Environment of India

Physical map of India

The environment of India refers to the situation related to environment within India, a south Asian country.

Biota

Main article: Wildlife of India
A Red panda
An Olive ridley turtle

India has some of the world's most biodiverse ecozones—desert, high mountains, highlands, tropical and temperate forests, swamplands, plains, grasslands, areas surrounding rivers, and island archipelago. It hosts 3 biodiversity hotspots: the Western Ghats, the Himalayas and the Indo-Burma region. These hotspots have numerous endemic species.[1]

In 1992, around 7,43,534 km2 of land in the country was under forests and 92 percent belonged to the government. Thus only 22.7 percent was forested compared to the recommended 33 percent by the National Forest Policy Resolution (1952). Majority of it are broad-leaved deciduous trees which comprise one-sixth sal and one-tenth teak. Coniferous types are found in the northern high altitude regions and comprise pines, junipers and deodars.[2]

There are 350 species of mammals, 375 reptiles, 130 amphibians, 20,000 insects, 19000 fish[3] and 1200 species of birds in India. The Asiatic lion, Bengal tiger and leopard are the main predators; the country has the most species of cats.[4] Elephants, the Indian Rhinoceros and eight species of deer are also found.[5]

A lotus, the national flower of India

There are over 16000 species of flowering plants in India, which account for six percent of the total plant species in the world. India comprises seven percent of world's flora. Wide range of climatic conditions in India gave rise to rich variety of flora. India covers more than 45,000 species of flora, out of which several are endemic to the region. Since ancient times, use of plants as a source of medicines and herbs has been the inherent part of life. There are more than 3000 officially documented plants that holds great medicinal potential. India is divided into eight main floristic regions: North-Western Himalayas, Eastern Himalayas, Assam, Indus plain, Ganga plain, the Deccan, the Malabar and the Andamans.[6]

Geography

Main article: Geography of India

India lies on the Indian Plate, the northern portion of the Indo-Australian Plate, whose continental crust forms the Indian subcontinent. The country is situated north of the equator between 8°4' and 37°6' north latitude and 68°7' and 97°25' east longitude. It is the seventh-largest country in the world, with a total area of 3,287,263 square kilometres (1,269,219 sq mi).[7] India measures 3,214 km (1,997 mi) from north to south and 2,933 km (1,822 mi) from east to west. It has a land frontier of 15,200 km (9,445 mi) and a coastline of 7,517 km (4,671 mi).

The Indian plate and Eurasia collided between 40 and 60 million years ago according to four observations, one being the fact that there is no mammalian fossil record in India from around 50 million years ago.[8] On its way, the Indian plate passed over the Reunion hotspot which led to volcanic activity, thus forming the Deccan Traps. Its collision with the Eurasian plate led to the rise of the Himalayas and the continuous tectonic activity still makes it an earthquake prone area. The Gangetic plains were formed by the deposition of silt by the Ganga and its tributaries into the area between the Himalayas and the Vindhya range.[9] The rock formations can be divided into the Archaean, Proterozoic (Dharwar system), Cuddupah system, Vindhyan system, Gondwana system, The Deccan Trap, Tertiary system, Pleictocene period and recent formations.[10]

Map of India's Köppen climate classification

The climate of India comprises a wide range of weather conditions across a vast geographic scale and varied topography, making generalisations difficult. Given the size of India with the Himalayas, Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean, there is a great variation in temperature and precipitation distribution in the subcontinent.[11] Based on the Köppen system, where the mean monthly temperature, mean monthly rainfall and mean annual rainfall are considered, India hosts six major climatic subtypes, ranging from arid desert in the west, alpine tundra and glaciers in the north, and humid tropical regions supporting rainforests in the southwest and the island territories. Many regions have starkly different microclimates. The Indian Meteorological Department divides the seasons into four: Winter (mid-December to mid-March), Summer (mid-March to May), Rainy (June to September), Retreating Monsoon (October to mid-December).[11]

The formation of the Himalayas (pictured) during the Early Eocene some 52 mya was a key factor in determining India's modern-day climate; global climate and ocean chemistry may have been impacted too.[12]

Issues

A satellite picture, taken in 2004, showing a thick haze and smoke along the Ganges Basin in northern India. Major sources of aerosols in this area are believed to be smoke from biomass burning in the northwest part of India, and air pollution from large cities in northern India. Dust from deserts in Pakistan and the Middle East may also contribute to the mix of aerosols
Solid waste adding to water pollution in India

There are many environmental issues in India. The situation was worse between 1947 and 1995. According to data collection and environment assessment studies of World Bank experts, between 1995 through 2010, India made one of the fastest progress in the world, in addressing its environmental issues and improving its environmental quality.[13][14] Still, India has a long way to go to reach environmental quality similar to those enjoyed in developed economies. Pollution remains a major challenge and opportunity for India.

Environmental issues are one of the primary causes of disease, health issues and long term livelihood impact for India. Air pollution, water pollution, land pollution and noise pollution are all challenges.

Climate change

Being a developing nation, India is more vulnerable to the effects of climate change due to its dependence on climate-sensitive sectors like agriculture and forestry.[18] Poor infrastructure, lack of financial resources further result in it having a low financial adaptive capacity.[18] The nation is vulnerable to the immediate socio-economic effects of climate change. A 2002 study indicated that the temperature over the country increased at around 0.57 °C (33.03 °F) per 100 years.[18]

Renewable energy

Renewable energy in India comes under the purview of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. India was the first country in the world to set up a ministry of non-conventional energy resources, in the early 1980s. India's cumulative grid interactive or grid tied renewable energy capacity (excluding large hydro) has reached 33.8 GW,[19] of which 66% comes from wind, while solar power contributes 4.59% along with biomass and small hydro power.[20]

Protected areas

In 2009, around 4.8 percent of the total area of the country were designated as protected areas. That comprised 100 national parks, 514 sanctuaries, 41 conservation reserves and four community reserves.[21]

Policy and law

In the Directive Principles of State Policy, Article 48 says "the state shall endeavour to protect and improve the environment and to safeguard the forests and wildlife of the country"; Article 51-A states that "it shall be the duty of every citizen of India to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers and wildlife and to have compassion for living creatures."[4]

India is one of the parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) treaty. Prior to the CBD, India had different laws to govern the environment. The Indian Wildlife Protection Act 1972 protected the biodiversity. In addition to this act, the government passed the Environment (Protection) Act 1986 and Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Act 1992 for control of biodiversity.[21]

Organisations

There are at least 85 widely diversified environmental organisations involved with environmental conservation and environmental education in Tamil Nadu. These organisations are notable for the diversity of their members and their intended impact groups, ranging from urban to rural, local to national, elementary students to government policy makers and rich to poor. The combined intent of these organisations' efforts is to increase awareness of and participation in environmentalism by a broad spectrum of the state's population.[22][23] The Ministry of Environment and Forests through its Department of Environment and the Tamil Nadu Forest Department is the primary government organisation planning and implementing environmental policy in the state.[24][25]

Paryawaran Sachetak Samiti, a national level volunteer organisation has been organising various movements to protect nature and save the environment at the grassroot level across India since 1993.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Archived November 9, 2005, at the Wayback Machine.
  2. ↑ Nag, Prithvish; Sengupta, Smita (1992-01-01). Geography of India. Concept Publishing Company. p. 79. ISBN 9788170223849.
  3. ↑ Das, Chhanda (2007-01-01). A Treatise on Wildlife Conservation in India. Classique Books. p. 65. ISBN 9788187616221.
  4. 1 2 Singh, Singh & Mohanka 2007, p. 116–118.
  5. ↑ Wildlife Of India. Har-Anand Publications. 2010-08-01. pp. 17–22. ISBN 9788124109700.
  6. ↑ Majid 2014, p. 5.2.
  7. ↑ "India". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 17 July 2012. Total area excludes disputed territories not under Indian control.
  8. ↑ Molnar, Peter (1986). "Geological History and Structure of the Himalaya" (PDF). American Scientist 74: 151. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
  9. ↑ Sanyal, Sanjeev (2012-11-15). Land of seven rivers: History of India's Geography. Penguin UK. pp. 17–18. ISBN 9788184756715.
  10. ↑ Majid 2014, p. 2.3.
  11. 1 2 Majid 2014, pp. 4.27, 4.15.
  12. ↑ Rowley DB (1996). "Age of initiation of collision between India and Asia: A review of stratigraphic data" (PDF). Earth and Planetary Science Letters 145 (1): 1–13. doi:10.1016/s0012-821x(96)00201-4. Retrieved 2007-03-31.
  13. ↑ The Little Green Data Book, The World Bank, 2010
  14. ↑ Environment Assessment, Country Data: India, The World Bank, 2011
  15. ↑ Singh, Singh & Mohanka 2007, pp. 327.
  16. 1 2 Majid 2014, pp. 17.23–17.24.
  17. ↑ Singh, Singh & Mohanka 2007, pp. 231–232, 300.
  18. 1 2 3 Shukla, P. R. (2003-01-01). Climate Change and India: Vulnerability Assessment and Adaptation. Universities Press. pp. 12, 13, 21. ISBN 9788173714719.
  19. ↑ "Renewable energy achievements". Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  20. ↑ "Indian Renewable Installed Capacity has reached 27.7GW - Renew India Campaign - solar photovoltaic, Indian Solar News, Indian Wind News, Indian Wind Market". www.renewindians.com. Retrieved 2016-04-30.
  21. 1 2 Ganguly, Sunayana (2015-11-06). Deliberating Environmental Policy in India: Participation and the Role of Advocacy. Routledge. pp. 58–59. ISBN 9781317592235.
  22. ↑ Directory of Environmental Resource Persons in Tamil Nadu (PDF), Chennai: ENVIS & World Wide Fund for Nature - India/Tamil Nadu State Office, 2008
  23. ↑ 2nd source (PDF)
  24. ↑ About the Ministry, Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoEF), Govt. of India
  25. ↑ Welcome To Department of Environment, Chennai: Government of Tamil Nadu, Department of Environment, 2007

References

Further reading

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, May 05, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.