BC E059 ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH ENIGINEERING UNIT 1 Impact of development and water pollution- ecosystems impact of development, Land use

and natural resource management, cause and effects of environmental pollution.

Development projects, in whatever sector, aim to have a beneficial effect on human well-being. Sometimes, however, impacts associated with a development project may include unexpected negative effects on health. Many of these can be avoided by careful planning. The rapid growing population and economic development is leading to a number of environmental issues in India because of the uncontrolled growth of urbanization and industrialization, expansion and massive intensification of agriculture, and the destruction of forests.Major environmental issues are forest and agricultural degradation of land, resource depletion (water, mineral, forest, sand, rocks etc.), environmental degradation, public health, loss of biodiversity, loss of resilience in ecosystems, livelihood security for the poor. It is estimated that the country's population will increase to about 1.26 billion by the year 2016. The projected population indicates that India will be the first most populous country in the world and China will be ranking second in the year 2050. India having 18% of the world's population on 2.4% of world's total area has greatly increased the pressure on its natural resources. Water shortages, soil exhaustion and erosion, deforestation, air and water pollution afflicts many areas.India's water supply and sanitation issues are related to many environmental issues. The rapid increase in population and economic development has led to severe environmental degradation that undermines the environmental resource base upon which sustainable development depends. The economics of environmental pollution, depletion and degradation of resources has in fact been neglected as compared to the issues of growth and expansion. India has been no exceptions to this worldwide phenomenon, rather the trends of environmental deterioration in India, because of the substantial increase in its population, have been far more prominent as compared to other developing economies. Environment versus human activity today can be called one of todays dilemmas. On the one hand, the humanity is concerned with all those environmental problems that we face today. Global warming, greenhouse effect, air pollution, and so on all these are the results of human activity. Human behavior lies at the root of both conservation and environmental damage. Environment is not always protected by the humans who are rated as poor or nor they are protected by those who are rated rich. Changes or the degradation of the environment has been caused due to the human response or the interaction in complex ways between them. The assumption that environment or nature will always accommodate human needs is a clear misunderstanding of natural forces. The first Human Development Reports have not explicitly considered the role of the natural environment in enhancing peoples choices but in more recent editions, the environment and more broadly sustainable development have been progressively introduced (UNDP, 1996). In the year 2000, the definition of the Millennium Development Goals by the United Nations definitively recognized the full integration of human development and the environment as mutually reinforcing development goals. For too many of the worlds people, environmental degradation eclipses the hopes of meeting even the most basic human needs. The worlds poor depend disproportionately on ecosystem services, and are highly vulnerable to their disruption. With few alternative income sources, their survival and livelihoods are based on small scale agriculture, grazing, harvesting and hunting or fishing. In developing countries, one person in five lakhs access to safe water, 1.0 billion people live in dry land damaged by soil degradation and 1.2 billion live on less than $ 1 a day (Don Melnick, 2005). Environmental sustainability must be viewed not only as an issue for the poor. In fact, considerable evidence suggests that the greatest threats to environmental sustainability derive from actions taken in the rich countries of the world. Deforestation, for example, is only partly caused by local demand

for agricultural land or construction materials. It is even more fundamentally driven by the industrialized worlds demand for timber and growing international trade in forest products. Fisheries, mineral deposits, energy supplies, and bio-diversity resources are harvested in developed and developing countries alike; however, the preferences and demands of the worlds richest countries largely determine the scale and intensity of resource exploitation. Technology and human knowledge may reduce particular conditions or scarcity and other consequences, but as long as human survival demands air, water, food produced on the basis of natural resources, including biodiversity, nature will always have the upper hand. There is also a clear understanding that with or without human hands up to a point, the environment is changing in its natural way because environment possesses in-built regulating processes. The question is up to what extent, significant changes will take place and many of them unfriendly to human societies. It is therefore up to us (human) to decide how we wish to interact with the environment antagonistically or harmoniously. It is also a well-known fact that human dimension towards natural resources has now reached dangerous global proportions. Environmental impacts are being seen almost everywhere on the planet. The worlds developed countries have largely driven global climate change, which threatens human wellbeing, ecosystem and biodiversity. Although developed countries represent only 20 percent of the worlds population, they have generated 80 percent of historical GHG emission (Don Melnick, 2005). Increase in green house gases (GHGs), pollution of water bodies, increased dependence on pesticides and many other problems now pose dilemmas of most countries. Human development is leading the environment with significant changes in the ecosystem and the change in ecosystem cannot be compensated which is leading the planet to a number of major global problems that did not exist before or were not recognized as such. Agriculture and industrial revolutions aimed at increasing the production of materials and providing services. Demands for agricultural land has compelled many societies to cultivate marginal areas, thereby increasing soil erosion, deforestation, and a number of other environmental degradation. The rapid increase in population is likely to outstrip the capacity of natural systems to support human needs. Todays industrial economies consume unsustainable quantities of energy and raw materials and produce large volumes of wastes and polluting emission. However, these revolutions has improved the living standard of the people and contributed to make economic growth faster. These increased resource consumption and changes in patterns, enhanced employment generation, and meet the essential human needs of food, cloth, energy, medicine, education, water and sanitation. Rapid population growth, economic development and international economic integration have intensified resource use; in every region of the world, human actions have directly or indirectly increased pressure on the natural environment due to the increase in demand. Unregulated human activities accelerated unsustainable use of natural resources and increased pollution level. High level of pollutants than the assimilative capacity of the receiver (medium such as water and air) is making human life uncomfortable and many people are suffering from increased pollution load and depletion of natural resources. Physical and biological resources are greatly affected and human being is continuously suffering due to their own involvement and act leading the environmental disturbances. Environmental change is cited as one of the six major factors leading to the emergence or resurgence of many of malaria, dengue and mosquito- borne encephalitis diseases Income, a basic indicator for human development, is increasing rapidly and humans consumption of natural resources has substantially increased. With increase in income people are willing to pay for all sorts of resources from different parts of the world. In many cases the problems created by one part of the world do not take place in the areas where these resources are consumed. Abundant use of fossil fuels is raising the earths surface temperature. Global warming caused by emission of Green House Gases is one of the consequences. Conventional energy production and consumption are closely linked to environmental degradation that threaten human health and quality of life and affect ecological balance and biological diversity. Carbon dioxide is the main contributor responsile for 80% of emissions from industrialized countries. Other GHGs coming from a range of

industrial and agricultural activities are methane, nitrous oxide, hydroflurocarbon, perfluron carbon and sulphur hexafluoride. Human developed refrigerators and air conditioners which are the main contributors for the depletion of stratospheric ozone layers and global warming. The global warming is causing the Glaciers and the snows to melt rapidly and this is devastating the natural phenomenon of the planet. Human activities do not take into account the true environmental cost for many reasons, including government subsidies, lack of knowledge about environmental impacts. The absence of laws and regulations to control environmental damage, undefined access right to natural resources, poorly developed markets for environmental goods and services and a lopsided development system that forces large numbers of people to depend on scarce natural resources for their livelihoods. In many instances, current market system are unable to proce the outputs or impacts of activities. Disposal of waste, dumping of toxic substances in water bodies and pollution of atmosphere are some examples of human activities when leading toward their development and attempting for a luxurious life. Economic and environmental groups began to think strongly and started publicly airing the dangers of these consequences. Kyoto Protocal, Montreal Protocal, Stockholm Conference etc are some examples of human participation to think and act for environmental protection. Today we have United Nations Environment Programme which inscribes environmental issues on the international agenda and debates on whether environmental protection could ethically or practically be undertaken at the expense of economic growth, especially in poor countries. In the present context we talk about sustainable development to bring environment and development together. Rather than growth and no growth debate about environment and development, the central issue is what kind of growth. The challenge of Sustainable development is to find out new production process and technologies which are environmentally friendly while they deliver the things we want. It also presumed that sustainable uses of resource by utilizing them to a extent to their capacity for growth and renewal. Sustainable human development is the human capability to fulfil peoples requirements without damaging the environment. World Commission and Environment and Development (WCED) has been continuously supporting for sustainable development. The WECD defines integrated environment and development: Development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the need of the future generation. The WCED definition highlights equity. Environmental degradation is affecting the poverty. The relationship between poverty and the environment is complex. Many rural societies have developed highly sophisticated community based conservation efforts; others have denuded hillsides and degraded watersheds. Its because their reach for basic demand is different. Priorities for the future should be decided by each society. There should be clear understanding of the effect of how poverty is affecting the different environmental condition and again how they, in turn, affect poverty. The four pillars of human development as equity, sustainability, productivity and empowerment. Any discussion of environmental issues in relation to human development must examine them with regard to each of these pillars. Equity requires improvements in access to environmental assets and their distribution as far as possible. Sustainability is what we can define as, the satisfaction level of the future generation in the well being as of the present. Human development requires sustaining physical, human, financial and environmental capital, and depleting any one of these will compromise the potential of sustainable development. Productivity focuses on economic growth as well as the enabling environment that promotes human productivity. Some has confused human development with mainly improvements in the skills of human resources but not on the overall factors contributing towards being a physically, mentally and environmentally sound being. Empowerment, which deals primarily with participation, requires improving opportunities for decision- making about environmental matters by every citizen of a country at different levels and ensuring that they are sufficiently aware and informed. Finally, we maintain that natural resource endowment could be a source of low economic growth

rates if the institutions in a country do not have the ability to manage the resources in the right way. Therefore, investment policies geared towards human capital formation (education and high skilled labor forces) are to be considered the most effective actions for reaching a higher development level. At the same time, during the first stages of the development process, a large consumption of natural resources without appropriate investment policies to replace depleted resources or the exploitation of natural resources could produce a development path that is not sustainable in the long run. Human development should be the first objective of international development policies whereas an increase in human well-being is necessary to provide a sustainability path. Active participation of industrialized countries, following the general framework of the Millennium Development Goals, is one of the necessary conditions for development. Globalization process could be a source of great advantage even for developing countries, under the necessary condition that they have adequate instruments to manage this process in a positive direction, enhancing human capabilities with higher levels of health and education. A higher technological level would transform such resource-intensive economies into knowledge-intensive ones reducing depletion and degradation of natural resources and reinforcing the virtuous cycle of economic growth and human development. Water resources India receives an average annual rainfall equivalent of about 4000 cubic kilometres. This is unevenly distributed across different parts of the country and most of the rainfall is confined to the monsoon season, from June to September. Thus, while India is considered to be rich in terms of annual rainfall and total water resources, water is spatially and temporally very unevenly distributed. Based on per capita water availability , some river basins fall in the category of water scarce and water stressed regions, and several others suffer from absolute scarcity. Though water resource availability is estimated to be 1085.9 billion cubic metres, annual average utilisable per capita water resources vary considerably from as high as 3020 in the Narmada basin to as low as about 180 cubic metres and less in the Sabarmati basin, as against a desired availability of 1700 per capita per year. The estimated per capita water availability has also declined from 6008 cubic metres a year in 1947 to 2266 cubic metres in 1997, as per TERIs Green India 2047 study (TERI 1998). This declining figure gives a broad indication of the growing water scarcity in the country in the last fifty years since independence. The growing gap between demand and supply has led to overdevelopment of groundwater, making its overuse emerge as a major concern in a few states. Against a critical level of 80%, the level of exploitation is over 98% in Punjab and about 80% in Haryana. The problem is also becoming increasingly serious in Tamil Nadu, where the level of exploitation exceeds 60%, and in Rajasthan, where it is 53% (Central Groundwater Board 1994).

Water Pollution Water is one of the most essential commodities for all living species and upon which all life on Earth depends. For most nations, economic development is inextricably linked to the availability and quality of freshwater supplies. There are regions around the world with a natural abundance of freshwater, but for other regions the availability of water is a matter of life and death. The quantity and quality of freshwater, land degradation, pollution and health of the population, are today major economic and environmental concerns. Water pollution is the contamination of rivers, streams, lakes, groundwater, bays, or oceans by substances harmful to all living species. It is a local, regional and global issue all countries are facing today.

From land pollution to water pollution

Land pollution is intrinsically linked to water pollution. Contamination of land is done with chemicals that do not belong to the land. Hazardous wastes from industry, municipal waste, fertilizers, pesticides, excess heavy metal, are all materials that are not found in unspoiled ecosystems. Eventually pollutants go from land into water bodies as illustrated below: The point and non-points sources of land and water pollution.Contaminated river or lake water used for crop irrigation brings back land pollution. And before being washed away by rainfalls, land toxic chemicals can enter the food chain. Vegetables, fruits trees and other crops take up the pollutants. Subsequently contaminated food ends up in the plate of the consumer and the polluter. Throughout the world extensive amount of fertilizers, herbicides and insecticides to kill insects, weeds, fungi and rodents are used to maximize crop production. Yet because these chemicals are not completely absorbed by crops, weeds and insects, their excess remains in the environment, eventually part of it, vaporizes into the air creating air pollution, and the other part is washed away by rain creating water pollution. In addition, the lack of proper municipal and industrial solid waste disposal procedures, and proper legislation, is another source of contamination, especially groundwater. Groundwater is mainly used as drinking water. And today 80% of the solid waste found in oceans comes from land sources, that is, from the population living along coastal areas

Water and population Without doubt, todays world population will be facing fresh water scarcity in the future. Global warming, climate change resulting in changes in rainfall pattern and pollution are threatening surface water and groundwater. The replenishment of aquifers becomes uncertain in some regions, while other regions are facing excess rainfall and floods. The contamination of these water bodies reduces further the availability of the little freshwater available on Earth. That is why freshwater must be protected from contamination: today only 2.5% of the Earths water is freshwater. Of these 2.5%, only1% represents surface water. Of this 1%, the vast majority is found in lakes and soil moisture, and 1% of it is river water. The ocean water represents 97.5% of the total. Going back in history, before the industrial revolution, it was possible to withdraw and consume water to everyones satisfaction.However; times have changed as demographic pressure on water supply has increased in the last three centuries: 1 billion in habitants in 1800, 2 billion in 1900, 6.6 billion in 2007 and 7 billion in 2011.

It is a known fact that water, in a geographic sense, is unequally distributed on earth and population growth varies on every continent. Projections show that the demographic pattern of developing countries is becoming more significant, in particular in sub-Saharan Africa. Here access to clean water is already a challenge for the current population, presenting a high risk of increasing and irreversible water scarcity.

Water and climate change The more fresh water becomes contaminated, the less fresh water will be available. Adding to that is the impact of climate change that will cause major changes in the precipitation pattern, water cycle and its geographical distribution. Some regions will receive less precipitation, some more, and this will significantly affect local economic development. For drought stricken African countries, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPPC) predicts that by 2020, in Africa, between 75-250 million people will be exposed to increasing water stress and that in some countries crops from rain fed agriculture may be reduced by 50%. And in Asia, freshwater availability is also projected to decrease. Heavy rainfalls create another way of water pollution as they flush pollutants and soil into surface water. Storm-water runoff is one of the most significant threats to ecosystems and freshwater supply. Leaked motor oil on streets and parking lots, detergents, other toxic chemicals coming from landfills or waste dumps, are other sources of pollution. Through heavy

rainfalls and floods chemicals can dissolve and infiltrate groundwater and concentrate in lakes, rivers and sea. Non-point source pollution can be linked to the creation of large dead zone in the sea.

For example, a sea area in the Gulf of Mexico with not enough dissolved oxygen is often referred to as a dead zone because most marine life cannot survive in it. Habitats that would normally be teeming with life become essentially biological marine deserts. The amount of oxygen in water is one of the most important indicators for water quality. The lack of oxygen is an indicator of water pollution by organic matter. Oxygen is consumed by bacteria during biodegradation. Some marine species have very defined lower limits of dissolved oxygen that they can tolerate. Most fish cannot survive in water with a dissolved oxygen concentration of less than 8 ppm (parts per million). An increase in oxygen indicates improvement in water quality. In summary, ongoing climate change will mean that the freshwater supply, whether in high or low rainfall regions, will lead to more freshwater scarcity and uncertainty for a growing population. In view of an increasing world population, water management requires stricter legislation to prevent water pollution, the need for better water supply, and cooperation between countries and communities, especially when rivers and lakes draw borderlines between countries.