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Protection of the Environment :
A Jain Perspective
Prof. B. C. Lodha
A student of science knows that all the different kinds of living beings on this earth are made up of 13 elements which are an integral part of the earth and its atmosphere. Thus, all living beings are related at the very element level with each other and also with the earth. Biologically the living beings are divided into autotrophs and heterotrophs. Autotrophs - predominantly plants are important as by a process of photosynthesis they manufacture all the food on this earth with the help of sunlight using carbon di-oxide and water and some other elements. The food so obtained is used by all the living beings for their energy and growth and in that process carbon di-oxide is released back into the atmosphere, and used again by the plants. In this process of photosynthesis, oxygen, is liberated by the plants by the breakdown of water and is consumed by the heterotrophs (animals and other nongreen organisms) for their respiration.
Many such inevitable interactions between organism to organism, mineral to mineral and more particularly mineral to organism and viceversa have been going on since time immemorial on this earth and have resulted into the present day scenario. The forests, those which have. still remained without any major interference by man, have taken millions of years to reach their present status by natural interactions and selections. But these are now been vastly interfered with by just one
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