Chapter VI BIOSPHERE Flashcards
The Planet Earth along with its living organisms
and atmosphere (air, land, and water), which
sustains life, is known as
Biosphere
The biosphere extends vertically into the
atmosphere to about 10Km, downward into the
ocean to depth of about 35,000ft, and into about
23,000ft. of the earth surface itself where living
organisms have been found.
True
are any such issues created due to human activities and cause harm to the environment
ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
What are the ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
- SOIL POLLUTION. 7. GLOBAL WARMING
- WATER POLLUTION. 8. CLIMATE CHANGE
- AIR POLLUTION. 9. OZONE LAYER
- NOISE POLLUTION. 10. ACID RAIN
- DEFORESTATION
- OVERPOPULATION
____ is one of the most important and most
precious of natural resources, and a regular
and plentiful supply of clean water is essential
for the survival and health of most living
organisms.
Water
is the accumulation of nutrients in water, which causes excessive algal growth. This leads to a reduction in oxygen levels and the death of aquatic life.
Eutrophication
is a serious problem caused by water pollution.
Eutrophication
What are the substances that cause eutrophication?
Nutrients, phosphates ,nitrates
Sources of pollution can be categorized into
two:
point source pollution and non-point
source pollution.
The most serious water pollutants in terms of human health are ______
pathogenic organisms.
What are the most important waterborne diseases?
typhoid fever
cholera
bacterial
amoebic dysentery
polio
hepatitis
schistosomiasis.
The amount of dissolved oxygen (DO) in water is a good indicator of water quality and the kinds of life it will support. Oxygen is added to water by diffusion from the air, especially when turbulence and mixing rates are high, and by photosynthesis of green plants and algae.
OXYGEN DEMANDING WASTES
___ is added to water by diffusion from the air, especially when turbulence and mixing rates are high, and by photosynthesis of green plants and algae.
Oxygen
Oxygen is removed from water by ______ and chemical processes that consume oxygen.
Respiration
Aquatic plants require certain nutrients for health growth and metabolism.
True
An excess of these essential elements (from such sources as sewage treatment plants, runoff from animal feedlots or fertilized agricultural lands), however, can result in a plant population explosion which leads to serious degradation of water quality and radical changes in the species composition of the over-fed lake, pond or stream.
True
______ introduced into water as a result of human activities have become the most serious forms of water pollution.
Toxic, inorganic chemicals
Thousands of different natural synthetic ______ are used in the chemical industry to make pesticides, plastics, pigments and other products.
Many of these chemicals are highly toxic.
organic chemicals
• Change in species composition;
• Fish may migrate or be killed by suffocation (because warm water holds less oxygen than cold water);
• The BOD of the water rises;
• Increase the susceptibility of
THERMAL POLLUTION
_____ occurs through enrichment
(contamination) of the atmosphere or air
with noxious gases and other undesirable
substances; caused largely as a result of
burning fuels and through release of
gases by various i n d u s t r i e s a n d
automobiles.
AIR POLLUTION
air contains natural contaminants such as:
pollen
fungi spores
smoke
dust particles from forest fires
volcanic eruptions.
Air contains naturally occurring:
Carbon monoxide
Hydrocarbons
Hydrogen sulphide
Methane
What are the Major Air Pollutants ?
Suspended Particulate
Sulfur dioxide (SO2)
Carbon monoxide (CO)
Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2)
Ozone (O3)
Hydrocarbons
Lead
These are the effects of Suspended Particulate major air pollutants
• Damage to buildings paints
• Dirt into clothing
• Obscure visibility
• Corrode metals
• When inhaled, suspended particulate irritates the respiratory tract.
Effects of Sulfur dioxide (SO2)
• Irritates respiratory system
• Corrodes metals and statues
• Impairs visibility
• Kills or stunt growth of plants
• Is a precursor of acid precipitation
• Binds to hemoglobin in the blood, displacing oxygen and thereby reducing the amount of oxygen carried in the blood stream.
• Slow down mental processes and reaction time
Effects of Carbon monoxide (CO)
• Stunt plant growth
• Reduce visibility by its yellow brown smog it forms
• Contribute to the formation of acid rain.
Effects of Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2)
•This is one of the constituents of photochemical oxidant.
Ozone (03)
Photochemical oxidants are formed from a complex series of chemical reaction when Nitrogen dioxide and hydrocarbons react with o2 and sunlight 1o-produce
photochemical smog
Ozone (03)
Those compounds containing hydrogen and carbon atoms in various combinations are the hydrocarbon groups. Examples are benzene, and benzo(a)pyrene, which is potent carcinogen. Apart from their long time effect, they being catalysts for photochemical smog is the most felt problem.
Hydrocarbons
_____ is a toxic metal, which is traced to automobile emissions from leaded gasoline.
Lead
____ is a metabolic poison and a neurotoxin that binds to essential enzymes and cellular components and inactivates them.
Lead
are the wastes arising from human and animal activities that are normally solid and that are discarded as useless or unwanted.
Solid wastes
It encompass the heterogeneous mass of throw away from mostly urban communities as well as the more omogenous accumulation of agricultural. industrial and mineral wastes.
LAND/SOIL POLLUTION
Ecological impacts of solid waste include?
•Water and air pollution.
•Liquid that seeps from open dumps
•In mining areas, the liquid leached from waste dump may contain toxic elements such as copper,
Give some PESTICIDES
Insecticides
Rodenticides
Herbicides
Nematicides
1____ ,kill insects
2.___,kill rats and mice
3. ___, kill weeds
4.____, kill nematodes
- Insecticides
- Rodenticides
- Herbicides
- Nematicides
Certain plant extracts are very effective
c o n t a c t p o i s o n s , p r o v i d i n g q u i c k
knockdown of insects.
Botanical
Give some CHLORINATED HYDROCARBONS
DDT, chlordane, lindane, endrine, alderin
These insecticides are broad-spectrum, and act primarily on the central nervous system, causing the insect to go through a series of convulsions prior to death.
CHLORINATED HYDROCARBONS
_____ are broad-spectrum contact poisons.
ORGANOPHOSPHATES
They are nerve poisons, which act to inhibit the enzyme cholinesterase, causing the insect to lose coordination and go into convulsion. Methyl parathion, phosdrin and malathion are examples of this group.
ORGANOPHOSPHATES
These are contact poison
CHLORINATED HYDROCARBONS
These are contact poisons, which act in a
manner similar to the organophosphates.
CARBAMATES
___ are widely used in public health
work and agriculture because of their rapid
knockdown of insects and low toxicity to
mammals.
CARBAMATES
What are the PESTICIDE PROBLEMS?
• Killing of beneficial species;
• Development of resistance;
• Environmental contamination
• Hazards to human health especially workers
who do not use personal protection equipment
during application
There are various kinds of atoms of each elemental substance, each with a slightly different make-up, some radioactive, some not radioactive.
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
What are the Prevention and Control of Pollution ?
• Recycling and reuse of waste materials;
• Waste reduction;
• Control the use of chemicals;
• Proper disposal of wastes;
• Treatment of wastes before discharge;
Disturbing or excessive noise that may
harm the activity or balance of human or
animal life
NOISE POLLUTION
SOURCES OF NOISE POLLUTION?
- Household sources
- Social events
- Commercial and Industrial activities
- Transportation
Refers to the cutting, clearing and removal of
rainforest or related ecosystems into less bio-
diverse ecosystems such as pasture, cropland
or plantations
DEFORESTATION
WHAT ARE THE CAUSES OF DEFORESTATION
- SHIFTING CULTIVATION
- COMMERCIAL LOGGING
- MINING AND DAMS
The population of the planet is reaching
unsustainability levels as it faces shortage
or resources like water, fuel, and food
OVERPOPULATION
Leads to rising temperatures of the
oceans and the earth surface causing
melting of polar ice caps, rise in sea levels
and also unnatural patterns of precipitation
such as flashfloods and excessive snow
GLOBAL WARMING
WHAT ARE THE CAUSES OF GLOBAL WARMING
- NATURAL CAUSES
- MAN-MADE CAUSES
___ are causes that created by nature
___causes probably do the most damage to our planet
NATURAL CAUSES
MAN-MADE CAUSES
____ Is a change in the statistical distribution of
weather over periods of time that range from
decades to million of years.
CLIMATE CHANGE
NATURAL CAUSES OF CLIMATE CHANGE:
volcanic eruptions
ocean currents
Earth orbital changes
Solar variation
HUMAN CAUSES OF CLIMATE CHANGE ?
Greenhouse gases
Deforestation
Coal mining
Burning of fossil fuels
Industrial processes.
____is a region of Earth’s stratosphere that absorbs
most of the sun’s ultraviolet (UV) radiation
OZONE LAYER`
____ is caused by the burning of fossil fuels.
ACID RAIN
____ these gases mix with water droplets in the
atmosphere creating weak solutions of nitric
and sulfuric acid. When precipitation occurs
these solutions fall as ____
ACID RAIN
