The perception that man lives in close relationship with all living organisms, both animals and plants, is quite old. Recent developments in science have confirmed the inter-dependence of all lives, between themselves and the physical environment of land water, air and solar energy. A new dimension began to appear in ecology in the last few decades of the twentieth century as the impact of the man and his activities on nature came to be noted. The word “environment” was given an additional meaning           during this period to express the broader concepts of interaction of human activities on the ecosystem and the impact of changes in ecosystem on man himself.

Dominance of Man

About 2000 years ago, a sudden shift occurred in the patterns of human living beings, when man adopted sedentary mode of life based on the domestication of animals and the cultivation of plants, thus changing from food gatherer to food producer. As his technology increased, man gradually expanded his use of non-biological sources of energy, with the development of sails and later water mills (around 100 B.C.) and wind mills (around 900 A.D.). Although coal has been an important source of energy from twelfth century, large-scale consumption occurred only within the last two hundred years, with the harnessing of steam, electricity, petroleum, natural gas and, most recently, of atomic energy. If man’s rate of consumption is used an index, the growth of his ecologic dominance can be seen to have followed an exponential growth.

Signs of Eco-Imbalance

Man has created many serious problems which has affected the continuation of his ecological status. The uncontrolled discharge of smoke and fumes from industrial stacks and domestic chimneys and exhaust of vehicles have almost turned some of our large cities in to gas chambers. Pollution has also resulted from the development of chlorinated hydrocarbons like DDT and chlordane, organophosphates like Malathion and parathion and other synthetic pesticides to kill pests, insects and weeds.