Environment Protection and Development Can Go Hand In Hand

In the last few decades, we have seen a drastic change in the environment due to rapid technology and infrastructure developments. In the quest for growth, we tend to ignore the environment, which results in hazardous conditions. The environment is a beautiful gift of God and essential to sustain the earth. Environmental protection is the process of improving, maintaining, and defending the overall quality of the environment. The three central pillars of environmental protection are reducing, reusing, and recycling.

Primary gases in the environment include water vapour, methane, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and ozone. Apart from these, there are several other methods of environmental protection. These include green transportation development, eco-friendly industrialisation, and Green Energy production. The general people, industries, and businesses should contribute to environmental protection and development. 

We will read about environment protection and development, revenue-earning, and others in detail.

The History of Environmental Protection 

The environment has always been a point of concern in the lives of humans and all living beings. The ancient Greeks developed the first-ever environmental philosophy, followed by several famous civilisations; these include China and India. In recent years, people have witnessed a significant downfall in ecological quality. 

The reason is unfavourable activities such as pollution, overpopulation, and economic crisis. The first one to warn the world about the environmental concern was The Club of Rome. They pointed to the rise in population as a significant concern in their report called The Limits to Growth in 1972. 

Back in the day, researchers and ordinary people believed that the best way to protect the environment was to segregate human existence from the environment. It means humans were not allowed to disturb the environment in any way. This approach was known as preservation which gained immense popularity in the United States. After which, the National Park Service was established in 1916. 

When humans started to interfere in the environment, the modern environmental movement was established in the 1960s. To avoid such activities, the government worldwide started to pass orders about protecting the environment. In 1970, the Environmental Protection Agency or EPA was established in the United States. 

The Principles of Environmental Protection 

There are mainly three principles of environmental protection. These are as follows: 

• The precautionary principle – According to the precautionary principle, in case any activity has the potential to harm the environment, significant steps need to be taken to stop such activities and prevent the environment to avoid damage.  
• The polluter pays principle – According to the polluter pays principle, anyone who is reasonable for all the pollution will be bound to clean it. 
• The public right to know the principle – According to this principle, the general people have all rights to know the hazardous effects of environmental pollution and other potential threats. 

The Goals of Environmental Protection 

There are mainly three goals of environmental protection. These are as follows – 

• To protect human health – The first and the most important goal of environmental protection is to protect human health. Without a healthy environment or living conditions, humans can’t survive. 
• To protect ecosystems – Life without an ecosystem is not possible on the earth. The ecosystem comprises water, air, soil, gases, and other essential things necessary to survive. Excessive environmental degradation can hamper the entire ecosystem. 
• To promote sustainable development – Sustainable development can be described as the development process that includes meeting today’s needs and keeping the future perspective in mind. In this process, the needs of future generations are protected. 

About The Ecosystem

An ecosystem is a fundamental component of nature. It is defined as the space of life formed by the weather, environmental features, and biotic & abiotic components of a place. Numerous unique ecosystems regulate living globally, and almost every ecosystem is interdependent. Moreover, the ecosystem of any area is a distinctive habitat in itself, and any specific living creatures cannot sustain themselves in every ecosystem.

Formation of The Ecosystem

The ecosystem consists of two major components – Biotic and Abiotic. Factors such as climate, topography, and geography of the area also influence the two components and further result in the variation. Besides, several ecological processes bind all these components and factors and form an ecosystem. Let us read in detail about them:

Biotic components

Biotic components are the class of all living creatures, from producers to consumers to decomposers. All human beings, animals, birds, plants and trees, or other living bacteria or organisms can be called the ecosystem’s biotic components. All biotic components rely on abiotic components of the ecosystem for their survival.

Abiotic components

All naturally available resources or occurring factors are abiotic components. Elements such as sunlight, air, gases, sand, minerals, rocks, and landscapes are abiotic components of the ecosystem. These abiotic components are the driving factors of the ecosystem. Biotic factors sustain and evolve based on abiotic components.

Binding factors

Biotic and abiotic factors can form an ecosystem only when they are all together. Without their union, the formation of the ecosystem is not possible. Some binding elements attach to these components and help the ecosystem evolve and sustain. Nutrient cycles and energy flows are critical and interlinking factors.

Conclusion 

With this, we come to the end of the topic. A short note: Environment Protection & Development Can Go Hand In Hand. Rising pollution is deteriorating the natural environment. Hence, protecting the environment has become even more necessary. The environment has always been a point of concern in the lives of humans and all living beings. The first-ever environmental philosophy was developed by ancient Greeks, followed by some famous civilisations. The concept of the ecosystem was first described and named by an English botanist, Sir Arthur G.Tansley, in 1935.