There is a dynamic equilibrium between various components of the environment and between geosphere and biosphere. The existence of dynamic equilibrium means that the organisms draw from the environment only the amount of essential materials that can be replaced at a role equal to its withdrawal.
But human activities have resulted in detrimental changes in the earth’s air and water qualities and in the productivity potential of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Many interrelated impacts such as increasing desertification, deforestation increase in global temperature, geological processes including weathering of rocks, impact of mining, changed soil chemistry, due to agriculture practices, biotic events, effluents from factories and affecting the quality of life.
Earth land, aquatic system and atmosphere have provided humans with the goods and ecological sources; we need for our health and survival, food, medicine, clean air and water, healthy soil, pollination of crops. Control of pests, support for our diverse culture and gift of aesthetic beauty.
But because of burgeoning population inappropriate use of our technologies many of these systems are threatened. Human activities are changing the environment at an unprecedented rate.
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The process of environmental degradation accelerated with the socio-economic activities, for example, agriculture, industrialization, transport and civil construction with increasing population the requirement of food grains and other consumer products increased greatly leading to further environmental degradation. The use of increasing amounts of fertilizer to increase the productivity of land contributed to soil, water and air pollution.
Industrial development has come to be regarded as a measure of progress for a country. However, the advent of industrialization has brought in its wake many associated problems.
These problems have led to the contamination of water courses and rivers passing through or nearby all cities which are grossly polluted due to sewage, solid wastes, leaches and industrial wastes. The discharge of all the industrial and domestic sewage in rivers is being done without bothering their deleterious effects on water quality.
Industrial effluents released in the aquatic ecosystem, result in a wide variety of responses in fish leading to cytological and genetic damage. Which in turn can have far reaching effects on the very existence of many species? Although, potentiality of energy available from nuclear power is immense, radioactive wastelands manufacture of toxic chemicals can cause irreparable damage to human and plant life in the form of mutation, malignancy etc.