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| Environmental Science |
Hello guys welcome to "Home Learning Hub-Great Home Learning For All". If you want to study an introduction to environmental science including definition of environmental science, environmental scientist vs environmentalist, types of environment, components of environment, abiotic components of environment, biotic components of environment and ecological footprint then you are on the right place so lets gets started.
Introduction To Environmental Science
What is Environmental Science
Environmental Scientist Vs Environmentalist
Types of Environment
Components of Environment
Abiotic Components of Environment
Biotic Components of Environment
Ecological Footprint
What is Environmental Science:
Environmental science is a multidisciplinary science which comprises of different branches of sciences like biology, chemistry, physics, life science, agriculture, public health, sanitary and engineering etc. Environment is the total of our surroundings that is all the things around us with which we interact such as living things(animals, plants, forests, fungi), non living things(continents, oceans, clouds, soil, rocks), our built environment(buildings, human created living centres) and social relationships and institutions.
Environment can be defined as the circumstances that surrounds a living organism or group of living organisms or it can also be defined as the complex of social/cultural conditions that affect an individual or community. Environmental science can be defined as an interdisciplinary academic field which comprises of biological and physical sciences such as biology, chemistry, physics, soil science, geology, geography and IT sciences to study the environment and to look for the solution of environmental problems.
Environmental Scientist Vs Environmentalist:
Environmental scientist is a professional who works on the objects like the understanding of the earth processes, evaluating different energy systems, pollution control and mitigation, natural resource management and the effects of global climate change on both, environment as well as on living organisms.
On the other hand, Environmentalist is a professional who brings a system approach to the analyses of the environmental problems and a social movement is dedicated for the protection of the natural world.
Types of Environment:
Micro Environment:
Microenvironment can be defined as the immediate local surroundings of a living organism.
Macro Environment:
Macro environment can be defined as all the physical or abiotic and living or biotic conditions that surround the living organisms externally.
Biotic Environment:
In biotic environment we include all the biotic factors/conditions or living forms/things such as the plants, animals and microorganisms etc.
Physical Environment:
Physical environment can be defined as the geographical climate or weather or all the abiotic or physical conditions/factors such as temperature, light, rainfall, soil and minerals where an organism lives.
Social Environment:
In social environment we include an organisms political, social and economic conditions/factors where he or she lives.
Psychological Environment:
Every living organism has his or her own psychological environment where he or she lives.
Components of Environment:
Components of environment include atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere and biosphere but these are the abiotic components of environment while on the other hand biotic components of environment include producers, consumers and decomposers.
Abiotic Components of Environment:
Atmosphere:
Atmosphere can be defined as the layer of gases surrounding the earth's surface consisting of various gases in different proportions such as nitrogen(78%), oxygen(21%). argon(0.9%), carbon dioxide(0.03%) and trace amounts of some other gases as well as varying amounts of water vapours.
The function of atmosphere is to absorb harmful electromagnetic radiation coming from sun thus saving living organisms from harmful ultraviolet radiations on earth coming from sun hence protecting life on earth. The atmospheric gases are essential for sustaining life on earth.
Atmosphere is further divided into five distinct layers known as troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere and exosphere from closest to farthest from the earth. We are going to discuss four of them here which are troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere and thermosphere.
Troposphere:
Troposphere is the layer of atmosphere which is closest to the earth's surface also known as the lower atmosphere and this layer is where weather occurs and the mixing of gases is rapid. This layer is 9-17km above the earth's surface and in this layer temperature decreases with height.
Stratosphere:
Stratosphere is the layer of atmosphere which comes after the troposphere ranging from tropopause to 51km. In stratosphere, temperature increases with height and this is the layer of atmosphere where ozone layer is present protecting earth from harmful ultraviolet radiation.
Mesosphere:
Mesosphere is the layer of atmosphere which comes after the stratosphere ranging from stratopause to 80-85km and in this layer temperature decreases with height. The stratosphere and the mesosphere are also known as the middle atmosphere.
Thermosphere:
This is the layer of atmosphere which comes after the mesosphere ranging from mesopause to 350-800km. In this layer temperature increases with height, international space station orbits here and is also known as the upper atmosphere.
Layers of atmosphere finishes here. Now back to abiotic components of environment after atmosphere.
Hydrosphere:
Hydrosphere consists of all types of water bodies including oceans, seas, lakes, rivers, streams, reservoirs, polar ice caps, glaciers and ground water. In nature, 97% of the earth's water is in the oceans, about 2% of the water resources are in polar ice caps and glaciers while only 1% is available in fresh water bodies such as rivers, lakes, streams and ground water.
Lithosphere:
Lithosphere is the component of atmosphere which is the outer mantle of the solid earth consisting of rocks and the soil such as minerals, organic matter, air and water.
Biosphere:
Biosphere is the component of atmosphere which can be defined as the place on earth where life exists and it indicates the interactions of living organisms with their environment viz atmosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere.
Biotic Components of Environment:
The biotic components of environment include living things(producers, consumers and decomposers). Let's discuss them.
Producers:
Producers are those living organisms which can make their own food by the process of photosynthesis such as plants, photosynthetic algae and other photosynthetic microbes and these living organisms do not depend on other organisms for their food. Consumers and other living organisms depend on these organisms for their food.
Consumers:
Consumers are those living organisms which can not make their own food that is they are heterotrophs and depend on producers for their food such as animals.
Decomposers:
Decomposers are those living organisms which decompose or decay dead organic matter for their food such as bacteria and viruses etc.
Ecological Footprint:
Ecological footprint can be defined as the total area of land and water needed to produce the resource a person uses plus the total amount of land and water area needed to dispose of its waste or it can also be defined as the measure of resource and waste a person needed for its life style, and it is higher in developed societies/nations.
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