A town releases more waste into its river than the environment can absorb. Which chain of results follows?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → Waste goes beyond the absorptive capacity → the environment fails its function of life sustenance → environmental crisis
The environment can absorb wastes only up to its absorptive capacity. When wastes go beyond it, the environment fails in its function of life sustenance, and this results in an environmental crisis.
Option (1) Waste goes beyond the absorptive capacity → the environment fails its aesthetic function → environmental crisis — Incorrect. The function that fails is life sustenance, not the aesthetic function of scenery.
Option (2) Waste goes beyond the absorptive capacity → the environment fails its function of supplying resources → resources become extinct — Incorrect. Resources become extinct through over-extraction; too much waste makes life sustenance fail.
Option (3) Waste goes beyond the carrying capacity → the environment fails its function of assimilating waste → global warming — Incorrect. Global warming comes from greenhouse gases; the chain here ends in an environmental crisis.
Option (4) Waste goes beyond the absorptive capacity → the environment fails its function of life sustenance → environmental crisis — Correct. This is the chain given for the environment.
NCERT (2026-27): “7.2 Environment — Definition and Functions … The environment is able to perform these functions without any interruption as long as the demand on these functions is within its carrying capacity. This implies that the resource extraction is not above the rate of regeneration of the resource and the wastes generated are within the assimilating capacity of the environment. When this is not so, the environment fails to perform its third and vital function of life sustenance and this results in an environmental crisis. This is the situation today all over the world. The rising population of the developing countries and the affluent consumption and production standards of the developed world have placed a huge stress on the environment in terms of its first two functions. Many resources have become extinct and the wastes generated are beyond the absorptive capacity of the environment. Absorptive capacity means the ability of the environment to absorb degradation. …” |