V.K. Prabhakar
56 books
The concept of biodiversity should be an expression of life which includes variability of all life forms and their organisation and inter-relationships from the molecular to the biosphere level, which includes cultural diversity. Biodiversity includes all forms of life and all areas that are home to natural and domesticated life forms. The threats to biodiversity are threats to all components of it; hence fragmented treatment of biodiversity must be rejected. ...
Recent developments in science have asserted the inter-dependence of all life, microbial, plant and animal, between themselves and with the physical environment of land, air, water and solar energy, this inter-dependence is embedded in the evolution of life during the past three billion years or more with the origin of various forms of life, and extinction of others, and the formation of our atmosphere, water bodies and land masses. The science of ecology is the ...
Air pollution is not a new problem; it has been around for centuries. Over three centuries ago, the noted scientist and diarist John Evelyn described with great accuracy many of the effects of the air pollution arising from the combustion of coal, reduction in sunshine, morbidity and mortality from respiratory ailments, dust fall, corrosion of materials. Only in the 20 century, and especially the last few decades, have extensive experimental and epidemiology ...
The environmental destruction that has followed is making the lives of people humanly impossible, particularly of women who have to fetch daily household needs from the immediate environment. To survive, the poor often have no alternative but to turn upon the very environment with which they lived in full harmony in the immediate past. The key question for expert and lay person is: can lands support such a large and growing population? This is where the ...
Ecological research is not only confined to mere qualitative approach but is more confined to quantitative approach. In order to have a comprehensive evaluation of an ecosystem, it becomes essential to monitor both qualitatively and quantitatively spatial and temporal variations in structural and functional attributes of environment which may be categorized as physical, chemical and biological. In spite of the intense efforts undertaken in recent years, our ...
The impact of population on various domains of environment in reality, could be different. In a few cases, the impact would be more deleterious than the predictions made through the EIA study. This may be due to various extraneous climatological and environmental factors not attributable to the particular industry. The regulatory mechanism of environmental compliance is gradually becoming more and more comprehensive. The new regulations and standards are being ...
Environmental education is education through, about and for environment. Its scope is, therefore, very wide. It begins from using environment as a medium of learning, and includes all that Kalidasa, Wordsworth and others have said in appreciation of nature and also all that scientists and scholars have disclosed about our physical and social environment, and finally it includes all that we say and do for conserving our resources and for beautifying our ...
What is the carrying capacity of the earth for man? In other words, what are the limits of the life support capabilities of the earth in terms of human population? are the behaviourists’ concern. What are the tolerance levels of man to the pressures generated by his own societies? In other words, if man is his own worst enemy, does this lead to his self destruction? The impact of population on environment is competently assessed in this book.
Marine ecology is concerned with environmental factors and problems of organic adjustments quite different from those in fresh water. Strictly speaking marine pollution may also be of natural origin. For example, it may be caused by underwater gas and oil eruptions, or by the intensive growth and subsequent death of certain micro-organisms, which are responsible for the familiar disastrous red tides. Marine ecology and pollution can be studied under three ...
Prevention is better than cure goes the famous adage. How the grim state of pollution can be averted or controlled? What are the probable preventive methods for? This book attempts to answer many such queries.
Every species plays an important role in maintaining an ecological balance among the living systems of the earth. These systems must continue to function if life is to survive. Loss of any species threatens the survival of several species inclusive of man. Man’s own survival depends on his willingness and ability to cooperate with the living environment. Human beings turn to nature and wildlife for spiritual, psychological, physical and cultural benefits. ...
To control the pollution, first we have to classify the pollutants. There are two major types of pollutants: degradable and non-degradable while degradable pollutants include rapidly degradable and slowly degradable pollutants. The present work is devoted to study the basic principles and practices of pollution control. This will prove an ideal reference work to the users.
Forests play a very important role in the life and economy of the country. Forest vegetation and its accompanying soil organism make up as much as 90 per cent of the total biomass on land. Due to deforestation, the stability of many ecological sub-systems have been greatly disturbed. Forest cover in the catchment areas of the rivers, control soil erosion and recurrence of floods. Once the forest cover is damaged, severe soil erosion takes place disturbing the ...
Radiation is fatal for human cells. Similarly thermal pollution is also fatal for human body. The human body fails to sense ionizing radiation. It has been probably responsible for much of the general apprehension about this type of hazard. Reliance must be kept on detection devices which have been based on the physical or chemical effects of radiation. These effects include: ionizing in gases; ionization and excitation in certain solids; changes in chemical ...
Growing population pressure has always been a major cause of forest depletion. Forests are disappearing today not simply because human numbers are growing. Their disappearance can spell catastrophe for people now living and for future generations. If we want to avoid that catastrophe, we must understand why the forests are disappearing. Only in the light of that understanding can measures be devised and action taken to avert disaster.
The purpose of research is to discover answers to questions through the application of scientific procedures. The main aim of research is to find out the truth which is hidden and which has not been discovered as yet. The basic types of research can be: descriptive vs. analytical; applied vs. fundamental; quantitative vs. qualitative; conceptual vs. empirical; and special. There are two basic approaches to research: quantitative, and qualitative. As is obvious ...
Unnecessary and unwise encroachment on nature, excessive exploitation of natural resources, scientific advancement and resultant refuge, fumigation and noise have totally polluted the entire environment on the earth. Greenhouse effect, ozone layer depletion, Bhopal gas tragedy, Minamata Bay incident, Chernobyl disaster and like many more incidents has alarmed the situation. The pollution state of various resources has deteriorated to such an extent that survival ...
In the field of biotechnology there is a seamless flow of basic research becoming directly applicable to humankind. Considering the enormous biodiversity and biological wealth in this country, basic research and modern biology, product oriented research for new generation of vaccines, diagnostics, recombinant products and other bioproducts specially the eco-friendly technologies would be the priority agenda for the next millennium. An integrated biotechnological ...
Today not only do all human activities, agricultural, transport or industrial, affect human perceptions of the environment but they also have their impact on the ecological system and the resource base. The four point focus of population, resources, development and environment gives rise to a complexity of relationships which both the development planner and the environmental manger has to take into account. Man likes, at least occasionally, to live in forest, ...
Unnecessary and unwise encroachment on nature, excessive exploitation of natural resources, scientific advancement and resultant refuge, fumigation and noise have totally polluted the entire environment on the earth. Greenhouse effect, ozone layer depletion, Bhopal gas tragedy, Minamata Bay incident, Chernobyl disaster and like many more incidents has alarmed the situation. The pollution state of various resources has deteriorated to such an extent that survival ...
Ecology is the study of the interrelationships within ecosystems. The environment devoted crop plants is the agroecosystem, where both animals and plants in the area are directly or indirectly influenced by each other. Ecosystems are not closed systems because there is always an interflow of matter and energy between adjacent ecosystems. The principle of the ecosystem has also brought forth very clearly that the ‘whole’ is ...
Ecologists have been observing and documenting that most, if not all, ecosystems are not in balance. But why should scientists be concerned with whether an ecosystem is in equilibrium? The answer to this question is crucial for understanding biodiversity. In the process of gene mutation, all heritable diversity ultimately arises at the molecular level. Gene mutations are chemical changes that take place in the composition of the DNA molecule. According to modern ...
Unnecessary and unwise encroachment on nature, excessive exploitation of natural resources, scientific advancement and resultant refuge, fumigation and noise have totally polluted the entire environment on the earth. Greenhouse effect, ozone layer depletion, Bhopal gas tragedy, Minamata Bay incident, Chernobyl disaster and like many more incidents has alarmed the situation. The pollution state of various resources has deteriorated to such an extent that survival ...
In the broadest sense, there are two types of ecosystems—aquatic and terrestrial. We can distinguish freshwater, estuarine and marine aquatic ecosystems and several major types of ecosystems such as grassland, forest and desert. Although these all ecosystems have a more or less similar fundamental plan of their gross structure and function, they differ in respect of their species composition and rates of composition. This book encompasses a number of vital ...