4. What Is the Environment?
The environment is something you are very familiar with. It's
everything that makes up our surroundings and affects our
ability to live on the earth—the air we breathe, the water that
covers most of the earth's surface, the plants and animals around
us, and much more.
In recent years, scientists have been carefully examining the
ways that people affect the environment. They have found that
we are causing air pollution, deforestation, acid rain, and other
problems that are dangerous both to the earth and to ourselves.
These days, when you hear people talk about “the environment”,
they are often referring to the overall condition of our planet,
or how healthy it is.
6. ENVIRONMENTAI DEGRADATION
Depletion of resources such as air , water and soil
Destruction of ecosystems, habitat destruction
Extinction of wildlife
Pollution
Rapid population Growth
7. Country Data
WHO
Beyond the findings for Delhi, 13 of the 20 cities found to have
the highest annual averages of PM2.5 in the WHO study above are
Indian cities.
Satellite Data
Using satellite-based remote sensing technology and ground level
data from the Central Pollution Control Board, Dr. Michael
Greenstone and his team produced an influential study (Greenstone
et al, 2015) showing that 660 million people (more than half of
India’s population) live in areas that exceed India’s standards for
fine particulate pollution. Large portions of India, in particular
in the north along the Indo-Gangetic Plain can been seen to be
heavily polluted and in non-compliance with India’s National Air
Quality Standards (NAAQS.)
8. Greenstone et al,
February 21, 2015
Vol 1 no 8, Economic
and Political Weekly
The Environmental
Performance Index
(EPI)
The Environmental
Performance Index,
produced by Yale and
Columbia
Universities, ranks
how well countries
perform on high-
priority
environmental issues
in two broad policy
areas: protection of
human health from
environmental harm
and protection of
ecosystems.