PLT COLLEGE, INC.

Zulueta St. Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya

College of Arts and Sciences and Education

Environmental Science: Social Issues

INTRODUCTION

The term sustainable was development and introduced by the World Commission on Environment and
Development (The Brundtland Commission), in its seminal report of 1987, Our Common Future. The concept has
terrifically worked out in creating public awareness for sustaining the planet with better management. The sustainable
development has been defined as “meeting the need of the present generation without compromising the needs of
future generation”. The concept precisely emphasizes upon using the earth resources judiciously and compensating
for it in some sense e.g. if cut few trees to support our lives, we should also implant some new ones at some site. This
would result in. maintaining the earths fine balance between resource consumption and resource generation. In
understanding this concept we very often encounter two terms- sustainable and development. These are summarized
below as:

Development

The literal meaning of development is “the act or instance of growth/advancement”. So the growth can be
of many types viz., growth of education, growth of industry, growth of population, growth of forests and many other.
But what type of growth are we addressing to? Here we are addressing to one of the most sensitive issue of growing
concern ‘about improving the well-being of human beings. This could be achieved only through compromising with
some of our comforts and luxuries. The generation of comforts and luxuries brings environment under great pressure.
The Nations economic growth should not stand upon the pointed out that, “The earth provides enough to satisfy
everyone’s need, but not everyone’s greed”.

In the context of economical and technical development the world always had been better today than
yesteryears and will always be better tomorrow than today. But the condition of environment will always be poorer
than before. Hence, the concept of sustainable development raises certain questions for the present generations to
answer. What is our present? Are we happy with our present? Prospective changes of the magnitude described above
raises fundamental questions about the kind of world we will bequeath to our children and about the nature and goals
of development. The present in which we live is important as it shapes our future. Nothing much can be done to
recover the damages imposed on nature in the past. But if we shape our surroundings based on environmental ethics
and economically exploit our present environment we would lend a healthier tomorrow to our children. As we have
examined some environmental issues in the previous chapters, we would commonly agree that human population
growth, loss of biodiversity, habitat destruction, ozone depletion, global climate change, pollution (air, water, noise
etc.) and limited food & energy supply are environmental concerns of global scale. In the past two decades a great
deal of work from researchers, ecologists, environmental scientists, social scientists, geographers and demographers
have build up a very clear picture of what our tomorrow would be like: Some initiatives have been taken up both at
government and non-government level. Still promising environmental concern at individual level is far lacking beyond
sustainable needs.

Although population growth continues to expand at an unsustainable pace but still certain countries have
achieved a demographic transition to zero population growth. However, positive signs from developing nations are
still absent. We have achieved breakthroughs in renewable energy sources, agro-forestry schemes and better pollution
control advancements. Increased man awareness, resourcefulness and enterprise will help eliminate poverty and
resource wastage and will make our environment a much better place to live in. Until environmental concerns do not
find space in our heart we would never be able to delicately handle our surroundings when we are at home or public.
We should recognize things at personal and collective grounds to protect nature and to create a sustainable
environment.

Urban Problems Related to Energy

Big cities and towns have always influenced education, religion, commerce, communication and politics, which
have in turn influenced culture and society in various proportions. Initially only a very limited section of the society
lived in cities and towns while the chief occupation of major population had been fishing, hunting, agriculture and
cattle rearing. However’ Industrial Revolution lead to expansion of cities and town both in size and power. In

Environmental Science: Social Issues 1

developing nations, especially a large segment of society from villages moved to cities for occupational support
(occupational migration). This ultimately brought into picture the concept of urbanization and industrializations,
which provided many benefits to society, especially to the rich, but also introduced some evils in it. Here evils referred
to were the increasing demand on energy resources; whose consumption in turn lead to multitude problems of
pollution, resource shortage, diseases and waste disposal. Some of the major urban problems related to energy are as
under:

(i) Electricity

Electricity from various sources is a major requirement of expanding cities, towns and villages. Each
and every activity of mans life is now someway related to electricity consumption. Housing gadgets like
mixer-grinder, T.V., computer, music systems, geysers, fans, lights, A.C.s, microwave, water lifting pump,
warm blowers, coolers, etc. form the essential components of a house. This all together has led to an
electricity energy crunch.

(ii) Fossil fuels (petroleum, natural gas and coal)

Fossil fuels have always been under a great threat from times immemorial. In the absence of
technological advancements these have served mankind for several years. In this quest for energy the coal
reserves have suffered a lot. With rise in technical know how man started generating power from nuclear
sources, hydroelectric power, wind power etc. But still these contribute a little. We still depend on thermal
power a lot.

(a) Petrol and Diesel: Transport and communication has brought the petroleum reserves of the
world under a great threat. The rise in number of vehicles per year is immense. To understand
the gravity of the problem a glance of metropolitan roads and lanes is enough. Even the roads
and lanes of big cities, small cities and towns are loaded with two wheelers.

(b) Natural Gas: The common usage of natural gas is in the form of Liquid Petroleum Gas
(LPG). There is a terrific rise in the usage of LPG driven household commodities with the
expanding population. Earlier the LPG usage was only limited to kitchen for cooking. The
advent of technology introduced a numerous household items making its use like gas geysers,
gas heaters, gas fans, gas lanterns etc. In a way it is serving as a substitute of electricity, which
is other reason for increasing pressure on oil wells/reserves.

(c) Coal: The world population has extracted and used coal reserves thinking as if it is a never-
ending commodity/resource. It has served Sustainable Development,

• Urban Problems
• Water Conservation and Management
• Resettlement and Rehabilitation of People
• Environmental Ethics
• Global Warning
• Environment Protection Act
• Issues involved in Enforcement of Environment Legislation

(iii) Fuel wood

Fuel wood being used for the ignition of fire is chiefly responsible for the destruction of impoverished
forestlands. Though fuel wood collection to support family daily chores is allowed in certain parts of the
forest generally the outskirts but the greed and dearth compels women to penetrate deep into the forest.
Generally the big cities are characterized by the absence of forestland at the fringes. But whatever degraded
forest is available serve as a source of fuel wood even in and around urban centres.

Water Conservation

We could save as much as half of the water we now use for domestic purposes without great sacrifice or
serious changes in our lifestyles. Simple steps, such as taking shorter showers, stopping leaks, and washing cars, dishes,
and clothes as efficiently as possible, can go a long way toward forestalling the water shortages that many authorities
predict.

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Rain Water Harvesting

Water is commonly taken for granted as nature’s gift. Often it is used wastefully in agriculture, but industry
and people pollute and poison available water supplies at an alarming rate. Water problems arise from increasing
demands generated by rapid population growth; urbanization, industrialization and irrigation for additional food
production. In many areas excessive pumping of groundwater not only brings down water quality, but also depletes
it this affects’ sustainability.

Watershed Management

It was suggested that, rather than allowing residential, commercial, or industrial development on flood plains,
these areas should be reserved for water storage, aquifer recharge, wildlife habitat, and agriculture. Sound farming and
forestry practices can reduce runoff. Retaining crop residue on fields reduces flooding, and minimizing. Ploughing
and forest cutting on steep slopes protects watersheds. Wetlands conservation preserves natural water storage capacity
and aquifer recharge zones. A river fed by marshes and wet meadows tend to run consistently clear and steady rather
than in violent floods

Resettlement and Rehabilitation of People

“Land for land” is a better policy than cash settlement. Even in implementing this policy, the land is not given
in the command area in most cases, forestland is either cleared on waste fallow land given without any provision for
developing the land or for the supply of necessary inputs; a village is broken up and families dispersed; villagers are
usually left to buy private land, take loans from the government, which puts poor villagers at a disadvantage- land
prices in neighboring villages shoot up steeply if the government takes up resettlement; the villagers are resettled in
distant places, sometimes in a totally alien environment and culture, thus creating insurmountable adjustment
problems.

People who could previously barely manage to survive in their traditional environment are uprooted as a
result. The objectives of rehabilitation should be:

• The people displaced should get an appropriate share in the fruits of development.
• Creating new settlements with their own environment should rehabilitate them.
• Removal of poverty should also be an objective of the rehabilitation policy and therefore some land to all.
• Oustees (even the landless) should be given assurance of employment.
• Tribal should develop along the lines of their own genius and we should avoid imposing anything on them.
• We should try to encourage their own traditional arts and culture in every way.
• Resettlement should be in the neighborhood of their own environment. If resettlement is not possible in the
command area, top priority should be given to the development of irrigation facilities and supply of basic
inputs for agriculture; drinking water, wells, grazing grounds for cattle schools for the children, primary health
care units and other amenities should be arranged.
• In partly affected village, villagers should be given the option of shifting out with others with the same
compensation as available to evacuees.
• Training facilities should be set up to upgrade the skills of affected people and reservation in jobs should be
made for the willing adults among the evacuees.
• Special attention should be given to the rehabilitation of artisans and village crafts people.
• Villagers should be taken into confidence at every stage or implementation and they should be educated,
through open meetings and discussion about the legalities of the Land Acquisition Act and other rehabilitation
provisions.
• The aid of voluntary agencies planning and implementation programme.

Rehabilitation Problem

Involuntary displacement of human population is always traumatic. Irrespective of the causes leading to such
migrations the degree of suffering experienced by such people simply cannot be quantified in money values, and even
in words it can be described only inadequately. But, unfortunately, ousting of people likely to be submerged under
irrigation or hydel power dams is a classic case where hardships are imposed on people in spite of the ‘pro-people’
laws and policies proclaimed by the Government.

Environmental Science: Social Issues 3

Environmental Ethics

The Earth is unique among all the planets in our solar system. It is endowed with plentiful resources. Man’s
greed to raise his standard of living compels him control and tap natural resources. Many. rivers throughout the world
have been “controlled” to provide power, irrigation, and navigation for the people at the expense of the natural world.
If such gifts of nature are not tapped for resource generation, many people think it to be wastage of resources. The
capitalists want to use the forests for timber production and not doing so is closely linked to economical hardships.
Removing the trees would destroy something that took hundreds of years to develop and may never be replaced.
Efforts to manage the interactions between people and their environment are an age-old practice. At one time,
pollution was a local, temporary event, but today, pollution problems have crossed international borders and have
become global. The seminars over chemical and radioactive waste disposal witness the increasingly international
nature of pollution.

Three types of the ethics (a) the development ethic, (b) the preservation ethic, and (c) the conservation ethic. Each of
these ethical positions has its own appropriate code of conduct against which ecological mortality may be measured.

• Development ethic. Development in any sector is inevitable. But the development should not crop up at
the cost of environmental failure. This philosophy is strengthened by the idea that, “if it can be done, it should
be done.”

• Preservation ethic. Considers nature special in itself. Some preservationists have an almost religious outlook
regarding nature. They believe that nature is beautiful place to live in and it should be maintained for feeding,
breeding, enjoyment and peace. On the other hand scientific outlook argue that the human species depends
on and has much to learn from nature. Rare and endangered species and ecosystems, as well as the more
common ones, must be preserved because of their known or assumed long-range, practical utility.

• The third environmental ethic is referred to as the conservation ethic, it recognizes the desirability of decent
living standards, but it works towards a balance of resource use and resource availability.

Economic growth and resource exploitation are attitudes shared by developing societies. As a society, we
continue to consume natural resources as if the supplies were never ending. All of this is reflected in our increasingly
unstable relationship with the environment, which grows out of our tendency to take from the “common good”
without regard for the future.

Industrial Environmental Ethics

Industries are harmful to the health of environment and hence at large are considered as nuisance. When raw
materials are processed, some waste is inevitable e.g. paper industry leads to a lot of wastage and pollution of water.
It is usually not possible to completely control the dispersal of all by-products of a manufacturing process. Also, some
of the waste material may simply be useless. Ethics are involved, however, when an industrialist compromise upon
the quality of a product or waste disposal to maximize profit. It is cheaper to dump wastes into a river than to install
a wastewater treatment facility. At its core, environmental justice means fairness.

Environmental Ethics at Individual level

As human populations and economic activity continue to grow, we are facing a number of environmental
problems that threaten not only human health and the productivity of ecosystems, but in some cases the very
habitability of the globe. We have to recognize that each of us is individually responsible for the quality of the
environment we live in and that our personal actions affect environmental quality, for better or worse. Our
environmental ethics must begin to express itself not only in national laws, but also in subtle but profound changes
in the ways we all live our daily lives. It appears that many individuals want the environment cleaned up, but they do
not want to make major life-style changes to make that happen.

Global Environmental Ethics

This new sense of urgency and common cause about the environment is leading to unprecedented cooperation
in some areas. Ecological degradation in any nation almost inevitably impinges on the quality of life in others. For
years, acid rain has been a major irritant in relations between the United States and Canada.

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Climate Change

Introduction

The recent interest in global warming and sustainable development has become a global talk. The most
important global environmental topics as chosen by a panel of about 12 world experts were as follows: human
population growth, bio-diversity and conservation, climate change, forest decline, hazardous wastes, land degradation,
human pathogens, urban environment, work environment and resource depletion. Man is as closely related to nature
as he is to himself, because he is a part of it. An outright dependence on nature has been a striking feature of man’s
progress through the centuries of his struggle.

Climate has from the very beginning regulated man in practically every aspect of life and has played a very
important role in the development of civilizations all around the world. Man’s impact on climate began 5000 to 9000
years ago, as he was able to alter the environment by burning and felling forest and tilling the earth. The most extensive
change wrought by man prior to our own times was the gradual conversion of most of the temperate forest zone to
crops that is an artificial steppe or savanna. Thus until the industrial revolution and probably until the present century,
man had little effect on the climate except on a very local scale.

What is Climate Change?

Climate change is a newcomer to the international political and environmental agenda, having emerged as a
major policy issue only in the late 1980s and thereafter. It has emerged since the 19th century that CO2 in the
atmosphere is a ‘greenhouse gas’, that is, its presence in the atmosphere helps to retain the incoming heat energy from
the sun, thereby increasing the earth’s surface temperature. Of course, CO2 is only one of several such greenhouse
gases in the atmosphere. Others include methane, nitrous oxide and water vapour. However, CO2 is the most
important greenhouse gas that is being affected by human activities. CO2 is generated by a multitude of processes.
Since the Industrial Revolution, when our usage of fossil fuels increased dramatically, the contribution of CO2 from
human activities has grown large enough to constitute a significant perturbation of the natural carbon cycle. The
concentration of CO2 in the Earth’s atmosphere was about 280 parts per million by volume (ppmv) in 1750, before
the Industrial Revolution began. By 1994 it was 358 ppmv and rising by about 1.5 ppnw per year. If emissions continue
at the 1994 rate, the concentration will be around 500 ppmv, nearly double the pre-industrial level, by the end of the
21st century.

Rising Concentrations

The effect is that the atmosphere retains more of the Sun’s heat, warming the Earth’s surface. While the
pattern of future warming is very much open to debate, it is indisputable that the surface of the Earth has warmed,
on average, 0.3 to 0.6 °C since the late 19th century when reliable temperature measurements began. Under the existing
scenarios of economic growth and development leading to greenhouse gas emissions, on a worldwide average,
temperatures would rise by 1 to 3.5 °C by the year 2100, and global mean sea level by about 15 to 95 cm.

Extreme Weather Events

In addition, most of the ill effects of climate change are linked to extreme weather events, such as hot or cold
spells of temperature, or wet or dry spells of rainfall, or cyclones and floods. Predictions of the nature and distributions
of such events in a changed climate are even more uncertain- to the extent that virtually no authoritative predictions
exist at all. While there are costs as well as benefits associated with climate change, the scientific consensus is clearly
that the overall effects are likely to pose a significant burden on the global community. Unlike many other
environmental issues, such as local air or water pollution, or even stratospheric ozone depletion caused by
chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), global warming poses special challenges due to the spatial and temporal extent of the
problem covering the globe and with decades to centuries time scales.

Global Warming and the Greenhouse Effect

In the late 1900’s researchers realized that the world may be getting warmer. The last two decades of the
1900’s witnessed some warm and cool years. However, not enough evidences were available to support the theory of
global warming. But this a well-known fact that accumulation of several Greenhouse gases can lead to a rise in
temperature (global warming). If a global warming phenomenon sets in this would result in major changes in world’s
climate. The increase in temperature might lead melting of snow on poles, which would terrifically add, to ocean
waters. Hence the level of seas, and oceans would rise, this would largely affect the coastal areas. These would
submerge under coastal Waters due to expansion of seas and oceans. Besides the Temperate climate pattern would
shift northward and present temperate regions would become hot & dry.

Environmental Science: Social Issues 5

Acid Rain

Although the phenomenon of “acid rain” (more correctly acid deposition) was identified in Manchester,
England, as long ago as 1852, and described more thoroughly in 1872, modern scientific research has been going on
only since the mid-1950s. Public concern about the problem began in the late 1960s. Acid rain is an environmental
hazard that is transponder in nature. Northeastern America, North Western Europe and India are facing an acute
problem of acid rain. Acid rain has affected certain rivers, lakes, streams and forests in United Kingdom (UK), United
States of America (USA), Germany and many other countries.

Acid in the Rain Water’s

Acid rain problem is a result of anthropogenic activities. Most acids come from cars, homes, industries and
power stations but some share is contributed by natural sources such as volcanoes, swamps and planktons. The acid
problem is basically associated with the transport and subsequent deposition of oxides of Sulphur, nitrogen and their
oxidative products. These are produced by combustion of fossil fuels, power plants, automobile exhausts and
domestic fires etc.

Formation of Acid Rain

Acid rain is one of the form of acid deposition which can either be wet or dry, acid rain, snow, dew, fog, frost
and mist are the wet form of deposition, while dust particles containing sulphate and nitrates which settle on ground
is called dry deposition. Wet Acid Rain Coal, fuel wood or petroleum products have Sulphur and nitrogen. These
elements, when burnt in atmospheric oxygen,’ are converted into their respective oxides (SO2 and NO3), which are
highly soluble in water. By anthropogenic and by natural sources, oxides of Sulphur and nitrogen enter the
atmosphere. HNO3 and H2SO4 thus formed combine with HCl to generate precipitation, which is commonly
referred to as acid rain.

The primary reason for concern is that acid deposition acidifies streams, and taken on coarse, sandy soils low
in lime: The effect is seen particularly in headwater areas and in wet montane environments, wherever sulphate loading
from anthropogenic sources is strong. The chemical and physical consequences of lake acidification include, increased
leaching of calcium from terrestrial soils, mobilization of heavy metals such as aluminium, zinc, and manganese and
an increase in the transparency of lake waters. The biological consequences include market changes in communities
of aquatic plants and animals, with a progressive lessening of their diversity.

Ozone Layer Depletion

Joseph Farman, of the British Meteorological Survey, and colleagues reported in the scientific journal Nature
that concentrations of stratospheric ozone above Antarctica had plunged more than 40 percent from 1960s baseline
levels during October, the first month of spring in the Southern Hemisphere, between 1977 and 1984. It meant that
for several months of the year a hole forms in the ozone layer, which protects animals and plants from ultraviolet
solar radiation. Suddenly it seemed that the chemical processes known to deplete ozone high in the earth’s atmosphere
were working faster and more efficiently than predicted.

Chemistry of the Ozone Layer

Oxygen molecules (O2), abundant throughout the atmosphere, are split apart into individual atoms (O + O)
when energized by radiation from the sun. These atoms are free to collide with other O2 molecules to form ozone
(O3). The particular configuration of the ozone molecules allows them to absorb the sun’s radiation in ultraviolet
wavelengths that are harmful to life if they penetrate to the earth’s surface. The ozone molecules formed by collision
are partially removed by other naturally occurring chemical reactions, and so the overall concentration of stratospheric
ozone remains constant. High above the stratosphere, the density of gases is. so low that oxygen atoms rarely find
other molecules to collide with, and ozone does not form in abundance. Below the ozone layer, too little solar radiation
penetrates to allow appreciable amounts of ozone to form. Thus most of the world’s ozone is in a stratospheric layer
bulging with ozone at latitudes from 10 to 35 kilometers.

The Antarctic Ozone Hole

Now, many scientists describe the Antarctic ozone hole as the first unequivocal evidence of ozone loss due
to man-made chlorine and one of the first clearly definable effects of human-induced global change. They found that
the ozone levels dip at about the same latitudes where levels of chlorine monoxide ascend. Scientists are convinced
that the elevated levels of chlorine and bromine account for much of the ozone depletion. The ozone molecules are
formed over the tropics and are delivered along with chlorine to the Antarctic, as well as to the Arctic, via atmospheric
motions. In Antarctica, a circulation pattern known as the Antarctic polar vortex traps the ozone cover the South

Environmental Science: Social Issues 6

Pole for several months. It is within this vortex that scientists have measured such shockingly low ozone
concentrations during the first two weeks of October shortly after the beginning of the Southern Hemisphere spring.
The chemical reactions that take place on these surfaces convert chlorine from forms that do not react with ozone to
other, less stable forms that readily break up in the presence of sunlight and go on to destroy ozone. Both cold
temperatures and sunlight arc critical to the process leading to ozone depletion in the Antarctic. Antarctic ozone is
depleted not during the winter, when temperatures are coldest and the South Pole is immersed in darkness, but in the
southern spring, after sunlight returns but temperatures are still low.

Effect on Line

The ozone layer is essential to life because it shields it from damaging ultraviolet radiation. Researchers are
trying to learn how humans, vegetation, and aquatic ecosystems each may be affected by ozone depletion. Direct
exposure to ultraviolet radiation can damage the human immune system, cause cataracts, and increase the incidence
or skin cancer. The EPA estimated in 1986 that the incidence of skin cancers would rise 2 percent for each 1 percent
depletion of stratospheric ozone. As part of the effort to understand the effects on vegetation and crops, researchers
have tested more than 200 plant species, two-thirds of which show sensitivity to increased ultraviolet exposure.
Soybeans, one of civilization’s staple food crops, are particularly susceptible to ozone damage, as are members of the
bean and pea, squash and melon, and cabbage families. Plant responses to ultraviolet radiation include reduced leaf
size, stunted growth, poor seed quality, and increased susceptibility to weeds, disease, and pests. Scientists are also in
the early stages of understanding how ultraviolet radiation might affect marine ecosystems and animals.

Conventions

Several conferences in the recent years have taken place which have provided international policy framework
to be considered when dealing with the science of the global climate change as under:

• Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer (Vienna, Austria, March 22, 1985). This
convention was signed by 20 states and the EEC at a conference convened by the UNEP. The object of the
convention was the protection of human health and the environment against adverse effect resulting or likely
to result from human activities, which modify or are likely to modify the ozone layer.

• Montreal Protocol on substances that deplete the Ozone Layer (Montreal, Canada, September 16,
1987). This protocol signed by 24 of the 46 countries attending a Conference in Montreal seeks to inhibit the
production, consumption and trade of ozone-depleting compounds. The compounds are divided into groups:
Group I (certain CFSs) and Group II (specific halons) each subject to different limitations. The protocol also
distinguishes between two groups of countries, the more developed with relatively high levels of consumption
of the contoured ozone depleting substances and the developing countries with relatively low levels of
consumption.

• International Conference on the Protection of the Global Atmosphere (The Hague, The Netherlands,
March 11, 1989). This conference held at the initiative of the French Prime Minister and co-sponsored by the
French, Dutch, and the Norwegian governments, produced “The Hague Declaration” which called for the
development within the UN framework of a new institutional authority, either by strengthening existing
institutions or by creating new institutions.

• Earth Summit-United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (Rio de Janeiro 3-14 June, 1992). The historic
Earth Summit held from June 3-14, 1992 in Rio de Janeiro was attended by over 115 heads of states or
governments.

Scientific Programmes on Other Activities of International Organizations

The UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme), UNDP (United Nations Development Programme)
are some of the environment programmes, which are making active efforts and are doing research in this field. Apart
from them, Economic Commission for Europe (ECE), the European Economic Community (EEC), the European
Science Foundation (ESF), The Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), International Social Science Council
(lSSC), World Meteorological Organization (WMO), The Inter-governmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) -
this a part of UNESCO, the Scientific Committee on Ocean Research (SCOR) and many other such organizations.
Apart from them there are other scientific activities underway which are funded by different organizations such as
the World’ Weather Watch (WWW), World Climate Research Programme (WCRP), World Climate Programme
(WCP), World Climate Impact Studies Programme (WCIP), Past Global Change (PAGES), Integrated Global Ocean
Station System (IGOSS), (Human Dimension of Global Change (HDGC), Global Environment Monitoring System
(GEMS), Global’ Change and Terrestrial Eco-System (GCTE).

Environmental Science: Social Issues 7

Wasteland Reclamation

What is land degradation? Land degradation refers to the physical or chemical processes, which make land,
unfit for a variety of purposes like agriculture, commercial, residential.

Residues and Wastes

As man engages in the activities associated with living, wastes are produces, these are products, which have
no apparent useful purpose, or they are of such marginal utility that recovery is uneconomical. Such products include
human, residential, agricultural, commercial and industrial wastes of all kinds. The continuous removal and safe
disposal of these wastes is essential to the continued existence of any community. These wastes may be solid, liquid
or gaseous.

Issues involved in enforcement of Environmental, Legislation.

Politics and the environment cannot be separated. The late 1980s and early 1990s witnessed a new
international concern about the environment, both in the developed and developing nations of the world.
Environmentalism is also seen as a growing factor in international relations. This concern is leading to international
cooperation where only tension has existed before. While there exists no world political body that can enforce
international environmental protection, the list of multilateral environmental organizations is growing.

Factors Affecting International Environmental Laws:

• Identification and gravity of the problem: It is easier to find a solution to a problem once it is widely
acknowledged as critical.
• Statistics: Sufficient fieldwork should be done to collect the required data on the extent of the problem to
find possible solutions.
• Geo-Location: To identify the sources and cause of problems and the areas under its effects.
• Law and order: Whether countries have laws protecting the environment and administrative proceedings to
enforce those laws.
• National and international pressures: Who favors and who opposes action on the issue in each country.
• Infrastructure (Institutions and policies): Whether there is a mechanism in place for cooperative action
among the interested countries.
• International cooperation: Whether the affected countries have a tradition of cooperation or conflict.

Environmental Science: Social Issues 8