups of air pollutants are the oxides of nitrogen and the oxides of sulfur. Occurring as nitrogen
dioxide (NO2), nitrous oxide (N2O), nitric oxide (NO), sulfur dioxide (SO 2), and sulfur trioxide (SO2), they produce acid rain
(HNO3 and H2SO4) and tropospheric ozone.

The oxides of nitrogen, produced from burning fossil fuels in vehicles, power plants and factories, account for the
brownish color of smog. They aggravate asthma, and result in people's predisposition to bronchitis and pneumonia, cause
chest colds and coughing. NO2 is known to cause heart, lung, kidney, and liver damage. It also harms plants.

Oxides of sulfur are emitted by furnaces and boilers in power plants, petroleum refineries, smelters, paper mills,
chemical plants, and vehicles. At low concentrations, sulfur dioxide SO2 is a colorless, odorless gas that can aggravate
respiratory problems such as bronchitis, asthma, and emphysema.

These can corrode metals, injure plants, and impair visibility by as much as 80%. Oxides of sulfur are ranked
second to smoking in causing respiratory damage.
 Air pollution is linked to heart and circulatory diseases. Medical researches prove that daily increases in NO2 and
CO are linked with increases in cardiovascular diseases, NO2, SO2, and CO are significant risk factors for death from
acute stroke (Linn et al., 2000; Hong et al.,2002).

Ozone in the stratosphere is the protective blanket against the ultraviolet rays of the sun but when found in the
troposphere which is nearest the surface of the Earth's ozone is a harmful compound. When oxygen is subjected to
nitrogen oxides and other pollutants that are emitted by vehicles and factories, they react with each other in the presence
of sunlight in what are called photochemical reactions, which then form ozone. Ozone causes irritations in the eyes and
the respiratory system starting from the nose, throat and into the lungs, causing asthma attacks, emphysema, lung
inflammation, and general susceptibility to lung infections. It is recognized as the most harmful pollutant to plants.

The greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide, which, together with methane nitrous oxide,
are being linked to global climate change, contribute to the atmospheric pollution and may bring about adverse effects to
human health. The oxides of carbon are emitted by vehicles, power plants, factories, and domestic fires. Carbon
monoxide, a colorless, odorless by-product of incomplete burning of fossil fuel, contributes to air pollution, and can be
lethal to humans. Movies show how a person who wishes to commit suicide may use a car exhaust pipe rerouted into the
car interior to accumulate carbon monoxide that causes asphyxia. The ozone-depleting compounds discussed earlier are
also harmful air pollutants that cause deleterious effects to human and environmental health.

Floating in the air are suspended particles, air pollutants in the form of solid particles or liquid droplets. Dust,
soot, fly ash, smoke, vapors, aerosols, trace metals, asbestos, fertilizers, and pesticides come from industries, smelters,
burning of fuels or wood, and soil cultivation. Together with natural allergenics like spores and pollen, they may reside in
the air for long periods of time and cause respiratory symptoms, disease and lung damage, and may even cause death
particularly in the very young and the elderly or those with respiratory or heart problems. The eruption of Mount Pinatubo
caused the circulation around the world for two years of ash and dust that blocked some of the sun’s rays and lowered
temperatures by some 0.5-2.0 °C. It is reported that exposure to particulate matter or associated air pollutants may affect
fetal development, causing infant mortality, birth defects and functional defects (Sram, 1999).

Air pollutants like benzene, arsenic and asbestos which are released by chemical plants, Industries and
vehicles are highly toxic. They are linked with cancers, birth defects, reproductive and respiratory malfunctions and other
serious injuries. Lead, a component of gasoline and paint, is produced in the burning of coal and lead-containing garbage,
in smelters and car battery plants. It may contaminate soils and dust. It is highly toxic to humans, particularly to children
where it may cause retardation, convulsions and hallucinations, and disrupt kidney and blood functions.

Acid Rain
The burning of fossil fuel releases sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, traces of mercury, and cadmium into the
atmosphere. When mixed with the water vapor in the atmosphere, these compounds turn into sulfuric acid and nitric acid.
The acidity of a substance is indicated by its pH level, H standing for hydrogen, a standardized measure using the amount
of hydrogen ion (H+). More H+ means more acidity. A neutral pH is represented by distilled water at 7. Values to the left
diminish and represent increasing acidity of substances. Values to the right represent increasingly basic substances. Rain
is normally slightly acidic, with a pH of 5.6 but acid rain at pH 2.0 or less makes it more acidic than vinegar or lemon juice.

Acid rain then falls to the ground as rain, snow, fog, hail, or as dust or gas, and can corrode concrete and metals,
and stunt or kil plants and animals. Lakes in the United States have experienced fish kills due to acid rain with some
cases gone as far as decimation of all plants and animals in them. Acid rain destroys forests by leaching away soil
nutrients that are important to plant growth such as potassium, calcium, and aluminum. Forest soil, particularly in the
tropics, has a small amount of nutrients which are found mostly in the thin topsoil. Leaching renders this precious little
substrate depauperate which results in deforestation. Soils that have acid-neutralizing compounds can survive acid ran for
years but thin soils in mountains and in already acidic areas cannot stand such abuse. Similarly, lakes that are rich in
acid-neutralizing minerals may be able to survive acid rain at the start but continuous onslaught will kill fishes and other
living organisms to the point where the lake "dies" suddenly, turning clear and bluish, an indication that it has turned
oligotrophic or nutrient-poor.

Buildings, monuments, and sculptures have been corroded by acid rain and millions of dollars’ worth of
restoration work have had to be done on priceless works of art. The Stone in Parthenon, the Statue of Liberty, and the Taj
Mahal are some of the most popular ones corroded by acid and which previous restoration work had to be done. In fact,
all houses and buildings are affected by acid rain, thus necessitating repairs, reconstructions, or repainting.

Terrestrial Pollution
 Agriculture has forever changed the nomadic lifestyle of the earliest humans and made possible the urbanization
of the race. Ensuring the availability of stable food on the tables of the world, agriculture is considered a great blessing
and an indispensable undertaking of civilization. This attitude has excused all of the activities in agriculture until recently
when it was shown that agricultural activities can be destructive to the environment through soil, water, and air pollution,
soil erosion, salinization, aquifer depletion, endangerment of wildlife, food contamination by pesticides, deforestation, and
climate change. The pollution in aquatic ecosystems is mainly caused by fertilizers and pesticides that are imported into
them from agricultural areas.

Fertilizers
Fertilizers are food supplements to crops, making them grow taster and giving more harvest than what is naturally
possible, NPK (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium), the three major components of fertilizers, are nutrients that plants
need and enough of which are not naturally available to them in this age of intensive soil cultivation. These nutrients have
to be mined from rocks or developed from bird and mammal droppings and brought to the agricultural fields in their
commercial forms. The introduction of fertilizers into croplands further causes pollution. Some fertilizers cause poisoning
or similar sublethal effects on the farmer. Some become aerosols. Most fertilizers get into the soil and contaminate the
waterways in the area. Fertilizers leach into ponds, lakes, groundwater, or streams that eventually carry them to the sea.
In these bodies of water, the fertili2er residues become a windfall of unexpected rare nutrients that then reuse plants to
bloom. The sudden influx of nutrients that enrich the water is called eutrophication.

Unicellular algae then bloom in ponds and lakes forming an opaque mat on the surface that blocks sunlight from
the other photosynthetic plants below, thus killing them later. When these algae die, they rain down on the pond bottom
and form a mass of organic matter that becomes food for bacteria and other microorganisms. The bacteria have a heyday
breaking down the mountains of food and in the process, use up all the available oxygen in the water. This makes the
pond or lake anoxic or devoid of oxygen thus killing off the fish and all other oxygen-requiring organisms in it. In the sea,
an example of such an algal bloom is the proliferation of unicellular dinoflagellates, so named because they appear to
possess armor plates. Examples are Pyrodinium bahamensi and Gymnodinium breul, and species of Gonyaulax and
Peredium, the toxic red tide organisms that may cause death to marine life and humans.

The agricultural practice of massing together plots of the same plant species attracts plant pests that find an
endless feast in the cropland. Billions of dollar’s worth of crops are lost each year to pests. A pest is any organism that
humans find undesirable because it interferes with their goals. Thus, mice, cockroaches, locusts, caterpillars, and viruses,
particularly those that affect crop or food production are pests to be eliminated. In the same manner, all plant species that
compete with the chosen crops for nutrients, space and sunlight are undesirable and are called weeds and classified as
pests. Pesticides have been developed and have become requirements in large-Scale intensive cultivation.

Pesticides
The word pesticide covers the 50,000 or so chemical preparations (Buchholz, 1998) that are designed to kill or
eliminate a pest. Insecticides kill insect pests that feed on the crops and may cause diseases that are transmittable to
humans and animals. Fungicides kill fungi that parasitize crops causing crop diseases, and eventually, death.
Rodenticides kill rats and mice. Herbicides or weedicides kill weeds. Molluscicides kill snails that graze on rice and
other crops, as well as compete with fish in fishponds. Piscicides kill fish species that are considered pests in fishponds
where preferred species are being cultured. Although the highest percentage of pesticide use is in agriculture, pesticides
are used elsewhere here for various purposes, such as to protect food storage, control disease carriers, treat wood, and
protect households and hospitals.

The usefulness of pesticides in controlling pests is only one side of the coin for they also cause harm to what
humans classify as beneficial or nonpest organisms. The first to call popular attention to the dangers of pesticides on
nontarget organisms was Rachel Carson, the Mother of Environmentalism through her 1962 book Silent Spring which
traced the grim route of the now banned DDT (dichlorodiphenyl trichloroethane) from the farm and through the chain of
organisms in the different habitats that suffered and died from it. When an organism is contaminated by a pesticide or any
other pollutant, it passes the toxin on to the organism that feeds on it, and the feeder passes it on to the next predator, up
the food chain. Since smaller food organisms are eaten in bulk to satisfy bigger predators, the total amount of toxin
ingested bythe predators increase considerably as it moves up the food chain in a process called bioaccumulation or
biomagnification. This means that the last predator, the one on top of the food chain, ingests the most amount of toxin.

In many cases, man is at the top of the food chain and, therefore, receives the greatest amount. The first adverse
effects of pesticides may be suffered by the users themselves. Farmers are usually the first victims of poisoning from the
pesticides that they apply through improper handling or from accidental contamination of food. Traces of some 500 to 700
active ingredients in pesticides were discovered in everyday food in the United States. When absorbed into the soil,
pesticides may contaminate groundwater and get into drinking water supplies. The World Health Organization (WHO)
reports a worldwide estimate of approximately one million people being poisoned by pesticides every year, with some
20,000 deaths resulting, mostly in developing countries where in formation, warnings, and regulations are not adequate
(Cunningham & Saigo, 1995). Cancers and a host of other ailments have been associated with pesticide contamination.

Salinization and Desertification

Irrigation may seem a very innocent activity to a layman, a needful process in farming. It is not well-known that
overirrigated lands become waterlogged which kills plants and soil animals due to the absence of oxygen in the soil which
has been displaced by water. It is not widely known that freshwater always carries a lot of mineral salts scoured from
rocks, soils, and organic matter that its route brings it in contact with. During irrigation, the water is absorbed while some
evaporate, leaving the salts to accumulate in the soil which literally is soil salinization. The salts may break down the
organic nutrients, thus depleting the soil of an otherwise rich growing medium. In time, the soil would lose its fertility and
the vegetation would die off leaving a virtual desert.
Desertification is a global threat particularly to grasslands and forests that are being converted to croplands.
About two-thirds of the groundwater supply of the world is used in agricultural irrigation and percolates into the soil or
flows off to replenish rivers freshwater bodies, carrying pollutants such as residues of chemicals have been introduced
into the croplands to maximize yield. Cultivation itself upturns the soil which contains decomposing organic matter that
then releases the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and methane

Freshwater Pollution
Between 70% and 78% of the planet Earth is covered by water, making it virtually a water planet. Of the total
waters, 976 is contained in the oceans as saltwater. Of the 3% freshwater, 76% 18 in the form of ice and is therefore
unusable. Of the remaining 25%, 14% is not available because it is located below 1,000 meters and is often saline. The
remaining 11% (only 0.0033% of the total waters of the world), is the cyclic portion and is available for human use. In this
light, the present state of pollution of much of the freshwater sources of the world is most alarming.

The increasing world population pushes humans to discover uninhabited places and the availability of technology
enables then to reach the highest mountain peaks and the deepest recesses of the Oceans. Soon, mountain resorts and
regular tourism jaunts conquer hitherto pristine mountains and untouched watersheds making them vulnerable to
disturbance and contamination. Mining and constructions expose watersheds to toxic chemicals and other leachates.
Groundwater, particularly in urban or similarly populated areas, are susceptible to contamination with organic chemicals
and toxic heavy metals from industrial wastes, landfills, and hazardous waste dumps. Human sewage from households
and septic tanks are common threats to groundwater potability. In rural areas, fertilizers and pesticides either go down to
contaminate groundwater or join the runnoff into streams and sea. Oils and petroleum products join runoff from urban
areas. One liter of gasoline can contaminate and make one million liters of water undrinkable. About 1,000 pollutants have
been identified from drinking water all over the world. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that some 35,000
children die from causes related to drinking water contamination daily. Chemicals have always been associated with
cancers and more than 1,000 chemicals are produced each year, most of them find their way into freshwater sources.
Because of pollution, 25% of urban dwellers have quality drinking water. The condition is always worse in rural most acute
in developing countries (Cunningham & Saigo, 1995).

In the Philippines, 362 of 419 rivers are polluted (Asiaweek, 2000), with at least 40 dead including all of Metro Manila's.
The rest are silted, salinized, polluted by mine tailings or industrial and household wastes.

Fresh water is subject to different categories of pollutants that could at the very least degrade the quality of water,
or cause illnesses or deaths. Pollution is a major factor in the water shortage problem. From human and animal wastes
that contaminate water come bacteria, viruses, and human and animal parasites. Inorganic chemicals like lead and
mercury and organic chemicals like pesticides, solvents, oil, gasoline, and detergents and many other compounds are
toxic to humans and animals. Sediment, composed of soil or the finer silt, comes from erosion, mining and constructions.
Radioactive substances in the water can cause genetic mutations and cancer. High levels of nitrates in the water are
highly toxic to humans and can kill children. Nutrient enrichment of freshwater bodies lead to eutrophication that starts an
algal bloom and ends in the decimation of aquatic organisms.

Fresh water shortage, a problem in many areas of the world today, is projected to seriously worsen. It is predicted that in
a decade, about half of the world's peoples will experience a water shortage problem particularly in the arid areas of the
Middle East, Africa, and parts of Asia. Since many countries share common water sources and about 30 nations Lap
water sources outside of their borders, conflicts are expected to arise and may trigger a Third World War.
Manufacturers can reduce groundwater pollution by switching to
chemicals that are less toxic. In Sweden, chlorinated solvents are being
phased out and substitutes are derived from soybeans, citrus fruits, corn,
and lactic acid. Other good practices are the reuse or recycling of
chemicals and establishment of "industrial symbiosis parks like those
in Denmark where unusable wastes from one firm is used by another
(Sampat, 2000).

Marine Pollution
Pollution in freshwater bodies is pollution that finally get into the sea. Pollution in the marine environment sets off
the eutrophication cycle that may, however, not immediately result in the decimation of marine organisms due to the
vastness of the sea, but certainly brings about harmful environmental changes. Red tides cause fish kills and human
intoxication and death, Eutrophication is the most recent cause of disturbance in coral reefs where because of more
nutrients algae proliferate and overgrow corals in what is called a coral-algal dominance shift. The danger lies in the
possible die-off of hard corals, which build the reefs. Reefs are the massive living complexes that build land and prevent
erosion aside from providing a great variety of habitats to marine organisms, Already, coral experts have warned about
the blooms of macroalgae that are pollution indicators, such as the filamentous species that are overrunning the reefs due
to the influx of nutrients, particularly phosphorus.

Siltation or Heavy Sedimentation

Siltation or heavy sedimentation resulting from natural landslides, overlogging, and irresponsible constructions
that clog and suffocate the small eight-armed individual coral animals called polyps that filter food from the water. Even
marine filter feeders like shrimps, clams and crabs are not able to filter off suspended particles if there is too much silt,
and may experience clogging of the gills. Dredging spoils likewise carry toxic metals, oils, and other pollutants that may
cause not only smothering but reproductive problems and mutations.

Thermal Pollution
Another type of water stress is thermal pollution. Factories and industries use machines that have to be cooled
by water, and release the heated wastewater into rivers or estuaries. This is a source of stress to aquatic animals and
plants, particularly to young forms such as eggs, larvae, or fries that are quite sensitive and may die from an elevation
water temperature by as low as 1°C.

Cooling water, particularly from power stations, is discharged into the sea and creates a plume of hot water that
changes the ambient temperature of the receiving water. This kills marine organisms, which are sensitive to sudden
temperature changes, particularly the young forms such as eggs and larvae. Tropical marine animals are generally
harmed by increases from 1-3°C. Most mollusks, sponges, and crustaceans die at 37°C while the turtle grass, Thalassia
1s killed at 35-40°C. Temperature of discharges may reach 40-45°C.

Materials from terrestrial and offshore sources might pollute the waters of the seas. Rainfall and runoff carry
materials from cities and rural areas down to the sea, mining, construction and dredging activities add sediments.
Factories, industries, and power stations may discharge wastewater, sewage or sewage sIudge directly into it through
pipes. Seaports add their own waste water in form or used oils, greases, and sewage. Offshore oil drilling and gravel
extraction add their own wastes even as nuclear and toxic wastes and ammunitions are dumped into the sea (Clark,
1986).

Pollutants in freshwater systems wash down to the sea bringıng there the chain of events that have transpired in
the freshwater route. Organic wastes, pesticides, and fertilizers, petroleum products and inorganic wastes are carried
through runoff and may undergo bacterial action or be diluted before they reach the sea. With the addition of untreated
sewage or agricultural nutrients to seawater, eutrophication will take place, leading to the bloom of single cell and
multicellular algae. Dinoflagellates that cause red tide might bloom. The macroalgae may also bloom. They can overgrow
corals and bring about a coral-algal dominance shift. As in freshwater bodies, coastal waters, particularly in mangroves
with their already high organic load, can become anoxic with the influx of additional blooms being decomposed by
bacteria. As in freshwater, coastal waters may receive agents of infections from untreated sewage that causes diarrhea,
typhoid, and polio
Toxic Heavy Metals
Toxic heavy metals like arsenic, mercury, lead, cadmium, copper, iron, and zinc get into the sea from different
sources. Certain levels of metal compounds naturally occur in seawater from natural processes like erosion and
volcanism. Some of these are in traces of useful nutrients but some are not useful. Organisms vary in possessing
mechanisms to regulate metals and also vary in their tolerances of these. Thousands of tons of mercury are produced
each year and a considerable part of these get to the air and waterways through waste matter. Marine organisms,
particularly clams, are known to accumulate heavy metals.

Mercury
Mercury is used in the production of plastics, chlorine and caustic soda, lumber and paper pulp, in pesticides,
anti-fouling paints, and pharmaceuticals. It is found in the sea as an insoluble, inorganic compound which is in its
adsorbed forms like Hg(OH)2 or HgCl2 or in anoxic sediments as Hg, HgS, and HgS2 all of which may be converted by
bacteria into methyl mercury which is extremely toxic, water soluble, and can be accumulated by marine organisms.
Mercury contamination has been found in clams, algae, barnacles, fish, in fish-eating birds, seals, sea lhons, and dolphins.
The severe effects of mercury on humans is historically shown in the 1956 Minamata Epidemic. Some 2,000 people
among the fishing folk of Minamata Bay in Japan were affected, with 43 deaths recorded. More than 700 permanent
disabilities were traced to the ingestion of mercury contaminated fish. The mad hatter is another case where mercury
treatment of hats poisoned their wearers in England during the Victorian period. Mercury causes convulsions, loss of
muscular coordination, progressive and irreversible brain damage, and death. (Cunningham & Saigo, 1995).

Cadmium
Cadmium is a by-product of zinc smelting, used in the production of plastics, pigments, batteries, and
electroplating. About 90% of the cadmium used in these processes are not recycled. The cadmium found in zooplanktons,
mollusks, particularly squids, and seabirds have not been shown to be hazardous to humans. The historical itai-itai
disease which caused painful bones and some 100 deaths in a village in Jintsu River in Japan was due to the
contamination of rice with cadmium from a nearby Zinc smelter. (Cunningham & Saigo, 1995).

Copper
Urban sewage contains a lot of copper from anti-fouling paint, electrical equipment, and wood preservation. The
dissolved forms are CuCO3, Cu2+ and CuOH. These are easily removed from the water and absorbed. Next to mercury
and silver, copper is the most toxic metal to marine organisms. Although plankton, fish, and shellfish have been known to
accumulate it, copper does not seem to accumulate up the food chain and is generally not regarded as a major health
hazard.

Lead
Lead inputs into the atmosphere comes from leaded gasoline, paints, batteries, sheets and pipes, and fall back to
earth in rain and snow which eventually flow to the sea. Sewage sludge contains high lead concentrations. These are
usually dumped into rivers, estuaries or the sea directly. Lead has been shown to retard growth and cause death in some
lower marine organisms but there is no evidence of bioaccumulation in fish or fish-eating seals. A rare case of lead
poisoning and death occurred in 1979 in the Mersey Estuary in England killing seabirds feeding on bivalves and
seaworms that had high lead content. The green shell Wytilus has a tendency to accumulate metals but has a detoxifying
mechanism for Iead, Lead is not considered as a major public health hazard.

Oil Spills
Crude oil or refined petroleum may contain several-thousand different compounds that are toxic individually or in
combination and whose effects on organisms vary according to age and the time of year. A hydrocarbon is a complex
molecule composed of from one to 26 carbon atoms to which hydrogen atoms are attached and which together form
chains of different shapes. Because of its complexity, crude oil can be broken down into many derivatives. It is refined by
boiling processes that yield different fractions with different uses such as light gasoline for vehicles, naptha as fuel in the
petrochemical industry, bunker fuel in ships and power stations, and tar. An estimate of the annual petroleum inputs to the
sea in millions of metric tons show that industrial and municipal wastes and urban and river runoffs as well as natural
seeps and fall outs, lead the list at 1.27, followed by tanker operations and accidents and shipping at 1.15 and offshore
exploration and operations at 0. 12.

Oil spills are greatly damaging to the marine environment because they contain a variety of other chemicals that
are toxic to many marine plants and animals. Heavy mortalities result from oil spills. Sublethal effects include physiological,
behavioral and long term developmental defects. Immediate death may result through smothering, as seen in barnacles,
fish, crabs, shrimps, bivalves. Sea birds are harmed by the physical effects of oil on their plumage. With 0il the plumage
loses its water-repellent property, buoyancy, and thermal insulation capability and can become waterlogged making the
bird vulnerable to sinking and drowning. Loss of thermal insulation leads to hypothermia (abnormally low temperature of
the body) and death. When the bird preens in an attempt to remove the oil, the swallowed oil causes intestinal disorders
and renal or liver failure. It depresses egg laying and/or hatching, and may kill the embryos in already laid eggs. Marine
mammals like seals and whales do not seem to be much affected by oil spills. Due to the unpalatability of petroleum
products, human ingestion is most unlikely except by accident. Kerosene has been known to make children ill or even
cause their deaths. The greatest risks to humans are by the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in oil which are known
carcinogens.

A major source of oil slick is the oil tankers that transport crude oil from source countries to refineries in other
countries. Upon delivery, the tankers must fill their empty ballasts with seawater for stability but are not allowed to
discharge oil- Containing wastewater at the loading terminal so they discharge at sea, causing oil slicks. The same is
done with ships that have to be dry-docked. Tanker accidents like what happened to the Amoco Cadiz and the Torry
Canyon wrecks involve hundreds of thousands of tons of oil. Offshore oil platforms and coastal oil refineries discharge oil
to the sea. From land come petrols. oils and greases from industries and motor vehicles that join the sewage system and
drain into rivers and the sea. Approximately 200 million liters of waste motor oil and other solvents of unknown quantities
are poured into sewers in the United States alone (Cunningham & Saigo, 1995). Natural sources include some oil
deposits where oil seeps and plants like pinewood that release hydrocarbons to the atmosphere.

Toxic and Radioactive Wastes

Toxic industrial wastes and radioactive wastes are dumped into the sea. The sea is naturally radioactive from
potassium-40, tritium (H3) and decay products of uranium and thorium (Odum, 1971) but human inputs have enormously
increased the risks from radioactive hazards. Algae like Porphyra, Ulva and Enteromorpha and clams accumulate
radioactive wastes. Bottom dwelling fishes are likewise exposed to radioactivity. It is expected that some genetic and
morbidity disturbances affect these organisms.

Plastics
Plastics are found in all garbage dumps and pose particular problems at sea. Pellets and fragments of
polyethylene, polypropylene, and polystyrene have been found in beaches worldwide, even far from industries that
produce them, which shows that they have circulated through the seas. These must have been accidentally spilled or
deliberately dumped. These cause not only an eyesore but a real hazard to seabirds that accidentally ingest them. There
is information that some seabirds have so gotten used to seeing plastics that they think these are food and feed these to
the young. Excess munitions or those that are defective or obsolete have been dumped at or accidentally lost at sea and
although they are not regarded as direct hazards to living they may cause injuries or exposure to chemical warfare
accidentally.

PCBs
PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) are organic molecules of two benzene rings to which chlorine molecules are
attached. These are byproducts in the production of electrical equipment, paints, plastics, and adhesives These are
absorbed in the body and not easily excreted being fat-soluble and persistent. PCBs have been linked to deaths of
seabirds and seals in the Baltic Sea.

Another toxicant, tributyl tin (TBT), is found in antifouling paint used on ship hull to prevent the settlement of
fouling organisms like barnacles and teredo worms. In the early 1980s, it was discovered that TBT was found to cause
female snails like mud snails and dogwhelks to develop secondary male characteristics, a conditio called imposex.
Needless to say, imposex reduces reproductive potential in the population. Oysters, on the other hand, develop thicker
and deformed shells. TBT has been banned and since the pesticide is not very persistent in the environment, the affected
species have been recovering.

GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE

AND RELATED PHENOMENA

Greenhouse Effect
An environmental crisis of global concern is the gradual increase in the atmospheric temperature of the planet -
giving rise to a warmer world climate. The rays of the sun that reach the Earth start cycles that maintain life on the planet,
such as photosynthesis, and wind and water movements. Without the sun, our planet would not be able to support life and
we would be living, or more accurately dying, in a cold planet that is much like Pluto. Certain atmospheric gases are
transparent to the sun s rays, allowing their entry through the atmosphere, but blocking their exit, thus warming the Earth.
This is called the greenhouse effect, in reference to the glass-domed structure that is used for housing certain plants that
must remain in constant temperatures, like for tropical plants that are grown in temperate countries. The different fates of
solar radiation beamed onto the earth showing the creation of the greenhouse effect. In moderation, the greenhouse
condition is beneficial to the planet, preventing it from getting cold, maintaining a temperature just warm enough for
organisms to survive. The average surface temperature of the earth is +15°C; without the greenhouse effect it would be -
18°C.
 However, solar radiation beams much more light and heat than the planet needs; hence, most of it must be
reflected back to space to prevent the Earth from burning. In earlier centuries, this was not a problem. Most of the heat
rays, technically called infrared rays, simply bounce off the surface of the Earth and escape into space. However, since
the industrialization of the world, human activities have been producing increasingly higher amounts of gases that are by-
products of automation and the resulting combustion, like the burning of fossil fuels to run the machines. These gases,
particularly carbon dioxide, create a bouncing board to the infrared rays, which are then radiated back to Earth, in what is
called "radiative forcing" (Tenenbaum, 2001). This heats up the planet to an unusual temperature.

Global Warming
The inexorable increase in the levels of greenhouse gases for the last 150 years is alarming. These used to be
called trace gases because their levels in the atmosphere were very low but due to massive increases now create
radioactive forcing bringing about increasing global temperature in a phenomenon called global warming.

The level of carbon dioxide, which accounts for 50% of the greenhouse effect, has increased by 25%.Carbon is
emitted mainly by cars, factories and wherever fossil fuel 1s used. Deforestation, which is a current global environmental
problem, removes trees that would otherwise absorb the carbon dioxide, thus increasing its release into the atmosphere.
Methane, responsible for 15%-20% of the greenhouse effect, has more than doubled in the last two centuries due to the
burning of wood, increasing areas of rice cultivation, garbage, landfills, livestock manure, termite mounds, leakage from
natural gas exploration and coal mining. Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) account for 15%-25% or the greenhouse gases
and are released from refrigerators, air condition units, aerosol sprays, solvents in electronic products, manufacture of
foam insulation material, electrical circuit board cleaners, and Styrofoam packaging (Buchholz, 1998). A more powerful
catalyst than carbon dioxide, a single CFC molecule traps 15,500 times more heat than a CO 2 molecule. Although carbon
dioxide 15 more plentiful, it only stays in the atmosphere for decades while a chlorine molecule remains from 75 to100
years. Nitrous oxide, the laughing gas formed from the breakdown of chemical fertilizers and burning of coal, and
industrial processes, accounts for 5%. Other greenhouse compounds are carbon monoxide, ozone, the synthetic
compound halon, water vapor and airborne particles that could reradiate sunlight.

Another form of carbon, soot- blackened, unburned carbon has been found to cause more warming than first
thought. Dark particles absorb more solar radiation; hence, the radiative forcing of pure soot at 0.55 W/m2 (watts per
square meter) 18 slightly higher than that of methane at 0.47W/in2 although still lower than carbon dioxide at 1.56 W/m2.
Soot, a product of inefficient combustion, can be washed away by rain in a week or two but while it is in the air, it can
exacerbate asthma (Tenenbaum, 2001).

Although some doubt that it is happening, more scientists believe that global warming is underway and will
increase world temperatures from 3 C to 5.5° C. The consequences of such an unprecedented event are too alarming to
contemplate. It is predicted that the polar ice caps, glaciers and Greenland's ice sheet would melt, raising the sea levels
between 0.2 meters and 1.8 meters (Buchholz, 1998). Some highly populated coastal areas around the world including
Los Angeles, New York and Miami are expected to be flooded. Climate change will occur worldwide, bringing frequent
downpours where height to moderate showers used to occur, and droughts in hitherto wet areas. Storms will be more
frequent and severe. Seas will be stormier as ocean currents change. This would be destructive to crops and vegetation
Animals have to adjust to the change, too. Floods would be more frequent. Hitherto cool areas will become warm. The
continuous warming will increase water evaporation which will form clouds. Clouds reflect sunlight, drawing warmth away
from the Earth, which would perhaps totally neutralize the greenhouse effect, then cooling the Earth.

It is believed that because of warming, the present tundras will develop rapidly into forests. Sudden radical
changes would take place in ecosystems and many species may not be prepared to migrate fast enough to other areas
that would suit their specific needs for niches. Areas that would need the most migration are 38.3% of Russia and 33.1%
of Canada. In many countries, including those in Scandinavia, more than 50% of the existing habitats could change or be
lost; in the United States more than a third of existing habitats in 11 states could face the same fate. The rate at which
carbon dioxide concentrations increases points to the need for very fast migrations from existing areas it the species were
to survive. Historically, climate changes were supposed to have been gradual, allowing animals and plants time to adapt
or escape. The next ice age that is predicted to result from global warming would be so rapid that it may not be possible
for most animals and virtually impossible for plants to do so, thus leading to mass species extinctions (Spurgeon, 2000).
One preparatory step for such a scenario is the growing interest in "green corridors, man-made vegetation strips in urban
areas such as hedges, windbreaks, highway borders that would serve as wildlife habitats or pathways to more suitable
areas (Smith & Smith, 2001). Among its effects, global warming is expected to contribute to the spread and increased
occurrence of diseases. Floods and droughts brought by erratic weather may damage crops and cause infestations that
could lead to malnutrition which in turn could displace people, forcing them to crowd in not-so-ravaged areas. Crowding
would hasten the spread of infectious diseases like tuberculosis.
 Vector-borne diseases will escalate. Mosquitoes thrive in warmer temperatures and so do their parasitic
pathogens, like the malaria, dengue, and yellow fever parasites. The zone of malaria transmission is predicted to grow
from 45% of the world's population to 60%, spreading to the north and south of the tropics. There is no vaccine for malaria
and organisms are growing resistant to drugs. As global warming brings the warm winter-hot dry summer pattern, cases
of viral infections like the St. Louis encephalitis among mosquitoes, birds and humans would also increase. This must
have been the reason for the outbreak of the west Nile virus that caused seven deaths in New York.

In the US Southwest in 1998, drought killed many of the bird predators of rodents including eagles, falcons, owls,
hawks and snakes. The ensuing unusually heavy rains brought plenty of food for the rodents that then proliferated and
with them the spread of a virus that earlier might have been localized in a smaller group. The drought that followed forced
the rodents to seek food in human dwellings bringing with them the hantavirus that caused the pulmonary syndrome.
Floods bring waterborne diseases like cholera, although drought might likewise do because potable drinking water would
dwindle forcing people to use contaminated ones where the pathogens or toxins may be concentrated (Epstein, 2000).

Most climate models agree that global warming is already occurring. The effects of greenhouse gases are felt
only after 20 years of accumulation; hence any effect of a world effort to diminish gaseous emissions will benefit the
planet only two decades later. The international community addressed the buildup of greenhouse gases in the 1992 Rio
Summit where the industrialızed nations committed to reduce by the end of the decade the greenhouse gases emissions
in their countries to the 1990 levels. When Bill Clinton became President of the US, he committed the US to do the same-
a tough goal since the US, with only 6% of the population of the world, produces about 25% carbon emission (Buchholz,
1998).

Some steps that countries can take to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases include using "cleaner coal. Coal,
which accounts for more than half of the world's power source, may be processed such that it contains less oxides of
nitrogen and sulfur dioxide, thus minimizing the emission of these gases. Natural gas, containing only half the carbon
found in coal, less nitrogen and no sulfur, 18 a cleaner energy source. Fuel cells from various chemicals react chemically
to produce electricity, giving off water and carbon dioxide, with b0% efficiency. Studies are being done to find cleaner
alternatives to CFCS. More energy efficient cars may be produced. renewable energy sources such as solar energy, wind,
geothermal and biomass energy are good alternatives. Destruction of tropical forests accounts for 20%-25% of
greenhouse gases. Reforestation may help reverse the condition. The microscopic phytoplankton in the oceans absorb
50% of the carbon dioxide produced in the world, thus their habitat, the marine environment must be red (Buchholz, 1998).
People can practice conservation by using less energy or by ensuring that their energy sources are efficient, such as in
the choice of light bulbs, air conditioners or refrigerators, and simply, the reduction in the use of appliances that expend
much energy.

El Niño
Another weather phenomenon that has a similar pattern to global warming is the El Nino Southern Oscillation
(ENSO). The phenomenon is the unusual warming for months of surface oceanic waters in the tropical Pacific that should
be otherwise cool. The first such incident occurred in the waters off Peru in December 1987, hence the name EI Niño
referring to the Christ Child. The ocean waters that were supposed to have been cool were unusually warm which caused
the absence of upwelling that periodically takes place around that time. Normally, as oceanic surface waters cool during
the cool season of the year, they become heavy and sink to the bottom, displacing the warmer bottom water which in turn
wells up bringing with it nutrients and organic components that fishes and other marine organisms need. Failure to do so
means lack of food for these organisms. The warming of the waters is detrimental to shallow water organisms like corals
that then expel their symbiotic zooxanthellae in a reaction called bleaching due to the loss of the color-giving
zooxanthellae. Bleaching kills the corals that depend on the zooxanthellae for most of their nutrients. From occurring
every four or five years, the ENSO has become more frequent, appearing almost once a year since 1990, and since 1976
has shown increased intensity and duration.
La Niña
The high evaporation rates of ocean water during the El Niño cause more than the usual evaporation that stores
moisture in the atmosphere. The moisture load precipitates into heavy rainfall, tropical storms, snow or hail storms, called
La Nina, that are unloaded somewhere. The accumulation of moisture from the eastern Pacific results in abnormally
heavy rainfalls in areas of South America and Africa while droughts take place in parts of Southeast Asia and Australia.
These weather abnormalities can cause destruction of crops and other vegetation as well as predispose animals and
humans to diseases borne by floods or exacerbated by droughts (Epstein, 2000).

Ozone Destruction
In the late 70s and on into the 80s, the world learned about a new menace to the planet ozone destruction.
Ozone is a molecule that is composed of three atoms of oxygen (O,) and is found in the lower stratosphere some 17 km to
25 km above the surface of the Earth (Campbell, et al., 2000). lt forms naturally from the bonding together of free oxygen
atoms resulting from the splitting of oxygen (O,) molecules by ultraviolet radiation from the sun. Figure 14 shows the
formation of the ozone molecule and its destruction by a catalytic atom or molecule. The ozone forms a protective blanket
that shields the earth from the damaging UV rays, known as UV-C, found in the 200-290 nanometer bands. Organisms
cannot tolerate ultraviolet rays. This is shown well in the use of UV light too disinfect microbiological laboratories. Single-
celled organisms like the simplest algae and bacteria die from exposure to UV rays. Multicelled organisms have certain
defense mechanisms like protective pigmentation on the skin surface, but this protection is very limited. In humans, skin
cancer, cataracts, snowblindness, and possible degradation of the immune system may result from exposure to ultraviolet
radiation. Of 200 plants screened tor reaction to ultraviolet rays, 140 reacted with decreased photosynthesis, decreased
yield, smaller leaf area and inefficient water use (Buchholz, 1998).

When ozone molecules are destroye d, the protective blanket diminishes, in what is called the thinning of the
ozone. Since 1975, satellite monitoring saw the thinning of the ozone layer and the increasing rate at which it continues.
In 1983, a hole in the ozone over Antarctica, the size of the country or wales was discovered. Expeditions to study the
hole revealed that the South pole ozone had thinned by half of its original concentration, and had even disappeared in
some spots. The ozone hole grows and sink seasonally and sometimes extends over Australia, New Zealand and South
Africa. In the more populated middle latitudes, the ozone has decreased by from 2% to 10% in the past 20 years
(Campbell, et al., 2000).

Chlorofluorocarbons (CF CS) are the major causes of ozone depletion because of the chlorine molecules in them.
A single chlorine molecule can break apart 100,000 ozone molecule8 into O, and O. Worse, CFCs can stay in the
atmosphere for 7b-100 years. Another culprit, halon, the chemical in fire extinguishers, Contains bromine, which is a
hundred times more ozone destructive than chlorine. Carbon tetrachloride and methyl chloroform used in refrigerants and
industries are two other ozone depleters. To mitigate the problem, a recommendation is to use greener CFCs, which are
compounds that contain hydrogen thus they degrade easily. Non-CFC propellants and non-aerosol products are the safer
alternatives. Use of new technologies, recovery of discarded refrigerants and capturing CFC emissions and prevention of
evaporation of cleaning solvents may help save the situation.

In 1987, with the severity of the ozone destruction problem, 24 countries signed the Montreal Protocol on
Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer agreeing to cut back on CFC production to less than 50% by 1998. Controls on
the production of halon were included in the treaty. In 1990, 75 countries signed the London Amendments, further
strengthening the agreement, calling for the elimination of CFCs worldwide in a decade, and setting up an international
fund of $200 billion to enable less developed countries to join the effort. (Buchholz, 1998).

The hydro-chlorofluorocarbons (HCFCS) were developed to replace CFCs. These gases can still damage ozone
if they reach the stratosphere, but they are less likely to since their extra hydrogen atom allows them to be destroyed in
the lower layers or the atmosphere. These gases are also controlled under the Montreal Protocol and were phased out
after 2004. The gases that replaced both the CFCs and HCFCs are hydro- fluorocarbons (HFCS), Which do not contain
any chlorine atoms and so have no ozone depleting effect. Unfortunately, many of them are powerful greenhouse gases
and could contribute to global warming if emitted in large quantities. (Microsott Encarta Encyclopedia 2005)

ECOSYSTEM DEGRADATION
Grassland Degradation
The apparent biological wealth of forests and grasslands is in the standing biomass or living vegetation. Yet, this
does not constitute the bulk of productivity because the major route of food production in these biomes is the detritus food
web, in the decomposition that takes place in the soil. In a heavily grazed pastureland, the maximum consumed by
herbivores is 50%; normally as much as 82% goes through the decomposition pathway. In a forest, decomposition
accounts for as much as 98% of productivity. The fallen leaves and parts or vegetation account for the crucial activity,
which takes place in the soil. Soil is defined as all the loose fragments on the surface of the earth that came from broken
down rocks. It is part of what is technically called regolith, which includes soil with boulders, gravel, stones and pebbles.
Composed of combinations of sand, clay and silt, soil is the medium of all food production on the Earth, from plants to the
animals that feed on them, to the humans that use both, to micro0rganisms that through decomposition maintain the vital
cycling f material resources in the biosphere. Without soil, there would be no fo0d. Soil is both a resource and a habitat.
The terrestrial environment is based on soil and in the soil itself are interstitial organisms that make their homes there.

Soil degradation, the diminution of soil productivity, is one of the World's major problems today. Grasslands are
destroyed through burning to give way to croplands, housing or commercial spaces. Grasslands, known as savannas,
prairies or steppes cover 40% of the total surface of the Earth and are home to the largest numbers of animals,
particularly the four-footed mammals and birds. In the United States, almost all of the grasslands have been converted to
croplands. Crop cultivation stops the decomposition that normally occurs in grasslands since croplands are usually not
given time to fallow before another crop is planted. Rather, fertilizers artificially provide the nutrients which eventually
destroy soil quality. Eroded, infertile, salinized, acidic, contaminated, dessicated, or mineralized soils are becoming more
common and this is being restored by pouring in more fertilizers and other chemicals Which are very costly.

Nutrients are depleted in intensively cultivated soil rendering the soil perpetually poor, thus setting a vicious cycle
of need for chemical inputs. Soil degradation starts with the removal of nutrients, particularly N, P, K, and Ca, through
eroded sediments or runoff. A specific example of the effects of soil degradation is the loss of 7 cm of topsoil throughout
midwest USA equivalent to 900 tons per hectare. Each centimeter soil loss results in 6 percent reduction in yield of maize
(O'Riordan, 1995).

Soil conservation, designed to prevent soil erosion and maintain soil quality, side by side with water conservation,
is necessary for restoring the grassland resources.

Deforestation
The complete removal of trees for the purpose of converting a forest area into an entirely different purpose is
called deforestation. Forests in industrialized countries have almost all disappeared except for those Russia and Canada.
Worldwide, the rate of deforestation has been increasing since 1950 and mostly in Southeast Asia, particularly in Japan
and Philippines. Never have forests been so threatened as today, (Ruchholz, 1998). Because of the burgeoning of the
world population with the subsequent ever-increasing need for agricultural land forests grasslands, slopes and even
mountains are being cleared for crops. It is predicted that by 2025, the ratio of cultivable land will decrease 0.12 to 0.17 ha
per capita (O Riordan, 1995). In poverty-stricken countries, people cut trees for fuel and material for construction of huts.
however, mountain resorts are becoming popular and their construction requires the clearing of forested areas to be
developed.

At the start of this century, there were about 20 million square miles of forests (about twice the land area of the
United States), at least one third ot which is now degraded or destroyed. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization
reports that approximately 16.9 million hectares are being cleared each year (Cunningham & Saigo, 1995). In the Amazon,
weather satellite data in 1988 saw 7,000 fires initiated in one day for the purpose of clearing the forests for other uses.
After widespread criticism, Brazil was able to reduce the forest clearing rate in the Amazon to 1.4 million hectares per year.
In the US, the 170 million hectares of forest has been reduced to 10 million (O'Riordan, 1995).

Philippine forests cOvered 92% of the country's land area of 30 milion hectares in the 16th century. Today, it is
only 18% of the original area. A paper by former UP President Dr. Emil Javier, with Dr. Adolfo Revilla Jr. and Prof.
Napoleon Vergara reveals that of the original 27.5 million hectares of forest, 18.7 million hectares remained in 1920 but
the 20th century Filipinos stripped the forests of some 13.5 million hectares of it mostly in the 60s, 70s, and 80s. In the last
two decades the deforestation rate was 200,000 ha per year (DENR, 1997) and continue today at 100,000 ha per year.
(Fernandez, 1999).

Due t0 awareness and strict laws, deforestation has abated in developed countries but 80% of the deforestation is
occurring in the tropics where the developing countries are, most of which have no adequate laws or enforcement and
may, in fact, allow liberal harvesting of trees without ensuring reforestation (Buchholz, 1998). The tropical rain forests of
the world are cut at the rate ot 500,000 km' per year and in a decade, all large tracts may be eliminated (Campbell, et al.,
2000). Tropical forests, as a whole, have a low cover ot 50% from their original primary vegetation. Yet, In the recently
designated 17 tropical fore areas as biodiversity hot spots ot the world, the areas are so impoverished that they have only
12% of the original vegetation (P'imm & Raven, 2000).
Forests are most popularly regarded as sources of food, fuel, medicine, construction and clothing materials,
decorative plants and display animals. The role of forests in ecology is vital to the biosphere in that forests buffer
temperature changes and stabilize humidity thus preventing climatic extremes. The intricate root systems in a forest
cradle the soil, preventing its erosion and retard the flow of water enough to let it sink into the soil and become
groundwater, which is the major source for human use including irrigation. Deforestation removes the root system
protection for soil and water. Results are runoffs and floods, which lead to s0il erosion and landslides. Floods further
impoverish the soil, which causes it to dry and lose its water holding capacity, leading to drought. Finally, runoffs carry
away more nutrients. Runoffs cause siltation in rivers, estuaries and coastal waters, degrading these areas. When forest
soil loses its water holding capacity, there is little water absorption into the ground, which 1s the source of groundwater
storage. This leads to the depletion of watershed areas that depend on such absorption.

Coral Reef Degradation

It is not only the terrestrial environment that sees degradation. The coastal marine ecosystem is another site of
environmental deterioration from human abuse. Coral reefs are important natural structures because they build land,
shield the shores from erosion due to wave action and typhoons and play vital roles in nutrient dynamics such as in
carbon cycling. As sites of great biodiversity, they provide habitats for countless marine creatures. The reef is built by tiny
coelenterates called coral polyps. These build stony houses or calcium carbonate, which compose and continually build
the reef structure. Because they are tiny, coral polyps build at a slow rate or about 1 mm per year vertically and 8 mm
horizontally. These living builder animals have microscopic algae inside their tissues that lend color to their otherwise
transparent bodies.

The algae, called zooxanthellae (zooxanthella, singular), are symbionts of corals. They are photosynthetic but,
like most plants, cannot tolerate too much direct sunlight. The coral polyp tissues partially shield them and act as
protection from grazing predators. In return, the zooxanthellae contribute carbon to help build the coral skeleton and the
reef, as well as provide oxygen for the coral polyp itself. Likewise, the organic waste products of the zooxanthellae are
nutrients for the coral. Coral reefs worldwide are suffering from physical destruction and various other maladies such as
viral, bacterial and fungi diseases, sedimentation that suffocates corals and other organisms and cause the shift from
coral to algal dominance.

Direct human destruction comes in the form of illegal fishing methods such as muro-ami, dynamite fishing and
cyanide poisoning; pollution from untreated sewage coming from adjacent communities, oil spills, thermal pollution, and
deliberate dumping of garbage and other wastes. Scraping by boat hulls or anchors; trampling and overturning by
gleaners and tourists; and sedimentation from mining and constructions also directly engender human destruction. As a
reaction to increased seawater temperature such as during an El Nino, the coral polyps expel their symbiotic
zooxanthellae. With the loss of the pigment-carrying symbionts, the translucent polyps look white, giving rise to the
bleaching that signals coral death. The Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network reports that the recent massive bleaching
of corals all over the world is due to the 1998 EI Nino which is attributed to global climate change. The most severely
affected reefs are those in the Indian Ocean with 59% loss, in the Middle East with 35%% loss, and Southeast and East
Asia with 34% loss (Pockley, 2000). Humans can certainly be blamed for global warming which is traced to pollutive
emissions. Bleaching is also caused by human disturbance such as pollution and effluents that decrease water salinity.
Even supposed natural outbreaks of the crown of thorns starfish is being blamed on how humans have depleted its
natural predator, the Triton., a shelled mollusk.

Philippine coral reefs have been identified as the world's top "hot spot the coral reef system with the greatest
number of species and the most unique species diversity but als0 with the highest threats to these species (Gorman,
2002). These reefs have been seriously degraded, as shown in studies done by Dr. Edgardo Gomez and colleagues at
the UP Marine Science Institute and by Dr. Angel Alcala of Silliman University. Their results show that 65% of Philippine
reefs have less than 50% live corals in them, and only 5% are in excellent condition with a least 75% live corals.

Worldwide marine protected seascapes and natural parks have been set up to protect remaining reefs. Laws and
regulations regarding conservation and illegal fishing are being observed in many countries but there is difficulty in
watching the wide seas particularly in developing countries.

Mangrove and Seagrass Bed Degradation

Mangroves are nurseries of marine organisms, a refuge where they could grow into the juvenile stage before
going out into the wider seas. Reclamation of mangrove areas for fishponds, commercial and housing purposes, and
wood extraction have destroyed most of the world's mangroves and contributed to reduced fish catch and productivity.
Philippine mangroves continue to decline at a rate of at least 3,000 hectares per year. Like coral reefs and mangroves
seagrass beds are important habitats and nurseries for certain marine organisms. Some marine animals, like the dugong
and sea urchin, feed on seagrass, The destructive events in coral reefs also occur in seagrass beds, degrading them.
BIODIVERSITY LOSS
Ecology teaches us that living organisms are interdependent which means that no organism is useless or
unimportant since each has a role that is vital to the ecosystem. It also states that any change anywhere changes the
balance of nature. lt goes so far as saying that when we scoop sand from a beach we change the entire beach ecosystem.
That supposedly triggers a domino effect that affects the entire Earth. In the light of this principle, we cannot help but be
aghast at the use of pesticides, at the conversion of grasslands to cropland, at the destruction of forests, coral reefs, and
estuaries, at the pollution of land and rivers that lead to the loss of habitats and displacement of species. It seems that
human pursuit is generally aimed at achieving material goals, mostly cloaked in the guise or development and progress,
without regard for the effect on other organisms that we interdepend with and the environment that we live in. This attitude
is the basic cause of species endangerment and extinction that result in biodiversity loss.

Extinction is the death of all the individuals of a species, nevermore to be seen on Earth. Popular examples of
extinct species are the dinosaurs. In North America, extinct species are the mastodont, the sabretooth, the glant bear, the
passenger pigeon, and the heath hen. In the Northern Hemisphere, the wooly mammoth and the giant deer are extinct
species. Species that may soon be extinct are labeled endangered. Included in the endangered species list are the Great
Indian rhinoceros whose horn is sold as medicine; the Florida panther, the whooping crane, the Chinese alligator, the
polar bear, Grevy' s zebra because of overhunting; and a number of fishes and shellfish. Philippine animals in danger of
extinction include the Philippine (or monkey eating) eagle in Mindanao, the tamaraw in Mindoro, the mousedeer in
Palawan, the Philippine deer in Luzon, the peacock pheasant in Palawan, the Rufus hornbill (kalaw), the dugong in
Negros, Leyte, Catanduanes, and Batangas, and the green sea turue (pawikan) in Cebu, Sulu, and Luzon (Haribon,
undated).

About 1.4 million (another estimate puts it at 1.7 M) species on Earth have been identified mostly from the
terrestrial environment, with insects comprising more than half of it at 750,000; some 250,000 are higher plants and
44,000 are vertebrates. The world does not know the exact number of species now existing and it is suspected that a
number of species may have been unknowingly lumped together as one. Estimates of the actual total range from 3 to 30
million (another estimate puts it at 5-100M). Less than 20% of freshwater species and less than 1% of marine organisms
are recorded. It is feared that species become extinct before they could be described. The estimated extinction rate since
the beginning of time was one for every million species per year, (Campbell, et al., 2000). Current estimates put it at
between 10,000 and 60,000 species per year (O'Riordan, 1995).

Tropical rain forests covering about 7% of the earth are the richest ecosystems because they contain at least
50% of the world's species. Thus deforestation is a major factor in biodiversity loss (O'Riordan, 1995) A study of a
rainforest in Panama showed 580 tree species alone in a 0.5 km2 plot (Ehrlich & Koughgarden, 1987).

Coral reefs are comparable to forests in species richness and have been described as being the most spectacular
ecosystems. Reefs worldwide suffer from pollution, trampling, overgleaning, and overfishing. Worldwide, 93% of coral
reefs are damaged, and up to 60% could be lost in the next 30 years.

Degradation of habitat and habitat loss due mainly to anthropogenic causes is the major cause of extinction
accounting for 73% of species extinction and endangerment or International Union for Conservation of Marine and Natural
Resources (IUCN). The concept of species extinction being a function of habitat size states that the number of species in
an area is directly related to the area size. It is believed that where 90% of the habitat is lost, 50% of the species are lost
(Campbell, et al., 2000). The conversion of forest areas into industrial, residential and resort purposes, the reclamation of
mangroves for construction of fishponds and resorts, and the pollution and destruction of coral reefs diminish habitats,
causing overcrowding and resulting in stress, disease and death in the remaining populations. Smaller populations have
less genetic diversity. Genetic diversity is linked with genetic vigor and resistance to diseases and other general survival
mechanisms. The loss of one species directly or indirectly adversely affects other species in the interdependency scheme
of life thus also lessening the chances for survival of the species that remain.

Hunting of large mammals and birds, collection of birds, butterflies, and plants for commercial purposes and
aesthetic display is the second major cause of depletion of the species and subsequent extinction. Examples of extinct
species are the American bison, whales, the Galapagos tortoises, fishes such as cod, mackerel, herring, also dolphins,
marine turtles, seabirds, illegal trade items like orchids, rare birds and fish and cactus. Trade of animal skin, bird feathers,
rhinoceros horns, elephant tusks, grizzly bear gallbladder, (Campbell, et al., 2000) and the desire for exotic food threaten
the source organisms such as of bird's nest, shark fin, shark liver oil, puffer fish and monitor lizard.
The 100 or more endemic Philippine bird species have not been well monitored but an account indicates that several
species may have gone extinct, such as in Cebu where 9 out of 100 endemic bird species are nowhere to be seen. At
least 43 are believed to be threatened, including the Palawan peacock Pheasant, the Nicobar Pigeon, Philippine Owl and
the Rufous hornbill. The only monkey species in the country, the crab- eating or long-tailed macaque, may also be
threatened due to hunting for the monkey trade and destruction of habitats (Haribon, undated).

Introduction of exotic species, whether accidentally (hitchhiking seeds, insects and rodents) or intentionally
(ornamental or collection purposes), causes local extinctions. The new species either outcompete the local ones or prey
on them. Very quickly, the introduced species become a pest such as in the case of the "golden kuhol", the giant African
catfish, the giant African snail Achatina fulica, or the cogon grass Imperata cylindrica which overruns rain forests in
Indonesia and Java. Introduced rats have led to the extinction of birds in several Pacific islands including Hawaii
(ORiordan, 1995). The commonest birds in the US- pigeons, starlings and house sparrows are introduced species. The
introduction of the Nile perch Lates niloticus in Lake Victoria, East Africa caused the loss of 200 species of cichlids
(Campbell, et al., 2000).

It is projected that a third of all species would be lost in 30 years, With 50 plant species in the tropics at risk, 15%
in South America, and 2% of their birds. The extinction of species strikes at the heart of thee interdependency theory
which believes that all species are equally important and therefore indispensable to the balance of nature. The other
impact of extinction would be the loss of potential benefits to humans, from undiscovered drugs to aesthetic enjoyment
(O'Riordan, 1995).

Since conservation efforts require money and there are not enough funds to assist all threatened species,
scientists have identified "biodiversity hotspots"' which are areas that must be prioritized in conservation effort. These
areas have exceptional varieties of endemic species and are undergoing exceptional habitat loss. Twenty-five hotspots,
occupying 1.4% of the Earth's land surface hold 44% of vascular plant species and 35% of all species of mammals, birds,
reptiles and amphibians. In 15 of the 25 hotspots at least 2,500 endemic plant species are found while 10 contain at least
5,000. Sixteen are in the tropics where developing countries have very little conservation strategies and threats are the
greatest. Eight areas have been identified as the hottest hotspots which is headed by Madagascar, the Philippines and
Sundanaland from number of endemics, endemic species/area ratio and habitat loss. The Philippines, Madagascar and
the Caribbean have small areas, which make conservation even more crucial (Myers, et al., 2000)

In 1997, the global GNP was US$ 18 trillion. In comparison, the estimated average annual value of the biosphere
was $US 33 trillion. The imperative of taking huge steps to save our environment cannot be ignored and must include
three strategies, Preservationism is the setting aside of are as chosen to remain natural and untouched by development
efforts. Resource conservation indicates zones for different uses that cater to interests aside from mere environmental
conservation such as fiishing zone, recreation zone, ecotourism zone, study and reserve. Ecosystem management that
protects an area based on ecological principles (Campbel, et al., 2000). The extinction of species has potential for the
greatest impact than all the other environmental problems since according to science, it would take several million years
to generate a replacement stock of species, if at all.

ENVIRONMENTAL WATCH GROUPS

At least 10 environmental groups have been actively lobbying for, promoting and enforcing environmental
legislation in the US. These include the Audubon Society, created in 1905 to preserve wildlife habitats, protect
endangered species and teach children about nature through ecology camps. The Environmental Defense Fund
sponsors market-oriented solutions to environmental problems, Such as working with McDonald's and General Motors to
promote environment friendly schemes. The Sierra Club, one of the most influential organizations, lobbies in Congress
on environmental issues such as nuclear energy, endangered animals, hazardous waste disposal, and landfills. Friends
of the Earth, founded in 1971, has activities similar to the Sierra Club and is lobbying for no-growth and population
stability. Greenpeace USA works under the Greenpeace International umbrella, an activist organization known to take
direct action against those who damage the environment, now undertakes research and works with citizens, business,
and industry for environmental protection. The National Wildlife Federation, a big organization with 1.3 million members
and a staff of around 650, works against privatization and development of natural resources, blocking the use of coal,
nuclear power, natural gas and hydroelectric power, and through the Corporate Conservation Council, awards businesses
with outstanding environmental performance, The Natural Resources Defense Council sues firms for failure to observe
environmental laws and regulations. It was the organization that raised the alarm over apples contaminated by the
pesticide Alar. The Wilderness Society works to preserve wilderness and wildlife and protecting natural resources. It has
included global warming in it concerns. The World Wildlife Fund originally funded by international protects big game from
extinction now protects large animals from poaching and lobbies against trade of animal-derived items. (Buchholz).
ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS
Flash floods, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, landsides, tsunamis, storm surges, and other natural
environmental hazards can also be called geohazards because they are closely linked to geologic processes. Time and
again when we hear about the deaths and destruction that they cause, we are reminded of man's helplessness against
the forces of nature. It is a clear indication that the environment has powers greater than almost all the devices of men.
Human and animal lives are lost and property is destroyed because we often disregard the natural environment when we
choose the places we live in or do our economic and recreational activities. An understanding as to why an earthquake
occurs, for example, should influence the kind of strategies that government, businesses, or the individual should apply, in
order to minimize potential losses due to an earthquake. The government can, if it wants to, prohibit the building of houses
along faults or the development of human settlements over areas prone to liquefaction.

In the following pages, we will briefly describe the important environmental hazards to watch out for in our country.
Our geographic and geologic location make the Philippines prone to many natural disasters such as typhoons,
earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions. Its location along the Pacific Ring of Fire, where major crustal plates interact, makes
the country unstable relative to continental mainlands like China, Australia, and Europe. Crustal plates were recognized
since the 1960s and became the basis for the Plate Tectonics theory. This theory is now the most accepted explanation
for the opening of oceans, mountain building, linear arcs of volcanoes, drifting continents, and wandering poles.

The crust is the part of the Earth that we are most familiar with. It makes up the land that we inhabit above the
sea level. It also includes the submerged parts of the continents and islands that extend outward from land and reach
down to the bottom of the ocean (continental shelf area), and the seafloor that covers the entire ocean areas (as much as
30km deep). The Earth is made up of many vast rigid plates and more small ones that are surrounded by cracks all
around. One plate moves laterally against other surrounding plates. The Philippines was formed from the modification of
the rocks when the West Pacific Basin plate collided with a fragment of the Eurasian plate (that includes mainland China)
that was at its (Eurasian plate) eastern edge. The crust rides on top of the mantle (7-40 km deep from the surface). The
mantle is made up of denser rocks and partially molten rocks called magma. It is believed that parts of the mantle are
convecting within the Earth due to temperature differences among its different parts.

As plates move by rising against another piece of the crust, by diving below or grinding past against another, the
ground shakes and vibrates, creating what we know as an earthquake. Other specific geologic processes aside from plate
movements like faulting and volcanic activity generate these vibrations. The movement of one plate against another takes
the form of moving away from a crack on the Earth's surface where new crust is being formed (ridges), moving down
under another crustal plate (trench), or sliding past another plate (transform fault). Crustal plates move 6 cm per year on
the average. Thousands of earthquakes strike the earth in one day but most are too feeble to be noticed.

Faults are cracks between and within crustal plates. Faults should be avoided by people, especially if there are
records of at least historic or recorded movements within them. We should not build houses, infrastructures and roads On
too active faults except when we are prepared to spend much money trying to rebuild or replace later damage to them.

Another cause of earthquakes is magma movement. Magma coming from the mantle tends to rise towards areas
of lower pressure, usually closer to the surface or in between the cracks and other openings between rocks. In the
process of rising up or squeezing itself up between rocks, earthquakes are also produced.

Magma that is erupted out of cracks or of fissures builds up a cone-like feature that forms a volcano. The
tremendous pressure of compressed gases that build up under a volcano is released through a volcanic eruption.
Eruptions also cause temblors. The power of volcanic eruptions should convince humans not to live too close to
volcanoes and to avoid being on the path of volcanic materials that are carried down by water or by wind. Volcanic
materials may clog rivers with their debris long after the eruptions have died down. This is reminiscent of the destruction
of many villages in Pampanga by lahars or volcanic mudflows that continued even after a few rainy seasons from the time
that Mount Pinatubo erupted.

There are other associated volcanic hazards that the public has to know. These include volcanic gases, tephra or
windblown volcanic debris that are laid down on water bodies, ash and tsunami. The last phenomenon comes from the
Japanese words "rough waves". When an earthquake occurs offshore (sometimes also indirectly due to submarine or
emergent volcanic eruptions), the sudden shaking of the crust causes the buildup of giant waves. Tsunamis can cause
damage to villages along the coasts or even low-lying areas away from the coast.

Seismology (the study of earthquakes) aids man in predicting where the earthquake generators are in a region
or a country. If we have development plans in areas where earthquakes are frequent, then the plans should include
mitigating measures like building better foundations for buildings, creating "buffer zones” along active faults, installing
monitoring instruments for better warning systems and rigorously implementing building codes. The government agency
that monitors earthquakes and volcanic eruptions in the country is the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology
or PHIVOLCS, an agency under the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).

Another environmental hazard that has lately received a lot of media attention in the Philippines is mass wasting
or, in the language of the layman, landslides. Mass wasting refers to all disturbances in the ground caused by gravity that
results in failure of slopes and ground. Landslide is a general term that applies to the sudden collapse of soils and rocks,
Other processes classified as mass wasting may not be as sudden as landslides but are more gradual. They include the
slow sliding of weak soils (creep), rockfalls in bare mountain areas, mudflows (when sliding soils and rocks are water-
logged) and subsidence (slow downward movement of the ground due to the settling of compressible earth materials like
clays or the slow dissolution of soluble rocks). Most landslides that inflict damage to lives and man-made structures occur
suddenly on slopes alter strong rains or earthquakes. The triggering causes are the rains or the earthquakes but there
could be inherent weaknesses in the ground due to the interplay of other factors Iike rocks weakened by natural planes of
weakness such as bedding planes, faults and joints. Other predisposing conditions are caused by men, however.
improperly positioned roadcuts, poorly planned surface quarries, extensive mining openings, poorly drained sites,
obstructed river courses, overly steepened and unprotected slopes are examples of man-made causes that are
predisposing conditions. The Cherry Hills Subdivision landslide on August 3, 1999 that caused the death of 59 people and
the destruction of many houses led to a minor revision of government regulations concerning building and other
infrastructures in geologically fragile areas.

Another environmental hazard that is made worse by the indifference of man is flash flooding. While deforested
mountains contribute to the abnormal amount of surface run off, the damage resulting from flash flooding is also
attributable to unmanaged housing locations. The Ormoc tragedy a few years ago, could have been prevented if people
did not build their houses along the path of a river. The complaints of flooding raised by residents in Erap city east of
Metro Manila may have been prevented by a better ch0ice of a site. Riverways abound in the area and they seem to have
been ignored during the design stage of this low cost housing area.

An archipelago like the Philippines that lies in the pathway of typhoons coming from the Pacific Ocean is bound to
experience storm surges. During a typhoon, strong winds can cause an unusual increase in tides that result to a storm
surge. Several meters increase in the sea level during or soon before and after a typhoon may damage houses and kill
people, especially if the latter are unaware of the effects of a storm surge.

By understanding why earthquakes or other environmental hazards occur where they do, man can better situate
himself in global crises as well as domestic problems. Anthropogenic or man-made pollution within countries can be
compared to natural or baseline data by distinguishing between gases emitted by volcanoes and by industries. The
interpretation of natural levels can be made by understanding the number of active volcanoes in a region and why it is that
way. A more informed citizenry is a government’s best defense against environmental hazards like earthquakes, volcanic
eruptions, landsides, tsunamis and storm surges. Nature needs to be understood and respected. Unlike other modern-day
crises like the oil shock in the 1980 S, in the case of environmental hazards, it is man who needs to adjust to the realities
of uncontrollable nature. Where man's attempt to control environmental hazards are seemingly futile, knowledge of the
intricate interrelationships between the biological world and the physical environment, should be useful to guide us
towards this acceptance.
 ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT

Overview
Ethical principles guide natural resources management schemes that have been used since the rise of
environmentalism in developed countries in the 1960s. Historically, the idea that man is the ruler of the environment came
first. The welfare of humans was the primary consideration in the early years of environmental protection. People's
attitudes changed with the passing years. Now, governments, non-government organizations and businesses show a
broader view. The relationship between caring for humans and the natural environment has been recognized. A significant
sector of modern society started to realize that other living things like plants and animals are endowed with their own
rights to exist. A third way of looking at the value of environmental protection is that the environment has an inherent value
of its own on top of the value that it acquires when humans use it for certain purposes. These attitudes are presented
below as the major factors that guide our society towards resources management.

Personal, social and corporate ethics define how our society responds to the challenges of increasing
environmental damage. The changing consciousness of individuals and groups is reflected in the kind of management
strategies that have been used.

STRATEGIES OF GOVERNMENTS
Governments have applied three major strategies in resource management. They are:
1. The regulatory or "command and control approach
2. The economic incentives approach
3. The property rights systems approach

The regulatory or “command and control” approach is direct regulation while the economic incentives approach and
the property rights systems approach are indirect forms of regulation.

Regulatory or "Command and Control" Approach

Governments take a direct approach by setting environmental standards or targets that will achieve the kinds of
solutions to environmental problems. This approach is also called the "command and control” approach. The
environmental standards are set and enforced by legislation. Penalties for violators or those not honoring the standards
are also imposed through legislation. This action is based on the principle that polluters must pay. Two kinds of standards
are common - health standards and technology-based standards (Buchholz, 1998). Health standards are based on
scientists calculations of how much quantity of a hazardous substance is considered harmful to humans. The
technology-based standards are determined by the kind of device that is used to control pollution. Other examples of
laws that use this approach are the emission standards for pollution in the UK and the regulation that the metallic element
lead in gasoline should be reduced in the US from I.I gram per gallon (gpg) to 0.1 gpg. Waste recycling standards like that
in Austria in 1994 required that producers of canned beer recycle at least 90% of their cans (Turner, et al., 1994).

Economic Incentives Approach

The regulatory approach is not always the best response of a state because it is expensive and inflexible and it
requires the weighing of costs of compliance against the benefits that are derived. It does not allow businesses to develop
their unique methods of solving the perceived problem, with the focus mostly on cleaning up the pollution after the
damage has occurred (Buchholz, 1998). Incentives for reducing wastes may produce better results. In the advanced
countries, regulation of polluting substances or activities is often well-monitored because their governments have enough
resources to implement laws. Consequently, some governments feel that regulation alone is not enough.

Economic Incentive Instruments (EIl:) are another form of ensuring compliance by citizens and corporations.
When regulations alone cannot accomplish the modification of the behavior of polluters, can economic incentives can be
used. Economic incentive instruments consist of a variety of charges, taxes, deposit-refund, information programs,
subsidies, and tradable permits. Sometimes, these are also called market-based instruments because it is the business
condition and not the government that determines the costs. Six examples of EIIS are summarized in the next section.

Charges or Fines
When businesses are not able to comply with pollution standards, a system of imposing charges or fines takes
over. Businesses suffer the extra costs when they emit excessive polluting substances. This creates an incentive for them
to improve their behavior. The water pollution charge in Holland is one such example. There are others like charges for
the discharge of polluting wastes into the air, water and soil and the generation of noise. Some variations include a charge
for the use of polluting substances (user charge), for the production of polluting substances (product charge) and for doing
business related to polluting materials (administrative charge). A product charge results in a direct alteration of prices.

"Green" Taxes
Taxes are a regular obligation imposed by governments to businesses. A business that emits pollutants can be
charged tax rates that are computed according to the amount of damage that waste materials from the business caused
to the environment. Taxes are considered to be more effective than quantities-based standards because a business can
feel the incentive to reduce 1ts emissions even lower than the standard (Turner, 1994). When this happens, the
business's savings on tax payments can go to research for more pollution-abatement technologies. Where a polluting
material contains associated pollutants that are not red by the pollution standard, the incentive to reduce the primary
polluting material can also result to lesser emissions of associated pollutants.

Deposit-Refund Schemes
Governments may impose an additional charge, called a surcharge, on the price of a product that a factory
produces. When the used product is returned for recycling, the government refunds the surcharge. Deposit- refund
schemes were quite successful in Sweden. When a factory uses a potentially polluting product, it pays the government a
sum of money, in this case called a deposit. After the product is used and pollution is avoided, the product is returned to
an authorized collection point and the factory gets a refund of the deposit. A similar system is used when a mining,
logging or development firm pays performance and assurance bonds prior to operating. lf the firm is found to have
violated any environmentally-acceptable practice, the government uses the bond to undertake the clean-up. This scheme
is very similar to the mine rehabilitation fund that is required under the Philippine Mining Act of 1995. A mine developer is
now required to set aside a deposit to the government. That deposit can be used to rehabilitate areas and communities
that may be adversely affected by activities of the developer during specific stages of the life of the mine.

Information Programs
The government or other groups like nongovernmental organizations can conduct information programs about
certain practices that may influence the consumers to change their behavior. Substances that contain harmful elements
like radon or lead are tested or pesticide products are labeled as a means to inform the public (Enger, 1999). The results
may make consumers prefer one product over another. Some legislation pieces, like the Emergency Planning and
Community Right to-Know Act in the US, require manufacturers to inform the public when they use airborne toxic
chemicals in amounts greater than acceptable standards. Their report is routinely released to the public in a Toxics
Release Inventory by a government regulatory agency like the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Tradable Emission Permits

Governments, on some occasions, issue permits to businesses that allow them to emit specific pollutants up to a
certain limit. When one company produces pollutants in less amount than permitted, it may "sell' or trade its permit to
other companies that exceed their limits. A recent example is the trading of SO2 emissions that has been allowed under
the US Clean Air Act. In a way, a new market was created for the less-polluting company. Thus, this incentive may also
be called market creation.

The early regulation of lead in gasoline in the US was later on modified to a "lead permits system". Refiners were
allotted quotas for lead. Since there were refiners who easily produced gasoline with lead content below their quotas and
refiners who found it difficult to keep within their quotas, the permits system allowed the former to sell the unused portion
of their quotas to the latter.

Subsidies
Governments can grant subsidies, soft loans or by changes in accounting procedures, give further incentives to
businesses to adopt environmentally-clean technologies. An example of the last is when the cost of capital is handled to
result in benefits to the business like shortening the depreciation period. Another is when a business is allowed consumer
rebates when they purchase devices that control pollutants.

Property Rights Approach

The phrase "tragedy of the commons" was coined in 1968 by Garret Hardin, a professor of Biology at the
University of California. He wrote about a pasture open to everyone where herdsmen decide to keep on adding as many
cattle as they could without regard for the limited nature of the grass. The common, in this case the pasture, is degraded
because each herdsman pursues only his personal interest since he is free to do so. Society suffers as a consequence.
The air we breathe, the water we pump out of the ground, and the high seas away from territorial boundaries of states can
also be classified as commons. No one owns the commons. Thus, anyone does as he pleases without regard for what
may be bad for the environment.
 The complete lack of government and social controls is detrimental to the environment. Since agricultural lands
are often tied down to a rights system in most democratic countries, the threat of legal property sanctions and the
disapproval of other members of society are weak even if bad things happen to the land. As Beder (L998) stated, the
"social conscience of individuals may not be enough to protect what is common to members of the society (Beder, 1993).

A landowner under the property rights system is legally free to determine the right mix of capital and labor to
produce his goods. Consider, however, the environmental problems like soil erosion arise. If the reason for the rapid soil
erosion is brought about by the landowner's neglect of proper farming techniques, government may intervene. It may have
to offer the landowner bribes, subsidies or other benefits in order to induce him to change his behavior. There are
situations like property owners that practice improper drainage methods causing the decrease of wetlands, or some who
apply excessive chemicals on the land. For these examples, the government may impose regulatory measures in local or
national level that will induce the errant property owner to make improvements in his property. Often, a combination of
government intervention and property rights approach may be applied as in the example of a government that had to set
the number of tourists that will be allowed in an environmentally-sensitive area (Mercer, 1995).

We can look at other examples of how governments solve environmental problems using the property rights
approach. First, a government may confer land titles to individuals when a kind of resource is being inefficiently used in an
area that is open to the public. When somebody is responsible for a parcel of property, it is to his advantage to use
environmentally-sound agricultural practices there. Second, the government can and does resort to state ownership in
order to conserve the resource if it is better able to monitor the use of resources that it owns. Third, communal
management is another option. Here, a group of persons share in the ownership. The idea is to put a limit to an
individual’s abuse of resources when his rights are shared by others.

CORPORATE MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES

We have looked at how governments approach environmental protection. It is the business corporations, however,
that have the biggest impact on the environment. ln a way, businesses have employed management strategies that reflect
the prevailing morals of the times. Several of these more common corporate management strategies are:
1. Waste Minimization
2. Product Life-cycle Analysis
3. Design for Disassembly
4. Green Marketing
5. Greening of Strategy, and
6. Greening of Communications

Waste minimization
Businesses have recognized increasingly that dumping of too much waste is an inefficient way to operate. Public
concern about dumpsites force most businesses to reduce the waste they produce. It is part of the corporate responsibility
of every business establishment to initiate assures to minimize waste. It is a social responsibility because any ill effects
sustained rom progressive waste buildup from business establishments will result in harm to society at the very least.
Thus no business must make light of the steps to reduce wastes. The four steps in waste minimization are: (1) redesign
products, (2) recycle, (3) incinerate wastes, and dispose of waste properly (Enger, 1999).

The 3M Corporation developed a program called Pollution Prevention Pays. It solicited projects from the staff that
prevented pollution rather than controlled it. Projects that were conceptualized and adopted under the PPP program that
lasted for more than two decades include the development of nonpolluting or less polluting product or processes. These
less polluting products were created through the use of different raw materials, change of manufacturing processes,
modification of equipment and the recovery of resource or recycling (Enger, 1999). More recently, a new phase of 3P
called 3P+ was again voluntarily set up by 3M Corp. This time 3P+ targeted the reduction of air emissions.

Another corporation that tried to demonstrate its commitment to reduce waste even without government
regulation was Dow Chemical. It undertook the program called WRAP (Waste Reduction Always Pays). Its objectives
were: (1) to reduce waste and emissions to the environment, (2) give incentives for waste reduction projects, (3)
recognize those who excel in waste reduction, and (4) recognize opportunities in waste reduction (Buchholz, 1998).

Product Life-cycle Analysis

Before a good is produced, it passes through several steps in its life-cycle. The approach by some businesses is
to reduce the environmental impact in each of the steps and then look at the total picture of the life cycle. For example, in
the different stages or manufacturing, distribution, use, and disposal of a product, business began to assess the resources
used, the energy consumed, the wastes produced, and the emissions released in each of the stages (Buchholz, 1998).
This approach is more sophisticated than waste minimization because more people are involved in various stages.
Management and employees alike share in the responsibility of recommending improvements rather than only those
people at the end of the process line.

Design for Disassembly

In order to facilitate recycling, some companies have started to redesign their products to make it easier for them
to be disassembled once they reach the end of their usefulness. Companies like BMW, Whirlpool, Digital Equipment, 3M
and General Electric have tried designing their products such that once they are taken apart, the component parts can be
reused to make other products. A Z1 car was developed by BMW that can be dismantled skin apart from its metal chassis
in 20 minutes. It also has doors, bumpers, front, rear, and side panels made of recyclable thermoplastic (Buchholz, 1998).
Its pilot disassembly plant used pop-in, pop-out two-way fasteners that were designed to replace glues and screws.

Green Marketing
Through the years, as businesses became sensitive to the demand for environment-friendly products, voluntarily
they came up with biodegradable and recyclable products such as more fuel-efficient cars and appliances. Recyclable
parts or packaging may attract buyers more especially those who have started t0 care for the problems of society like the
overflow of garbage. Companies started to make claims about achievements in pollution control, like when Procter and
Gamble (P&G) introduced Pampers, the disposable diapers. P&G's experience was clouded by the protest of a consumer
activist group against Pampers, citing that disposable diapers tended to worsen waste disposal problems. The reported
"indestructible paper and plastic parts of Pampers were cited (Buchholz, 1998). P&G responded by announcing that 80%
of the diaper could be composted. Since most communities in the US then did not have composting facilities, P&G even
put up a $20 million research fund to help communities study solid waste problems and composting.

Actions like these indicate that now it is good business sense to inform the buying public of the features of
products especially when these are “green”

Corporations or entire industries whose products are revealed to contain contaminant materials are prompted to
improve their public image by changing their performance or by countering false information against them. In Germany,
for example, the negative public image of gold mining in underdeveloped countries has put a premium on "green gold".
"Green gold is a market term for gold that was not mined through environmentally-degrading methods.

Greening of Strategy
Corporate strategic management traditionally did not include the natural environment. This is because humans
basically had a two-faced approach to nature- that man stands above nature and somehow remains apart from it. The
rising concern for the environment, however, has made the conduct of environmental assessment necessary.
Environmental assessment is done in order for a business to be more aware of the issues arising out of the natural
environment. The availability of natural resources and the impact of obtaining these resources go into the environmental
assessment process. For non-renewable resources, a company may have to plan how to conserve the resource and
search for substitutes when the resource starts to be exhausted. Strategies on how to responsibly extract the resource,
how to find suppliers that engage in responsible extraction practices, and how to dispose wastes are among issues that
have to be decided on by management. Companies now tend to include among their mission goals some objectives
related to the environment, During the implementation process, companies can use the other strategies mentioned above.

An example of an industry that was cat unprepared by not conducting environmental assessment was the
insurance industry. In the period from 1990 to 1995, the US insurance industry had to pay out triple the amount of
weather-related claims over that of the whole previous decade. It seemed that the industry was unable to anticipate global
climate changes that resulted in more damage to their clients.

Greening of Communications
Once a company is thrust into a damaging environmental controversy, head-on response from the company is
crucial in order to defuse public anger or distrust. This happened to Union Carbide when toxic gas used in the
manufacture of pesticides leaked from its manufacturing plant and killed from 2,000 to 3,000 people in Bhopal, India,
Among the ways companies communicate the environmental impact or their operations to the public are the creation of
citizen action panels, community activities, emergency planning networks, or accounting systems. Other companies try
the pro-active approach by publishing annual environmental reports.

OTHER APPROACHES
 The concern for the environment of rich nations has resulted in government-to-government assistance to less
developed nations. One recent example is the Debt-for-Nature Swap Initiative Program (DFNSIP) that Germany entered
into with the Philippines' Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). A community-based forestry
program for upland communities in Quirino province was funded with money borrowed from the German government.
When the program succeeded, Germany cancelled the Philippine government's debt amounting to P371.9 million
(DMl2,T76,045). This was part of the loan agreement that governed the program (Paulme, 2003).

CONCLUSION
One of the major challenges to governments and corporations will be to come up with ways to determine the cost
of damage of their wastes to the environment. Another is to use principles of economics to evaluate the benefits that will
be derived from applying the strategies mentioned above.

A combination of corporate management strategies has been found to work best in Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries (Turner, et al., 1994). Once businesses feel the pressure of government
control, public opinion, or consumer preferences that seek a solution to environmental problems, they tend to develop a
more enlightened corporate attitude

PHILIPPINE ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS

Among the first pieces of environmental legislation passed in the world was an ordinance that limited the burning
of coal in London in 1306. Since then, many countries have instituted laws that target the protection of the environment.
The case of the United States shows a long list of environmental and resource conservation laws (Tab. 20.1, Enger 1999),
as shown below. There are many US federal agencies created by legislation to develop and implement regulatory
programs. Among these are the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ),
the National Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management (Enger, 1999). The EPA has been criticized though for
putting more emphasis on public health issues rather than on protection of broader ecosystems (Buchholz, 1998). The
perceived imbalance in US environmental policy is presently being corrected.

The 1946 Federal Administrative Act (APA) of the United States allows the different states to enact different
administrative guidelines to enforce federal laws.

General Laws
Although the Philippines is a signatory to many international agreements guiding how nations should work toward
solving environmental problems, it is still lagging behind in implementing the agreements. This is partly due to the late
development of environmentalism in the country. Laws dealing with natural resources management started to be put into
place only in the 1990s. Laws dealing with the commons- the air, water, and land have not yet encountered as much
application as those in the US, Europe and other rich countries. The government has received much criticism from
people's groups, intellectuals and interest groups for its inability to define fundamental standards used in some
environmental laws, the inconsistency in implementation and its lack of political will.

The national environmental policy of the Philippines is to balance development and environmental protection
(PEP, 1977). countries, the Philippines environmental laws support Global Agenda 21 (or the Rio Declaration on
Environment and Development), the program of action adopted by the United Nations Conference on Environment and
Development (ONCED) in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. It was nicknamed Agenda 21 to signify that the program of action is
directed from then up to the 21st Century. Principle 3 of the Rio Declaration states that "The right to development must be
fulfilled so as to equitably meet developmental mental and environmental needs of present and future generations" (Beder,
190) is statement is the core of sustainable development.

It was in 1989 that the country adopted the Philippine Strategy for Sustainable Development, almost two decades
after the first UN Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm, Sweden. Now, most of the Philippines
environmental laws define sustainable development as "development that meets the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs as defined by the World Commission on
Environment and Development in 1987 (WCED) (PCSD, undated). A multi-sectoral body called the Philippine Council for
Sustainable Development was born in 1992. Its objective is to lead the formulation of the Philippine Agenda 21, the
national agenda for sustainable development. The coordinating secretariat is based in the office of the director of the
agriculture staff of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA). In addition, it has a People's Organization
Nongovernmental Organizations (PO-NGO) counterpart secretariat. This signifies the close cooperation between the
government and the private sector. The Philippines has eight major laws dealing with air, water, and toxic and solid
wastes. They are as follows:
1. Marine Pollution Decree of 1976 (P.D. 979)
 2. Philippine Environment Code of 1977 (P.D. 1152)
3. Philippine Environmental Policy of 1977 (P.D. 1151)
4. Toxic Substances and Hazardous and Nuclear Wastes Control Act of 1990 (R.A. 6969)
5. National Water and Air Pollution Control Commission of 1992 (R.A.3931)
6. National Integrated Protected Areas System Act of 1992 (R.A. 7586)
7. Philippine Clean Air Act of 1999 (R. A. 8749)
8. Philippine Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000 (R.A.9003)

The Philippine Environmental Policy (PEP) act is broadly worded in such a way as to declare that man and nature
should "thrive in productive and enjoyable harmony with each other'. It also says that the state should "fulfill the social,
economic and other requirements of present and future generations of Filipino and should "insure the attainment of an
environmental quality that is conducive to a life of dignity and well-being.

The PEP also set the stage for the preparation of environmental impact statements. The implementing rules of
the Philippine Environmental Impact System describe the procedures to obtain an environmental compliance certificate or
ECC from the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) before development projects or infrastructures are allowed to
be constructed in environmentally-critical areas. The builder of any structure or facility is only granted the ECC after a
report is made that lists in detail the effects or impacts of the development to the immediate environment. The report
requires that baseline studies be made of the ecology, geology and social aspects or the site of development.

After the Cherry Hills landslide in Antipolo City in 1999, the government saw the need to require the preparation of
an engineering geology and geohazards assessment report (EGGAR) on top of the earlier requirements of the
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) report. The EMB determines the applications for ECC that will be required to
include the EGGAR. This requirement applies to cases where experts from the geology arm of the DENR, the Mines and
Geosciences Bureau (MGB) foresee problems in ground stability resulting from the development work.

The main objective of the EIS report is for the builder (also called the proponent of the project) to internally assess
the impact of the project to its environment and anticipate potential environmental problems that may arise. Included in the
EIS is a plan for mitigating measures that the builder should undertake to solve the problems. The Philippine EIS shares
many features With the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 of the US.

Regulatory Agencies
The Presidential Decree 1121 of former President Ferdinand Marcos created the National Environment Protection
Council that was later abolished by the Executive Order No. 192 signed by former President Corazon Aquino in 1987. The
latter ordered its merging with the National Philippines to form the Environmental Management Bureau which to this day
acts as the country s highest protector agency of the environment.

SPECIFIC LAWS
Resources Management
The NIPAS (National Integrated Protected Areas System) works on the concept of protection of certain areas like
nature reserves, natural parks, and wildlife sanctuaries that are considered unique and worthy of protection. This is
reminiscent of the Wilderness Act of the US. A protected area is to be managed by the government using management
techniques specific to the nature of the protected area. Even within protected areas, there may be human settlers.
Whether those settlers are original or not, the law also allows for limited development by these settlers of the protected
area. Portions of the area may be designated as recreation, habitat, cultural, sustainable use, multiple-use or strict
protection zones depending on the nature of the development. The government, through DENR, controls certain human
protected areas like the hunting of animals, the gathering of plants and other products, the dumping or Waste products,
the use of any motorized equipment, the destruction or objects ot natural beauty, the squatting of people and the
conducing ol any business like locating minerals.

The techniques that prevent these activities are used either by enforcing land-use schemes, or by using zoning
plans including "buffer zones around the core of the protected area. Major protected areas are declared under NIPAS.
Three are in Luzon-the Batanes landscape and seascape, the northern Sierra Madre and the Mangyan heritage natural
park. In the Visayas, there is the Mt. Kanlaon natural park, and the Taklog Island Natural Marine Reserve. Six more
protected areas are in Mindanao, the Siargao (Surigao del Norte) and Agusan Marsh wildlife sanctuaries, the Mt.
Kitanglad and Mt. Apo natural parks, and two marine natural parks (Apo Reef and Turtle lsland). Other areas can be
designated as protected areas upon recommendation of the DENR. The most recent declaration was approve last
September 2003 for Samar. Now, more than 400,000 hectares of Samar is considered a natural park-the Samar Island
Natural Park (SINP). Also, protected areas can be reverted into a non-protected status though an act of Congress.
 The mining industry complains against the NIPAS because protected areas reduce the s1ze of the area where
exploration for mineral resources can proceed.

Water Quality
We recall a time when bottled water was not yet commercially sold in the country. Rapid urbanization of the
country and the deterioration of the quality of drinking water are recent trends. The Philippine government recognized that
water as a resource needs protection through the enactment of the Comprehensive Water Quality Management Act in
2003. The act sets standards for the water quality of streams and effluents from factories. n addition, it will seek to
develop an effective sewerage plan for cities.

Air Quality
Air pollution in the major cities of the country is being addressed by the government through the passage of the
Philippine Clean Air Act. It aims to develop for the country an integrated air quality improvement framework with the
DENR leading local governments, nongovernmental organizations, people's organizations, the academe, and other
concerned agencies in the task. This framework prescribes the allowable standards for the quality of ambient air for
airsheds or broad areas of the country with similar climate, meteorology, and topology. In addition, the framework
outlines the management approaches (economic incentive instruments, other strategies such as collective action, and
environmental education and information) that will be used to ensure compliance to the standards that will be set in the
future. The control of air quality was classified in the act as coming from stationary sources (industrial plants) and from
motor vehicles. For the former, the act states that it will use the strategy of setting emission quotas for regional industrial
centers while in the latter, it is the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) that will set the emission
standards Thus, starting in 2003, compliance with emission standards was enforced for every motor vehicle that was to be
registered.

A controversial provision of the act is the ban on incineration of municipal and medical wastes. This ban could
have serious repercussions on the government's drive to solve the garbage problem. It effectively eliminates the other
main option for disposal of solid wastes aside from landfills. How well the Philippine Clean Air Act could be implemented
remains to be seen as some scientists have questioned the rigorous nature of the regulations it imposes. It defines
airsheds and air quality standards even when baseline studies about air quality still seem to be too scanty.

Land Use and Conservation

A land use bill is still being discussed in Congress. As it looks now, the bill will seek to integrate environmental
considerations in land-use planning by identifying critical watersheds, areas prone to geohazards and preparing land use
plans for ancestral domains. Ancestral domains have been legally defined in the lndigenous Peoples' Rights Act of 1997
as the lands occupied by indigenous peoples since time immemorial for settlement, hunting, religious and other economic
purposes. The IPRA will be discussed later in relation to the mining industry.

Mining Laws
Philippine laws on mining include the following:
1. The Philippine Mining Act of 1995 R.A. 7942
2. The People's Small-scale Mining Act of 1991 R. A. 7076
3. Indigenous Peoples' Rights Act of 1997

The above pieces of legislation were supported by departmental memorandum orders like the DENR
Memorandum Order 99-32 (Policy Guidelines and Standards for Mine Wastes and Mill Tailings Management) issued in
November 1999.

The Mining Act prescribes the rules that govern the conduct of exploration, development and extraction of
minable resources. It replaced Presidential Decree No. 36 issued during Marcos time. This time, it allowed foreigners to
put up all the capital required to develop an area of mineralization. Its other salient features include the institution of two
systems of joint development of mineral deposits. The Financial or Technical Assistance Agreement (PTAA) and the
Mineral Agreements. The FTAA between investors and the mineral property leaseholder is an option during the
exploration and development stages while the Mineral Agreements are negotiated during the mining or extraction stage.
The government can act as a partner of a private investor or company, local or foreign, to develop a mineral deposit. In
addition, the act also binds mineral property developers to a system or recompensing the government (since it owns the
minerals under the Constitution) for damages that will result from the exploration and later, the mining stage. The system
is called the Contingent Liability and Rehabilitation Fund.
 The Mining Act is a big improvement over the old decree since responsibility for environmental protection is
guaranteed under it.

Small-scale miners have become a force in the last few years in the Philippines. This is partly due to strong
opposition to large mining operations by a few nongovernment organizations and the closure of many mines due to bad
economic and political conditions. The small scale Mining Act prescribes the legalization of small-scale miners. The main
criticism about the procedures it sets 1s it 1s difficult for unorganized individuals to obtain the consent of mineral property
leaseholders usually large mining companies whose areas they usually encroach upon. Many small-scale miners also
seek exemption from the prohibition for them to use explosives and machinery.

The Indigenous Peoples' Rights Act of 1997 covers the granting of land and resource rights to lumads or
indigenous peoples. The concept of ancestral domain grants to the indigenous peoples property rights not only to the
land but also to the resources under the surface. It has been contested before the Philippine Supreme Court because it
virtually overturns the doctrine in the Constitution that says the state owns the resources under the surface.

The challenge that faces the government and mining developers in the Philippines policies are not contradicting
each other. The government needs to prove that it can protect investments in the face of the anti-mining sentiment day is
to convince investors and people that state pervasive in the countryside.

Solid Waste Management

The Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000 sets the procedures for the control and disposal of solid
wastes in the country. Now, communities opposed to open dumpsites in their midst can consult with this law especially if
they feel that toxic smoke and fumes are being released by the burning of solid wastes.

Toxic Substances
The Toxic Substances and Hazardous and Nuclear Wastes Control Act, R.A. 6969 of 1990, allows the
government to regulate the use of chemical substances that "present unreasonable risk to health or the environment". It
also prohibits the entry of hazardous and nuclear wastes into Philippine territory. It also defines the characteristics of
hazardous wastes based on their toxicity, Ignitability, corrosivity and reactivity (Lee-Chua, 2003). Toxic substances are
those that are poisonous, carcinogenic or mutagenic to living things. Ignitable substances are those that create fire
under certain conditions like solvents that are friction-sensitive substances (Lee-Chua, 2003). In the US, the EPA enforces
the Toxic Substances Control Act. In the Philippines, it is the Environmental Management Bureau that enforces R.A. 6969.
Administrative fines and imprisonment are the stated penalties for violators of this act.

CONCLUSION
The need for more stringent scientific baselines and the importance of placing economic value on environmental
degradation have been noted in earlier discussions of the country's environmental problems. The present set of Philıppine
environmental laws are encountering rough sailing in their first years of implementation. The passage of the land-use bill
soon should complete the most important aspects of national legislation that should protect the environment.
 ETHICS AND EDUCATION
Overview
ETHICS
Ethics defines what is good or bad. Personal ethics is are held by one person. It may be reflected or modified in
the social ethics of people of similar values. When such a grouping or Similar-minded individuals belongs to one
organization, such as in state leaders or legislators, public policy is formed. When the commonality among individuals
depends not so much on personal ethics but on the vision or corporate managers, then corporate ethics is formed. The
resource management strategies and laws regarding the environment that have been discussed rest on peoples' ethics
and this ethics varies with the times.

Social Ethics Towards the Environment

Man-centered Perspective
Ethics that allot to humans the central position in environmental issues is man-centered or anthropocentric. It
believes that everything else in the physical world should be considered as objects that exist for the purpose of satisfying
man's needs and wants. Man's control of nature led us to consider natural objects as things that can be manipulated and
exploited to serve our needs. This perspective amounts to the idea that nature does not have any value if it does not
serve any purpose for man. lt is very similar to an instrumental view of nature where nature is reduced to a usable entity
only if it serves human purposes. The early years or industrialization were exemplified by thinking towards conservation
and protection of the environment. Conservation is a concern when humans realize that their demands for resources
could outstrip the supply. Thus, resources need to be used wisely and efficiently. Protection represents the concern that
pollution needed to be controlled since it poses dangers to human health.

Nature-centered Perspective
A nature-centered perspective defines biocentrism. Biocentrism is a recent trend in the environmental arena. It
puts intrinsic value on nature apart from the value it acquires when humans put it into use. This perspective puts animals
on equal footing with humans in terms of their value as elements of the environment. The US Wilderness Act of 1964 that
set apart certain wilderness areas as closed to development was among the early legislations supportive of this thinking.
So is the Endangered Species Act that regulates the preservation of certain animals, for their own sakes, without regard
to the concerns of humans (Buchholz, 1998). Preservation as opposed to conservation championed the prevention of
further development and exploitation of certain regulates the preservation of certain resources such as natural scenery.
Landforms such as caves and mountains were considered as objects that should be preserved for future generations of
humans to appreciate and marvel at. Biocentrism looks thus at serving the needs of humans and als0 at preservation of
nature. This approach is responsible for more respect for animal rights and even for trees as promoted by anti-logging
groups or tree lovers.

Eco-centered Perspective
Enviromentalism boils down to a respect for the laws or nature. The rights of nature per se are recognized in
another class of ethical thinking called ecocentrism. On top of the concern for humans, animals, and plants is the
recognition that there are limits to Our resources. Ecocentrism considers that resources should be preserved. It also
considers that the interlinked problems of the environment need to be given a global rather than local appreciation. The
focus of this perspective is on sustainability and the protection of the environment. Man is included in these considerations
but is no longer the sole and primary factor. Rather, the risks posed to ecological systems are essential under this
perspective. Consequently, the issues that have emerged from this approach are the protection of both human health and
the environment. A few subscribers to this perspective even attribute the much increased environmental pollution to the
development of synthetic products like detergents, fibers and plastics (Buchholz, 1998).

State Ethics
The current code of ethics of the country is stated in the Philippine Environmental Policy (PEP). It can be
summarized into four main ideas concern for others, stewardship, preservation of culture, and balanced development.
These ideas, being universal ideals, are similar to those in the state policies of many other countries.

Concern for Others

The global demand for some resources is sometimes influenced by sociocultural preferences. The example of
Germans preferring "green gold" was already discussed. Nongreen gold is typically produced in less developed countries
like Brazil where “garimpeiros" or "artisanal" miners extract the gold under very difficult and unsafe conditions. The
concern for the workers, particularly exploited women and children, is influencing state ethics. As gold is a commodity that
is often mined from such countries where the mining industry is often associated with intertribal strife, smuggling, labor
exploitation and environmental degradation, nongreen gold is or less value to enlightened rich consumers. The latter pay
extra for gold that is free of all these negative connotations. Thus, the gold industry by itself is induced to prove that their
product was extracted under more humane conditions than were reported in the media. Government responds by crafting
policies that show its concern for the people.

Stewardship Ethics
The theme of sustainable development involves preserving some part of the present exploitable mineral
resources for the succeeding generations. Concern for others is thus integral to this aspect of natural resource
management. Resources are looked upon as a legacy from one generation to the next, Stewardship takes the future into
account (Buchholz, 1998).

The Philippine Environmental Policy stipulates that each generation is both a trustee and a guardian of the
environment. This gives succeeding generations a moral right to enjoy the fruits of the environment. In the words of
environmental economists, this stewardship ethics is an "intergenerational social contract that passes over time an
"adequate capital inheritance (1urner, et al., 1994). It means that "people should be less greedy because other people-the
world's poor and future generations matter (Turner, et al., 1994). This ethics denounces excessive development because
greed imposes costs on these elements of non-human nature. This kind of stewardship on behalf of the planet itself
(Gaianism) recognizes the role of nonhumans in preserving the Earth.

Preservation of Culture
The Philippine Environmental Policy (PEP) advocates the preservation of important historic and cultural aspects
of Philippine heritage.

Balanced Development
While the state encourages the "widest exploitation of the environment", it cautions against its degradation.
Further, it prescribes the improved utilization of renewable and nonrenewable resources. Recognizing the burgeoning
population of the country as a heavy pressure point, it also advocates the attainment of a "rational and orderly balance
between population and resource use"

Corporate or Economic Ethics

Ethics that is defined in terms of marketplace performance is called economic ethics (Buchholz, 1998). What is
good for business is often called ethical under this idea. Good business ethics are equivalent to corporations that have
decided to conform to sanctions, incentives, and whose corporate conscience has developed many strategies that will be
outlined below. These patterns of conduct begin to constitute the ethics of the corporations. Economizing in the use of
resources is equivalent to having a successful business.

EDUCATION
The "commons" refers to the things we share as humans- air, water, land and other aspects of the natural world
that society shares among its members. The phrase "tragedy of the commons" in this case is used to describe the result
when industry does not take into account the cost of protection of the environment in the accounting of the price of a good
or service (Hardin, 1968).

Humans must see themselves as a part of nature. Environmental education should make us realize that humans
are but one link in the chain of living things that is very great or the "great chain of being (Buchholz, 1998).

How do we as consumers contribute to protecting the environment? For most of us, it may not be enough to be
discriminating about whether the goods we buy were produced using recycled materials or not. We may also want to
know whether the product or services we are going to buy were produced using wasteful practices or not. Some wasteful
practices are the killing of certain animals to produce fur coats and game items like mahjong tiles from elephant’s tusks.
Some products are also overpackaged or wastefully packed. Perhaps, we can start to read labels of goods and look for
proof that the product we buy is environment- friendly.

How do we act on our preferences of certain products while remaining consistent with our environment-conscious
stance?

Creation of a Sustainability Consciousness

The nature of environmentalism recently has evolved from "quality of life" issues to sustainable development. This
is because the movement started in the rich countries of the world where concern for the environment arose from the
concern to maintain the economic affluence of the society. The quality of life was considerably improved when the country
could afford to encourage its citizens to enjoy their lives more by taking more time off from work for recreation and family
time. Presently, the development of global environmental problems such as climate changes, ozone depletion, and
pollution threatens the survival of man. There are impacts to the environment attendant t0, or resulting from development.
A business venture can appreciate the need to operate using "best practices it the cost of the negative impacts to the
environment were added to their other expenses. The increasing gap between rich and poor nations also results in a more
uneven management of environmental problems. It is in the less developed countries that more degraded environments,
more wanton violation of environmental laws ad unsustainable practices are occurring.

Thus there are values that the government, industry, environmental groups, and the ordinary individual should
share. Among the elements of these shared values are (1) the continued existence of man depends on his ability to
coexist within nature and the preservation of natural systems; (2) economic activities should take into account the
environmental cost of production; and (3) sustainable development of the entire human family determines whether
humans can maintain the Earth as a livable global environment.

Consumer Education
Changes in demand patterns are guided by the morals of the buying public. Consumer groups provide service to
the public by providing the medium for complaints and also for their education.

However, not all claims of the companies were accurate and the public as not always well-informed enough to
verify the claims made by some companies. Terms like "environment-friendly started to be doubted. Even the word
"recycling did not matter to consumers when most of them did not have access to recycling facilities. Towards the late
1990s, industry and consumer groups started to lobby that the US Congress set federal norms for "green marketing. By
mid-1992, the Federal Trade Commission (PTC) issued guidelines on how consumers should interpret environmental
claims that appeared in labels, advertisements, and other forms of marketing. The guidelines required that competent and
reliable evidence be presented for broad claims like recyclable, degradable, compostable, recycled content, source
reduction, refillable and ozone safe (Buchholz, 1998).

Uniform Guidelines for Labels

The issue of deceptive marketing claims is being addressed in the US by two private initiatives - the Scientific
Certification Systems (SCS) and the Green Seal Program. They evaluate labels and advertising claims in order to help
consumers cut through the hype of green marketing, some of which are misleading, a few inaccurate, and due to
ignorance of the consumers, actually confusing. They issue environmental seals of approvals for products the Certified
Eco-Profile and the Green Seal (Buchholz 1998). For the former, even food safety claims are included. The SCS, under
its Environmental Claims Certification Program verifies claims such as "recycled content”. (paper, glass, steel, plastic
products), “biodegradable" (cleaning products) and "energy efficient” (light bulbs). The Green Seal Program, on the
other hand, "establishes product categories based on the significance of the environmental impact of products within each
category (Buchholz, 1998).

The public is given the chance to comment on these standards for each category as these are circulated.
Revisions are done every three years. This is a form of consumer education and a chance for greater interaction between
producers and their buying public. In the case of wood products that are labeled "green", the SCS and four other
organizations in the US, certify whether the products have been produced through a sustained-yield and whether
consideration has been given to the entire forest ecosystem, which includes adequate wildlife habitat and watershed
protection as well as the economic and cultural impact of the operation on local communities" (Polson, 1996). How one
wishes that there were similar movements here in the Philippines!

Ecosystem Approach for Industry

Other than just complying with government regulations, industries that want to anticipate future regulations Will
have to develop a cadre of trained professionals that adopt an ecosystem approach, not just a piecemeal attack on
problems. the ecosystems approach attempts to optimize the use of energy and materials, Professionals that are well-
rounded in courses in ecology, environmental issues, system optimization and industrial ecology should be drained in
engineering and business schools (Buchholz, 1998).

Better Public Policy

A good public policy should integrate a nation’s economy, justice and the environment (Buchholz, 1998).
International Organization for Standardization (ISO 14000) standards were developed jointly by business and government
for companies to learn to manage, measure, improve, and communicate the environmental aspects of their operations in
a systematic manner (Buchholz, 1998). This is a kind of voluntary compliance of companies.

Summary
 Many of the public policies also continue to be defined by management strategies that are primarily regulatory in
mode. Other management strategies, like those that have been applied in the advanced countries of North America,
Europe, and Japan will need to be further tested. The principles of environmental economics will be necessary to arrive at
a more pragmatic mix of strategies that should benefit the society.

As is common in many developing countries, having well-intentioned laws is seldom enough. Building up the
capacity of government regulatory bureaus is essential for proper implementation of such natural resources laws.
Environmental protection agencies like the Environmental Management Bureau and the Protected Areas and Wildlife
Bureau need to be imbued with greater mandates and corresponding budgets.

As a developing country, the Philippines faces issues that pit welfare or the development of the economy against
environmental degradation. Tradeoffs between economic growth and economic development will become more common.
In order to attain a sustainable society, our leaders and corporate people will have to acquire the skills to overcome social,
institutional and political obstacles to better environmental policies. Both the public and private sectors will need to merge
environmental and economic concerns into their decisions. Education of scientists, public policy makers and advocates,
corporate people, and consumers will shape the direction of the state of environmental protection and resource
management in the first decade of the 21st century.

REFERENCES

1. Enger, E.D. & Smith, B.F. (2016). Environmental Science: A Study of Interrelationships (4 th ed) McGraw-Hill
Education, New York, NY 10121.
2. Miller, G.T. & Spoolman, S.E. (2016). Environmental Science (1st ed). Cengage Learning 20 Channel Central
Street Boston, MA 02210, USA
3. Tayo, G.T.;,Gascon, C.N., Maglambayan, V.B., Novicio, L.P., & Viril, V.M. (2004). Fundamentals of
Environmental Science.Trinitas Publishing, Inc. Trinitas Complex, Pantoc Road, Pantoc Meycauayan Bulacan.
4. Enger & Smith (1999). Environmental Science. A Study of Interralationship. McGraw Hill Higher Education.