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Industrialization and Environment

The most severe impact is left on environment by the process of industrialization. Environment has been defined as the aggregate of all the external conditions and influences affecting organism. Every animal or plant species is the product of a lengthy process of evolution that makes the organism uniquely adapted to the environment that supports it. The environmental costs of industrialization are mind boggling. The huge quantities of pollutants solids, liquids and gaseous which are being let out in the air, water, land are investing the relationships between man and the nature with new complexities. Some of the statistics pertaining to environmental scenario are quite revealing. At present nearly 70% of the available water is polluted. Over 73 million days are lost annually due to water related diseases. About half a hectare of land is consumed every second. Life support systems inbuilt in the eco-system are being strained almost to the point of new return.

The drive for economic development has resulted in ecological harm. Extraction of minerals can be destructive as streams and rivers were diverted so that miners can pan the riverbeds for minerals. Fish and other resources are destroyed and erosion increase gently. Energy production can create other kinds of damage as well. Oil spills destroy marine life. Power plants burning coal and gas produce pollution along with electricity. A number of hazards are posed by nuclear power. Nuclear power plants raise the temperature of nearby rivers. Concern about the dangers of nuclear energy has focused public attention on the general problem of radiation as they are harmful to human beings.

Radiation can also alter the structure of genes in the human bodies. Exhaustion of natural resources is another problem faced by the industrialized societies. We are using up natural resources at an uneven pace. US alone consume a third of the world's energy more than 60% of the natural gas, more than 40% of the aluminium and coal,1/3 of the Petroleum,copper,quarter of gold,iron,lead,silver and zinc.

• Important Terms
  • Urban concentration
  • Urban decentralization
  • Urban Succession
  • Metropolis
  • Urban ecological processes
  • Gravity model
  • Region
  • Rank size rule
  • Urban renewal