You are here
Our fuels, forests cleared and fertilisers overused are straining the very cycles that keep the Earth balanced — but local action and global cooperation can still turn things around.
- Excess atmospheric CO₂ increases ocean absorption, making sea water more acidic and threatening plankton and coral reefs; warmer water also absorbs CO₂ less well.
- Burning fossil fuels and deforestation saturate natural carbon sinks (forests and oceans), and the excess CO₂ intensifies greenhouse warming, disrupting the carbon cycle.
- India still generates much electricity from fossil fuels but is rapidly expanding solar and renewable energy.
- Overuse of fertilisers adds excess nitrogen (nitrates) to rivers and lakes, causing algal blooms that deplete oxygen and kill fish — a process called eutrophication (Fig. 13.17).
- Deforestation reduces photosynthesis and transpiration (lowering local rainfall), alters surface albedo and increases soil erosion.
- Over time habitats are destroyed, leading to a decline in biodiversity as species lose their homes.
NCERT Question 8 — What are the impacts of
… photosynthesis stopped, what would happen on the Earth? Oxygen would stop being replenished, plants (the base of food chains) would die, CO₂ would build up, and almost all life — including us — would eventually perish.
- A combination of local actions and global cooperation can restore the Earth’s systems — the Montreal Protocol has begun healing the ozone layer.
- Conserving energy, switching to renewable sources (solar, wind), planting trees, saving water and sustainable farming all help restore balance.
- Individuals can contribute by reducing, reusing and recycling and by saving water, food and energy.
Mission LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment), an India-led global initiative launched at the 2021 UN Climate Change Conference, encourages mindful, eco-friendly lifestyles. Building on India’s traditional view of the Earth as an interconnected system, it highlights how simple habits — saving energy and conserving resources — can build a sustainable future.
6. Human activities like burning fossil fuels, deforestation and overuse of fertilisers increase greenhouse gases. As an individual you can reduce emissions by saving energy, using public transport, planting trees and reducing, reusing and recycling.
- Eutrophication — excess nutrients causing algal blooms that deplete oxygen and kill aquatic life.
- Carbon sink — a reservoir such as a forest or ocean that absorbs more carbon than it releases.
- Global warming — the rise in the Earth’s average temperature due to excess greenhouse gases.
- Deforestation — the large-scale clearing of forests, reducing photosynthesis and habitats.
- Renewable energy — energy from sources like the Sun and wind that are not depleted.
- Montreal Protocol — the global agreement that reduced CFCs and is helping the ozone layer recover.
