UNDP Strategic Plans & Human Environment

1. UNDP Strategic Plan 2018-2021 (Key Highlights)

2. UNDP Strategic Plan 2022-2025 (Key Highlights)

3. Human and Environment Interaction

The term 'human-environment interaction' describes how humans influence and are, in turn, influenced by their surrounding ecosystems. Humans can, for example, affect their environment by clearing trees from a forest to make farmland. We depend on the environment for food, air, and water.

Five Themes of Geography

1. Location
2. Place
3. Human environment interaction
4. Movement
5. Region

A human-environment interaction can be defined as the interaction between humans and their surroundings. Intricate adaptive systems exist within the human social system and the environment. There are many elements and correlations between environmental units and human social systems. An adaptive approach supports survival in continuously changing environments due to feedback systems.

The 3 Types of Human Environmental Interaction

4. Environment

The natural environment or world encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally, not artificial. The term is often applied to the Earth or some parts of Earth. In this context, the environment refers to the interaction between all living species, the climate, the weather, and the natural resources that affect human survival and economic activity.

• Complete ecological units function as natural systems without massive civilized human intervention, including all vegetation, microorganisms, soil, rocks, atmosphere, and natural phenomena within their boundaries and nature.
• The presence of universal physical phenomena and natural resources without clear boundaries. These, such as air, water, climate, energy, radiation, electric charge, and magnetism, do not originate from civilized human actions.

The massive environmental changes of humanity in the Anthropocene have fundamentally affected all natural environments: Climate Change, Biodiversity loss and pollution from plastic and other chemicals in the air and water.

5. Components of Environment

Several components make up the natural environment:

Lithosphere

• Earth's outermost layer, called the crust.
• Composed of various minerals.
• Extends up to 100 kilometers deep.
• Exists as continental and oceanic crust.
• Continental crust is thicker, made of granite.
• Oceanic crust is thinner, made of basalt.
• The main component of the lithosphere is Earth's tectonic plates.

Hydrosphere

• It consists of all forms of water bodies on Earth (oceans, seas, rivers, lakes, ponds, streams etc).
• The hydrosphere covers 70% of the Earth's surface.
• The oceans contain 97.5% of the water on Earth.
• There is 2.5 percent freshwater on Earth.
  • 30.8% as groundwater.
  • 68.9% is in frozen forms, as in glaciers.
  • 0.3% is available in rivers, reservoirs and lakes and is easily accessible to man.

Atmosphere

• It is a gaseous layer of the Earth.
• The atmosphere with oxygen on Earth sustains life.
• It mainly comprises:
  • 78.08% nitrogen
  • 20.95% oxygen
  • 0.93% argon
  • 0.038% carbon dioxide and traces of hydrogen, helium, and noble gases.
• There is a variation in the amount of water vapour present.

Biosphere

• Biosphere: Regions on Earth where life exists
• Ecosystems: Soil, air, water, and land support life
• Term coined by Edward Suess
• Includes all living matter (biomass/biota)
• Life exists from polar ice caps to the equator

6. Layers of the Atmosphere

7. Biodiversity

• Biodiversity: Diversity of life on Earth
• Measured at genetic, species, and ecosystem levels
• Defined as total genes, species, and ecosystems
• Unifies traditional biological diversity types:
  • Taxonomic Diversity: Measured at the species level
  • Ecological Diversity: Viewed as ecosystem diversity
  • Morphological Diversity: Arises from genetic & molecular diversity
  • Functional Diversity: Measures species' functional differences
• Tropical forests: Cover <10% of Earth, host >90% species
• Marine biodiversity: Highest along Western Pacific coasts
• Species diversity: Shows latitudinal gradients

8. Biodiversity Hotspots

• Biodiversity hotspot: Region with high biodiversity
• Threatened by destruction and deforestation
• Essential for ecosystem balance
• Biodiversity clusters in hotspots
• Increasing but may slow due to deforestation
• There are four major biodiversity hotspots in India:
  • The Himalayas
  • Indo-Burma Region
  • The Western Ghats
  • Sundaland
• It encompasses the evolutionary, ecological, and cultural processes that sustain life.

9. Holocene Extinction

• Biodiversity & genetic diversity are declining
• Holocene extinction: Sixth mass extinction
• Main cause: Human impact & habitat destruction
• Biodiversity loss affects human health
• Few adverse effects are well studied

10. Ecosystems

• Ecosystem: Includes biotic & abiotic factors
• Comprises plants, animals, microorganisms
• Defined by relationships among organisms
• Influenced by environment & physical factors
• Exists in various geographical areas
• Supports biodiversity & ecological balance
• Some Natural Ecosystems are:
  • Grassland Ecosystems
  • Tropical Rainforest Ecosystems
  • Temperate Forest Ecosystems
  • Taiga Ecosystems
  • Desert Ecosystems
  • Tundra Ecosystems
  • Freshwater Ecosystems
  • Marine Ecosystems
  • Hydrothermal Vents
  • Coral Reefs

11. Food Chain

• Food Chain: Linear link of organisms in a food web
• Producers: Use photosynthesis (e.g., grass, trees)
• Apex Predator: Top consumer (e.g., grizzly bear, killer whale)
• Detritivores: Decomposers (e.g., earthworms, fungi, bacteria)
• Illustrates feeding relationships among organisms
• Includes different trophic levels
• Food Chain vs. Food Web: Chain is linear; web is interconnected
• The food chain only follows a direct, linear pathway of one animal at a time.
  • Food chain starts with a producer
  • Primary consumer eats the producer
  • Secondary consumer eats the primary consumer
  • Tertiary consumer may eat the secondary consumer
  • Quaternary consumers are top predators

12. Anthropogenic Activities

Anthropogenic effects refer to environmental changes caused by human activities. With rapid economic development and an ever-growing population, significant stress is being placed on natural resources, infrastructure, and ecological balance. Industrial pollution, deforestation, soil erosion, urbanization, and land degradation have become critical concerns, exacerbating environmental degradation.

Various anthropogenic activities have led to notable environmental changes, including alterations in temperature regimes, radioactive contamination, toxic effluent discharge, nutrient inflows, and depletion of aquatic life. Additionally, excessive water consumption, habitat destruction, commercial exploitation of species, and large-scale construction projects, such as drilling rigs, have further intensified ecological damage.

For UGC NET aspirants, understanding anthropogenic effects is essential as it aligns with topics related to environmental sustainability, climate change, and ecological studies. Analyzing these human-induced changes provides insights into their long-term impact on regional and global ecosystems, a subject of increasing academic and policy relevance.

13. Human Impact on the Environment

• Anthropogenic impact: Human effect on the environment
• Alters ecosystems, biodiversity, and natural resources
• Global warming and biodiversity loss threaten survival
• Environmental modification has severe consequences, including:
  • Global warming
  • Environmental degradation (such as ocean acidification)
  • Mass extinction
  • Biodiversity loss: The ecological crisis and ecological collapse.
• The following are some examples of human activities that negatively affect the environment on a global scale, either directly or indirectly:
  • Population growth
  • Overconsumption
  • Overexploitation
  • Pollution
  • Deforestation

14. Climate Change or Global Warming

• Climate change: Includes global warming & weather shifts
• Caused by greenhouse gas emissions (CO₂, methane)
• Main source: Burning fossil fuels for energy
• Other sources: Agriculture, industry, deforestation
• Greenhouse gases trap heat near Earth's surface
• Infrared radiation absorbed, causing global warming

15. Environmental Degradation

Degradation of the environment is caused by the depletion of natural resources, such as air, water, and soil quality. It may include:

• The destruction of ecosystems
• The habitat destruction
• The extinction of wildlife
• The pollution

It is defined as any undesirable or harmful change to the environment. Environmental concerns can be defined as the harmful effects of any human activity on the environment. Some primary environmental challenges causing great concern are:

• Air pollution
• Water pollution
• Natural environment pollution
• Rubbish pollution

16. Mass Extinction

• Extinction event: Also called mass extinction or biotic crisis
• Biodiversity is rapidly declining worldwide
• Multicellular organisms show reduced diversity & abundance
• Happens when extinction rate surpasses speciation rate
• Past 540 million years saw 5 to 20 mass extinctions
• Differences arise from defining "major" extinctions

17. Deforestation

• Deforestation: Clearing forests for non-forest use
• Converted into farms, ranches, or urban areas
• Tropical rainforests are most affected
• Forests cover 31% of Earth's land today
• One-third lower than pre-agriculture levels
• Half of forest loss in the last century
• 15-18 million hectares lost yearly (Bangladesh size)
• 2,400 trees cut down every minute