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Contemporary environment issues and sustainable development

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  1. Introduction
  2. Social issues, environment management and sustainable development 

Introduction

Data on hazardous or inaccessible regions can be gathered using remote sensing. Applications for remote sensing include assessing the effects of climate change on glaciers, the Arctic and Antarctic, and coastal and ocean depths, as well as tracking deforestation in places like the Amazon Basin. During the Cold War, military gathering employed stand-off collecting of information on perilous border areas. Additionally, remote sensing substitutes time-consuming, expensive data collecting on the ground, preventing any disruption of the environment or items. Remote sensing is actually carried out via aircraft, satellites like Landsat, or the ground. To summarize the concept above, remote sensing is the process of viewing the spectral, spatial, and radiometric relationships of observable objects and materials from a distance using equipment that house sensors. The majority of sensing techniques rely on frequency-corresponding photon sampling from the electromagnetic (EM) spectrum.

Nearly all areas of engineering, the natural sciences, and the social sciences now use Geographical Information Systems (GIS), which provide precise, effective, repeatable ways for gathering, visualizing, and analyzing spatial data. The preservation of a hospitable environment for human life depends heavily on forests, which are significant renewable natural resources. Forests offer resources including grazing land for animals, wildlife habitat, water resources, and recreation sites in addition to timber. The use of GPS technology has made it possible to manage agricultural and natural resources effectively. A GPS user may pinpoint very precise locations on the surface of the Earth using both satellites and ground-based radio navigation and locational systems. By receiving the sensor's inputs from electromagnetic radiation or acoustical waves that originate from the targets of interest, remote sensing is the process of acquiring data/information about objects/substances that are not in direct touch with the sensor. A common example of a remotely sensed (by camera and film, or now digital) product is an aerial photograph. Remote sensing can be divided into two basic categories: passive and active.
    1. Passive sensors: Natural radiation that is emitted or reflected by the subject under observation or its surroundings is picked up by passive sensors. The most frequent source of radiation detected by passive sensors is reflected sunlight. The use of radiometers, infrared, and film cameras are a few examples of passive remote sensors.
    2. Active remote sensing: A sensor then detects and measures the radiation that is reflected or backscattered from the target. -Active remote sensing, on the other hand, emits energy to scan objects and spaces. RADAR is an example of active remote sensing where the location, height, speed, and direction of an object are determined by measuring the time delay between emission and return.
    All types of geographically linked information can be collected, managed, analyzed, and displayed using a Geographic Information System (GIS), which combines hardware, software, and data. These data types can also be combined using GIS to produce information derivatives in map or tabular formats and to derive relevant information. Three perspectives exist for a GIS:
      1. The Database View: A GIS is a special type of global database called a geographic database (geo database). "Information System for Geography" is what it is. A GIS's fundamental foundation is an organized database that provides a geographic description of the entire world.
      2. The Map View: A Geographic Information System (GIS) is a collection of intelligent maps and other views that depict features and feature relationships on the surface of the globe. It is possible to create maps of the underlying geographic data and use them as "windows into the database" to facilitate queries, analysis, and editing of the data.
      3. The Model View: A Geographic Information System (GIS) is a collection of information transformation technologies that create new geographic datasets from preexisting ones. These geoprocessing operations read data from pre-existing datasets, run analytical operations on it, and then write the outcomes into fresh derived datasets.
      When and where there is an unhindered line of sight to four or more GPS satellites, the Global Positioning System (GPS) is a space-based global navigation satellite system (GNSS) that provides accurate location and time information in all weather conditions, at all times, and anywhere on or near the Earth. Anyone with a GPS receiver can freely access it because it is maintained by the US government. The U.S. Department of Defense (USDOD) developed and implemented GPS, which initially utilized 24 satellites. To get beyond the restrictions of earlier navigation systems, it was founded in 1973. By accurately timing the signals supplied by GPS satellites located far above the Earth, a GPS receiver determines its location. Each satellite broadcasts messages continuously, including
      • the time the message was transmitted 
      • precise orbital information (the ephemeris) 
      • the general system health and rough orbits of all GPS satellites (the almanac).
      The receiver utilizes the messages it receives to calculate the distance to each satellite and the transit times of each message. Depending on the technique used, these distances and the positions of the satellites are used to determine the position of the receiver, maybe with the help of trilateration. The location is then shown, either with a moving map or latitude and longitude; elevation data may also be shown. Numerous GPS devices provide derived data based on position changes, such as direction and speed.

      Geomatics is another name for geospatial technology. Earthly features or phenomena are visualized, measured, and analysed using the technology. Military, commercial, government, and nonprofit entities all employ geospatial technology. The development of these technologies aids in efficient natural resource management.

      Many applications, including soil, geomorphology, hydrogeology, land use, agriculture, land records, urban, infrastructure development, water resources, watershed management, disaster management, health, education, security, and defense, among others, are aided by these technologies. A instrument or method comparable to mathematics is remote sensing. A scientific activity is the use of sensors to measure the electromagnetic radiation (EMR) leaving an object or geographic region at a distance, followed by the extraction of useful information from the data using mathematical and statistically based algorithms. It works well with other spatial data-collection methods or instruments used in the mapping sciences, such as geographic information systems and cartography. With regard to mapping land use and cover, agriculture, soil mapping, forestry, city planning, archaeological research, military observation, and geomorphological surveying, as well as land cover changes, deforestation, vegetation dynamics, water quality dynamics, urban expansion, etc., remote sensing imagery has a wide range of applications. Applications for geographic information systems make it possible to store, handle, and analyze enormous amounts of spatially distributed data. These facts are connected to their unique geographic characteristics. For instance, information about the quality of the water would be associated with a point-based sample site. A map's polygonal representation of fields or experimental plots may correspond to crop yield data. Different data kinds that are located in the same geographic area can be managed by a GIS. For instance, in an experimental plot, various plant kinds may have varied abundances of a biological control agent and its prey. A GIS's strength resides in its capacity to examine connections between features and the data that goes with them.

      Social issues, environment management and sustainable development

      Particularly over the last two centuries, humans have made quite great economic development in developing luxury goods and lifestyle materials. The environment has suffered greatly as a result of this progress. The well-being and future of humanity are now in danger due to the ever-increasing exploitation of natural resources and environmental destruction. Can we maintain industrial and economic progress without depleting or deteriorating our natural resources? is one of the questions environmentalists and even the average person throughout the world are looking for answers to. Can land be cleared indefinitely for farming and human habitation? Can land used for agriculture be regularly depleted to create homes, towns, factories, and retail centers? Can intensive farming be done all year long? Can fossil fuels possibly be produced indefinitely? How long will our natural resources survive if they are exploited and consumed at their current rate? The "idea of sustainable development" will be explained in the response to these queries. We will study the idea of sustainable development in this lesson.

      You are already accustomed to the word environment. You are also conscious of the absence of geographic boundaries in the environment. Any environmental harm done in one location has an impact on nearby and even far-off locations. These results can manifest instantly or gradually. Rising expectations and an increase in the level of living have accompanied the rapid growth of the human population. There is a need for more food, more housing, more transportation, more energy, and more of everything. The ecology has deteriorated due to deforestation, biodiversity loss, energy and water shortages, increased mining activity, and other factors related to the growing human population's desire for resources. To protect and enhance the environment, it is critical to recognize and solve key challenges. The course will cover a number of significant national environmental challenges, including energy, quick depletion of natural resources, water scarcity, land and forest management, and many more. You will learn about many environmental challenges and issues around the world in this section, as well as potential solutions.

      Several treaties, conventions, and protocols have been established over the previous few decades to further the cause of global environmental preservation. The thinning of the ozone layer, global warming, and biodiversity loss are a few examples of environmental problems that are important on a worldwide scale. The Bruntland Commission published its report, Our Common Future, in 1987 in an effort to make connections between the problems of environmental stability and economic growth. The Brundtland Report, published by the UN in 1987, contained what is now one of the most well-known definitions of sustainable development: "Sustainable Development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs" (from the Brundtland Commission's report, "Our Common Future").

      Economic growth is essential for human prosperity, but it shouldn't come at the expense of the environment. The carrying capacity of a system is the greatest load or pressure it can handle before failing. Maximum human activity that the environment can withstand is known as the environment's carrying capacity. Sustainable development is defined as "development that satisfies current demands while also addressing those of future generations." Agriculture, industrialization, and other human activities have an impact on the biosphere's sustainability. Environmental deterioration frequently occurs in tandem with human actions intended to improve quality of life. There is a lot of strain on the earth and its ecosystem because of the population's rapid growth as well as man's need for and need for material pleasures. Poverty is the most damaging impact of population. The environment and human health are seriously threatened by poverty. Making sure that resources are distributed in an equitable, fair, and just manner is one way to end poverty. Anything that helps humans fulfill their needs and desires is a resource. Resources that don't specifically belong to anyone become common property. For reasons such as better health care, affluence, education, and an overall higher standard of living, people move from rural areas to urban ones. However, urbanization itself causes significant environmental harm, including the loss of sensitive habitats like river flood plains and coastal wetlands. Deforestation, desertification, and biodiversity loss also contribute to air, soil, and water pollution, which results in water scarcity and higher energy use. We must all work to preserve and enhance our fragile environment. We all inherited the same global environment. We're all at blame for it deteriorating further. A certain amount of deterioration must occur before it becomes unsafe to live there. Some of the major environmental issues facing the world today include pollution, the ozone hole, the greenhouse effect, desertification, extinction of species, oil spills, nuclear disasters, and hazardous waste management. These issues require our immediate collective attention. Increased human activity, urbanization, and industrialization are causes of the environment's rapid decline. The life support system has been negatively impacted by this. Growing plants in a glass enclosure known as a "green house" traps heat and solar radiation to keep the plants warm. Glass allows infrared rays to flow through, but the heat that results cannot leave the glass chamber. The measures for coping with the greenhouse effect include improving fuel efficiency in automobiles, developing and implementing solar energy and non-fossil fuel alternatives, stopping future deforestation, supporting and engaging in tree planting (afforestation), and reducing air pollution. Biodiversity is a region's flora and animals. It is seen as a natural resource belonging to nature. Three categories of biodiversity—species biodiversity, genetic biodiversity, and ecological biodiversity—can be distinguished. The loss of biodiversity is caused by factors such as habitat loss, pollution, misuse, the introduction of foreign species, and the involvement of other environmental degradation factors. Desertification is the reduction or loss of the land's biological capacity, which eventually results in desert. The main causes of desertification include overgrazing, overcultivation, deforestation, and salting due to irrigation. Aquatic and terrestrial life are also impacted by acid precipitation. Additionally, it harms structures and monuments. We must all work together on a personal, home, and local level. To preserve a clean and sustainable environment at the national and international levels.

      Reference

      1. Antenucci J.C., Brown K., Croswell P.L., and Kevany M.J. (1991). Geographic Information Systems: A Guide to Technology, 301 pp. New York: Chapman and Hall. [This book provides a background of GIS development, tracing its roots to cartography.] 
      2. Asian Development Bank (ADB). 2005. Climate Proofing: A Risk-Based Approach to Adaptation. Manila. 
      3. Birnie, Patricia W., and Alan E. Boyle, 1992. International Law and the Environment. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992. 
      4. Bojo, J., K.G. Maler and L. Unemo (1992) Environment and Development: An Economic Approach, Kluwer, Dordrecht/Boston/London. 
      5. Bourgeois, L. J. Ill. (1980). Strategy and environment: A conceptual integration. Academy of Management Review, 5, 25– 39. 
      6. Campbell, J.B. (1987) Introduction to Remote Sensing. The Guilford Press, New York. 
      7. Curran, P.J. 1985. Principles of Remote Sensing. Longman Group Limited, London.
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