About this book
Divided into three parts dealing with environmental crisis and its cause, understanding the crisis, and possible remedial measures, the book provides a balanced understanding of the major issues and concerns related to the environment, both locally in India and globally. From threatened ecosystems, disappearing forests, and endangered species to depleting natural resources, escalating pollution, growing population, and dangerous toxins-the book addresses the major environmental crises confronting us today. Using environment-related stories and real-life cases from the Indian and global contexts, the book illustrates the various problems we encounter in our daily lives, provides possible solutions, and recounts successes and failures. The evocative line drawings and sketches complementing the text often present self-complete stories in themselves.
The appendices on further reading (books, magazines, and websites), resources (organizations, etc.), interesting trivia, and a glossary of terms are a special feature of the volume. Aiming to generate increased sensitivity among readers towards environmental issues, it tries to inculcate in us an appreciation of the seriousness of the environmental crisis at the local and global levels.
Contents
Preface
INTRODUCTION
Prologue: The Conservationist's Lament and the Technologist's Reply
1: Planet in Peril: Three Stories
Part I: The Crisis and Its Cause
Prologue: A Fable for Tomorrow
2: The Global Environmental Crisis
3: Why are We in a Crisis?
Part II: The Crisis Described
Prologue: How Can One Sell the Air?
4: A Thirsty World: Scarcity and Water Pollution
5: A Warming World: Energy, Global Warming, and Climate Change
6: A Toxic World: Waste, Pollution, and Environmental Health
7: A World without Life: Forests and Biological Diversity
8: A Dying Ocean: Polluted Seas and Coasts
9: A Crowded World: Growing Population and Urbanization
10: A Hungry World: Land, Soil, Food and Agriculture
11: A World Past the Tipping Point?
Part III: The Cure
Prologue: The Man Who Planted Trees
12: World Response to the Crisis
13: Hope for the Planet and How You Can Help
APPENDICES
Further Reading: Books and Magazines, Websites
Resources: Organizations, etc.
Answers to 'Find Out and Be Surprised!'
Glossary of Terms
Index
Customer Reviews
Biography
R. Rajagopalan holds a BE in mechanical engineering from Madras University and a PhD in industrial and management engineering from IIT Kanpur. He taught for over 30 years at IIT Kanpur and IIT Madras. He has written and edited several books, including 12 textbooks on environmental education for schools and colleges. Two of his children's books have won national awards.