Environment an Introduction

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Consists of both:

Biotic factors(living things)

and

Abiotic factors (nonliving things) that surround us

and with which we interact.


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Environmental science is defined as theinteraction of humans with the environment.

The environment includes all conditions that

surround living organisms: Climate

Air and water quality

Soil and landforms

Presence of other living organisms

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How does the natural world work?

How does our environment affect us?

How do we affect our environment?

Applied goal: Developing solutions toenvironmental problems.


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is an

interdisciplinaryfield, drawing onmany diversedisciplines.


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Components of Environment

Biological components

Physical Components

Chemical Components

Biotic Factors

A-Biotic Factors


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The three domains. To interpret thisdiagram, start at the bottom with thecommon ancestor of all living organismsand move up. The domain Bacteria wasthe first group to branch off from all otherorganisms, then the domain Archaea. Thedomain Eukarya, which is composed ofthe organisms with which you are mostfamiliar, appeared later in the

evolutionary history of life.


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Ecosystem: A community and its physical

environment.

Species: A group of similar organismswhose members freely interbreed with oneanother in the wild to produce fertileoffspring; members of one speciesgenerally do not interbreed with other

species of organisms.

Population: A group of organisms of the

same species that live in the same area atthe same time.

Community: A natural association thatconsists of all the populations of different

species that live and interact within an areaat the same time.


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PRODUCER

CONSUMER

DECOMPOSER

Together makebiological factors ofan Ecosystem


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The term community has a far broader sense in ecology thanin everyday speech. For the biologist, a community is anassociation of different populations of organisms thatlive and interact in the same place at the same time.

The organisms in a community are interdependent in a variety of ways.

Species compete with one another for food, water, living space, and other resources.

Some organisms kill and eat other organisms.

Some species form intimate associations with one another

Whereas other species seem only distantly connected.


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Fate of solar radiation thatreaches Earth.Most of the suns energy

never reaches Earth.The solar energy thatreaches Earth warms the planetssurface,drives the hydrologic cycle andother

biogeochemical cycles, produces ourclimate, and powers almost all lifethroughthe process of photosynthesis.


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Solar intensity changes with latitude


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Progression of seasons.

Earths inclination on its axis remains the same as it travels around the sun. The suns rays hit the Northern Hemisphere obliquelyduring its winter months and more directly during its summer. In the Southern Hemisphere, the suns rays are oblique during itswinter, which corresponds to the Northern Hemispheres summer. At the equator, the suns rays are approximately vertical onMarch 21 and September 22.


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The Atmosphere


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W h d Cli


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Weather and ClimateWeather refers to the conditions in theatmosphere at a given place and time; itincludes temperature, atmospheric

pressure, precipitation, cloudiness,humidity, and wind. Weather changesfrom one hour to the next and from oneday to the next.

Climaterefers to the average weather conditionsthat occur in a place over a period of years.

Day-to-day variations, day-to-nightvariations, and seasonal variations inclimate factors are important dimensionsof climate that affect organisms. Latitude,elevation, topography, vegetation, distance

from the ocean, and location on a continentor other landmass influence temperature,precipitation, and other aspects of climate.Unlike weather, which changes rapidly,climate usually changes slowly, overhundreds or thousands

of years.

The two most important factors that determine an areas climate are

Temperature and precipitation

Other climate factors include wind,humidity, fog, and cloud cover.Depending on their layers, altitude,and density, clouds can absorb or

reflect sunlight and can retain theplanets outgoing heat

PRECIPITATION


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PRECIPITATION

Differences in precipitation depend on severalfactors. The heavy rainfall of some areas of thetropics results mainly from the equatorial upliftof moisture-laden air.High surface-water temperatures cause the

evaporation of vast quantities of water fromtropical parts of the ocean, and prevailing windsblow the resulting moist air over landmasses.Heating of the air over a land surface that waswarmed by the sun causes moist air to rise. As itrises, the air cools, and its moisture-holding

abilitydecreases (cool air holds less water vapor thanwarm air). When the air reaches its saturationpointwhen it cannot hold any additionalwater vaporclouds form and water is releasedas precipitation.

Rain shadow.Prevailingwinds

blow warm, moist air from thewindward side. Air cools as it rises,releasing precipitation so that dry airdescends on the leeward side.


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TORNADOES

A tornado is a powerful, rotating funnel of air associated with severe thunderstorms.Tornadoes form when a mass of cool, dry air collides with warm, humid air, producing

a strong updraft of spinning air on the underside of a cloud. The spinning funnelbecomes a tornado when it descends from the cloud and touches the ground. Windvelocity in a strong tornado may reach 480 km per hour (300 mi per hour). Tornadoesrange from 1 m to 3.2 km (2 mi) in width. They last from several seconds to as long as 7hours and travel along the ground from several meters to more than 320 km (200 mi).

On a local level, tornadoes have more concentrated energy than any other kindof storm. They can destroy buildings, bridges, and freight trains and even blow the

water out of a river or small lake, leaving it empty.

TROPICAL CYCLONES


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TROPICAL CYCLONESTropical cyclones are giant, rotating tropical storms with winds of at least 119 km perhour (74 mi per hour); the most powerful have wind velocities greater than 250 km perhour (155 mi per hour). They form as strong winds pick up moisture over warm surfacewaters of the tropical ocean and start to spin as a result of Earths rotation. The spinning

causes an upward spiral of massive clouds as air is pulled upward. Known as hurricanesin the Atlantic, typhoons in the Pacific, and cyclones in the Indian Ocean, tropical cyclones aremost common during summer and autumn months when ocean temperatures arewarmest.


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Internal Planetary Processes

Pl t t t i


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Plate tectonicsEarths outermost rigid rock layer (the lithosphere) is composed of seven large plates,plus a few smaller ones, that float on the asthenosphere (the region of the mantlewhere rocks become hot and soft). The landmasses are situated on some of these plates.As the plates move horizontally across Earths surface, the continents change theirrelative positions.

Plates and plate boundary locations. Seven major independent plates move horizontall

across Earths surface: African, Eurasian, Indian-Australian, Antarctic, Pacific, NorthAmerican, and South American. Arrows show the directions of plate movements.

EARTHQUAKES


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EARTHQUAKES

Earthquakes occur when plates along a fault suddenly move inopposite directions relative to one another. This movement triggersseismic waves that radiate through the crust.


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EARTH SYSTEMS AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE

A system consist of many interacting parts function as a whole.

ESS= Earth system ScienceA Science that deals with the interaction/interrelationship of various earth spheres.

Earth

Atmosphere

Hydrosphere

Lithosphere

Biosphere

EVENT SPHERE

SPHERE SPHERE


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A natural system consisting of a community of

organisms and its physical environment is known as anecosystem. In ecosystems, biological processes (such asphotosynthesis) interact with physical and chemicalprocesses to modify the composition of gases in the

atmosphere, transfer energy from the sun through livingorganisms, recycle waste products, and respond toenvironmental changes with resilience. Natural

ecosystems are the foundation for our concept ofenvironmental sustainability.


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Ecosystems are organized into larger and largersystems that interact with one another. At aglobal level are Earth systems, which includeEarths climate, atmosphere, land, coastal zones,and the ocean. Environmental scientists use a

systems approach to try to understand howhuman activities are altering globalenvironmental parameters such as temperature,

CO2 concentration in the atmosphere, land cover,changes in nitrogen levels in coastal waters, anddeclining fisheries in the ocean.


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Environment consists of biotic and abiotic components

Environmental Science deals with human interactions with environment

Environmental Science is inter disciplinary

Biotic environment is based on hierarchal organization of living things

The communities interact with each other and to physical environment to create

ecosystem

The radiant energy is sole source of energy in ecosystem and the energy transfersthrough food chain

The physical environment comprises solar radiations, the atmosphere, lithosphere,hydrosphere and anthrosphere.

The atmosphere has temperature defined four layers, troposphere, stratosphere,mesosphere and thermosphere


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weather, climate and precipitation are some other abiotic factors of environment

Volcanic eruptions, tornados, earthquakes and typhoons are some natural disasters thatare created by earths rotation

Earth is a big system in which all the components interact with each other

ESS or earth system science deals with interaction accruing in earth systems

Naturally earth system works on the basis of feedback mechanism

Feedback is either negative or positive

At a small scale an ecosystem shows complete features of a natural system

Environment an Introduction

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