question_answer 15)

Account for the current environmental crisis.

Answer:

Environment performs four functions of supplying resources: assimilating waste, sustaining life by providing genetic and bio diversity and providing aesthetic service. The environment has been able to perform its functions without any interruption till recent past as the resource extraction was not above the rate of regeneration of the resource and the wastes generated were within the assimilating capacity of the environment. But today, environment fails to perform its third and vital function of life sustenance resulting in an environmental crisis. The rising population of the developing countries and the affluent consumption and production standards of the developed world have placed a huge stress on the environment in terms of its lust Iwo functions. Many resources have become extinct and the wastes generated are beyond the absorptive capacity of the environment. As a result, we are today at the threshold of environmental crisis. Developmental activities in India have put immense pressure on its finite natural resources, besides creating impact on human health and well-being. The current environmental crisis manifests itself in land degradation, global warming, ozone depletion, falling of water levels, loss of biodiversity and health problems due to pollution. Sustainable development is the only remedy lo this crisis.