Meaning

The term Environment has been derived from a Greek term ‘Environ’ which is in turn derived from the French term ‘Environner’ which means to encircle or to surround.

Definition

According to Section 2(a) of Environment Protection Act, 1986

Environment includes water, air and land and the inter-relationship which exists among and between water, air and land and human beings, other living creatures, plants, micro-organism and property.

According to Encyclopedia Britannica

The term environment includes the entire range of external influences acting on an organism

In the case of T.N.Godaverman V. Union of India Supreme Court observed that defining environment is difficult. There is no one exhaustive definition uniformly used as the term environment is polycentric & multifaceted

Components of environment

The natural environment can be classified into two divisions:

1) The Physical environment which includes non living things such as land, air and water. Physical environment can be further classified into 3 basic states of physical matter: solid, liquid and gas. Physical environment thus creates three physical spheres which are lithosphere(lithos = rock), hydrosphere(hydro = water) and atmosphere (atoms = vapour)

2) The Biological Environment which includes the plants, animals, and other-living organisms. The biological environment is known as biosphere(bios = life).Among all other planets Earth is unique in having a life-bearing layer which is popularly called the Biosphere. The biosphere has a variety of organisms, which are broadly divided into plants, animals and Microbes. These organisms exist in the zones of contact between the atmosphere, hydrosphere and the lithosphere.

In the case of K.M. Chinnappa v. Union of India the term environmental law is defined as a tool or instrument to protect and improve the environment and secondly it is an instrument to control or prevent any act or omission which is polluting the environment or likely to pollute the environment.

Ecology

The term ecology is composed of two words eco + logia the term eco is derived from the Greek word oikos which means home & logia is a Latin word which means study of thus ecology means study of home.

Ecology is the study of how organisms interact with each other and their physical environment. The term ecology was coined by Henry David but was first defined by Ernest Haeckel.

Ecosystem

The plants animals and other organisms together with the physical environment with which they interact constitute the ecological system or ecosystem.

The ecosystem consists of both living/biotic and non-living/abiotic components. The non-living components of the ecosystem consist of chemical substances found in the soil, water & atmosphere. These chemicals may be inorganic like water, oxygen, carbon-di-oxide etc. or organic like carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, proteins etc.

The biotic components are broadly divided into 2 major groups ─ the producers and the consumers. The producers are organisms, which produce their own food from the physical environment. These are called autotrophic organisms. Green plants as primary producers produce organic matter through photosynthesis. All other organisms are called consumers or heterotrophic organisms, as they depend on other organisms for their food. The consumers are divided into 3 types

1) Primary consumer: An organism that feeds only on plants is called a herbivore or primary consumer.

2) Secondary consumer: A consumer that feeds on animal only is called a carnivore or secondary consumer.

3) Tertiary consumer: A consumer that feeds on both plants and animals is called an omnivore or tertiary consumer.

A fourth group of consumers feed on dead on decomposed tissues of plants and animals, they are called decomposers.

Types of Ecosystem

There are two major types of ecosystems. They are aquatic & terrestrial. Aquatic ecosystem can be further classified as fresh water, estuarine & marine ecosystems. Terrestrial ecosystem can be further classified based on climatic conditions. The concentration of dissolved oxygen and the penetration of sunlight in the water and availability of various life supporting nutrients are a contributing factor for the existence of aquatic organisms. Terrestrial ecosystems are of great concern for the human beings because they live on the land and all their needs for food and other materials are provided by the terrestrial ecosystems.

Environmental Pollution

EP is defined in Section 2(c) of Environment Protection Act, 1986 as presence of environmental pollutants in the environment.

The term environmental pollutants is defined in Section 2(b) of Environment Protection Act, 1986 as any solid, liquid or gaseous substances present in such concentration as may be or tend to be injurious to environment.

Causes of EP

Classified into 2 types

1) Natural Causes: Drought, Flood, Cyclone, Earthquake, Hurricane, Molten Lava of Volcano etc. are the main natural factors which cause environmental pollution. Since they are agents of nature and man has no control over them, they are known as natural causes.

2) Manmade Causes: There are four main manmade causes:i) Population Growthii) Povertyiii) Urbanisationiv) Industrialisation

Types of EP

There are 2 kinds of pollution i.e. natural & manmade.

Natural Pollution: Sometimes nature also contributes to environmental degradation and pollution. Some may be mentioned as natural calamities like ─ earthquake, flood, draught, cyclone, volcanic eruption, epidemic, fires in forests, etc.

Manmade Pollution: Any pollution in which human activity is involved and which was not naturally there is manmade pollution. It may be categorised as:

a) Air pollution.b) Water pollution. c) Land pollution.d) Noise pollution.e) Radiation & Radioactive pollution.

Nature & Scope of Environmental Law