GEO CLUB

17.09.16

BANNARI INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

S ATH YAM AN G AL AM

Ecological
Conservation
&
Role of Young Engineers
by

Dr. N. Vijaya durai

Asso. Professor & Head (English)
Chikkaiah Naicker College, Erode

BIT.EC&ROYE.Sep16.

What do you think were the main

reasons for the earliest invaders & up
to the Europeans enslaving of India ?!
Why did the English call India then.. as
The Jewel in the crown of England ?!

No doubt the Indian Spices

first!!

BIT.EC&ROYE.Sep16.

India was the 'jewel in the crown' of the British

Empire because it was the most populous and
valuable colony. India was found to be abundant
first with valuable natural resources like
wonderful spices, gems, cotton, (and later tea),
etc.
Also due to its high population Britain made a
lot of money through taxation, once colonized.
It is estimated that on average Britain made
12m per year from India alone.
Another reason for India's jewel status was that
it also gave the British access to other parts of
Asia. This access opened further trade with
nations like China and would ultimately lead to
the acquisition of places like Singapore and
Burma.

BIT.EC&ROYE.Sep16.

India was the jewel of the empire because of

all of its riches: natural resources, minerals,
gold, animals, low cost labour, and culture.
India was very large geographically speaking.
Because India was so rich in resources,
England was able to expand and control other
countries in that part of the world due to its
naval and military bases in India.

BEFORE THE COLONIAL ERA INDIA WAS AN

ECONOMIC POWER (BETWEEN 25-30% OF
WORLD GDP) AFETR THE BRITISH LEFT IT WAS
MERELY 3% OF THE WORLD GDP!
POVERTY OVER 52%, NOW INDIA HAS
MANAGED TO BRING IT DOWN TO 23%.

BIT.EC&ROYE.Sep16.
https://www.reddit.com/user/stmorgante

I've heard the phrase for as long as I can

remember, but I haven't been able to find the
geopolitical/economic reasons for this.
How did being able to control India improve the
quality of life for your average Briton?
To put it very simply, the British Raj supported the
British Empire financially, and helped build up the
industry and infrastructure across Britain. Words
cannot describe how lucrative India was to the
British, in terms of the cash crops that could be
extracted at very cheap prices, without needing to
buy it in gold bullion, as had been the case before
the invasion of Bengal in the 1750's.

BIT.EC&ROYE.Sep16.

BIT.EC&ROYE.Sep16.

Ok..its all over. We have become or

mostly tend to become European /
American.
But what are they trying to become
now, you know..?!
Trying to become Indian..!!! Right
from
brushing
the
teeth
to
worshipping God to Marrying and
preserving the family system..!!

BIT.EC&ROYE.Sep16.

BIT.EC&ROYE.Sep16.

:
?....
?...
:
?...
?...

BIT.EC&ROYE.Sep16.

BIT.EC&ROYE.Sep16.

India is the cradle of the human race, the

birthplace of human
speech, the mother of
history, the grandmother of legend, and the great
grand mother of tradition. Our most valuable and
most instructive materials in the history of man
are treasured up in India only.
-Mark Twain
We owe a lot to the Indians, who taught us how to
count, without which no worthwhile scientific
discovery could have been made.
-Albert Einstein

BIT.EC&ROYE.Sep16.

BIT.EC&ROYE.Sep16.

Being an ancient civilization like the Romans,

Greeks and Egyptians , our ways of life are
also time tested through trial and error and
are found to be reliable.
We are far better too!! Right from our eating
habits to our style of living in tune with
nature.
Then ...to conserve nature we shall return to
our old valuable ways and be conscious and
cautious not to ruin nature despite our
scientific advancement in our ways of living.

BIT.EC&ROYE.Sep16.

No doubt , we have deviated

and considerable damage has
been done to our mother nature
Where did we loose our hold,
why and how much..?

BIT.EC&ROYE.Sep16.

First of all we were made to believe we

were mostly wrong !!

BIT.EC&ROYE.Sep16.

The Age of Imperialism 1850-1914

Imperialism: The takeover of a country
or territory by a stronger nation with
the intent of dominating the economic,
political and social life of the people of
that nation.
And relegating the native ecosystem
and introducing the colonizers own
into the new land for the colonizers
own benefits.

BIT.EC&ROYE.Sep16.
An ecosystem is a community of
plants,
animals and smaller
organisms that live,
feed,
reproduce and interact in the
same area or environment.
Some ecosystems are very large.
On the other hand, some
ecosystems may be physically
small, such as you would
find
in a meadow at the edge of a
forest.
While various forms of life may be
found in both areas, the species
that live in the forest ecosystem
are usually very different from

ecosystem

BIT.EC&ROYE.Sep16.

Ecological
Imperialism
is the story

It
of
diseases like smallpox
that killed more Indians
than any Spanish gun
I mean the
Red Indians
of North America.
But this is almost
Identical of the
case of India too..!!

BIT.EC&ROYE.Sep16.

Ecological
Imperialism
and it is the story of plants

BIT.EC&ROYE.Sep16.

Ecological
Imperialism
and
animals that transformed the
European ecosystem and
undermined Indian society and
resistance.

The
Columbian
Exchange

BIT.EC&ROYE.Sep16.

Ecological
Invasive
species brought over by Columbus and
Imperialism
eventually other European Explores took over
the North American continent.

While the apparent and

intentional transfer of
domestic animals and home
grown plants were obvious.
It was the unseen bugs,
insects and bacteria which
caused most harm.

 The Columbian Exchange brought

horses, cattle, sheep, goats, pigs to
the Americas.

BIT.EC&ROYE.Sep16.

Within 100 years after Columbus, huge

herds of wild cattle roamed many of
the natural
grasslands of the
Americas. Wild cattle menaced the
food crops of Native Americans.
Before Columbus, North American had
no large animals and none of the other
animals present in the Americas were
suitable for domestication.

In contrast, Eurasia had 72 large

animal species, of which 13 were
suitable for domestication. So, while
American had plenty of good food
crops available before 1492, they had
few
domesticated
animals.

Animals

BIT.EC&ROYE.Sep16.
Before Columbus, the Americas had plenty
of domesticated plants. By the time
Columbus had arrived, dozens of plants
were in regular use, the most important of
which were maize (corn), potatoes,
cassava, and
various beans and
squashes. Lesser crops included sweet
potato,
papaya,
pineapple,
tomato,
avocado,
peanuts,
Within
20 guava,
years of
Columbus chili
last peppers,
voyage,
and cacao,
raw form of
maize
had theestablished
itselfcocoa.
in Europe and
North Africa.

Plants

Despite maizes success, the potato had a

stronger
impact in improving the food
supply and in promoting
population growth
in Europe and Asia.
In turn the population explosion laid the
foundation for
other developments such as
the
Industrial Revolution and modern
European imperialism. The potato has fed

BIT.EC&ROYE.Sep16.

Diseases

By far the most dramatic and devastating impact of

the Columbian Exchange was the introduction of
new diseases into the Americas.
When the first inhabitants of the Americas arrived
across the Bering land bridge, they brought few
diseases with them.
Soon after 1492, Europeans inadvertently
introduced these diseases to the Americas.
People who lived in Europe had developed
immunities to these diseases because they had
long existed among most populations.
However, the Native Americans had no such
immunities, which produced catastrophic deaths
throughout the Americas.
In all, between 1492 and 1650, perhaps 90 percent
of the first Americans had died.
This loss is considered among the largest

The Impact

BIT.EC&ROYE.Sep16.
All this had nothing to do with superiority or
inferiority of
ecosystems in any sense. It has
to do with environmental
contrasts.
Native Americans were accustomed to living in
one
particular kind of environment,
Europeans and Africans in another.
When the Europeans came to America, they
brought with
them all their plants, animals,
and bacteria, creating a kind of environment to
which they were already adapted, and so they
increased in number.
Native Americans had not adapted to European
bacteria,
and so their population numbers
plunged.
In turn the Europeans believed they were
ordained by God to inherit the land.

BIT.EC&ROYE.Sep16.

A. Weeds
Any plant that spreads rapidly and outcompetes others on disturbed soil.
Native plant life had no resistance to the
plantsespecially
weedsthat
the
Europeans introduced to the New World.
Example: Kentucky bluegrass, introduced
by English around 1685 into the US now
covers entire SE

BIT.EC&ROYE.Sep16.

Whats the problem with weeds?

Weeds replace native plants less food
for native animals (toxins) less food
for Indians starvation and further
Indian population decline (vicious
cycle)
(20th Century San Joaquin Valley: introduced plants
63% of grasslands, 66% of woodland, 54% of
chaparral)
C3 vs. C4 plants

BIT.EC&ROYE.Sep16.

B. Animals
Europeans brought barnyard animals with
them to the New World: horses, sheep,
goats, domesticated dogs, chickens, cows,
and pigs.
Europeans let animals forage free for
food compete w/native animals (Indians
severely punished for harming) + tear up
the soil more weeds (see above vicious
cycle)

BIT.EC&ROYE.Sep16.

C. Shock Troops
Animals, weeds, and disease traveled
ahead of Europeans clearing the way:
Europeans often discovered empty lands
because Indians had died/moved away
Europeans (esp. English) used emptiness
to justify further conquest: Indians didnt
use the land, so why should they have it?
False assumption about the wilderness

BIT.EC&ROYE.Sep16.

D. Keystone Species
Indians manipulated environment (fire) in
ways necessary for them to thrive
Americas more a garden than wilderness
Weakening of Indians further disruption
of eco-system vicious cycle

BIT.EC&ROYE.Sep16.

Europeans were able to conquer the New

World and maintain control over it in
large
part
because
of
certain
environmental
advantagesdisease
immunity,
opportunistic
plants
and
animalsthat increased the limited
cultural and technological advantages
that the Europeans brought with them.
Neo-Europe
Proof: Africa

BIT.EC&ROYE.Sep16.

Thus we have been made to believe

that many we have in our eco
system is inferior whereas theirs is
superior.
Thus we believed the European
cows were superior to ours..!

BIT.EC&ROYE.Sep16.

BIT.EC&ROYE.Sep16.

BIT.EC&ROYE.Sep16.

Most of the dog breeds we see today like the Dalmatian, the Pug,
or the Saint Bernardare influenced by media. And even the
people owning these breeds sometimes agree they didn't even
know about them before they were featured on TV.

In the struggle to be modern and forward-thinking the only ones

who suffer are
the poor Indian dogs. No, this article is not in
defense of those poor abandoned
street dogs. Because the
Indies (as we like to call them) have had recent upsurge in attention
and adoptions. But the real victims and our dear protagonists are
the
Indian dog breeds. Breeds that were developed in India and
originate from our
country but have been ignored so much that
are now highly depleted in numbers.

Most of these breeds are quite unheard of let alone seen by most of
the people in
India. The fad for international breeds leading to
over-breeding of the popular Western breeds has also resulted in
some Indian breeds almost becoming extinct.
Certain
individuals across the country slowly realized this issue and decided
to
revive many such breeds.

Here is a list of 9 breeds that belong to

India:
Chippiparai. One of the many sight hound breeds
originating in India, this dog is bred by royal
families in Chippiparai near Madurai district Tamil
Nadu. ...
Indian Pariah Dog. ...
Mudhol/Caravan Hound. ...
Rampur Hound. ...
Indian Mastiff. ...
Rajapalayam. ...
Kombai. ...
Gaddi.

We shall save tigers to save

ourselves.
We save forest to save them,
the lung of the world which
observe CO2 and give oxygen to
the ecosystem and slow down
climate change. Forests acts as
sponge to retain water to our
lakes and rivers and for us

 Apparently, modern Indian cities are not avian

friendly. Old houses had crevices, ledges, porches,
tiled roofs and high windows where sparrows could
rest and nest. Our new glass and concrete, DubaiSingapore-like structures have nowhere for a bird
to perch, leave alone nest. Often birds fly into the
glass surfaces and kill themselves,inadvertently.
.
Also a few decades ago, even city people sat on
their verandahs, in courtyards or in doorways
cleaning rice and wheat. The chaff and broken
grains provided bird food. Now we buy polythenepacked, cleaned convenience grains. Good for
harried householders.

 ----------------------------------------------------------

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COMMENT

India's Total Forest Cover Goes Up:

Report
India|Press Trust of India|Updated:
22:08 IST

July 09, 2014

National Other States

Kolkata, February 15, 2015

2015 01:21 IST

Updated: February 15,

Indias forest cover up by 5,871 sq

km
West Bengal accounts for nearly 64
per cent of this increase in forest
cover.

Forest cover of India has increased by 5,081 square

kilometre between 2013 and 2015. The India State
Forest Report 2015, released by Union Environment
Minister, Prakash Javadekar, also
showed that the
country's carbon stock has also increased by 103
million tonnes.

Here are some positive points to know from the forest

report:
India follows a policy of keeping one-third of the country's total land
area under forest and tree cover
The forest cover of India has increased by 21.34 percent in the last
two years
Very dense forests in India cover 2.61 percent of the total forest
area, moderately dense forests account for 9.59 percent while open
forests stand at 9.14 percent
Among all the states and Union Territories, Mizoram has the highest
forest cover with 88.93 percent of the total area, followed by
Lakshadweep
However, northeastern states have experienced a decline in forest
cover except Manipur
The Andaman and Nicobar Islands have gained around 1,930 square
kilometre of very dense forests, Uttar Pradesh has added 572 square
kilometre of very dense forest cover and Tamil Nadu has reported a
net gain of 100 square kilometre of very dense forest cover
The mangrove cover in India has increased by 112 square kilometre
following acute conservation in the Sundarbans and Bhitarkanika
forest.

Here are some downsides of the forest report:

Although the total forest cover has seen an increase,
around 2,510 square kilometre of very dense and
mid-dense forests have been wiped out since 2013
States of Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand,
Meghalaya, Kerala, Arunachal Pradesh, Karnataka
and Telangana have suffered huge loss of forest
cover
Around 2,254 square kilometre of mid-dense forest
cover has turned into non-forest lands in the past
two years.

See...she is asking us..

Young engineers, ....would you
please allow us get along with
you and survive?!

Thank You one and all ....

And..

Bye for now.. See u guys!!!