Introduction

A clean environment is essential for a peaceful, healthy life, yet through sheer negligence our surroundings are getting dirtier by the day. Earth today faces a long list of environmental concerns -- air, water and noise pollution, global warming, acid rain, biomagnification, eutrophication, deforestation, waste disposal problems, depletion of the ozone layer, and climate change among them. Over the last few decades, human exploitation of the planet and the resulting degradation of the environment have accelerated sharply, and because our actions have rarely favoured protecting the planet, natural disasters -- flash floods, tsunamis, and cyclones -- have become noticeably more frequent. Every individual has a stake in being environmentally aware, whether or not environmental issues are part of their own work.