Some of the issues & Challenges faced by the enivironment management

1. ISSUES & CHALLENGES OF
ENVIRONMENT MANAGEMENT
BY: ROHIT RAPHAEL BIJU
553
SHIBIN OOMMEN ABRAHAM
556

2. ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
Environmental Management offers research and
opinions on use and conservation of natural
resources, protection of habitats and control of
hazards, spanning the field of environmental
management without regard to traditional
disciplinary boundaries.

3. CLIMATE CHANGE:
1. Climate change is a global problem with grave
implications: environmental, social, economic, political
and for the distribution of goods.
2. It represents one of the principal challenges facing
humanity in our day.
3. If present trends continue, this century may well witness
extraordinary climate change and an unprecedented
destruction of ecosystems, with serious consequences for
all of us.

4. 4. Scientists have high confidence that global temperatures
will continue to rise for decades to come, largely due to
greenhouse gases produced by human activities.
5. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC),
which includes more than 1,300 scientists from the United
States and other countries, forecasts a temperature rise
of 2.5 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit over the next century.
SOURCE: NASA

5. OZONE DEPLETION
1. Gradual thinning of Earth’s ozone layer in the
upper atmosphere caused by the release of
chemical compounds containing
gaseous chlorine or bromine from industry and other
human activities.
2. The thinning is most pronounced in the polar regions,
especially over Antarctica. Ozone depletion is a major
environmental problem because it increases the amount
of ultraviolet(UV) radiation that reaches Earth’s surface,
which increases the rate of skin cancer, eye cataracts, and
genetic and immune system damage.

6.  Global consumption of ozone-depleting substances has
been reduced by some 98% since countries began taking
action under the Montreal Protocol. As a result, the
atmospheric concentration of the most aggressive types of
ozone-depleting substances is falling and the ozone layer is
showing the first signs of recovery.
 Nevertheless, the ozone layer is not expected to recover
fully before the second half of this century. This is because
once released, ozone-depleting substances stay in the
atmosphere for many years and continue to cause damage.

8. ACTIONS REQUIRED GLOBALLYTO CONTINUE
THE RECOVERY OFTHE OZONE LAYER ARE:
1. Ensuring that existing restrictions on ozone-depleting
substances are properly implemented and global use of
ozone-depleting substances continue to be reduced.
2. Ensuring that banks of ozone-depleting substances (both
in storage and contained in existing equipment) are dealt
with in an environmentally-friendly manner and are
replaced with climate-friendly alternatives.

9. 4.Ensuring that permitted uses of ozone-depleting
substances are not diverted to illegal uses.
5.Reducing use of ozone-depleting substances in
applications that are not considered as consumption
under the Montreal Protocol.
6.Ensuring that no new chemicals or technologies
emerge that could pose new threats to the ozone layer
(e.g. very short-lived substances).

11. GREENHOUSE GAS EFFECT
The greenhouse effect is the problem caused by
increased quantities of gases such as carbon dioxide in
the air. These gases trap the heat from the sun, and
cause a gradual rise in the temperature of the Earth's
atmosphere.
While other planets in Earth's solar system are either
scorching hot or bitterly cold, Earth's surface has
relatively mild, stable temperatures. Earth enjoys these
temperatures because of its atmosphere, which is the
thin layer of gases that cloak and protect the planet.

12. 1) Water Vapor:- The most abundant greenhouse gas but
importantly it acts as a feedback to the climate. Water vapor
increases as the earths atmosphere warms but so does the
possibility of clouds and precipitation, making these some of
the most important feedback mechanisms to the green
house.
2) Carbon Dioxide:- A minor but very vital component of the
atmosphere, CO2 is released through natural processes such
as respiration and volcano eruptions & through human
activities such deforestation and burning fossil fuels.

13. 3. Methane : A hydro carbon gas produced both through
natural sources and human activities including the
decomposing waste in land fills, agriculture &
especially rice cultivation as well as ruminant
digestion and manure management associated with
domestic livestock.

14. 4. Nitrous Oxide: A powerful greenhouse gas procured by
soil cultivation practices specially the use of commercial
and use of organic fertilizers, fossil fuel combustion, nitric
acid production and biomass burning.
5. CFC: Synthetic compounds entirely of industrial origin
used in a number of applications, but now largely
regulated in production and released to the atmosphere
by international agreement for their ability to contribute
to the destruction of the ozone layer.

15. GLOBAL WARMING
The phenomenon of increasing average air
temperatures near the surface of Earth over the past one to
two centuries.
Global warming is the term used to describe a gradual
increase in the average temperature of the Earth's
atmosphere and its oceans, a change that is believed to be
permanently changing the Earth’s climate.

16. CONTD….
The increased volumes of carbon dioxide and other
greenhouse gases released by the burning of fossil fuels,
land clearing, agriculture, and other human activities, are
believed to be the primary sources of the global warming
that has occurred over the past 50 years.
Scientists from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
carrying out global warming research have recently
predicted that average global temperatures could increase
between 1.4 and 5.8 °C by the year 2100.

17. CONTD….
Changes resulting from global warming may
include rising sea levels due to the melting of the
polar ice caps, as well as an increase in occurrence
and severity of storms and other severe weather
events.