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Environmental Science
and Engineering
About the Author
Benny Joseph graduated in Civil Engineering from Regional
Engineering College, Tiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu. He obtained a
master’s degree in Environmental Engineering from College of
Engineering, Trivandrum, Kerala, and a PhD from Anna University,
Chennai. He has been teaching graduate and postgraduate courses
in various engineering colleges since 1990 and his subjects include
Environmental Engineering, Air and Noise Pollution, Environmental
Safety, Environmental Pollution, Environmental Impact Assessment,
Integrated Water Resources Management, and Environmental Science.
Currently he is working as Principal of Vimal Jyothi Engineering College, Kannur, Kerala.
He has more than 10 research papers in diverse fields to his credit.
Environmental Science
and Engineering
Benny Joseph
Principal
Vimal Jyothi Engineering College
Kannur, Kerala
McGraw Hill Education (India) Private Limited

CHENNAI
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Environmental Science and Engineering
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Dedicated to
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Contents
Preface xv
Visual Walkthrough xvi
1. Introduction 1
1.1 General 1
1.2 Importance of Environmental Education 2
1.3 Environmental Engineering 4
1.4 Environmentalism 5
1.4.1 The Gaia Theory 5
1.5 Environmental Studies—The Subject and its Multidisciplinary Nature 6
1.6 Components of the Environment and their Interactions 7
1.7 Humans and the Biosphere 10
1.8 Impacts of Development on the Environment 11
1.8.1 Environmental Impacts of Urbanization 11
Review Questions 15
Objective-Type Questions 15
Short-Answer Questions 18
Descriptive Questions 19
Answers to Objective-Type Questions 20
2. Environment, Ecosystems and Biodiversity 21
2.1 Concept of an Ecosystem—Producers, Consumers and Decomposers 21
2.1.1 Ecosystem–Anthroposystem Comparison 24
2.2 Structure and Function of an Ecosystem 24
2.3 Energy Flow in the Ecosystem 25
2.4 Ecological Succession 26
2.5 Food Chains and Food Webs 27
2.6 Ecological Pyramids 28
2.7 Forest Ecosystems 28
viii Contents
2.7.1 Vertical Structure—Vegetation Layers 29

2.7.2 Horizontal Structure 29
2.7.3 Environmental Influences 30
2.7.4 Forest Ecosystem Processes 30
2.7.5 Biomass and Productivity 31
2.7.6 Functions of Forest Ecosystems 31
2.8 Grassland Ecosystems 31
2.9 Desert Ecosystems 32
2.10 Aquatic Ecosystems 33
2.10.1 Environmental Factors Affecting the Aquatic
Ecosystem Performance 33
2.11 Introduction to Biodiversity 34
2.12 Genetic Diversity 35
2.13 Species Diversity 35
2.14 Ecosystem Diversity 36
2.15 Biogeographical Classification of India 37
2.16 Value of Biodiversity 38
2.17 India as a Mega Diverse Nation 40
2.18 Hotspots of Biodiversity 41
2.18.1 Hotspots in India 43
2.19 Threats to Biodiversity 44
2.20 Endemic Species of India 45
2.21 Endangered Species of India 46
2.22 Conservation of Biodiversity 47
2.22.1 In-situ and Ex-situ Conservation 47
2.22.2 Preservation and Conservation 47
2.22.3 Project Tiger 47
2.22.4 Project Elephant 48
Review Questions 48
3. Environmental Pollution 56
3.1 Air Pollution 56
3.1.1 General 56
Contents ix
3.1.2 Sources of Air Pollution 57

3.1.3 Major Air Pollutants 57
3.1.4 Effect of Air Pollution on Animals, Plants and Property 59
3.1.5 Toxic Air Pollution 59
3.1.6 Primary and Secondary Air Pollutants 60
3.1.7 Smog 60
3.1.8 Photochemical Smog 60
3.1.9 Automobile and Air Pollution 60
3.1.10 Air Pollution Control Technologies 61
3.1.11 Catalytic Converter 64
3.2 Water Pollution 65
3.2.1 Major Forms of Water Pollution 65
3.2.2 Sources of Water Pollution 66
3.2.3 Point and Non-point Sources 66
3.2.4 Ground Water Pollution and its Control 66
3.2.5 Management of Municipal Sewage 66
3.3 Soil Pollution 78
3.3.1 Control of Soil Pollution 78
3.4 Marine Pollution 78
3.5 Noise Pollution 80
3.5.1 Sources of Noise 80
3.5.2 Measurement of Noise 80
3.5.3 Effects of Noise 80
3.5.4 Noise Pollution Control 81
3.6 Thermal Pollution 81
3.7 Nuclear Hazards and Accidents 82
3.7.1 Facts about Radiological Accidents 82
3.7.2 Ways to Minimize Radiation Exposure 83
3.8 Solid Waste Management 84
3.8.1 Solid (Non-hazardous) Waste 84
3.8.2 Refuse 84
3.8.3 Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) 85
3.8.4 Hazardous Waste 85
3.8.5 Illegal Dumping 85
3.8.6 MSW Management Practices 85
3.8.7 Source Reduction 89
x Contents
3.8.8 Recycling 93
3.8.9 Composting 93
3.8.10 Classification of Composting Based on Oxygen Use 93
3.8.11 Vermicomposting 94
3.8.12 Landfills 94
3.8.13 Combustion / Incineration 94
3.8.14 Prohibited Wastes 94
3.9 Role of an Individual in Prevention of Pollution 95
3.10 Disaster Management 99
3.10.1 Introduction 99
3.10.2 Types of Natural Calamities 99
3.10.3 Major and Minor Calamities 99
3.10.4 Impact of Calamities 100
3.10.5 Asian Disaster Preparedness Center [Program for Enhancement
of Emergency Response (PEER)] 100
Review Questions 103
4. Natural Resources 112
4.1 Forest Resources 112
4.1.1 Key Benefits of Intact Forests 114
4.1.2 Deforestation 114
4.1.3 Causes of Deforestation 115
4.1.4 Effects of Deforestation 115
4.1.5 Solutions to the Problems of Deforestation 116
4.2 Mining 117
4.3 DAMS 118
4.3.1 Dams and Civilization 118
4.3.2 Purposes of Dams 119
4.3.3 Benefits of Dams 119
4.3.4 Problems with Dams 119
4.3.5 Socio-economic Impacts of Dams 120
4.3.6 Controversy on Hydropower 120
4.3.7 Possible Solutions to Improve the Acceptability of Dam Projects 121
Contents xi
4.4 Water Resources 121

4.5 Drought 122
4.6 Conflicts Over Water 123
4.7 Mineral Resources of India 125
4.8 Food Resources 125
4.8.1 World Food Problems 125
4.8.2 Food Security 126
4.8.3 Adverse Effects of Modern Agriculture on Soil and
Water Resources 126
4.8.4 Problems with Fertilizers 127
4.8.5 Pesticides 128
4.8.6 Alternative Methods of Insect Control 129
4.9 Energy Resources 130
4.9.1 Types of Energy 131
4.9.2 Energy Characteristics 133
4.9.3 Energy and the Environment 133
4.9.4 Fuel Cell 133
4.9.5 Saving Energy 135
4.10 Land Resources 135
4.10.1 Land Degradation 136
4.10.2 Soil Erosion 137
4.10.3 Desertification 138
4.10.4 Landslides 138
4.11 Equitable Use of Resources for Sustainable Lifestyles 140
5. Social Issues and the Environment 151

5.1 From Unsustainable to Sustainable Development 151
5.1.1 Sustainability: Theory and Practice 152
5.2 Urban Problems Related to Energy 154
5.2.1 Urban Energy Crisis 154
5.2.2 Renewable Energy 155
xii Contents
5.3 Water conservation 156

5.3.1 Some Ancient Indian Methods of Water Conservation and Harvesting 156
5.3.2 Rainwater Harvesting 156
5.3.3 Reducing Water Demand in Agriculture 157
5.4 Watershed Management 158
5.5 Resettlement and Rehabilitation of People 159
5.6 Role of Non-Governmental Organizations 159
5.7 Environmental Ethics 161
5.8 Greenhouse Effect, Global Warming and Climate Change 164
5.8.1 Effects of Global Warming 166
5.8.2 Solutions for Global Warming 166
5.9 Acid Rain 168
5.9.1 Effects of Acid Rains 168
5.10 Ozone-Layer Depletion 169
5.10.1 Chlorofluorocarbons 171
5.10.2 Measuring Ozone Depletion 171
5.10.3 Impacts of Ozone Depletion 171
5.10.4 Steps to Protect the Ozone Layer 172
5.11 Nuclear Hazards and Accidents 172
5.12 Wasteland Reclamation 172
5.13 Consumerism and Waste Products 173
5.14 Pollution Control Boards and Pollution Control Acts in India 175
5.14.1 Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) 175
5.14.2 The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 175
5.14.3 The Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 176
5.14.4 The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 176
5.14.5 The Wildlife Protection Act, 1971 176
5.14.6 The Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 176
5.14.7 Constitutional Provisions 176
Contents xiii
6. Human Population and the Environment 182

6.1 Population Growth 182
6.1.1 Population Variations among Nations 184
6.1.2 Population Pyramids 185
6.1.3 Problems of Population Growth 186
6.2 Family Welfare Programmes 193
6.2.1 Evolution of Family Welfare Programme 194
6.3 Women and Child Welfare 200
6.3.1 Subjects Allocated to the Department 200
6.3.2 Child Development 201
6.4 Environment and Human Health 202
6.4.1 A History of Pandemics 203
6.5 Human Rights 204
6.5.1 Human Rights as Inspiration and Empowerment 205
6.5.2 Human Right Act, 1993 205
6.5.3 Amnesty International 211
6.6 Value Education 212
6.7 HIV/AIDS 213
6.7.1 Process of Infection 213
6.7.2 HIV Test 214
6.7.3 Transmission of HIV 215
6.7.4 Survival of HIV Outside the Body 216
6.7.5 HIV and AIDS in India 216
6.8 Role of Information Technology in Environment and Human Health 216
Appendix 1 International Conventions and Protocols 222
Appendix 2 Glossary 227
Index 244
Preface
Environmental issues are in the forefront of global development programs and are likely to
remain as the numero uno problem for our planet in the foreseeable future. As we resolve
some of the issues, the new ones crop up. Ozone hole is an issue which international
interventions could solve to considerable extent in the current decade. However, the
withdrawal of the United States from Paris Climate Agreement is a big setback to the
global efforts to contain climate change. Under these circumstances, it is imperative that all
graduates and engineers in particular, are equipped with the knowledge of environmental
issues and ways to solve the same. In the internationally accepted list of program outcomes
(POs)/attributes for a graduate engineer, knowledge of environment and sustainability
issues and the competency to conceive, design and implement solutions for the same are
essential.
This book is tailor-made to cater to the syllabus requirement of this course. The content
of the book is prepared for easy assimilation by students while encouraging learning beyond
classroom and syllabus.
I take this opportunity to thank the publisher and the entire editorial team in collating
the accurate user feedback and providing appropriate support in completing this book
within the time frame. I hope that the academic fraternity will extend patronage to it.
Benny Joseph
Visual Walkthrough
The readers can take a tour of this book through the visual walkthrough given below. It
highlights different elements present within the chapters and also gives a brief introduction
about them.
2 ENVIRONMENT,
ECOSYSTEMS AND
BIODIVERSITY
“The first law of ecology is that everything is related to everything else.”

Barry Commoner
Learning Objectives
Learning Outcomes
Chapters are organized into multiple
learning objectives which help students On successful completion of this chapter, students will be able to:
 Explain the concept, structure and function of different ecosystems.
and instructors to indulge in planned  Illustrate the terms Food Chain, Food Web and Ecological Pyramid.
and focussed learning of concepts.  Discuss the significance, variations and value of biodiversity with examples.
 Describe the biodiversity of India with examples of endemic species and hotspots in
biodiversity.
 Identify and list the endangered species of India and the major threats to biodiversity.
2.1 CONCEPT OF AN ECOSYSTEM—PRODUCERS,

CONSUMERS AND DECOMPOSERS
Ecology is the study of the relationship between organisms and their environment.
An ecosystem is a biotic assemblage of plants, animals, and microbes, taken together with
their physico-chemical environment. In an ecosystem the biological cycling of materials
Visual Walkthrough xvii
Figures and tabLes

The figures illustrate the various concepts
discussed in the chapter. This makes the
learning process stimulating. Details pertaining
to different concepts have been presented in
tabular form at various places.
Social Issues and the Environment 157
Fig. 5.4 Typical Rainwater Harvesting Facility for a Building
Table 3.1 Potential Harmful Effects of Automobile Exhaust Pollutants
Pollutant Health effects Environmental effects
Carbon Monoxide Lethal at high doses. At low dose can impair Greenhouse gas contributing to
(CO) concentration and neuro-behavioural global warming.
function.
Increases the likelihood of exercise-related
heart pain in people with coronary heart
disease.
Nitrogen Oxides Cause asthma and possibly increase Acid rain.
(NOx) susceptability to infections. An ingredient for the formation
of photochemical fog.
Hydrocarbons (HC) Low molecular weight compounds cause An ingredient for the formation
eye irritation, coughing and drowsiness. of photochemical fog.
High molecular weight compounds can be
mutagenic or carcinogenic.
Benzene (C6H6) Classified as a human carcinogen by the Not known.
International Agency for Research on Cancer.
Ground-level ozone Irritates the eyes and air passages. Oxidants to plants, impairs
(O3) Increases the sensitivity of the airways to growth and maturation.
allergic triggers in people with asthma.
May increase susceptibility to infection
Lead (Pb) Impairs the normal intellectual development Ground water pollution and
and learning ability of children. particulates in air.
xviii Visual Walkthrough
case studies and burning tOpics

Latest case studies and burning topics are also
covered in book for better understanding of
different topics.
CASE Canada: Education, Migration, Divorce

STUDY Cause, Fall in Birth Rate
Canada’s birth rate fell to 10.5 births for every 1,000 people, down by 25% in the last decade of 20th
century. Women are having the same 1.5 babies that they’ve been having for the past 10 years but
there are fewer women in the fertile age group 25 to 30. Experts point to an array of factors, including
increasing education for women, the urbanization of society and the breakdown in family units. Where
a new generation was born every 20 years, it’s now closer to 30. When you increase the time between
generations, there will be fewer children. All agree that the fertility rate has seen a decline over the
last 40 years. One factor is higher education that has given women career opportunities that caused
women to delay pregnancies until their careers have been established. Education has also given women
better knowledge about birth control products. The move to urban living has an effect as agrarian
societies, babies are viewed as a source of future labour supply but in urban settings, children are
more likely to be economic drains on their parents. Urban parents rely on pension plans, rather than
their children. Many working class women are putting off children because they simply can’t afford
to support them. Family change, such as divorce, cohabitation and looseness of relationships, comes
with fewer children because there’s less security.
BURNING
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)
TOPIC
Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a process of evaluating the effects that a product has on the environment over
the entire period of its life, thereby increasing resource-use efficiency and decreasing liabilities. LCA has its
roots in the 1960s, when scientists concerned about the rapid depletion of fossil fuels developed it as an
approach to understanding the impacts of energy consumption. In the 1970s, the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency refined this methodology. At present, the ISO 14040 and 14044 standards describe
the principles and guidelines for LCA.
LCA can be used to study the environmental impact of either a product or the function the product is
designed to perform. LCA is commonly referred to as a “cradle-to-grave” analysis. Thus, LCA studies
the environmental aspects and potential impacts throughout the product’s life, from raw materials
acquisition through production, use and disposal. The key elements of LCA are the following:
∑ Compiling an inventory of relevant inputs and outputs of a product system;
∑ Evaluating the potential environmental impacts associated with those inputs and outputs;
∑ Interpreting the results of the inventory analysis and impact assessment phases in relation to
the objectives of the study.
LCA facilitates a comparison of environmental performances of various products and a single figure
is needed for this purpose. Although there are several methods, yet it is still a controversial issue
and no single widely accepted method exists. Three well-documented and used methods are The
Eco-Points method, The Environmental Priority System and the Eco-Indicator. Greenhouse potential, Air
acidification potential, Eutrophication potential, Human toxicity potential, and Air odor potential,
etc., are examples for Eco-Indicators. Nowadays there are a number of softwares available for LCA,
making the task simpler.
Visual Walkthrough xix
chapter-end exercise
Chapter-end exercises are constructed to
assess the student’s understanding of concepts
discussed in each chapter. These are formed
as objective-type questions, short-answer
questions and descriptive questions. Answer
to MCQs have been provided at the end of
each chapter.
REVIEW QUESTIONS
Objective-Type Questions
1. Which of the following is an air pollutant?
(a) Nitrogen (b) Carbon monoxide
(c) Carbon dioxide (d) Oxygen
2. Which of the following statements about carbon monoxide is true?
(a) It is the result of incomplete combustion of fossil fuels.
(b)
(c)
(d) All of the above. Short-Answer Questions
3.
1. Define Ecology and Ecosystem.
(a)
2. Differentiate between biome and ecosystem.
(c) Ozone
3. List the major biomes of the world.
4. Smog is
4. Differentiate between food chain and food web.
(a)
(c) is colourless 5. Define biomagnification.
6. Why don’t water-soluble pollutants usually get biomagnified?
7.
8.
9.
Descriptive Questions
10. 1. Describe the history of population growth on earth mentioning the factors
contributing to it.
11.
2. Draw a typical population pyramid of a developing country and discuss how it is
12. Define biodiversity. likely to differ from that of a developed country.
13. Differentiate between 3. Explain the environmental problems posed by population explosion.
14. 4. Discuss the salient features of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by UN.
15. What is meant by the term 5. Explain the steps that are being taken in India to impart value education from
16. school days.
6. Discuss the process of HIV infection.
7. What are the modes of transmission of HIV and how can it be prevented?
8. What are the steps that have to be taken to control the AIDS epidemic in India?
9. Discuss the role of Information Technology in the protection of environment
and human health.
Answers to Objective-Type Questions

1. (c) 2. (b) 3. (b) 4. (b) 5. (b) 6. (d) 7. (a)
8. (b) 9. (d) 10. (c) 11. (d) 12. (b) 13. (b) 14. (a)
15. (d)
xx Visual Walkthrough
appendices
∑ Book-end appendix will give the reader

knowledge about major International
Environmental Conventions and Environ-
mental Protocols.
∑ Glossary of technical terms frequently used Appendix INTERNATIONAL
in environmental science has been included
at the end of book. This will help readers
improve their vocabulary on the subject.
1 CONVENTIONS
AND
PROTOCOLS
In order to deal with regional and global environmental changes, it is necessary to develop
new scientific and political mechanisms that could operate at the international level. An
international convention is intended to build an international consensus that a particular
ecological, wildlife or pollution problem exists. The convention is worded in general terms
to allow all countries to “sign on” recognizing that the problem exists and that there is
some need for concern and multinational action.
Once a convention has been established, countries can then begin to negotiate specific
control actions. The protocol mechanisms allow large problems to be broken down into more
achievable steps. The protocol mechanism allows for a wide range of actions to be agreed
upon the control of emissions, the control of production, trade in substances of
Appendix
2 GLOSSARY
the Vienna Convention which was the umbrella agreement
vention on Wetlands of International Importance especially
to
A
Abiotic: A non-living (physical or chemical) component of the environment.
Abatement: The reduction in degree or intensity of pollution.
Acid rain: Precipitation which has a pH of less than 5.6.
Acute toxicity: Any poisonous effect produced within a short period of time, resulting in
severe biological harm and often, death.
Adsorption: The adhesion of a substance to the surface of a solid or liquid. Adsorption
is often used to extract pollutants, by causing them to be attached to adsorbents such as
activated carbon or silica gel. Hydrophobic, or water-repulsing adsorbents, are used to
extract oil from waterways in oil spills.
Advanced wastewater treatment: The removal of any dissolved or suspended contaminants
beyond secondary treatment. Often, it is the removal of the nutrients—nitrogen and/or
phosphorus.
Aeration: The process by which air is circulated through, mixed with or dissolved in a
liquid or substance.
Aerobes: Organisms which require molecular oxygen as an electron acceptor for energy
production.
Agricultural pollution: The liquid and solid wastes from farming, including runoff from
pesticides, fertilizers, and feedlots; erosion and dust from plowing; animal manure and carcasses.
1 INTRODUCTION
“The earth provides enough to satisfy every person’s need but not every
person’s greed.”
Mahatma Gandhi
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this chapter, students will be able to:
 Demonstrate an understanding of the significance of environmental education.
 Outline the Gaia theory in the context of environmentalism.
 Comprehend the multidisciplinary nature of the course Environmental Studies.
 Illustrate the components of the environment and its interactions.
 Outline the causes, effects and management options for various environmental
problems related to air, water and land.
1.1 GENERAL
Throughout history, humankind has adapted to the natural variations of the earth’s system
and its climate. However, in the last century, human population and consumption of
various natural resources have increased significantly and this essentially is the root cause
of all the environmental issues. Figure 1.1 shows some of the current impacts of human
activities on the environment.
2 Environmental Science and Engineering
Fig. 1.1 Impacts of Human Activities on the Environment
Environmental awareness among the public and policymakers has been growing since
the 1960s, when it became widely recognized that human activities were having harmful
and largescale effects on the environment.
1.2 IMPORTANCE OF ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION

Environment is the physical and biotic habitat that surrounds us. Environmental issues
affect, and are affected by, all our activities to varying degrees. The need to have a
working knowledge of environmental issues is not confined to environmental scientists,
engineers and policymakers. In our society, all the educated citizens need to have a
working understanding of the fundamental principles involved in environmentally
Introduction 3
responsible decision-making to protect planet earth. Figure 1.2 lists some of the functions
of environmental education.
Fig. 1.2 Functions of Environmental Education
The following are some of the guiding principles and features suggested for effective
environmental education.
Environmental Education
 Considers the environment in its totality, i.e., ecological, political, natural,
technological, sociological, aesthetic and built environments.
 Develops awareness of the importance, beauty and wonders that can be found in
these aspects of the environment.
 Explores not only the physical qualities of the human relationship with the
environment, but also the spiritual aspect of this relationship.
 Is a response to the challenge of moving towards an ecologically and socially
sustainable world.
 Is concerned with the interaction between the quality of the biophysical environment
and the socio-economic environment.
 Transcends the division of knowledge, skills and attitudes by seeking commitment
to action in an informed manner to realistic sustainability.
 Recognizes the value of local knowledge, practices and perceptions in enhancing
sustainability.
 Supports relevant education by focusing on learning local environments.

 Considers the global as well as the local environment. Since the world is a set of inter-
related systems, there is a need for a world perspective on environmental issues.
 Focuses on current and future perspectives on environmental conditions.
 Is interdisciplinary and can be taught through and used to enhance all subjects in
the curriculum.
 Emphasizes participation in preventing and solving environmental problems and
revokes the passive accumulation of information about the environment.
Environmental literacy is the capability for a contextual and detailed understanding of an
environmental problem in order to enable analysis, synthesis, evaluation, and ultimately sound
and informed decision-making at a citizen’s level.
1.3 ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING

Environmental Engineering is one of the most complex and fastest growing disciplines
of Engineering. The scope of this field includes issues from public health protection to
aesthetics, and from impact on business development to the development of legislation,
standards, regulations, and guidelines, to their enforcement and environmental protection.
A challenging aspect of Environmental Engineering is the rapid changes in the field
due to the rate of knowledge increase in the fields of science, technology and health.
Figure 1.3 illustrates some of the core areas of Environmental Engineering.
Fig. 1.3 Some Core Areas of Environmental Engineering

Introduction 5
1.4 ENVIRONMENTALISM
Although it can be argued that environmental consciousness is ancient, and forms part of
many religions, it was not until the 1960s that environmentalism became an organized
force. The milestone marking the birth of the environmental movement was the publication
of the book Silent Spring by Rachel Carson in 1962 in the USA. Silent Spring inspired a
new public awareness that human beings were harming the environment. Since the 1960s,
the movement has grown dramatically. In Silent Spring, Carson exposed the perils of the
indiscriminate use of pesticides, particularly DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane).
Fig. 1.4 Silent Spring by Rachel Carson – The book that marked the Birth of Environmental Movement
1.4.1 The Gaia Theory

Named after the Greek mother Earth goddess, Gaia, the theory was developed in the 1960s
by scientist Dr James Lovelock. This theory suggests a holistic view of the world, where all
life on earth interacts with the physical environment to form a complex system that can
be thought of as a single super organism. Thus, the earth acts as a superorganism with the
ability to regulate environmental conditions needed to sustain itself, as much as the human
body keeps its water content, temperature, and other conditions at a relatively constant
state to keep the body alive. Lovelock believed that the earth is a self-regulating system
and is able to keep its climate and chemical composition comfortable for living organisms.
In particular, it regulates the chemistry of the oceans, composition of the atmosphere and
the surface temperature. The film Avatar (2009) is an illustration of the Gaia theory where
a world (Pandora) functions like a single organism.
Fig. 1.5 Lovelock and the Gaia Theory
Fig. 1.6 Daisyworld Mathematical Model
1.5 ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES—THE SUBJECT AND

ITS MULTIDISCIPLINARY NATURE
Environmental Studies is a distinct programme that gives the students an opportunity
to experience the interdisciplinary nature of the subject. Environmental Studies educate
students in the fundamentals of environmental and social sciences along with major
environmental issues.
An understanding of the working of the environment requires the knowledge from
wide-ranging fields. Table 1.1 shows a list of topics dealt commonly in air pollution and
Introduction 7
the related traditional fields of knowledge, illustrating the interdisciplinary nature of the
subject.
Table 1.1 Interdisciplinary Nature of the Subject—Air Pollution
Environmental issue/Topic Major subject/ Topic knowledge required

Nature and reactions of air pollutants Chemistry and Chemical Engineering
Effects of air pollutants on human beings, animals, Zoology and Botany and various branches of life
plants and materials science, Physics, and Chemistry
Effect of climate on air pollution Meteorology, Thermodynamics, Geography,
Mathematical modelling, etc.
Air pollution control devices Physics, Chemistry and various branches of
Engineering
History of air pollution and air pollution episodes History
Economic impacts of air pollution Economics, Demography
Sociological impacts of air pollution Sociology
Alternative fuels Various branches of physical sciences
Conservation of resources and pollution control Various branches of physical and political sciences
Ozone hole and global warming Almost every branch of study has got something to
contribute to the understanding of this phenomenon.
1.6 COMPONENTS OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND

THEIR INTERACTIONS
Chemicals on earth are distributed among four major environmental components or
conceptual spheres—atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere and biosphere. While such a
classification of nature is arbitrary, it helps in organizing and extending our knowledge of
distribution and flow of chemicals. A schematic representation of the four environmental
components and their interrelationships is shown in Fig. 1.7. The circles represent the
spheres and the curved arrows the flow pathways of the matter. In the diagram, circles
and curved arrows are used instead of boxes and straight line connections to emphasize
the close, dynamic, inseparable, organic coupling among the environmental components.
If one component or linkage changes, all other components respond. In this conceptual
frame, every sphere has a two-way linkage to every other sphere, including itself. The two-
way linkage signifies that the matter may flow from one component to another in both
directions. Some arrows show the transfer within a given component from one location
to another indicating movement of the substance from one physical location to another
without leaving the sphere. Since matter cannot be created or destroyed, the major objective
is to find the location and chemical form of the substance at any given time.
Fig. 1.7 Components of the Environment
Fig. 1.7(a) Atmosphere

Introduction 9
Fig. 1.7(b) Hydrosphere
Fig. 1.7(c) Lithosphere

Fig. 1.7(d) Biosphere
1.7 HUMANS AND THE BIOSPHERE

Humans are part of the biosphere, and human activities most closely resemble the functions
of the biosphere. Humans are responsible for the largescale redistribution of chemicals
on earth. Population explosion, coupled with increased per capita consumption of natural
resources, is the root cause of all the adverse human impacts on the biosphere.
The atmosphere and the hydrosphere are effective transporters of matter; and, as a
result, many of the anthropogenic chemicals are transferred to the land or the oceans
where they are subsequently incorporated in these long-term geochemical reservoirs.
Much of the environmental damage is done in the atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere
and biosphere during the transit from one long-term geochemical reservoir to another.
Introduction 11
1.8 IMPACTS OF DEVELOPMENT ON THE

ENVIRONMENT
Over the years, in the name of development, man has been unscrupulously exploiting the
environmental resources and which, in turn, has resulted in many adverse effects on air,
water and land. The extent of impact is so much that it even threatens the very existence
of life on earth.
1.8.1 Environmental Impacts of Urbanization

Table 1.2 shows a list of adverse effects of urbanization on the various environmental
components such as atmosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere.
Table 1.2 Environmental Impacts of Urbanization
Environmental Population Urban component

component (numbers and density) Land use Transportation Services
Atmosphere Increased release Increased average Air pollution Particulate matter
of CO2, decreased temperature for from combustion and noxious fumes
O2 production, as most urbanized of fuel creation from incinerators,
plant colonies areas. of photo- landfills and
are destroyed by chemical smog. sewage treatment
spreading urban plants.
areas.
Hydrosphere Greater demand on More intense use of Rain and Leaching of
water resources (both hydrologic resources surface waters pollutants
surface and ground causing increased polluted with from landfills.
water). pollution. lead. Drainage Discharges from
patterns sewage outfalls
altered by pollution from
infrastructure. boats.
Lithosphere Increased Complete changes Disruption or Sanitary landfill of
transformation due to construction, disfigurement of urban wastes and
of uninhabited landscaping, etc. landscape, etc. installation/repairs
agricultural or of services disturb
unutilized land to landscape.
urban uses.
Causes, effects and management options for various environmental problems related to
air, water and land are listed in Table 1.3.
Table 1.3 Summary of Urban Environmental Issues and Options
Problem area Effects Causes Management options

Ambient air  Health problems  Industrialization  Fuel pricing
pollution  Economic costs from  Increase in motorized  Regulations, standards,
healthcare costs and fleet and congestion emissions charges
productivity losses  Use of highly polluting  Demand management
 Amenity losses fuels  Transport planning
(aesthetic, cultural, and  Energy pricing policies  Appropriate technology
recreational)  Topography and climate (clean fuels, air
pollution control
equipment, etc.)
Indoor air  Health problems  Use of low-quality fuels  Substitution of fuel and
pollution (chronic obstructed for cooking and heating equipment pricing
lung disease, acute (biomass and high  Fuel switching
respiratory infections, sulphur coal)  Building codes
low birth weights,  Poorly ventilated  Public education
cancer) dwellings and  Tax hazardous products
 Economic costs workplaces and processes
from healthcare and  Passive smoking
productivity losses  Cottage industry
activities
Surface water  Health problems  Pricing policies  Regulations, standards,
pollution  Economic costs  Poor regulations and/or licensing, charges
(additional treatment, enforcement  Improve monitoring
new sources of supply,  Municipal and and enforcement
health costs) industrial waste  Demand management
 Amenity losses disposal practices and wastewater reuse
 Urban runoff  Appropriate technology
 Irrigation practices  Land use controls
 Waste management
Groundwater  Reduced water quality  Pricing policies  Regulation, standards,
pollution from saline intrusion  Poor regulations and/or licensing charges
depletion  Health impacts enforcement  Waste management
 Economic costs  Unsustainable  Appropriate technology
extraction (rain water harvesting)
 Sanitation, municipal  Demand management
and industrial waste  Controls on land
disposal practices use and sources of
 Poor demand infiltration
management
(Contd.)
Introduction 13
Table 1.3 (Contd.)

Coastal/lake  Health effects due to  Unclear property rights  Regulations, standards,
pollution contaminated seafood  Poor regulations and/or licensing charges
and direct contact enforcement  Appropriate technology
 Loss of recreational  Municipal and  Coastal zone
resources and tourism industrial waste management and
revenues disposal practices preservation
 Damage to fisheries  Disposal of shipboard  Shipping facilities
 Amenity losses wastes  Waste management
 Eutrophication  Land use control
Degradation of  Declining agricultural  Changes in relative  Internalize ecological
land productivity value of land uses value in land prices
 Reduced renewable  Uncontrolled urban  Designate special areas
resource base growth for management
(deforestation, lost soil  Unclear property rights  Local participation
fertility)  Mining and quarrying  Clarify property rights
 Erosion and siltation activities  Economic resource
 Amenity losses  Land disposal of pricing
 Loss of natural habitat municipal and  Land use controls
and species industrial wastes
Loss of cultural  Loss of heritage  Lack of regulation and/  Internalize costs of
and historical  Loss of tourism or enforcement loss in redevelopment
property revenues  Air pollution planning
 Damage to culturally  Land subsidence and  Tax incentives for
values buildings, poor drainage preservation
monuments, natural  Zone and building codes
sites  Pollution control
Degradation of  Health hazards  Failure to anticipate  Public education
ecosystems  Resettlement costs effects in planning and  Internalize costs of
 Loss of habitat and development rural degradation
species  Pricing policies  Resource pricing
 Air, water, and land  Lack of rural political  Clarify property rights
pollution power
Municipal solid  Household costs related  Poor management  Private sector delivery
wastes to blocked drainage and (improper collection of collection and
flooding and disposal, little disposal
 Water pollution from resource recovery)  Waste minimization
leachates  Pricing (no cost recovery) (recycling, recovery,
 Air pollution from  Disposal impacts source reduction)
burning external to the  Regulations, standards,
 Amenity losses community licensing, charges
 Input pricing  Institutional
 Expanded coverage strengthening
(Contd.)
Table 1.3 (Contd.)

Hazardous wastes  Surface, ground, coastal  Inadequate regulations  Regulations, standards,
water contamination and/or enforcement licensing and standards
 Related health, economic  No incentives for  Improve monitoring
and resource impacts treatment and enforcement
 Accumulation of toxics in  Input pricing for waste-  Treatment and disposal
the food chain producing industries incentives
 Reduced property values  Low visibility,  Economic input pricing
nonlinear, long-term  Waste minimization
effects  Marginal cost pricing
 Dispersed small-scale  Special incentives for
and cottage industries small-scale generators
 Privatization of
treatment and disposal
operations
Natural and man-  Health effects (death,  Natural forces  Reduce constraints on
made hazards injuries)  Land market failures supply of usable land
 Economic costs (loss (lack of alternatives for  Appropriate incentives
of lives, property, squatters, artificially (prices, taxes, tenure,
infrastructure) constrained supply) housing finance)
 Land degradation  Land policies (no  Land use controls
(flooding, landslides, taxation, no/  Improve knowledge
earthquakes) unenforced protection about risks and
 Amenity losses of high risk lands) alternatives
 Poor construction
practices
Inadequate  Health impacts  Inappropriate technology  Gear sanitation options
sanitation (diarrhoeal diseases,  Pricing (no cost recovery) to willingness to pay
parasites, high infant  Poor management  Community approaches
mortality, malnutrition) (lack of operations  Cost recovery
 Related economic costs and maintenance,  Hygiene education
 Eutrophication uncoordinated
 Amenity losses investments)
 Inadequate hygiene
education
Inadequate  Health effects  Inadequate hygiene  Community
drainage  Property damage education management of
 Accidents  Increased urban maintenance
 Reduced urban runoff due to  Strategic investment in
productivity (shutdown impermeabilization and drainage
of business, transport upstream deforestation  Land use controls and
systems)  Occupation of low-lying market liberalization
lands  Solid waste
management
Introduction 15
Table 1.4 Pros and Cons of Biofuels
Biofuels
Pros Cons
Promoted as a planetfriendly, renewable source of Critics argue that biofuel production takes valuable
energy. agricultural land.
Substitute for coal and oil. Sugarcane cultivation encroaches on wildlife habitat,
degrades soil and causes pollution when fields are
burned.
Burn cleaner and produce less greenhouse gas than Causes destruction of rain forests.
fossil fuels.
Farmers can produce them domestically, reducing About 70% more energy is required to produce
dependence on foreign sources of oil. ethanol than the energy that actually is in ethanol.
Fig. 1.8 Composition and Examples of Biofuel
REVIEW QUESTIONS
Objective-Type Questions
1. Who is the author of the book ‘Silent Spring’?
(a) Robin Cook (b) Arthur Hailey
(c) Rachel Carson (d) Charles Darwin
2. DDT is
(a) not soluble in water
(b) more soluble in fat than water
(c) less soluble in fat than water
(d) not soluble in fat
3. Which of the following scientists rediscovered DDT in 1939?
(a) Paul Hermann Müller
(b) Madam Curie
(c) Rachel Carson
(d) Alexander Fleming
4. POPs is
(a) Persistent Oxidizing Pollutants
(b) Permanent Organic Pesticides
(c) Persistent Organic Pesticides
(d) Persistent Organic Pollutants
5. Who proposed the Gaia theory?
(a) Rachel Carson
(b) James Lovelock
(c) Charles Darwin
(d) William Golding
6. The objective of environmental education is
(a) to raise consciousness about environmental conditions
(b) to teach environmentally appropriate behaviour
(c) to create an environmental ethic that fosters awareness about the ecological
inter-dependence of economic, social and political factors in a human
community and the environment
(d) all of the above
7. Which of the following is not influenced by human activities?
(a) Depletion of ground water
(b) Destruction of mangroves and wetlands
(c) Increased extinction rates of species
(d) None of the above
Introduction 17
8. The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) was signed in

the year
(a) 1999 (b) 1998
(c) 2000 (d) 2001
9. Which of the following statements about environmental education is false?
(a) Environmental education is evolving to be education for sustainable and
ethical development both at local and global levels.
(b) Environmental education will prepare the next generation to plan appropriate
strategies for addressing developmental environmental issues.
(c) Environmental education does not advocate a particular viewpoint or course
of action.
(d) Environmental education is essential for the younger generation only.
10. Which of the following conceptual spheres of the environment is having the least
storage capacity for matter?
(a) Atmosphere (b) Lithosphere
(c) Hydrosphere (d) Biosphere
11. Which of the following components of the environment are effective transporters
of matter?
(a) Atmosphere and hydrosphere
(b) Atmosphere and lithosphere
(c) Hydrosphere and lithosphere
(d) Lithosphere and hydrosphere
12. Which of the following one is not related to the loss of productivity of croplands?
(a) Desertification
(b) Waterlogging
(c) Salt buildup in topsoil
(d) None of the above
13. Biosphere is
(a) the solid shell of inorganic materials on the surface of the earth
(b) the thin shell of organic matter on the surface of the earth comprising all the
living things
(c) the sphere which occupies the maximum volume of all the spheres
(d) all of the above
14. Which of the following is an example of impact of developmental activities on the

hydrosphere?
(a) Air pollution (b) Soil pollution
(c) Soil erosion (d) Water pollution
15. Global atmospheric temperatures are likely to be increased due to
(a) burning of fossil fuels (b) water pollution
(c) soil erosion (d) none of the above
16. Which of the following is a management option for air pollution?
(a) Regulations and standards (b) Emission charges
(c) Transport planning (d) All of the above
Short-Answer Questions
1. What are the factors that have led to the increased resource consumption on earth
in recent years?
2. Define the term “environment”.
3. What are the major objectives of environmental education?
4. Define environmental literacy.
5. List the instances pointing to the fact that humans have significantly affected the
earth’s natural systems.
6. What is the role of science and engineering in the protection of the environment?
7. Why is it beneficial to follow a student-centered and participatory process for
environmental education?
8. List the pesticides polluting the environment in your locality.
9. Why is the ban on DDT not imposed in certain parts of the world?
10. List the four conceptual spheres in the earth’s environment.
11. Differentiate between biosphere and lithosphere.
12. What are the impacts of urbanization on atmosphere?
13. Differentiate between conveyor and reservoir.
14. What are the impacts of urbanization on hydrosphere?
15. List the causes, effects and management options for the following environmental
issues.
∑ Air pollution
∑ Water pollution
Introduction 19
∑ Land degradation
∑ Loss of cultural and historical property
∑ Degradation of ecosystems
∑ Municipal solid waste management
∑ Hazardous waste management
∑ Inadequate drainage and sanitation
Descriptive Questions
1. Explain the importance of environmental education in the present-day context.
2. Explain the scope of environmental engineering.
3. ‘Knowledge about the environment is not an end, but rather a beginning.’ Explain.
4. List the types of environmental engineering taking place around your locality and
analyze its root causes.
5. Explain the scope of environmental engineering.
6. With the help of a neat sketch, explain the flow of matter among the various
components of the environment.
7. Explain the role of human beings in the grand-scale redistribution of chemicals on
earth.
8. List the major urban environmental issues in India.
9. Explain the components of environment and their major interactions.
10. Explain the impact of urbanization on the environment.
11. Explain the causes, effects and management options for the various urban
environmental issues.
12. What are the impacts of urbanization on the air quality in your locality?
13. What are the major obstacles in maintaining air quality in your locality?
14. Explain the impact of land use changes on the water quality of your nearest river.
15. If environmenal degradation is considered as a side-effect of development, express
your views on the current pattern of development activities in India.
16. ‘Biofuel is a cure worse than the disease.’ Comment on the statement.
17. Conduct a survey and find out how chemicals and various materials are distributed/
cycled in your campus.
Answers to Objective-Type Questions

1. (c) 2. (b) 3. (a) 4. (d) 5. (b) 6. (d) 7. (d)
8. (c) 9. (d) 10. (a) 11. (a) 12. (d) 13. (b) 14. (d)
15. (a) 16. (d)
2 ENVIRONMENT,
ECOSYSTEMS AND
BIODIVERSITY
“The first law of ecology is that everything is related to everything else.”

Barry Commoner
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this chapter, students will be able to:
 Explain the concept, structure and function of different ecosystems.
 Illustrate the terms Food Chain, Food Web and Ecological Pyramid.
 Discuss the significance, variations and value of biodiversity with examples.
 Describe the biodiversity of India with examples of endemic species and hotspots in
biodiversity.
 Identify and list the endangered species of India and the major threats to biodiversity.
2.1 CONCEPT OF AN ECOSYSTEM—PRODUCERS,

CONSUMERS AND DECOMPOSERS
Ecology is the study of the relationship between organisms and their environment.
An ecosystem is a biotic assemblage of plants, animals, and microbes, taken together with
their physico-chemical environment. In an ecosystem the biological cycling of materials
is maintained by three groups, viz., producers, consumers, and decomposers/recyclers

(Fig. 2.1).
Fig. 2.1 Biological Cycling of Materials in an Ecosystem
Functionally, human activities that disturb the natural environment can also be
divided into three similar components (Fig. 2.2). An ecosystem relies on its decomposers
for a complete recycling of its elements, while the anthroposystem lacks such efficient
decomposers and recyclers. As such, manufactured materials that are no longer needed
and waste by-products of industrial activities are largely disposed into the physical
environment. Figures 2.3 and 2.4 illustrate the movement of chemicals and materials
through natural ecosystem and anthroposystem.
Fig. 2.2 Human Activities that Disturb the Natural Environment

Environment, Ecosystems and Biodiversity 23
Fig. 2.3 Movement of Chemicals and Materials through a Natural Ecosystem
Fig. 2.4 Movement of Chemical Materials through a System Resulting

from Human Activities (Anthroposystem)
2.1.1 Ecosystem–Anthroposystem Comparison

Table 2.1 gives a comparison of ecosystem and anthroposystem.
Table 2.1 Comparison of Ecosystem and Anthroposystem
Ecosystem Anthroposystem
Most of the materials are transferred from the producers to The flow from the producers to the recyclers is small or even
the recyclers, and only a small fraction is passed through the non-existent since it would be pointless to produce/ mobilize
consumers to the recyclers. materials and recycle them immediately without a consumer
in the loop.
The decomposers return most of the materials to the Much of the mobilized materials are transferred to the rest
producers for reuse. of the material environment, to the producer and to the
consumer.
Sustained development (ecosystem) is facilitated by a close There is usually a significant physical displacement between
physical proximity and functional matching between the the producer and the consumer.
producers and consumers.
2.2 STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION OF AN ECOSYSTEM

The structure of an ecosystem is the description of the organisms and physical features of
environment including the amount and distribution of nutrients in the ecosystem.
From the structure point of view, all ecosystems consist of the following basic
components:
Abiotic Components
Abiotic components of an ecosystem include basic inorganic elements and compounds, such
as soil, water, oxygen, calcium carbonates, phosphates and a variety of organic compounds.
Biotic Components
The biotic components include all living organisms present in the environmental system
which can be further classified into the following three types.
1. Producers (Autotrophic components)
2. Consumers
3. Decomposers
Function of all ecosystems are based on the following operations.
1. Reception of radiant energy of sun and manufacture of organic materials from
inorganic ones by producers.
2. Consumption of producers by consumers and further elaboration of consumed
materials.
Environment, Ecosystems and Biodiversity 25
3. Conversion of dead bodies of producers and consumers by decomposers into nutrients

which are suitable for reutilization by producers.
The structure and functional operations of an ecosystem is illustrated in Fig. 2.5.
Fig. 2.5 Structure and Functional Operations of an Ecosystem
2.3 ENERGY FLOW IN THE ECOSYSTEM

Figure 2.6 shows how both energy and inorganic nutrients flow through the ecosystem.
Energy “flows” through the ecosystem in the form of carbon-carbon bonds. When
respiration occurs, the carbon-carbon bonds are broken and the carbon is combined with
oxygen to form carbon dioxide. This process releases the energy, which is either used by
the organism (to move its muscles, digest food, excrete wastes, think, etc.) or the energy
may be lost as heat. The dotted arrows represent the movement of this energy. All energy
comes from the sun, and the ultimate fate of all energy in ecosystems is to be lost as heat.
Energy does not recycle.
The other components shown in the diagram are the inorganic nutrients. They are
inorganic because they do not contain carbon-carbon bonds. These inorganic nutrients
include the phosphorous in our teeth, bones, and cellular membranes; the nitrogen in our
amino acids (the building blocks of protein); and the iron in our blood. The movement
of the inorganic nutrients is represented by the open arrows. Note that the autotrophs
obtain these inorganic nutrients from the inorganic nutrient pool, which is usually the
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“Come on,” said Babe encouragingly, when the cow’s back was
safely turned. “She won’t come at us again, I’m sure. If she does, I’ll
protect you. Hurry up, Madeline. We’ve got to find the castle and get
back in time for the strawberry tartlets.”
So first Babe climbed down into the pasture, then Madeline
crawled through the bars, with Babe after her and Betty bringing up
the rear. But no sooner had Betty pushed safely through than the old
black cow turned her head, discovered what had happened, and
charged as fiercely as before.
“Oh, dear,” sighed Babe, from her perch on the fence, “she
wouldn’t really hurt us, I’m sure of it. She’s just curious about us.
Cows are awfully curious animals.”
“She shows her curiosity in a very peculiar way,” declared
Babbie. “She doesn’t want us in her pasture—that’s very evident.”
“Being a loyal Scotch cow, she objects to an American invasion,”
laughed Madeline. “See her eating away as calmly as if we didn’t
exist. Let’s be awfully quiet getting through this time and perhaps we
can cut across a corner of the pasture before she discovers us.”
But they couldn’t. This time Betty was the first one to follow the
intrepid Babe into the enemy’s country, and as soon as her head
appeared between the bars the old cow stopped eating and came
toward her. Then Babe had an idea.
“It’s your red cap, Betty,” she cried. “Hide it and see what
happens.”
In nervous haste Betty pulled out her hatpins and tucked the
scarlet tam-o’-shanter out of sight under her white sweater.
Whereupon the black cow lowed amiably and turned her head to nip
a tempting tuft of clover.
“Well, so that was what she wanted,” said Babbie indignantly. “I
supposed it was all a myth about cows chasing red, didn’t you,
Babe?”
“I didn’t know,” said Babe carelessly, striding through the bushes.
“Anyhow, I’m mighty glad we’re off. We shall never find your castle at
this rate.”
“Do you know,” said Betty reflectively, “this is a real story-book
country that we’re in. Even the cows act as they do in story-books.”
“Well, the roads don’t,” objected Madeline. “This one has come to
a plain, unvarnished end, as roads and other things have a way of
doing in real life. Why, it’s brought us right down to the sea!”
Sure enough, they had come out on a strip of sandy beach, with
a little cluster of bath houses at one end. A girl was standing in the
door of one of them.
“Go ask her the way, Madeline,” commanded Babbie. “You’re the
only one that can remember the name of my castle.”
So Madeline went, and returned with the news that they had
taken the wrong turn at the cemetery and must go back through the
pasture to the road on the hill.
“Never,” declared Babe firmly. “That cow would have a chance to
say, ‘I told you so.’ She was evidently trying to tell us that we were
on the wrong track. Didn’t you say the castle was near the water? If
so, why can’t we go to it along the shore? It’s a lot prettier down
here.”
So Madeline interviewed the bath-house girl again.
“She was very discouraging about it,” she announced. “She said
it was awfully rough, with nothing but sheep-trails to walk on, but we
can try it if you all want to.”
It was great fun walking on the sheep-trails close by the edge of
the sea, with the gorse and heather that they had always read about
under their very feet, and the expectation of seeing the castle as
they rounded each headland. But presently they came to a fence—a
high, close-meshed wire fence with a strand of barbed wire on top.
“Looks as if it was meant to keep people out, now doesn’t it?”
said Babe cheerfully.
“Come and help me over,” called Babbie, trying to dig her toes
into the wire meshes.
“Isn’t trespassing a dreadful crime over here?” asked Betty
anxiously, when they had all succeeded in getting over.
“Dreadful,” answered Madeline solemnly, “but the cliffs are too
steep to climb, and we can’t go all the way back to the beach.
Besides, we haven’t any guns. Trespassers are always supposed to
be looking for game, I think.”
Part of the way the sheep-trail led so near to the water’s edge
that it made Babbie dizzy, and once they had to cross a rickety little
wooden bridge over a deep ravine and Betty got over only by bravely
shutting her eyes and trying to believe Babe’s blithe assertion that a
good fat sheep, like those they saw on the hillsides, must weigh
almost as much as a smallish girl. But the worst of it was, they
couldn’t find the castle.
“Lost: one perfectly good ruin, well off tram-lines,” chanted
Babbie wearily. “The cliffs aren’t steep here. Let’s climb up to the
highest point and see if we can’t find a farmhouse where we can ask
our way.”
But at the same moment that they discovered the farmhouse they
saw the castle—or rather a thickly wooded point where Babe was
sure it was hidden, so they pushed straight on without stopping to
make inquiries. A low stone wall separated the wood from the
moorland, and Babe was just stepping over it, when she stopped
and gave a funny little exclamation.
“Our Dutchmen,” she said to Madeline. “They must be the
wardens of the castle. Anyhow they’re camping in the wood.”
“Can’t we go on?” inquired Babbie anxiously.
“Of course,” said Madeline with decision. “Baedeker would have
told us if it hadn’t been open to tourists. Come on, Babbie.”
The four had climbed the wall and were walking demurely
through the wood, politely keeping as far as possible from the tent,
when Babbie happened to catch sight of Babe’s and Madeline’s
Dutchmen, who had been lying comfortably on the ground in front of
their tent, and now were sitting up, apparently quite absorbed in the
books they were reading.
“Dutchmen indeed!” said Babbie coolly. “Why, it’s John Morton.
Oh, Jackie Morton!” she raised her voice. “What are you doing
camping out in the enchanted wood of my castle?”
At this one of the campers dropped his book, stared in the
direction from which Babbie’s voice had come, and jumping up came
quickly toward her.
“Well, this is funny,” he declared, wringing her hand, “because I
was just thinking about the jolly summer we had up at Sunset Lake
and wishing the same old crowd was here to tramp over the moors
and picnic and sail and have bully times together.”
Babbie laughed and introduced him to Babe, Betty, and
Madeline, and he, in his turn, called to his companion to come and
meet everybody.
“It’s my tutor—Max Dwight,” he explained hastily in an aside to
Babbie. “He’s just out of college himself, and he’s a mighty good
sort, if he does try to keep me everlastingly plugging. I say, Babbie,
are you through school yet?”
“Through college,” Babbie corrected him with dignity. “We’re all
Harding 19—’s.”
“Gee!” John’s face expressed deep concern. “I’m scared. Girls
frighten me to death anyhow, and four B. A.’s! Let’s stroll off
somewhere by ourselves and talk.”
“Nonsense!” laughed Babbie. “College girls aren’t blue-stockings
nowadays. Why aren’t you a B. A. yourself, John? You were going to
be a junior the year after that summer in the mountains.”
John nodded. “I got flunked out of my class,” he explained
carelessly. “I suppose girls never get into that fix, but plenty of
fellows do,—bright ones at that.”
“Why, John Morton!” Babbie’s tone was very scornful. “I didn’t
think you were that kind. Oh, yes, some Harding girls get flunked out,
but none of our crowd would. We’ve got too much pride.”
“That’s all very well to say,” John returned sulkily. “You went to
college because you wanted to, I suppose. I went because my father
wanted to and couldn’t, so he made me. I got as much fun out of it
as I could, and did as little work, and I don’t care what you think
about it.”
“Oh, yes, you do,” said Babbie coolly. “You care a lot.” Then she
smiled and held out her hand. “Don’t let’s quarrel this morning. If you
look so glum the girls will think all I’ve said about your being such a
jolly lot is a fairy-tale. I caught a glimpse of you in Glasgow, you
know, and I wanted to climb down from the top of a two-story tram to
rush back and speak to you. But the tram started just then and I
couldn’t.”
John laughed. “Wanting to climb down from the top of a tram to
see a fellow is certainly a proof of true friendship. We’ll have our
quarrel out some other day.”
“All right,” Babbie agreed, leading the way back to the others.
“But you’d better settle your score with Babe and Madeline right
away.”
“Settle with Babe and Madeline,” repeated John. “What do you
mean?”
“You’re really even,” Babbie pursued, not wanting to embarrass
John immediately after their reconciliation, “because if you
commented on their stride, they came home and told Betty and me
about meeting some Dutchmen.”
“Oh, I say!” John’s face lighted and then he blushed, as he
recognized Babe and Madeline. “You were the ones we met on the
parade. I’m very sorry. So few people know Dutch, and you were
sprinting, you know.”
The girls declared that he was quite excusable, but Babbie
warned him that he wouldn’t be safe in using even Bengali when
Madeline was around.
“And I shall have to be careful of you,” said Madeline. “Where did
you learn so many languages, Mr. Morton?”
“Oh, dad’s in an importing business with branches all over the
world, and his agents sometimes come to New York. I like to go
down to the warehouses and talk to them, and I can manage to say
a little in ten different languages. It’s positively my only
accomplishment,” added John modestly.
“And now please show us over my castle,” Babbie demanded.
“May I ask by what right you claim the ownership of
Dunstaffnage?” asked Mr. Dwight laughingly.
“Oh, I wanted a ruin,” explained Babbie, “and Madeline—Miss
Ayres—picked this one out for me. But I shan’t accept it unless it’s a
perfectly lovely one.”
“It is, though,” John assured her. “As far as I know, it can’t be
beaten anywhere in Europe. How did you girls happen to come in by
the back way?”
“We were glad enough to get here by any way,” laughed Babe.
“Is this the back entrance, and are you the wardens of it?”
“No, but we’re the proud possessors of a permit from the owner
to camp on his premises,” said John. “We got tired of the Oban
hotels, and liked this beech-wood and the castle so much that we
wanted to board near by. The people at the farm down the road that
you should have come by were willing to feed us, but hadn’t any
extra rooms, so I suggested a tent—I camped all last summer up in
Canada—and here we are. If you’re going to be lady of the castle,
Babbie, you’ll have to let us be its lords.”
“All right,” agreed Babbie, leading the way along a mossy path
between the tall beeches. Presently she gave an exclamation of
dismay. “Oh, but it’s such a very small castle! I thought it would be
big and have a rampart and a moat.”
“That’s only the chapel, silly,” John explained. “The castle is
farther on.”
“A chapel! Oh, what a darling one!” cried Betty. “I want the chapel
for mine, Babbie. You can have the castle.”
“I approve your taste, Miss Wales,” said Mr. Dwight. “I think that
little ivy-covered ruin, hidden among the trees, is lovelier than any
castle. Come inside and see the stones.”
“Whose graves are they?” asked Betty, following Mr. Dwight
across the broken threshold.
“They’re not legibly marked, except this one. Some of the ancient
owners of the castle, I suppose.”
“Who did own it?” asked Betty eagerly.
“The old Scottish kings, first of all. They held their court here for
hundreds of years, and kept the famous coronation stone here—the
one that’s now in Westminster Abbey—until the Norwegians got to
be too much for them and they moved the stone to Scone. Then the
Norwegians took Dunstaffnage, and after them, their descendants,
the Lords of Argyll and Lorne. In Bruce’s time Alexander of Argyll
and his son John of Lorne were bitter enemies of the king and
almost overthrew him. But Bruce conquered John in the Pass of
Brander, close by here, and shut up old Alexander in his own castle.
So the family lost their lands to the crown, though they lived on here
for over a century longer, and James, Earl of Douglas, met the heads
of the family here and tried to induce them to join his cause. In more
modern times Flora Macdonald was imprisoned here for helping
bonnie Prince Charlie to outwit his enemies and escape to France.”
“How interesting!” said Betty eagerly. “It just gives you thrills to
think that you’re standing on such historic ground, doesn’t it? Now I
want to see the castle.”
While Betty and Mr. Dwight had been talking in the chapel,
Babbie had hurried the others through the wood and around to the
front of the castle where the entrance was.
“They couldn’t have doorways on the side toward the sea,” John
explained, “because the enemy would have come in small boats,
crept up through the wood in the dark, and surrounded them.”
“We can go inside, can’t we?” asked Babbie eagerly, and by the
time Betty appeared, Babbie and John were perched on the narrow
ledge that ran almost all the way around the top of the crumbling
castle wall.
“It’s great!” Babbie cried to the rest, making a trumpet of her
hands. “You can see ever so far. Come up, all of you!”
So the rest, who had dropped down on the grass to rest after
their long walk, climbed the narrow, steep stone stairway and
emerged on the ledge.
As Babbie had said, it was “great” up there. The castle stood on a
promontory at the mouth of a beautiful loch—which, as the girls had
already discovered on their way up to Oban, often means simply an
arm of the sea, of which, owing to the irregularity of the coastline,
there are a great many in Scotland. You could see far up the loch in
one direction and out to the open sea in the other, and in the
background loomed great, mist-shrouded peaks, wild and terrible,
with stretches of lonely moorland in the nearer distance.
“COME UP, ALL OF YOU”

“What is this?” asked Babe, pointing to a rusty iron standard
fastened to the top of the castle’s sea-wall.
“That’s a beacon-holder,” Mr. Dwight told her. “In the good old
days of the Border Wars, this castle used to be a station in the chain
of signal fires. They fastened a bundle of fagots into that frame and
set them on fire, and the chief in the castle over there on one of
those purple islands, and the clan gathered on the slope of Ben
Cruachan, that highest peak up at the head of the loch, saw the fire,
and knew what it meant.”
“What did it mean?” demanded Babe.
“Different things at different times,” explained Mr. Dwight, “but
generally death and pillage for somebody.”
Babbie gave a little sigh of satisfaction. “How lovely! I accept my
castle, Madeline, with many thanks. I wish it had some rooms down-
stairs to explore, and a dungeon, but it’s very nice just as it is. It’s so
absolutely unspoiled.”
“It certainly doesn’t look much like that dreadful cottage at Ayr,”
laughed Betty. “Did you go to Ayr, Mr. Morton?”
John nodded. “Silly little place, isn’t it? I say, Babbie, there is one
thing that this castle lacks. Dwight and I were talking about it this
morning before you came. Don’t you know what it is?”
Babbie considered, frowning. “No, I don’t, and it isn’t nice of you
to pick flaws in my castle, John.”
“I’m not picking flaws,” retorted John. “I’m just calling your
attention to any little defects I’ve noticed, so that you won’t accept
your castle in ignorance and live to repent your rash act later. Can’t
any of you guess what I mean?”
“I can,” said Madeline promptly. “It ought to have a ghost. No
castle is complete without one. But are you perfectly sure this hasn’t
any?”
“I’m afraid it hasn’t,” said John solemnly. “We’ve been here three
nights now, and no ghost has walked so far. Besides I consulted the
family who live in the farm attached to the castle, and they stoutly
deny the existence of a ghost.”
“Oh, but that doesn’t prove anything,” declared Madeline. “Don’t
you know that the lords of the castle and their retainers always deny
the existence of a ghost? They regard it as a blemish on the
property.”
“How absurd of them,” sighed Babbie. “Oh, dear, now that you’ve
mentioned it, I do want my castle to have a ghost, and I believe it
has one, too. Who knows about the history of Dunstaffnage? Wasn’t
anybody ever murdered here, or didn’t some beautiful lady pine
away for love? Those are the most likely kinds of ghosts, aren’t they,
Madeline?”
Madeline nodded. “When we get back to Oban, we’ll try to find a
history of the castle and perhaps we can unearth a ghost for you.”
“Oh, Mr. Dwight!” Betty and Mr. Dwight held a whispered
conference, then she turned to Babbie.
“We’ve thought of a ghost for you. Her name is Flora Macdonald.
She was imprisoned here once, because she had tried to help
bonnie Prince Charles to escape, after there was a price set on his
head.”
“And now she walks in the beech-wood?” asked Babbie eagerly.
Betty looked questioningly at Mr. Dwight. “She ought to,” he said
laughingly, “since the fair lady of the castle wishes it. I’ll inquire more
particularly of the farm people and let you know next time you pay a
visit to your domain.”
“I suppose we ought to be going back now,” said Babbie
regretfully, leaving her comfortable perch on the castle-wall.
“I should think so. We’ve forgotten the strawberry tartlets,” cried
Babe in tragic tones. “It’s half-past twelve now, and our dinner is at
one.”
“You can’t possibly make it,” said John. “You’d better stay and
have a bite with us at the farm. It isn’t elegant, but everything tastes
good, and you must be famished.”
“We are,” sighed Madeline.
“But we’ve got to go back for our own dinner,” declared Babe
sternly. “Miss MacNish suggested the tartlets on purpose to please
us, you know, and it wouldn’t be nice of us not to go back. It’s only
three miles by road, Mr. Morton says, so we ought to be there by a
quarter past one.”
“You won’t even stop for a drink of milk?” urged John.
Babbie shook her head. “It would take too long. Come and see
us, John, and you too, Mr. Dwight. We’re at Daisybank Villa. I don’t
know the street, but you can ask.”
“Oh, we’ll find it all right,” John assured her. “I say, can’t we take
some trips together, or some tramps?”
“Of course,” Babbie promised him, hurrying after the others.
“We’ll arrange it when you come.”
John looked after the party admiringly. “I like their spirit,” he said
to Mr. Dwight, “going back so as not to disappoint their landlady.
Babbie Hildreth is always like that—just as fair and square as any
fellow you can name. She’s jolly too—if she did graduate from
college. I say, Dwight, I’m much obliged to you for giving me the
morning off, and I’ll make up for it this afternoon, sure enough.”
Which was such an unprecedentedly docile attitude on the part of
John Morton that his bewildered tutor hoped Babbie Hildreth and her
friends would continue to stay in Oban and exercise their beneficent
influence.
CHAPTER VI
SCOTCH MISTS
Next day it rained—a dismal, drizzling sort of rain that acted as if

it never meant to stop.
“I suppose this is a Scotch mist,” said Babe dolefully at breakfast.
“Of course we ought to enjoy it, as an experience of real Scotch
weather, but for my part I prefer a good rattling American rain-storm.”
“We shouldn’t want to take another long walk to-day, even if it
were pleasant,” said Betty consolingly. “I shouldn’t at least. Sprinting
home after the strawberry tarts made me horribly lame.”
“Me too,” sighed Babbie. “Also it made a hole in my shoe—the
only pair I have that are right for rough walking.”
“Let’s put on rain-coats and go hunting a cobbler,” proposed
Madeline.
“And a history of Dunstaffnage,” added Babbie. “I asked Miss
MacNish if there was a library in Oban and she said no; so we shall
have to find a book-store.”
“We can buy post-cards too,” put in Betty. “This is just the right
kind of day for writing letters.”
So they tramped blithely down the hill and wandered in more
leisurely fashion along Oban’s one business street.
“There’s a shoe-shop,” announced Babe presently. “And it says in
the window ‘Repairing done while you wait.’”
“Goodie!” exclaimed Madeline. “Then I shall have my sole
patched, too. It’s worn terribly thin on these stony Scotch roads.”
The smiling saleswoman showed the girls into a tiny back room,
where Madeline could sit while she waited “with one shoe off and
one shoe on.” Babbie stayed to keep her company, and Babe and
Betty went off to buy post-cards, promising to come back before long
with sweet chocolate for the captives.
“This looks like a book-store,” said Babe, stopping before a little
shop with magazines in the window. “We might inquire about the
history of Babbie’s castle.”
A severe-looking, heavily bearded old gentleman came out from
a back room to meet them. No, this was not a book-shop, he
explained gruffly; it was a stationer’s; there were two book-shops at
the other end of the esplanade.
Just then Betty caught sight of some post-cards. “Oh, what lovely
cards!” she cried. “Here’s one of Dunollie, and one of Dunstaffnage,
and oh—here’s that lovely gray beach that we came down to from
the black cow’s pasture. Caernavan Sands is its name. Doesn’t that
sound romantic?”
“My cairds are hand-teented,” said the old stationer in broad
Scotch. “They are tuppence ha’ penny each. Not that it mak’s ony
deeference to you, maybe.”
“Tuppence ha’ penny,” repeated Babe meditatively. “That’s five
cents—cheap enough for hand-colored ones, I’m sure.”
Betty picked out the cards she wanted from the rack, and then
noticed more piles behind the counter.
“Oh, are there some others back there?” she asked. “May I see
them, please?”
The old gentleman said something which Betty mistook for
permission to go behind the counter and look; but as she started to
do so he barred her way.
“No, no, madam,” he said sternly. “You can go wherever you like
in your own country, but in my shop you stay where you belong.”
“Oh, I beg your pardon,” said Betty meekly. “I thought you said I
might see them. I’m very, very sorry.”
“I said I wad bring ye the ones that were deeferent from those in
the rack,” said the old man, glaring at poor Betty from under his
beetling eyebrows.
“Let’s not buy his old cards,” muttered Babe indignantly in Betty’s
ear.
But Betty smiled and shook her head. “They’re too pretty to lose,”
she whispered. “We should be just spiting ourselves.”
By this time the old Scotchman seemed to be a little mollified,
and condescended to ask the girls what trips they had taken from
Oban and to show them some views of Glencoe, a beautiful
mountain pass, and of Iona, the island where Saint Columba’s
church is, both of which he recommended them to visit. Babe
listened in sulky silence, leaving Betty to answer his questions and
thank him for his advice.
“Come again, leedies,” he said, as they went out, and Betty
thanked him politely for that, too.
“Hateful old thing!” cried Babe, when they were once more
outside. “The idea of talking that way to us, just because we’re
Americans. What has he got against America, I should like to know?”
“Never mind him,” said Betty soothingly. “His post-cards are
perfectly lovely. Now let’s get the sweet chocolate for those poor
hungry girls.”
“Oh, what fascinating little cakes,” cried Babe rapturously,
stopping before a pastry-cook’s window. “Don’t you suppose they’d
rather have those than just ordinary sweet chocolate? It would be
such fun buying them.”
“It’s fun buying anything over here with this queer English
money,” laughed Betty. “Doesn’t it seem to you just like toy money,
Babe?”
Babe nodded. “And when I spend it I don’t feel as if I were
spending real money at all. It’s the loveliest feeling that whatever you
buy doesn’t matter a bit, as long as toy money will pay for it.”
“Let’s buy four of the buns and three of the chocolaty ones and
an odd one for you, because you don’t like chocolate,” said Betty,
returning to the cakes.
They got back to the shoe-shop, with their bag of cakes, just in
time to find Madeline tying on her mended shoe.
“Let’s save the cakes till we get home,” she proposed. “We can
eat them while we’re reading about Flora Macdonald. Oh, let me see
your post-cards. What beauties! Show us where they came from, this
minute.”
“All right, only prepare to be insulted if you go inside,” said Babe,
and she told the story of their experience.
“Crusty old party, isn’t he?” said Madeline. “Oh, I know what! I
can do a beautiful English accent. I’ll go in and make him think I’m
English. Then he’ll talk to me confidentially about America.”
“But then I shan’t have any cards,” objected Babbie forlornly.
“Oh, I’ll bring you some,” Madeline promised her. “Wait for me
——”
“In that Scotch plaid store over there,” supplied Babe, who never
let an interesting shop escape her notice.
There were golf capes in the store, tweed ulsters—“Just the thing
for a Scotch mist,” said Babbie, shivering in her natty silk rain-coat—
beautiful little kilted suits for small boys to wear, and best of all, a
proprietor resplendent in full Scotch regalia—kilted skirt, “golf”
stockings, green coat, and the insignia of his clan dangling from a
belt around his waist.
“Did you ever see anything so gorgeous,” murmured Babbie
under her breath. “These plaid silk squares will make lovely bags,
girls. I’m going to buy a Macdonald one, in memory of Flora. I do
hope she will turn out to be the ghost of my castle.”
So Babbie timidly approached the majestic figure in plaids, who
bowed affably and did up the silk square as neatly as any ordinary
salesman, talking pleasantly meanwhile about the rain and the war-
ship that had appeared that morning in the harbor.
The transaction was barely completed when Madeline came
back, laden with post-cards and bursting with merriment.
“I took him in completely,” she said. “He told me all about you two
and how you acted as if you owned Oban and his shop, and how the
Americans are all millionaires and are spoiling the town, running
about everywhere, asking senseless questions and not respecting
any one’s privacy.”
“Wouldn’t he have enjoyed seeing us get over that chicken-wire
fence?” said Babe viciously.
“And wouldn’t he be wild if he heard Babbie refer to Dunstaffnage
as her castle?” added Betty.
“Well, as an impartial person who hasn’t seen him,” put in
Babbie, “I think there’s a good deal in his ideas. Lots of American
tourists are frights. Wouldn’t you be mad, if you lived in Ayr, to see
them swarming around the Burns relics and turning the town into
pandemonium every pleasant day all summer?”
“I certainly should,” admitted Babe, “but all the same I wouldn’t be
rude about it. I’d move away.”
“Oh, but perhaps you couldn’t,” began Betty seriously. “If you
were old, you know, and your business was there——”
Whereupon the other three burst into peals of laughter at her
earnestness, and couldn’t sober down even at the prospect of
scandalizing the bookseller as much as they had the crabbed old
stationer. But the bookseller proved to be a brisk young fellow with
an eye for trade, and no national prejudices. He sold them two
paper-covered guides to the region around Oban, which, he assured
them, would tell them all about Flora Macdonald, and all about
Dunstaffnage castle as well. He too had post-cards, and Babe
bought some, “on principle,” she explained, because he was so very
agreeable to Americans.
After dinner it rained harder than ever, so the girls gathered in
Miss MacNish’s parlor, the use of which, they had discovered, went
with “lodgings.” They had exhausted the guide-books, written on
most of their post-cards, decided to go to Iona on the first pleasant
day, if there ever was one, and were beginning to feel very dull
indeed, when Miss MacNish’s funny little maid appeared to say that
there were two gentlemen down-stairs; and should she bring them
right up?
“It’s John and Mr. Dwight, of course,” said Babbie gleefully. “Isn’t
it jolly of them to come all this way through the rain to see us?”
“We got drowned out,” John explained. “It’s the first rain since we
began to camp, and we found it most horribly wetting. So we folded
our tent like the Arabs, silently stole with it to the farmer’s barn, and
took up our quarters at the hotel nearest Daisybank Villa. And here
we are.”
“Wad ye like an early tea for your friends?” inquired Miss
MacNish, smilingly appearing in the doorway; and Babbie said yes, if
it was perfectly convenient.
“We were hoping you’d ask us to tea,” confessed Mr. Dwight
laughingly. “We’ve become horribly bored with each other’s society,
haven’t we, J.?”
“And we were getting bored with ours,” retorted Madeline. “A
rainy day is a dreadful strain on the tourist’s temper, isn’t it?”
“Well, don’t you think it’s going to clear up to-morrow?”
demanded John anxiously. “Because if it does, and if Mrs. Hildreth
doesn’t object, we were hoping you’d go on some sort of excursion
with us.”
“How jolly!” cried Babbie, and suggested Iona. But the men had
been there, and John objected to going anywhere in a crowd.
“What I meant was to go off somewhere just as we did that
summer in the woods, not looking for scenery or for storied castles,
but just for a jolly good time and a good tramp—or a drive if you girls
prefer that.”
Babbie twisted her face into an expression of puzzled
amusement. “Oh, John Morton, you are so funny,” she gasped. “You
mean you want to forget you’re in Scotland and pretend you’re in
America, so you can go on a plain American picnic.”
“I object to plain,” said John promptly. “I insist on having extra-
super eats on any picnic that I honor with my presence. Stop
laughing, Babbie. I don’t see anything so funny in wanting to go on a
picnic.”
“Well, probably there isn’t,” admitted Babbie, “only I never went
on one before in Europe, and I never heard of any one else who did.
But I think it will be great fun.”
“And that’s what we’re here for,” added Madeline promptly. “We’re
not the kind of tourists who bore themselves with solid days of ruins
and museums and galleries that they’d never think of visiting if they
were in New York. We hope to improve our minds when it’s perfectly
agreeable, but we’re all against cramming.”
“Why, Madeline Ayres,” cried Betty eagerly, “you know you were
the worst crammer in 19—.”
“The best, you mean, my child,” Madeline corrected her. “Well,
now that I’m a full-fledged B. A., I see the error of my ways, and I am
resolved not to cram on the British museum when we get to it.”
“Everybody stop disputing,” commanded Babe, “and decide
about the eats.”
“Let’s cook something,” suggested Madeline. “I hate cold
luncheons.”
“It’s just the weather for a bacon-bat,” said Betty.
“Then let’s have one by all means,” Mr. Dwight seconded her. “I
don’t know what it is, but it certainly sounds appetizing.”
“It’s great,” Babe assured him. “You roast the bacon on sticks,
and have rolls and pickles and things to go with it, and coffee, of
course. We used to have them all winter in Harding when it wasn’t
too snowy.”
“All right,” said John, “a bacon-bat it shall be. We’ll get the things
in the morning when we start off. Now the next question is, shall we
walk or ride?”
“Let’s walk,” said Babe. “We’re all crazy over walking. Unless—
would your mother go if we rode, Babbie?”
But Mrs. Hildreth, who appeared just then, having heard from
Miss MacNish about the early tea, said she was sure that even if it
cleared off in the morning it would be too damp for her idea of a
picnic, so it was finally decided to walk.
As soon as tea was over, John declared that he must go. “Got to
bone this evening to make up for taking part of to-morrow morning
off,” he explained, blushing and looking sheepishly at Mr. Dwight.
“I’m glad to see that you pay in advance for your fun, John,” said
Mrs. Hildreth. “It’s the best way.”
“I guess you’re right, Mrs. Hildreth,” said John. “Anyhow I’m
experimenting on it just at present. We’ll be here at eleven sharp,
Babbie.”
Next morning every one of the girls got up long before
Daisybank’s breakfast hour to have a look at the weather. At least it
wasn’t raining, and the sun might come out by eleven.
“Besides, who cares for the weather?” inquired Babe calmly,
lacing up her heaviest shoes. “We can’t waste another day moping
around indoors.”
“We’d better take the ‘last resorts’ though,” said Betty. “The wood
will all be wet.”
“Lucky mother insisted on bringing two of them,” said Babbie.
“Now we can have one for the bacon and one for the coffee.”
The sun wasn’t shining at eleven; indeed the sky was very gray,
and John and Mr. Dwight looked dubious as they turned in at
Daisybank Villa. But they were pleasantly disappointed at finding the
four girls arrayed in sweaters and tam-o’-shanters, all ready to start.
“We’ve bought the lunch, too,” explained Babe, thrusting a bulky
parcel into John’s arms. “We thought we shouldn’t have any too
much time to get well out into the country before it was time to eat.”
When they had gone about two miles across the moors, John,
who was ahead with Betty, stopped short. “Did you make it a bacon-
bat?” he demanded anxiously.
“Yes,” answered Betty.
“Weren’t we elected to make it that?” asked Madeline.
“Then we shall starve,” declared John tragically. “Look at your
skirts. How are we going to make a fire with everything dripping wet
like this?”
“Oh, is that your trouble!” Babe gave a sigh of relief, which the
others echoed. “Why, we’ve brought the ‘last resorts’ along. You
don’t know what they are, do you? It’s private Harding slang. Let’s
camp on the top of that lovely steep cliff, with the purple heather on
top of it, and then we’ll show you about ‘last resorts.’”
So they settled themselves on the rocks, Babe produced the two
chafing-dish lamps, and a flask of alcohol from somewhere inside
her sweater,—she and Bob always tucked things away in mysterious
places to leave their hands free,—and Mr. Dwight obligingly held the
coffee-pot over one lamp, while Babbie arranged the table on a flat
rock, and the rest threaded thin slices of bacon on to pointed sticks
and squabbled merrily for a chance to hold them near the flame of
the other lamp. Miss MacNish had given them scones instead of
rolls, and raspberry tartlets for dessert, so it wasn’t quite an
American picnic after all. But it was a perfectly satisfactory one, John
declared.
“Are all Harding girls like your crowd?” he asked Babe on the way
home.
Babe considered laughingly. “How do you mean?”
“Oh, jolly, and up to things, not minding if you get your skirts wet
going ’cross country, and knowing about ‘last resorts,’ and all that.”
“Well, of course we always thought we were a little jollier than
any other crowd,” Babe explained modestly. “We called ourselves
‘The Merry Hearts,’ you know, and we had all the fun there was
going, I guess—especially Bob Parker and Babbie and I.”

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2.7.1 Vertical Structure—Vegetation Layers 29

3.1.2 Sources of Air Pollution 57

4.4 Water Resources 121

5. Social Issues and the Environment 151

5.3 Water conservation 156

6. Human Population and the Environment 182

“The first law of ecology is that everything is related to everything else.”

2.1 CONCEPT OF AN ECOSYSTEM—PRODUCERS,

Figures and tabLes

Social Issues and the Environment 157

Fig. 5.4 Typical Rainwater Harvesting Facility for a Building

Table 3.1 Potential Harmful Effects of Automobile Exhaust Pollutants

Pollutant Health effects Environmental effects

case studies and burning tOpics

CASE Canada: Education, Migration, Divorce

Answers to Objective-Type Questions

∑ Book-end appendix will give the reader

vention on Wetlands of International Importance especially

Fig. 1.1 Impacts of Human Activities on the Environment

1.2 IMPORTANCE OF ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION

Fig. 1.2 Functions of Environmental Education

 Supports relevant education by focusing on learning local environments.

1.3 ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING

Fig. 1.3 Some Core Areas of Environmental Engineering

1.4.1 The Gaia Theory

Fig. 1.5 Lovelock and the Gaia Theory

Fig. 1.6 Daisyworld Mathematical Model

1.5 ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES—THE SUBJECT AND

Environmental issue/Topic Major subject/ Topic knowledge required

1.6 COMPONENTS OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND

Fig. 1.7 Components of the Environment

Fig. 1.7(a) Atmosphere

Fig. 1.7(b) Hydrosphere

Fig. 1.7(c) Lithosphere

Fig. 1.7(d) Biosphere

1.7 HUMANS AND THE BIOSPHERE

1.8 IMPACTS OF DEVELOPMENT ON THE

1.8.1 Environmental Impacts of Urbanization

Environmental Population Urban component

Table 1.3 Summary of Urban Environmental Issues and Options

Problem area Effects Causes Management options

productivity losses  Cottage industry

Table 1.3 (Contd.)

Table 1.3 (Contd.)

Table 1.4 Pros and Cons of Biofuels