Dharmanandan - Biodiversity loss,its past and current trends and its impact
Summary
TLDRThis lecture series on Environmental Studies covers topics like biodiversity laws, environmental audits, impact assessments, and risk assessments. It explains the concept of biodiversity and its loss due to human activities like habitat destruction and climate change. The lecture discusses the impacts of biodiversity loss on ecosystems and human life, and introduces tools to assess and mitigate environmental risks posed by projects.
Takeaways
- đż **Biodiversity Defined**: Biodiversity refers to the variability among living organisms, including within species, between species, and of ecosystems.
- đ **Historical Perspective**: Geological records show five major extinction events, but the current rate of biodiversity loss is unprecedented, driven by human activities.
- đïž **Drivers of Biodiversity Loss**: Habitat loss, climate change, overexploitation of natural resources, pollution, and invasive species are the main causes.
- đł **Consequences of Biodiversity Loss**: Loss of species disrupts ecosystems, impacts food webs, nutrient cycling, and can lead to the loss of potential resources and species.
- đž **Economic Impact**: Biodiversity loss affects industries like tourism, fisheries, and agriculture, impacting the economy.
- đ **Environmental Audit**: It's a systematic internal review to ensure environmental responsibility, including complaint evaluation, performance assessment, and risk identification.
- đïž **Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)**: A proactive tool used to predict potential environmental impacts of a project before it begins, including scoping, impact assessment, mitigation measures, and monitoring.
- đ **Environmental Risk Assessment**: A systematic process to estimate the likelihood and severity of adverse environmental effects from a project or activity.
- đ± **Three R's Concept**: Reduce, recycle, and reuse are key concepts in sustainability, aiming to minimize waste and resource consumption.
- đ **Ecomark Scheme**: A scheme to promote sustainable practices and products, encouraging businesses to adopt environmentally friendly measures.
Q & A
What is the definition of biodiversity according to the UNDP?
-According to the UNDP, biodiversity is the variability among living organisms from all sources, including diversity within species, between species, and of ecosystems.
How many major extinction events have occurred throughout Earth's history?
-Geological records reveal five major extinction events throughout Earth's history.
What is the primary driver of the current rate of biodiversity loss?
-The current rate of biodiversity loss is primarily driven by human activities.
What are the main causes of biodiversity loss as mentioned in the script?
-The main causes of biodiversity loss mentioned are habitat loss, climate change, overexploitation of natural resources, pollution, and invasive species.
What is the impact of biodiversity loss on ecosystems?
-Biodiversity loss disrupts ecosystems by altering the delicate balance between them, impacting food webs, nutrient cycling, and natural processes that sustain life on Earth.
How does biodiversity loss affect ecosystem services?
-Biodiversity loss puts at risk the ecosystem services we rely on, such as clean air and water, food security, pollination, and flood control.
What is an environmental audit and what does it assess?
-An environmental audit is a systematic internal review of an organization's environmental practices, policies, and compliance with regulations. It assesses complaints evaluation, performance assessment, and risk identification.
What is the purpose of an environmental impact assessment?
-An environmental impact assessment is a proactive tool used to predict the potential environmental impacts of a proposed project before it begins.
What are the key elements of an environmental impact assessment?
-The key elements of an environmental impact assessment are scoping, impact assessment, mitigation measures, and monitoring and reporting.
What is an environmental risk assessment and what does it involve?
-An environmental risk assessment is a systematic process used to estimate the likelihood and severity of adverse effects on the environment resulting from a particular project, activity, or substances.
What are the steps involved in an environmental risk assessment?
-The steps involved in an environmental risk assessment are hazard identification, exposure assessment, hazard characterization, risk estimation, and risk management.
Outlines
đż Biodiversity Laws & Environmental Assessments
The lecture series on Environmental Studies covers six topics including biodiversity laws, environmental audits, impact assessments, risk assessments, waste management, and sustainability. Biodiversity is defined by the UNDP as the variability among living organisms, including within and between species and ecosystems. Historically, there have been five major extinction events, but the current rate of biodiversity loss is unprecedented, driven by human activities such as habitat loss, climate change, overexploitation of natural resources, pollution, and invasive species. The consequences of biodiversity loss are far-reaching, impacting ecosystem disruption, services, potential resources, and human economies. The lecture then discusses tools for environmental protection and conservation, including environmental audits, which are systematic internal reviews of an organization's environmental practices and compliance with regulations.
đ Environmental Audits & Impact Assessments
Environmental audits serve to evaluate compliance, assess performance, and identify risks within an organization's environmental practices. They help avoid legal issues, optimize resource use, and mitigate potential accidents. Environmental impact assessments (EIAs) are proactive tools used to predict potential environmental impacts of a proposed project. They involve scoping, impact assessment, mitigation measures, and monitoring and reporting. The lecture also covers environmental risk assessments, which estimate the likelihood and severity of adverse environmental effects from a project or activity. This involves hazard identification, exposure assessment, hazard characterization, risk estimation, and risk management. The session concludes with a summary of the topics covered, including biodiversity laws, environmental audits, impact assessments, and risk assessments.
Mindmap
Keywords
đĄBiodiversity
đĄEnvironmental Audit
đĄEnvironmental Impact Assessment (EIA)
đĄEnvironmental Risk Assessment
đĄHabitat Loss
đĄClimate Change
đĄOverexploitation of Natural Resources
đĄPollution
đĄInvasive Species
đĄEcosystem Services
đĄSustainability
Highlights
Introduction to Environmental Studies lecture series with six topics to be covered.
Definition of biodiversity as the variability among living organisms.
Historical perspective on biodiversity loss and five major extinction events.
Current rate of biodiversity loss is unprecedented, primarily driven by human activities.
Habitat loss as a major driver of species loss due to agriculture, urbanization, and infrastructure development.
Climate change disrupts ecosystems and affects species' ability to adapt.
Overexploitation of natural resources depleting plant and animal populations.
Pollution creates toxic environments that harm wildlife and ecological processes.
Invasive species outcompete native species for resources, leading to declines in biodiversity.
Consequences of biodiversity loss include ecosystem disruption and impact on ecosystem services.
Biodiversity loss affects human race with severe economic consequences for industries.
Environmental audits as a systematic internal review of an organization's environmental practices.
Environmental audits help identify areas for improvement and ensure environmental responsibility.
Environmental impact assessment is a proactive tool used to predict potential environmental impacts of a project.
Key elements of an environmental impact assessment include scoping, impact assessment, mitigation measures, and monitoring.
Environmental risk assessment estimates the likelihood and severity of adverse environmental effects.
Steps in environmental risk assessment include hazard identification, exposure assessment, hazard characterization, risk estimation, and risk management.
Summary of the lecture covering biodiversity laws, environmental audit, environmental impact assessment, and environmental risk assessment.
Transcripts
hello everyone welcome to the lecture
series on Environmental Studies as a
part of this series I have six topics to
cover from the syllabus so they are
biodiversity laws past and current
trends and their impact then
environmental and audit and
environmental impact assessment and
environmental risk assessment then
Pollution Control Management and Waste
Management then concept of three are
that is reduce recycle and reuse and
sustainability eeling our uh ecomark
scheme so I believe we might have heard
about these tees if not don't worry we
will discuss them soon and let's uh dive
into the today's topic of biodiversity
laws and environmental audit
environmental impact assessment and
environmental risk assessment so first
we will be discussing about the
biodiversity laws past and current
and their impact before we get into the
details of this topic it's important to
understand what biodiversity means
according to the undp definition of
biodiversity is the variability among
living organism from all sources
including diversity within species
between species and of ecosystem coming
to the historical perspective
biodiversity loss is not a new
phenomenon geological records reveals
five major Extinction events throughout
the Earth's history
however the current rate of biodiversity
loss is unprecedented primarily driven
by human activities and current trends
of biodiversity are caused by various
reasons such as first one is habitat
loss conversion of natural habitats for
agriculture urbanization infrastructure
development is a major driver of species
loss forests are disappearing at
alarming rates and fragmentation of
remaining habitats isolates populations
hindering their long-term viability
next one is an important one that is
climate change Rising Global temperature
changing precipitation patterns and
ocean acidification are disrupting
ecosystems and pushing many species
beyond their ability to adapt next is
about a overe exploitation of Natural
Resources unsustainable fishing the
hunting and resources extraction
practices are depleting populations of
plants and animals at an alarming rate
the next one is uh a man one that is
pollution contamination of air water and
the soil by pollutants like pesticides
Industrial Waste or plastic uh creates
toxic environments that harm Wildlife
andest eological processes the last one
is a uh invasive species the
introduction of non-native species into
a new environment can out out comete uh
Native species for resources leading to
declines in biodiversity
for example Lana Kamar plant it's a
perfect example for that so the
consequences of biodiversity laws are
far reaching and profound and first will
be the ecosystem disruption the losss of
species Alters the delicate balance
between ecosystems and impacting food
webs nutrient cycling and natural
processes that sustain life on earth
eventually it will affect the uh
ecosystem Services we rely on healthy
ecosystems for a variety of services
right including uh clean air and water
and food security then pollination and
flood controlers biodiversity loss puts
at risk these V services so it is like a
chain reaction risk at ecosystem
Services may lead to the loss of
potential resources and undiscovered
species may hold immense potential for
medicine Agriculture and other
applications too with each extension we
lose a potential source of future
benefit at last we will uh it will
affect the human race also biodiversity
laws can have a sever Economic
Consequences impacting uh Industries
like tourism fisheries and agriculture
coming to the context of protection and
conservation of biodiversity there are
various tools uh used to assess the
positive and negative environmental
economic and social impacts of a project
Environmental Protection requires as two
pronged approach understanding our
current environmental footprint and
anticipating the potential impacts of
future projects this lecture we'll
explore the distinct roles of
environmental audits environmental
impact assessments and environmental
risk assessment first we will talk about
the environmental audit and
environmental audit it is a system atic
internal review of an organization
environmental practices policies and
compliance with regulations it's
essentially a self assessment to
identify areas for improvement and
ensure environmental responsibility the
functions of an environmental audits are
the first one is complaints evaluation
the environmental audits verify
adherence to environmental regulations
and permit requirements this helps
organization avoid fines and legal
repercussions the second point is uh
performance assessment the environmental
audit evaluate the effectiveness of uh
existing Environmental Management
practices this helps identify areas
where pollution can be reduced resource
use optimized and waste
minimized so the third point is risk
identification environmental audits can
help identify potential environmental
liabilities and areas where accidents or
spills could occur and this allows for
proactive measures to mitigate risk
coming to the second tool that is
environmental impact assessment and
environmental impact assessment on the
other hand is a proactive tool to used
to predict the potential environmental
impacts of a proposed project before it
begins it's a crucial planning stage
activity that helps decision makers
assess the feasibility and potential
consequences of a project the key
elements of an EA are the first one is
coping in this
stage uh defines the project scope and
identifies the potential environmental
aspect that might be affected the second
one is impact assessment the potential
environmental impacts of a project are
assessed including impacts on air water
soil then biodiversity and socioeconomic
factors the third point is mitigation
measures in which the strategies to
minimize or avoid negative environmental
impacts are developed the public
participation is often encouraged during
this stage and the last point is
monitoring and Reporting this is a plan
for monitoring the Project's
environmental impacts after the
implementation is established the last
tool is about the environmental risk
assessment it's a systematic process
used to estimate the leg likelihood and
severity of adverse effect on the
environment resulting from a particular
project or activity or
substances it's a proactive approach
that allows us to anticipate potential
problems and take steps to mitigate them
before they occur there are different
steps involved in an environmental risk
assessment the first step is Hazard
identification this is a initial stage
involves pinpointing the potential
environmental hazards with the project
or activity in a
question this could include pollutant
released habitat disruption or resource
depletion and the second step is
exposure assessment here we assess the
likelihood of environmental components
like air water then biota coming into
the contact with the identified hazards
factors like migration Pathways and
environmental conditions are considered
in this the thir step is Hazard
characterization this stage focuses on
the potential consequences of exposure
the severity of harm to the ecological
receptors and potential damage to
ecosystems are
evaluated the fourth step is a risk
estimation the likelihood and severity
of potential impacts are combined to
estimate the overall environmental risk
associated with the project or activity
in which the quantitative or qualitative
methods may be employed then the fifth
and the last step is the risk management
based on the risk assessment strategies
are developed to manage or mitigate
identified risk this could involve
implementing Pollution Control measures
habitat restoration plans or adopting
alternative approaches all together
today we have covered the biodiversity
laws environmental audit environmental
impact assessment and environmental risk
assessment so this is all about this
session thank you so much for your kind
attention and have a nice day
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