Ecologyand Ethical Issues

ECOLOGY ECOLOGY ETHICAL ISSUESETHICAL ISSUES Group no :3Group no :3

ECOLOGY

The study of the interactions between organisms and the living and non living components of their environment.Environmental knowledge is essential for solving

environmental problems.Every organism is either directly or indirectly

affected by the things in its environment

Ecology & Business have very close relationships , in fact Business Activities have great impact on Ecology

Ecological Issues on all stages of Business viz.

• Establishment of Business

• Operating of Business

• Closing of Business

Ethical IssuesEthical IssuesAquatic IssuesAquatic Issues

• Water pollutionWater pollution• Thermal Pollution Thermal Pollution • Water DiversionWater Diversion• Overfishing Overfishing

Water PollutionWater Pollution

Spills or Dumping in OceansSpills or Dumping in Oceans

Mumbai-Uran pipeline spill21 January 2011

• A leak in one of the feeder lines of the state-run Oil

and Natural Gas Corporation’s (ONGC) Mumbai Uran Trunk pipeline led to an oil spill about 80km off the Mumbai coast.The Mumbai Uran Trunk (MUT) pumps 2.12 lakh barrels of oil per day to Uran.Nearly 25,000 barrels of oil were lost in the spill, which is close to metric 50 tonnes of oil. The impact on damage to environment because of the spill can be assessed only in a couple of days, This is the second major oil spill off the Mumbai coast within six months.

• First Mumbai oil spill was on 7 August 2010 – 9 August 2010

Thermal Pollution & Thermal Pollution & Rising Ocean Temperatures Rising Ocean Temperatures

Coral Bleaching

Coral Bleaching

In 1998 coral reefs around the world experienced the most extensive and severe bleaching in recorded history. Coral bleaching was reported in 60 countries and island nations at sites in the Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean, Red Sea, Persian Gulf, Mediterranean and Caribbean. Indian Ocean corals were particularly severely impacted, with greater than 70 percent mortality reported in the Maldives, Andaman's, Lakshadweep Islands, and in Seychelles Marine Park System

Water DiversionWater Diversion

India's Greatest Planned Environmental Disaster:The Narmada Valley Dam Projects

The Narmada Valley Development Project is the single largest river  development  scheme  in  India. It  is  one  of  the  largest hydroelectric  projects  in  the  world  and  will  displace approximately  1.5  million  people  from  their  land  in  three states  (Gujarat,  Maharashtra,  and  Madhya  Pradesh). The environmental  costs  of  such  a  project,  which  involves  the construction  of  more  than  3,000  large  and  small  dams,  are immense.  The  project  will  devastate  human  lives  and biodiversity  by  inundating  thousands of  acres of  forests  and agricultural land. The State (India) wants to build these dams on the Narmada River in the name of National Development. 

Damming the Narmada River will degrade the fertile agricultural soils due to continuous irrigation (rather the seasonal irrigation which is dependent on the monsoon), and salinization, making the soil toxic to many plant species. The largest of the dams under construction is the Sardar Sarovar, which, if completed, will flood more than 37,000 hectares of forest and agricultural land, displacing more than half a million people and destroying some of Indias most fertile land.

In the end, the Big Dam will produce only 3% of the power planners say it will thats only 50 megawatts! Additionally, when you take into account the power needed to pump water through the network of canals inevitably attached to the dam, the Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP) will consume more electricity than it produces

OverfishingOverfishing 

Fish catch has risen from 20 mill ion tons/year to over 90 mill ion tons / year

Air Quality Issues Air Quality Issues

•Acid rainAcid rain•Air Pollution Air Pollution •Nuclear PollutionNuclear Pollution

Acid Rain Acid Rain

Acid rain and Taj Mahal

Mathura  oil  refinery  and  other  nearby  industries pushed  into  atmosphere  pollutants  that  contains oxides of  Sulphur and Nitrogen.  These  gases  causes acid rain This acid makes the marble of Taj Mahal to corrode  The  industrial  and  refinery  emissions  from brick kilns, vehicular  traffic and generator sets were alleged  primarily  responsible  for  polluting  the ambient air in and around Taj Trapezium Zone.

Air Pollution Air Pollution

Nuclear PollutionNuclear Pollution

Bhopal Gas TragedyDecember 3rd 1984

• Company: Union Carbide Corporation.

• Chemical: Methyl Isocyanate (40 tons)

• People Affected- >500,000

• People Died- ~40,000

Since 1984, 40,000 people lost their lives in Bhopal, India after a chemical gas spill from a pesticide factory. More than 40 tons of methyl isocyante (MIC) gas created a dense cloud over a resident population of more than half a million people.

• People woke in their homes to fits of coughing, their lungs filling with fluid.  More than 8,000 people were killed  in  just  the  first  few  days  following  the  leak, mainly from cardiac and respiratory arrest.

• More  than  20,000  people  still  live  in  the  vicinity  of the  factory  and  are  exposed  to  toxic  chemicals through  groundwater  and  soil  contamination.  A whole  new  generation  continues  to  get  sick,  from cancer  and  birth  defects  to  everyday  impacts  of aches  and  pains,  rashes,  fevers,  eruptions  of  boils, headaches,  nausea,  lack  of  appetite,  dizziness,  and constant exhaustion.

Climate Change Issues Climate Change Issues

Greenhouse Effect Greenhouse Effect

Ozone Depletion Ozone Depletion

Ozone Hole over Antartica Ozone Hole over Antartica

Source: NASA

Terrestrial IssuesTerrestrial Issues

• Desertification Desertification • Deforestation Deforestation • Soil pollution Soil pollution • Waste Disposal Waste Disposal • MiningMining

DesertificationDesertification

• DesertificationDesertification is an expansion of arid conditions into a non-arid environment.

• Major causes of desertification Major causes of desertification include

Overgrazing & poor grazing management

Cultivation of marginal lands

Destruction of vegetation in arid regions

Incorrect irrigation practices leading to salinization

DeforestationDeforestationDeforestationDeforestation – the permanent destruction of indigenous forests and woodlands.

CHIPKO MOVEMENT

In the 1960s, India’s push for national economic development cleared even more trees to export the wood to earn foreign exchange.The hill soil washed away, causing landslides, floods and silting in the rivers below the hills. Crops and houses too were destroyed, and women had to trudge further and further for their fuel, fodder and water. All in all, it was the women who were the main victims of India’s deforestation policies.

Soil PollutionSoil PollutionWays that soil can become polluted, such as: Ways that soil can become polluted, such as:

• Seepage from a landfill

• Discharge of industrial waste into the soil

• Percolation of contaminated water into the soil

• Rupture of underground storage tanks

• Excess application of pesticides, herbicides or fertilizer

• Solid waste seepage

Most common chemicals involved in causing soil pollution are: Most common chemicals involved in causing soil pollution are:

• Petroleum hydrocarbons

• Heavy metals

• Pesticides

• Solvents

Waste Disposal Waste Disposal

Mining- Mining- Illegal mining and stone crushing in the Ganges river bed

• Illegal mining in the Ganges river bed for stones and sand for construction work has been a long problem in Haridwar district, Uttarakhand, where it touches the plains for the first time. This is despite the fact that quarrying has been banned in Kumbh Mela area zone covering 140 km area in Haridwar.On 14 June, Swami Nigamanada, a 34-year old monk who was fasting since 19 February 2011 against illegal mining and stone crushing along the Ganges near Haridwar, died at the Himalayan Hospital in Jolly grant in Dehradun, after alleged poisoning by stone-crushing mafia. His death put spotlight on the activity including intervention by Union Environment minister

Sand-mining sound the death knell for the Bharathapuzha

Once the muse of poets and kings, the Bharathapuzha, or the Nila as it's fondly called, is today barely a trickle in the summer months. In most parts, the 209-km long river is covered with shrubs and weeds, and looks more like an unkempt ground than a water body. Its destruction has been rapid and steady. Over the past decade, unregulated sand mining has all but devoured the riverbed, even as deforestation shrunk the river's catchment areas. One year later, there is still no concerted movement to regulate sand mining. And as trucks race to the middle of the riverbed to collect sand, a bit of the river dies every day.

Population Growth IssuesPopulation Growth Issues

• UrbanizationUrbanization• Farming Practices Farming Practices • Fertilizers & PesticidesFertilizers & Pesticides

Urbanization- Creates SlumsUrbanization- Creates Slums Dharavi

Dharavi is a slum in Mumbai.It is one of the largest slums in the world. Dharavi has severe problems with public health, due to the scarcity of toilet facilities, due in turn to the fact that most housing and 90% of the commercial units in Dharavi are illegal The area also suffers from problems with inadequate drinking watersupply. Dharavi has experienced a long history of epidemics and natural disasters, sometimes with significant loss of lives.

Farming Practices Farming Practices

Negative environmental impacts fromNegative environmental impacts from

unsustainable farming practices include:unsustainable farming practices include:Land conversion & habitat loss

Wasteful water consumption

Soil erosion and degradation

Pollution

Climate change

Genetic erosion

Fertilizers and Pesticides Fertilizers and Pesticides

Endosulfan Tragedy in Kasargod

• The endosulfan tragedy happened in Kasaragod district of Kerala in India. It is not a well-known tragedy. It is considered by many experts in the field of pesticide toxicity as one of the world’s worst pesticide disasters.

• The Plantation Corporation of Kerala (PCK), a public sector undertaking under the State Government, which owns three cashew plantations covering 4600 hectares in Kasargod, sprayed endosulfan aerially in these plantations for 24 years (1976 to 2000), three times a year. These uninterrupted spraying in spite of several warnings about its disastrous impact on health and environment has resulted in several chronic, critical and life-threatening ailments in the areas surrounding the plantations.

• This tragedy occurred because a toxic chemical was used continuously in a populated area with several (open) natural drinking water sources

• Eleven Gram Panchayats covering twelve villages (group and sub-villages) have been severely affected. These villages are Enmakaje, Belur, Kumbadaje, Badiadka, Muliyar, Karadukka, Periya, Pullur, Ajanur, Kallar, Panathady, Kayyur, Cheemeni.

• In these villages there is a very high concentration of chronic health complications like Mental, Physical and Behavioral disorders, Sensory loss, Neurological ailments, Cardiovascular diseases, Congenital Anomalies, Dermatological and Musculoskeletal disorders etc

Thankyou……..

Kuriachan Manual

Kiran Babu

Lijin Thomas

Manu

Nimisha S