In a village, farmers have used more and more chemical fertilisers and pesticides for many years, and many families still cook with wood and dung cake. The panchayat wants a plan of development that will protect the land, the air and the health of the people, now and in the years to come.
Which of the following is NOT a function of the environment?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → Creating renewable substitutes for non-renewable resources
The environment performs four functions: it supplies resources, assimilates waste, sustains life and provides aesthetic services. Creating renewable substitutes is a task for people, not a function of the environment.
Option (1) Creating renewable substitutes for non-renewable resources — False. Herman Daly says the rate of depletion of non-renewable resources should not exceed the rate of creation of renewable substitutes. That is a rule for us to follow.
Option (2) Life sustenance — True. The environment sustains life through genetic and bio diversity.
Option (3) Aesthetic services like scenery — True. This is its fourth function.
Option (4) Supply of renewable and non-renewable resources — True. This is its first function.
NCERT (2026-27): “7.2 Environment — Definition and Functions … Functions of the Environment: The environment performs four vital functions (i) it supplies resources: resources here include both renewable and non-renewable resources. Renewable resources are those which can be used without the possibility of the resource becoming depleted or exhausted. That is, a continuous supply of the resource remains available. Examples of renewable resources are the trees in the forests and the fishes in the ocean. Non-renewable resources, on the other hand, are those which get exhausted with extraction and use, for example, fossil fuel (ii) it assimilates waste (iii) it sustains life by providing genetic and bio diversity and (iv) it also provides aesthetic services like scenery etc. …” “… (iv) for non-renewable resources rate of depletion should not exceed the rate of creation of renewable substitutes …” |