environment

• Environment


  Everything that is around us, including living and non-living things, physical, chemical, and other natural forces
• Environment (according to The Environment Protection Act 1986)


  Includes water, air, land, and the relationships between these, as well as human beings, other living organisms, plants, microorganisms, and property
• The environment is the surrounding in which we live
• The environment consists of both biotic and abiotic elements
• A clean environment is essential for the peaceful and healthy survival of humans
• Human activities negatively affect the environment, including pollution, global warming, extinction of species, etc.
• Natural Environment comprises land, water, air, plants and animals
• Human beings interact with the environment and modify it according to their needs
• Scope of environmental education

  • Natural resource conservation and management
  • Ecological aspects
  • Environmental Pollution and its control
  • To focus on social, political, cultural, and legal aspects of environmental issues
  • Human population impacts
  • Resource awareness
  • To achieve sustainable development
  • Biodiversity awareness, conservation and management
  • Disaster preparedness and relief
  • Decision-making, and Environmental literacy
• Importance of environmental education

  It helps people understand the physical environment and the issues related to it
• Components of environment


  • Biotic components
  • Abiotic components
• Biotic components


  All living things, such as animals, plants, and microorganisms
• Types of biotic components

  • Producers
  • Consumers
  • Decomposers
• Producers


  Organisms that produce food for others and themselves, also called autotrophs
• Consumers


  Organisms that depend on others for their food, also called heterotrophs
• Types of consumers


  • Primary consumers (herbivores)
  • Secondary consumers (carnivores)
  • Tertiary (top) consumers (sometimes omnivores)
• Decomposers


  Organisms that feed on dead organisms and break down dead or decaying organisms into simpler inorganic materials, making nutrients available to primary producers
• Abiotic components


  All non-living substances and phenomena, including physical factors and chemical substances (organic and inorganic)
• Types of environment


  • Natural Environment
  • Man-made (Anthropogenic) Environment
• Natural Environment


  The natural world, which includes all living and non-living things and comes into existence by its own or naturally
• Man-made (Anthropogenic) Environment


  An environment that has been altered by humans to meet their needs, also called an artificial environment
• Segments of environment


  • Lithosphere
  • Hydrosphere
  • Biosphere
  • Atmosphere

  
• Lithosphere


  The solid, outer part of the Earth, made up of the crust and the uppermost solid layer of the mantle, usually about 100 kilometers in thickness, consisting of rocks and minerals, covered by a thin layer of soil (pedosphere)

  
• Hydrosphere


  The total amount of water on a planet, including water that is on the surface (oceans, rivers and lakes), underground, and in the air (moisture), ranging from 10-20 km in thickness
• Approximately 71 percent of Earth's surface is covered in water, with the ocean containing 97% of the Earth's water
• Water sustains various life forms and plays an important role in ecosystems and regulating the atmosphere
• Biosphere


  The sum of all ecosystems on Earth, also known as the ecosphere, a narrow zone on the surface of the earth where soil, water, and air combine to sustain life, containing living organisms (unicellular and multicellular) and the nonliving factors that provide them with energy and nutrients
• The biosphere ranges from 3m below the ground to 30m above it
• Within a biosphere there is a large geographical region with a specific climate, vegetation, and animal life called biomes
• The biosphere controls atmospheric composition, supports soil health, supports the hydrological (water) cycle, and provides a reliable source of food
• Atmosphere


  A layer of gases that surrounds a planet, held in place by the planet's gravity, composed of Nitrogen (78%), Oxygen (21%) and other gases (1%) including Argon, Carbon dioxide, Helium, and Neon

  
• The atmosphere protects life on Earth by shielding it from ultraviolet (UV) radiation, keeping the planet warm by trapping heat, and preventing extreme temperature differences between day and night
• Layers of the atmosphere

  • Troposphere
  • Stratosphere
  • Mesosphere
  • Thermosphere
  • Exosphere

  
• Troposphere


  The lowest layer of the atmosphere, where almost all weather occurs, ranging from 8-16km at the equator to just under 6 kms at the poles, containing 80% of the total mass of the atmosphere and 99% of water vapour

  
• Stratosphere


  The second major layer, extending from the tropopause to 50 km above the planet's surface, composed of stratified temperature layers, containing the ozone layer (ozonosphere) which protects us from the sun's harmful rays

  
• Mesosphere


  The third highest layer, extending from the stratopause at 160,000 ft/ 80km to the mesopause at 260,000–80,000 ft above sea level, the coldest layer of Earth's atmosphere with temperatures ranging from -2.5 to -90 C

  
• Thermosphere


  The thickest layer of Earth's atmosphere, extending from 100–1,000 kilometers above the surface, made up of the lightest gases including oxygen, helium, and hydrogen, with temperatures as high as 1200 C due to absorption of solar radiation by oxygen molecules

  
• Exosphere


  The outermost layer of the atmosphere

  
• Ecology


  The systematic study of the environment and the interaction of living organisms with it
• Ernst Haeckel coined the term "ecology" in 1869, and Alexander von Humboldt is known as the father of ecology