India

= ** - India-   ** = (By Jack and Eliza)

=== Define what a Wiki is:  A Wiki is a web page that allows you to add, remove and edit pages. It can be accessed by any one and can be edited only by members of that page. You can also make your Wiki privet or public. Some of the key features ===  ·  Multimedia plugins: Embed video & audio with a few clicks  ·  Tags, RSS, and full page revisions  ·  Student accountability: See who changed what, and automatically reverse any changes One of the best features I think a Wiki has is it is easily access from home so work can be completed by the due date.


=== 1. Determine the population of the country you have selected and any other facts/stats on your country that you deem relevant (geographic location, climate etc). A picture of the country’s flag should also be provided. === ===  India is a country located in South Asia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the south, the Arabian Sea on the west and the Bay of Bengal on the east. India has a coast line of 7,517 kilometres. It borders Pakistan, China, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Burma. It is the seventh largest country in the world by geographical area with an area of 1,269,346 square miles. It is the second highest populated country in the world with 1,147,995,904 people. In 2005 27.5% of the population was living below the poverty line. It has the world's twelfth largest economy at market exchange rates and the fourth largest in purchasing power. Economic reforms have transformed it into the second fastest growing large economy; however, it still suffers from high levels of poverty, illiteracy, and malnutrition. The capital city is New Delhi however Mumbai is the largest city by population. India is a federal republic of twenty-eight states and seven Union Territories. India's climate is strongly influenced by the Himalayas and the Thar Desert; both drive the monsoons in India. The Himalayas prevent cold Central Asian winds from blowing in, keeping the bulk of the Indian subcontinent warmer than most locations at similar latitudes. Southwest summer monsoon between June and October, provide the majority of India's rainfall. Four major climatic groupings predominate in India: tropical wet, tropical dry, subtropical humid, and montane. Its natural resources include arable land, bauxite, chromite, coal, diamonds, iron ore, limestone, manganese, mica, natural gas, petroleum, and titanium ore. While crude oil, machineries, fertilizers, and chemicals are major imports. Major industries include automobiles, cement, chemicals, consumer electronics, food processing, machinery, mining, petroleum, pharmaceuticals, steel, transportation equipment, and textiles. Along with India’s fast economic growth comes its growing demand for energy. India is the sixth largest consumer of oil and third largest consumer of coal. Almost 70% of Indians reside in rural areas, although in recent decades migration to larger cities has led to a dramatic increase in the country's urban population. India's largest cities are Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad. === =  = = 2. What is the overall environmental health status of your country? Identify a major landmark/area within your country that is experiencing environmental issues. = = India has many environmental issues. The major environmental issues are air pollution from factories and cars. Water pollution from sewage and poisons that run off farms and into water supplies. The lack of tap water and a huge growing population is straining natural resources. = =    = =   3. Discuss the human impacts that may lead to the environmental damage highlighted above. = = Indian's have cars which run on fossil fuels and factories which admit greenhouse gases into the air causing extensive air pollution. The water pollution is from bad sewage management and poisons from farms. Human impacts include growing population, burning of fossil fuels and using large amounts of water. = =    = =   4. What strategies are the government bodies or other groups within your country implementing to combat the environmental issues? = = =  The strategies of government bodies and other groups with in India are implementing in relation to saving the environment include… v  Emphasis on energy conservation. v  Promotion of renewable energy sources. v  Abatement of air pollution. v  Stop forestation and wasteland development. v  Economic reforms, subsidy removal and joint ventures in capital goods. v  Fuel substitution policies. There is a big emphasis in India in stopping coal been used primarily as an energy source and instead using gas, oil, renewable or nuclear power.

=  5. Are the strategies being implemented above going to make a significant difference? How/why? Is there another way they could combat the issue? What is your opinion? = = = =<span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">The strategies above are great for India’s environment but these changes need to be on a bigger scale to make a significant difference. They will help the environment by saving energy, using renewable energy sources, getting rid of air pollution, stopping forestation and using a new kind of fuel. = =<span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> I believe it is unrealistic for India to think that they can lower emissions and save their environment with such an increasing population. More people equals more energy and more carbon emissions is it possible to lower emissions with more people in your country? I don’t think so. India is over populated and they need to control this population boom like China and only allow every woman one child. They need to stop burning coal as quick as they can and invest in renewable energy even if it is expensive. They also need to be thinking about the seas rising with such an extensive coast line. If the coastline rose by one metre 7million people would have to be evacuated. India isn’t a highly developed country so it would be hard to make such large scale environmental changes = =<span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> = <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> =  6. Looking at the effects of climate change on a global scale, will your country be affected by a rise in sea levels? Discuss how the Antarctic melting may lead to dire effects on the land and broader population. = = Global warming and climate change is all ready effecting India. Scientist have conducted a 10-year study in and around the Bay of Bengal in India. There shocking results concluded that the sea is rising at 3.14 mm a year against a global average of 2 mm. This creates a large threat to low-lying areas in India and Bangladesh. The site below shows the rise in sea level. http://flood.firetree.net/ = =  = = <span style="COLOR: #ec5009; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">  = = <span style="COLOR: #ec5009; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">7. What is your country doing in regards to sustainable energy sources? = =  = =  India isn't doing a lot in regards to energy. However renewable energy is been developed to reduce greenhouse edmissions. Renewable energy Renewable energy isn’t commonly used in India. 51% of India’s power comes from coal, 34% from petroleum, natural gas 6.5%, 6.3% hydro electricity, nuclear 1.7% and other renewable sources such as wind, solar and geothermal account for only .2%. India is consistently burning fossil fuels contributing to their huge carbon emissions. Only 6.5 percent of India’s energy is renewable with the other 93.5 percent non renewable. Natural gas is growing in importance with its production in energy. Hydro electricity is a decreasing energy source with it making up 11.5% of India’s energy in 1980 and now only 6.3%. India is the only country that has a separate government ministry exclusively for non-conventual’s energy sources, and India has one of the largest national programs to promote the use of solar energy. The majority of developed countries have turned to solar energy mainly out of concern about the environment and energy security. Solar power in India will used to provide energy to regions where there is a shortage of electricity. Wind generated energy is also an important component of India’s strategy to boost the use of renewable energy. India is rich in wind energy potential and the country has been adding installed wind power capacity at an impressive rate. These wind and solar projects are small scale projects however the government is looking to large scale hydroelectric plants to meets its future energy needs. India has an estimated 150000MW of hydropower potential. = =      = =   8. Has your country signed on the Kyoto protocol? = = India has signed the Kyoto Protocol back in August, 2002. = =  = =<span style="FONT-SIZE: 90%; COLOR: #ed7b31; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">References: = =<span style="FONT-SIZE: 90%; COLOR: #ed7b31; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">http://flood.firetree.net/ = =<span style="FONT-SIZE: 90%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India = http://www.earthscape.org/p1/ES2_6242/6242.pdf http://www.indiatogether.org/environment/