Environmental Science PDF

Environmental Science - Environment comes from the old french word, “environer” that means surrounding. - Science is the systematic study Definition of EnviSci: it is the systematic study of the living and nonliving components in order to understand and solve environmental problems. Environm...

Environmental Science - Environment comes from the old french word, “environer” that means surrounding. - Science is the systematic study Definition of EnviSci: it is the systematic study of the living and nonliving components in order to understand and solve environmental problems. Environmental Destruction/ Degradation/ Problems: It affects the quality of life of humans and other living things. (e.g. Anthropogenic activities) Why do humans do these activities? *Lack of knowledge on the systems of the earth. The four layers of the earth are all connected to maintain our life on earth. It includes Biosphere, Lithosphere, Hydrosphere, and Atmosphere. 1. Biosphere - life, global ecosystem: a place where there is an interaction of living and nonliving things. 2. Lithosphere - rocks and minerals. Solid counterpart of the earth. 3. Hydrosphere - water 4. Atmosphere - air (atmos: steam/vapor) 1. Biosphere - The totality of biodiversity. Biodiversity is the variety of living organisms. - It performs all biological functions such as photosynthesis, respiration, decomposition, hydrogen fixation. - It is also called “dynamic” : changing or changing through time. - Eduard Suess named the word Biosphere - 3 and 30 million species of plants, animals, fungi, single-celled prokaryotes such as bacteria, and single-celled eukaryotes such as protozoans. Biodiversity in the Philippines - One of the 17 megadiverse countries in the world. (Megadiverse - possess high number of species) - ⅔ of the world’s biodiversity is concentrated in the country. - It has the greatest number of diverse life forms on a per unit basis. - 3rd in terms of marine biodiversity - 1700 reef species and 3214 fish species - 53000 described species - One of the world’s biodiversity hotspots (*Hotspots - lugar kung saan mabilis mawala ang mga organisms, because of human activities like deforestation) - 700 threatened plant and animal species 2. Lithosphere - Solid outer part of the earth - consists of crust and upper solid mantle - It extends from the surface of Earth to a depth of about 70-100km (8 Mount Everest) 2 Types of Lithosphere 1) Continental Lithosphere - continental crust - Less denser than oceanic lithosphere, but thicker - 70% of the volume of the Earth’s crust - Mostly consist of granitic rock - older - Felsic (Feldspar, silicon ) 2) Oceanic Lithosphere - Mafic (magnesium, iron) crust and ultramafic mantle - Denser than continental lithosphere - constantly being produced at the mid ocean ridge - recycled to the mantle at the subduction zone  Tectonic Plates - Huge slabs of irregularly shaped and solid rocks composed of birth continental and oceanic lithosphere Major Plates - African - South America - Antarctic - North America - Eurasian - Pacific - Indo-Australian - (India) PANGAEA - supercontinent. The cause of its movement is the tectonic plate. Continental Drift Theory - the evidence of tectonic activities are the following: fossils, orogeny (mountain building - the birth of mountains), earthquake, volcanic eruptions, formations of deep trenches. 3. Hydrosphere - Hydor (Gk) water - The discontinuous layer of water at or near Earth’s surface - It includes all liquid and frozen surface waters, groundwater held in soil and rock, and atmospheric water vapor. - It covers 71% of the Earth’s area. - Much of the Earth’s water is likely to have originated from the outer parts of the solar system (e.g. dirty snowballs - meteors, and outgassing of h2o during volcanic eruptions) - Water is constant and is on perpetual Water Cycle - The movement of water is responsible for weathering or chemical and mechanical breakdown. - Transports solid materials to bodies of water - Dissolved and transports nutrients for organisms All Water - 97% Saline (Oceans) - 3% Fresh Water: 30.7% of Groundwater, 68.7% of Ice Caps & Glaciers, 0.9% Others, and 0.30% of Surface Waters: (11% Swamps, 2% Rivers, and 87% Lakers) 4. Atmosphere - Gas blanket of the Earth - If there is no atmosphere, walang makakahinga - Provides oxygen, however, it doesn’t produce oxygen - Absorbs or protects us from solar radiation - Burns up incoming meteors, or lesser the impact of the meteors  - Transports and recycles h2o and nutrients. (*atmosphere contributes to the recycling of water) - Moderates climate - Makes our planet livable - Keeps our planet warm and habitable 5 Layers of Atmosphere 1) Troposphere - Closer to the earth - bottom-most - Responsible for our climate because it is closer to earth - Contains ¾ of the atmosphere's mass which means it is the heaviest layer of the atmosphere. Why is it the heaviest layer? - because of gravity pulling its molecules to the earth. 2) Stratosphere - Where ozone layer can be found - Experiences little vertical mixing (stratified) *Little vertical mixing - the one who is responsible sa pagkabutas ng ozone layer. What causes the hole in the ozone layer? - chlorofluorocarbon, ozone depleting substances 3) Mesosphere - Middle part/portion - Where meteor burn (because there is enough rough/density/friction to burn meteors) 4) Thermosphere - Hottest layer - Greatest temperature - It can reach 500 - 2000 degrees celsius - Where satellites can be found - Where auroras found (Auroras Borealis or Northern Lights, and Aurora Australis or Southern Lights) Why is the satellite not affected by its hotness? - because of the density of the molecules. The distance of the molecules makes its hot temperature not easily transferred, 5) Exosphere - Outer part of the layer - Far away from the earth - Uppermost layer Weather vs. Climate - The condition of the atmosphere Weather - Changes everyday - Short-term atmospheric condition - It can change in the matter of hours Factors Affecting: - temperature - wind - relative humidity - atmospheric pressure Climate - Long-term atmospheric condition - Wet (May-Nov.) and dry (Dec.- Apr.) climate season - Changes in month Factors Affecting: - latitude (pahiga) - distance between the equator - altitude - distance from the sea level - topography - arrangement of all natural features (e.g. mountain range, buildings, and skyscraper) *Rain shadow Effect - if the breeze comes from the ocean, the breeze will go up, it will saturate and form the rain. - distance from oceans/lakes (source of rain) - ocean currents (movement of water in our oceans, and when the water of ocean move from one place to another, they will carry it through wind like amihan and habagat)