Our Environment

Environmental Pollution

Any undesirable changes, in the physical, chemical or biological condition, of the

environment is called environmental pollution.

Effect of adding Waste to the environment

Human activities produce lots of waste materials which are thrown away into the
environment. These waste cause pollution of air, water and soil. The waste materials
produced are of two main types. They are Biodegradable wastes and non-
biodegradable wastes.

Biodegradable wastes: are wastes which are decomposed into harmless substances
by micro-organisms.

Eg; Vegetables, pulses, fruits cereals, cotton, jute, wool, wood,paper, animal dung,
animal bones etc.

Non- bio degradable Wastes: are wastes which are not decomposed by
microorganisms.

Eg; Polythene bags, plastic, synthetic fibres, glass, metals, synthetic rubber,
insecticides (DDT), pesticides etc.

Ecosystem and its Components

Ecosystem: It is the system of interaction, among the living and non-living components,
in a given habitat.

There are two kinds of ecosystem.

i) Natural Ecosystem like river, ponds, lakes, forests, grass land, mountains,
oceans, desert etc.
ii) Artificial ecosystem like gardens, parks, zoo, crop field, aquarium etc.

Components of Ecosystem

An ecosystem consists of two components – Biotic component and Abiotic component.

Abiotic component

All the non-living components of an ecosystem is called abiotic component.

Eg: air, water, soil, temperature etc.

Biotic Component

All the living components of an ecosystem are called biotic components,

Eg; plants, animals, microorganisms etc

Biotic components consist of producers, consumers and decomposers

Producers: are green plants which produce food by photosynthesis for all the
organisms.

Consumers: are animals which get food directly or indirectly from plants.

i) Primary consumer
ii) Secondary consumer
iii) Tertiary consumer

Decomposers: are microorganisms which decompose the dead plants and animals.
They decompose complex organic substances into simple inorganic substance in the
soil which are again used by plants. Thus they enrich the soil by adding nutrients back
in the soil. They clean the earth surface.

Food chain

Food chain is a simple representation of transfer of food energy from one organism to
another organism of an ecosystem.

Food chain usually starts with plants (producers) . In a food chain an organism gets
food from one group of organisms.

Producer --------- Primary consumer -------------- secondary consumer------- tertiary

consumer

Plants ------------ grasshopper ------------- Frog --------------- snake ------------------- Eagle

Example of aquatic Food chain

Food web

Food web is a group of several interconnected food chains. In a food web an organism
get food from more than one group of organisms.
Trophic Level

Each step in a food chain where transfer of food energy take place is called trophic
level.

The first trophic level consists of producers.

The second trophic level consists of primary consumers

The third trophic level consists of secondary consumers

The fourth trophic level consists of tertiary consumers.

Since transfer of food energy decreases at every trophic level, the number of trophic
levels are limited and do not exceeds four or five. Otherwise the organisms in the last
trophic level do not get enough energy.

Energy flow in trophic levels

Green plants(producers) absorb about 1% of solar energy falling on the leaves and
stores it as food energy during photosynthesis.

During the transfer of food energy from one trophic level to the next, 90% of the energy
is lost to the environment and only 10% is transferred to the next trophic level. So there
is a decrease in the amount of food energy transferred at every trophic level by 10%.
This is known as the 10% law.

This explains why the population of producers is always the largest in an ecosystem,
followed by the population of herbivores and then that of carnivores.

Balance in the Ecosystem

There is a delicate balance in an ecosystem, as far as number of organisms at a

particular trophic level is concerned. An increase or decrease in population of any
organism can disturb this balance.

For example, if all the deer are killed in a forest, the lions would be left no food. This
would endanger the existence of lions. Once the lions and deer would be finished, it
would result in p0pulation explosion of green plants. If all the lions die, the population of
deer would increase. This will finish off all the green plants and finally even the deer
would be left with no food for them.

Biological Magnification (Bio magnification)

Harmful chemicals lie insecticides and pesticides which are used to protect crops from
insects and pests are absorbed by pants and enter the food chain. Since these
chemicals are non-biodegradable, they get accumulated at every trophic level and their
concentration increases. Since human beings occupy the highest trophic level, the
concentration of these harmful chemicals is maximum in our bodies.

The increase in concentration of harmful chemicals (non-biodegradable substances) in

the bodies of organisms at higher trophic levels is called bio magnification.

How do our activities affect the environment?

Ozone Layer Depletion

Ozone layer: A protective layer that protects earth from harmful ultraviolet radiations.
Ozone layer works like a protective shield for living beings. The ozone layer prevents
the reaching of ultraviolet rays from the sun. UV radiations cause skin cancer in
humans.

Ozone (O3) : It is a deadly poisonous gas which is formed in the higher levels of
atmosphere ( Stratosphere)

Ozone formation: At higher levels in the atmosphere, the UV radiation splits some
oxygen molecules (O2) into free oxygen atoms which combine with oxygen molecules
(O2) to form ozone. Ozone molecule contains three oxygen atoms (O3).

Depletion of ozone layer: Decrease in the thickness of the ozone layer.

Causes for ozone Depletion: The ozone layer is being damaged by the use of
chemicals like chloro- fluro carbons (CFCs) used in refrigerator and fire extinguishers.

Consequences of ozone depletion: If the ozone layer decrease in its thickness,

harmful ultraviolet rays emitted by the sun may penetrate on to the earth’s surface. UV
radiations cause skin cancer in humans, damage the immune system etc.

Effect of CFC’s: Use of CFCs ( chloro -fluro carbon) has damaged the ozone layer. As
a result, the ozone layer has become thinner at certain parts.

Measures to avoid Ozone depletion

1. Minimize the usage of CFCs

2. Banning the usage of nitrous oxide
3. Developing certain regulations for rocket launches
4. Be ozone friendly- Purchase the products labelled CFCs free.

Managing the Garbage

The household waste is called garbage. During our day today activities. we produce lot
of waste. Some of the waste is biodegradable and some are non-biodegradable.
Garage cause pollution of water, air and soil. So it should be disposed properly. Some
of the methods of garbage disposal are;

1. Land fills
2. Recycling
3. Production of bio gas and manure
4. Preparation of compost
5. Incineration ( Burning at high temperature)
6. Sewage treatment