L-22 Society and Environment

8/3/2019 L-22 Society and Environment

1/10

SOCIETY AND ENVIRONMENT

..nvirom nent can be described as the natural w orld o f land, w ater, a ir, p lants andn im als th at ex ist aro un d u s. It fo rm s th e b asis o f o ur ex isten ce an d d ev elo pm en t.

d ic ti on a ry meaning o f th e word ' environment ' is 'sw ro un din g'-th e ex tern aln ditio ns in flu en cin g d ev elo pm e nt o r growth o f p e op le . animals orplants; livingr w orking conditions etc. Inthe beginn ing, the environm ent of early m an had

of on ly physical aspects of the planet earth (land air, w ater) and bio tico nu nu nities (p lan ts an d an im als in clu din g m an and h is f unct ions , o rgan i za ti onsnd institu tion s) but with the m arch of tim e and advancem ent of society , m anxtended h is environm ent thro ugh his social, econom ic and political functions.v iro nm e nt, th ere fo re , r efe rs to th e sum to tal o f c on ditio ns , w h ic h s urro un d mant a given point o f tim e.th is lesso n, w e are g oin g to learn ab ou t o ur en viro nm en t E nv iro nm en t, o nce th eu s o f o nly geographical study, had b e e n neglected and pushed to th e background.has r ec en tly r eg ain ed its position . A s of today, E nvironm ental issues are nog er co nfin ed to g eo grap hy a nd allied d iscip lin es b ut h av e also d r awn the a t tent ion

f th e common man.

reading this les so n, y ou w ill b e a ble to :explain th e mea nin g o f e nv iro nm e nt;explain the rela tio nsh ip b etw ee n m a n an d h is en viro nm en t;exp lain bio-sphere and socio-sphere; andexp lain theetT ects of environm en t on hum an society .

MODULE-IIIoc;aJa.~ng~Soc;tll;zationd~ocial Control

Notes


2/10

MODIJLE-IllSOC/I ll Change , Sodali% l lt ion

and SOcitU Contro 22.1 MEANING OF ENVIRONMENTE nvironm ent is v iew ed in d ifferen t w ays and angles by differen t groups of peoplea nd d isc ip lin es . It m a y be s af el y a rg u ed that en viro nm en t is an in se pa ra ble wh ole

~~--... and is constitu ted by the in teracting system s of physical, b io log ica l and cu ltu ra lNotes e lem en ts w h ic h ar e i n te r -l inked ind i vi dua ll y as well a s c olle ctive ly in m an y w ay s,P hys ic a l e lemen ts ( sp a ce , l an d fo rm , water bodies. c lim at e, s oi ls , r ock s an d minera1s )determ ine the variab le character of the hum an habita t, its opportun ities as w ell asits lim ita tio ns . B io lo gic al e lem en ts (plants, an im als, m icro-organ ism s and m an)constitu te the b iosphere; cu ltu ra l e lem ents (econom ic, socia l and political) aree sse ntia lly m an -m ad e fe atu re s, w hic h g o in to th e mak in g o f c ultu ra l m ilie u.

T he te rm 'e nv iro nm e nt' o rig in ate s from th e F re nc h word ' environ 'o r 'e nv iro nn er' m ean in g 'aro un d', 'ro un d-ab ou t', 'to surround'o r 'to encompass' .

22.2 TYPES OF ENVIRON~'1ENTThe envir onmen t is bo th physical and b io lo g ic a l c o nc ept, it in clu de s b oth th e n on -living ( ab io tic ) a nd living (b iotic) c om po nen ts o f th e p la ne t e ar th : Thus based onb asic stru ctu re , th e e nv iro nm en t ca n be div ided in to tw o basic types i .e.1) Physica l o r ab io tic env ironm ent and2) B io lo gic al o r b io tic e nv iro nm en tB a se d o n p hy sic al c ha ra cte ris tic s and state . ab io tic o r p hy sic al e nv iro nm en t is su bd iv id ed in to three b ro ad c a te g or ie s-(i) L ith osp he re (so lid earth)(n ) H ydrosphere (w ater com ponent) and(m ) Atmosphere(gas).T he bio tic com ponents of the environm ent consis t o f p lan ts (F lora) and an im als(F~) in clu din g m an a s a n im po rtan t co mp on en t and mi cr o o rg ani sm s ,

22.3 I{ELATIONSHIP BET\VEEN lVIAN ANDENVIRONMENT

The study of rela tionsh ip betw een m an and environm ent has always attractedatten tion . The rela tionsh ip of m an and enviornm ent has also influenced the


3/10

MODULE-mo cw l C h a ng e, S tlc ill /ir .a t/o nand Social Controlevelopm ent ofhum an society . It m ay be noted that, of all the organ ism s, m an is

m ost sk ille d and c iv iliz ed a nd th ere fo re , it i s s ign i fi cant to no te th e f ollow in gree aspects o f m a n.:Physical man isa c omp on en t o f th e b io lo gic al community and as su ch , req uire s ..... """"= "~ __basic e lem ents of physical env ironm ent such as air, w ater, foo d an d ha bitat Notese tc, lik e o th er b io lo gical po pu latio n an d rele ase w aste s int he eco -sy st em .S oc ia l m an e sta blish es th e so cia l in stitu tio ns, fo rm s th e so cia l o rg an iz atio nsand form ulates law s and policies to safeguard his existence, interests andwelfare.E co no mic m an d erive s and u ti li ze s r eso u rc e f rom th e p hy sic al a nd b io lo gic alenvironment with h is s kill s a n d te chno lo g ie s,c ha ng in g re la tio nsh ip o f m an w ith th e e nv iro nm en t from p re -h isto ric to m od emc a n be divided into th e fo llow in g fo ur pe riod s: -

) Hunting and food ga the ri ng .A n im a l d om e stic atio n a nd p as to ra lism .'

) Plant domest icat ion and agriculture.) S cie nc e, te ch no lo gy a nd in du stria liz atio n.) Period of hunting and food gatheringp er io d is r ela te d to the m ost prim itive m an w hen he had b e en b a sic a ll y a part

f natural env ironm ent and was functionally as a 'b io log ica l man' o r 'physi ca l' b ec au se h is b asic re qu ireme nts were lim ite d to f oo d and s he lte r. T h e natural

nvironm ent satisfied aU his wants. The re lationsh ip betw een m an and thenvironm ent w as very friend ly . M an was leading a nom adic life. Then a stage

when he learnt to hunt animals. The d is co ve ry o f'f ir e', w h ic h was accidental ,ugh t m an to cook animal f le sh b efo re e atin g. So we can say tha t th e d isc ov ery o fand subsequen tly, inven tion of too ls and w eapons m ade m an capable of

natura l resou rces for h isb ene fit, S om e w ou ld also con clud e b y S ay in g"fire was th e f irst ma jo r e co lo gic al to ol u s e d by man to c ha ng e th e e nv iro nm en tr h is o wn b ene fit.b ) Period o f A nim a] D om estica tion and P asto ra lismth th e passage of tim e. p rim itiv e m an leamt to domesticate a n i m a l s fo r his benefits.the beg inn ing , he m ight have dom esticated som e m ilch !cattle and an im als forea t and slow ly his herd of dom esticated an im als m ust have increased.

of an ima ls migh t have g iv en bir th to group or community l if e among


4/10

MODULE-mSocitil' Change, Socialization

and Social Control

~-'., 'Y i: . , Socit,t) .md OUt, Fm ironment

early people in order to pro tect their flock and them selves from wild animals.T h ey s till stuck to nom ad ic w ay o f life, as they had to m ove f rom one p lace too th er in search o f w ater, f o od f o r themse lve s and fo dd er fo r an im als.(c) Period of Plant Domestication and Agriculture

l--~-:---'"N e tes Dom estica tion of plants fo efo od b ec am e a ha llm ark inth e deve lopmen to fhumanskills o f tam ing and contio llingtbe bio tic com ponent of t h e n a tu r a l enviromnents ys tem . Domes tic atio n of p la nt s initiated p r im i t iv e t yp e of agricul ture and sedentarysettled life of p eople w ho we r e nom ads. C ultivatio n of food crop s resulted inth efo rm ation of social g rou ps and org anizations. N ow m an started settling down inthe river valley s due to availability of w ater and fertile land which cam e to beknow n as 'river-valley civilization '. F rom here onw ards started the journey ofman to transfonn the natural environmentalresotm:eS around him t h rough improvedfa rm i ng p ra cti ce s re su lt in g ingradua l increase inhum an population . This led toc1earing of forests to have a c c e s s more agr i cu l tu ra l land. W ith the passage o f tim e ,m an deve loped b is owncu lt uI a1 e nvi romnent by buildinghoosesaod creatingtowns and c it ie s , cons tr uct ing roads an d bridges.(d) Period of Science, Technology aD~ IndustrializationThe a dva ncement of in du st ri al r evo lu ti on in la te n in e te en th c en tmy an d emergenceo f scien ce an d d ev elo pm en t o f so ph isticated tech no lo gy , em bittered th e friendlyrelationsh ip betw een m an and h is natura l environ ment. T he impact o f m od emtechn olog y on n atural en vironm ent is highly c omp le x a nd c on tro v ers ia l. Highlya dva nce d t ec hno log ie s and sc ien ti fi c t echn ique s le d to indisa imina te exploitationof n atural environm ent w hich have created m ost o f th e p r e s en t da y environmentalproblemsFrom th e days of early p rim itiv e m a n till t oday , man i la s vener atmna1 tn 'e ind i ff erm tforms(trees. plants , animals , r iv e rs , moun ta in s etc).Nature worsh ip commandsgreat sancti ty inmost of th e oommunit ies. There are communi t ies , which have to tal ._reverence towards namre- 'B is hn oi' from R aja sth an inIndia isone such group. Inth e In d ia n t ra di tio n , nature and man fo nn a n in se pa ra ble part of th e lire suppor tsystem . T he five elem ents,i.e . air, wa te r, la nd . flo ra a nd fa un a a re in ter-re la te dand inter-dependent.

Fill inth e b la nk s w ith a pp ro pria te words frombrackets:(i) T he w ord environm ent is derived f r o m word . [Latin, English,

French]


5/10

n) E nvironm en t can be d iv id ed in to type [2 4 6 7]__ s.",) Physical environment contain . [B io ti c, a b io ti c, both thecomponents]

MODULE-IIIoeml Change, Socialization.and Socitd Control

Biological components conta ins . [B io tic , ab io tic , both the --~N=-o-te-s-components]v) T he changing re la tionsh ip betw een m an and environm ent has been div idedin__phases. [6, 8,4, 5]

22.4 BIOSPHERE Al\D SOCIOSPHERE.4.1 The Biosphere

is a l if e- su ppor ti ng l ay e r,sunounds the earth and mak e s

an d anima1life possible withoutp ro te ct iv e d ev ic e. It c on sis ts o fthe liv ing o rg an ism s (the b io tic

om ponent), energy (energym ponen t) and physica lv iro nm e nt (a bio tic c om p on en t).e re are continuou s in teraction stw een liv ing organ ism s andI ys ic a le n vi ro nment an d a ls o amonge living organisms themselves. The

th ic kn ess o f th e b io sp he relife-supporting layerconsists o f a ir , The Biosphere of earthter, so il and rock is about 30 Ian .he uppe r l ir ni to ft he b io sph e re is determined b y th e availability o f o xyg en, mo i st ur e,p era tu re , an d air p re ssu re w ith in cre ase inheigh t in t he a tmo sph er e l imits th eb ou nda ry o f th e b io sp he re . T he lo we r lim its o f th e b io sp he re a re d ete nn in ed

the a va ila bility o f required amount o f o xygen an d l ight, which can sustain Iife,us, the dep th of the biosphere over the land is un to the depth o f the deepesto ts of the t r e es or the dep th unto w hich can live the bu rrow ing o rg an ism s or the

at w hich lie th e parent bedrocks. T he b io sp he re e xten ds u nto g rea ter d ep thth e oceans.

~ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ~ ~ ~ ~T he e xis te nc e o flife has been d etec ted unto a depth of9000 m inthe deep ocean ic trench es and deep-sea p lains.


6/10

22.4.2 Socio-SphereM an is a socia l an im al w ith the inbuilt ins tin c t to be with h is group . S ince m an ism ost co mm unica tiv e, h is beh av io ura l co ncerns re la te to h is fe llo w b eing s. T husm a n's a ttitu de s to life a nd v alu e sy stem are shaped by the size and quality of the

' r - - . . .. ., .N ~ o - t - e. . .- . . group to w h ich he belongs. -G roups o f people liv ing together on a certa in territo ry form a com mun ity . Itcompr ises a com position of species , a charac teristic food netw ork and energyflow pathway. Commun i t i e s thus fon n th e liv ing com po nentsofliv ing com pon ents _of eco -system . O ver the tim e, spec ies in each com mun ity carve out a specia lp lace fo r th em selves . C omm un ity is no t stab le bu t dy nam ic , chan gin g reg ularlyov er tim e and sp ace .A com m un ity has its ow n com position , s truc ture , and developm en ta l h is to ry .E nv iro nm e nt a nd s oc ie ty are c lo se ly re la ted a nd in ter-d ep en de nt. D iffe re nt so cia lg ro up s a nd s oc ia l structures l ik e indus t ri a l, agricultural, po l it ic a l, cu ltu ra l , r e li g iou sand aesthetic etc. h av e e v olv e d a nd d ev e lo p ed d u rin g va rio u s stages o f d evelopm ento fhwnan c iv il iz a ti on and t he se s oc ia l s t ruc tu res r ep re sen t man ' s a ccumula te d culturalresources primarily b a s e d on na tuml environment. Env i ronmen t h a s b e en c h an gi ngover a period o ftim e due to -(i) Variations inc lima ti c a n d phy si og r ap h ic factors, and(ii) The a ctiv itie s o f th e s pe cie s o f th e c ommu n itie s th em s elv es .T hese in fluences b ring abou t a marked change in th e d om in an ce o f th e e xis tin g.com munity . H um an behaviour has been know n by its charac teris tics ., soc ia lo rg an iz atio ns, so cial p ro ce sse s, e co nom y a nd c ultu re d ep en d u po n g eo gra ph ic ale nv iro nm e nt. D en sity a nd d is trib utio n o f popu la ti on , soci al d if fe r en ti at ion , culturalv aria tio ns , c ha ra cte r o f e co nom ic , p olitic al. s oc ia l, re lig io us o rg an iz atio ns a nd a ll.so cia l p he no m en a co ntrib ute in th e making o f th e so cio s ph ere .

MODULE-IIISocilll Change, Socialization

and Social ConlTo

Ticktrue (T) or false (F)1. B io sp here is a li fe -s up p or ti ng la y er , wh ic h s ur ro un d s the earth. (TIP) ,2. The average th ickness o f the b io sphere is abou t 50km . (T /F )3. Biosphere co ns ists o fte nito rial a nd a qu atic b io m es sy ste m. (TIF)4. Group' o f people liv ing together on a certa in territo ry form a com m unity .

(TIF)5. E nvironm ent is stab le and dynam ic . (TIF)


7/10

E ffects of environm ent on hum an society has been em erging as a m ajor challengefo r q uite som etim e. D ev elo pm en t was f or l ong a ss oc ia te d with unde r e xp lo it at io n __ .. .. ", ." ... .. _~Noteso f n atu ral reso urces. It w as little realised th at o bsessio n w ith u nder ex plo itatio nma y r es ult ino ver-e xp lo itatio n. W e seeme d to h av e b eliev ed that na tu ral r esou rc esa re in e xha us ti ble . Env ir onment al process in clu de s th os e p hy sic al p ro ce ss es , wh ic hoperate on the surface of the earth bo th in ternally and externally . T hough m anb eg an to in te rfe re with th e n atu ra l p ro cess es rig ht from th e b eg in nin g o f s ed en ta rylife, it a ssum ed g rea te r in p ro po rtio n a fte r th e in du strial rev olu tio n.The impac t of m odem technology on environm ent is varied and highly com plexas th e tran sfo rm atio n o r m o dific atio n o f o ur n atu ral c on ditio n and p ro ce ss le ad s toa series o f ch ang es inthe b iotic an d ab io tic com po nen ts of n atu ral en viro nm entprocess.W e have seen that m a n . equipped with modem t ec bno log ie se n -' - :d v anc ed s ci en ti ficknow ledge, has become an important factor in changing t he e nv ir onmenta lp rocesses. It has to be realized that disturbances in one ofthe elem ents of nature(ie . air, w ater, lan d, flo ra an d faun a) g iv es rise toan im balan ce in o th ers. N atu ralprocesses or hum an factors som e tim es aggravate natural environm ental processto cau se d isaster fo r h um an so ciety lik e( earth qu ak es, vo lcanic erup tio ns, flo od s,c yc lon es e tc ). They result in h ea vy lo ss o flife and prope rty. Env ironmen ta llma rdsfo r h um an h ealth areas fo llo ws:(i) A ir p ollu tio n ca uses resp ira to ry d isea ses .(n ) Wa ter p ollu tio n c au se s e nteric d is eas es.(iii) Solid w aste po llu tio n cau ses v ecto r-bo rn e d iseases.(iv) Toxic waste c au se s c an ce r a nd n eu ro lo gic al d iso rd ers.

22.5 EFFECTS OF ENVIRONl\IENT ON HUI\lANSOCIETY

Water Pollution causes environment hazards and entric diseases

SOCIOLOGY

MODULE -IIIodal Change, Socia/izal;olland Social Control

Me


8/10

MODULE-IIIa l C hange , Soc ia li za t io n

and Social Contra

Notes . INTEXT QllESTIO~S 22.3

T he re fo re .e du ca tio n m us t a ro use awareness about the effec ts o f e nv iro rim ent, a sc le a n envi ro nmen t isp re cio us fo r hwnan society,

T ic k tru e (T) o r f al se (F).1. M an ha s never i nt er fe r ed with enviromnent . (flf)2. Effects of environm ent on society a re a lw a ys p os itiv e. (rtF)3. E xtrem e events are no t d isastrous for human society. ([IF)4. Education mus t be broad based to create aw areness

Abou t env i ronmenta l effects. (f1F). . .~-. .~r ;~~$1~~ \VHAT YOU HAVE LEARl'IT. Environm ent refers to the sum to ta l o f conditions, w hich surround m an at a

g iv en p oin t inspace an d t ime . Inth e past. the environm ent of m an consisted only of physica l aspects of the

planet earth (air. water an d la nd ) a nd th e b io tic c omm un itie s. How ever-in due course of tim e and advancem ent of socie ty . m an extended

h is e nv iro nm e nt th ro ug h so cia l, e co nomic and po li ti ca l func ti on s . The envi ronment isboth physical-and biological concept and includes both th e

n on- liv in g ( ab io tic ) and liv in g (b io tic ) c om p on en ts o f p la ne t ear th . O n th e b asis o f th is stru ctu re , e nv iro nm e ntis d iv id ed into two types (i)physical

o r ab io ti c environment or (ii) biolog ical o r biotic environm ent. - The r e la ti on sh ip be tweenman and th e environment bas changedovertheyears .

It is in teresting to note the three aspects of m an (i) physical , (ii) social (iii)economic inrelation to environment

The changing relationsh ip of m an with the environment from pre-historic tom odem tim es can be d iv id ed in to fo ur p ha se s.i) Hunting and food gathering.it) Animal domest icat ion an d pastoral ism.iii) Plant domest icat ion and agriculture.iv ) Sc ience t echno logy and industrialisation.

B iosphere is a life supporting layer w hich sw rotm ds the earth and makes plantand an ima l l ife poss ib le withoutany p rot ec ti v e dev ice . S o c i a l . e conom ic . c ult ur aland political elem ents m ake the socio-sphere ..


9/10

~ rc il't~ and () LI r L n v iro nm e nt ; _ ii ;' ~ ,

M an, be ing an ac tiv e ag en t o f e nv iro nm en t c b3 ng e process. modifies the ec0-system through explo itation of natura l resources. E ffects of environm ent onhum an society are a m ajor challenge. M odern technology and advanceds cie ntific k now le dg e has become an im portan t fac tor in changing theenvironment.

GLOSSARY(l) Environment = su rr ou n din g s o fe xtemal conditions, i n fl uenc ing developmen t

or grow th of people , an im als or p lan ts, liv ing or work ing conditions.(II) Biotic-living com ponents of planet earth.(Ill) Abiotic- n on -liv in g co mp on en ts o f p lan et ea rth .(IV) Li thosphere- th e relatively then so lid crust o r ou ter layer of earth.(V) Hydrosphere- the water sphere applied to all the water on the e a rt h' s surface.(VI) Atmosphere- th e g aseo us en ve lo pe s urro un din g t1.... earth.(VII) Flora- all the p lan ts of particular area and period of tim e.(VIII) Fauna- all the an im als of particu lar area and period of tim e.(IX) Domestication - to keep anim als under contro l.ro T er re str ia l - p lan ts o r animals grow ing on land .(Xl) Aquatic - growing , living o r fo un d inwater .(XII) Eco-sys tem= re la tio ns hip b etw e en e nv iro nm e nt a nd s urro un din gs .(XIII) Biomes - the w hole com plex plan ts and anim als .o f a particu lar specia l

type.(X IV ) Species - a group of animals, plants and hmn an b ein gs o r o rg an ism s sh arin g

c ommon a tt ri bu te s that fo rm s a su bd iv isio n o f g en es.(XV) Vectorborne-a transmissible disease.

Write an sw er in100-250 words ~(I) W hat is an environm ent? (100 w ords):(ll) Describe the stages o f re la tio ns hip b etw e en m a n a nd e nv iro nm e nt.

MODULE-IIIo cia J C h a ng e, S oc ia /ita tio na nd S oc ia l C on tro l

Notes


10/10

MODULE-IIIChange, Socializati01~

and Social Contro

Notes

_ ~ i i; ': l" " " - Socierv and Our Environment__ ".r~ l ~

(III) W hatis a b iosphere? N am e tw o sub system s of b iosphere.(IV) What is a sociosphere? (1 0 0 w ords)(V) Explain th e effe cts o f en viro nm en t o n h um an so cie ty . (1 00 W o rd s)

22.11. French2.23 . ab io t ech4 , b io te c h5.4

22.21 .T r u e2 . F als e3 . T ru e4 . T ru e5 . F als e

22.31 . F a ls e2 . F als e3 . F als e4 . T ru e

L-22 Society and Environment

Documents

Transcript of L-22 Society and Environment