BGEC 113: Man and the Environment (I) Quiz

Environmental Degradation

• Environmental degradation refers to the gradual deterioration or reduction in the quality of the natural environment, reducing its ability to provide natural resources and important life support services.
• It can be caused by natural or anthropogenic activities.

Environmental Pollution

• Environmental pollution is the introduction of undesirable substances (liquid, solid, or gaseous) into the environment, making it impure and harmful to living things.
• It can also be defined as the introduction of substances whose nature, location, and quantity have undesirable effects on the environment.

Differences between Pollution and Degradation

• Pollution usually involves the introduction of substances into the environment, whereas degradation is mostly due to the extraction of resources at a faster rate than they are replaced.
• Excessive pollution can also lead to degradation of the environment.

Causes of Environmental Degradation

• Anthropogenic causes: Overpopulation, leading to increased demand and utilization of resources, putting pressure on the environment and natural resources.

Impacts of Man's Activity on the Environment

• Desertification: a process by which land covered with vegetation is converted to a desert, caused by overgrazing, over-farming, and deforestation.
• Greenhouse effect: a mechanism by which certain gases in the earth's atmosphere trap heat, leading to an increase in the earth's ambient temperature, also known as global warming.

Greenhouse Gases

• Carbon dioxide
• Chlorofluorocarbons
• Methane
• Nitrous oxides
• Water vapor

Effects of Environmental Degradation

• Biodiversity loss: the extinction or loss of varieties of genes, species, and ecosystems.
• Organic matter decay: becomes a problem when emission exceeds the assimilative capacity of the environment.

Types of Pollutants

• Local pollution: confined to a single community or a restricted localized region, examples include noise, urban smog, and solid waste pollution.
• Regional pollution: extends or poses a risk well beyond the polluting source, examples include acid deposition/rain.
• Global pollution: widespread with global implications, examples include global warming and ozone depletion caused by CFCs.
• Point source pollution: refers to a single specific identifiable source or discharge point from which pollutants may enter the environment, examples include gases from industries smokestack and liquid waste from municipal treatment plants.
• Non-point source pollution: refers to sources that cannot be identified accurately and degrades the environment in a diffuse, indirect way over a relatively broad area, examples include agrochemicals and runoffs.

Test your understanding of environmental pollution and degradation, as well as the similarities and differences between environmental concepts. This quiz is part of the Service Excellence Week 4 and covers the first semester of the BGEC 113 course.