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• Excessive use of fossil fuels like coal, oil and natural gas produces greenhouse gases-like methane, nitrous oxide and
mainly carbon dioxide which trap the sun’s radiation within the atmosphere resulting in rise in global temperature.
• Trees absorb CO2 from the atmosphere and release oxygen instead, so they work as air purifiers. Deforestation due
to urbanisation and industrialisation has reduced the number of trees on the earth. This has resulted in the increase
of carbon dioxide level in the atmosphere.
• Overconsumption of natural resources due to population explosion has also contributed to global warming.
• Increase in pollution is also responsible for the rise in global warming.
Since 1870, global sea levels have risen by about 8 inches due to global warming. Arctic
is one of the worst places to be affected by global warming.
Mining Activity
Mining is the process of extracting useful minerals from the earth’s surface. It is estimated that two-thirds of the
world’s yearly mineral production is done by surface mining. If we keep on extracting minerals from our natural
resources, then it will create an ecological imbalance. So any country’s government allows only a limited number of
mining activities to be done that too under its supervision. Sometimes humans for their own profits indulge in illegal
mining without realising the importance of preserving these natural resources. A lot of legal or illegal mining activities
all across the globe are responsible for significant environmental damage:
• Acid mine drainage, which is the formation and movement of highly acidic water rich in heavy metals, contaminates
the surrounding water bodies.
• Mining can deplete surface and groundwater supplies.
• To get the land for mining, the forest in that area is destroyed. This has a negative impact on the plants and animals
living in that region.
• When the mining is over and that area is abandoned, then it creates wastage of land which is suitable neither for
industrial use nor for agricultural purpose.
GREEN ECONOMY
The term “Green Economy” was first coined in a 1989 report for the Government of the United Kingdom by a group
of leading environmental economists, entitled "Blueprint for a Green Economy". There is no internationally agreed
definition of a green economy but many countries have realised that the country’s economy and the balance in the
environment go hand in hand. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has defined the green economy as
“one that results in improved human well-being and social equity, while significantly reducing environmental risks and
ecological scarcities. It is low carbon, resource efficient and socially inclusive”.
Green Skills-I 129

