Environmental Science

Definition, scope and importance of environmental studies; need for public awareness; Renewable and non-renewable resources; forest resources - use, over-exploitation, deforestation; Water resources - use and over-utilization, floods, drought, dams; mineral resources; Food resources - world food problems, effects of modern agriculture; energy resources

Structure and function of an ecosystem; producers, consumers and decomposers; energy flow; ecological succession; Food chains, food webs and ecological pyramids; forest, grassland, desert and aquatic ecosystems; Biodiversity: genetic, species and ecosystem diversity; value of biodiversity; India as a mega-diversity nation; Threats to biodiversity; endangered and endemic species; in-situ and ex-situ conservation

Air, water, soil, marine, noise and thermal pollution and nuclear hazards - causes, effects and control; Solid waste management: urban and industrial wastes; Role of an individual in prevention of pollution; pollution case studies; Disaster management: floods, earthquake, cyclone and landslides

From unsustainable to sustainable development; resettlement and rehabilitation; Environmental ethics; climate change, global warming, acid rain, ozone layer depletion; Carbon credits and Mission LiFE; wasteland reclamation; consumerism and waste products; Environment Protection Act, Air Act, Water Act, Wildlife and Forest Conservation Acts; public awareness

Population growth and explosion; family welfare programmes; Environment and human health; human rights; value education; HIV/AIDS; women and child welfare; role of information technology; Field work: visit to local areas and polluted sites; study of common plants, insects and birds