Environmental Hazards and Crisis Management for Sustainable Development

The economic benefits of higher public health outlays have been overlooked. Growth alone does not improve health outcomes. India aspires to make full use of its demographic advantage, with 31 percent of its population under the age of 15. However, a key worry is the poor health status of its population. The Industrial revolution in the 19th century saw the large scale use of fossil fuels for industrial activities. These industries created jobs and over the years, people moved from rural to the cities, the trend which is continuing even today. Natural resources are being used extensively for construction, industries, transport and consumption. All this has contributed to rise in green house gases in the atmosphere thus leading to climate change, a major problem caused by the increase of human activities leading to several direct and indirect impacts on health. The atmosphere and ocean have warmed, the amounts of snow and ice are on diminishing trend, sea level has risen and the concentrations of greenhouse gases (GHGs) have increased causing detrimental effect on the distribution of precipitation. All this happened with the intervention of human activities either for survival or for the attainment of luxurious comfort. The GHGs are responsible for the depletion of stratospheric ozone resulting in higher exposure to ultra violet rays of the sun, leading to an increase in the incidents of skin cancer, spread of disease spreading insects and increase in air pollution problems. A number of toxic metals are present in the environment like Lead, Mercury cadmium etc. whose poisoning is a matter of serious concern. Thus, major environmental issues are forest and agricultural degradation of land, resource depletion (water, mineral, forest, sand, rocks etc.), environmental degradation, public health, loss of biodiversity, loss of resilience in ecosystems and livelihood security for the poor. The ever increasing population and increasing pressure on food production to meet the current demand require high agricultural productivity, concurrent with adequate protection of crops from damage by insects and pests. The use of pesticides is therefore necessary and inevitable which enter the body through intake of grains, vegetables, fruits, edible oils, dairy products and meat. Their continuous use has resulted in wide spread contamination of food commodities. The crisis caused by the impact of human activities on nature calls for governance which includes responses by international institutions, governments and citizens, who should meet this by pooling the experience and knowledge of each of the agents and institutions concerned. Global, continental, national and local governments have employed a variety of approaches to environmental governance. The fields of crisis management and sustainable development have maintained separate research paths. However, these fields are closely linked. Crisis events can deplete resources needed by future generations, ultimately hindering efforts at sustainable development. Thus only the path of sustainable development can lead us to the bright future by meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.