Environmental Issues and Sustainability

Study Notes

The current consumerist lifestyle and carbon-intensive industrial development have led to a large number of environmental issues, threatening human survival and quality of life.
Environmental studies focus on these issues and suggest measures for mitigation.

Environment consists of two components: biotic and abiotic.
Biotic components include living organisms such as plants, animals, humans, parasites, microorganisms, and decomposers.
Abiotic components include non-living things such as topography, light, precipitation, humidity, water, temperature, and atmospheric gases.

Human-environment relationship can be classified into three categories: determinism, possibilism, and environmentalism.
There are three types of environments: natural, human-modified, and human-made environments.
Examples of human-made environments include industries, cities, towns, crop fields, artificial lakes, and dams.

Slow down population growth to address other priority areas.
Address issues like clean air and water, clean living conditions, productive land, good quality food, and sustainable development.

Environmental studies are crucial for addressing continuing problems like pollution, loss of forests and biodiversity, solid waste disposal, environmental degradation, global warming, climate change, and depletion of the ozone layer.
The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (1992) and World Summit on Sustainable Development (2002) have drawn attention to environmental issues.
The United Nations has adopted 17 Sustainable Development Goals to be achieved by 2030.