c


 

c

 , in Indian law, means litigation for the protection of public interest. It is
litigation introduced in a court of law, not by the aggrieved party but by the court itself or by any other
private party. It is not necessary, for the exercise of the court's jurisdiction, that the person who is the
victim of the violation of his or her right should personally approach the court. Public Interest Litigation
is the power given to the public by courts through judicial activism.

Such cases may occur when the victim does not have the necessary resources to commence litigation or
his freedom to move court has been suppressed or encroached upon. The court can itself take
cognisance of the matter and proceed ›

 or cases can commence on the petition of any public-
spirited individual.

3
 3 c

Prior to the 1980s, only the aggrieved party could approach the courts for justice. However, post 1980s
and after the emergency era, the apex court decided to reach out to the people and hence it devised an
innovative way wherein a person or a civil society group could approach the supreme court seeking legal
remedies in cases where public interest is at stake. Justice P. N. Bhagwati and Justice V. R. Krishna Iyer
were among the first judges to admit PIL's in the court. [1] Filing a PIL is not as cumbersome as any other
legal case and there have been instances when even letters and telegrams addressed to the court have
been taken up as PIL's and heard by the court.


 
 




  (economically referred to as  or

) occur naturally within
environments that exist relatively undisturbed by mankind, in a natural form. A natural resource is often
characterized by amounts of biodiversity existent in various ecosystems.

Natural resources are derived from the environment. Many of them are essential for our survival while
others are used for satisfying our wants. Natural resources may be further classified in different ways.

3 
 
 

 
 

iY ë
 - Biotic resources are obtained from the biosphere, such as forests and their products,
animals, birds and their products, fish and other marine organisms. Mineral fuels such as coal
and petroleum are also included in this category because they formed from decayed organic
matter.
iY Ñ
  - Abiotic resources include non-living things. Examples include land, water, air and ores
such as gold, iron, copper, silver etc.

r
  
     


 


   

iY c
  


 Potential resources are those that exist in a region and may be used in the
future. For example, petroleum may exist in many parts of India, having sedimentary rocks but
until the time it is actually drilled out and put into use, it remains a potential resource.
 iY Ñ 


are those that have been surveyed, their quantity and quality determined and
are being used in present times. The development of an actual resource, such as wood
processing depends upon the technology available and the cost involved. That part of the actual
resource that can be developed profitably with available technology is called a reserve.

 
 
 



 
 
  

iY   
 

  are ones that can be replenished or reproduced easily. Some of them, like
sunlight, air, wind, etc., are continuously available and their quantity is not affected by human
consumption. Many renewable resources can be depleted by human use, but may also be
replenished, thus maintaining a flow. Some of these, like agricultural crops, take a short time for
renewal; others, like water, take a comparatively longer time, while still others, like forests, take
even longer.
iY 
 
 

  are formed over very long geological periods. Minerals and fossil
fuels are included in this category. Since their rate of formation is extremely slow, they cannot
be replenished once they get depleted. Of these, the metallic minerals can be re-used by
recycling them.[1] But coal and petroleum cannot be recycled.

0c


The 0c
 is a protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change (UNFCCC or FCCC), aimed at fighting global warming. The UNFCCC is an international
environmental treaty with the goal of achieving "stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations
in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the
climate system."[1]

The Protocol was initially adopted on 11 December 1997 in Kyoto, Japan and entered into force
on 16 February 2005. As of November 2009, 187 states have signed and ratified the protocol.[2]

Under the Protocol, 37 industrialized countries (called "Annex I countries") commit themselves
to a reduction of four greenhouse gases (GHG) (carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, sulphur
hexafluoride) and two groups of gases (hydrofluorocarbons and perfluorocarbons) produced by
them, and all member countries give general commitments. Annex I countries agreed to reduce
their collective greenhouse gas emissions by 5.2% from the 1990 level. Emission limits do not
include emissions by international aviation and shipping, but are in addition to the industrial
gases, chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, which are dealt with under the 1987 Montreal Protocol on
Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer.

The benchmark 1990 emission levels were accepted by the Conference of the Parties of UNFCCC
(decision 2/CP.3) were the values of "global warming potential" calculated for the IPCC Second
Assessment Report.[3] These figures are used for converting the various greenhouse gas
emissions into comparable CO2 equivalents when computing overall sources and sinks.

The Protocol allows for several "flexible mechanisms", such as emissions trading, the clean
development mechanism (CDM) and joint implementation to allow Annex I countries to meet
their GHG emission limitations by purchasing GHG emission reductions credits from elsewhere,
through financial exchanges, projects that reduce emissions in non-Annex I countries, from
other Annex I countries, or from annex I countries with excess allowances.

Each Annex I country is required to submit an annual report of inventories of all anthropogenic
greenhouse gas emissions from sources and removals from sinks under UNFCCC and the Kyoto
Protocol. These countries nominate a person (called a "designated national authority") to create
and manage its greenhouse gas inventory. Virtually all of the non-Annex I countries have also
established a designated national authority to manage its Kyoto obligations, specifically the
"CDM process" that determines which GHG projects they wish to propose for accreditation by
the CDM Executive Board.

ë r 

The ë r  r

 

 
   
   
 
 , usually known simply as the ë r , is an international treaty that
was designed to reduce the movements of hazardous waste between nations, and specifically to
prevent transfer of hazardous waste from developed to less developed countries (LDCs). It does
not, however, address the movement of radioactive waste. The Convention is also intended to
minimize the amount and toxicity of wastes generated, to ensure their environmentally sound
management as closely as possible to the source of generation, and to assist LDCs in
environmentally sound management of the hazardous and other wastes they generate.

The Convention was opened for signature on 22 March 1989, and entered into force on 5 May
1992.


c


The 
c
!
     3 
(a protocol to the Vienna
Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer) is an international treaty designed to protect
the ozone layer by phasing out the production of a number of substances believed to be
responsible for ozone depletion. The treaty was opened for signature on September 16, 1987,
and entered into force on January 1, 1989, followed by a first meeting in Helsinki, May 1989.
It is believed that if the international agreement is adhered to, the ozone layer is expected to
recover by 2050. Due to its widespread adoption and implementation it has been hailed as an
example of exceptional international co-operation with Kofi Annan quoted as saying that
"perhaps the single most successful international agreement to date has been the Montreal
Protocol". It has been ratified by 196 states.


r 

The 
r  c

 
 r c
 
 
r

 
r c  

 , more commonly known simply as the

r , is a multilateral treaty to promote shared responsibilities in relation to
importation of hazardous chemicals. The convention promotes open exchange of information
and calls on exporters of hazardous chemicals to use proper labeling, include directions on safe
handling, and inform purchasers of any known restrictions or bans. Parties can decide whether
 to allow or ban the importation of chemicals listed in the treaty, and exporting countries are
obliged make sure that producers within their jurisdiction comply.

 
 

A

 is any physical or virtual entity of limited availability, that needs to be consumed to obtain a
benefit from it

  
  
 

A natural resource is a
 
 

 if it is replaced by natural processes at a rate comparable or
faster than its rate of consumption by humans. Solar radiation, tides, winds and hydroelectricity are
á
á  
›

 › that are in no danger of a lack of long-term availability. Renewable resources may
also mean commodities such as wood, paper, and leather, if harvesting is performed in a sustainable
manner.

Some natural renewable resources such as geothermal power, fresh water, timber, and biomass must
be carefully managed to avoid exceeding the world's capacity to replenish them. A life cycle assessment
provides a systematic means of evaluating renewability.

The term has a connotation of sustainability of the natural environment. Gasoline, coal, natural gas,
diesel, and other commodities derived from fossil fuels are non-renewable. Unlike fossil fuels, a
renewable resource can have a sustainable yield.





 is a concept in which the value of the biophysical environment is affected by one or
more combination of human-induced processes acting upon the land. Natural hazards are excluded as a
cause, however human activities can indirectly affect phenomena such as floods and bushfires. It is
estimated that up to 40% of the world's agricultural land is seriously degraded.

r  

Overgrazing by livestock can lead to land degradation

Land degradation is a global problem, largely related to agricultural use. The major causes include:

iY Land clearance, such as clearcutting and deforestation

iY Agricultural depletion of soil nutrients through poor farming practices
iY Livestock including overgrazing
iY Irrigation and overdrafting
iY Urban sprawl and commercial development
iY Land pollution including industrial waste
iY Vehicle off-roading
iY âuarrying of stone, sand, ore and minerals
 
 

A 

is the effect of a natural hazard (e.g. flood, tornado, volcanic eruption,
earthquake, or landslide) that affects the environment, and leads to financial, environmental
and/or human losses. The resulting loss depends on the capacity of the population to support or
resist the disaster, and their resilience.[1]
  


[ 


An Earthquake is a sudden shake of the Earth's crust.The vibrations may vary in magnitude. The
underground point of origin of the earthquake is called the "focus". The point directly above the focus
on the surface is called the"epicenter". Earthquakes by themselves rarely kill people or wildlife. It is
usually the secondary events that they trigger, such as building collapse, fires, tsunamis (seismic sea
waves) and volcanoes,that are actually the human disaster. Many of these could possibly be avoided by
better construction, safety systems, early warning and evacuation planning.Earthquakes are caused by
the discharge of accumulated along geologic faults.


 



iY An [
 may in itself be a disaster due to the explosion of the volcano or the fall of rock but
there are several effects that may happen after an eruption that are also hazardous to human
life.
iY  may be produced during the eruption of a volcano a material consisting of superheated
rock. There are several different forms which may be either crumbly or gluey. Leaving the
volcano this destroys any buildings and plants it encounters.
iY  - generally meaning the cooled ash - may form a cloud, and settle thickly in nearby
locations. When mixed with water this forms a concrete like material. In sufficient quantity ash
may cause roofs to collapse under its weight but even small quantities will cause ill health if
inhaled. Since the ash has the consistency of ground glass it causes abrasion damage to moving
parts such as engines.
iY ! 
  : According to the Toba catastrophe theory 70 to 75 thousand years ago a super
volcanic event at Lake Toba reduced the human population to 10,000 or even 1,000 breeding
pairs creating a bottleneck in human evolution. It also killed three quarters of all plant life in the
northern hemisphere. The main danger from a supervolcano is the immense cloud of ash which
has a disastrous global effect on climate and temperature for many years.
iY c
  consist of a cloud of hot volcanic ash which builds up in the air above under its
own weight and streams very rapidly from the mountain burning anything in its path. It is
believed that Pompeii was destroyed by a pyroclastic flow.

 


u



Some of the most notable floods include:

iY The Great Flood of 1993 was one of the most costly floods in United States history.
iY The 1998 Yangtze River Floods, also in China, left 14 million people homeless.
iY The 2000 Mozambique flood covered much of the country for three weeks, resulting in
thousands of deaths, and leaving the country devastated for years afterward.
à  



A limnic eruption occurs when CO2 suddenly erupts from deep lake water, posing the threat of
suffocating wildlife, livestock and humans. Such an eruption may also cause tsunamis in the lake as the
rising CO2 displaces water. Scientists believe landslides, volcanic activity, or explosions can trigger such
an eruption.

  


r 
 



r 
 , 

á 
 , 

 , and  á

 are different names for the same phenomenon a
cyclonic storm system that forms over the oceans. The deadliest hurricane ever was the 1970 Bhola
cyclone the deadliest Atlantic hurricane was the Great Hurricane of 1780 which devastated Martinique
St. Eustatius and Barbados.

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Hailstorms (AKA hailstones) are rain drops that have formed together into ice. A particularly damaging
hailstorm hit Munich, Germany on August 31, 1986, felling thousands of trees and causing millions of
dollars in insurance claims.