Environment and Economic Development
NCERT Class 11 • Indian Economic Development • Chapter "Environment and Sustainable Development"
Environment and Economic Development
The environment is the total of all surroundings, living and non living, that support life. Economics treats it as a resource base, and the central insight is that the environment can supply resources and absorb waste only up to a limit called its carrying capacity.
Functions of the Environment
- It supplies resources, both renewable such as forest and fish, and non renewable such as coal and minerals.
- It assimilates waste, absorbing and breaking down what human activity discards.
- It sustains life by providing the atmosphere, water cycle and biodiversity on which living beings depend.
- It provides aesthetic services such as scenery, recreation and cultural value.
- The environment performs these functions without cost only while demand stays within its carrying capacity.
- Carrying capacity means that resource extraction stays within regeneration and waste generation stays within absorption.
- Once demand crosses that limit, the environment stops being a free good and becomes a scarce resource with real cost.
Environmental Problems
- Resource depletion is visible in falling groundwater levels, shrinking forest cover and exhausted mineral deposits.
- Air pollution from vehicles, industry and burning of fuel affects health, especially in cities.
- Water pollution from sewage, industrial effluent and fertiliser runoff damages rivers and groundwater.
- Land degradation comes from erosion, salinity, waterlogging and the dumping of solid waste.
- Global warming is the rise in average temperature caused by greenhouse gases, leading to sea level rise and extreme weather.
- Ozone depletion allows more harmful ultraviolet radiation to reach the earth's surface.
- Deforestation and loss of biodiversity reduce the environment's ability to perform its functions at all.
| Function | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Supply of resources | Provides inputs for production | Coal, forest, water |
| Waste absorption | Takes in and breaks down waste | Rivers, soil, air |
| Life support | Sustains living beings | Atmosphere, water cycle |
| Aesthetic service | Scenery and recreation | Hills, rivers, forests |
Carrying capacity — the level at which resource extraction stays within regeneration and waste generation stays within absorption.
Hindi me samjhein
वहन क्षमता का अर्थ है कि संसाधन उतना ही निकाला जाए जितना प्रकृति फिर बना सके, और कचरा उतना ही बने जितना वह सोख सके। इस सीमा के पार पर्यावरण निःशुल्क वस्तु नहीं रहता।
Exam me kaise aata hai
- Extraction within regeneration is the idea of — carrying capacity
- Rise in average temperature due to greenhouse gases is — global warming
- Coal and minerals are — non renewable resources
- Absorbing and breaking down waste is which function — waste assimilation
UPSC/State PSC ke liye
- The environment becomes an economic problem exactly when demand crosses carrying capacity, since only then does it become scarce and carry an opportunity cost.
- Pollution is a classic negative externality, because the polluter does not pay the cost that society bears.
Yahan confuse hote hain
✗ The environment is always a free good | It is free only while demand stays within carrying capacity | ✓
✗ Global warming and ozone depletion are the same | Warming comes from greenhouse gases; ozone depletion from ozone destroying chemicals | ✓
✗ Only industry causes pollution | Farming, transport and households contribute as well | ✓
Ek nazar me
- Environment supplies resources, absorbs waste, sustains life and gives aesthetic value.
- Carrying capacity is the limit of all four functions.
- Depletion, air and water pollution and land degradation are the main problems.
- Global warming and ozone depletion are the global level concerns.