1

1

Environmental Science

Air Pollution
Global climate
change
Stratospheric ozone
depletion
Urban air pollution
Acid deposition
Outdoor pollutants
Indoor pollutants
Noise
Biodiversity
Depletion
Habitat destruction
Habitat degradation
Extinction
Water Pollution
Sediment
Nutrient
overload
Toxic chemicals
Infectious
agents
Oxygen
depletion
Pesticides
Oil spills
Excess heat
Major
Environmental
Problems
Environment
Environment can be defined as our surroundings
Environment has three domains
1. Gaseous air (atmosphere)
2. Liquid water (hydrosphere)
3. Solid Land

These three domains meet at a common interface on
the surface of the Earth. This interface, a shallow life
bearing layer is the biosphere.
Atmosphere
The earths atmosphere is an envelope of gases
extending upto 2000feet above the normal ground
level.
The gases includes
1. Nitrogen
2. Oxygen
3. Carbon dioxide
4. Carbon mono oxide etc. and lie
amount of water


The atmosphere protects the earth biosphere by
absorbing a electromagnetic radiation & cosmic rays.
Atmosphere
Layers of atmosphere
1. Troposphere: Lower portion of atmosphere is
called troposphere. Contain gases & little water
vapours.
2. Stratosphere: Layer above troposphere is
Stratosphere. Contain ozone molecules and
absorbs suns ultraviolet radiations.
3. Mesosphere: Contain very little ozone that
absorbs ultraviolet radiations.
4. Thermosphere: Here atmospheric gases such
as oxygen & nitric oxide split into atoms &
absorbs solar radiations.
5. Exosphere: The outer most layer is called
exosphere.
Hydrosphere
All types of water resources oceans, rivers, lakes,
ponds, polar ice, glaciers, ground water and water
vapours are collectively called hydrosphere.
1. Hydrosphere is an important part of earth's
surface.
2. About 70% of the earths surface covered with
water. Hydrosphere maintains availability of
fresh water to the biosphere through
hydrological cycle.
3. Hydrological cycle or Water cycle includes
evaporation of water from all water resources,
then cloud formation, then precipitation, and
rain.

Portion of different types of water
Ocean 97.390
Rivers & Lakes 00.020
Vapours in atmosphere 00.001
Glaciers & Polar ice 02.010
Underground water & soil
moisture
00.580
Hydrospheric fresh water 02.601
Biosphere
Life on earth occupies a thin skin extending more than
a few kilometer below and above its surface. This is
commonaly known as Biosphere.
The existence of life on earth is dependent on biosphere
because it contains all the essential life support system for
all the livings.


The study of the relationship between
organisms and between the organisms and
the environment. The structural and
functional unit of ecology is known as
ecosystem
Abiotic components (non living) these include
inorganic and organic components present in the
environment in inorganic components such as
oxygen, carbon dioxide, water, minerals. Organic
components includes protein, carbohydrates, amino
acids etc.
Biotic substances (living) plants and animals termed
as biotic components

Types of ecosystem
The biosphere includes four major types of habitats
namely
Marine ecosystem: All the saline water reservoirs on earth
such as sea, oceans and estuaries with there characteristic
biome for ecosystem.
Freshwater ecosystem: ponds, streams, rivers and lakes
along with there flora and fauna form the freshwater
ecosystem.
Terrestrial ecosystem: includes dessert ecosystem,
grassland ecosystem, tree ecosystem, crops fields, forest
ecosystem etc.
Man-engineered ecosystem: agriculture and aquaculture
systems are man-engineered ecosystem such as
producers, consumers (herbivores and carnivores).

Functional components of an ecosystem
Biodiversity.
Productivity (primary and secondary).
Food chains and food webs
Materials cycling and energy flow
Balance of nature and
Succession and evolution of ecosystems.
Biodiversity
The diversity of species is the least at the poles and
increase progressively toward the tropics.
Diversity decreases due to stress, both natural and
man-made. The greater the diversity, the better is the
ecosystem.
There are about 2, 89,100 species of plants and fungi
and 10,53,800 species of animals presently know to
scientists.
Productivity
The rate of primary production depends upon :-
1. Availability of solar energy and
2. Amount of energy expenditure by respiration and other
maintenance processes.


Productivity are of two types
1. Primary productivity
2. Secondary productivity
The rate of food production in unit time on a unit area
is known as productivity.
Green plants contain chlorophyll with the help of which they
convert solar energy into chemical energy (carbohydrates) is
the Gross Primary Production (GPP).

Secondary Productivity
Secondary Productivity is the net quantity of energy
transferred and stored in the reproductive and non-
reproductive tissues of heterotrophs overs fixed period
of time.
Heterotrophs include all herbivores, carnivores and
decomposer. Since heterotrophs depend upon
autotrophs for food, the secondary productivity directly
depends upon primary productivity.
Secondary productivity also depends upon temperature,
ecological and physiological factors and also on the
body size of the heterotroph.
Flow Chart showing movement of food &
energy in a food chain
Plant
Herbivores
Carnivore -1
Carnivore - 2
Decomposed by bacteria
and fungus
Eaten by
Eaten by
Eaten by
After death
Direction of movement of food
From one organism to other
Food chains and food webs
The food chains in the ecosystem help to maintain:
The biodiversity of nature.
The feeding relationship of nature.
Flow of energy of the ecosystem.
Passage of nutrients from one organism to another.
In the ecosystem number of food chains operate
simultaneously. These food chains are inter-linked
with one another to form a food web. For example
plant may be food for any herbivore or carnivorous
such as human beings.
Materials cycling and energy flow
It is clear from the food chains that the solar energy
which converted by the autotrophs to chemical
energy as carbohydrates, fats and proteins is
transferred to herbivores then to different
carnivores and finally to the decomposer level.
Decomposer ( bacteria, fungi etc. ) break it into a
simpler form which is used as nutrients by the
autotrophs.
Materials cycling and energy flow
Decomposition Decomposition Decomposition
Autotrophs herbivores Carnivores
Energy loss in
respiration
-----------------
Energy utilized
Reflected
Incoming
Solar Energy
Energy loss in
respiration
-----------------
Utilized Energy
Energy loss in
respiration
-----------------
Utilized Energy
Natural resources
Renewable resources like sunlight cannot be depleted.
Nonrenewable resources like oil CAN be depleted.
Resources like timber and clean water are renewable only
if we do not overuse them.
Figure 1.1
Three ethical worldviews
Figure 2.4