Chapter 3 Environment And Society

Major Environmental Problems And Risks

Modern societies face significant environmental problems and risks, which can be broadly categorised despite variations in their urgency across different regions and contexts.

Resource Depletion

One of the most critical environmental challenges is the overuse and destruction of natural resources, particularly non-renewable ones.

• Non-Renewable Resources: This category includes fossil fuels like petroleum, which are being consumed at unsustainable rates.
• Water: Depletion and degradation of both surface water and groundwater are happening rapidly. Aquifers, which store water accumulated over centuries, are being emptied within decades due to high demand from intensive agriculture, industries, and growing urban populations. Rivers are dammed and diverted, causing irreversible damage to water ecosystems. Urban water bodies are often filled up for construction, destroying natural drainage systems.
• Land/Soil: Topsoil, crucial for agriculture and formed over millennia, is being lost rapidly due to poor environmental management, leading to erosion, water-logging, and salinisation. Brick production for construction also contributes to topsoil loss.
• Biodiversity and Habitats: Natural habitats like forests, grasslands, and wetlands are shrinking, primarily due to the expansion of agriculture. While some areas might see reforestation, the overall trend is biodiversity loss and endangerment of species, including unique species in places like India. Declines in animal populations, like tigers, highlight the severity of habitat depletion despite conservation efforts.

Pollution

Pollution, the contamination of the environment by harmful substances, poses severe health risks.

• Air Pollution: A major problem in both urban and rural areas, contributing to respiratory diseases, illness, and death. Sources include industrial emissions, vehicle exhaust, and domestic burning of wood and coal. Indoor air pollution from cooking fires with poor ventilation, especially in rural homes using inefficient stoves and fuel, is a significant but often overlooked health hazard. WHO reports indicate millions of deaths globally linked to both indoor and outdoor air pollution annually.
• Water Pollution: Affects surface water bodies (rivers, lakes) and groundwater. Sources include domestic sewage, industrial waste (effluents), and agricultural runoff containing synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. Pollution of rivers is a particularly critical issue.
• Noise Pollution: A problem in urban areas from sources like loud loudspeakers (events, campaigns), traffic (horns, engines), and construction, leading to negative health impacts and disruption.

Global Warming

Global warming is caused by the emission of greenhouse gases (like carbon dioxide and methane) into the atmosphere, which trap the sun's heat. This results in a measurable rise in global temperatures.

Consequences include climate change, projected melting of polar ice (raising sea levels and threatening coastal areas), and disruption of ecological balance. It also increases climate fluctuations and uncertainty worldwide. Countries like China and India are becoming significant contributors to global greenhouse gas emissions.

Genetically Modified Organisms

New biotechnologies allow for genetic modification of organisms by transferring genes across species to introduce new traits (e.g., pest resistance in cotton using genes from *Bacillus thuringiensis*). GMO technology can also aim to improve yield, shorten growing time, or extend shelf life of crops.

However, there are significant concerns about the potential long-term impacts of GMOs on human health (from consuming genetically altered foods) and on ecological systems. Agricultural companies may also use genetic modification to create seeds that cannot be replanted, increasing farmers' dependence on purchasing seeds each season.

Natural And Man-Made Environmental Disasters

Environmental disasters can arise from natural forces or human actions.

• Natural Disasters: Catastrophic events caused by natural processes (earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions).
• Man-Made Disasters: Events caused or exacerbated by human activity, often involving technological or industrial failures. Examples include nuclear accidents (Chernobyl) and industrial accidents (Bhopal gas tragedy).

The Bhopal industrial disaster in 1984, where a toxic gas leak from a Union Carbide pesticide factory killed thousands and disabled many more, is a stark example of a man-made environmental disaster rooted in a complex interplay of industrial practices, regulatory failures, political influence, and disregard for safety warnings (as detailed in the provided report). Such disasters highlight how social institutions and organisational decisions contribute to environmental risks.

Why Environmental Problems Are Also Social Problems

Environmental problems are not purely natural or technical issues; they are deeply intertwined with social factors. How environmental problems manifest and who they affect is often determined by social inequality.

Social status, power, and economic resources influence individuals' or groups' ability to protect themselves from environmental hazards or recover from environmental crises. Sometimes, 'solutions' devised by privileged groups can worsen environmental disparities for disadvantaged groups (e.g., richer farmers investing in deep borewells depleting groundwater for poorer villagers).

While some environmental concerns (like air pollution) seem universally beneficial, a sociological perspective shows that priorities are often set and pursued in ways that reflect the interests of politically and economically powerful groups, potentially harming the poor and politically weak.

Debates over large infrastructure projects (dams) or protected areas highlight how the environment becomes a contested arena shaped by different group interests.

The school of social ecology specifically argues that social relations, particularly the organisation of property and production, shape environmental perceptions and practices. Different social groups interact with the environment based on their position in society and their interests (e.g., forest department managing timber vs. artisan using bamboo for crafts).

Environmental problems have roots in social inequality, and addressing them requires changing social relations between different groups (men/women, urban/rural, landlords/labourers). Changed social relations can lead to different knowledge systems and ways of managing the environment, highlighting that ecological problems cannot be understood or solved without addressing underlying social problems.

Sustainable Development

Sustainable development is a concept that attempts to balance ecological concerns with economic development and social equity. It is defined as development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Key principles of sustainable development include prioritising the essential needs of the world's poor and acknowledging the limitations imposed by technology and social organisation on the environment's capacity.

The history of economic development, particularly capitalist development driven by consumption and ruthless exploitation of nature, has led to rapid resource depletion and biodiversity loss, raising concerns about the future.

In the contemporary world, capitalist development is heavily based on consumption, encouraging the rapid replacement of old products with new ones. This fuels demand but also relies on the control of resources and opportunities, often exacerbated by existing social stratification where dominant groups control the majority of resources.

Achieving sustainability requires addressing inequality, ensuring equitable distribution of resources, and pursuing inclusive development that benefits all segments of society, not just a few.

Global initiatives like the UN's Sustainable Development Goals aim to address environmental and social challenges collaboratively.

The report on "No Rain but Water Parks" in Vidharbha illustrates the conflict between resource control, economic interests, and basic needs. In a drought-prone region, water is diverted for commercial water parks and industries ("Fun and Food Village") while villages face scarcity and farmers commit suicide due to combined environmental (drought, depleted groundwater) and economic (high-risk crops, expensive inputs, lack of credit, market volatility, reduced government support) distress. This highlights how social factors (inequality, power structures, economic policies) shape resource allocation and contribute to environmental and social crises.

The reference to Gandhi's views and the contrast with modern industrialism further underscores the critique of a development model focused solely on exploitation and profit, arguing for a more equitable and sustainable approach.