LETTER OF AUTHORIZATION

1
To,
The chairman,
Department of mechanical engineering,
University of engineering and technology, Lahore, Pakistan.

Subject: to authorize the student to write the report.

I, Mr. Rauf Akhtar, department of humanities, hereby

allow Ms. Iqra Younas D/O Muhammad Younas Ali,
Registration no. 2008-ME-105, section C, to submit the final
report of her subject titled “ THE LAST CALL OF THE
EARTH”. The results of her report will be beneficial to the
mankind, bring development and will be roll model for the
followers. Regards.

Yours sincerely,
Mr. Rauf Akhtar,
Professor of communication
skills,
Department of humanities.

Signature
:__________________

LETTER OF TESTIMONIAL
I’m not an environmentalist or specialist in the global warming issue but I
felt that I should be considerate and write an article about what we should
do to protect our bed I am referring to the air you breathe, the ground

2
which you walk upon, the oceans which we sail in, the vegetation we eat
and even more further the balance or mezan which God Almighty
(Allah) has set up for us, the perfect equilibrium. Which now is
being destroyed and is a slow suicide for humanity if you want to look at it
more deeply.

It’s interesting to know that the word Earth appears in the Quran 485
times and the literal meaning of “Shariah” means the source of
water and the color of Islam is Green. Subhanallah! I want you to
really think about that for a second. There are many ayahs in the Quran
which state the importance of the earth and the system and blessings
God has set up for us.

These beautiful verses from the Quran, Chapter 16:10 say - the
Bees - Which describes God’s creation and how should we be
appreciative.

And He has set up on this earth mountains standing firm, lest it should
shake with you; and rivers and roads; that you may guide yourselves. And
marks and signposts; and by the Stars men guide themselves.

That certainly should shake the heart and should be an immediate

reminder for all of us. A gift is something which should be preserved. God
gave you a gift, if you love God preserve this gift (the planet earth).
Don’t you feel sorry for the penguins who are suffering in the
north pole, I guess they don’t really have happy feet after all. The
polar ice caps are melting rapidly, the weather is going to extremes
and places where we thought it would never snow or storms would come,
they are now coming.

At the end of the day, we must recognize as Muslims and Non Muslims,
we have a responsibility, if we want to live life but are killing the earth
then it’s only a loss for us. You might think that humans may not be the
cause of this, but guess what we are. As mentioned by the United
Nations in an article by the New York Times. None of us plan on moving
to mars, so start working. Even something so little as planting a tree
can make a difference. Our Beloved Prophet Muhammad (peace be
upon him) said there are seven things, which a person will be
continued to be rewarded for after his or her death. These are
teaching people, digging a new way for a river to flow, digging a well,
planting a tree, building a mosque, bequeathing Allah’s book to
someone, and begetting a child who will beg Allah’s forgiveness for him or
her after death”

So what else can you do to help the environment? We ask Allah to

help the earth and forgive us for our mistakes. Ameen!

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
LETTER OF AUTHERIZATION ---------------------------------------
2
LETTER OF
TRANSMITTAL--------------------------------------------3
EXECUTIVE
SUMMARY--------------------------------------------------
5
INTRODUCTION
-----------------------------------------------------------6
The planet Earth. ------------------------------------------------------6
Outer surface of the Earth. ------------------------------------------7
Internal structure of the Earth.
-------------------------------------7
LIFE ON THE
EARTH------------------------------------------------------
9
The critical role of Photosynthesis.--------------------------------9
NATURAL ENVIRONMENT OF THE EARTH--------------------
12
Components of Environment.-------------------------------------12
SCIENCE
HIGHLIGHTS-----------------------------------------------
---13
AN INTREGATED EARTH SYSTEM---------------------------------
15
HUMAN-EARTH ENVIRONMENT RELATIONSHIP----------15
Facts related to earth climate--------------------------------------
17
Air and water pollutions-------------------------------------------19
A small report on water pollution.-------------------------------20
Depletion of resources-----------------------------------------------21
GLOBAL
WARMING--------------------------------------------------
----22
EARTH AS A
SYSTEM----------------------------------------------------24
NON-LINEARITIES, SURPRISES AND THRESHOLD---------25
BROWNING OF SAHARA DESERT----------------------------------
26
HUMAN
ACTIVITIES-----------------------------------------------------27

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 Deforestation-----------------------------------------------------------27
Green house effect----------------------------------------------------
29
Population--------------------------------------------------------------29
Acid deposition-------------------------------------------------------31
Air pollution-----------------------------------------------------------31
Nuclear effects------------------------------------------------------- 35
SAVE EARTH SAVE
LIFE-----------------------------------------------36
SUGGESTIONS/STEPS------------------------------------------------
--37
Solution to global warming---------------------------------------38
CONCLUSION-----------------------------------------------------------
---39
REFERENCES------------------------------------------------------------
----40
BIBLIOGRAPHY---------------------------------------------------------
---41
INDEX---------------------------------------------------------------------
-----42

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Gift of the Allah granted to the humans and other living things to survive
is, this beautiful earth with all those requirements, which life needs to
enjoy and thank to Allah. The earth is the only place in this universe
known to support life. The rest of the universe is still silent and dark. The
natural environment of the earth is full of luxurious things. The
components of the earth environment include water, the essential
requirement for the survival of lifer on earth, the fresh air, in which we
breathe, the plants, to provide food to life, and many other things.

Environment constitutes of land, air, plants, water, animals and all

forms of living organisms. This is also referred as natural environment and
it includes both living and non-living things.

The earth's climate has always been changing, although not at an abrupt
rate. There had been periods of warming and cooling in the earth's 4.65
billion-year history. Strange as it may sound to some, this is the reason
why life became possible on this planet millions of years ago.

5
Unfortunately, not all of the changes in climate brought about by global
warming may be beneficial to many of us.

For one, global warming will raise the temperatures in some regions of
the Northern Hemisphere, causing the melting of mountain glaciers. This
means that areas that are currently experiencing light snow may no
longer experience snowfall anymore. Snowlines found in mountains in
temperate regions may also be higher and packs of snow will melt earlier
than before.

The Earth System is currently operating in a no-

analogue state. Human activities are significantly
altering the environment at the global scale.

The human activities are damaging the earth drastically, damaging it to

the point of no return. Although these activities are providing some sort of
comfort to the humanity but, over their lives and chances of survival.
Population rate, traffic abruptness, pollution of all types misuse of the
sources, granted to humanity, and deforestation causes the damage to
the habitat of many birds, homes of many animals leading them to
extinction.

But being a responsible, we should hear the “last call of the earth “
and to save it from destruction. We have to take immediate steps to stop
gradual increase in global warming, we have to resist the hunting of
animals, birds and other beautiful creatures that make this earth
full of colours, we have to make this earth livable, clean, and
without any threat. INSHALLAH.

It’s amazing how we get so comfortable in life and don’t realize how
precious something is until we lose it. Guess what’s the most
important thing for all of humanity? Planet Earth. I’m not an
environmentalist or specialist in the global warming issue but I felt that I
should be considerate and write an article about what we should do to
protect our bed I am referring to the air you breathe, the ground which
you walk upon, the oceans which we sail in, the vegetation we eat and
even more further the balance or mezan which God Almighty (Allah)
has set up for us, the perfect equilibrium. Which now is being
destroyed and is a slow suicide for humanity if you want to look at it more
deeply.

“ THE EARTH IS CALLING FOR HELP AND WE SHOULD HEAR ITS

LAST CALL, BEFORE THE TIME, WHEN NO BODY WOULD THERE TO
HEAR OUR THE LAST CALL. “

6
Earth (or the Earth) is the third planet from the Sun, and the fifth-largest
of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest, most
massive, and densest of the Solar System's four terrestrial (or
rocky) planets. It is sometimes referred to as the World, the Blue
Planet, or Terra.

Home to millions of species, including

humans, Earth is the only place in the
universe where life is known to exist.
The planet formed 4.54 billion years
ago, and life appeared on its surface
within a billion years. Since then,
Earth's biosphere has significantly
altered the atmosphere and other
abiotic conditions on the planet,
enabling the proliferation of aerobic
organisms as well as the formation of
the ozone layer which, together with
Earth's magnetic field, blocks
harmful radiation, permitting life on land. The physical properties of
the Earth, as well as its geological history and orbit, allowed life to
persist during this period. The world is expected to continue
supporting life for another 1.5 billion years, after which the rising
luminosity of the Sun will eliminate the biosphere.

OUTER SURFACE OF THE EARTH

Earth's outer surface is divided into several rigid segments, or tectonic
plates, that gradually migrate across the surface over periods of many
millions of years. About 71% of the surface is covered with salt-water
oceans, the remainder consisting of continents and islands; liquid water,
necessary for all known life, is not known to exist on any other planet's
surface. Earth's interior remains active, with a thick layer of relatively
solid mantle, a liquid outer core that generates a magnetic field, and a
solid iron inner core.

At present, Earth provides the only example of an environment that has

given rise to the evolution of life. Highly energetic chemistry is believed to
have produced a self-replicating molecule around 4 billion years ago, and
half a billion years later the last common ancestor of all life existed. The
development of photosynthesis allowed the Sun's energy to be harvested
directly by life forms; the resultant oxygen accumulated in the
atmosphere and formed in a layer of ozone (a form of molecular oxygen
[O3]) in the upper atmosphere. The incorporation of smaller cells within
larger ones resulted in the development of complex cells called
eukaryotes. True multicellular organisms formed as cells within colonies
became increasingly specialized. Aided by the absorption of harmful
ultraviolet radiation by the ozone layer, life colonized the surface of Earth.

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INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF EARTH
The interior structure of the Earth, similar to the outer, is layered.
These layers can be defined by either their chemical or their rheological
properties. The Earth has an outer silicate solid crust, a highly viscous
mantle, a liquid outer core that is much less viscous than the mantle, and
a solid inner core. Scientific understanding of Earth's internal structure is
based on outcrop,
samples brought to the
surface from greater
depths by volcanic
activity, analysis of the
seismic waves that pass
through the Earth,
measurements of the
gravity field of the Earth,
and experiments with
crystalline solids at
pressures and
temperatures
characteristic of the
Earth's deep interior.

The structure of the Earth can be defined in two ways: either chemically,
or by mechanical properties such as rheology. Mechanically, it can be
divided into lithosphere, asthenosphere, mesosphere, outer core,
and the inner core.

The interior of the earth is divided into 5 important layers. Chemically,

Earth can be divided into the crust, upper mantle, lower mantle,
outer core, and inner core.

The interior of the Earth, like that of the other terrestrial planets, is
divided into layers by their chemical or physical (rheological) properties.
The outer layer of the Earth is a chemically distinct silicate solid crust,
which is underlain by a highly viscous solid mantle. The crust is separated
from the mantle by the thickness of the crust varies:

Depth

Kilomete
Miles
rs Layer

0–60 0–37 Lithosphere (locally varies between 5 and

8
 200 km)

… Crust (locally varies between 5 and

0–35 0–22
70 km)

35–60 22–37 … Uppermost part of mantle

35–2,890 22–1,790 Mantle

100–200 62–125 … Asthenosphere

35–660 22–410 … Upper mantle

660– 410–
… Lower mantle
2,890 1,790

2,890– 1,790–
Outer core
5,150 3,160

5,150– 3,160–
Inner core
6,360 3,954

Averaging 6 km under the oceans and 30–50 km on the continents. The

crust and the cold, rigid, top of the upper mantle are collectively known
as the lithosphere, and it is of the lithosphere that the tectonic plates
are comprised. Beneath the lithosphere is the asthenosphere, a
relatively low-viscosity layer on which the lithosphere rides.

Important changes in crystal structure within the mantle occur at 410 and
660 kilometers below the surface, spanning a transition zone that
separates the upper and lower mantle. Beneath the mantle, an extremely
low viscosity liquid outer core lies above a solid inner core.

The inner core may rotate at a slightly higher angular velocity than the
remainder of the planet, advancing by 0.1–0.5° per year.

LIFE ON EARTH

9
In the Beginning there was nothing. The first question that ought to strike
wonder in the hearts of all humans is,
'How did a massive ball of molten rock hurtling through space
become transformed, over the last over four and a half billion
years, into a staggeringly beautiful planet populated by a
fabulous range of Biodiversity?

Why is the Earth like it is rather than being something completely

different - for example, lifeless like all the other planets in the solar
system?

The astronauts were making what must have seemed like a couple of
straightforward assumptions:

Firstly, that it is perfectly feasible to have a habitable planet without any

life forms and,
Secondly, that life simply invades an already habitable planet - in
Darwinian terms, life adjusts to the prevailing state of the environment.

These assumptions are still prevalent in technologically advanced

societies - even amongst scientists and environmentalists. Such
assumptions contain echoes of ancient religious myths in which god
makes a habitable planet and then places various life forms onto this
divinely fabricated paradise.

THE CRITICAL ROLE OF

PHOTOSYNTHESIS
There is, however, one form of life, which has done far more than any
other to transform the Earth into its present state - Photosynthesizers.
Without Photosynthesis the Earth’s atmosphere would still be dominated
by Carbon - just like that on Venus and mars. And the Earth would be
far hotter than it is now,

“Without life the Earth would have an atmosphere comparable to

Venus, with 98% carbon dioxide, 1.9% nitrogen, a trace of
oxygen, an atmospheric pressure 60 times that of the living Earth
and an average surface temperature between 240C and 340C.”

Without Photosynthesis there would be no life on Earth: there would be no

soils, no water, no breathable oxygen, no stratospheric ozone layer, etc -
not forgetting the obvious, no food chains. Over the last couple of aeons,
Photosynthesis has also been the key factor stabilizing the Earth's
temperature. As a consequence, it is easy to conclude that Photosynthesis
is the central component of the Earth's life support system.

10
Most scientists continue to argue that geological forces have created the
Earth's habitability. They believe the Earth would have become naturally
habitable whether it had life or not. NASA is perhaps the most prestigious
scientific institution to express such a view, ‘the earth would still have
remained habitable even if it had never been inhabited.” These
arguments rest on the simplistic notion that without water there would be
no life on Earth. This is true - but it is far from being the whole truth.
Lovelock argues that it is life, which preserves water on Earth -
Photosynthesis releases oxygen into
the atmosphere and this prevents
hydrogen from escaping the Earth's
orbit. Without life, there would be no
oxygen to react with hydrogen and
hydrogen would disappear into
space leaving behind a desiccated
planet.

Gaians accept these scientific truths

whilst consumers in the over-
industrialized world regard such
geophysiological facts of planetary
life as the wacky, new age, views of
a cult movement. It has to be
suggested, however, that lovelock is
one of the world's greatest scientists
whose achievements are on a par
with Galileo's discovery that the
Earth revolves around the sun. Just
as Galileo triggered off a profound cultural revolution, from a geocentric,
to a heliocentric, world, so lovelock is triggering a new cultural revolution
- a shift from a technocentric, to a biocentric, worldview.

Since 1989 the bulk of the world's climate scientists have publicly
demanded action to combat global burning. They have insisted on major
reductions in the release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. What
they have not done, however, is to demand the Reforestation of the Earth
to extract the excess Carbon that has been dumped into the atmosphere
during the industrial revolution. It is pointless reducing Carbon emissions
without extracting the excess Carbon already in the atmosphere.
Environmentalists have followed in scientists' footsteps and have also
dismissed the need for Reforestation - such environmentalists are more
accurately described as the 'greenless greens'.

The anthropogenic destruction of the Earth's Photosynthetic capacity

raises a series of critical questions.

• Firstly, is it possible for oomans to reduce the Earth's

Photosynthetic capacity?
• Secondly, if it is possible for oomans to reduce the Earth's
Photosynthetic capacity, could they completely destroy it?

11
 • Thirdly, even if oomans cannot destroy the Earth's Photosynthetic
capacity, could they destroy enough of it to trigger off a global
burning disaster, which then destroys so much more of the Earth's
Photosynthetic capacity that it poses a threat to oomans' survival?
• Fourthly, could oomans' destroy so much of the Earth's
Photosynthetic capacity that they create a global burning disaster
that destroys all Photosynthesis on Earth?
• Fifthly, could oomans cause such extensive damage to the Earth's
Photosynthetic capacity that they trigger off a self-perpetuating,
global burning disaster that leads to a lifeless planet?

None of these issues have been discussed in environmental circles - this

article has been refused publication in various environmental magazines.

Addendum

Photosynthesis is a miracle. It is the essence of the history of the Earth.

Without Photosynthesis there would be: -

• No hydrogen,
• No water,
• No oceans,
• No clouds/mist/fog/rain,
• No continents,
• No Carbon burial,
• No Carboniferous rock formations, no chalk, no limestone,
• No oxygen in the atmosphere,
• No stratospheric ozone layer,
• No coal nor oil deposits,
• No Plants nor Trees,
• No food chains,
• No soils,
• No Wildlife habitats,
• No Wildlife,
• No stable climate and, indeed,
• No climate,

In sum, no life.

EARTH’S NATURAL ENVIRONMENT

The natural environment, commonly referred to simply as the
environment, encompasses all living and non-living things occurring
naturally on Earth or some

12
region thereof.
The concept of the natural environment can be distinguished by
components:
• Complete ecological units that function as natural systems without
massive human intervention, including all vegetation, animals,
microorganisms, soil, rocks,
atmosphere and natural phenomena
that occur within their boundaries.
• Universal natural resources and
physical phenomena that lack clear-
cut boundaries, such as air, water, and
climate, as well as energy, radiation,
electric charge, and magnetism, not
originating from human activity.The
natural environment is contrasted with
the built environment, which comprises the areas and components
that are strongly influenced by humans. A geographical area is
regarded as a natural environment, if the human impact on it is
kept under a certain limited level
COMPONENTS OF ENVIRONMENT
Environment constitutes of land, air, plants, water, animals and all
forms of living organisms. This is also referred as natural environment
and it includes both living and non-living things.

The atmosphere is responsible for the

temperature differences on the earth.
The atmosphere which is the constituent
part of the environment is a mixture of
oxygen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide,
hydrogen and water vapor. This mixture
along with dust particles protects the
earth from the Sun’s ultraviolet rays. The
ultraviolet rays are broken down by
diffraction that takes place when the meet the dust particles in the
atmosphere.

The next component of the environment, water occurs in three forms,

one percent in the freshwater found in ground water sources, river and
lakes, two percent of the earth’s water is in the form of solidified water
as ice. Rest of the water is found in the oceans and seas, which forms
the salt-water sources.

The third basic component is the soil or the land. Land supports or
serves as a base for all forms of living and non living things.

All living organisms need all the above three basic components of
environment for their existence. That is why when ever there is an
imbalance in the environment, life on earth is threatened. All the
components of environment, all forms of living organisms and non
living things for a harmony of existence and they form the ecological

13
 cycle and no component is dispensable in this cycle.

The earth’s environment has been undergoing gradual change due to

both natural and man made reasons. Human beings through their
inventions have started modifying the environmental parameters in
the name of civilization,
technology,
development and
growth. Human beings
started manipulating
nature and the
environment basically to
ensure continued
existence. Other living
organisms do not have
the advantage of
controlling or changing
the environment and
they are left to the
mercy of nature.

In the process human beings have started exploiting the resources of

the earth and started depleting the resources without applying suitable
or any replenishing efforts.

Deforestation could be one classical example of human exploitation of

the environment. Human beings started cutting down trees for wood
construction purpose and to be used as fuel. They also cleared whole
lot of natural vegetation in the name of planted vegetation or
agriculture. These activities had negative impact on the environment
and disturb the rain cycles. Without enough rain vegetation got further
destroyed aggravating the situation.

Thus we can see that there exists a close relationship between human
existence and the environment and any thoughtless destruction of
nature will have a boomerang effect on our own existence.

SCIENCE HIGHLIGHTS
Somewhat more than a decade ago it was recognized that the Earth
behaves as a system in which the oceans, atmosphere and land, and the
living and non-living parts therein, were all connected. While accepted by
many, this working hypothesis seldom formed the basis for global change
research. Little understanding existed of how the Earth worked as a
system, how the parts were connected, or even about the importance of
the various component parts of the system. Feedback mechanisms were
not always clearly understood, nor were the dynamics controlling the
system.

14
Over the intervening years much has been learned. Global change
research has confirmed many of the hypotheses and much of the sketchy
understanding of that time, adding a wealth of quantitative detail and
process-level understanding at all scales. It is now clear that global
change is one of the paramount environmental issues facing humankind
at the beginning of the new millennium. The task of synthesizing a decade
or more of global change research has been daunting, but the rewards
have been great. Detailed results and individual references can be found
in the IGBP synthesis volume, Global Change and the Earth
System:
A Planet Under Pressure , published by Springer Verlag in the IGBP book
series. In this executive summary only generalized highlights are
presented, the so-called big-picture findings:

• Global change is more than climate change. It is real, it is

happening now and in many ways it is accelerating. Human
activities are significantly influencing the functioning of the Earth
System in many areas; anthropogenic changes are clearly identifiable
beyond natural variability and are equal to some of the great forces of
nature in their extent and impact.

• The Earth’s dynamics are characterized by critical thresholds

and abrupt changes. Human activities could inadvertently
trigger changes with catastrophic consequences for the Earth
System. Indeed, it appears that such a change was narrowly avoided
in the case of depletion of the stratospheric ozone layer. The Earth
System has operated in different quasi-stable states, with abrupt
changes occurring
between them over
the last half million
years. Human
activities clearly
have the potential to
switch the Earth
System to alternative
modes of operation
that may prove much
less amenable to
human life.

• The Earth is currently operating in a no-analogue state. In

terms of key environmental parameters, the Earth System has recently
moved well outside the range of the natural variability exhibited over
at least the last half million years. The nature of changes now
occurring simultaneously in the Earth System, their magnitudes and
rates of change are unprecedented in human history and perhaps in
the history of the Earth.

The Earth System is currently operating in a no-

analogue state. Human activities are

15
significantly altering the environment at the
global scale.

16
AN INTEGRATED EARTH SYSTEM
Over the last two decades a new imperative has come to dominate
environmental concerns. With a rapidly increasing understanding of the
nature of Earths life support system, a growing awareness has emerged that
human activities are exerting an ever-accelerating influence on aspects of
Earth System functioning upon which the welfare and the future of human
societies depend.
The human-environment relationship
The interactions between environmental change and human societies have a
long and complex history, spanning many millennia. They vary greatly
through time and from place to place. Despite these spatial and temporal
differences, in recent years a global perspective has begun to emerge that
forms the framework for a growing body of research within the
environmental sciences. Crucial to the emergence of this perspective has
been the dawning awareness of two fundamental aspects of the nature of
the planet.

The first is that the Earth itself is a single system, within which the
biosphere is an active, essential component. In terms of a sporting analogy,
life is a player, not a spectator.
Second, human activities are now so pervasive and profound in their
consequences that they affect the Earth at a global scale in complex,
interactive and accelerating ways; humans now have the capacity to alter
the Earth System in ways that threaten the very processes and components,
both biotic and abiotic, upon which humans depend.

Systems thinking and its application to the environment are not new.
However, until very recently, much of the understanding about how the
Earth operates was applied to only pieces (subcomponents) of the Earth.
What is really new about the understanding of the Earth System over the last
10 - 15 years is a perspective that embraces the System as a whole. Several
developments have led to this significant change in perception:

• The view of Earth from a spaceship, a blue-green sphere floating in

blackness, triggers emotional feelings of a home teeming with life set
in a lifeless void, as well as more analytical perceptions of a materially
limited and self-contained entity;

• Global observation systems allow the application of concepts that were

only previously applicable at subsystem level, or regional or local
scales, to the Earth as a whole;

17
 • Global databases allow global scale phenomena to be addressed with
consistently acquired data that have the potential for harmonisation
and comparison at a global scale;

• Dramatic advances in the power to infer characteristics of Earth

System processes in the past allow contemporary observations to be
viewed in a coherent time continuum;

Enhanced computing power makes possible not only essential data

assimilation, but increasingly sophisticated models improve understanding of
functional interactions and system sensitivities.
Man and environment
The relationship between humans and environment has varied from the early
periods of human settlement on the earth to the present day. The
relationship between environment and human beings has also being varying
from place to place at any given period of time. For example, early humans
considered the environment to be dominant. They were afraid of lightning
and thunder, dense forests, wild animals, vast oceans and large rivers, to
name a few.

The environment has considerably affected human beings right from his
evolution. The environment affects humans in many ways. Population on the
earth varies due to variation in the environment.
The main factors which affect the distribution of population and human
settlement are:

1) Relief of Land
The populations in the high mountainous areas, such as the Himalayas in
India, Andes in South America, Rocky in North America, etc., have very low
settlement level. This is because the relief is rugged here which represents
obstacles in the construction of roads, railways and communication. Due to
steep slopes, agriculture is done with a great difficulty and industries also
could not be established. These places having very less economic activity
have less population and hence have small isolated settlements.
Whereas the plain areas of the world are most suitable for human
settlement. Fertile plains of Ganga in India, Indus in Pakistan, Hwang-Ho in
China and plains of Europe have huge population concentration having
compact or huge semi-compact type of settlement.
2) Climate

18
Most of the areas of the earth having density less than two persons/sq. km
are not favorable for settlement because of their unfavorable climate.
Areas of cold climate-North Siberia, North Canada, Alaska etc. have low
density of population. Hot and arid regions of -Sahara, Kalahari Desert in
Africa, Great Australian Desert etc are not suitable for human settlement. In
tropical regions due to heavy rain and temperature, the density of population
is very low, example in Amazon basin population density is less than two
persons/sq. km. But places with favorable climate and favorable terrain,
have dense population and hence have compact settlement.

Facts related to earth’s climate

Scientists agree the Earth's climate is being directly affected by human
activity, and for many people around the world, these changes are
having negative effects. Records show that 11 of the last 12 years were
among the 12 warmest on record worldwide.

The just-released Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)

Summary for Policy Makers — the first volume of the IPCC's 4th
Assessment Report — states that scientists are more than 90% confident
that human industrial activity is driving global temperature rises.
Carbon dioxide levels today are nearly 30 percent higher than
they were prior to the start of the Industrial Revolution, based
on records extending back 650,000 years.

According to NASA, the polar ice cap is melting at the rate of 9

percent per decade. Arctic ice thickness has decreased 40
percent since the 1960s.

The current pace of sea-level

rise is three times the historical
rate and appears to be
accelerating.

The number of Category 4 and

5 hurricanes has almost
doubled in the last 30 years.
The IPCC 4th Assessment
Report said that this trend
would likely continue.

19
 Droughts in the Sahel during the 1970s and 1980s were found to be
caused by warmer sea surface temperatures, and the current drought in
the Amazon is suspected to be a result of rising ocean temperatures.

Poverty and food insecurity has also been tied to climate variability. A
recent publication shows that providing climate information to vulnerable
populations can improve — and even save — lives.

• Warmer surface temperatures over just a few months in the

Antarctic can splinter an ice shelf and prime it for a major collapse, NASA
and university scientists have reported. The process can be expected to
become more widespread if Antarctic summer temperatures increase.

Above: The Larsen B ice shelf, which was about the size of Rhode
Island, collapsed over a period of 35 days in 2000.

3) Soils
Fertile alluvial soils encourage dense population which in turn gives rise to
compact type of settlement. This is so because alluvial soils give rise to
agricultural activities. Java Islands of Indonesia has fertile soil of young
volcanic material and agriculture is an important activity, hence dense and
compact settlements are found here. Whereas in Sumatra, due to infertile
soil, the population density is very low.

4) Mineral Deposits
Mineral wealth is yet another factor responsible for population distribution
and density. The presence of coal and iron-ore in different parts of the world
has attracted huge population. Coal mining regions have become regions of
dense population for example, Jharkhand in India and gold mines in
Australian desert.

5) Water supply
Population distribution is very much affected by water supply. The earliest
settlements or civilizations developed on the banks of major rivers, example-
Nile, Indus, etc. Adequate water supply provides irrigation facilities to
farmers and hence population increases due to increase in primary activities.
In dry regions, population is concentrated in those areas where there is
water, hence nucleated- circular settlements are found.
Thus it can be said that the environment plays an important role in deciding
population distribution, density, settlement type and pattern.

20
The Industrial Revolution which provided mechanical power, invention of
steam engine and other machinery, greater use of metals etc gave them
opportunities to modify the environment. At the same time agriculture
provided abundant food so that they could settle down permanently. The
family grew in size and people migrated to different parts, via rail, road and
sea, because of improvement in transport system, example the new lands in
America and Australia were settled by people from Europe.
Another development which enabled humans to survive was the use of
preventive and cumulative steps taken to protect them from epidemics and
diseases-it increased the span of human life and reduced death rate.
With increase in the knowledge and skill and development of human
economy there was a gradual increase in carbon dioxide content. It is
estimated that carbon dioxide content has increased by 25% in last
100yrs and the global temperatures have risen between 0.3 degree
Celsius to 0.7 degree Celsius. Increase in carbon dioxide is attributed to
large scale deforestation and will lead to increase in sea level causing
submergence of coastal regions.
Burning of coal, oil and petroleum adds sulphur dioxide to the atmosphere.
Lead, carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide are added to the atmosphere
from automobile exhaust. These gases result in acid rain which affects
aquatic life, example acid rain in industrial regions of Europe and North
America.
Man's impact on environment has resulted in pollution of environment which
not only affects air, water and land but also organisms of biosphere. The
main points summing up the impact of man on environment are:

Air pollution-burning of fossil fuels in large quantities from jet

aircraft, CFCs used in aerosol spray cans, refrigerators and farm blowing are
responsible for depletion of ozone to 3-4% in last 100 years.

Water pollution- leakage of petroleum from huge ships and oil

tankers into the sea, causes oil slicks that spread rapidly over water and
spell disaster to marine life and to human depending on marine resources.
The leakage of 100000tons of crude oil near Spanish coast in 1976, leakage
of crude oil off Alaskan coast in 1989 are a few examples of the many such
incidents which tell the impact of negligence and failure of technology on
environment.

21
An important report
A report commissioned by the Marine Resource Conservation found that
the 6.4 million tons of trash and debris littering the Asia-Pacific oceans are
costing us roughly a billion dollars each year. The study, led by Alistair
McIlgorm of the National Marine Science Center, also found that despite
practices put in place to prevent the growth of this garbage pail, it continues
to grow.

McIlgorm estimates that about 80% of the total ocean pollutants are coming
from land based sources, more than half of it being plastic, but wood, rubber
and sanitary products heftily contributing as well.

"Poor landfill practices are big contributors to marine debris, especially

in Asia," said McIlgrom.

Year after year, the cost of this weighs on not only our planet and those who
are desperately attempting to clean up this mess, but on the fishing and
boat industries, who suffer from damages related to the debris.

"Whether they have to untangle plastic from a ship propellers or totally

replace an outboard - it's costing industries a lot," he said.

How did they get the $1 billion figure? The study used a Japanese economic
model, estimating damage caused by marine debris costing governments
close to 0.3 percent of their GDP annually. McIlgrom says this totals at
$1.265 billion across the 21 APEC economies. Australians have it bad as well,
with marine garbage costing them approximately $6.5 million each year.

22
These figures might seem outlandish, but are actually quite
conservative, as they don't factor in the total impact of marine
rubbish (you know, clean up, wildlife, tourism, development and the
like). Including these in the report would result in a much, much
higher cost.

McIlgrom also looked at the amount of ocean trash today versus 30 years
ago, and found astonishing differences. He speculates the cause of the
rubbish growth is sheer laziness, and perhaps, over-consumption.

"If you took the levels [of rubbish] in 1980 it was much less
than it is today, basically we've got lazy with our use of
plastics."

The reports claim this cost is absolutely avoidable, and recommends

governments refocus to implement proper landfill practices and prevent
trash from entering waterways, versus trying to control it once it arrives. This
would make more sense economically, considering 80% of the garbage is
coming from land.

"For every 100 units of rubbish that enter the ocean, 15

percent float on the surface, 15 percent collect in the water
column near the shore and the rest sinks to the bottom of the
deep ocean," said McIlgrom.

"Once debris enters the water and becomes diluted, it

becomes much more expensive per unit of rubbish to pick up."

One final suggestion from the study author is to place nets at the end of
stuaries, where rivers & streams meet the ocean, to act as a filter for any
garbage making its way down to the great blue sea.

The most widespread source of water pollution is disposal of

sewage of urban centers into rivers. The Ganga and Yamuna are
polluted in this way and the same rivers provide domestic water
supply as well. Ocean waters
are polluted by discharge of sewage from cities located along the
coast.

Land degradation- dumping of solid waste from urban

centers and waste materials from mining centers renders the land unsuitable
for any use. Surface run-off from such areas pollutes streams and ground
water seepage. Saline encrustation of irrigated lands is another example of
land degradation. In the semi-arid region, wind action causes deposition of

23
sand on a large scale over cultivated land rendering them unfit for
cultivation. This marks the beginning of the process of desertification.

Depletion of resources- population growth in the recent

past has resulted in rapid depletion
of all kinds of resources. The most
striking example of such resource
depletion is the food deficit faced
by about 100 countries of the
world.
Forest and soil resources are
getting depleted at a fast rate
owing to population pressure.
Tropical forests are depleting at a
rate of 2% per annum. It is
estimated that the world is losing
7% of top soil per decade.
Depletion of resources is most
significant in respect of non
renewable mineral and power
resources. The world is facing
energy crisis as existing oil
resources may last for a few decades. Though coal reserves are adequate for
a few centuries but it cannot replace oil, especially for transport.
Humans have come to realize that their economic activities are threatening
their survival on earth. Their survival depends on their realization that they
have to live in harmony with the various elements of environment which are
interconnected. An understanding of the components and processes which
take place in environment, the relationship between biotic and abiotic
components, and the assessment of resources with reference to need of
people in a region is essential for their survival.

Global warming
While the drastic effects of global warming has been discussed in many
scientific circles, had their run
on TV and even had major
exposure through well-
meaning (but sadly inaccurate)
Hollywood films, it's a concern
that has a broad political,
economic, social and
geographical significance to

24
countries all over the world. Quite literally, for all of us, there is nowhere to
hide, nowhere to run and we can't stop the climate from changing. It's just
way too big for us.

How to recognize global warming

Whether or not it's brewing something good or something bad, Nature

always tries to warn us through many signs. The slow process involved in
global warming results in many different things and some of its signs
include:

Melting of glaciers

Most of the mountain glaciers on our planet that have been monitored for
the past 150 years are reportedly shrinking. The glaciers most affected by
global warming those located in the lower latitudes and many of them are
disappearing. If glaciers continue to shrink, it could affect water supply in
areas that depend heavily upon mountain watersheds.

If the scenarios of global warming continue, most of the glaciers that still
stand today will disappear by 2100.

Ocean warming

Sea level increase is attributed to warmer temperatures, which in turn result

to the melting of ice glaciers. Over the last 100 years, sea level has
increased from 10 cm to 25 cm. Projections over the next hundred years
indicate that sea level will rise
higher, from about 15 cm to 90
cm. Based on the higher figure,
that's about 3 feet.

Translated, this could mean that

beaches lose about 50 feet of
area for every foot of increase in
sea level. Some islands may even
disappear beneath seawater
completely.

Heat waves

Heat waves and periods of weather that are unusually warm are also signs of
global warming. These may come about with varying degrees of their
severity and frequency, causing concerns in the economics and health on a
global scale.

25
How global warming brings climate change and what it means to us

The earth's climate has always been changing, although not at an abrupt
rate. There had been periods of warming and cooling in the earth's 4.65
billion-year history. Strange as it may sound to some, this is the reason why
life became possible on this planet millions of years ago.

Unfortunately, not all of the changes in climate brought about by global

warming may be beneficial to many of us.

For one, global warming will raise the temperatures in some regions of the
Northern Hemisphere, causing the melting of mountain glaciers. This means
that areas that are currently experiencing light snow may no longer
experience snowfall anymore. Snowlines found in mountains in temperate
regions may also be higher and packs of snow will melt earlier than before.

EARTH AS A SYSTEM
The fact that the Earth behaves as a single, interlinked, self-regulating
system was put into dramatic focus in 1999 with the publication of the
420,000-year record from the ice core (Fig. 1). These data, arguably among
the most important produced by the scientific community in the 20th
century, provide a powerful temporal context and dramatic visual evidence
for an integrated planetary environmental system.

• The temporal dynamics of global temperature and of the global

carbon cycle, as represented by the atmospheric concentration of the
trace gases carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4), are tightly
coupled and show very similar patterns throughout the record.
• The main maxima and minima of temperature and atmospheric
trace gas concentration follow a regular pattern through time, each
cycle spanning approximately100, 000 years;
• The range over which temperature and trace gas concentrations
varied is bounded at upper and lower limits; the values fall recurrently
within the same envelope through four cycles of the Earth System over
the last half million years.

This systemic behavior of Earth’s environment is due to a combination of

external forcing – primarily variations in solar radiation levels near the
Earth’s surface – and a large and complex array of feedbacks and forgings
within Earth’s environment itself. The internal dynamics of the System,
rather than external forgings, undoubtedly keep the planet habitable for life.

26
For example, without the thin layer of ozone in the upper atmosphere, much
more harmful ultraviolet radiation would penetrate to the Earth’s surface;
and without the thin layer of heat-absorbing greenhouse gases in the lower
atmosphere, the planet’s mean surface temperature would be about 33 °C
lower than it is now.

NON-LINEARITIES, SURPRISES AND

THRESHOLDS
Because human societies have developed and flourished over a very short
period of time from an Earth System perspective, and because the period of
instrumental observation and modern scientific enquiry is even shorter, a
narrow view of the Earth’s environment has developed. The notion that a
single stable equilibrium is the natural state of Earth’s environment is not
supported by observations of past global changes. The behavior of the Earth
System is typified not by stable equilibriums, but by strong nonlinearities,
where relatively small changes in a forcing function can push the system
across a threshold and lead to abrupt changes in key aspects of System
functioning. Examples include the rapidity of glacial terminations, the
exceptionally rapid warming
and cooling events in the
North Atlantic region, mega-
droughts and other extreme
events, and the ‘browning of
the Sahara’ (Box 2).

More specifically, the palaeo-

record shows that:

27
• Major switches in Earth System functioning occurred on much shorter
timescales than the glacial/interglacial cycles;

The recorded changes were often rapid and of high amplitude; in some cases
temperature over large regions changed by up to 10 oC in a decade or less;
• Although major, abrupt transitions, reflecting reorganization of the Earth
System, are most evident in predominantly cold, glacial periods, they are not
absent in the last 12,000 years, especially in lower latitudes;
• The changes demonstrate widespread spatial coherence, but are not
always globally synchronous;
• Complex inter-hemispheric leads and lags occur that require feedback
mechanisms for amplifying and propagating changes in both space and time.

The potential for abrupt change is a characteristic that is extremely

important for understanding the nature of the Earth System. The existence of
such changes has been convincingly demonstrated by palaeo-evidence
accumulated during the past decade.

28
29
HUMAN ACTIVITIES
Traffic in all over the world is increasing day by
day causing drastic effects on the environment
of the earth.
CO2 and other dangerous gases are destroying
the earth’s environment badly and many other
facts related to lands problems like
defertilization and barron land.

DEFORESTRATION
ISLAMABAD (December 04 2007): Deforestation rate in Pakistan,
estimated at 0.2 per cent to 0.5 per cent annually, is the highest in
the world, which accounts for a 4-6 per cent decline in its wood
biomass per annum. The total natural forest cover has reduced from
3.59 million hectares to 3.32 million hectares at an average rate of
27,000 hectares annually.

The decline in natural forests is attributed greatly to the dependence of a

major proportion of rural population for fuel and construction on wood. The
natural resource is decreasing at such an alarming speed that all the forest
area will be consumed within the next 15 years.

Three sectors consume wood in Pakistan i.e. domestic rural use, industrial
sector and commercial establishments. In this regard, the household sector
has emerged as the largest consumer with 81.8 percent followed by
industrial entrepreneurs 14.9 percent and the commercial sector 3.3 percent.
The annual wood consumption in Pakistan is 43.761 million meters against

30
the annual forest growth of 14.4 million cubic meters. So, it has to suffer a
loss of 29.361million cubic meters per annum.

The unchecked cutting of trees has resulted in rapid deforestation and now
the forest cover is less than 5 per cent. With one of the highest rates of
deforestation in the world, Pakistan's forests are in urgent need of protection
and conservation. The major threat to Pakistan 's forests is uncontrolled and
unsustainable cutting for living purposes and timber products. There is dire
need to find out alternate and sustainable livelihood methods to ease
pressures on this precious natural resource.

From about the mid-1800s, the planet has experienced an unprecedented

rate of change of destruction of forests worldwide. Forests in Europe are
adversely affected by acid rain and very large
areas of Siberia have been harvested since the
collapse of the Soviet Union. In the last two
decades, Afghanistan has lost over 70% of its
forests throughout the country. However, it is
in the world's great tropical rainforests where
the destruction is most pronounced at the
current time and where wholesale felling is
having an adverse effect on biodiversity and
contributing to the ongoing Holocene mass
extinction.
'For a long time people thought that plants in
the North were taking up most of this CO2. But people looking for evidence
of that carbon sink haven't found it.' explains Britt. 'One of our conclusions is
that the reason they can't find it is because it's not actually there.'Although
tropical forests are still emitting a small amount of CO2 overall, this is

31
because enormous amounts of carbon are being released by deforestation.
The areas of intact forest are actually really efficient CO2 scrubbers.

Tropical deforestation releases hundreds of millions of tonnes of CO2 into the

atmosphere every year as shown in the figure.

GREEN HOUSE EFFECT

The greenhouse effect has to do with the sun’s heat. But it rests on changes
in the Earth’s atmosphere, rather than changes in the sun. The sun’s heat
and light pass through the atmosphere. Changes in the atmosphere can
affect them.

We live in a global greenhouse.

Earth’s atmosphere acts like the
greenhouse roof. Heat and light
from the sun pass freely through
the atmosphere. Then it gives off
heat in the form of infrared rays
and holds the heat, rather than
letting it escape into space. It
reduces the change in
temperature between day and
night, summer and winter. The
heat rays of the sun penetrate the air and warm the Earth’s surface during
the day. The overlying atmosphere traps this heat so that it escapes more
slowly into space, moderating the cold of night. For this reason, the Earth is
much warmer than it would be without the greenhouse effect of the
atmosphere.

32
The Earth is surrounded by a blanket of invisible gases such as water vapor,
and carbon dioxide that cause the atmosphere to act just like a greenhouse.
The sun shines in, and the blanket of gases traps the heat keeping it close to
the planet and keeping the surface of the planet warm.

A change in the amount of carbon dioxide would certainly affect Earth’s

climate. In fact it is possible that an increase is causing the present warming
up of the climate.

Factories, electric power plants, and cars are producing carbon dioxide faster
than it can be taken up by the oceans or plants. These added gases are,
therefore, capable of trapping more and more of the sun’s heat.

If the Earth’s temperature gets hotter by just a few degrees, it could change
the weather all over the planet in big ways. Places that grow most of our
food could get too hot to grow crops anymore.

THE OZONE LAYER DEPLETION

Up in the sky, above the air we breathe, there’s a layer called the
stratosphere. Ozone is produced in the stratosphere by the action of
ultraviolet light on oxygen. It helps us by blocking out rays from the sun that
can harm our skin, and by letting the rays that are good for us from
unwanted amounts of radiation.

Now the ozone layer is being

diminished at the poles by gases
that people have made. The
gases are called chloro
fluorocarbons or CFC’s, and
halons. They are used in
refrigerators, fire extinguishers,
air conditioners, plastic, and other
things.

A black hole is shown.

The CFC’s are not easily

destroyed in the troposphere and,
therefore, make their way up to
the stratosphere where the layer of ozone is and react to destroy the ozone.
Scientists are concerned about the ozone layer, because a lot of it has gone
away in just a few years.

33
Stability is what makes CFC’s a threat. Chemicals which contain fluorine and
chlorine may resist breakdown for decades. Eventually, they drift into the
stratosphere, some 10 to 32 kilometers, or 6 to 20 miles above the Earth.
There the sun’s unfiltered ultraviolet rays destroy CFC molecules, releasing
the chemicals chlorine atoms.

The release of chlorine, in turn, triggers a more threatening reaction.

Chlorine atoms can catalyze the destruction of 100,000 molecules of ozone.
If uncontrolled, it is predicted that CFC’s could destroy a significant part of
the vital ozone layer in a hundred years. For this reason we have virtually
stopped production of the persistent CFC’s.

At ground level, ozone is the major pollutant and health threat. But in the
stratosphere, it protects us by absorbing the sun’s ultraviolet rays. Unfiltered
by ozone, those rays could seriously damage animals and plants. Without the
ozone layer, life itself may not be possible.

AIR PULLUTION
Pollution can affect climate. As a result of
air pollution, the atmosphere has more
haze and more clouds than it once had.
The large amount of condensation nuclei
added to the atmosphere by smoke
probably causes some of the haze and
clouds. Water vapor and clouds can affect
the climate of the Earth in different ways.
Clouds reflect radiant heat from the sun back into space, producing a
warmer climate.

Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has an important effect upon climate.

Radiant heat from the sun readily passes
through the atmosphere on the way to
the Earth’s surface. When the Earth
reradiates this heat back toward space,
the carbon dioxide acts like the glass of a
greenhouse to prevent the heat from
escaping.

A small increase in the amount of carbon

dioxide in the atmosphere could raise the
Earth’s temperature to melt the polar ice
caps. The water released could raise the level of the oceans by as much as
sixty feet, flooding many coastal areas. Billions of tons of carbon dioxide are
produced by respiration in animals and by combustion of coal and oil each

34
year. The carbon dioxide may stay in the atmosphere for several years
before it is absorbed by ocean organisms or green plants and converted back
into carbon compounds and oxygen.

The most common and widespread pollutants currently emitted by human

activities are sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, carbon
dioxide, volatile organic compounds, particulates or tiny solid particles or
liquid droplets, and lead. In addition, dozens of toxic chemicals are
commonly found in the air surrounding urban areas.

Air pollution, damage to living organisms, and global climate change are
complex and diverse problems. Yet they all share a common root called
energy consumption. To slow damage to plants and animals and to avoid
destructive climate, change will require fundamental changes in energy
policy.

This image, which was captured by NASA's Sea-Viewing Wide Field-

of-View Sensor (i.e. SeaWiFS),
dates back to January 2, 2000; it
shows a layer of polluted air
covering a large portion of
southeastern China. The increased
use of fossil fuels is largely to
blame for the opaque haze. Given
that China now tops the U.S. in
total greenhouse gas emissions,
just imagine what a satellite
picture of the region would look
like now.

ACID DEPOSTION
Acidic fallout has become one of the damaging and controversial forms of air
pollution in the industrialized world. Acid deposition are sulfur and nitrogen
oxides released from electrical power plants, industrial boilers, mineral
smelting plants, and motor vehicles that burn fossil fuels. Sulfur and nitrogen
oxides combine with moisture in the atmosphere and return to earth as
sulfuric and nitric acids.

A good example is the result of the Persian Gulf War. More than 500 Kuwait
oil wells were on fire, spreading sulfureous gases and toxic particles over a
vast region extending from Turkey in the north to Iran in the east. The air
pollution has produced black rain, a vile greasy precipitation laden with
sulfuric acid and petroleum compounds. Black rain has been reported in

35
Adana, Turkey; in Baghdad, Iraq; and in Busheler, Iran. Environmentalists
fear that the black rain could fall, affecting millions of people dependent on
that food.

The effects of acid fallout can be seen throughout ecosystems. Acid

deposition damages leaf surfaces, preventing some tree species from
retaining water. Acidic water can leach minerals such as calcium,
magnesium, and potassium from leaves and from the soil, which can
damage tree roots, block nutrient absorption and impair water transport
making trees more susceptible to drought, insects and other sources of
stress.

Acidified water itself can kill many of the fresh water fingerlings and larvae.
That disrupts the food chain. In saltwater, nitrates from acid deposition can
boost the nitrogen content of coastal estuaries, creating algae blooms that
cause oxygen depletion and the suffocation of fish and other aquatic plants.

We are learning that

pollutants in the
atmosphere can be
very damaging. Soot
and smoke particles
washed from the air
by rain may blacken
and discolor
buildings. Sulfur
oxides from the
combustion of coal
combine with
rainwater to make
sulfuric acid, which
can peel paint, rust
bridges, and slowly
eat away stone monuments and stone buildings. Atmospheric pollutants can
also harm crops and people.

Certain weather conditions can bottle up pollutants in a small area, with

disastrous effects. In 1948 an atmospheric condition called a “temperature
inversion” caused tragedy to Donora, Pennsylvania. The first air pollution
episode in the United States. A layer of warm air slid into the valley between
the cool air on the ground and the cold air above. Cooler air above, could not
rise into the layer of warm air, but instead was trapped into the valley.
Exhaust fumes, smoke and gases from autos, trains, steel mills, and other
industries poured into the trapped air until they shut out the sun. People with
respiratory diseases were struck down by the burning atmosphere. Before a

36
wind blew away the inversion layer and cleared the air four days later, over
one-third of the population became seriously ill, and twenty people died.

37
NUCLEAR EFFECTS
SAN FRANCISCO — A small-scale, regional
nuclear war could disrupt the global climate for a
decade or more, with environmental effects that
could be devastating for everyone on Earth,
researchers have concluded.

The scientists said about 40

countries possess enough
plutonium or uranium to
construct substantial nuclear
arsenals. Setting off a Hiroshima-
size weapon could cause as many
direct fatalities as all of World War
II.

"Considering the relatively small number and size of the weapons, the
effects are surprisingly large," said one of the researchers, Richard Turco of
the University of California, Los Angeles. "The potential devastation
would be catastrophic and long-term."

The physiological effects to

humans from the atomic
bombings of Hiroshima and
Nagasaki are directly related to
the distance individuals were
from the hypocenters of the
bombs at the time of the attacks.
Figure 1 is a graph comparing
casualties based upon varying
distances from the Hiroshima
hypocenter.
Individuals located at or near the
hypocenters of the explosions
were subject to detrimental
thermal and blast rays and
received radiation doses
incompatible with life (10 Sv or
more). More than 90% of all individuals located at or near the hypocenters
perished. Those receiving dosages around 3 Sv died within approximately 60
days; these individuals were located from 2.7 to 3.1 m distance from the
hypocenters or were in their homes within 1 km of the hypocenters (RERF,
2006). People located beyond 2 km from the hypocenters received 0.1 Sv
and effects at this point are not considered acute. At distances greater than

38
3 km from the hypocenters, radiation dosages approximated 0.002 Sv. This
would be about the same amount of radiation an average person would be
exposed to in a year.
SAVE THE EARTH SAVE LIFE

Saving earth is everyone's responsibility. The damages done to the earth

resources have to be slowed-down and eventually stop if we want our
children and grand-children to enjoy a healthy outdoor life like we can.

The big polluters have been pointed and rules and regulations to diminish
the toxic gas emissions have been put into place. Manufacturers are now
targeted to ensure they lower their pollution production.

Although this is a small step in the right

direction, more needs to be done to slow
down and eventually stop the wastes of
our natural resources. Such solutions as
walking instead of taking the car for
small travels are a good and healthy
start. Other measures such as not letting
the purified water run aimlessly or better
isolation of a house to lower the fuel
consumption to heat it are all small steps
that have the power to make a difference
in the long run.

Other measures such as only washing

the dishes or the laundry for full loads
can on the long run greatly reduce the
exploitation of earth's resources.

Saving the earth can also be done in your own backyard. Hence, when
mowing the lawn, it has been proven that by leaving the cut grass, you are
saving a lot on fertilizers and you have greatly diminishing the quantity of
waist you are producing. The other great benefit from not picking-up the cut
grass is the time saving you can enjoy. Cut grass when left in place has the
power to give back to the earth powerful and natural nutrients and a good
load of natural water.

Saving the earth's resources by leaving the cut grass in place will actually
give you a greener grass from the nutrients your lawn is getting back. It will
also reduce or eliminate your needs for polluting pesticides and fertilizers.

39
After 48 hours of being cut, most of the grass will have returned to earth,
this time can be faster in case of rainy weather. It has been calculated that
when thrown away, grass clipping residues can account for as much as 24%
of the yearly domestic trash production.

Other tricks and tips to get a greener more ecological grass include: Use a
mulching land mower, have a sharp blade, cut your grass frequently but not
too short. Short grass is said to favor the growth of weeds and has the power
to attract more insects.

Wildlife is disappearing at an alarming rate. The animals on this planet have

no voice. It's up to us to make the changes. But we must act now.

We are all affected by the environment and the issues that surround us. You
don't have to save the world, but we can all do something. It can be as
simple as changing the type of light bulb through out your house. Find small
ways to make a difference today and we can all live better tomorrow.

SOLUTION TO GLOBAL WARMING

Are corn husks better than corn for producing energy? Ethanol is the
alternative fuel that could finally wean the U.S. from its expensive oil habit
and in turn prevent the millions of tons of carbon emissions that go with it.
The Department of Energy has doubled its 2005 commitment to funding
research into biofuels—any non-petroleum fuel source, including corn,
soybean, switch grass, municipal waste and (ick) used cooking oil. Already,
half of the nearly 11 billion bushels of corn produced each year is turned into
ethanol, and most new cars are capable of running on E10 (10% ethanol and
90% gas).

Yet the eco-friendly fuel is beginning to look less chummy of late. Some of
the 114-ethanol plants in the U.S. use natural gas and, yes, even coal to run
the processors. And ethanol has to be trucked. Existing gas pipelines can't
carry it because it corrodes iron. Then there are the economics. Producers
depend on federal subsidies, and increasing demand for corn as fuel means
the kernels keep getting pricier.

That's why researchers are prospecting for more alternatives, preferably

ones that don't rely on food crops or a 51 cents-per-gallon tax break.
Municipal waste, wood pulp and leftover grain and cornhusks are all quite
attractive; they can produce something called cellulosic ethanol, which
contains more energy than corn. But they don't give up their bounty easily,
so for now they're more expensive than corn-based ethanol to produce.
Undeterred, researchers at several cellulosic-ethanol plants are developing
innovative enzyme concoctions and heating methods to make the process

40
more economic. Nothing like haste to make something out of
waste.

If you are thinking 1 year ahead, sow seeds.

If you are thinking 10 years ahead, plant a tree.
If you are thinking 100 years ahead, educate the people.
EXTINCTION IS FOREVER
There are No second chances
The chilling words Extinction is Forever
surrounds a close-up of a tiger.
Every 20 minutes, one species is pushed to
extinction as more than 1,200 acres of forest
are destroyed. At the same time, more than
180,000 tons of carbon dioxide is released into
the atmosphere. Protecting and restoring
forests is a key solution to climate change
and is vital to the survival of all life on earth.
Get the message across that there are no second chances.
FLORIDA PANTHER
Only 80 to 100 panthers still remain in Florida,
making this one of the most rare and
endangered mammals in the world.
Landmark panther protection program announced.
A coalition of leading conservation organizations and
landowners in Eastern Collier County announced a Florida
Panther Protection Program they have jointly developed to
better protect and manage the Florida panther in
Southwest Florida and to assist the recovery of this
endangered species.

"We hope this effort to protect the panther through a

scientifically sound program that meets diverse interests
will inspire initiatives throughout the region. We have
worked hard together for an innovative plan that could set

41
this rare and extraordinary cat, Florida's state animal, on a path toward
recovery."

New Hope For Sumatra's Elephants And Tigers As Indonesia

Doubles Size Of Key National Park
News and updates on enviromnental issues
Jakarta, Indonesia, August 28, 2008 - World Wildlife Fund (WWF) hailed
today's commitment by the government of Indonesia to more than double
the size of Sumatra's Tesso Nilo National Park, one of the last havens for
endangered Sumatran elephants and critically endangered Sumatran tigers.

Tesso Nilo National Park was created in 2004 but only

94,000 acres of forest were included. With today's
declaration, the government of Indonesia will extend the
national park into 213,000 acres by December 2008 and
integrate an additional 47,000 acres into the national park
management area of 250,000 acres.

The wolf is to be delisted. This can spell disaster once again

for the North American wolves.

CONCLUSION
What can you do?
We Can Make a Difference
Climate change may be a big problem, but there are many little things we
can do to make a difference. If we try, most of us can do our part to reduce
the amount of greenhouse gases that we put into the atmosphere. Many
greenhouse gases come from things we do every day. As we have learned,
these greenhouse gases trap energy in the atmosphere and make the Earth
warmer.
The Stop Global Warming calculator shows you how much carbon dioxide
you can prevent from being released into
the atmosphere and how much money you
can save by making some small changes in
your daily life. It’s our hope that the
calculator will promote action , awareness
and empowerment by showing you that
one person can make a difference and
help stop global warming.

42
There are many simple things you can do in your daily life — what you eat,
what you drive, how you build your home — that can have an effect on your
immediate surrounding, and on places as far away as Antarctica. Here is a
list of few things that you can do to make a difference.

REFERENCES
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth
2. http://issues.tigweb.org/environment?gclid=CNi9yJXP-54CFY0vpAodx1Iz2w
3. http://www.aag.org/hdgc/Hands_On.html
4. http://www.aag.org/hdgc/Hands_On.html
5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Structure_of_the_Earth
6. http://www.eoearth.org/article/Evolution_of_the_human-environment_relationship
7. http://www.icr.org/article/3233/
8. http://www.igbp.kva.se/page.php?pid=504
9. http://www.igbp.net/documents/IGBP_ExecSummary.pdf
10. Earthconcern.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/air-...
11. www.dec.ny.gov/images/air_images/acidrain.gif
12. Nksandeep.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/defores...
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14. http://images.google.com.pk/imgres?
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UIKLJTKGX8ZdfU=&h=338&w=520&sz=46&hl=en&start=13&um=1&tbnid=wR6JPv
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%26sa%3DX%26um%3D1
15. http://images.google.com.pk/imgres?
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_zVlnXsFz3YxemL2_38rnvy8gm-
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%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den
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17. www.chillyoislamyo.com/.../02/global-warming.jpg
18. http://images.google.com.pk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.chillyoislamyo.com/wp-
content/uploads/2008/02/global-
warming.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.chillyoislamyo.com/save-the-
earth/&usg=__cLsvhw05tTiaWZx3vQyUcX6a7Sk=&h=500&w=406&sz=67&hl=en&st
art=37&tbnid=fISDl0kqOAqPMM:&tbnh=130&tbnw=106&prev=/images%3Fq
%3Dsave%2Bearth%2Bsave%2Blife%26gbv%3D2%26ndsp%3D20%26hl%3Den%26sa
%3DN%26start%3D20
19. www.deliverfreedom.com/blog/wp-content/upload...

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 20. http://images.google.com.pk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.deliverfreedom.com/blog/wp-
content/uploads/2008/09/for-green-signature-
253x300.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.deliverfreedom.com/blog/tag/going-
green/&usg=__sEwF97TIkPkRrujKaq1aB0nfUr8=&h=300&w=253&sz=13&hl=en&star
t=13&um=1&tbnid=_wzyuKwKkU4x8M:&tbnh=116&tbnw=98&prev=/images%3Fq
%3DSAVE%2BEARTH%2BSAVE%2BLIFE%26hl%3Den%26um%3D1
21. http://www.pakissan.com/english/news/newsDetail.php?newsid=15697
22. http://www.stopearthdestruction.com/acid-rain-1.html
23. http://www.stopearthdestruction.com/save-earth-1.html
24. http://www.stopearthdestruction.com/save-earth-1.html
25. http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1991/6/91.06.04.x.html

BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. "Past Climate Change". U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/science/pastcc.html. Retrieved 2007-01-07.
2. Hugh Anderson, Bernard Walter (March 28, 1997). "History of Climate Change". NASA.
http://web.archive.org/web/20080123130745/http://vathena.arc.nasa.gov/curric/land/glob
al/climchng.html. Retrieved 2007-01-07.
3. Weart, Spencer (June 2006). "The Discovery of Global Warming". American Institute of
Physics. http://www.aip.org/history/climate/. Retrieved 2007-01-07.
4. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Retrieved August 2008.
5. Kyoto Protocol from United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change,
Retrieved August 2008.
6. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/12/051205163236.htm
7. Robert W. Christopherson (1996). Geosystems: An Introduction to Physical Geography.
Prentice Hall Inc.
8. Odum EP (1971) Fundamentals of ecology, third edition, Saunders New York
9. http://images.google.com.pk/imgres?
imgurl=http://www.martinfrost.ws/htmlfiles/april2008/deforestation1.jpg&imgrefurl=http
://www.martinfrost.ws/htmlfiles/april2008/deforestation.html&usg=__5xgqsb6ZmCTE5
UIKLJTKGX8ZdfU=&h=338&w=520&sz=46&hl=en&start=13&um=1&tbnid=wR6JPv
7ctKkDVM:&tbnh=85&tbnw=131&prev=/images%3Fq%3Ddeforestation%26hl%3Den
%26sa%3DX%26um%3D1
10. By International Astronomical Union convention, the term "Terra" is used for naming extensive
land masses, rather than for the planet Earth. Cf. Blue, Jennifer (2007-07-05). "Descriptor Terms
(Feature Types)". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS.
http://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/jsp/append5.jsp. Retrieved 2007-07-05.

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GLOSSARY
Abiotic : Nonliving: The abiotic factors of the environment include light,
temperature, and atmospheric gases.
Aerobic organism: An aerobic organism or aerobe is an organism that can
survive and grow in an oxygenated environment.
Air :The gaseous mass or envelope surrounding a celestial body, especially
the one surrounding the earth, and retained by the celestial body's
gravitational field.
Asthenophere : A zone of the earth's mantle that lies beneath the
lithosphere and consists of several hundred kilometers of deformable
rock.
Atmosphere: The gaseous mass or envelope surrounding a celestial
body, especially the one surrounding the earth, and retained by the
celestial body's gravitational field.
Aerosol : gaseous suspension of fine solid or liquid particles.
Biosphere : The part of the earth and its atmosphere in which living
organisms exist or that is capable of supporting life.
Biodiversity : The variability among living organisms on the earth, including
the variability within and between species and within and between
ecosystems.
Colony : A localized population of individuals of the same species which are
living either attached or separately.
CFC: Chlorofluoro carbons.
Climate : The meteorological conditions, including temperature,
precipitation, and wind, that characteristically prevail in a particular region.
Deforestation: The act or process of removing trees from or clearing a
forest.
Ecosystem : An ecological community together with its environment,
functioning as a unit.
Evolution : A gradual process in which something changes into a different
and usually more complex or better form.

45
Eukaryote : A single-celled or multicellular organism whose cells contain a
distinct membrane-bound nucleus.
Environment : The circumstances or conditions that surround one;
surroundings.
Electric charge: Quantity of electricity that flows in electric currents or that
accumulates on the surfaces of dissimilar nonmetallic substances that are
rubbed together briskly.
Food Chain: A succession of organisms in an ecological community that
constitutes a continuation of food energy from one organism to another as
each consumes a lower member and in turn is preyed upon by a higher
member.
Gravity : The natural force of attraction exerted by a celestial body, such as
Earth, upon objects at or near its surface, tending to draw them toward the
center of the body.
Inner core: The central part of the earth's core, extending from a depth of
3160 miles (5100 kilometers) to the center of the earth. Also known as
siderosphere.
IGBP: The International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP) is a
research programme that studies the phenomenon of global change.
IPCC: Intergovernmental penal of climate change.
Lithosphere : The outer part of the earth, consisting of the crust and upper
mantle, approximately 100 km (62 mi.) thick.
Mantle: The layer of the earth between the crust and the core.
NASA: National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Independent
U.S. government agency established in 1958 for research and development
of vehicles and activities for aeronautics and space exploration.
Outer core: The outer or upper zone of the earth's core, extending to a
depth of 3160 miles (5100 kilometers), and including the transition zone.
Ozone Layer: A region of the upper atmosphere, between about 15 and 30
kilometers (10 and 20 miles) in altitude, containing a relatively high
concentration of ozone that absorbs solar ultraviolet radiation in a
wavelength range not screened by other atmospheric components. Also
called ozonosphere.
Photosynthesis : The process in green plants and certain other organisms
by which carbohydrates are synthesized from carbon dioxide and water
using light as an energy source.
Planet: A celestial body that orbits the sun, has sufficient mass to assume
nearly a round shape, clears out dust and debris from the neighborhood
around its orbit, and is not a satellite of another planet.
Plutonium : A naturally radioactive, silvery, metallic transuranic element,
occurring in uranium ores and produced artificially by neutron bombardment
of uranium.
Rheology : The study of the deformation and flow of matter.
Seismic waves: Vibration generated by an earthquake, explosion, or
similar phenomenon and propagated within the Earth or along its surface.

46
Species: A class of individuals or objects grouped by virtue of their common
attributes and assigned a common name; a division subordinate to a genus.
Solar system : The sun together with the eight planets and all other
celestial bodies that orbit the sun.
Stratosphere: The region of the atmosphere above the troposphere and
below the mesosphere.
Sun : A star that is the center of a planetary system.
Tectonic plates: Any one of the internally rigid crustal blocks of the
lithosphere which move horizontally across the earth's surface relative to
one another. Also known as crustal plate.
Terra : A rough upland or mountainous region of the moon with a relatively
high albedo.
Tropical region: Any portion of the earth characterized by a tropical
climate.
Ultravoilet Radiations: Electromagnetic radiation in the wavelength range
4-400 nanometers;
Uranium : A heavy silvery-white metallic element, radioactive and toxic,
easily oxidized, and having 14 known isotopes of which U 238 is the most
abundant in nature.

47