 Dear students, in this module, we are going to discuss environmental problems of Pakistani society. Although we know that there are certain problems which are very apparent, which are very ubiquitous and almost every one of us can understand that what these environmental problems are. However, there are particular causes and consequences of different problems that we are trying to understand in this module. Number one is the impact of urbanization. As we can see that, we have the rapid urbanization, especially in the major cities like Karachi and Lahore, which have contributed to the environmental degradation. As we can see that people are a little happy, they have the possibility that they can move from rural areas to urban areas, then their first priority is to go to some city. The big reason for this is that they get more facilities in the cities, then their first priority is to move to the cities. Unfortunately, due to unplanned urbanization, the population density has increased and there are a lot of environmental issues that have been caused due to unplanned urbanization. This includes the air and water pollution due to unplanned housing, lack of waste management infrastructures and particularly, if we see the pollution, smoke and smoke. Sociologically speaking, the unregulated growth illustrates the struggle between modernization and environmental sustainability. Then we see the problem of deforestation. Illegal logging and land clearing for agriculture or construction are significant environmental issues. As we can see that more and more housing societies are being produced around the urban areas, so we see that there is a very rapid deforestation and even in some areas, the typical agriculture land is also being converted into the housing societies, which is a very alarming trend for nowadays. This leads to a biodiversity loss and it contributes to the climate change. From a sociological perspective, this shows a conflict between the economic development and the preservation of natural resources, reflecting a lack of environmental consciousness. Environmental consciousness means that we need to be aware that what we are doing today or our practices which are affecting our environment can have the dire consequences for our future generations. Then we have the water scarcity, unequal access to water resources including access to portable water exacerbated by the environmental change affects the communities across Pakistan. So this can lead to social conflict and inequalities as access to water is a fundamental social determinant of health and well-being. So as we see that particularly in the urban areas, we are facing the severe scarcity and severe shortage of safe drinking water. So this is also another issue that needs to be addressed for our future generations. Then we have the problem of air pollution. The higher levels of air pollution in urban areas contribute to a range of health problems. Air pollution is not just a public health issue but also a sociological one. As the disadvantaged who cannot afford to live in the cleaner environments, they are facing more brunt as compared to those who can afford to live in any areas. Then we have the climate change vulnerability as a largely a gradient society. Pakistan's population is highly vulnerable to climate change impacts such as droughts and floods. So these natural calamities are also affecting because we have significant climatic change going on around the globe. So this vulnerability reflects the socioeconomic disparities and structural inequalities as those with the fewer resources have the less capacity to adapt. And then we have a very important issue of waste management. The ineffective disposal and treatment of waste especially in the urban areas, it leads to the contamination of water bodies as well as the soil. The sociological aspect lies in inequality of waste burden where low income countries are or low income communities often bear the brunt of improper waste management. And finally we need to see that whether we have a sufficient environment education for our people available. So there is a lack of environmental education in Pakistan which is contributing to the public indifference towards the environmental issues. Sociologically this can be traced to our education system which fails to instill a sense of environmental responsibility among citizens and also among different institutions. And we also have the institutional inefficiencies no matter how much institutions do we create. But if they are not practicing the policies which they are performing it would be highly improbable to make any significant change not only in the behavior of individuals in the behavior of communities but also for the sake of our environment.