01 Relevance of Environmental Management course in Management curriculum.
Environmental management is the management of interaction by the modern
human societies with, and impact upon the environment. The three main issues that affect
managers are those involving politics (networking), programs (projects), and resources
(money, facilities, etc.). The need for environmental management can be viewed from a
variety of perspectives. A more common philosophy and impetus behind environmental
management is the concept of carrying capacity which refers to the maximum number of
organisms a particular resource can sustain. Environmental management is therefore not
the conservation of the environment solely for the environment's sake, but rather the
conservation of the environment for humankind's sake.
Environmental management involves the management of all components of the
bio-physical environment, both living (biotic) and non-living (abiotic). This is due to the
interconnected and network of relationships amongst all living species and their habitats.
The environment also involves the relationships of the human environment, such as the
social, cultural and economic environment with the bio-physical environment.
As with all management functions, effective management tools, standards and
systems are required. An 'environmental management standard or system or protocol
attempts to reduce environmental impact as measured by some objective criteria. The
ISO 14001 standard is the most widely used standard for environmental risk management
and is closely aligned to the European Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS). As
a common auditing standard, the ISO 19011 standard explains how to combine this with
quality management.
Other strategies exist that rely on making simple distinctions rather than building
top-down management "systems" using performance audits and full cost accounting. For
instance, Ecological Intelligent Design divides products into consumables, service
products or durables and unsaleables - toxic products that no one should buy, or in many
cases, do not realize they are buying. By eliminating the unsaleables from the
comprehensive outcome of any purchase, better environmental management is achieved
without "systems".
Recent successful cases have put forward the notion of "Integrated Management".
It shares a wider approach and stresses out the importance of interdisciplinary
assessment. It is an interesting notion that might not be adaptable to all cases.
"Today's businesses must comply with many Federal, State and local
environmental laws, rules, and regulations. It's vital to safeguard your company against
compliance short-cuts. This approach leaves you vulnerable to violations of the law, in
addition to missing important environmental liabilities."
02 Why do managers need to study Environmental Management?
Environmental management issues now feature prominently on national and
international political agendas. Global climate change, sea-level rise, and pollution are
threatening the equilibrium of the planet. Against the backdrop of these environmental
concerns, there is increasing demand around the world for highly skilled managers of the
environment. Those who have studied environmental management can help to meet the
demand. Managers with a good idea on environmental management find that job
opportunities are expanding in public and private sector agencies and companies for
specialist staff to help devise strategies to meet ambitious sustainability targets set by
governments across the world. Not only is the employment opportunities excellent for
such people, there could hardly be a more important field for a career than environmental
management.
While the competencies acquired as a result of studying for an MBA degree in are
undoubtedly valuable, many employers seek recruits with specialised training. Employers
look for expertise and experience in subjects such as environmental law, economics and
policy formulation, environmental assessment techniques, environmental management
approaches and strategies (including, for example, coastal management, land restoration,
marine environment management, or forest management). The facility to use
geographical information systems (GIS), and to analyse data sets – perhaps acquired by
remote sensing - is also deemed essential.
Such studies, undertaken within the crucial context of a deep understanding of
sustainability issues, global environmental change, and international environmental
politics, provide the kind of challenging and advanced education needed by those who are
required to make critical environmental management judgements that fundamentally
affect the lives of us all.
03 Why Copenhagen summit acquired so much importance?
The 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference, commonly known as the
Copenhagen Summit, was held at the Bella Center in Copenhagen, Denmark, between 7
December and 18 December. The conference included the 15th Conference of the Parties
(COP 15) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the 5th
Meeting of the Parties (COP/MOP 5) to the Kyoto Protocol. According to the Bali Road
Map, a framework for climate change mitigation beyond 2012 was to be agreed there.
The conference was preceded by the Climate Change: Global Risks, Challenges
and Decisions scientific conference, which took place in March 2009 and was also held at
the Bella Center. The negotiations began to take a new format when in May 2009 UN
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon attended the World Business Summit on Climate
Change in Copenhagen, organised by the Copenhagen Climate Council (COC), where he
requested that COC councillors attend New York's Climate Week at the Summit on
Climate Change on 22 September and engage with heads of government on the topic of
the climate problem.
The Copenhagen Accord was drafted by the US, China, India, Brazil and South Africa on
December 18, and judged a "meaningful agreement" by the United States government. It
was "recognised", but not "agreed upon", in a debate of all the participating countries the
next day, and it was not passed unanimously. The document recognised that climate
change is one of the greatest challenges of the present and that actions should be taken to
keep any temperature increases to below 2°C. The document is not legally binding and
does not contain any legally binding commitments for reducing CO2 emissions. Leaders
of industrialised countries, including Barack Obama and Gordon Brown, were pleased
with this agreement but many leaders of other countries and non-governmental
organisations were opposed to it.
Although developing countries are still not satisfied by the outcome of the summit, there
is now the prospect of limiting the negative effects on the climate. Moreover, huge sums
will be released, in addition to the money spent on development cooperation, to reduce
damage from climate change (such as starvation due to drought which is now visible in
Africa, or destruction of houses due to flooding).
New opportunities
The US, the European Union, India and China take the issue of climate change very
seriously and Chinese Premier Wen is willing to take concrete steps in years to come,
even though CO2 emissions per capita in China are low in comparison to the US and
Europe.
Despite the absence of a new formal UN treaty, Copenhagen summit is a turning point in
history, now that the international community has decided to make a real transition to
sustainable energy and to an economy that produces less carbon dioxide. This decision
provides new opportunities for industries which are already strong in sustainable energy,
including production of solar cells, wind and hydropower.
Similarly, countries can produce more energy by converting the sun's rays into electrical
power, for example in southern Europe or North Africa. Africa can become a producer of
electricity from solar energy and sustainable use of biomass (for example plant remains
or cow manure) for biogas production.
More insightful
This revolution will not happen without a fight and will involve a substantial financial
commitment. This commitment can be made manageable by reducing the cost of energy
for fossil fuels and because sustainable energy will be increasingly cheaper in the future.
Countries will be able to achieve economies of scale and will have to be more discerning,
for example in the use of solar energy. The old energy facilities will be replaced by new
technologies. It will be necessary to adjust energy prices and activities that require high
levels of energy, for example by limiting air traffic to a bare minimum. Countries should
make use of biofuels in planes or compensate for CO2 emissions in a sustainable way,
such as reforestation.
Obviously it was not possible in Copenhagen to reach a treaty that regulates the climate
problem directly and definitely. In the coming years, climate policy will really start to
take shape. However, what has come out of the summit is clear: an increasing number of
countries around the world are aware that we must address the problem of global
warming and are willing to contribute to that in a major way. With new technologies,
better control over population growth and modifying our lifestyles, change is definitely
possible.
15 Role of inversion in the stagnation of pollution in a locality.
An inversion is a deviation from the normal change of an atmospheric property
with altitude. It almost always refers to a temperature inversion, i.e., an increase in
temperature with height, or to the layer (inversion layer) within which such an increase
occurs.
An inversion can lead to pollution such as smog being trapped close to the
ground, with possible adverse effects on health. An inversion can also suppress
convection by acting as a "cap". If this cap is broken for any of several reasons,
convection of any moisture present can then erupt into violent thunderstorms.
Temperature inversion can notoriously result in freezing rain in cold climates.
Usually, within the lower atmosphere (the troposphere) the air near the surface of
the Earth is warmer than the air above it, largely because the atmosphere is heated from
below as solar radiation warms the Earth's surface, which in turn then warms the layer of
the atmosphere directly above it e.g. by thermals (convective heat transfer). Under certain
conditions, the normal vertical temperature gradient is inverted such that the air is colder
near the surface of the Earth. This can occur when, for example, a warmer, less dense air
mass moves over a cooler, denser air mass. This type of inversion occurs in the vicinity
of warm fronts, and also in areas of oceanic. With sufficient humidity in the cooler layer,
fog is typically present below the inversion cap. An inversion is also produced whenever
radiation from the surface of the earth exceeds the amount of radiation received from the
sun, which commonly occurs at night, or during the winter when the angle of the sun is
very low in the sky. This effect is virtually confined to land regions as the ocean retains
heat far longer. In the polar regions during winter, inversions are nearly always present
over land.
A warmer air mass moving over a cooler one can "shut off" any convection which
may be present in the cooler air mass. This is known as a capping inversion. However, if
this cap is broken, either by extreme convection overcoming the cap, or by the lifting
effect of a front or a mountain range, the sudden release of bottled-up convective energy
— like the bursting of a balloon — can result in severe thunderstorms. Such capping
inversions typically precede the development of tornadoes in the midwestern United
States. In this instance, the "cooler" layer is actually quite warm, but is still denser and
usually cooler than the lower part of the inversion layer capping it.
With the ceasing of convection, which is normally present in the atmosphere, a
number of phenomena are associated with a temperature inversion. The air becomes
stiller, hence the air becomes murky because dust and pollutants are no longer lifted from
the surface.
This can become a problem in cities where many pollutants exist. Inversion
effects occur frequently in big cities such as Mumbai, India; Los Angeles, California;
Mexico City ; Sao Paulo, Brazil; Santiago, Chile; and Tehran, Iran, but also in smaller
cities like Oslo, Norway, Salt Lake City, Utah, and Boise, Idaho, which are closely
surrounded by hills and mountains that together with the inversion effect bottle-caps the
air in the city. During a severe inversion, trapped air pollutants form a brownish haze that
can cause respiratory problems. The Great Smog, one of the most serious examples of
such an inversion, occurred in London in 1952 and was blamed for thousands of deaths.
Sometimes the inversion layer is higher so that the cumulus clouds can condense
but then they spread out under the inversion layer. This cuts out sunlight to the ground
and prevents new thermals from forming. A period of cloudiness is followed by sunny
weather as the clouds disperse. This cycle can occur more than once in a day.
The index of refraction of air decreases as the air temperature increases, a side
effect of hotter air being less dense. Normally this results in distant objects being
shortened vertically, an effect that is easy to see at sunset (where the sun is "squished"
into an oval). In an inversion the normal pattern is reversed, and distant objects are
instead stretched out or appear to be above the horizon. This leads to the interesting
optical effects of Fata Morgana or mirage.
Similarly, very-high frequency (VHF - 30 to 300 MHz) radio waves (being part of
the electromagnetic spectrum, like light) can be refracted by such inversions. This is why
it is possible to sometimes hear FM radio (or watch VHF-LO band TV) broadcasts from
otherwise impossible distances as far as a few hundred miles distant on foggy nights. The
signal, still powerful enough to be received even at hundreds or rarely, thousands, of
miles, would normally be refracted up and away from the ground-based antenna, is
instead refracted down towards the earth by the temperature-inversion boundary layer.
This phenomenon is called tropospheric ducting. It is also referred to as skip by small
radio operators and Ham operators. Along coast lines during Autumn and Spring many
FM radio stations are plagued by severe signal degradation causing them to sound like
"scrambled eggs".
Inversions can magnify the so called "green flash": a phenomenon occurring at
sunrise/sunset, usually visible for a few seconds, in which the sun's green light is isolated
due to dispersion - the shorter wavelength is refracted most, so it is the first/last light
from the upper rim of the solar disc to be seen.
In addition, when an inversion layer is present (for example early in the morning
when ground-level air temperatures are cool, and high-level air temperatures are
warmer), if a sound or explosion occurs at ground level, the sound wave can get totally
reflected from the warmer upper layer (in which the sound travel faster, i.e. the air has
lower acoustic refractive index, so the sound can undergo total internal reflection) and
return back to ground level; the sound is therefore heard much further than normal. The
shock wave from an explosion can be reflected by an inversion layer in much the same
way as it bounces off the ground in an air-burst and can cause additional damage as a
result. This phenomenon killed three people in the RDS-37 nuclear test.
In an inversion, vertical motion in the atmosphere is suppressed because the
atmosphere is stable. Hence vertical heat transport by eddies is suppressed; this reduced
(downwards) heat transport leads to further cooling of the lower surface. This can lead to
an effective decoupling of the atmosphere from the surface in extreme conditions, such as
may be found in Antarctica during the polar night, where inversions greater than 25 °C
commonly occur.When it happens the sky is a reddish color.
10. Greenhouse gases and its importance in Global warming
Global warming is the observed and projected increases in the average temperature
of Earth's atmosphere and oceans. The Earth's average temperature rose about 0.6°
Celsius (1.1° Fahrenheit) in the 20th century. Global surface temperature increased 0.74 ±
0.18 °C (1.33 ± 0.32 °F) between the start and the end of the 20th century. most of the
observed temperature increase since the middle of the 20th century was caused by
increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases resulting from human activity such as
fossil fuel burning and deforestation. warming is expected to continue beyond 2100 even
if emissions stop, because of the large heat capacity of the oceans and the long lifetime of
carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
Green House Gases
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Greenhouse gases are gases in an atmosphere that absorb and emit radiation
within the thermal infrared range. This process is the fundamental cause of the
greenhouse effect. The main greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere are water
vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone. .Greenhouse gases
greatly affect the temperature of the Earth; without them, Earth's surface would be
on average about 33 °C (59 °F) colder than at present. water vapor, which
contributes 36–72%
carbon dioxide, which contributes 9–26%
methane, which contributes 4–9%
ozone, which contributes 3–7%
other greenhouse gases include sulfur hexafluoride, hydro fluorocarbons and
perfluorocarbons . Some greenhouse gases are not often listed. For example, nitrogen
trifluoride has a high global warming potential (GWP) but is only present in very small
quantities. increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are causing
an unprecedented rise in global temperatures, with potentially harmful consequences for
the environment and human health.
The main sources of greenhouse gases due to human activity are:
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burning of fossil fuels and deforestation leading to higher carbon dioxide
concentrations. Land use change (mainly deforestation in the tropics) account for
up to one third of total anthropogenic CO2 emissions.
livestock enteric fermentation and manure management,paddy rice farming, land
use and wetland changes, pipeline losses, and covered vented landfill emissions
leading to higher methane atmospheric concentrations. Many of the newer style
fully vented septic systems that enhance and target the fermentation process also
are sources of atmospheric methane.
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use of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in refrigeration systems, and use of CFCs and
halons in fire suppression systems and manufacturing processes.
agricultural activities, including the use of fertilizers, that lead to higher nitrous
oxide (N2O) concentrations.
Water vapor accounts for the largest percentage of the greenhouse effect, between
36% and 66% for water vapor alone, and between 66% and 85% when factoring in
clouds. However, the warming due to the greenhouse effect of cloud cover is, at least
in part, mitigated by the change in the earth's albedo. According to NASA, "The
overall effect of all clouds together is that the Earth's surface is cooler than it would
be if the atmosphere had no clouds." Water vapor concentrations fluctuate regionally,
but human activity does not significantly affect water vapor concentrations except at
local scales, such as near irrigated fields. air can hold more water vapor per unit
volume when it warms. This and other basic principles indicate that warming
associated with increased concentrations of the other greenhouse gases also will
increase the concentration of water vapor.
Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere behave much like the glass panes in a
greenhouse. Sunlight enters the Earth's atmosphere, passing through the blanket of
greenhouse gases. As it reaches the Earth's surface, land, water, and biosphere absorb
the sunlight’s energy. Once absorbed, this energy is sent back into the atmosphere.
Some of the energy passes back into space, but much of it remains trapped in the
atmosphere by the greenhouse gases, causing our world to heat up.
Higher temperature is injurious and danger for all living organisms.
11. Glacial melting and its relevance to climate change
Glaciers now melting as global warming sets in may explain the mysterious increase in
persistent organic pollutants in sediment from certain lakes since the 1990s, despite
decreased use of those compounds in pesticides, electric equipment, paints and other
products.
When glaciers melt they set free chemicals which have been locked for decades in the
"eternal ice." Researchers have analyzed sediment layers in the Oberaarsee and have
been able to reconstruct the processes by which long-lived organic compounds have
accumulated in the ice over the last sixty years. A study just published in the journal
Environmental Science and Technology describes how shrinking glaciers have, for about
ten years now, become a secondary source of pollutants which have long been banned
and are no longer produced in industrial quantities.
When glaciers shrink due to the effects of global warming, the retreating tongues
sometimes reveal things which have been buried in the ice mass for decades or even
centuries. This includes chemical substances which have been banned for years and
which really ought to be kept under lock and key anyway, such as those known as POPs
-- short for persistent organic pollutants. These are organic environmental pollutants
which take a long time to decompose and include for example chemicals used as
plasticizers (softeners) in various synthetic materials, pesticides and also dioxins.
Many of these POPs are endocrine disrupters and carcinogenic, and are suspected of
interfering with human and animal development. In addition they are extraordinarily
long-lived, and can be transported great distances through the atmosphere. POPs can
therefore be found all over the world, even in glaciers in environments high in the Alps,
where ecosystems are extremely sensitivity.
12. Vertical thermal structure of atmosphere and its
relevance to atmospheric processes
The atmosphere has been divided into layers according to the behaviour of temperatures
in their relationship to altitude.
1. The lowest layer is the troposphere, the layer in which we live and in which our
weather is experienced. It extends up roughly 10 km (oh, about 6 miles-ish).It is
characterized by an inverse relationship between air temperatures and altitude.
Temperatures drop as you climb up the troposphere. In still air, it cools by an average of
6.5° C for every kilometre (1,000 meters) gain in elevation.
2. The tropopause is the top of the troposphere: The troposphere stops here.It is situated
about 10 km up.It's more like 8 km (5 mi.) over the polar regions in winter (cold air tends
to settle downward) and 18 km (11 mi.)over the equatorial regions, due to greater
convection there (heating caused by the direct rays of the sun).In the mid-latitudes, it's
lower in winter and higher in summer,for the same sorts of reasons. At the tropopause,
temperatures stop dropping with gains in altitude.
3. The stratosphere is the next major division.It extends from the tropopause up to about
50 km.It is characterized by a direct relationship between temperatures and altitude:
Temperatures climb as you climb. This warming with altitude has to do with the presence
of the ozone layer in the stratosphere. Remember the ozone. Ozone absorbs high energy,
shortwave, ultraviolet radiation from the sun. Absorption of energy heats the absorbing
object, and so it is here: Ozone heats up by absorbing UV radiation, and that accounts for
the climb in temperatures with a climb in altitude here in the stratosphere.
4.The mesosphere is the layer above the stratotosphere. It extends up from the stratopause
to about 80 km.It is characterized by resumption of an inverse relationship between
temperature and altitude: Temperatures go back to dropping as you climb.
5. The thermosphere is the last thermally defined layer of the atmosphere.It is
characterized by a direct relationship between temperature and altitude.
The thermosphere can be further subdivided on the basis of physico- chemistry.
(A). The lower thermosphere is called the ionosphere.The ionosphere extends from
roughly 80 km (50 mi.) to somewhere around 300 to 600 km out (~185 - 375 mi.).It is the
first line of defense for Earth against extremely short wave radiation (e.g., UV-B and
UV-C) and, to a lesser extent, high energy particles from the sun and cosmic "rays."
(B). The exosphere is the second, outer layer of the thermosphere. The exosphere lies
beyond about 500-1,000 km and is characterized by increasing hydrogen and helium
content,because the oxygen and nitrogen that dominate the lower atmosphere have been
dissociated into ions in the ionosphere.