Abstract
The
environment is of utmost importance to human survival and well-being, as well
as to the health and well-being of all living organisms. Human beings, animals,
plants, the weather, climate are all part and parcel of the environment.
Environment not only works to maintain balance in the climate, but it also
provides such things as are necessary for life, such as, food, oxygen, land,
and water. The environment also provides means of recreation, relaxation, and
enjoyment, which are essential for our mental and physical well-being. It is an
important part of our cultural heritage, providing inspiration for art,
literature, and music.
The
environment is the ground, the air, the water, all the chemicals around and
outside our body. They include the biological chemicals in lifeforms, which we
have not yet found on other planets. They include the chemicals and energy
flows between species. The environment includes the chemicals and energy flows
of the weather, which our current pollution is destabilizing via greenhouse
gases (GHGs), and the climate change they make. We need our environment for air
to breathe, water to drink, food to eat, land to live on, and shelter to be
protected in.
It
is our responsibility to keep the environment which we rely on within safe
levels of pollution. That seems best achieved when we lower our GHGs, and
maintain enough habitat for our fellow species. The future is more
environmentally aware.One has only three options, either adjust, adapt to the
existing one, or improve or modify it possible or relocate to a different
environment which one finds suitable.
The
paper, designed on the secondary data collected from the books, research
papers, research studies, is an interpretative study which generalizes that
environment is essential for survival and well-being, and that the present
environment needs to be protected by certain means, and above all, by all the
individuals for the sake of survival, happiness, good health etc.
Key-Words: Environment, Gases,
Chemicals, Survival, Pollution, Satellites, Improvement.
Introduction
No
aspect of human life is untouched by Environment. Survival of all the living
beings is possible only in a supportive and favorable environment. All the components required for survival of
living organisms are gained only through environment. Air, water, soil, food
etc. required for survival are acquired through the environment. Human beings
utilize the natural resources for the various forms of development. It is only
through the environment that all the process such as survival, reproduction,
growth and development etc. of living organisms takes place under the
environment.
Environment
plays an important role in the healthy living and well beingof human begins. Environment
is the only real home of the human beingsthat provides air, food, and satisfies
other needs. The entirelife support system depends on the well being of all the
environmental factors.
The
environment refers to the physical, biological, and social surroundings in
which we live. It is of utmost importance as it provides the necessary
resources and conditions for our survival and well-being. Hereunder are some of
the major factorsthat confirm the significance of the environment-
Sustenance: The environment
provides us with food, water, air, and other resources that are essential for
our survival.
Biodiversity: The environment is
home to a wide variety of species and ecosystems that play a crucial role in
maintaining the balance of nature.
Climate: The environment plays
a significant role in regulating the Earth's climate, which in turn affects our
weather patterns, agriculture, and natural disasters.
Health: Our environment plays
a critical role in our physical and mental health, with exposure to clean air,
water, and food being crucial for human health.
Economic
Development:
The environment is also critical for economic development, providing natural
resources and services that are crucial for various industries.
Many
natural cycles that occur every day are governed by the environment.
Environment provides all the elements needed for living things to survive. The
environment provides us with the air, water, soil, food, and other necessities
for life. Manis influenced by his surroundings in how he should develop
psychologically. We depend on plants and trees, not the other way around they
are our buddies.
The
contemporary environment is completely messed up. Water, soil, air, sky and
even space around the earth are exploited carelessly by the modern man who is
ready to go to any extent in order to satisfy himself. On the one hand,
adopting the latest technology is essential to keep linked up with the global
trends, while on the other hand, it is essential to preserve environment. Technology
and development is good but ignoring the consequences of it on environment and
other living beings is not good.
Hereunder
is the list of some of the major things that are exploited horribly and to such
an extent that they need to be preserved and taken care of for the sake of
perfect survival of the human beings-
Land: Land has been the
largest exploited one on the planet. Starting with deforestation and stuffing
chemicals into the soil, to the urban jungle concentrations, man does
everything to make earth more vulnerable. Deforestation causes soil erosion,
biodiversity loss, animal extinction and much more than this.
Water:Groundwater is overly
exploited causing the land to subside. One of the major reasons for coastal
erosion, coastal inundation is this groundwater exploitation driven by the
urban development. The farm fields are overly used for food production like
rice, wheat etc. We waste a lot of water that flows into drainage canals and
then into river streams or ocean. Many species that depend on these zones die
or decay in this process. Our drainage network is not good and needs a lot of
change.
Rivers:Rivers are the major
source of water after groundwater. We throw everything and anything into the
river. Industrial waste is also directly connected to these rivers. Our
drainage canal system should be improved and people need to find ways for
drainage waste management.
Air: Air pollution is due
to all the things that man does. We can't control it until we take good
measures. Our way of transportation needs tobe changed. Agriculture waste
management may become a separate subject in future. Air pollution results into
various severe diseases, difficulty in survival and breathing problems.
Space: The satellites we are
sending are very important in the current scenario. Once they finish there
mission or collide with other satellites, they produce a large space debris
until they fall inside the earth's atmosphere.It will not be wrong to say that
even space is now exploited due to the sending of satellites.
Specific
Objectives of The Study
1. Producing a concise picture of environment
2. Teaching the significance and importance of environment
3. Producing a list of the objects that are most polluted
4. Producing a correlation between environment and survival
5. Teaching the role of environment in shaping the entire
personality of man and in creating favourable conditions for the growth and
survival of the species of beings
Review Of
Related Literature
1. Khan
Shamshad, Naushad Mu., GovarthananMuthusamy, IqbalJibran&AlfadulSulaiman M.
(2022), in their famous work ‘Emerging contaminants of high concern for the
environment: Current trends and future research’, observe that ‘the emerging contaminants
are those caused primarily by micropollutants, endocrine disruptors (EDs),
pesticides, pharmaceuticals, hormones, and toxins, as well as
industrially-related synthetic dyes and dye-containing hazardous pollutants’.
2. Krishnakumar S., Singh D. Satheesh Herbert, Godson Prince
S. &ThangaSalomGnana (2022), in their study ‘Emerging pollutants: impact on
environment, management, and challenges’, ‘the emerging pollutants (EPs)
reach all the environments (geo-, bio-, hydro-, and atmosphere) from various
anthropogenic sources and are distributed throughout all environmental
matrices. The recent decades have made significant advances in detecting and
analyzing trace metal pollutants due to the continued development and
refinement of specific techniques. A wide array of undetected contaminants of
emerging environmental concern need to be identified and quantified in various
environmental components and biological tissues’.
3. Murphy Jacquelyn A., Peel Jennifer L., Butts Tom,
McKenzie Lisa M., and Litt Jill S. (2021), in ‘Understanding emerging
environmental health concerns and environmental public health tracking
priorities among state and local professionals in Colorado’, observe that ‘oil and gas
development (n=10), water quantity and quality (n=7) and indoor and outdoor air
quality (n=7) are very common these days. There are unknown mixtures of toxics
in air and water, overlapping land uses, and growing populations with changing
demographics.
4. Gilbert Sophie L., Hundertmark Kris J., Lindberg Mark S.,
Person David K., Boyce Mark S. (2020), in ‘The Importance of
Environmental Variability and Transient Population Dynamics for a Northern
Ungulate’, found that ‘summer fawn survival was primarily determined
by black bear (Ursusamericanus) predation and was positively influenced by mass
at birth and female sex. Winter fawn survival was determined by malnutrition in
deep-snow winters and was influenced by an interaction between date of birth
and snow depth, with late-born fawns at greater risk in deep-snow winters.
Adult female survival was the most influential vital rate based on classic
elasticity analysis, however, elasticity analysis based on process variation
indicated that winter and summer fawn survival were most variable and thus most
influential to variability in population growth’.
5. Malule Howard Ramírez, Murillo Diego H. Quiñones &
Duque Diego Manotas (2020), in their jointly penned research article ‘Emerging
contaminants as global environmental hazards. A bibliometric analysis’, comment
that ‘emerging contaminants (EC) represent a wide variety of chemical compounds
that have been detected in the environment and are sourced from daily
anthropogenic practices such as domestic, healthcare, agricultural and
industrial processes’.
6. ManisalidisIoannis,
Stavropoulou Elisavet, Stavropoulos Agathangelos & Bezirtzoglou Eugenia
(2020), in ‘Environmental
and Health Impacts of Air Pollution: A Review’, find that ‘there are
many pollutants that are major factors in disease in humans. Among them,
Particulate Matter (PM), particles of variable but very small diameter,
penetrate the respiratory system via inhalation, causing respiratory and
cardiovascular diseases, reproductive and central nervous system dysfunctions,
and cancer’.
7. Wang
Zhanyun, Walker Glen W., Muir Derek C. G., and Yoshida Kakuko Nagatani (2020), in their research work on
‘Toward a Global Understanding of Chemical Pollution: A First Comprehensive
Analysis of National and Regional Chemical Inventories’, find that
chemicals, while bringing benefits to society, may be released during their
lifecycles and possibly cause harm to humans and ecosystems. Chemical pollution
has been mentioned as one of the planetary boundaries within which humanity can
safely operate, but is not comprehensively understood.The identities of many
chemicals remain publicly unknown because they are claimed as confidential
(over 50 000) or ambiguously described (up to 70 000). Coordinated efforts by
all stakeholders including scientists from different disciplines are urgently
needed, with (new) areas of interest and opportunities highlighted here.
8. Arora Naveen Kumar (2018), in his study ‘Environmental
Sustainability—necessary for survival’ observesthat ‘no part of the
Earth is now untouched by the effect of human activities or pollution. Ever
increasing human population and increment in per capita consumption has put
great constraint on the natural resources. In addition to this, urbanization,
industrialization and modern agricultural practices have polluted the water
resources, air and soil all around the globe. The natural resources are thus
not only being over-exploited but also becoming contaminated with toxic
chemicals making it difficult for the survival of future generations’.
9. Nava
Alessandra, Shimabukuro Juliana Suieko, ChmuraAleksei A & Luz
SérgioLuizBessa (2017), in their research on ‘The Impact of Global
Environmental Changes on Infectious Disease Emergence with a Focus on Risks for
Brazil’, conclude that ‘Environmental changes have a huge impact on
the emergence and reemergence of certain infectious diseases, mostly in
countries with high biodiversity and serious unresolved environmental, social, and
economic issues.Due to strong global and local influence on emergence of
infectious diseases, a more holistic approach is necessary to mitigate or
control them in low-income nations’.
10. Chu E.W. & Karr J.R. (2017), in their research paper entitled ‘Environmental
Impact: Concept, Consequences, Measurement’, comment that
‘understanding, measuring, and managing today’s human environmental impacts –
the most important consequence of which is the impoverishment of living systems
– is humanity’s greatest challenge for the 21st century.Despite uncertainty, we
need to act to prevent environmental harm and to reconnect human with natural
economies. By using indicators that measure what matters for sustaining living
systems, we can make nature visible again and shed new light on the value of
the ancient heritage we share with the larger biosphere. We can reunite the
fragments of our worldview and re-create ethical, social, and ecological bonds
that were put aside two centuries ago in the name of progress’.
Method
The study is
based both on the primary data collected through verbal interaction with the
people, semi-structured interview of the scientists, environmentalists,
environment-activists, students and common people in personal circle. The
author used both the primary data and the secondary data. The secondary data
were collected from the various internet sites and the published research
studies available in the journals. In order to ensure the scientific nature of
the study, all the prescribed steps or process of research were adopted.
Findings &
Conclusion
The major
finding of the study is that environment and survival of human beings, animals
and plants are related with each other. It is the environment that helps the
human beings adapt to the surroundings; it is the environment that enable the
animals and birds to be alive and to enjoy life; and it is environment that
enables the plants and trees to grow properly. Hence, the environment plays a
crucial role in supporting life on Earth and has an impact on every aspect of
human existence.
Key Facts about
Environment
1. Environment provides resources for life, such as air,
water, food, and energy that are necessary for human survival and wellbeing.
2. Environment supports biodiversity, and is home to a wide
variety of plants and animals, which together make up the Earth's biodiversity.
3. Biodiversity provides important ecosystem services such
as pollination, soil fertility, and pest control, and supports the production
of food and medicines.
4. Environment helps regulate the climate and plays a key
role in regulating the Earth's climate by absorbing and releasing greenhouse
gases, which influence the planet's temperature.
5. Environment contributes to cultural identityand is an
important part of our collective heritage.
6. Environment supports the economy by providing natural
resources and services essential for economic activities such as agriculture,
forestry, fisheries, and tourism.
7. Environment promotes physical and mental health through
the exposure of nature which eventually results into numerous physical and
mental health benefits, including reducing stress, improving mood, and
enhancing cognitive function.
Obviously,
environment is important for our survival, wellbeing, and prosperity. Not only
this, it is also important for future generations.It does not need humans, but
humans need a clean environment in order to survive.Humanity is part of the
living ecosphere of Planet Earth, and we are completely dependent upon the rest
of our ecosystem. We cannot draw a breath unless the air is oxygenated by
plants. The hydrological cycle that purifies our water engages many life forms.
All of our food comes from other living things that share our space. We degrade
these natural systems at our own risk.
Environment
needs nothing for its care, and it takes care of itself.Environment is not
means, rather an end itself that provides several means to adapt to it. It is
the humans that need good environment to live in harmony with n nature. The
contemporary environment reveals that the man is ready to pollute environment
in order to see himself on the top. Some of the popular forms of environmental
pollution include air pollution, water pollution, sound pollution, soil
pollution, chemical pollution and cultural pollution. The more pollution there
is, the higher risks to survival of human beings, animals and plants are there.
In the name of
development, advancement, growth, the number of pollutants is increasing in a
way that despite having all the luxuries and being millionaire and billionaire,
the modern man does not have a healthy environment. He has neither clean and
pure water to drink, nor pure air to breathe in, nor mental peace to feel rest
at mind. Hence, it is the moral duty of each and everyone on the earth to
preserve environment and to ensure a perfect survival.
Reference
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