MST 01 - Environmental Science Prelims Reviewer PDF

MST 01 – ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE BS Psychology | 1st Semester | Prelims Environmentalism - a social movement dedicated to trying to sustain the earth’s life support MODULE 1: FUNDAMENTALS...

MST 01 – ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE BS Psychology | 1st Semester | Prelims Environmentalism - a social movement dedicated to trying to sustain the earth’s life support MODULE 1: FUNDAMENTALS OF systems for all forms of life. Practiced more in the ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE political and ethical arenas than in the realm of science Environment and Environmental Science Natural Science - study the laws that govern natural phenomena Biology - living organisms Environment - is everything around us. It includes Chemistry - chemicals and their the living and nonliving things with which we interactions interact in a complex web of relationships that Earth Science - earth’s nonliving systems connect us to one another and to the world we and the planet as a whole live in Physics - matter and energy Humans exist within the environment Social Science - the study of human populations, - Humans and the world around us depend which includes economics, political science, completely on the environment for sociology, history, philosophy, and ethics survival, leisure time. (hindi natin kaya mabuhay nang wala ang environment) GOALS OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE: - Natural systems have been degraded by To develop a sustainable world pollution, erosion, and species extinction. Understand and solve environmental Environmental changes threaten problems long-term health and survival. Sustain human population Environmental Science - an interdisciplinary study Dr. Rex N. Olinares of how humans interact with the living and - Father of Environmental Science nonliving parts of the environment - Professor emeritus at UP - Proposed that sanitation and hygienic GOALS OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE: measures are necessary to prevent spread To learn how life on the earth has survived of microorganism and thrived - Sanitation is the root cause of To understand how we interact with the environmental pollution environment To find ways to deal with the environmental problems and live more Natural Resources sustainably Natural Resources KEY COMPONENTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL - resources that exist without any actions of SCIENCE: humankind - substances and energy sources need for Ecology survival - biological science studying the interaction of living things with each other and the Classifications: environment Renewable Resources - can be used repeatedly Organisms and Species and does not run out because it is naturally - Organisms: each belongs to a species replaces - Species: groups with unique Solar Energy - sun producing energy in characteristics distinguishing them from the form of heat and light. It is unlimited. other groups Wind Power - moving air created as the The Study of Ecosystems sun heat the earth’s surface. As long as - Ecosystem: set of organisms within a the sun is shining, the wind remains an defined area infinite, renewable source - Interactions: among organisms and with Flowing Water - creates energy that can their nonliving environment be captured and turned into electricity  (Hydroelectricity power). Water is 6. E.E is valuable part of science instruction. constantly renewed by the water cycle It molds students into smug crusader Geothermal Energy - the earth is whose initial foundation of knowledge is constantly being warmed up by its core so shaky at best when we use geothermala power, we don’t use up resources like we do when we burn IMPORTANCE OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE: gas - Self-fulfillment and social development of the child Non-Renewable Resources - Not replenished with - Increases engagement in science the speed at which it is consumed - Understand food chains and the nature’s Oil - a liquid fossil fuel. Most are still deep ecological balance under the ground - Understanding and appreciating how the Coal - a block or brownish rock. We burn environment is used for making a living coal to create energy and promoting material culture. Why are Natural Resources Important? MODULE 2: ECOLOGICAL AND BIOLOGICAL - Without natural resources, humans would CONCEPTS OF THE ENVIRONMENT not survive. People use natural resources everyday, directly or indirectly. MAIN LEVELS OF STUDY IN ECOLOGY: - Organism Environmental Education - Population - Community Environmental Education - Ecosystem - Interdisciplinary process that aims at equipping people with the knowledge, attitudes, skills, and motivation that they CONCEPTS OF ZERO WASTE: need to help resolve environmental issues - Refuse - Awareness, Knowledge, Attitude, Skills, - Reduce Participation - Reuse - Recycle GOAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE: - Rot - Develop a world population that is aware - of, and concerned about the Ecosystem environmental and its associated problems, and which has the knowledge, skills, attitudes, motivations, and Ecosystem commitment to work individually and - ecological system collectively towards solutions of current - Ecology - from the greek word “oikos” problems (house), and “logos” (study of) - Study of the earth’s households, including 1. Society prepares its citizens to carry out plants, animals, microorganism, and their responsibilities through its system of people that live together as education interdependent components 2. E.E. must consider all aspects of - An assemblage of living and non-living environment elements contained within a boundary 3. E.E. must emphasize on enduring such that these elements have functional continuity, linking actions of today top the relationships with each other and can consequences for tomorrow and the need maintain the flow of energy and complete to think globally the chemical cycle 4. E.E. must aid young citizen in developing a sense of responsibility and commitment to Ecnomics the future, and prepare them to carry out - Economic Theory: About resources the role safeguarding and improving the limitation and availability and how it can environment upon which sll life depends meet the infinite needs of manind 5. E.E teaches students critical thinking and - Economic Theory: resources can be informs them of environmental science as exploited as long as its profitable it really is; an ongoing search for truth  - Animals, micro-organism and other user of plants. - Heterotrophs are predators a. Biophages - animal consume other animals/plants/other organisms b. Saprophages - refers to heterotrophic feeds on dead organic matters Abiotic - Non-living. It includes science like chemistry, physics, and geology - Interactions of abiotic factors result in weather, seasonal changes, tides, air quality, and water quality - Abiotic Components: form the environment and determine the type/structure of ecosystem TYPES OF ECOSYSTEM Terrestrial Ecosystem - land-based community, interactions of biotic and abiotic components in a govern area Forest Ecosystem - dynamic complex of organisms and community, trees are a key component Grassland Ecosystem - vegetation is dominated by grasses and other herbaceous (non-woody) plants Desert Ecosystem - extremely dry environments Tundra Ecosystems - treeless regions found in the Arctic and on the tops of mountains, where the climate is cold and windy, and rainfall is scanr Components of Ecosystem Freshwater Ecosystems - biotic species and their growth and adaptation, and associated biological productivity, According to standpoint of trophic level: nutrient cycling, and energy flows among Autotrophic inland aquatic microbial, plant, and animal - related to components in which communities, are integrated with their activity is photosynthesis – the environment production of organic matter from Marine Ecosystem - aquatic environments simple & drawn from the with high levels of dissolved salt surrounding & build into a complex organic material. According to structure - In photosynthesis, Biotic CO2 + H2O + Energy from Light - Producers (Autotrophs): All green CO2 + H2O + Eight + plants. They use solar energy, Carbohydrates/Sugar chlorophyll, inorganic nutrients and Heterotrophic water to produce their own food. - Transformation of primary (Photosynthesis) products to secondary products - Consumers: They consume the from the plants. organic compounds in plant and - Rearrangement of synthesis animal tissues by eating. - Decomposition is included  - Herbivores (plant feeders) Commensalism - symbiotic relationship Primary consumers where one benefits and one does not - Carnivores (meat eaters) benefit but is unharmed Secondary consumers Parasitism - symbiotic relationship where - Omnivores (general one benefits and one is unharmed feeders) - Decomposers: They are tiny Limiting Factors in an Ecosystem organisms includes bacteria and fungi, which turn organic compounds in dead plants and Population - a group of potentially animals into inorganic materials. interbreeding and interacting individuals They cause the continual of the same species living in the same recirculation of chemicals within place at the same time ecosystem (nutrient cycle) Community - a group of populations in a particular area According to functions of ecosystem Ecosystem - a geographic area where Energy Circuit/Flow organisms, as well as weather and - Energy flows through the structural landscape, work together to form a bubble elements of an ecosystem Biomes - large complexes of ecosystem a. Food Chain - a linear with similar characteristics sequence of organisms through which nutrients IN INTERBREEDING, THERE IS: and energy pass as one Gene flow organisms eat another Life of its own b. Food Web - all of the Unique way of allocating resources interconnected and ○ Regulate growth overlapping food chains in ○ Cooperate for defense an ecosystem GENERAL FORMS OF COMPETITION GRAZING FOOD CHAIN Scramble Competition - high population - organisms feeding on living organisms density, no enough resources for growth DETRITUS FOOD CHAIN and development - organisms feeding on dead organisms Contest Competition - some members of population get more resource denying Nutrient Cycling other members of that resource - nutrients are alternately bound up (imbalance of allocation) in living organisms, freed in the Predation - prey-predator relationships, environment and bound up again balances ecosystem in living tissues a. Closed system – system UNIQUE FEATURES OF POPULATION that neither receive inputs Age structure - ratio of the various age from nor contributes classes to each other at a given time. It is outputs to the external determined by finding individual ages of environment members of the population b. Open system – system with ○ Density - number of individuals exchange of materials and expressed per unit of space or energy to the surrounding area environment Population parameters affected by Density: - Birth rate - Death rate Relationships in the Ecosystem - Growth rate ○ Abundance - number of Competition - two or more organisms rely individuals in a given area (no on the same environmental source boundary) Predation - behavior of one animal Distribution on Time and Space feeding one another ○ Birth Rate/Natality - production Mutualism - symbiotic relationship where of new individuals in a population both organisms benefit the inherent ability of population to increase  ○ Death Rate/Mortality - number of 4. Disease Transmission - parasites/diseases individuals dying in a given time are favored in congested areas period 5. Physical Interference - will interrupt physiological behavior among individuals Mortality rate (qx) – dt/Nt x 100 Where: d = no. of ind. that died at an interval of time N = no. alive at the beginning of the period MODULE 3: ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMISTRY ○ Population Growth Rate - some of the forces influencing growth Environmental Chemistry rate: Environmental Chemistry Mortality (d) and natality - deals with the study of the chemical and (b): rate of increase = (b-d) biochemical phenomena that occur in Immigration (i) – influx of nature new individuals into a - It is an interdisciplinary science that population involves physics, life science, agriculture, Emigration (e) – dispersal material science, public health, sanitary of individuals from a engineering, and so many more disciplines population related to environment and other areas of science TYPES OF LIMITING FACTORS Environmental Indicators Biotic Factors: Abiotic Factors: - Food - Water Envrionmental Indicators - Predation - Living space - are measures or standards that we use to - Disease - Global help us see what is happening in the - Parasitism warming environment. - Invasive Combos: - developed to be the basis for comparison species - Habitat - usually starts through experiments - Competition Destruction wherein - Shelter - a criterion is developed and presented to - Soil the government for approval to become a standard. - it can be developed and used at a wide variety of geographic scales, from local to ADVANTAGES regional to national levels. 1. Protection - plants gain protection from - developed based on quantitative adverse environmental condition in measurements or statistics of clumped distribution environmental condition that are tracked 2. Reproduction - critical level of population over time to maintain genetic material. Higher no. Will serve as defense mechanism PHYSICAL PARAMETERS: 3. Genetic Mechanism - able to compete and 1. Turbidity - measure of the survive within sp. Will form ability to light-transmitting properties of water compete w/ other sp. (interspecific) 2. Color - can indicate presence of organic 4. Division of Labor and Cooperation - each substances member has improved efficiency - Indicate if the water is safe to drink - Can be used as a quantitive assessment DISADVANTAGES of potentially hazardous or toxic organic 1. Intraspecific competition - steeper materials in water competition due to same needs 3. Ordor and Taste - indication that water can be use for human consumption 2. Increase in level of stress - physical - Human perceptions of water proximity of others in population will quality increase stress in individual - Sour (hydrochloric acide), salty 3. Alteration of the Environment - higher (sodium chloride), sweet (sucrose), population will cause environment to be bitter (caffeine) unhealthy 4. Temperature - affects some of the important physical properties and  characteristics of water: thermal capacity, - water is classified as the basis of density, specific weight, viscosity, surface concentration of calcium carbonate tension, specific conductivity, salinity and 7. Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) - solubility of dissolved gases and etc. represents amount of exoygen required by - Chemical and biological reaction rates living organism for oxidation of increase with increasing temperature. biodegradable organic matters present in 5. Conductivity - indicate how pure the water water under aerobic condition is - a direct measurement of quality of - water with high specific conductivity is oxygen needed for biodegradation of not pure organic matter and indirect measurement of quantity of biodegradable organic CHEMICAL PARAMETERS: matter in water 1. Chloride Ion - normally all types of water - when biodegradable organic matter is contain chloride ion but its concentration added in water, microorganism utilizes is very low in natural water system dissolved oxygen to oxidize organic - chloride ion concentration increases in matter case of urine and sewage contaminated 8. Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) - water Measures the amount of oxygen needed to 2. Ammonia (NH3) - comes from oxidize organic matter using strong decomposition of organic matter like chemical oxidizing agents like K2Cr2O7. protein, amino acids, etc. - Valuable for determining organic matter - its concentration increases during water in water with toxic or antimicrobial disinfection process using chloramine chemicals. - first oxidized into nitrate and then into - K2Cr2O7 is strong oxidizing agents and it nitrate oxidizes both biodegradable and 3. Nitrate - If concentration of nitrite is non-biodegradable organic matter greater in drinking water, it brings serious - so COD values are always higher than health hazard to the consumers. BOD for a given sample (Karki, 2018). - Disease caused by high concentration of - COD calculation involves mixing a water nitrite in infants is called Blue baby sample with K2Cr2O7 in sulfuric acid, syndrome, which is characterized by blue adding AgSO4 and HgSO4, and titrating coloration of skin. the remaining K2Cr2O7 with ferrous - Level of nitrite in drinking water should ammonium sulfate. not exceed 3mg/ltr 9. Dissolved Oxygen (DO) - oxygen is highly soluble and get dissolved in water in the 4. Nitrate - is most stable oxidized form of form of DO nitrogen - DO is a source of oxygen for aquatic - In water nitrate comes from organic aerobic organism like fishes, aerobic matter decomposition and from bacteria, etc. atmospheric nitrogen fixation. - DO is an important characteristics of - Like nitrite, Nitrate should not exceed natural water system that determines its 3mg/ltr in drinking water. It is because quality nitrate can be reduced into nitrite in gut of - If DO is absent in water, aquatic infants and causes nitrite poisoning organism cannot survive 5. Phosphate (H2PO4) - Phosphate in water 10. pH - Measures water alkalinity and acidity. sources comes from agricultural wastes, - Alkaline water: Contains NH3, OH-, Ca++, sewage and from industrial effluent. Mg++; leads to certain mineral deficiencies - Karki (2018) described phosphate as not and reduces disinfection efficiency. toxic to human being but it is important - Acidic water: Contains dissolved acids chemical in natural water system like pond and dissolved carbon dioxide; corrodes because its high concentration facilitates pipelines and contains excess minerals. eutrophication. - Ideal pH for drinking water: 6.5-8.5 6. Hardness - merely due to salt of calcium (Karki, 2018). and magnesium - temporary hardness is due to carbonate BIOLOGICAL PARAMETERS: and bicarbonate of calcium and - Used to determine if water can be utilized magnesium, while permanent hardness is for drinking, swimming, and other forms of due to chloride and sulfate of calcium and human contact magnesium  - As the streamflow increases in response to Carbon Cycle rainfall, coliform bacteria frequently are - Nature’s way of reusing carbon atoms, deposited into the ground water system, which travel from the atmosphere into and, subsequently, released into the water organisms in the Earth and then back into as the streamflow recedes the atmosphere over and over again - Indicators: Different types of - Most carbon is stored in rocks and microorganisms, algae, small animals such sediments, while the rest is stored in the as protozoa, and crustaceans, bacteria ocean, atmosphere, and living organisms such as total coliform bacteria, fecal coliform bacteria, and fecal streptococcus bacteria Environmental Chemistry The elements and compounds that sustain us are cycled endlessly through living things and through the environment. The ecosystems have many biogeochemical cycles operating as a part of the system, for example the water cycle, the carbon cycle, the nitrogen cycle, phosphorous cycle and sulfur cycle. All chemical elements occurring in organisms are part of biogeochemical cycles Nitrogen Cycle - Nitrogen is converted into many forms, consecutively passing from the atmosphere to the soil to organism and back into the atmosphere. - Processes: nitrogen fixation, nitrification, denitrification, decay, and putrefacation Biogechemical Cycle - Refers to the movement of elements and compounds cycling continuously between Earth and its organisms or the ways in which an element or compound like water, moves between its various living and nonliving forms and locations in the biosphere Water Cycle or Hydrologic Cycle - Continuous movement of water within the Earth and atmosphere - Complex system, many processes - Liquid water evaporates into water vapor, condenses to form clouds, and precipitates back to earth in the form of rain and snow Oxygen Cycle - Helps to move oxygen through teh three central regions of the earth  - Involves production and consumption of soil and with the decay of dead bodies of oxygen, which leads to a constant level of organisms and plants, sulfur comes back to the oxygen available in the atmosphere soil. The sulfur cycle integrates soil, air and water and one part of the sulfur forms sediments. Sulphur is incorporated in plants as-SH in proteins, passes to heterotrophs through the food chain and is released to the soil through dead tissues and feces. Phosphorus Cycle - Describes the transformation and translocation of phosphorus in soil, water, and living and dead organic materials Sulfur Cycle - Describes the movement of sulfur through the geosphere and biosphere - Sulfur is released from rocks through weathering, and then assimilated by microbes and plants. It is then passed up the food chain and assimilated by plants and animals, and released when they decompose TYPE 1: Gaseous Sulfur Cycle Application of Environmental Chemistry Sulphur enters the atmosphere through bacterial 1. Heavy metal contamination of land by emission (H2S), fossil fuel burning (SO2), industry. These can then be transported windblown sea salts (SO2 -4 ) and volcanic into water bodies and be taken up by emissions (H2S, SO2, and SO2-4 ). living organisms. 2. PAHs (Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon) TYPE 2: Sedimentary Sulfur Cycle in large bodies of water contaminated by oil spills or leaks. Many of the PAHs are carcinogens and are extremely toxic. They are regulated by concentration (ppb) using environmental chemistry and chromatography laboratory testing. 3. Nutrients leaching from agricultural land into water courses, which can lead to algal blooms and eutrophication. Sulphur / sulfur tied up in inorganic and organic 4. Urban runoff of pollutants washing off deposits is released by weathering and impervious surfaces (roads, parking lots, decomposition. Sulfur is found in water, rocks, and and rooftops) during rain storms. Typical  pollutants include gasoline, motor oil and contributes to the area of waste site other hydrocarbon compounds, metals, management and remediation in terms of nutrients and sediment (soil). pollution identification through the 5. Organometallic compounds analysis of environmental samples, the design of pollution abatement systems Risk/Hazard and Environmental Impact and remediation strategies through the Assessments: The process of risk detailed understanding of pollutant assessment is commonly used in many behavior in the environment and in countries to base environmental policy quantifying hazards and risks associated decisions to the pollutant(s) of concern. Environmental Management: Policy: The link between chemical environmental Chemistry contributes to behavior and chemical effects is used to this aspect through the development of decide on allowable levels of a pollutant in new chemical products as well as through the environment (i.e. in the field of the assessment of the life cycle of a environmental quality criteria). This chemical. approach to environmental criteria is Groundwater Protection: the issues (or gaining momentum in the US and Europe. questions to be answered) in protecting a groundwater source from, say, pollution by waste site leachate or polluted soils Urban runoff of pollutants washing off impervious surfaces (roads, parking lots, and rooftops) during rain storms. Typical pollutants include gasoline, motor oil and other hydrocarbon compounds, metals, nutrients and sediment (soil). Surface Water Quality Protection: key questions in surface water quality relate to where the pollutant will end up and what will its effects on the aquatic ecosystem be. The chemical behavior of the pollutant will determine its fate in a system. Soil Protection: Methods for the assessment of soil quality and the impact by substances using various chemical and Eco toxicological indicators of soil pollution Groundwater Protection: the issues (or questions to be answered) in protecting a groundwater source from, say, pollution by waste site leachate or polluted soils Cleaner production and Waste Management: Environmental Chemistry