9. Environmental Management

Justification: climate — temperature, rainfall, humidity, sunlight and wind over a long period — decides what kind of plants can grow in a region, and so what kind of animals can live there. That is why deserts, rainforests, grasslands and polar regions each have their own typical living organisms. Climate also influences soil formation and water availability, on which all living things depend.

Justification: weather means the atmospheric conditions — temperature, rainfall, humidity, wind, clouds — at a specific place at a specific time. It can change within hours, as when we say “it is very hot today”. Climate, in contrast, is the average of these conditions over many years.

Justification: however advanced human technology becomes, human progress still depends on a suitable geography and climate. Farming, water supply, location of towns, industries, ports, runways and bridges all depend on the land, rainfall, wind and temperature of a region. So we must consider whether the geographic conditions are favourable before planning any activity.

Justification: meteorology departments set up observatories equipped with modern instruments — thermometers, rain gauges, barometers, anemometers, radar and satellite receivers — to record temperature, rainfall, pressure, wind and other factors regularly. These records are used to study the climate and to make weather forecasts.

The aim of first aid is to prevent death, stop the victim’s condition from getting worse, and start the process of recovery until medical help arrives. First make sure the place is safe, call for help (ambulance 108 / 112), and then follow these principles:

• A — Airway: if the victim has difficulty in breathing, tilt the head backward and lift the chin so that the air passage stays open.
• B — Breathing: if breathing has stopped, give artificial respiration by mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
• C — Circulation (CPR): if the victim is unconscious and not breathing, press the centre of the chest firmly and quickly with both palms, one over the other, and alternate these chest compressions with rescue breaths. This cardio-pulmonary resuscitation helps restore circulation.
• Bleeding: cover the wound with a clean antiseptic pad and press it firmly with the thumb or palm for about 5 minutes.
• Fracture: do not move the broken part; keep it still by tying it to a splint such as a wooden rod, baton or ruler. If the back or spine is injured, keep the victim still and lying flat on a firm stretcher.
• Burns: hold the burnt part under clean, cool running water for at least 10 minutes.
• Sprains and bruises — RICE: Rest the injured part; apply an Ice pack; Compress it with a bandage; and keep it Elevated (raised).

1. Segregation: separating waste at the source into wet (biodegradable) and dry (non-biodegradable) waste, using separate dustbins.
2. Composting: decomposing kitchen and garden waste in pits to make good manure.
3. Vermicomposting: using earthworms to convert biodegradable waste quickly into rich manure (vermicompost).
4. Biogas and bio-energy: producing fuel gas and electricity from wet waste and cattle dung.
5. Pyrolysis: burning waste at a very high temperature in the absence of oxygen to produce energy.
6. Incineration: burning biomedical waste at very high temperature in closed incinerators so that germs are destroyed.
7. Safe (sanitary) landfill: burying waste that cannot be recycled in specially lined pits, layer by layer, so that it does not pollute soil and groundwater.
8. Recycling and reuse: paper, glass, metals and plastic are sent for recycling; reusable articles are reused. Industrial solid waste is treated and disposed of separately.
9. The 7 principles: reuse, refuse, recycle, rethink, reduce, research, and regulation with public awareness.

Disaster management includes preparing for a disaster, preventing losses, and acting immediately when it strikes. Weather forecasting gives advance information about dangerous weather, so disaster management can begin before the disaster arrives.

• Cyclones: the India Meteorological Department tracks cyclones with satellites and radar and issues warnings days in advance. During Cyclone Phailin (2013) and Cyclone Fani (2019) in Odisha, lakhs of people were moved to shelters before the cyclones reached the coast, and loss of life was far lower than in earlier cyclones.
• Heavy rain and floods: warnings of very heavy rainfall allow authorities to release water from dams in time, close schools, keep rescue teams and boats ready, and ask people in low-lying areas to move to safety.
• Fishermen and shipping: warnings of storms and rough seas tell fishermen not to go out to sea.
• Heat and cold waves: forecasts help hospitals prepare and warn people to protect themselves.
• Farmers: forecasts of rain, hail or frost help farmers protect their crops and plan sowing and harvesting.

Thus, the more accurate and timely the weather forecast, the better the preparation and the smaller the loss of life and property.

Why it is harmful: e-waste — old TVs, mobile phones, computers, batteries and chargers — contains toxic substances like lead, mercury, cadmium, arsenic and harmful plastics and chemicals.

• When dumped in the open or in landfills, these substances seep into the soil and groundwater and poison them.
• When e-waste is burnt to extract metals, poisonous fumes pollute the air.
• People who handle it without protection, often in unsafe small workshops, suffer damage to the brain, nerves, kidneys, lungs and skin.
• E-waste is non-biodegradable, and its quantity is growing very fast.

My opinion: e-waste is a serious and growing problem, but it is also a resource, because it contains valuable metals like copper, gold and silver that can be recovered safely. We should use electronic goods for as long as possible and get them repaired instead of replacing them quickly. Old gadgets should be given only to authorised e-waste collectors or company take-back schemes, never to the general garbage. Manufacturers should design products that are easier to repair and recycle. Everyone must be made aware of the dangers of e-waste.

• I will separate the waste at home into wet and dry waste, and put it in separate dustbins.
• I will make compost from kitchen waste at home or help set up a compost pit in the society.
• I will avoid plastic bags and use cloth bags, and avoid use-and-throw articles.
• I will follow reduce, reuse and recycle — use both sides of paper, reuse bottles and boxes, and send paper, glass and metal for recycling.
• I will never litter; I will put wrappers in dustbins even when outside.
• I will give old electronic items only to authorised e-waste collectors.
• I will take part in cleanliness drives in school and my locality, and make my family and friends aware.

The science that studies the inter-relationships between the components of air, natural cycles, geological movements of the earth and climate is called meteorology. It includes the study of storms, clouds, rainfall, thunder, lightning, etc. Weather forecasts made on the basis of these studies are useful to common people, farmers, fishermen, aviation, water transport and many other organisations. In India, the India Meteorological Department (IMD), founded in 1875 and headquartered in New Delhi, records weather data through observatories and satellites and issues forecasts and warnings. Worldwide, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), set up in 1950, co-ordinates this work. 23 March is observed as World Meteorological Day.

The factors that together determine the weather and climate of a place are called climatic factors. They are temperature, atmospheric pressure, sunlight, clouds, humidity, rainfall, visibility, and the direction and speed of wind. The weather of a day depends on their values at that time, while the climate is the average of their daily readings over many years. These factors affect agriculture, water resources, soil formation, and the food, clothing, housing and occupations of people. They are also considered while building runways, seaports, large bridges and skyscrapers.

India depends heavily on monsoon rainfall, so forecasting the monsoon is very important. After the famine of 1877, H. F. Blanford, the founder of IMD, first predicted the monsoon using Himalayan snowfall as a parameter. In the 1930s Sir Gilbert Walker related the monsoon to worldwide climatic factors. Later, under the initiative of Dr Vasant Gowariker, a model using 16 worldwide parameters was developed and used until 2002. Today three kinds of models are used:

• Mathematical (dynamic) model: current weather data and the physical interactions between them are analysed mathematically with supercomputers such as Param.
• Statistical model: present observations are compared with past records of ocean temperature, atmospheric pressure and monsoon rainfall over many years.
• Holistic model: IMD’s forecast combines the most effective parameters of the various models.

Because the relationships between ocean and atmosphere keep changing, these models must be updated continually. New models, radar and satellite technology are being developed at IITM, Pune.

Waste produced by factories and industries is called industrial waste. It includes chemicals, pigments, sludge, ash, metal pieces, and waste from mining such as lead, arsenic and cadmium. Many of these are toxic and non-biodegradable. If released untreated, they pollute rivers, groundwater, soil and air, harm aquatic life and crops, and cause serious diseases in humans. Industries must therefore reduce waste by using efficient processes, treat effluents before release, recover and recycle useful materials, and dispose of the remaining waste in secure landfill sites, following government rules.

Plastic bags, bottles, wrappers, thermocol cups and other plastic articles form a large part of dry solid waste. Plastic is non-biodegradable; some plastic bags may take an extremely long time to break down. Plastic waste blocks drains and sewers and causes flooding, as it did during the Mumbai floods of 26 July 2005. Animals that eat plastic bags fall ill and die; plastic in the sea harms marine life. Burning plastic releases poisonous gases. To reduce plastic waste we should refuse plastic bags and use cloth bags, avoid use-and-throw plastic articles, reuse plastic containers, and send plastic for recycling. Maharashtra has banned many single-use plastic items.

The main objectives of first aid are to prevent death, to prevent the victim’s condition from getting worse, and to start the process of recovery. Its basic principles are:

• ABC of life and resuscitation: keep the Airway open by tilting the head back and lifting the chin; ensure Breathing, giving mouth-to-mouth respiration if needed; and restore Circulation by CPR (chest compressions with rescue breaths) if the victim is unconscious and not breathing.
• Stop bleeding by pressing an antiseptic pad on the wound.
• Keep a fractured part still with a splint; keep a victim with a back injury flat on a firm stretcher.
• Cool burns under clean running water for at least 10 minutes.
• Treat sprains and bruises by RICE — Rest, Ice, Compression (firm bandage) and Elevation.
• Move the victim safely and get medical help as early as possible.

• Lifestyle of people: climate decides the food, clothing, housing and occupations of people. In cold Kashmir people wear warm woollen clothes and build houses with sloping roofs to let snow slide off; in hot, dry Rajasthan people wear loose white cotton clothes and houses have thick walls to keep them cool.
• Agriculture: crops depend on the climate. Rice grows where rainfall is heavy, as in Konkan; jowar and bajra grow in drier regions; grapes grow well in the climate around Nashik. The timing and amount of monsoon rain affects India’s entire food production.
• Plants and animals: each climate has its own typical organisms — cactus and camels in deserts, dense evergreen forests in areas of heavy rain, and polar bears in the icy polar regions.
• Soil formation: heat, cold, rain and wind cause weathering of rocks and help form soil. Microbes in the soil, which make organic matter, work best under suitable temperature and moisture.
• Water cycle and oceans: the water cycle, the salinity of sea water and ocean currents all depend on climatic factors such as temperature, wind and evaporation.
• Health: many diseases are linked to climate; for example, mosquito-borne diseases like malaria and dengue spread more in the warm, humid rainy season.

General care: check the victim’s injuries first; do not move a person with a suspected neck or back injury unless there is immediate danger, and then only on a firm stretcher, keeping the head, neck and back in a straight line. Move gently without jerks, and support the injured part throughout.

• Cradle method: the victim is carried in both arms, one under the back and one under the knees. It is suitable only for children and light, under-weight victims. The rescuer should bend at the knees, not the back, while lifting.
• Piggy-back: the victim is carried on the rescuer’s back. The victim must be able to hold on with the arms, so it suits conscious victims with leg injuries. It should not be used for victims with injuries to the arms, chest or spine.
• Human crutch: used when one leg is injured. The rescuer stands on the injured side, puts the victim’s arm around the neck and holds the waist, so that the victim walks on the uninjured leg with minimum load on the injured one.
• Pulling or dragging method: used to move an unconscious victim a short distance out of danger, for example out of a smoke-filled room. The victim is pulled by the shoulders or clothes, head first, keeping the head supported and the body in a straight line.
• Four-hand seat: two rescuers grip each other’s wrists to form a seat. It is useful when support is needed for the part below the waist; the victim must be conscious and hold the rescuers’ shoulders.
• Two-hand seat: two rescuers form a seat with two hands, and use their other arms to support the victim’s back. It suits victims who cannot use their hands but can keep the body upright.
• Stretcher: the safest method for seriously injured, unconscious or fracture victims, and for long distances. If a proper stretcher is not available, a temporary one can be made with two bamboos and a blanket; test its strength before use and fasten the victim so that he does not slip.
• Fire-brigade (fireman’s lift): one rescuer carries the victim across the shoulders, leaving one hand free. It is used by trained rescuers to carry an unconscious person out of danger, and not for victims with spinal injuries.
• In floods: boats are used; wooden boards, bamboo floats and air-filled tyre tubes can be used as emergency aids.

1. Meaning: weather is the condition of the atmosphere at a specific place at a specific time, whereas climate is the average of the daily weather conditions of a region recorded over many years.
2. Duration: weather is short-term, for hours or days; climate is long-term, over 30 years or more.
3. Area: weather refers to a small, particular place; climate refers to a larger region.
4. Change: weather can change quickly, even within a day; climate changes very slowly over a long period.
5. Example: “It is raining heavily in Pune today” describes weather; “Konkan receives heavy rainfall every year” describes climate.

1. Meaning: degradable (biodegradable) waste is easily broken down by microbes, whereas non-degradable waste is not easily broken down.
2. Time: degradable waste decomposes in a short time, such as banana peels in 3–4 weeks; non-degradable waste takes a very long time, such as aluminium cans in 200–250 years.
3. Nature: degradable waste is mainly organic and is called wet waste; non-degradable waste is mainly inorganic and is called dry waste.
4. Examples: degradable — kitchen waste, spoiled food, fruit and vegetable peels, leaves, dung, paper; non-degradable — plastic, glass, metal, thermocol, rubber.
5. Management: degradable waste can be turned into compost, vermicompost or biogas; non-degradable waste should be reduced, reused and recycled, or disposed of in safe landfills.

• (1) Hospital waste management: find out how biomedical waste is separated into colour-coded bins (for example, yellow for infectious and body waste, red for contaminated plastic, white containers for needles and sharps, blue for glass), how it is collected, and whether it is sent to a common incineration and treatment facility. Note the safety precautions taken by the staff.
• (2) School vermicompost project: make a pit or tank in a shaded place, put a bottom layer of stones and sand, then a layer of soil and dry leaves. Add earthworms (such as Eisenia foetida) and cover with a layer of kitchen and garden waste and cow dung. Sprinkle water to keep it moist, not wet, and cover it with sacking. In about 6–8 weeks, dark, crumbly vermicompost will be ready for the school garden.