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PROF. NAINA GOYAL 1
MODULE – 3 : ENVIRONMENTAL
DISASTERS
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Meaning and Concepts. Types of Hazards and
Disasters. Man induced and Natural hazards. Global
warming. Ozone depletion. Green house effect. And
other major environmental problems.
PROF. NAINA GOYAL 2
MEANING OF ENVIRONMENTAL
DISASTERS
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The term, “technical disaster” defines the source of a
disaster and the term, “environmental disaster”
describes the results of problematic man-made
interferences with the natural environment.
Environmental disasters have a severe effect on
ecosystems. These catastrophes are often short in
duration, but have a lasting impact on the animals and
plants that live in the affected habitat. Occasionally,
environmental catastrophes change the physical
environment so much that the damage to the ecosystem
is irreversible. In other cases, environmental damage
can be contained and the habitat rehabilitated.
PROF. NAINA GOYAL 3
MEANING OF ENVIRONMENTAL
DISASTERS Environmental disasters
fall into two general categories.
NATURAL DISASTERS
MAN-MADE DISASTERS
PROF. NAINA GOYAL 4
MEANING OF ENVIRONMENTAL
DISASTERS
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Environmental disasters fall into two general
categories. Some disasters are caused by natural
climate or weather events. These include wild fires,
landslides, floods, earthquakes, droughts, tsunamis, and
volcanic eruptions. Although the causes of these
natural environmental disasters do not involve human
activities, in some cases the effects are worsened by the
influence of people. For example, the environments
that suffered the most damage during the Indian Ocean
tsunami of 2004 were those where urban development
and construction had damaged coral reefs. In places
where coral reefs were healthy, the reef acted like a
buffer, deflecting the power of the giant wave.
PROF. NAINA GOYAL 5
MEANING OF ENVIRONMENTAL
DISASTERS
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A second category of environmental disasters includes
those caused by human activities. Examples of human-
induced environmental disasters include oil spills,
chemical spills, and nuclear incidents. In addition, wars
and terrorist activities can be disastrous to ecosystems.
In many cases, environmental disasters caused by
humans have longer lasting effects on the environment
than catastrophes brought on by natural events. For
example, the enormous oil spill that occurred when the
Exxon Valdez super tanker ran aground in Prince
William Sound in 1989 continues to have major
environmental repercussions. Twelve years after the oil
spill, significant deposits of oil, which is toxic to many
species, persisted throughout the affected area. In 2002,
the population size of at least eight species of fish and
mammals was still severely impacted from the oil spill.
PROF. NAINA GOYAL 6
DEFINTION OF ENVIRONMENTAL
DISASTERS
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According to The Office of Enterprise Technology,
State of Minnesota :-
“The effects of
environmental threats that affect the environment and
lead to large scale impact on the environment,
economy, or human lives.” ❑
According to International Federation of Red Cross
and Red Crescent Societies :-
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A disaster is a sudden, calamitous event that seriously
disrupts the functioning of a community or society and
causes human, material, and economic or
environmental losses that exceed the community’s or
society’s ability to cope using its own resources.
Though often caused by nature, disasters can have
human origins.”
(VULNERABILITY+ HAZARD ) /
CAPACITY = DISASTER
PROF. NAINA GOYAL 7
CONCEPT OF ENVIRONMENTAL
DISASTERS ➢
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DISASTER :-
The term disaster owes its origin to the French word
“Desastre” which is a combination
of two words ‘des’ meaning bad and ‘aster’ meaning
star.
Thus the term refers to ‘Bad or Evil star’.
“A serious disruption in the functioning of the
community or a society causing wide
spread material, economic, social or environmental
losses which exceed the ability of the
affected society to cope using its own resources”.
PROF. NAINA GOYAL 8
CONCEPT OF ENVIRONMENTAL
DISASTERS ➢
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HAZARDS :-
The word ‘hazard’ owes its origin to the word
‘hasard’ in old French and ‘az-zahr’ in Arabic meaning
‘chance’ or ‘luck’.
“A dangerous condition or event, that threat or have
the potential for causing injury to life or damage to
property or the environment.”
Hazards can be grouped into two broad categories
namely natural and manmade.
PROF. NAINA GOYAL 9
CONCEPT OF ENVIRONMENTAL
DISASTERS
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A disaster is a result from the combination of hazard,
vulnerability and insufficient capacity or measures to reduce the
potential chances of risk.
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A disaster happens when a hazard impacts on the vulnerable
population and causes damage, casualties and disruption.
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Three alternatives or say parallel terms viz. environmental
hazards, environmental stresses and environmental disasters are
used in one way or the other to deal with the extreme events
whether natural or man-induced.
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A distinction must be drawn between the processes (casual
factors) and the responses (results) of extreme events. ‘Hazards’
are generally taken to the processes, both natural and
anthropogenic, which cause an accident/extreme event or danger
whereas ‘disaster’ is a sudden adverse or unfortunate extreme
event which causes great damage to human beings as well as
plants and animals.
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It, therefore, becomes obvious that the Environmental Hazards
are the processes whereas the Environmental Disasters are the
results or responses of environmental hazards.
PROF. NAINA GOYAL 10
GLOBAL WARMING
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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.
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While many view the effects of global warming to be
more substantial and more rapidly occurring than
others do, the scientific consensus on climatic changes
related to global warming is that the average
temperature of the Earth has risen between 0.4 and 0.8
°C over the past 100 years.
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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.
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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.
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Changes resulting from global warming may include
rising sea levels due to the melting of the polar ice
caps, as well as an increase PROF. NAINA in GOYAL
occurrence and severity of storms 11
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DEFINITION OF GLOBAL WARMING
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“Global warming is the gradual rise in the earth's
temperature caused by high levels
of carbon-di-oxide and other gases in the atmosphere.”
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“An increase in the average temperature worldwide
believed to be caused by
the greenhouse effect.”
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“A slight but continuing increase in the temperature of
the lower atmosphere,
usually attributed to an intensifying of the greenhouse
effect that could lead
to harmful climatic conditions.”
PROF. NAINA GOYAL 12
CAUSES OF GLOBAL WARMING
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The issues that cause global warming are divided into
two categories include "natural"
and "human influences" of
global warming. Natural Causes of Global Warming :
The climate has continuously changing for centuries.
The global warming happens because the natural
rotation of the sun that changes the intensity of sunlight
and moving closer to the earth.
Another cause of global warming is greenhouse gases.
Greenhouse gases are carbon monoxide and sulphur
dioxide it trap the solar heats rays and prevent it from
escaping from the surface of the earth. This has cause
the temperature of the earth increase.
PROF. NAINA GOYAL 13
CAUSES OF GLOBAL WARMING
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Natural Causes of Global Warming (Contd.) :
Volcanic eruptions are another issue that causes global
warming. For instance, a single volcanic eruption will
release amount of carbon dioxide and ash to the
atmosphere. Once carbon dioxide increase, the
temperature of earth increase and greenhouse trap the
solar radiations in the earth.
Finally, methane is another issue that causes global
warming. Methane is also a greenhouse gas. Methane
is more effective in trapping heat in the atmosphere
that carbon dioxide by 20 times. Usually methane gas
can release from many areas. For instance, it can be
from landfill, natural gas, petroleum systems, coal
mining, industrial waste process.
PROF. NAINA GOYAL 14
CAUSES OF GLOBAL WARMING
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Human Influences on Global Warming : Human activities
include industrial production, burning fossil fuel, mining,
cattle rearing or deforestation.
Industrial revolution, Industrial have been using fossil fuels
for power machines. Everything that we use is involved in
fossil fuel. For example, when we buy a mobile phone, the
process of making mobile phone have involve machines and
machines uses fossil fuels, during the process carbon dioxide
is releasing to the atmosphere. Besides industrial,
transportation such as cars is also releasing carbon dioxide
from exhaust.
Deforestation is a human influence because human have
been cutting down trees to produce papers, wood, build
houses or more. If human continuing deforestation, carbon
dioxide will concentrate in the atmosphere because trees can
absorb carbon dioxide from atmosphere. Besides, human
also release carbon dioxide when breathe. Therefore the
amounts of millions of people breath have release carbon
dioxide to the atmosphere. If human continue deforestation,
human breathing that release carbon dioxide will stay at the
atmosphere.
PROF. NAINA GOYAL 15
IMPACTS OF GLOBAL WARMING
1. Rising Sea level: Flooding of fresh water
marshlands, low-lying cities, and islands with marine
water is one of the major effects of global warming. 2.
Changes in rainfall patterns: In some areas, droughts
and fires happen, whereas in other areas, flooding takes
place. This all is due to changes in rainfall pattern. 3.
Melting of the ice peaks: Due to melting of the ice
peaks, there is loss of habitat near the poles. Now the
polar bears are considered to be greatly endangered by
the shortening of their feeding season because of
declining ice packs. 4. Melting glaciers: There is a
significant melting of old glaciers. 5. Spread of disease:
There is spread of diseases like malaria, dengue,
yellow fever, etc.
PROF. NAINA GOYAL 16
CONTROL MEASURES FOR
PREVENTING GLOBAL WARMING
(i) Reducing the use of fossil fuels. (ii) Use of bio-
fuels. (iii) Improving energy efficiency. (iv) Use of
renewable source of energy such as CNG etc. (v)
Reforestation. (vi) Recycling of materials.
PROF. NAINA GOYAL 17
MEANING OF OZONE
DEPLETION/OZONE LAYER DEPLETION
▪ of Ozone the prime layer reasons depletion which is one are
of leading the most to serious global warming.
problems faced by our planet earth. It is also one
▪ ozone Ozone gas is a is colourless what which gas protects
which is us found from in the the harmful stratosphere
ultraviolet of our radiations upper atmosphere. of the sun.
The layer of
▪ earth’s The ozone atmosphere.
layer absorbs these harmful radiations and thus prevents
these rays from entering the
▪ earth’s Ultraviolet atmosphere radiations can are lead high
to energy various electromagnetic environmental issues
waves including emitted by global the sun warming, which if
and enters also the