ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES

(Th-5)

Semester : 3rd
Branch : Civil/Comp.Sc./Elect./Mech.
 TH.5 ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES
(Common to All Branches)
Theory: 4 Periods per Week I.A: 20 Marks
Total Periods: 60 Periods End Exam : 80 Marks
Examination: 3 Hours TOTAL MARKS : 100 Marks

A. RATIONALE:
Due to various aspects of human developments including the demand of
different kinds of technological innovations, most people have been forgetting that, the
Environment in which they are living is to be maintained under various living standards
for the preservation of better health. The degradation of environment due to industrial
growth is very much alarming due to environmental pollution beyond permissible limits
in respect of air, water industrial waste, noise etc. Therefore, the subject of
Environmental Studies to be learnt by every student in order to take care of the
environmental aspect in each and every activity in the best possible manner.

B. OBJECTIVES:
After completion of study of environmental studies, the student will be able to:
1. Gather adequate knowledge of different pollutants, their sources and shall be
aware of solid waste management systems and hazardous waste and their
effects.
2. Develop awareness towards preservation of environment.

C. Topic wise distribution of periods:

Sl. No. Topics Period
1 The Multidisciplinary nature of environmental studies 04
2 Natural Resources 10
3 Systems 08
4 Biodiversity and it’s Conservation 08
5 Environmental Pollution. 12
6 Social issues and the Environment 10
7 Human population and the environment 08

Total: 60

D.COURSE CONTENT:

Unit 1: The Multidisciplinary nature of environmental studies

Definition, scope and importance, Need for public awareness.

13
Unit 2: Natural Resources

Renewable and non renewable resources:

a) Natural resources and associated problems.
 Forest resources: Use and over-exploitation, deforestation, case
studies, Timber extraction mining, dams and their effects on forests
and tribal people.
 Water resources: Use and over-utilization of surface and ground
water, floods, drought, conflicts over water, dam’s benefits and
problems.
 Mineral Resources: Use and exploitation, environmental effects of
extracting and using mineral resources.
 Food Resources: World food problems ,changes caused by
agriculture and overgrazing,effectsofmodernagriculture,fertilizers-
pesticidesproblems, water logging, salinity,.
 Energy Resources: Growing energy need, renewable and non-
renewable energy sources, use of alternate energy sources, case
studies.
 Land Resources: Land as a resource ,land degradation ,man induces
landslides, soil erosion, and desertification.
b) Role of individual in conservation of natural resources.
c) Equitable use of resources for sustainable lifestyles.
Unit 3: Systems

 Concept of an ecosystem.
 Structure and function of an ecosystem.
 Producers, consumers, decomposers.
 Energy flow in the ecosystems.
 Ecological succession.
 Food chains, food web sand ecological pyramids.
 Introduction, types, characteristic features, structure and function
of the following ecosystem:
 Forest ecosystem:
 Aquatic ecosystems (ponds, streams, lakes, rivers, oceans, estuaries).

Unit 4: Biodiversity and it’s Conservation

 Introduction-Definition: genetics, species and ecosystem diversity.

 Biogeographically classification of India.
 Value of biodiversity: consumptive use, productive use, social
ethical, aesthetic and opt in values.
 Biodiversity at global, national and local level.
 Threats to biodiversity: Habitats loss, poaching of wild life, man
wildlife conflicts.

Unit 5: Environmental Pollution.

Definition Causes, effects and control measures of:

a) Air pollution.
b) Water pollution.
c) Soil pollution
d) Marine pollution
14
 e) Noise pollution.
f) Thermal pollution
g) Nuclear hazards.
Solid waste Management: Causes, effects and control measures of urban and
industrial wastes.

Role of an individual in prevention of pollution.

Disaster management: Floods, earth quake, cyclone and landslides.

Unit 6: Social issues and the Environment

From unsustainable to sustainable development.

 Urban problems related to energy.
 Water conservation, rain water harvesting, water shed management.
 Resettlement and rehabilitation of people; its problems and concern.
 Environmental ethics: issue and possible solutions.
 Climate change, global warming, acid rain, ozone layer
depletion, nuclear accidents and holocaust, case studies.
 Air (prevention and control of pollution) Act.
 Water (prevention and control of pollution) Act.
 Public awareness.
Unit 7: Human population and the environment

 Population growth and variation among nations.

 Population explosion-family welfare program.
 Environment and human health.
 Human rights.
 Value education
 Role of information technology in environment and human health.

Syllabus to be covered up to I.A Units 1, 2, 3

Learning Resources:
Sl.No Title of the Book Name of Authors Name of Publisher
1 Text book of Erach Bharucha # UGC
Environmental studies
2 Fundamental concepts in ,D.D .Mishra S. Chand&Co-Ltd
Environmental Studies
3 Textbook of K.Raghavan Nambiar SCITECH Publication Pvt.
Environmental Studies Ltd.
4 Environmental V.M.Domkundwar - DhanpatRai&Co
Engineering

15
 CH- 1
MULTI-DISCIPLINARY NATURE OF ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES

Definition of environment

~ Environment is the sum of all social economical biological physical or chemical factors which constitute
the surroundings of living organisms who is both creator and decomposer of this environment.
~ The environment for a living organism is always changing and never constant or static.
~ This change can be slow or sometimes rapid.

*Multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary nature of environmental studies

~ The word environment is derived from the French word ‘environner’ which means to surround or to
encircle.
~ Includes total physical and biotic world.
~ Environmental science is the multidisciplinary branch of science involving Chemistry, Physics, life
sciences, botany, agriculture, Medical Science, geography and many other fields.
~ With increasing scientific knowledge human is able to modify the environment to suit his immediate
needs much more than any other organism.
~ The environmental science is therefore a multidisciplinary science which require attention of experts
from different branches of Science when decisions regarding environmental matters have to be taken.
~ The craze of progress in agriculture industry, transportation and Technology is taken as the Criterion
of development of any Nation. Such activities of man has created adverse effect on all living organisms
in the biosphere.

*Scope and importance of environmental studies

~ Environment consists of all living and nonliving things which surrounds us.
the basic components of the environment are:
1. Atmosphere
2. Hydrosphere
3. Lithosphere
4. Biosphere
~ Importance of Environmental studies are:
1. To know how to conserve biodiversity – Environmental Science aims to teach people how to
reverse the biodiversity loss that has occurred during the various stages of development of
human societies.
2. To know the more sustainable way of living – Environmental science is more concerned with
discovering ways to live more sustainably. This means utilizing resources in a manner that
conserves their supplies for the future without compromising the present need.
3. To use natural resources more efficiently – Natural resources are limited and over exploitation
may cause these to deplete. That is why efficient and judicious use of natural resources is
extremely necessary.
4. To know the behaviour of organisms under normal & abnormal conditions – Behaviour is what
organisms detect to, respond to, interact with and control their environment. Any organism shows
changes in behaviour in response to any change in environment.
5. To know the interrelationship between organisms in populations and communities –

Some major problems to be addressed in Environmental Science

  Resource Recovery:The selective extraction of disposed materials for a specific use such as
recycling, composting, etc in order to extract the maximum benefits from the products.
 Biodiversity Conservation: human should conserve biodiversity because of its advantages and
numerous benefits.
 Pollution: humans should try as much as possible to reduce the pollution in various natural
resources like water, soil, air, etc
 Environmental Ethics And Awareness: human being should develop ethical relationship with the
environment.
 Global Climate Change: a change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns which lasts for
a period of time.
 Urbanization And Land Use: it refers to the population shift from rural areas to urban areas
 Sustainable Development:It is the organising principle for meeting human development goals
while at the same time sustaining the ability of ecosystem

Major contributions or thrust areas made

1. Biotechnology
2. Ocean and space Sciences
3. Computer science and IT
4. Physics chemistry and Biology
5. Engineering and Medical Sciences

Ecology

~ It is the scientific analysis and study of interactions among the organisms and their environment.
~ Environment is responsible for creating conditions suitable for the existence of a healthy biosphere on
this planet .
~ The harmful ultraviolet rays can severely damage the Terrestrial life.
~ Though all environmental problems have some solutions but their effects are very dangerous.
~ Modern technology should be developed to reduce the pollution at every step.
~ Environmental studies is very important for getting clean drinking water, hygienic living conditions,
clean and fresh air, fertile land, healthy food, etc

*Need for public awareness

~ The active co-operation of everyone at every level of social organisation, educationist, social workers,
administrators and public is needed for solving issues concerning environment.
~ When the opinion of public will change, it will affect the government policies which can transform into
actions. Therefore little effort on the part of each individual shall add up to introduce significant
improvements in the environment.
~ Government at its own level cannot achieve the goals of sustainability until the public has a
participatory role in it. It is only possible when public is aware about the ecological and environmental
issues and ways to solve them.

Synecology

~ It is the branch of ecology which deals with the relations between natural communities and their
environment.
~ The natural community is a group of plants and animals and their physical environment for example
rainforest.
 CHAPTER 2

NATURAL RESOURCES

The natural resources can be defined as the things or materials of the nature that can be put to some
use by human beings for their development, growth, comfort and other necessities for example air,
water, soil, forest, etc .

Types Of Natural Resources

All the natural resources can be divided into two categories:

Exhaustible natural resources: the natural resources which are consumed or exhausted through
continuous use or misuse are called as exhaustible natural resources. For example- Soil, forest, water,
coal, etc
It can be further divided into:
 Renewable natural resources: the natural resources which can be recovered over a period of time
are called as renewable resources for example soil, forest, groundwater, etc
 Non renewable natural resources: Those natural resources which cannot be recovered or
replenished in anyway are known as non renewable resources for example coal, minerals, stones,
etc
Inexhaustible natural resources: The natural resources which cannot be exhausted through continuous
use or misuse is called as inexhaustible natural resources for example sunlight, air, water, etc

Fossil fuels: These are formed from dead remains of plants and animals buried deep inside the earth
long long ago. They are called fuels because they are burnt to give off energy. for example Coal,
Petroleum, etc. Fossil fuels are non renewable sources of energy.
Abiotic resources: the resources in which biological activity is not involved are called as abiotic
resources for example minerals, rocks, Chemicals, climate, etc

Natural Resources And Associated Problems

Humans have applied all their power and intelligence for food and development. They adopt new ways
to fulfil their needs and often make improvements in old ways to derive resources and to fulfil their desire
more efficiently.
Therefore proper utilisation of our natural resources is the need of today.
Human beings utilise most of resources like air, water, land, fuel, etc. for their growth and development.
The use of resources should be in limit not to exhaust them so that ecological balance within the nature
should also remain undisturbed.
Directly or indirectly there are some problems from the over exploitation of natural resources lowering
of water level, extinction of wild animals, soil erosion, floods, climatic change, various diseases, etc.
Oceans also provide different types of food materials and Minerals. Large quantities of petroleum and
natural gas are also obtained from the ocean. But due to human activities Ocean have been put under
heavy conditions of serious stress.
Now the conservation of natural resources should be the priority of everycitizen and the methods of
conservation management should be followed.
By making rules only we cannot protect natural resources. Awareness programs, organising the
seminar, public programs are some means by which we can educate the public and conserve our natural
resources.

Measures To Be Taken
Societies and NGOs should come forward in the direction of protecting the natural resources
Human activities should be refined using high Technology under environmental resource management
system.
Population should be controlled because it is the root cause of resource exploitation.
Plans for conservation of natural resources for their long term and maximum usage should be practiced.
Non renewable resources should be used in as sustainable manner i.e. where it should remain available
for further generations.

Forest resources

India is one of the 12 mega diversity countries commanding 7% of the world's biodiversity and supporting
16% of the measure forest types.
The forest need to be managed in a way to ensure that they are ecologically protected and maintained
as well as sustained at the highest productivity level to meet the growing population demands for fuel
food and Timber.
India has a large and diverse forest resource.Its forest types vary from Tropical rainforest on the North
East to desert and thorn forest in Gujarat and Rajasthan, mangrove forest in West Bengal, Orissa and
other coastal areas and Alpine forest in the Western Himalaya.
Involvement of the private sector in plantation development has not been substantial and is not
adequately supported by the government through relevant research extension& market information for
credit facilities.
In regard to National parks, sanctuaries and other Reserves the country’s achievement in terms of area
is substantial. The condition of several protected areas is poor because of Fire, overgrazing and
inadequate management.
Non wood forest products have a great potential to support the socio-economic development of the
country and also the principle of sustainable forest management their products are essential two local
communities, some products have great potential for being exported, some products have also provided
employment and income generation.

Deforestation

The conversion of forest areas to non-forest areas is called deforestation.

Or
Deforestation is the permanent destruction of forests in order to make the land for any other use.

Use and overexploitation

People depend on the forest for all their needs like clothing, food and shelter even today people depend
on the forest for paper, Timber, fuel wood, medicine and many more things.
Fuelwood: for the rural population wood is an important source of energy for cooking and heating
purposes.
Food: there are many varieties of grasses, trees that are nutritious for the livestock, we get fruits from
trees to eat and these fruits are a very good source of income for few people.
Timber: more than 1500 species of trees are commercially exploited for Timber in different parts of
India. it is used in Timber based industries such as for milling, plywood and particle board .
Bamboo: the main commercial use of bamboo is as timber substitute and raw materials for paper and
basket industries.
Grasses: there are many kinds of grasses which are variously used in many different situations.
Medicinal use: There are many medicinal plants found in India like the neem plant. Leaves, bark and
other parts of plants are also having medicinal values and are used to make various Ayurvedic medicine.
Oil: various kinds of oils are obtained from different plants like sandalwood, Agar and pine which is used
in medicinal as well as aesthetic requirements.
These oils are also used for making soap and cosmetics.
Floss: The fruits of many trees and plants producesilky floss. The most common of these is simal. it is
used to make cotton wool pillows and mattresses.

Conservation Of Soil And Soil Improvement

Forests prevent soil erosion by binding the soil with the network of roots of different plants and reduce
the velocity of wind and rain water which are the main reasons of causing erosion of soil.The fertility of
the soil increases due to humus which is formed by forest litter.

Overexploitation Of Forest Resources

Because of the widespread nature of human activity in forest it is misleading the forest improvement.
Humans have made manipulation with natural processes so as to force the forest system to produce
more of the goods and services that are desired by the people.
At times human management has become as intensive as to become the primary set of factors on which
the forest system operates .
These systems move towards the total human control found in agricultural systems and cannot be
thought of as a forest in any natural sense although they may continue to resemble forest superficially.

Causes Of Deforestation

There is no single factor that is responsible for deforestation rather it's a combination of forces that are
causing it.
agricultural extension: Conversion of forest into agricultural plantation is a major cause of deforestation
the increase in global demand for commodities such as palm oil and soyabean is driving industrial scale
producers to clear forest at an alarming rate.
infrastructure expansion: road construction can lead to deforestation by providing an easy way to
previously remote land.
Overpopulation: with overpopulation there is an increase in global needs and wants leading to
expansion and deforestation. Growth of population increases the demand of food, timber, and other
forest products.
grazing animals: overgrazing by livestock leads to loss of prosperity of soils and desertification of
previously fertile forest areas.
pest attack: Forest pests like insects destroy trees by eating up leaves and Getting into shoots and
spreading diseases
natural forces: clouds, storm, snow, lightning, forest fires, etc are the natural forces which can damage
forest.

Effects Of Deforestation

Forest closely related to climate change, biological diversity, wild animals, crop, medicinal plants, etc.
so any change in the forest will definitely affect the system related to it. There are huge consequences
like
1. Habitat destruction of wild animals
2. Increased soil erosion due to reduction of vegetation cover
3. Reduction in the oxygen liberated by plants through photosynthesis
4. Increase in pollution due to burning of wood
5. Decrease in availability of forest products
 6. Loss of cultural diversity
7. Loss of biodiversity
8. lowering of water level under the ground
9. rise in carbon dioxide level
10. deterioration in economy and quality of life of people residing near forest

Controlling Deforestation

Farming: new methods are being developed to farm more food crops on less farm land such as high
yield hybrid crops, green house autonomous building Gardens etc. Cycling agriculture actually improves
the fertility of the soil.
Forest management: efforts to stop or slow deforestation has been attempted for many centuries
landowners also developed techniques to deal with the problems of deforestation
Afforestation: in some countries like China large scale destruction of forest has occurred and the
government has required that every able-bodied citizen should plant 3 to 5 trees per year or do the
equivalent amount of work in other forest services. rainforest rescue program is a charity that helps to
prevent deforestation.

Case Study
Indonesia: there are large areas in Indonesia that are being lost as native forests are cleared by large
multinational companies like Astra, Unilever etc
Brazil: Brazil has suffered the heaviest loss of forest that is 23 Mega hectares
Africa: Africa lost 52 Mega hectares of forest area and also out of reach Republic of Congo accounts
for half of the loss
United States: US has gained 4 Mega hectares of forest and also China gained 18 Mha of forest
according to the Year 2000
India: in India the forest reduced to 36 Mha in 2001. Our present cover is only 20% according to
National Forest policy (NFP)

Timber Extraction

The forest management requires to harvest that much quantity of timber and other products so that to
fulfil the required demand only.
The methods adopted for timber extraction are
Clear felling: If generally means the complete destruction of native forest modifying it by harvesting
commercial trees to create an even age group and removing non-commercial trees if required
Selective logging: Only large individual trees of a few economically marketable species are harvested
the other trees are left untouched till next harvesting.
Mechanical logging: heavy machineries are used to pull, lift and transport the trees this process can be
used in the clear felling and selective logging operations also.
Hand logging: It takes place in forests that are seasonally flooded for permanently waterlogged. In such
conditions heavy machinery cannot be used and commercial logging operations have to employ hand
logging.
Reduced impact logging: it is now a common feature in industrialisation where environmental damage
can be minimised throughthe selection of site sensitive techniques of harvesting and logging

Mining
Mining is the process of extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth

Steps involved in mining process

1. To locate the ore
 2. to know the value of the ore
3. Mathematical estimating that is the extent and grade of deposit found in that ore
4. mining planning to evaluate the recoverable portion of the deposit
5. Feasibility study to evaluate the total project and make a decision whether to develop or walk away
from a proposed mine project
6. development to create access to an ore body
7. exploitation to extract ore on a large scale
8. reclamation to make land where a mine had been suitable For future use

Environmental effects of mining

The Environmental effects of mining include

1. Soil erosion
2. Formation of sinkholes
3. Loss of biodiversity
4. Contamination of soil underground water by Chemicals from mining processes

Mitigation processes
1. Closing illegal and unregulated mines
2. Scrap mining and recycling
3. better regulations
4. Improving environmental performance
V. Accurate tallying of toxic mining waste
6. Building from reusable Waste
7. Closing of shutdown mines
8. Green mining Technology
9. Replenishing the environment
10. Improving the efficiency and manufacturing processes

Case study
1. During coal mining in in 1960 coal brook colliery colapsed and killed 437 persons in South Africa
2. In India 27 December 1975 in chasnala near Dhanbad 372 persons were killed by an explosion

Dams

Dams are constructed on rivers to produce electricity e irrigation facilities etc.

But in other side for construction of dams hundreds and thousands of areas of land are getting
destroyed.

Benefits of dams: water is essential for survival of all forms of life in the earth. Dams contribute
significantly in fulfilling the following basic human needs.
1. Water for drinking and industrial use: Properly designed and well-constructed dams play a great role
in optimally meeting the drinking water requirement of the people. Water stored in the reservoirs is also
used vastly for meeting industrial needs.
2. Irrigation: dams and reservoirs provide services to the mankind for meeting irrigation requirements.
It is estimated that 80% of additional food production by the year 2005 would be available from the
irrigation made possible by dams and reservoirs.
3. Flood control: dams and reservoirs can be effectively used to control floods by regulating river water
flow downstream the dam.
4. Hydropower generation: Hydropower is the most advanced and economically viable resource among
all the renewable energy sources. Reserve based hydroelectric projects provide much-needed peaking
power to the grid. The reserves made possible by constructing a dam presents a beautiful view of a
lake. In the areas where natural surface water is scarce the reserves are a source of Recreation.
5. Inland navigation: Enhanced inland navigation is a result of comprehensive basic Planning and
development utilising dams, locks and reserve ways that are regulated to play a vital role in realising
large economical benefits of national importance.
6. Recreation etc

Effects of Dams

The environmental effect of dams are numerous and varied and includes direct impact to the biological
world. Some of these are
1. Soil erosion
2. Species extinction impact on fish
3. Spread of diseases
4. Changes to Earth rotation
5. Degradation of water quality

Water resources

These are the sources of water that are potentially very useful. Uses of water include household
industrial agricultural etc.

Sources of water: it is classified into two types:

1. surface water: surface water is the water on surface of the planet such as in a river lake or ocean
River water: river receives water from rain and when this water flows over land different minerals of
soil get dissolved in it
Rainwater: it is the purest form of natural water because it is received by evaporation of surface
water where no solubles are evaporated with water
Lake water: a lake does not flow through different lands therefore it contains lesser amount of
dissolved minerals
Sea water: it is the most impure form of water available on the surface of the earth as all the impurities
are flown into the sea
2. Groundwater: it is the water found underground in the cracks and spaces in soil sand and rock
underneath the surface of the earth

Uses of water
Water is used for different purposes like: cooking, drinking, agricultural purposes, industrial purposes,
generating hydroelectric power etc.

Overexploitation of water
The need of water has increased rapidly with the increase in population.
Over exploitation of water resources has caused the continuous declining of water levels.
India is blessed with good water resources but its distribution over the country is not proper.
The step taken to avoid these problems is the proper management of the use of groundwater resources.

Floods: a flood is an overflow of water that submerges the land nearby any water body which should
usually remain dry.
During floods people move themselves and their precious belongings to a higher ground for safety.
Droughts: a drought is a period of below average precipitation in a given region resulting in prolonged
shortages in the water supply whether atmospheric, surface water or groundwater.
In India West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, Jharkhand, etc are suffering
high frequency of droughts.
Drought occurs due to deficiency of rainfall.

Mineral resources

A mineral is a pure inorganic substance that occurs naturally in the earth's crust.
Minerals are the vital raw materials for many industries and play an important role in the process of
industrialisation.
Types of mineral resources:
1. Metallic minerals: minerals with high specific gravity and metallic lustre surcharge iron tungsten lead
etc.
According to the availability of metal metallic minerals are divided into two types ferrous and nonferrous
Minerals.
2. Non-metallic minerals: non-metallic minerals have non-metallic lustre and can break easily for
example graphite, limestone, Ruby, mica, etc.
3. Mineral fuels: this includes those minerals used to generate electricity for example coal, natural gas,
fossil fuel, uranium, etc.

Use of mineral resources

Mineral oil: it has thousands of by products which are directly or indirectly used in our day to day life for
example petrol, kerosene, diesel, etc.
Iron ore: mainly used in Iron and Steel industries, Railway, aircraft, etc.
Gypsum is mainly used in chemical industries.
Mica is mainly used in electrical goods decoration, colour and paints etc.
Bauxite is used in Aeronautical Engineering, Chemicals,furniture, doors etc.
Copper is mainly used in electrical goods.
Manganese is mainly used in iron and steel and glass Industries etc.

Over exploitation of mineral resources

Today about 80% of world's energy consumption is sustained by extraction of fossil fuel and Minerals.
Mineral resources are exploited by humans and used in the production of industrial commodities.
Minerals are also used for aircraft shipping and many Other industries.

Environmental effects of extracting and using mineral resources

1. The loss of top soil and subsoil
2. Land Degradation due to lowering of soil level
3. The erosion of soil is increased
4. Mining drainage has polluted rivers and lakes
5. Deforestation and climate change occurs
6. The toxic gases indirectly affects air humidity and temperature
7. Adverse effects on the groundwater level
8. Agricultural land also gets affected
9. It damages the regenerative qualities of soil

Mineral resources of India

India has sufficient quantities of iron, aluminium, copper, lead, zinc. etc.
India is fairly rich in mineral resources.
About two third of the iron deposit are found in Orissa and Bihar border.
Petroleum deposits are found in Assam and Gujarat.
Magnetite iron ore is found in Tamilnadu Bihar and Himachal Pradesh.
Nickel Ore is found in Bihar and Mayurbhanj.

Case study

Posco signed an agreement with Odisha Government to setup a 53000 crore Steel Plant with the
capacity of 12 million tonnes per annum.
Tata also signed an agreement with Jharkhand government to set up a steel plant with a capacity of 10
million tonnes per annum and the investment is 42000 crore.

Food resources

Food is essential for the survival of all living beings on Earth.It is the resource which is required for
growth and development in living organisms.
Agriculture and domestic animals are the principal source of food.
Fish, hen, goats and other animals are source of food also.

World food problem

Before 21st century it was felt that world food production is not sufficient for the present population.Food
production was less because people were using the old techniques and seeds etc.
Later on when population pressure began people started using fertilizers, pesticides, etc to increase
production.
The main reason of world food problems are:
1. Natural disasters: the climate change is having an increased impacts of food production as drought
and floods have become more frequent and severe.
2. Poverty: many people are there who are unable to get food for themselves as they are not in a stage
to afford the food.
3. Global food price: rising Global food prices affect people's ability to buy enough food for their families
and themselves especially for the urban poor.
4. Uncontrolled population growth: the balance of production and consumption of food is also a problem
the growth rate of population is the main problem here.

Agriculture: agriculture farming is the cultivation and breeding of animals, plants or fungi for food, fibre,
medicinal parts and other products used to sustain and enhance human life.

Changes caused by agriculture:

In the mid of 1800, a great change was introduced which brought advances in cultivation methods
advanced crop varieties fertilizers and crop rotation to maintain the soil productivity.
By 1860s seven factories had been established in United States to manufacture mixed chemical
fertilizers.
By 1893 there were 42 insecticides offered by several manufacturers.
Use of fertilizers and pesticides including DDT increased by 50% in between 1940 to 1944.
But in India the productivity was not enough because England ruled India till 1947.
After independence we progressed by giving the facilities to the farmers.
Effects of modern agriculture

The adverse impacts of modern agriculture are:

~Soil pollution
~Contamination of water resources
~Global climate change
~Water logging
~Loss of genetic diversity

Water logging and Salinity

Another problem associated with excessive irrigation on poor quality soil is water logging.
When the irrigation water eventually raises the water level on the ground, water logging happens. The
raised water level causes the plant roots to suffocate de to lack of sufficient air. Water logging also
affects soil structure.
Soil salinity is also due to over irrigation. When crops are over irrigated, surplus water evaporates and
the dissolved salts are left behind increasing the salinity of the soil.

Over-grazing
Overgrazing occurs on continuous or rotational grazing. It can be caused by having too many animals
in the farm or by not controlling their grazing activity.
It reduces plant leaf areas, which declines sunlight absorption and growth of the plant.

Fertilizers Problem
i) Micronutrients imbalance- Chemical fertilizers contain nitrogen, phosphorous, and Potassium which
when applied, disturbs the balance of nutrients found in the earth.
ii) Nitrate Pollution- Excess nitrogenous fertilizers, in the fields lead to increase the amount of nitrogen
upto contamination level.
iii) Eutrophication- The application of excess fertilizers in the field leads to wash off nutrient loaded water
into the nearby lake causing over-nourishment. This is called eutrophication.

Pesticides Problem
1. Death of non target organism
2. most of pesticides are not biodegradable and consumed in the food chain
3. pesticides are harmful to human beings
4. Pesticides also enhance the risk of Cancer diseases in humans

Energy resources

The capacity of doing work is called as energy. Energy cannot be created nor be destroyed it can only
be transferred from one form to another.
Energy resources are divided into two types:
Renewable energy: energy resources which can be replenished or restored over a period of time is
called as renewable sources of energy. For example soil forest groundwater biogas Biomass solar
energy etc.
Renewable sources of energy are also known as non conventional sources of energy
Non renewable energy: The sources of energy which cannot be replenished or restored in any way is
called as non renewable sources of energy. For example Coal Petroleum and natural gas etc.
The non-renewable sources of energy are otherwise called as conventional sources of energy

Sources of
Energy

Conventional Non-
conventional

Biomass Fossil Fuel Wind Energy Solar energy

Atomic Hydroelectric Hydrogen Nuclear

Energy energy Energy energy

Ocean Energy

Ocean Waves
Tidal energy
Ocean heat
energy

Biomass: All type of biological substances like plant products and their waste or residues can be termed
as biomass.
Biogas: India is rich in cattle. Goats, Horses and Camels. They produce thousands of tons of dung
every year and from there dung biogas can be produced.
Solar energy: The sun is the ultimate source of energy, we can utilise that heat energy to produce many
other forms of energy.
Fossil fuels: It includes Coal, Petroleum and natural gas. About 90% of the world's energy requirement
is met by burning fossil fuels.
Coal: Coal is the most widely used fossil fuel due to its easy availability and low-tech energy production
process. Fossil fuel formed by partial decomposition of plants and animals got buried the deep inside
the earth crust millions of years ago.
Petroleum: It is a liquid fossil fuel formed by decomposition of plants and animals under the seabed at
very high pressure and temperature. These can be found between the rocks under the earth surface.
Natural gas: It is a mixture of Helium and number of Hydrocarbons like Methane, propane and butane.
These are basically found just over the petroleum deposits.

Alternate Sources Of Energy

Nuclear Power
A compound consists of an elementary particle called an atom. An atom has a tiny nucleus and electrons
revolve around the nucleus. Inside the nucleus protons and neutrons are held together by a strong
nuclear force of attraction. When an atomic nucleus splits a tremendous amount of energy is
released. This energy is known as nuclear energy or atomic energy.
Geothermal Energy
This is basically the heat of the interior of the earth at locations nearer to volcanic regions. This can
also be used to generate electricity.
Tidal Energy
In some countries tidal energy is also used to rotate turbines and generate electricity.
Hydrogen Energy
Hydrogen is a clean fuel and energy source for different applications. A fuel cell is a device that burns
hydrogen to produce electricity. This technology has not been yet developed properly due to very high
cost.
Land resources

Land is a crucial natural resource. It constitutes only about 29% of the total Earth's surface. Human
being dependent on land for their food occupation storage at surface groundwater and living for housing.

Soil Erosion: The process in which the mineral and humus rich topsoil is swept away by various agents
like water, wind, etc. is known as soil erosion.

Classification of soil in India

Alluvial Soil: It is the most important soil group of India contributing to the largest share to its agricultural
wealth. This soil is derived from the deposition laid by the numerous tributaries of the Indus, Ganga and
Brahmaputra rivers.
Black Soil: It is common in in Maharashtra Western parts of Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat,
Tamil Nadu, etc.
Red Soil: Ancient crystalline and metamorphic rocks on meteoric weathering have given rise to red soil.
Colour is due to the wide diffusion of iron rather than to a high proportion of it.
Laterite Soil: The soil which is poor in lime magnesia nitrogen potassium oxide. But these are high in
humus and Phosphorus Oxide.
Desert Soil: It contains high percentage of soluble salts possesses high pH and has a very high
percentage of calcium carbonate but poor in organic matter.
Acidic Soil: Soil havingpH below 7 considered to be acidic.

Classification of soil erosion

Normal Erosion: This is a normal feature of any landscape. It takes place steadily but slowly. There is
always equilibrium between removal and formation of soil in this type of erosion
Wind Erosion: wind erosion takes place normally in arid areas devoid of vegetation, where the wind
velocity is high. The soil particles on the land surface are lifted and blown off as dust storms.
Water Erosion: Soil erosion caused by water can be distinguished in three forms:
a. Sheet Erosion – It removes a thin layer of soil from large areas often from entire fields more or less
uniformly during every rain which produces a runoff.
b. Rill Erosion – When sheet erosion is allowed to continue unchecked the run off forms a well-defined
but minute finger shaped grooves over the field.
c. Gully Erosion – When rill erosion is neglected, the tiny grooves develop into wider and deeper
channels which may assume a huge size. Gullies are the most spectacular evidence of the
destruction of the soil.
Land Degradation
In addition to water, land resources are the precious resources. Food security depends on conservation
and proper utilization of all resources. Due to use and over exploitation land resources are degraded. It
is due to the more and more pressure with increasing population.
Land degradation is a real alarm because soil formation is a very slow process. In a million of years, we
can only have a thin layer of crust of fertile soil. In general formation of 1cm soil crust from parent material
takes 300-400 years. Each gram of fertile soil has 30 billion micro-organisms. Land degradation is
caused by erosion of soil, water runoff, deforestation, overgrazing.

Land Slides
A landslide is a sudden collapse of a large mass of hill side. There are many different types of landslides
where not only earth, but also rock, mud and debris flow down the side of slope.
Since the beginning of the monsoon season in June, India has been hit by heavy rains and landslides
affecting in particular, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Bihar states. According to the latest information
on the impacts of landslides, more than 12 million people are affected and more than 270 people were
killed in these three states.
Landslides mostly occur :
1. where landslides have occurred before
2. on steep slopes
3. on benches/ removal of vegetation
4. where drainage is causing a problem
5. where certain geologic conditions exists

Desertification

It is a process by which productive potential of arid or semi-arid land falls. The decrease in productivity
varies from 10% - 50%. Thus desertification leads to the conversion of irrigated crop land to desert. It is
characterized by loss of vegetation, depletion of ground water and soil erosion.
During last so many years, large area has destroyed by Sahara desert. In India also there are so many
places which affected by desertification. An extreme example of sand movement in the coastal area of
Saurashtra has hampered activities at the ports.
Deforestation is also one of the cause for desertification because after forest, grasslands are used by
humans.So human activities are also responsible for desertification. Govt. and worldwide ecologists are
seriously thinking about this problem.

Role of Individual in Conservation of Natural Resources

The Indian philosophy of conservation is to keep harmony with nature. Therefore we have to learn to
live with the nature. for this every individual has to play his role to conserve the nature and natural
resources.
Some of the important role of individuals in maintaining peace harmony and equity in nature are:
1. People should stop the over utilisation of natural resources.
2. Everybody should take part in plantation and caring the plants
3. We should protect wildlife
4. Mixed cropping crop rotation and proper utilisation of pesticides insecticides should be done
5. We should make habit for waste disposal compose and to restore biodiversity
6. Local people should be educated for the protection and judicious use of natural resources
7. Balance should be maintained between resources and human needs
8. Lights fans and other domestic appliances should be used only when needed
9. Rainwater harvesting systems should be installed in houses and colonies
10. We should recycle the waste and wastewater for agricultural purposes
 11. The fossil fuel should be used only when any alternative source is not available
12. We must develop energy saving methods to avoid wastage of energy
13. Drip irrigation and sprinkler irrigation should be used to improve irrigation efficiency and prevent
soil erosion

Equitable Use Of Resources For Sustainable Lifestyle

~ The equal distribution of natural resources should be for all irrespective of rich or poor. There must be
a balance between the need and consumption particularly for drinking water, Food, fuel, etc.
~ The developed countries are utilising more resources as compared to developing countries. This
imbalance is responsible for rich becoming richer and poor becoming poorer. This is due to increase in
population in developing countries.
~ Developed countries like USA Canada Japan etc 22% of world's population utilising 86% of natural
resources. Thus it is needed to divert the resources to poorer countries to narrow down the gap between
the rich and poor. To achieve sustainable Lifestyle there should be equal distribution of global resources
and income to meet everyone's need.

Green Technology
~ The term technology refers to the application of knowledge to improve the standards.
~ Green technology refers to that technology which is considered environment friendly and increases
the green cover of the earth. Some examples include: - green energy, green buildings, etc.
~ Green technology is the application of one or more of environmental science Green chemistry
environmental monitoring and devices to monitor model and conserve the natural environment and
resources and to decrease the negative impacts of human involvement.
~ This is also used to describe sustainable energy generation Technologies such as photovoltaic wind
turbine and bioreactors etc.

Chipko Movement (1987)

~ The forest of India and critical resource for the sustenance of rural people throughout the country
especially in hill and mountain areas both because of their direct provisions of food fuel and because of
their role in stabilizing soil and water resources.
~ In 1970s and 1980s the resistance to the destruction of forests spread throughout India andbecame
organised and known as the Chipko Movement
~ The first chipko action to place spontaneously in 1973 and over the next 5 years spread to many
district of of the Himalayas in Uttar Pradesh. The name of the movement care from word meaning
embrace in which the villagers hugged the trees and thus saved them from felling. Uttar Pradesh
achieved a measure victory in 1980 with a 15 year ban on green fellings in the Himalayas. The
movement letter spread to Himachal Pradesh in the north, Karnataka in the south Rajasthan in the west
and Bihar in the East.
~ The Chipko movement was the result of hundreds of decentralized and locally autonomous Initiatives.
Its leaders and activists have primarily been village women acting to save their means of sustenance.

Formation Of Gobar Gas

~ Biogas is a mixture of gases composed of Methane (50-80%), Carbon dioxide(15-40%), Nitrogen(

4%), Hydrogen sulphide( 1%) with very small percentage of hydrogen Oxygen and carbon monoxide.
~It is a gaseous fuel and serves as a good source of energy for various purposes like fuel for cooking
generation of electricity mechanical and heat energy
 Simple schematic diagram of Gobar Gas Plant

~Biogas production from Biomass is an anaerobic process. The an aerobic digestion is usually carried
out by using airtight cylindrical container is known as digester.
~A digestive maybe made up of concrete bricks and cement or steel, placed or build underground.
An inlet pipe is attached to a mixing tank for feeding cow dung. The the methanogenic bacteria is also
mixed with cow dung.
~The digester is attached to a movable gas holding or Storage tank with a gas outlet pipe.
~Used slurry comes out from the digester through the outlet pipe
~ This type of technology is used in rural areas for domestic purposes.
~The process of digestion usually takes two to three weeks when cow dung is used as a substrate.
~ Under ideal conditions 10 kg of biomass can produce sufficient biogas to provide 3 hours of cooking, 3
hours of lighting etc
~The calorific value of biogas is around 8500 calories for cubic metre.
 CHAPTER 3
ECOSYSTEM

Concept of Ecosystem

~ Every living organism for its survival cannot leave completely sealed in an impervious cell but requires
from its environment a supply of energy, e a supply of materials and a removal of waste products, for
which, it has to interact with different biotic as well as a biotic components of the environment.
~ The scientific study of interactions of organisms with their physical environment and with each other
is called ecology. The word ecology comes from two Greek words ‘oikos’ meaning home or place to live
in and ‘logos’ meaning study.
~ The structural and functional system of the living organisms of a community interacting not only among
themselves but also having functional relationship with their non-living environment is called an
ecosystem.

Types of Ecosystem

Depending upon the species, diversity and manner in which they are organised ecosystems are of the
following types:
1. Permanent and natural ecosystem: these operate under natural conditions without any
interference. They can be further classified into:
a. Terrestrial ecosystems operate on land. Hence forest, desert and grasslands as well as
agro-ecosystems are included in this type.
b. Aquatic ecosystems operate in water. It consists of freshwater and marine ecosystems.
Temporary and natural ecosystems: these are short lived but operate under natural conditions.
Artificial or anthropogenic ecosystems: these are man-made ecosystem like fishery tanks dams
croplands and space ecosystems also. A fish aquarium also comes under this head.

Structure Of Ecosystem

The structure of ecosystem provides information about the range of climatic conditions that prevail in
the area, composition and Organisation of biological communities and abiotic components. From the
trophic point of view an ecosystem has the following components
1. Biotic structure: it includes plants, animals and microorganisms present in an ecosystem. These can
be classified as producers, consumers and decomposers. These can be distinguished on the basis of
their source of energy and material.
a. Autotrophic components ( self-nourishment): these are also called producers. They combine
some light and simple inorganic substances to produce Complex materials using chlorophyll by a
process called photosynthesis. The chemical energy produced is only partly used and the rest is
stored in plant parts.
b. Heterotrophic components (other nourishment): these are also called consumers They lack
chlorophyll and are unable to synthesise their own food therefore they depend on producers for their
food. They rearrange utilise and decompose the complex material synthesized by autotrophs
2. Abiotic structure: The physical and chemical that is non-living components of an ecosystem constitute
its abiotic structure. It mainly includes,
a. Materials or chemical factor:- The materials like water minerals atmospheric gases and other
inorganic salts constitute these material or chemical factor. Some organic matter like amino acids
lipids proteins etc.The quantity of abiotic components present at any given time in an ecosystem is
called “standing state”.
b. Energy or physical factor: the components like light heat and stored energy in chemical bonds
come under this head. For proper functioning of an ecosystem there must be a ‘continuous flow of
energy’ and ‘cycling of minerals’ among the various components of the ecosystem.

Categorical division for biotic structure:

a. Producers: All green plants are producers. They are the living members of the ecosystem that
utilise sunlight as their energy source and simple inorganic materials from the soil air and water and
transform them into more Complex energy-rich Chemicals as their food by the process of
photosynthesis. In forest, trees are the main produces. In lakes and ponds rooted or large floating
or microscopic plants are the producers also known as photoautotrophs.
Some ecosystems are also based on chemical energy where there is no light. The producers here
are the bacteria that get energy by oxidizing H2S seeping from volcanic rents in the oceans. They
are called chemo-trophs.
b. Consumers: These are the living organisms which derive their food directly or indirectly from the
producers by ingesting other organisms. The food is then broken down into simpler substances
which are then metabolized and released as waste from the body. They are of two types macro-
consumers and micro consumers.
The macro-consumers can be subdivided as:
1. Primary consumers: these are also called herbivorous which feed directly on producers
for example dear giraffe goat cow etc.
2. Secondary consumers: these are also called carnivores. They cannot digest the
producers hence depend upon primary consumers for example wolves cat snake etc.
3. Tertiary consumers: in certain ecosystems from organisms depend upon the carnivorous
that is the secondary consumers for their energy source. For example tiger lion crocodile
etc.
c. Decomposers: these are the living component of the ecosystem which break down complex
compounds of dead protoplasm of producers and consumers to simple inorganic compounds and
ultimately into inorganic nutrients. The role of decomposers is inevitable as they are responsible for
completion of ecosystem mineral cycles. These are also known as micro consumers, saprobes,
saprophyte or saprotrophs.

# Omnivores: every organism that consumes both animals as well as plants as its food is termed as an
omnivore.
# Top carnivores: some organisms like lion vulture are not killed or a really killed and eaten by other
animals. They constitute the top carnivores
# Detritivores: these are the bottom living with survive all minimum organic death rate us from autotrophic
layers for example beetles termite ants crabs etc.

Functioning of ecosystem

~ Functioning of the ecosystem is self-regulating and self-sustaining. It depends on the flow of energy,
cycling of materials and changes both intrinsic and extrinsic. It is a dynamic concept with four functional
phases. They are:
1. Energy flow in an ecosystem
2. Food chain, food web and ecological pyramid
3. Biogeochemical cycles
4. Ecological succession

Energy Flow In Ecosystem

Energy is a essence of every biological activity in the biological world the energy flows from sun to plants
and then to all other organisms. Only one percent of total sunlight falling on green plants is utilised in
photosynthesis. There is no 100% flow of energy from producers to consumers some energy is always
lost to environment “energy cannot be recycled in an ecosystem it can only flow one way”. The flow of
energy follows two laws of thermodynamics:
a) 1st law: it states that energy can neither be created nor be destroyed but can be transferred from
one form to another.
b) 2nd law: it states that energy transformation involves degradation or dissipation of energy from a
concentrated to a dispersed form. There is approx.. 90% energy loss and only 10% is transferred
from one trophic level to another.

# sun is the elixir of all other sources of energy.

Energy Flow Models

There is only unidirectional flow of energy from sun to the producers and then to consumers. About 34%
of the sunlight reaching the atmosphere is reflected back, 10% is held by ozone layer, water vapour and
other gases. Rest 56% reaches the surface, out of which 1-5% is used by green plants for
photosynthesis. The rest is absorbed by the vegetation as heat.
The flow of energy can be explained through various energy models:

1) Odum’s energy flow model:

Here, odum explained the flow of energy involving 3 trophic levels with the help of universal
energy flow model. As the flow of energy takes place, there is gradual loss of energy at every
level thereby resulting less energy available at next trophic level.
2) Lindman’s energy flow model:

Lindman gave the unidirectional energy flow model of fresh water ecosystem. It shows that out
of total 118872 g.cal/cm2/year incident solar radiation, producers can utilize only 1% in their
photosynthesis.
About 21% of the gross production(GP) is utilised in metabolic functions of producers, 3% is used
in decomposition and 63% remains unutilized. Thus only 13-14% i.e 15 g.cal/cm2/yearof GP is
available to herbivores.. again 3% is used in decomposition and 47% remains unutilized. Thus
only 20% energy of the autotrophs is available to carnivores. Carnivores utilize only 60% of
energy at this level in metabolic activities and rest is again unutilized.

From both the models, it is clear that:

a) There is unidirectional flow of energy i.e. the system would collapse if the primary source, the sun
would cut off.
b) Progressive decrease in energy at each trophic level.
 c) There is a corresponding decrease in biomass but there is no correlation between biomass and
energy.

Ecological succession

~ Biotic communities change with time. This evolution can be seen on several levels. These changes
takes place continuously in the community structure, organisation, appearance, the associated animals,
and the environment at a place in the course of time. This phenomenon is called ecological succession.
A complete succession is called SERE (intermediate state), consisting of no. of seral stages.
~ Seral communities react to the prevailing environment in such a way that the environment is modified
sufficiently to become less favourable to the existing sere. So they are short lived and quick in
development.
~ Climax communities attain a dynamic equilibrium with their environment. They cannot change their
environment to such an extent that it is less suited for the existing communities.
~ Climax communities are formed after a long period of time and once formed, they maintain their
structure and composition. It is the final or last seral stage.

# Succession is the birth of an ecosystem and subsequent ageing process of its biotic abiotic features.

Ecological Succession As Defined By Odum Is:

~ It is an orderly process of community development that involves changes in species structure and
community processes with time. It is reasonably directional and therefore predictable.
~It results from modifications of the physical environment by the community, i.e. succession is
community controlled even though the physical environment determines the limits of development and
rate of change.
~It reaches to its highest point in which maximum biomass and symbolic function between organisms
are maintained per unit of available energy flow.

~ The succession is of two types:

a) Primary succession- it is the process of species colonization and replacement in which the
environment is initially free of life forms. Primary succession occurs when a community develops
in an area previously unoccupied by living organisms. The sere involved is called ‘pre-sere’.
b) Secondary succession- it is the process of species colonization and replacement in which the
environment was initially preoccupied by well-developed communities. Here the organisms
modify the environment in a way that allows one species to replace the other. The sere involved
here is termed as ‘subsere’.

~ Depending upon the moisture content, the succession are also of the following types:
a) Hydrach or hydrosere: the succession which starts in the aquatic environment like ponds, lake,
streams, swamps, etc.
b) Mesarch or mesosere: it is an intermediate type with adequate moisture. The succession that
begins here is called mesarch.
c) Xerach or xerosere: the succession which starts in xeric or dry habitat having min. amounts of
moisture like rocks, dry deserts, etc. are called xerach. It is of three types:
Lithosere – succession initiating on rocks
Psammosere – succession initiating on sand
Halosere – succession initiating on saline water or soil

~ Some times succession is also classified on basis of community metabolism:

a) Autotrophic – it is characterized by early and continued dominance of autotrophic organisms like
green plants. It begins in an inorganic environment.
 b) Heterotrophic – it is characterized by early dominance of heterotrophs like bacteria, fungi,
animals. It begins in an organic environment.

General Process Of Succession

The complete process of primary autotrophic ecological succession involves the following steps:
1. Nudation: the process of succession begins with the formation of base area or nudation by several
factors like floods, volcanic eruption, etc. some bases are created by man like walls, digging,
burning, etc.
2. Invasion: the invasion is the arrival of reproductive bodies and their settlement in new or base
area. Plants are the first invaders in a new area. It includes 3 steps:
~Migration: it is the process in which the offspring leaves the parent and arrives bare area.
~Ecesis: this is the successful establishment of migrated plants into new areas
~Aggregation: this is the final stage of invasion where immigrant species increase their no.
by reproduction and aggregation in a large population in the area.
3. Competition: with the increase in no. of individuals, there is a competition both interspecific and
intraspecific for space, nutrition and water. They influence each other in a no. of ways known as
co-action.
4. Reaction: when living organisms grow, they use water and nutrients from the area and they have
a strong influence on the environment which is modified to a large extent and is known as
reaction. It leads to several seral communities.
5. Stabilization or Climax: eventually a stage is reached when a final terminal community becomes
more or less stabilized for a longer period of time and it can maintain itself in the equilibrium or
steady state with the climate of that area. This last seral stage is mature, self-maintaining, self-
reproducing and relatively permanent in nature.

Food Chain

~ The sequence of eating and being eaten with the resultant

transfer of energy is known as food chain e.g. the producers
consume inorganic materials and convert it into organic
materials. The herbivores eat the plants and convert them
into animal materials which serve as food to meat eating animals.
They are then eaten by large carnivores.
~ Thus in food chains, organisms in an ecosystem are linked
together. Each step is known as a trophic level and the study of the
energy flow through these steps is called trophic ecology.
~ Thus energy flows from primary producers to primary
consumers to secondary consumers to tertiary consumers and
so on.e.g.
Grass→rabbit→fox→wolf→lion (grassland ecosystem)
Phytoplanktons→water fleas→small fish→large fish (aquatic ecosystem)
Lichens→reindeer→man (arctic ecosystem)

~In nature there are two types of food chain:

1) Grazing food chain: this type of food chain starts from green plants, and ends to carnivores
passing through herbivores. The primary carnivores and secondary consumers eat herbivores or
primary consumers of the ecosystem. And secondary carnivores or tertiary consumers eat
primary carnivores.
2) Detritus food chain: Detritus refers to organic wastes, snake scales, and dead matter derived
from grazing food chain. The energy contained in this detritus is served as a source of energy for
 a group of organisms called detrivores. These food chains are less dependent on solar energy
by mainly depending upon the influx of organic matter produced in another system.

Food Webs

A network of food chains where

different types of organisms are connected
at different trophic levels, so that there are
a no. of options of eating and being eaten
at each trophic level is known as food web.

Ecological Pyramid

An ecological pyramid is a graphical representation designed to show the numbers, biomass, or

bio productivity at each trophic level in a given ecosystem. Ecological pyramids are of three types:
i) Pyramid of numbers (based on no. of organisms at each level) – this deals with the relationship
between the no. of producers, herbivores and carnivores at successive trophic levels. At the base, there
are producers which is always large in numbers. This number then decreases towards the top as the
primary consumers are less than the producers. The secondary and tertiary consumers still decrease in
numbers as we go up.
ii) Pyramid of biomass (based on biomass of organisms) –this is comparatively more fundamental as
the weight of primary producers forms the base. The biomass of one tree is far more than that of the
birds feeding on fruits of that tree. Similarly the biomass of even a large no. of parasite in and on the
body of animals and birds, is far less.
iii) Pyramid of energy (based on rate of energy flow and/or productivity at successive level)–Of the three
types of ecological pyramid, the energy pyramid gives the best picture of overall nature of ecosystem.
As against the pyramids of numbers and biomass the shape of the pyramid of energy is always upright
because in this the time factor is always taken into account.

Some Major Ecosystems

There are two major categories of ecosystem:

> Terrestrial
a) Forest
b) Grassland
c) Desert
> Aquatic
a) Marine
b) Fresh water

Forest Ecosystem: About 40% of the land is occupied by forest. These have maximum biodiversity. The
different components of forest ecosystem are:
a) Abiotic Components – these are inorganic and organic substances present in the soil and
atmosphere. Minerals and dead organic debris can also be found.
b) Biotic Components – the living organisms present in the food chain occur in the following order:-
i) Producers: these are mainly trees that have much species diversity in tropical moist deciduous
forest. Trees are of different kinds depending upon the kind of forest. Besides trees, shrubs and ground
vegetation are also present.
 ii) Primary Consumers: these are the herbivores that include the animals feeding on trees, leaves,
etc. as ants, flies, beetles, leafhoppers etc.
iii) Secondary Consumers: these are the carnivores like snakes, birds, fox, etc. feeding on
herbivores.
iv) Tertiary Consumers: these are wide variety of microorganisms like bacteria, fungi, etc. Rate
of decomposition in tropical and subtropical forests is more rapid than that in the temperate zones.

Fresh water ecosystem: these are a subset of earth’s aquatic ecosystems. They include lakes, ponds,
rivers, streams, etc. they are continuously formed due to the shifting of stream leaving a body of standing
water where organic materials are accumulated. The components of fresh water ecosystem are:
a) Abiotic Components- Apart from heat, light the basic inorganic and organic compounds are water,
CO2, O2, N2, amino acids, etc. The amount of minerals present at any time in the physical environment
in the pond is called ‘standing state’.
b) Biotic Components – the biotic components in a fresh water ecosystem includes:-
i) Macrophytes: they are rooted larger plants which includes partly or completely submerged
hydrophytes e.g. trapa, chara, hydrilla, etc.
ii) Phytoplankton: these are minute, floating or suspended lower plants like ulothrix, spirogyra,
etc.
iii) Primary Consumers: these are herbivores and also known as primary macro consumers
feeding directly on living plants.
iv) Secondary Consumers: these are carnivores like insects and fish which feed on primary
consumers.
v) Tertiary Consumers: these are some large fish which feed on small fish and may occupy more
than one trophic level.
c) Decomposers: these are microconsumers, which absorb only a fraction of the decomposed matter.
They decompose organic material of both producers, consumers as well as micro-consumers into simple
forms.

Marine Ecosystems: the marine ecosystem of seas and oceans is large, occupying 70% of the earth’s
surface. Every ocean indeed represents a very large and stable ecosystem characterized by saline
water. They have some major life zones i.e. Coastal, Euphotic (shores), Bathyal (bottom of ocean),
Abysal (depths below 2000mts). The biotic components of an ocean ecosystem are:
a) Producers – these are autotrophs which are mainly phytoplanktons. A number of macroscopic sea
weeds also come in this category.
b) Consumers – these are heterotrophic macro consumers being dependant for their nutrition on the
primary consumers. These are:
i) the herbivores like fishes, molluscs, which feed directly on producers are called primary
consumers.
ii) the carnivore fishes like sharks, etc. which feed on herbivores are called secondary consumers.
iii) the top carnivore fishes feed on secondary consumers and are called tertiary consumers.
 CHAPTER 4
BIODIVERSITY AND ITS CLASSIFICATION

Introduction
~ The term “Biodiversity” is short for “Biological Diversity” and was coined by Walter G. Rosen in 1986.
~ Biodiversity means the variability among living organisms from all sources including terrestrial,
marine and other ecosystems and the ecological complexities of which they are part of.
OR
Biodiversity is the total variety of life on our planet. Total no of varieties or species i.e. sum total of
various types of microbes, plants, animals present in a system is called Biological diversity or
Biodiversity.
~ Biodiversity is neither the numbers of organisms present in any natural ecosystem nor a resource,
but a property of living system.

Levels of Biodiversity

Biodiversity is usually analysed at 3 different levels. Each of these have their own significance.
a) Diversity in an Ecosystem
b) Diversity in a species
c) Diversity in genetic organisation within a species

Diversity of biotic communities in an ecosystem:-

~ Depending largely on the availability of abiotic resources and conditions of the environment, an
ecosystem develops its own characteristic community of living organisms.
~ A small pond constitutes an ecosystem and possesses a set of flora and fauna different from a river
which is another type of ecosystem.
~ Different types of forests, grasslands, lakes, ponds, rivers, wet lands, etc. represent diverse
ecosystems each with a characteristic biotic community.

Diversity of species composition within a community:-

~ The biotic component in an ecosystem may be composed of few species only or a large no of
species of plants, animals and microbes which react and interact with eachother and with the abiotic
factors of the environment.
~The richness of species in an ecosystem is usually referred to as “Species Diversity”.

Diversity of genetic organization within a species:-

~ Within a species, there are often found a no. of varieties or races which slightly differ from each
other in one, two, or a no. of ways such as shape, size, quality of their product, and resistance to pests
and diseases, ability to withstand adverse climatic conditions, etc.
~ These differences are due to slight variations in their genetic organisation.
~ This diversity in the genetic makeup, of a species is referred to as “Genetic Diversity”.

Biogeographical Classification of India / India is a Megadiversity Nation

~ India is one of the 12 mega diverse countries in the world. The country is divided into 13
biogeographic regions.
~ The wide variety in physical features and climatic conditions have resulted in a diversity of ecological
habitats like forests, grasslands, wetlands, coastal and marine ecosystems and desert which sustain
immense biodiversity.
~ The following 13 biogeographic regions have been found in India:
1. The Himalayas
 2. The desert
3. Deccan peninsula
4. Malabar
5. Andaman Islands
6. Nicobar Islands
7. Gangetic Plains
8. Lakshadweep Islands
9. Maldive islands
10. Western Ghats
11. Barman Forests
12. Coromondol Coasts
13. Marine Coasts
~ The Eastern Himalayas, form a humid region having high monsoon rainfall, milder temperature and
less snowfall. The snow peaks and rich forests exert a great influence on flora and fauna of the region.
~ Arunachal Pradesh is a land of rocks, abundant forests, gentle streams and raging torrents and
beautiful gorges adds to the spectacular beauty of the nature.
~ The marshes, wetlands, of this region have more than 200 species of aquatic and semi aquatic
plants, besides innumerable species of phytoplanktons, zooplanktons and oceanic flora and fauna that
satisfies the need of man, animals and birds.

Botanical (Floristic) Regions of India

The country has been divided into following 9 floristic regions with respect to flora diversity:
1. Western Himalayas
2. Eastern Himalayas
3. Indus Plains
4. Gangetic Plains
5. Central India
6. Malabar
7. Deccan plateau
8. Assam
9. Andamans

Values of Biodiversity

~ Biodiversity is a valuable natural resource for the survival of man-kind.

~ Man has domesticated a number of economically important plants and animal species.

Consumptive Value
~ Most of the developing countries obtain fuelwood from forests.
~ More than 1500 million people cook their food by burning wood.
~ About 1000 million cubic meters of wood is used for fuel across the globe. This imposes heavy
pressure on forests.
~ Hunting of wildlife, use of grass with some commercially important plants as fodder also comes under
this head.
~ Various tribal societies fully depend upon forests for their habitation and livelihood. They use stems,
roots, fruits, seeds and meat of wild animals as their food.

Productive Value
~ Bamboos, grasses, canes, essential oils, dyes, gums, drugs, poisons, insecticides, soap substitutes,
Rudraksh, lac, honey and wax, Mahua seeds, etc. are forest products having high commercial values.
~ In addition to these, various herbs and animal body parts are sold in markets both at national and
international levels.
~ Some benefits like water quality, recreation, education, scientific researches, regulation of climates,
etc. are indirect values to biodiversity that provide economic advantages to the people without
consumption of the resource.
~ Many pharmaceutical products have also been derived from plants and animal resources.

Social Values
~ Social value is one of the instrumental values.
~ It includes ethical, aesthetic, recreational, cultural and spiritual values.
~ Health benefits resulting from recreation and other activities can also be added.
~ The biodiversity has to a great extent been preserved by traditional societies that valued it as a
resource and checked that its depletion is regulated to a great extent.
a) Ethical Values: Ethical or religious values is also one of the indirect values of biodiversity. This
value makes us believe that humanity is a part of nature and that we are just one species
among others. All the species have the right to exist.
b) Aesthetic Value: The aesthetic value of biodiversity has been expressed in many ways through
art, poetry, songs, literature, music and dance. Forests are closely linked with our religion and
culture. Many types of trees and animals are worshipped in tribal and hindu societies e.g.
Peepal, Banyan, Tulsi, cow, etc.

Biodiversity at Global Level

~ It is estimated that there exists 5-30 million species of living forms on our earth and from it only 1.5
million have been identified.
~ It includes 300,000 species of plants and fungi, 800,000 species of insects, 40,000 species of
vertebrates and 360,000 species of micro-organisms.
~ Approx. 200,000 species are found only in South America.
~ It is estimated that about 125,000 flowering plants are in tropical forests but only 1-3% of these are
known.
~ More than half of the species of the earth live in moist tropical forests, which is only 7% of the land
surface.
~The species diversity in tropics is high because:
In tropics, the condition for evolution is best suited and lower chances for extinction.
In tropics species diversity was conserved over geological time.
Of the interaction between climates, organisms, topography, parent soil materials,
time and heredity.
~ The 12 mega diverse countries identified are:
1. Brazil
2. Colombia
3. Venezuala
4. Peru
5. Ecquador
6. Indonesia
7. Democratic republic of Congo
8. India
9. China
10. Malaysia
11. Australia
12. Mexico
Biodiversity at National Level

~ The varying climatic situations, different altitudinal conditions and wide variety of physical features like
Himalayas in the north, Bay of Bengal in the east, Arabian Sea in the west and ~ Indian ocean in the
south have resulted in a diversity of ecological habitats.
~ In India about 115,000 species of plants and animals have been identified.
~ Many crops like rice, sugarcane, jute, mango, banana, orchids and several medicinal and aromatics
arose in india and spread to the world.
~ The country has 45,000 species of flora which is 15% of the known world plants.
~ India is very rich in faunal wealth as well and has 75,000 animal species.
~ Considering marine species, there is an abundance of seaweeds, fish, molluscs, reptiles and
mammals.

Biodiversity at Local Level

~ The biodiversity at local level can be well understood by marking the points, places and zones rich in
biodiversity.
~ This can be understood as compositional i.e. rich in plants and animals of same habitats and genetic
makeup.
~ We can also study the local biodiversity on following basis:
1. Richness of species at a given place
2. Physical characteristics of habitat and vegetation in particular area.
3. Change in species composition across different habitats.
4. Local diversity based on climate, geographical, ecological and other processes.
5. Rate of change across gradient and conditions.

Threats to Biodiversity

~ One of the major threats to biodiversity is space, food, and raw material for expanding human and
plant establishment.
~ Man has begun to overuse or misuse most of these natural ecosystems.
~ Due to this unsustainable resource use, once productive forests and grasslands have been turned
into deserts and waste lands have increased all over the world.
~ Due to human population and its impact on ecosystems, thousands of species and sub-species
become extinct every year.
~ The following are the major causes and issues related to threats to biodiversity:
a) Habitat Loss: Human activities and other disturbances are changing the ecosystems and are
thus threatening the biodiversity. This makes the wild population more vulnerable to predators
and diseases. The presence of toxic and hazardous pollutants in water, thermal pollution and
human intervention in marine biodiversity has led to the loss of habitats to many aquatic plants
and animals.
b) Poaching of Wild life: Poaching is another threat to wildlife. As in ancient period, hunters,
collectors, and smugglers are the major threats to a no. of species including endangered
species. They collected furs, hides, horns, tusks, herbal products and some live specimens
are smuggled for millions of dollars. Overcollection and overexploitation are the main causes
of disappearance of plants of scientific and medicinal value.
c) Man Wildlife Conflicts: Struggle for existence is applicable for both man and wild life. Due to
habitat loss, animals come out of forests and destroy the crops and finally become danger to
humans. Affected people kill them. Animals are more prone to infection and diseases when
they are kept in captivity and stress. Man and wildlife conflicts also occur during human
encroachment in the forest areas.
Endangered Species of India

~ According to botanical survey of India, 427 endangered plant species have been identified. This is
about 20% of India’s total floristic wealth of higher plants.
~ The whole of biological resources including their genetic resources are renewable in nature, with
proper conservation and management it can support human needs indefinitely.

Endemic Species of India

~ Endemic species are the plants and animals which are limited in their distribution i.e. they are restricted
to a small area and are not found elsewhere in the world.
~ Endemism of Indian biodiversity is important as 4900 species of flowering plants and 33% of the
recorded floras are endemic to the country.
~ These are concentrated in the floristically rich areas of North East India, the Western Ghats, North
West Himalayas and the Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
~ About 62% of the known amphibian species are endemic to india.
~ The main causes are:
a) Poor adaptability of a species in a wide range of ecological environment
b) Presence of some geographical barrier e.g. sea, mountain, etc
c) Failure of dispersal of reproductive organs
d) The species might have been comparatively young and not have enough time to spread.

Conservation of Biodiversity

~ It is true that biodiversity is a source, once extinct cannot be regenerated again.

~ Due to human activities and overexploitation of ecosystem, the most severe extinction has occurred.
~ The world summit on sustainable development in Johannesburg (2002) stated that “The conservation
of biodiversity was necessary for the survival of human race”.
~ The objectives of Convention on bio diversity are conservation of biological diversity, sustainable use
of its components and fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the utilization of those
resources.
~ From biological point of view, it’s our responsibility to conserve plants, animals and their wild relatives.

Ex-Situ Conservation

~ Ex-Situ conservation means conservation of wildlife in captivity and under human care.
~ The endangered plants and animals are collected and bred under controlled conditions in gardens,
zoos, sanctuaries etc.
~ Wild life management in captivity has the following advantages:
a) The organisms are assured of food water shelter and security and hence can have longer life
span and longer span of breeding activity, increasing the possibility of more no. of offsprings.
b) The chances of survival of endangered species increase because of human care under
secure conditions.
c) Offers possibility of using genetic technology to improve the concerned species.

In-Situ Conservation

~ In-situ conservation is the conservation of ecosystem where all the flora and fauna survive in the
natural, original place or position as in the location of its ancestors or even in manmade ecosystems
where they naturally occur.
~ This type of conservation applies only to wild flora and fauna and not to the domesticated animals and
plants.
~ In-situ conservation includes a system of protected areas of different categories e.g. National Parks,
Sanctuaries, National Monuments, Cultural Landscapes, Biosphere Reserves, etc.
~ One of the best methods to save wildlife species on the road to extinction is to put them in a special
enclosure for breeding.
 CHAPTER 5
ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION

Pollution

~ Pollution is the effect of undesirable changes inour surroundings that have harmful effects onplants,
animals and human beings.
~ Pollutants include solid, liquid or gaseous substancespresent in greater than
naturalabundanceproduced due to human activity, whichhave a detrimental effect on ourenvironment.
~ The nature and concentration of a pollutantdetermines the severity of detrimental effects on human
health.
~ During the last few decades we have contaminated our air, water and land on which life itself depends
with a variety of waste products.

Classification of Pollutants

a) Degradable or non-persistent pollutants: These can be rapidly broken down by natural

processes. Eg: domestic sewage, discarded vegetables, etc.
b) Slowly degradable or persistent pollutants: Pollutants that remain in the environment for many
years in an unchanged condition and take decades or longer to degrade. Eg: DDT and most
plastics.
c) Non-degradable pollutants: These cannot be degraded by natural processes. Once they are
released into the environment they are difficult to eradicate and continue to accumulate. Eg:toxic
elements like lead or mercury.

Air Pollution

~ Air pollution occurs due to the presence of undesirablesolid or gaseous particles in the air in quantities
that are harmful to human health andthe environment.
~ Air may get polluted by natural causes such as volcanoes, which release ash,dust, sulphur and other
gases, or by forest firesthat are occasionally naturally caused by lightning.

Classification of Air Pollutants

a) According to origin:
~ Pollutants that are emitted directly are produced both by natural events (for example, dust
storms and volcanic eruptions) and human activities (emission from vehicles, industries, etc.) and
are called primary pollutants e.g. carbon oxides (CO and CO2), nitrogen oxides, sulphur oxides,
volatile organic compounds (mostly hydrocarbons) and suspended particulate matter.
~ Pollutants that are produced in the atmospherewhen certain chemical reactions take
placeamong the primary pollutants are called secondarypollutants. Eg: sulphuric acid, nitric acid,
carbonicacid, etc.
b) According to chemical composition:
~ Organic Pollutants – Hydrocarbons, Aldehydes, Ketones, Amines and alcohols
~ Inorganic Pollutants –
Carbon compounds
Nitrogen compounds
Sulphur compounds
Halogen compounds
Oxidizing compounds
c) According to state of matter:
 ~ Gaseous pollutants, which get mixed with the air and donot normally settle down e.g. CO, NO x
and SOx
~ Particulate pollutants which comprise of very small particles of solids or liquids and often exists
in colloidal state e.g. smoke, fumes, dust, mist, etc.

Effects Of Air Pollutants On Man & His Environment

1) Damage to materials:
~ The materials that may be affected by air pollutants include: metals, builing materials, rubber,
textiles, leather, etc.
~ The types of possible damage to these materials by air pollutants include corrosion, deposition,
direct and indirect chemical attack, etc.
~ The intensity of damage depends upon factors such as moisture, temperature, air movements
and concentration of pollutants.
2) Damage to vegetation:
~Air pollutants like SO2, HF, Ozone, weedicides, etc. exert toxic effects on vegetation.
~ The damages are of chloric markings, banding, silvering of the under side of the leaf.
~ Retardation of plant growth also occurs.
~ He extent of damage to a plant depends upon the nature and concentration of the pollutant,
time of exposure, soil and plant condition.
3) Damage to farm animals:
~ Arsenic, lead and fluorides are the main pollutants which cause damage to livestock.
~ These accumulate in vegetation and poison the animals when they eat the contaminated
vegetation.
4) Darkening of sky and reduction of visibility:
~ Sky darkening and reduction in visibility may be caused by heavy smoke and fog or by dust
storms, industrial fumes etc.
~ The intensity of these effects depends upon the particle size, angle of the sun etc.
5) Effect on human health and human activities:
~ Air pollution may cause sickness, absenteeism among workers and general lethargy, which
naturally results in decrease in efficiency in human activities.
~ Moreover, bronchitis, asthma, lung cancer, irritation of nose, eyes and throat and bad odours,
annoyance, allergies and other health hazards are also seen.

Measures to Check Air Pollution

~ It is not easy to check/control air pollution at a reasonable cost but it can be prevented by careful
planning for industries, operation of equipments and general awareness to the people.
~ General methods of air pollution control are:
Controlling the air pollution at source
Site selection/Zoning
Controlling air pollution by devices/equipments/process modification
Controlling air pollution by growing vegetation
Controlling air pollution by fuel selection and utilization

Water Pollution

When the quality or composition of waterchanges directly or indirectly as a result ofman’s activities such
that it becomes unfitfor any purpose it is said to be polluted.

Characteristics of Potable Water

 1. It should be colourless, tasteless and odourless
2. It should be free from turbidity and other suspended impurities.
3. It should be free from germs and bacteria
4. It should not contain toxic impurities like heavy metals, pesticides, etc.
5. It should have a pH in the range of 7 – 8.5.
6. It should be moderately soft, having hardness in between 50 – 100 ppm.
7. It should be aesthetically pleasant.
8. It should not be corrosive to the pipes
9. It should not stain clothes.
Water Pollutants & its Sources

There are 5 main types of water pollutants:

1) Organic Pollutants:Organic pollutants are of various types.

a) Oxygen demanding wastes –
~ These are the domestic and animal sewage, biodegradable organic compounds, and industrial
wastes from food processing plants, papermills, tanneries, etc.
~ These wastes undergo decomposition by bacterial activity in presence of dissolved oxygen.
~ This results in rapid decline of dissolved oxygen from the water which is harmful to aquatic
organisms.
b) Disease causing wastes–
~ These include pathogenic microorganisms which may enter the water may cause damage to
public health.
c) Synthetic organic compounds –
~ These are the manmade materials like pesticides, insecticides, food additives, pharmaceuticals,
etc.
~ These may enter the hydrosphere by spillage during transport or accidental release of wastes
from manufacturing units.
d) Sewage and agricultural runoff –
~ Sewage and agricultural runoff from agricultural lands supply plant nutrients that help the growth
of algae and other weeds in the water bodies.
~ This results in degradation of the value of the water body.
e) Oil–
~ Oil pollution may take place because of oil spills from cargo oil tankers on the seas, losses
during off-shore exploration and production of oil and/or leakage from oil pipe-lines.
~ It results in reduction in light transmission through surface waters, reducing photosynthesis by
marine plants.
~ And also results in lower rate of dissolution of oxygen in water due to the formation of a
protective layer.
2) Inorganic Pollutants: These comprises of mineral acids, inorganic salts, fine powders of metals or
metal compounds, cyanides, etc. Water pollution by heavy metals like Hg, Cd, Lead, As, etc. are most
toxic and occurs due to street dust, domestic sewages and industrial effluents.
3) Suspended Solids and Sediments: Sediments are mostly contributed by soil erosion, agricultural
development, mining. Constructional activities, etc.
These mainly comprises of sand, silt and minerals eroded from land.
4) Radioactive Materials:Radioactive water pollution may generate from following human activities:
a) Mining and processing of uranium ores.
b) Increasing use of radioactive isotopes in research, agriculture, industrial and medical
applications.
c) Radioactive materials from nuclear power plants and nuclear reactors.
 d) Radioactive materials from testing and use of radioactive weapons.
5) Heat: Thermal pollution results from thermal power plants mainly from nuclear-power-based-
electricity generating plants.
Here the water is used as a coolant and the waste hot water is returned to the water bodies.
Hence the temperature of the water bodies rises and the amount of dissolved oxygen content of water
decreases.

Effects of Water Pollution

i. Tannery effluents contain several constituents which are harmful still they are discharged into
rivers, streams, seas, etc.
ii. It gives dull brown colour to the receiving water causing aesthetic and other problems.
iii. Highly repulsive odour is emitted to the receiving water.
iv. The acidic or alkaline effluents are corrosive to concrete and metal pipes.
v. Excess NaCl in the effluents are corrosive and makes the receiving water bodies unfit for irrigation
purposes.
vi. They may also contain pathogenic bacteria.
vii. Dissolved chromium present in the water is toxic to aquatic life and affects the natural self-
purification property of the water bodies.
viii. The suspended solids such as hair, flesh, CaCO3, etc. interfere with aeration and photosynthesis
of aquatic flora
ix. If the waste waters are discharged directly into sewers, the suspended impurities may choke the
sewerage pipes.
x. Volatile substances such as alcohols, aldehydes, ethers, and gasoline may cause explosions.
xi. The presence of excessive salts and Cr in the waste waters may deteriorate the quality of ground
water in that area.
xii. Suspended solids such assilt and coal may injure the gills of the fishes and may cause
asphyxiation.
xiii. Radioactive isotopes are toxic to life forms as they accumulate in bones and teeth and cause
serious disorders in human beings and other organism.

Control of Water Pollution

The control of water pollution is difficult but we should try for its preventions and minimisations. Some
safety measures to achieve acceptable water quality are:
a) Scientific technics are necessary to be adopted for the environmental control of catchment
areas of rivers, lakes, ponds, etc.
b) Industries should be based on recycling operations.
c) Maximum possible reuse or recycle of treated sewage effluents and industrial wastes should
be encouraged.
d) Recycling of wastes should be prioritized instead of throwing them into water.
e) Minimum, appropriate quantity of fertilisers, pesticides, insecticides should be used as
excessive use will lead to pollution.
f) Strict rules should be made for water pollution control on radio, TV, newspapers, etc. for public
awareness
g) Sewage treatment plants should be constructed and govt. should also support by funding
them
h) Local authorities, industrialists, govt officials, with public participation should coordinate to find
ways to control water pollution
i) Water resources should be used in the most economical way
 j) Govt. should encourage people to participate in research programmes like disposal of sewage
and industrial effluents
k) Deforestation should be discouraged.
l) Plants should be setup to recover metals from metal contaminated water.

Soil Pollution

~ Soil can be defined as the weathered layer of earth’s crust with living organisms and their products of
decay.
~ It is a complex physio-biological system containing water, mineral salts, nutrients and dissolved
oxygen.
~ It is derived from a Latin word ‘Solum’ meaning earthy material in which plants can grow.
~ The study of soil science is called “Pedology” or “Edaphology”.

Importance of Soil

Soil plays a major role in determining the quality and composition ofthe biosphere which develops over
it. The main importance of soil are:
1. It provides mechanical support to the plants.
2. Due to porosity and water holding capacity of the soil, it acts as a reservoir of water and supplies
water to the plants even when the land surface is dry.
3. The ion exchange capacity of the soil ensures availability and supply of micro- and macro-
nutrients for the growth of plants.
4. The clay and humus particles of the soil tightly absorb a no. of nutrient ions and supply them
evenly to the plants.
5. Soil contains organotrophic bacteria, nitrifying bacteria, denitrifying bacteria, fungi, and other
microbes which help in decomposition and mineralization of organic matter and regeneration of
nutrients

Major Types of Soil in India

Effects of Soil Pollution

The effects of soil pollutants can be broadly classified into three categories:
a) Effects of modern agricultural practices –
1. Use of NPK fertilisers results in reduction in protein content of the crop.
2. Excessive use of nitrogenous fertilisers leads to the accumulation of nitrates in the soil
which may contaminate the ground water.
3. Vegetation growth in nitrogen rich soils may bring toxic effects in cattle.
4. Some pesticides may make the soil completely infertile.
5. Pesticide residues in soil may be taken up by plants and cause phyto-toxicity. They may
enter the aquatic environment and may also enter into food chain too.
6. Pesticides may seep into the soil and contaminate ground water, surface waters and even
drinking water.
b) Effects of industrial effluents – Solid, liquid and gaseous chemicals from various industries like
fertilisers, thermal power plants, dyes, tanneries, etc. contain a variety of pollutants like toxic
heavy metals, detergents, plastics, suspended particles, etc. which if not properly treated at
source, will give rise to soil, air and water pollution.
Dumping of untreated domestic, mining and industrial wastes on land causes soil pollution.
c) Effects of urban wastes – lightly treated or untreated urban wastes not only pose serious health
hazards but also pollute the soil and decrease its fertility and productivity.
Some solid wastes also cause clogging of ground water filters.
Apart from above, radioactive wastes dumped in soil from natural and manmade sources, soil
erosion due to deforestation, unplanned and unscientific agricultural practices leads to land and
soil pollution.

Control of Soil Pollution

The various approaches to control soil pollution are:

1. Implementing strict population control programs.
2. Launching afforestation and community forestation programs.
3. Discouraging deforestation.
4. Launching strict pollution control laws and making them immediately effective.
5. Announcing informal and formal public awareness programmes to educate people at about the
health hazards and unfavourable effects due to environmental pollution.
6. Banning the use of highly toxic and resistant synthetic pesticides.
7. Encouraging the use of bio pesticides.
8. Conservation of soil to prevent loss of top soil from erosion.
9. Maintaining healthy soil conditions by providing organic manures, increasing fallow periods, and
avoiding excessive use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides.
10. Introducing biodiversity in agriculture by sowing mixed crops, crop rotation, etc.
11. Domestic and municipal wastes should be properly collected, treated and disposed scientifically
in land fills.
12. Recycling and reusing of materials should be done wherever possible.
13. More efforts on research and development and sponsoring on bio-fertilizers, bio-pesticides,
safer waste treatments and disposal of hazardous wastes should be focused.

Marine Pollution
~ When water will be polluted it will affect theorganisms present in the seas.
~ Drainage from rivers, industries, human activities, disposal of radioactive wastes and toxic materials,
leakages from ships are main source of marine pollution.
~ When fish and other animals take such polluted water get affected.
~ When humans consume it, they die.
~ Leaked oil, other pollutants from the ships, spread over the sea, gets absorbed by the sediments, and
affect the marine life.

Sources of Marine Pollution

The main sources of marine pollution are:

1. Rivers - Rivers are the main source of marine pollution.
They carry wastes like industrial effluents, detergents, agrochemicals, etc in their drainage and joins
the sea or ocean.
2. Catchment area - Many big cities and industries are situated along the coast line from which large
amount of waste mixed with detergents, sewage from industries and other human activities are
mixed in sea water.
3. Ships carrying toxic substances, heavy oil, fuels, automotive materials and other chemicals also
pollute the sea water due to leakage or due to accidents.
4. Testing of atomic weapons, space aircrafts, missiles and other radioactive wastes when dumped in
seas cause heavy loss to aquatic biosphere.
5. Harmful effluents from nuclear power stations, chemical industries, fertilizers and pesticides
industries when mixed in marine water causes harmful effects to Marine life.
6. Marine pollution can also be caused by oil drilling in seas, tourism activities and heat released from
industries etc.

Effects Of Marine Pollution

The major effects of marine pollution are:

1. Oil is the most dangerous pollutant when floating on sea or mixed with water. It is a great threat to
Marine life especially fish birds and algae.birds get killed every year because once they are oiled they
seldom survive, despite efforts to clean themselves.
2. Oil on the seas also affects sensitive flora and fauna, phytoplankton, zoo plankton and other animals.
3. Plastics or plastic materials when dumped into seas by ships or from drainage, animals take it through
their food and it causes various diseases and death.
4. Marine pollution affects the food chain in seas. Serious diseases like cancer are the causes when
affected animals are taken by man from ocean.
5. Heavy metals factory minerals acids detergents etc are also responsible for a high mortality of marine
life.

Control Of Marine Pollution

I. Steps already in operation

1. Port authorities are alert and have introduced anti pollutant measures by creating pollution cells.
2. Various research organisations, institutions are working in this field to check the marine pollution.
3. In many countrys monitoring and surveying are in operation to control marine pollution.
4. Authorities have taken proper care and effective measures to check the oil leakage from ships and
tankers.
5. Urban and coastline corporations are trying hard to check the dumping of wastes from human
activities and municipality.
II. Suggested steps to control marine pollution
1. Dumping of oil, hazardous and toxic substances, gases from radioactive labs into sea should be
banned or should be properly treated before dumping.
2. Drainage, sewage and effluents from industries should not be discharged into rivers directly.
3. Developmental activities on coastal areas should be minimised.
4. Ships and ports should have certain facilities for reducing pollution.
5. Certain biological and other methods should be followed to restore species diversity and eco-balance
in the water body.
6. Effective measures should be developed to check the leakage in ships and oil tankers.
7. Nuclear explosions and other nuclear activities in seas should be minimised.
8. Wastes from municipal, industries, sewage and thermal power stations should be recycled for
reutilization.
9. Drilling should not be allowed in coastal areas.
10. We should develop awareness in people to reduce the amount of waste in their daily life.

NOISE POLLUTION

~ Noise - any unwanted, undesirable, meaningless and unpleasant sound may be termed as a noise.
~ The intensity of sound is measured in decibels.

Effects Of Noise Pollution

1. Physiological effects: The acute effects caused by noise depend upon the pressure and frequency.
At high levels of sound permanent hearing damage may be caused. Loud sounds can cause various
effects such as enhancement of the sensitivity of body to adrenaline, increase of blood sugar levels,
suppression of immune system and decreasing the efficiency of liver to detoxify blood.
2. Psychological effects: There is a little proof regarding the mental or nervous illness caused by noise,
some reports are available to indicate temporary effects such as declining concentration and mental
misbalance at high noise levels.
3. Hearing loss: Prolonged exposure to loud noise can cause temporary or permanent loss of hearing.
People working in noisy places like industries factories etc often suffer from temporary loss of hearing.
Very loud, sudden and impulsive noises like bomb blast are capable of causing acute damage to
auditory system and a sudden loss of hearing.
4. Other health effects of noise pollution: Loud noise effect sleep, concentration and work for
performance of an individual. It may cause headache, irritability and fatigue. Clouding of pupils,
damage of night vision, decrease in colour perception ability are some of the effects caused by
exposure to loud noise for long durations.

Prevention And Control Of Noise Pollution

The necessary steps to be taken to control the noise pollution are:

1. Reduction of noise at the source of its origin - This can be achieved by replacing noisy devices or
machines with quitter ones by decreasing vibrations, proper oiling and greasing to ensure smooth
running and using effective silencers.
2. Application of sound proofing techniques to decrease loud noises - Sound waves are observed by
porous materials. As putting cotton in the ears reduces noise level, sound barriers placed around the
source of origin of loud noises reduce the intensity of sound on the other side of the barrier.
3. Keeping residential localities free of noisy industries, busy highways, aerodromes, etc. - Residential
localities should be established away from noisy industries, busy highways, aerodromes. Industrial
 units can be displaced to some industrial area where bypasses may be developed to divert busy
railway tracks and highways away from domestic establishments.
4. Making strict rules and regulations and implementing them immediately - In most of the countries
legal frameworks against noise pollution has been developed but not much efforts are made to
enforce these rules effectively. If this rules are obeyed effectively then much of the noise pollution
shall automatically decrease.
5. Noise control methods in industrial plants - Excessive noise is produced from various types of
machines, electric motors, compressed air systems, industrial fans etc. It is always advantages,
economical and effective to identify the noise sources and noise problems right in the design and
setup stages and do the necessary noise control measures instead of solving the problems at a later
stage.

THERMAL POLLUTION

~ The warming up of an aquatic system to the point where desirable organisms are adversely affected
is called thermal pollution
OR
~ Addition of excess of undesirable heat to water that makes it harmful to man, animal, plant or aquatic
life or otherwise causes significant changes to the normal activities of aquatic communities in water is
called thermal pollution.

Sources Of Thermal Pollution

1. Nuclear power plants: Drainage from nuclear power plants, nuclear experiments and explosions
discharge a lot of unutilised heat and trapped radionuclides into nearby water streams.
Emissions from nuclear reactors and processing instruments also increase the temperature of water
bodies up to 10 to 15 degree celsius.
2. Coal fired power plants: Some thermal power plants discharges effluents having temperature
difference of 15 degree Celsius between effluent and water body.
The heated coal are cooled with water from nearby river and the hot water is discharged back to the
water body increasing the temperature.
3. Industrial effluents: Industry generating electricity like coal as fuel and Nuclear Power thermal plants
require huge amounts of cooling water for heat removal.
To cope with the increased demand of electricity the number of installations are increased which
results in discharge of more volume of water/heated effluent to the water body.
4. Domestic sewage: Domestic sewage is commonly discharged into rivers, lakes with or without waste
treatment.
The discharged water not only raises the stream temperature but also decreases the dissolved
oxygen content and creates numerous harmful effects on aquatic life.
 CHAPTER 6
SOCIAL ISSUES AND THE ENVIRONMENT

~ The main objective is developing technologies and modernizing our ambience without losing our
cultural and traditional values and practices.
~ Sustainable Development: meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs.
Also
Optimum use of natural resources with high degree of reusability, minimum wastage, least generation
of toxic byproducts and maximum productivity.
~ Freedom and sustainable development are mutually exclusive ideas. Freedom encourages people to
do what they want to do. While sustainable development dictates what people may or may not do.
Freedom empowers people to control government and sustainable development empowers govt. to
control people.
~ There are two aspects of sustainable development:
ii) Intergenerational Equity – this focuses on stopping over-exploitation of resources, reducing
waste discharge and emissions and maintaining an ecological balance.
iii) Intragenerational Equity – This emphasizes that the technological development should
support economic growth of the poor countries so as to reduce the gap within and between
the nations.

Measures For Sustainable Development

1. Promoting environmental education and awareness: This can be achieved by introducing

environment education from a primary stage to develop a feeling of belongingness to the earth.
Social media can also provide a more effective area for the promotion.
2. The 4-R approach: The 4-R’s approach means Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Refuse. We should
reduce the excessive use of natural resources but use them again and again or recycle them to
be made new products again. We must refuse to over exploit our non-renewable resources.
3. Using appropriate technology: the technology implemented should produce high output, minimum
waste, use less resources. It should be locally adaptable, eco-friendly, resource efficient and
culturally suitable.
4. Utilizing resources as per carrying capacity of the environment: Sustainability of a system
depends largely upon the carrying capacity of the system. If the carrying capacity of the system
is reached, and still the resources are used, the resources may deplete and reach a point of no
return. It is of two components:
a) Supporting capacity - formed of productive and protective systems
b) Assimilative capacity - formed of systems that utilize wastes produced by human
activities.

Urban Problem Related To Energy

~ The process of urbanization is spreading like wild fire. The more and more influx of populations from
surrounding areas into cities has made the provisions for accommodation of industrial, commercial and
residential facilities difficult. Energy is required at every walk of life.

~ The following are the main causes of energy problems →

1) Increasing use of energy for domestic and commercial purpose.
2) Industrial plants using big proportion of energy
3) Non renewable resources of energy like coal, petroleum and natural gas are decreasing
 4) Increasing transport facilities
5) Decreasing production of hydroelectricity due to insufficient rains.
6) Transmission loss due to defective power distribution system.

~ Steps to solve the energy related problems –

i) To control urbanization.
ii) To develop renewable sources of energy like solar, wind, hydel, nuclear, biomass etc.
iii) Non-renewable sources should only be used during the unavailability of renewable sources of
energy.
iv) Spreading the awareness programs to save energy.
v) Effective measures for transition loss and energy theft.

Water Conservation

~ Water is the elixir of life. Without it life wouldnot have been possible. It is unique in many aspects and
properties. It is a universal solvent.
~ The global distribution of freshwater on the earth’s crust is
Ice & snow – 28.0%
Ponds, lakes, etc. – 0.33%
Streams & rivers – 0.14%
Soil moisture – 0.5%
Ground water – 71.0%
~ It is essential directly for consumption or indirectly for washing, cooling, transportation, waste disposal,
irrigation, power generation etc.
~ Steps taken for the conservation of water :→
1) Water economy (Reusing & Recycling): Strict water meters would lead to decline in over
consumption of water in domestic and livestock and industries. The used water from the industries
must be reused.
2) Agricultural runoffs from fields: Proper drainage system should be made to irrigate the low lying
croplands and reduce the agricultural runoffs.
3) Efficient distribution system: Water resources are not distributed evenly. Hence, during surplus,
water can be channelled to nearby locality.
4) Enhancement of surface storage capacity: There must be provision to store rain water runoffs
and streams and rivers that run into the sea.
5) Reduce evaporation losses: Water losses through evaporation is huge in large water bodies
like reservoirs and distribution system, which needs to be reduced.
6) Improvement of underground storage capacity: The fresh water is stored in under ground
deposits. These are cheap and easily obtainable.
7) Desalination of sea water: If the salt content of the sea water is removed, then it can be used
by humans.
8) Afforestation and Reforestation: these should be practiced at hilly and sloppy areas to check
loss of water in floods.
9) Artificial rain making and taking proper precautions against water pollution.

Rain Water Harvesting

~It essentially means collecting rainwater on the roof of buildings and storing it underground for later
use. It is environment friendly, helps improve underground water quality, helps to meet increasing
demand for water and prevent flooding of roads.
~ Rain water harvesting consists of five basic components:
a) Catchment area (roof)
 b) Transport pipes from catchment to storage
c) heat screens and roof washers
d) Storage tanks
e) Water treatment systems, filters, etc.
~ The main causes of fall in ground water levels are:
a) Over exploitation of ground water.
b) Non availability of other sources of water.
c) Unreliability of municipal water supplies
d) Misuse of different water resources
~ Effects of over exploitation of ground water.
a) Fall in ground water
b) Drying up of wells/bore-wells
c) Enhanced use of more energy
d) Deterioration in ground water quality
e) Ingress (incoming) of sea water in coastal areas
~ The main objective of rain water harvesting system are:
a) To restore supplies from the water system depleted due to over exploitation
b) To improve supplies from water bodies lacking sufficient recharge
c) To store excess water for use in the future
d) To improve physical and chemical quality of ground water
e) To reduce water runoff and soil erosion
f) To reduce increase in salinity in coastal areas
g) To increase hydro static pressure to prevent land slides
h) Convert traditional water harvesting structure into ground water recharge facilities
~ Advantages of rain water harvesting are:
a) Rise in ground water levels
b) Increased availability of water from wells
c) Reduction in use of energy from pumping water
d) Reduction of flood hazards and soil erosion
e) Improvement in water quality
f) Countering the effects of droughts
g) Upgrading social and environmental status

Watershed Management

~ Watershed is a drainage area on earth’s surface from which runoff, resulting from precipitation, flows
past from a point into a large stream, river, lake or ocean. But these watersheds are degraded due to
uncontrolled, unplanned and unscientific land use activities like overgrazing, deforestation, etc.
~ The objective of watershed management are:
a) To increase agricultural production i.e. increasing the availability of fodder, fuel wood, timber,
etc.
b) The rational utilization of national resources like water, soil & vegetation
c) To minimize the risk of floods, droughts, landslides
d) To manage the watershed for developmental activities like domestic water supply, irrigation,
hydropower generation, etc.
e) To develop the rural areas and their lifestyle
~ Measures to be taken for watershed management are:
a) Scientific mining must be done in watershed areas because hills loose stability by improper
mining
b) Water harvesting should be practiced in dry seasons in low rainfall areas
c) Afforestation should be done to prevent runoffs, soil erosion and increase soil moisture
 d) Some mechanical measures like terracing, bunding, bench terracing, contour cropping, etc.
e) To promote soil binding plants
f) People’s participation must be ensured in watershed management programmes.

Resettlement & Rehabilitation of People : Its Problems and Concerns

~ The development projects like construction of dams, mining, creation of parks, etc. and during natural
calamities like earthquakes, landslides, volcanoes, floods, droughts, cyclones, etc. the problems of
resettlements and rehabilitation arises which causes a permanent loss of benefits and facilities.
~ Various projects that resulted in displacement are:
a) Displacement due to dams – The most easily accessible and eco-friendly form of renewable
energy is hydropower. India’s exploitable hydropower potential is 84000 MW.
Sardar Saovar Project (Gujarat), Hirakud (Odisha), Bhakra Nangal Dam (Punjab), Tehri Dam
(Uttaranchal), Indira Sagar Project (Madhya Pradesh) are some which displaced more than 25
million people.
b) Displacement due to mining – Mining is also an important means of development. Due to this
developmental activity, thousands of people are displaced. And these displaced people usually
belong to the poor class.
c) Displacement due to National Parks – To protect flora and fauna, large areas of forests are
covered under national parks and sanctuary and entry of local people is prohibited. Hence they
are denied their rights to access the benefits of forests.

Environmental Ethics: Issues and Solutions

~ Environmental ethics are the issues, principles and guidelines relating to human interactions with their
environment
OR
Human ties towards the environment and living beings are called environmental ethics.
~ The ethics are the basic codes of civilized behaviour without which our sustainability of the
environment may be questioned.
~ There are two types of thinking among people in which the earth is viewed. These are:
a) Ecocentric world view – It states that earth resources are limited and they are not for humans
alonebut for all species. So we may use the natural resources but not to an extent that it degrades
the environment.
b) Anthropo-centric world view – This states that man is the most important species of nature.
Earth has unlimited supply of resources. So the success and healthy economy of mankind
depends upon how nicely man derives benefits from nature.
~ To check the environmental crisis, certain ethics need to be followed. They are:
a) We should love and honour the integrity of earth.
b) We should celebrate the turning off of seasons.
c) We shouldn’t waste or exploit natural resources.
d) We should spread awareness regarding conservation of resources.
e) We should equally share resources among all.
f) We should be respectful to plants and animals that they provide us food.
g) We should conserve the ecosystem and promote sustainable practices.
h) We should consume resources in less amounts so that it won’t deplete fast.
i) We should focus on environmental awareness from primary education.

Climate Change
~ The climate includes quantity of light, temperature, humidity, wind, gases, water etc. that averages for
about 30 years. The changes in the environmental condition of an area over a long period of time is
called climate change.
~ These changes affect the agriculture, migration of animals, hydrological cycles, thermal gradient
between the poles and equator, wind pattern, distribution of rainfall, etc.

Hydrological Cycle

Global Warming

~ The average global temperature is

15°C. The lower most layer of the atmosphere
traps the heat by a natural process due to
the presence of certain gases like CO2, NOx,
SOx, O3, CH4, CFCs, etc.
~ The excessive warming of earth’s climate
due to excessive increase in greenhouse
gases is called greenhouse effect. This
effect contributes to a rise in temperature up
to 33°C, this is termed as global warming.

Impacts Of Global Warming

a) Climate Change
b) Effects on sea level
c) Reduction of biodiversity
d) Effects on agriculture
e) Adverse effects on human health
f) Ecological disturbances
g) Effects on arctic ecosystems

Measures To Check Global Warming

a) Afforestation and reforestation

b) Control population growth
c) Minimise the current rate of use of fossil fuels
d) Use of nonconventional sources of energy
e) Shifting to less polluting fuels
f) Trap and use methane as a fuel
g) Efficiently remove greenhouse gases from chimney outlets
h) Using energy more efficiently
i) Adopting sustainable practices
j) Spreading awareness about the above

Acid Rain

~ Normal rain water is always acidic because of the fact that CO 2, NOx, SOx, etc. present in the
atmosphere get dissolved in it forming respective acids.
~ The presence of these pollutants in the atmosphere increases the pH of the rain water and makes the
precipitation acidic. This is known as acid rain.
Ozone Layer

Creation of ozone layer: Ozone is a naturally occurring gas found throughout the atmosphere with a
maximum mixing ratio at the altitude ranging from 15 to 30 km above the earth. This layer of earth is
called Ozone layer.
Ozone, if directly consumed, is harmful to plants and animals but increased concentration has a
beneficial effect. Both atmosphere and earth surface are subjected to radiation from sun. These
radiations are absorbed by the ozone layer and life on earth is protected.
Effect of ozone depletion:
a) With the ozone layer depleted, there is a danger of increase in UV radiations over the earth’s
biosphere.
b) It may lead to skin cancer.
c) The UV radiations may cause eye defects
d) Ozone at ground level is very much harmful for lungs
e) Ozone dissolved in water is highly toxic for marine life
f) Ozone reacts and degrades many fibres like cotton
g) It also causes decrease in soil moisture content

Nuclear Accidents

~ The first atomic bomb was exploded about 550m in the atmosphere over the ill-fated Hiroshima on
Aug 6, 1945 and the second atom bomb was detonated 507m high in air over Nagasaki.
~ Atleast 100000 people were reported killed, severely injured and missing in Hiroshima alone. And the
bomb demolished all structures and buildings in about 15 sqkm area. In Nagasaki 49000 people were
killed, injured and disappeared while an area of 6-7 sqkm was devastated.
~ The atom bomb exploded on Hiroshima used Uranium (U-235) with a half-life period of
8.5 x 108 years while the Nagasaki bomb had Plutonium (Pu-239) as an explosive manmade radio
nuclide with half-life of 24000 years.
~ The first H2 bomb was exploded in 1954 on an island in the Pacific. The radioactive fallout from this
explosion severely affected the crew of a Japanese fishing boat “The Lucky Dragon” about 150 km
away. Several persons were hospitalized, killed and injured.
~ In 1961, Russia detonated a bomb of 57 mega tons that could destroy a city more than 300 times than
that of Hiroshima.

Drawbacks Of Nuclear Power

A) Nuclear radiation accidents

B) Radioactive wastes
C) Requires high initial capital costs
D) Deaths of aquatic life
E) Negative impacts on human life.
F) It is not a renewable energy source
G) Puts the whole nation at risk both at development and economic points of views
H) Fuel availability

Adverse Effects Of Nuclear Power

a) Radioactive gases and effluents

b) Risk of diseases like cancer
c) Solid wastes to the water bodies
d) Industrial accidents
e) Harmful gas emissions
f) Waste heat generation
g) Greenhouse gas emissions
h) Environmental attacks

# Elastomers: An elastomer is a polymer with viscoelasticity and very weak inter-molecular forces. It
generally has high failure strain as compared to other materials.

# Degradable Polymer: Degradable polymer is a specific type of polymer that breaks down after its
intended purpose to result in natural by-products such as gases (CO2, N2), water, biomass and inorganic
salts.

The Air Act 1981 (Prevention & Control of pollution)

~ With increasing industrialization, and the tendency of majority of industry to concentrate in areas which
are already been heavily industrialized, the problem of air pollution has begun to be felt in the country.
~ The various pollutants discharged from human activities connected with traffic, heating, use of fuel,
etc. also have affected the health of people and animals.
~ In view of the discussions, the air bill was introduced and passed by both the houses. It came into
force on the 6th day of May, 1981 as the Air Act.
~ It is an act to provide for the prevention and control of air pollution for the establishment and assigning
to the powers and functions relating to all matters over the biosphere.

The Water Act 1974 (Prevention & Control of pollution)

~ As the result of growth of industries and the increasing tendencies for urbanization the problem of
pollution of rivers and streams are assumed considerable.
~ It has become essential to ensure that the domestic and industrial effluents are not allowed to be
discharged into the water without any treatment.
~ To give effect to these problems, the water bill was introduced and passed in the parliament on 23rd
march, 1974.
~ It is an act to provide for the prevention and control of water pollution and maintaining a healthy mass
of water.
 CH- 7
HUMAN POPULATION AND THE ENVIRONMENT

Population

~ It is defined as a group of organisms of the same species occupying a given area at the same time.
It consists of either ‘unitary’ or ‘modular’ organisms. Amphibians, birds, mammals, etc. are unitary
whereas plants, sponges, etc. are called modular organisms.

Population Growth

~ It is the capacity of increase in no of individuals within an area in a specific period of time.

~ According to the rate of increase of population, it is of following three types:

a) Logistic growth – When a population is allowed to grow in a limited space it shows logistic growth.
This graph is a typical S-shaped sigmoid curve.

PASTE DIAGRAM FOR POPULATION GROWTH

It consists of three stages i.e. 1st stage shows slow rate called ‘lag period’, second is ‘accelerating
stage’ followed by a phase of extremely rapid population growth and the last stage is the equilibrium
phase called saturation level or carrying capacity represented by ‘K’

𝑑𝑁 𝑁
= 𝛾𝑁 (1 − )
𝑑𝑡 𝐾
𝑑𝑁
– rate of growth of population
𝑑𝑡
𝛾 – intrinsic rate of increase
N – Population size
K – Carrying capacity of population
𝑁
(1 − 𝐾 ) – density dependent factor

b) Exponential growth – When a population growth curve quickly begins to rise very steeply, the
population shows exponential growth.
A population growing exponentially increases according to the eqn:
𝑁𝑡 = 𝑁0 𝑒 𝑟𝑡
where,
𝑁𝑡 – No of individuals in the population after ‘t’ units of time
𝑁0 - Initial population size.
r – Exponential growth rate

c) Geometric growth – It is defined as the population growth, in which the rate of increase is
proportional to the no of individuals in the population at the beginning of the breeding. The eqn for this
is:
𝑁𝑡 = 𝑁0 𝜆
where,
𝜆 – geometric growth rate

# Doubling time: It is defined by the time needed for the population to get doubled in nos. It shows that
more the growth rate, less will be the doubling time.
Population Variations Among Developed & Developing Countries

~ The growth rates are not uniform in the world. In some countries, it is less than 0.5% per year. In
developing countries, growth rates are excessively high.
~ The population of Europe was 163 million in 1750 and increased to 276 million in 1850. Due to
advancement on medical technology and reforms in environmental sanitation and public health, the
population increased to 547 million in 1950 and to 728 million in 1999. But is projected to decline to
701 million in 2025
~ The population of North America was 2 million in 1750 but by 1900 I reached to 82 million and 303
million by 1999. This was mainly due to immigration.
~ The population of Asia during 1750 was 502 million which increased to 800 million in 1850 and
escalated to 1450 million by 1950. The two largest Asian countries (called Asian Elephants), China
and India along added 28.6 million between 1950 – 1999.
~ The population explosion is the major obstacle to the economic and social development of most of
the under developed countries.

Population Explosion

~ The growth rate of a population can be expressed as the ratio of number of individuals by which
population increases upon the amount of time that passes by i.e.

𝑁𝑜. 𝑜𝑓 𝑏𝑖𝑟𝑡ℎ𝑠 (𝑏𝑛 ) − 𝑁𝑜. 𝑜𝑓 𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑠 (𝑑𝑛 )

𝐺𝑟𝑜𝑤𝑡ℎ 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 (𝑟𝑔 ) =
𝑎𝑣𝑔. 𝑝𝑜𝑝𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑛 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑎𝑙

There are many cases where ‘bn’ is hugely larger than ‘dn’ for a period of time. This is called population
explosion.
At certain points due to sudden change in conditions ‘d n’ is greater than ‘bn’. This is called population
crash.
~ Our resources like land, water, fuel, minerals are limited and due to population explosion, these
resources are getting exhausted. Social, economic, religious, all types of reasons are responsible for
high birth rate of our country. The main reasons include low marriage ages, lack of education, joint family
system, importance of male child, religious mis-beliefs, etc.
~ Due to over population, some serious problems like deficiency in food supply, space, employment,
education, health, etc. prevail.

National Family Welfare Program & Its Importance

~ The national family welfare program was previously named as national family planning program. It
was renamed on 1977. India was the first country to implement such a program.
~ This includes establishment of few family planning clinics, distribution of family planning educational
materials and training of health functionaries.
~ The acceptance of primary health care approach as the key to the achievement of health for all led to
the formation of National Family Welfare Program.

~ Importance –
a) It occupies an important position in the nation’s socio-economic development.
b) India has only 2.4% of world’s area but supports 15.5% of world’s population.
c) India’s population is increasing by 1.8 crore every year.
d) Acceptance of family welfare services is made voluntary and compulsory.
e) The program is 100% centrally sponsored scheme.
Relationship Between Environment & Human Health

~ Environment is the main determinant of human health in a community. Poor living conditions contribute
to low physical and mental efficiency and influx of diseases. Since poor housing conditions are related
to poverty, it has been considered as an unavoidable evil.
~ The environment may be divided into four components:
a) Physical Environment – It is defined as “All those non-living things and physical factors present
around man”. The important components of physical environment are water, air, climate, lights,
vibrations, etc.”
b) Biological Environment – It is defined as “All those living things present around us”. The plants,
animals, rodents, insects, microbes, etc.”
c) Social Environment – It is defined as “social interactions between the individuals such as their socio
economic status, religion, standard of living, etc.”
d) Cultural Environment – It is the culture in which the individual lives. It includes their beliefs, attitude,
knowledge, customs etc.”

# Environmental Sanitation – It is defined as the control of all those factors in the physical environment
which exercise or may exercise a negative effect on our physical development, health and survival.
OR
The science of safeguarding health is called environmental sanitation.

Human Rights Movement

~ Human rights are those rights that every person on this earth is entitled to on account of being a
human.
~ These rights are universal and protected by law.
~ The idea of human rights and liberty has existed since centuries and has evolved over the period of
time.
~ These are the basic rights that are being given to every human being regardless of his caste, creed,
religion, gender or nationality.
~ The human rights are:
a) Right to life and personal security, adequate living standards, rest, leisure.
b) Right to liberty and equality, participate in cultural life of community.
c) Right to remedy by competent tribunal
d) Right to recognition as a person before law and fair public hearing
e) Right to be considered innocent until proven guilty.
f) Right to nationality and freedom to change it.
g) Right to own property, family and marriage.
h) Right to desirable work, and to join trade unions.
i) Right of association, peaceful assembly, participation in government and free elections.
j) Freedom of belief, religion, opinions and information.
k) Freedom of movement and education.
l) Freedom from discrimination, slavery and torture.
m) Freedom from arbitrary arrest and exile.
n) Freedom from interference with privacy, home and family.
o) Freedom from state or personal interference in the above Rights.

~ Though human rights are protected by various laws, these are still violated by people, groups and
even by the states sometimes. Many institutions have been formed to monitor human rights abuses.
Govt. and some non-govt. organisations also keep a check on these.
~ Every human deserves to enjoy the basic human rights.
Value Education

~ Humans act to satisfy their needs. Anything that satisfies their needs becomes a thing of value. Value
can be interpreted to be either a set of feeling or an action.
~ Human behaviour is governed by the values like desires, goals, standards, etc.
~ The progress and development of a nation depends upon the quality of the values valued by the
citizens.
~ Some important values are:
a) Religious Value – It is defined in terms of faith in God. The behaviours include going on pilgrimage,
leading a simple life, having faith in religious leaders, speaking the truth, etc.
b) Social Value – It is defined in terms of charity, kindness, love, sympathy, efforts to serve God through
the service of mankind.
c) Democratic Value – This value is characterized by respect for individuality, absence of discrimination
among persons on the basis of caste, creed, religion, sex, language, status and rights.
d) Aesthetic Value–It is characterized by appreciation of beauty, living in harmony, love for arts,
painting, music, dance, poetry, etc.
e) Economic Value – This value stands for desire for money and material gains.
f) Knowledge Value – This value stands for love of knowledge and theoretical principles and discovery
of truth. Here hard-work in a particular field is valued.
g) Hedonistic Values – It is the conception of desirability of loving pleasure and avoiding pain. For a
hedonist, the present is more important than future.
h) Power Value – It is defined as the concept of desirability of ruling over others and also leading them.
Exercising authority over others is valued here.
i) Family Prestige Value – It is defined as the conception of desirability of such items of behaviour
roles, relationships as would become one’s family. It implies respect for roles of individuals in a
family in an Indian society.
j) Health Values – It is the consideration for keeping the body in a fit state for carrying out one’s normal
duties and functions.

Role Of Information Technology In Environmental & Human Health

~ As chemical or metallurgical or electrical technology enables the processing of raw materials into
usable goods to satisfy man’s or society’s needs likewise information technology helps the storage,
processing, transmission of information to satisfy a person’s, company’s, govt.’s needs for information.
~ It covers voice as in telephony, text as in messages, images, videos and data sheet shared between
computers.
~ Information is knowledge and knowledge is power. Knowledge plus experience is wisdom. And it is
the wise use of information that gives advantage to those who have the information.
~ It is commonly picturized by use of computers to extend the abilities of humans. This has also its use
in mass appliances like pacemakers for the heart, hearing aids, efficiency enhancers in auto-mobiles
and space vehicles.
~ Banking, trading, learning, teaching, library, etc. have also come under the services provided by IT
sectors.
~ The print media has also highlighted and participated in some of the important environmental issues
and helped in making the people aware by influencing the people’s opinion.
~ It has facilities like internet, world wide web (www), geographical information system (GIS), information
through satellites about the condition and needs of development of a particular area.
~ Various online databases including wildlife, forest covers, pollution, environmental management, etc.
are prepared and shared for a proper functioning of the govt. as well as nation.
~ With the help of computers and internet, we can have not only the knowledge of patients, at a glance
but also information about the diseases, medicines, their alternative medicines, CT scanning (Computer
Tomography) and MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) are also possible to monitor human health.

Child Development Programs In Rural India

~ Child development programs are very important to:

 Reduce the rate of infant mortality and maternal mortality.
 Regulate and control malnutrition.
 Eradicate the problem of illiteracy, female foeticide, childhood marriage, protection of girl child
from human trafficking.
 Protect the rights of children against exploitation, physical and mental abuse, child labour etc.
~ The govt has implemented a no of schemes for the protection of child welfare:
a) Early Childhood Care – This is for children below 5 years of age and it focuses on providing
nutritious food, imparting learning through play way methods, adequate health care and hygiene
etc.
b) Supplementary Education Centres – this is for the age group of 6 – 15 years. This focuses to
provide supplementary education, additional educational support, etc.
c) Promoting Child Rights – This is aimed towards awareness about child rights, to provide training
and to improve and strengthen the activities concerning child rights and protection.
d) Setting Up Of Child Resource Centre (CRC) – The purpose of CRC is to coordinate activities
relating to children issues, to provide a place where organisations can share and learn
experiences and facilitate discussions towards a child friendly environment.
e) Non-residential Bridge Courses – These courses are aimed at educating the young mass who
missed out an opportunity or were unable to complete their education.
f) Children’s Parliament – This focuses to help the children realise their rights, responsibilities and
powers when they are united.