PEOPLE AND ENVIRONMENT

1. Sources of Pollution

2. Pollutants and their impact on human life,

exploitation of energy and natural resources

3. Natural Hazards and Mitigation

 MEANING OF ENVIRONMENT

Environment is simply the world around us-starting

with our skin and reaching out in all directions, in ever
widening circles, until it embraces the universe.
Environment has no limits- it is whole, continuous,
and indivisible. It is common to all living organisms-
humans, animals and plants. The air, water, land,
rocks, plants and animals are all part of environment.
 MEANING OF ENVIRONMENT (CONT)

Environment also includes our neighbourhood, our

village, our culture and society. The environment in
this context refers to the complex set of natural and
human- made conditions. These include physical,
geographic, biological conditions along with societies,
religion and culture, economies and political systems
 TYPES OF ENVIRONMENT
Natural Environment:- Plant and animal life,
air, water, soil land, climate human made
structures like roads, buildings, bridges,
industries, parks etc.,
Social Environment:- Individuals, family,
communities, religious, educational,
economic, and political institutions etc.,
Cultural Environment: Culture differs from
community to community and society to
society. Culture is often shaped by natural
environment and the interactions between
individuals in a community. Culture changes
overtime. Traditions shape our relationship
with and impacts on the natural environment
in a changing cultural environment.
 POLLUTION
The word pollution is derived from the Latin word
pulluere which means to soil or defile. Any
alteration to air, water, soil or food that threatens the
health, survival capability or activities of humans or
living organisms is called pollution.
 NATURE OF POLLUTANTS
Pollutants are the substances that cause pollution,
that is, substances that make the environment toxic,
unhealthy or unpleasant, or adversely interfere in the
natural functioning of ecosystems.

There are two main categories of pollutants.

Degradable and non degradable
DEGRADABLE AND NON DEGRADABLE
POLLUTANTS
Degradable Pollutants: These pollutants are the
materials such as sewage, that can rapidly
decompose by natural processes. These pollutants
become a problem when added to the environment
faster than they decompose
NON DEGRADABLE POLLUTANTS
Non- Degradable Pollutants: These pollutants are the
materials that do not decompose slowly in the natural
environment. Once contamination occurs, it is difficult
or impossible to remove these pollutants from the
environment.

They include radio active materials and Persistent

Organic Pollutants (POPs). POPs are produces or
released into the environment due to human activity.
 TYPES OF POPs
POPs are of three types:

1. Industrial chemical products like polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)

earlies used as coolants and lubricants in electrical equipments

2. Pesticides like DDT, Aldrin, HCB (commonly known as gammaxine,

used as disinfectant)

3. Dioxins and furans: These are chlorine-containing chemicals that

may be released during burning of chlorine-containing materials
(such as plastics) or processes using chlorine
 SOURCES OF POLLUTION
There are mainly two sources of pollutants, Point sources,
Non-Point Sources
Point Sources: These sources are those which have a
specific location. These include chemical plants, steel
mills, oil refineries and municipal waste incinerator.
Hazardous air pollutants may be released when
equipment leaks, when material is transferred or emitted
from chimneys. For example, municipal waste
incinerators can emit hazardous levels of dioxins, as well
as metals such as lead and mercury
 SOURCES OF POLLUTION

Non Point (Dispersed) Sources: These sources broad

unconfined areas from which pollutants enter the
environment. In case of water pollution, or example,
dispersed sources of pollution include surface runoff from
farms carrying animal wastes, fertilizers, pesticides, and
silt into near by rivers and ponds. Urban storm water
drains are also a dispersed source because they enter
local rivers or lakes at many locations
 AIR POLLUTION
The quality of air deteriorates when harmful substances,
sound, radiations etc. emitted into the atmosphere from
any activity reach unsafe levels.
Important pollutants of air and their sources
pollutants Sources
Carbon dioxide Combustion of fuel oil like petrol,
diesel, coal
Carbon monoxide Incomplete combustion of oil,
petrol, diesel, coal
Lead compounds From leaded petrol used as fuel
in vehicles (now reduced)
Oxides of nitrogen High temperature combustion in
vehicles and to some extent from
power stations
 Important pollutants of air and their sources
pollutants Sources
Oxides of sulphur Combustion of fuel oil, coal in power stations
.
ozone Produced from other air pollutants mainly car
exhausts
Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) Aerosol propellants, cleaning solvents, refrigerants,
foam plastic blowing agents e.g., those used in
making thermocol
Hydrogen sulphide Natural gas refineries, manufacture of coke , paper,
viscose rayon etc.,
Hydrocarbons (benzene, Evaporation of petroleum oils from vehicles (mainly
methane, benzpyrene etc.,) two wheelers of two stroke engines) volatile organic
solvents in industry
Nuclear waste Nuclear power plants, nuclear weapon testing, war
Particulate matter Dust, gaseous and solid waste from industry,
vehicular exhausts, burning of coal, wood, other
fossil fuels, aerosols, mining, strorms, pollens from
plant, smoke of agarbatti sprays of perfumes, air
fresheners, insecticides, pesticides, fumigents used
in the hospitals and cop fields etc.,
 Gases present in Air

Gas
. Percentage
Nitrogen 78.08%
Oxygen 20.94%
Argon 0.934%
Carbon Dioxide 0.033%
Neon 0.0018%
Helium 0.000524%
Methane 0.0002
Krypton 0.000114%
Hydrogen 0.00005%

Xenon 0.0000087
 NOISE POLLUTION
Noise is a common feature of our daily life. But very loud
noise makes us irritable. Rail, road and air traffic,
industrial machines, construction and mining create
unwanted noise. Increasing noise has forced people
to take a special note of noise pollution.

Odum: Noise pollution is the unwanted sound dumped

into the environment without regard to the adverse
effect it may have

Robert Koch: Noise pollution like smog is a slow agent

of death
 SOURCES OF NOISE POLLUTION

Industrial Noise: the noise emitted by the industries is

some times more than 100decibles

Transport Vehicles: Noise from different transport

vehicles like buses, trucks, trains helicopters
especially in urban areas have lead to noise polution

Noise fro neighbourhood; Noises from neighbourhood

like musical instrument, TV, music systems, mixer-
grinders, processions, crackers, mikes, functions etc
 NOISE CHART
Nature of Noise Decibels Quantity of Noise
Whispering 20 dbl Very weak
Normal discussion 40-60 dbl Tolerable

Vacuum cleaner 70 dbl More noise

Heavy Traffic 90 dbl Much noise

Airplane 100-200 dbl Irritating

Rocket 200 dbl Harmful

 IMPACT OF NOISE POLLUTION

1. Variations in blood circulation leads to respiratory problems

2. Hearing capacity gradually decreases and may lead to partial
or permanent deafness
3. Causes sleeplessness and leads to laziness
4. Working for a longer time in noise pollution my lead to loss of
mental balance
5. Continuous exposure to noise between 90-120 dbls may result
loss of sound identification
6. Noise pollution affects the foetus in the womb of the mother
7. Leads to emotional disturbances, uneven heart beat, brain,
kidney and lever problems
8. Affects the digestive system
 WATER POLLUTION
Water Pollution is the adverse change in composition
or condition of water. Changes in clarity,
temperature and smell of water tell us the possibility
of pollution

There are laboratory procedures for testing the water

for pollution. Unpolluted water is chemically neutral.
Using a PH paper you can test the water for its
acidity or alkalinity

Water Pollution includes chemical, physical or

biological changes in fresh or ocean waters
 TYPES OF WATER POLLUTANTS
Disease Causing Agents: Which include bacteria, viruses,
protozoa and parasitic worms enter water from domestic
sewage and animal wastes. They are the biggest cause of water
diseases. Some of which can be fatal.
Oxygen Demanding Wastes: Are organic matter which need
oxygen requiring bacteria to be decomposed. Large numbers of
such bacteria while oxidising these waste deplete the dissolved
oxygen in water, causing fish and other aquatic organisms to
die.
Inorganic chemicals which are soluble in water and consist of
acids, salts and soluble compounds of toxic metals like
mercury and lead which make water unfit to drink, harm fish
and aquatic life affect corps and corrode materials. A large
number of inorganic chemicals find their there way into both
surface water and ground water from sources such as
industries, mines, irrigation runoff, oil drilling and urban runoff
from storm sewers.
 TYPES OF WATER POLLUTANTS
Inorganic Plant Nutrients: Like water soluble nutrients and
phosphates, cause excessive growth of algae and other
aquatic plants. When these aquatic plants die and decay, they
decompose. This causes depletion of oxygen in water. This is
harmful for the life forms in water.

Heat and Warm Water: released from industrial discharges as

part of their cooling processes raises water temperature and
affects health and life cycles of aquatic flora and fauna.

Radioactive substances: Include the waste from mining, and

refinement of radio active metals and pollution caused by their
use. Mining, agriculture, domestic waste and sewage water. Silt
and sediments from erosion of top soil are considered
pollutants because it can damage aquatic eco system
 SOIL POLLUTION
Land and soil pollution is the degradation of the earths land
surface. Retaining top soil intact is important for vegetation and
agriculture. For inhabitation, aesthetics and other commercial and
industrial purposes too, land and soil pollution is undesirable

When industrial and urban waste, such as various chemicals,

plastics, waste papers, rubber etc., are dumped on land, they can
accumulate and interfere with life processes.

Pesticides and fertilizers, fumigants and soil conditioners used in

agriculture can accumulate in the soil in a dispersed form. This is
particularly seen in the case of pesticides like DDT which are used
to kill certain pests, but their quantities reach such levels that they
can do harm to other forms of life. Mining leads to severe physical
and chemical disturbances in land and soil structure
 RADIOACTIVE POLLUTION
Radioactive substances emit energy in the form of radiation. The
radiations having energy more than that in ultraviolet rays are
called ionizing radiations. They are called ionizing radiations
because they can produce charged particles in matter. Exposure
to these ionizing radiations can be dangerous
Radioactive Pollutants: There is a background of natural radiation
everywhere in our environment. It comes from space i.e.,
cosmic rays and from naturally occurring radioactive materials
continued in the earth and in living things.
In the natural environment radiations are always being emitted
from terrestrial sources and from the cosmic rays from the
space but these emissions are of very low level since the
beginning of life every living beings is exposed to natural
radiation. Only in the case of heavy exposure to radiations such
as caused by nuclear weapons or in the case of accidental
exposure nuclear material.
Peroxyacetyl nitrate(PAN)
Peroxyacetyl nitrate is a peroxyacyl nitrate. It is a
secondary pollutant present in photochemical smog. It is
thermally unstable and decomposes into peroxyethanoyl radicals
and nitrogen dioxide gas.
Peroxyacetyl nitrate, or PAN, is an oxidant more stable
than ozone. Hence, it is better capable of long-range transport
than ozone. It serves as a carrier for oxides of nitrogen (NOx)
into rural regions and causes ozone formation in the global
troposphere.
The formation of PAN on a secondary scale becomes an issue
when ethanol is used as an automotive
fuel. Acetaldehyde emissions increase, which subsequently react
in the atmosphere to form smog. Whereas ethanol policies solve
domestic oil supply problems, they drastically exacerbate air
quality conditions.

The Earths
Layers
The Earth is divided into FOUR layers.
1. ATMOSPHERE
2. HYDROSPHERE
3. LITHOSPHERE
4. BIOSPHERE
 ATMOSPHERE
The enevelop of air that completely
surround the earth is called the
atmosphere. It contains oxygen in
abundance. The atmosphere is
further divided into 4 layers. Which
is discussed further
 HYDROSPHERE
The oceans, lakes, rivers and other
water bodies on the earth form the
hydrosphere. As there is a lot of
water on the earth it is called a
watery planet. However more than
97% of water is not available for
human use, as it is saline. 2% of
the total amount of water is frozen
only 1% is available as fresh water
 LITHOSPHERE
This layer envelops the interior of the earth.
Its average thickness is 60 kms. Surrounding
the mantle is the lighter rocks called SIAL.
(Silicate and Aluminum) which overlies
denser rocks SIMA(silicate and mangenese).
The crust under the continents specially the
high mountain ranges is between 30 to 75
kms thick. Beneath the ocean is only 6 to 8
kms thick. The earth core is metallic in
nature containing nickel and iron. The
lithospher is made up of various layers of
rocks containing many types of minerals
 BIOSPHERE
It is the unique feature of earth.
Biosphere merges into the atmosphere,
hydrosphere and lithosphere. It is that
portion of earth that is alive or where
life exist. It extends from the bottom of
the ocean to several Kms in the
atmosphere. It is suitable for the
existence of living organisms as it has
air, water, soil and energy.
The Earths Inner
Layers
 Crust
The crust is the layer that
you live on so it is the
most widely studied and
understood.
 Crust
The crust is made of the
lightest matter and the core
consists of heavy metals
 Crust
The Earth's Crust is like the
skin of an apple. It is very thin
in comparison to the other
three layers.
 Crust
The crust of the Earth is
broken into many pieces
called plates. The plates
move along the soft mantle
which is the layer located
located below the crust.
 Crust
The plates move along smoothly
but sometimes they get stuck and
pressure builds up.
 Crust
The pressure builds and
causes an Earthquake as
rocks break and crack.
San Francisco City Hall after the 1906
Earthquake. (from Steinbrugge Collection of
the UC Berkeley Earthquake Engineering
Research Center)
 Mantle
The mantle is the largest layer of the
Earth.
It is made of hot, dense rock. The
rock in the mantle flows like asphalt
because of the temperature
differences found in the mantle.
 Mantle
The movement
of the mantle
create the
movement of
the Earths
plates.
 Core
The core of the Earth is
much like a ball of very
hot metals. The inner core
is surrounded by a fluid
iron outer core.
Core
 LAYERS OF ATMOSPHERE

TROPOSPHERE
This layer starts at the earths surface and extends to 14.5 kms high

This is the bottom layer of the atmosphere

This part of the atmosphere is the densest and consists of various

gases, dust particles and water vapour

Most of the weather processes like clouds, rain and snow occur in this
layer

High mountains have snow even in the summer months because

temperature drops from about 17*C to -52*C as one climbs in this
layer.

This is known as lower atmosphere

 LAYERS OF ATMOSPHERE

STRATOSPHERE
This layer starts just above the troposphere and extends
50 kms high

This part of the atmospheric layer is dry and less dense

as compared to troposphere

The temperature in this region of the atmosphere

increases (gradually to -3*c)
 LAYERS OF ATMOSPHERE

MESOSPHERE
This layer starts just above the stratosphere and extends
85 kms high

In this region, the temperatures fall to as low as -93*C as

altitude increases

The regions of the stratosphere and the mesosphere are

together referred to as the middle atmosphere
 LAYERS OF ATMOSPHERE
THERMOSPHERE
This layer starts just above the mesosphere and extends
600 kms high
This layer is known as the upper atmosphere
Temperature in this region can go as high as 1,727*C.
The temperatures are very high in this layer because the
gaseous molecules here are constantly bombarded by
high-energy solar radiation
A small variation/change in solar energy causes a large
change in temperature in this layer
Chemical reactions occur much faster here than on the
surface of the earth, because of the high temperatures
 DISTRIBUTION OF WATER ON EARTH

Distribution of Water on Earth Percentage

Oceans 97.2
Ice-caps 02.0
Ground water 00.62
Freshwater lakes 00.009
Inland seas and salt lakes 00.008
Atmosphere 00.001
Rivers 00.0001
Total 99.8381
EXPLOITATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENERGY

Natural Resources: Air, Water and Soil.

Uses of Water: for life, agriculture, industry, power, domestic
use, waste disposal
Soil: Soil provides various natural resources that we require
for living. These include food, medicines, timber, minerals
and bio mass.
Air: For living of animals , plants and many more. The earth
is surrounded by layer of air (atmosphere) without
atmosphere there would be no life on earth and also no
weather. The atmosphere recycles water and moderates
the electrical and magnetic forces that act upon the earth
and protects us from ultra violet radiations from sun.
 EXPLOITATION OF ENERGY
Energy is the power of the strength required for any activity.
Energy is required for the living processes of all plants and
animals. As living beings we require energy for our own
bodily functions, which we get from our food. Humans are
part of ecosystems. In pre historic times, human activities
were within the natural cycling and processes of ecosystems.
With the changes in human living patterns, the pattern of
consumption of energy has also changed
 EXPLOITATION OF ENERGY

Domesticated animals
Wood and Biomass
Solar Energy
Moving wind and water; Hydropower, wind energy,
sea-wave energy and Tidal energy,
Geothermal Energy
Fossil Fuels: Solid fuels-wood, coal, coke, charcoal,
paraffin wax. Liquid fuels-kerosene, petrol, diesel,
alcohol, bio-diesel etc. Gaseous fuels-natural gas,
liquefied petroleum gas, biogas etc
Nuclear energy