Southwestern College of Maritime, Business and Technology, Inc.

Quezon Drive, Calero, Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro

www.scmbt.edu.ph / slmifnav.official@gmail.com / slmifnav@yahoo.com.ph

SUBJECT: Environmental Science MODULE #: 9

I.
DATE & TIME: TEACHER: Ms. Princes Jhoy G. Batanes
TOPIC: Human Impact in the Environment

II. TARGET OUTCOMES:

The learner shall be able to:
1. Describe the human impact in the environment.
2. Identify the factors of human impact in the environment.
3. Appreciate the responsibility of human to protect the natural environment.

III. MATERIALS NEEDED:

To accomplish exercises and activities, you need the following: black pen, pencil and/or other writing materials and
other available references.

IV. GEAR UP YOUR MIND

The human population is growing rapidly. Population growth and other factors such as emerging technologies of
every nation have had detrimental effect to the environment. Humans threaten to make the earth inhabitable as the
population increases, more waste materials are being produced, thus rapidly polluting the soil, air and water. This makes
human activity increasingly destroying the natural habitats, risking biodiversity and endangering future species.

The impact of human activities have had on biodiversity shows negative and positive impact on natural ecosystem.

Negative Impact

The quality of the air determines how well we breathe and live. Air pollutants and other compounds and particulars
and particulates decrease air quality and make each breath's hazard to health.

One of the vital substances for the survival of living things is water. Water should be free from polluting substances
like pesticides, bacteria, heavy metals, and hydrocarbons. If water becomes contaminated, life would be improbable to
proliferate life.

Soil contamination also rises affects the growth and development of plants. If there are pesticide dependency or
other potentially hazardous chemicals that may be absorbed by plants, agricultural soils will definitely contaminated.

Waste products from household, commercial and/or industrial processes are deposited from soil and/or water that
threaten the process of soil resources and water bearing diversity in marine life.

Positive Impact

Human activities also show positive impact towards the natural environment. Human beings as part of the earth’s ecosystem
deliberately modify ecosystem as result of population growth, consumption, & technology. Humans have recovery plans on to reverse
the effects of their negative impact. Humans acknowledge the importance of other species in the ecosystem as part of the system for
continued survival.

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Effects of Technology

Technology also show ruptures to ecosystem. This technology is detrimental to the environment. Technology has
frequently resulted in the production of substances that can be classified as hazardous to the environment.

1. Biocide use has introduced enormous quantities of poisonous chemicals into the environment.
2. Disposal probs. have resulted from the consumer-oriented societies of many advanced nations, some of
which consider their waste disposal to other countries that would cater their waste.
3. Land use management has become a problem in many urban areas. As the human population has grown,
its need for living space has expanded.

Ecosystem processes result from the interactions of population of plants, animals, and other organism in the
environment. The operating attribute of species and the size and division of populations arbitrate the flow of energy and
materials through ecosystems. Biodiversity also delivers for functional wordiness in ecosystems, thereby increasing their
capability to be resilient.

The variety of life on earth and the variation at every level of biological organization from genes to species to
ecosystem is called Biodiversity. This exhibits that the variability of living organisms from all of its origin, whether, marine,
terrestrial, other forms in the ecological parameters which they are part, includes the miscellaneous of every species of the
ecosystem.

As a result of this process, there is a diversity of organism and roles in ecosystem. Biodiversity increases the
stability of the ecosystem. It is the variety of living organism considered at these levels:

1. Genetic diversity is the genetic variety within a species both among individuals within a given population
and among geographically separate population.
2. Species diversity is the diversity that includes all the different species on earth.
3. Ecosystem diversity is the variety of interactions within and among the different ecosystems.

Environment awareness and education are relatively needed to resolve issues of environmental problems. With
this, environmental sustainability takes place, it is the ability to meet humanity’s current needs without compromising the
ability of the future generations to meet their needs.

Loss of Biodiversity

The different kinds of pollution and other human impacts on earth’s ecosystems are already resulting in an
enormous loss of biodiversity. Species that are under extinction are mostly mammal, bird, and amphibian. It is also
emphasized that the loss of species and genetic decreases the flexibility of ecosystem.

Causes of Biodiversity Loss

1. Habitat Change
The species habitat has been changed from environmental land of agriculture to o=commercial, industrial
and/ or residential.

2. Deforestation
The greatest problem forests are facing today. It contributes to the loss of biodiversity due to the temporary
or permanent dissipation of forest for other uses. Extreme loss of forest trees may lead to an increase in global
temperature.

3. Climate Change
This affects the biodiversity and ecosystem when species change in distribution, population, sizes and
migration.

4. Industrialization
It brings an increased demand use of technological development that depleted the environment.

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 5. Global Warming
Is the excessive burning of fossil fuels that has caused concentrations of carbon dioxide and methane
emission in the air to such high levels that it causes greenhouse effect. It is the effect of trapping solar radiation in
earth’s atmosphere in the form of heat.

6. Ozone Depletion
The declining of ozone in the stratosphere and the thinning of the layer develops as every
chlorofluorocarbon and other similar chlorine and bromine- containing compounds attack the ozone layer.

7. Toxins
These originated from the industry that has gotten into the food chain. It is when livestock and poultry feed
contain antibiotics and hormones to accelerate animal growth but has side effect to humans who eat the meat.

8. Eutrophication
Human activities can greatly accelerate the process of eutrophication, (a process in which lake receives
sufficiently large inputs of sediment, organic materials, and inorganic nutrients from its surroundings to support
dense communities; murky to poor light penetration) because nutrients are carried into lakes form farms, feedlots,
sewage, and even fertilized suburban lawns.

9. Open-Ocean Pollution
There are different threats to this kind of pollution such as depleting coastal resources, diminishing coral
reefs, overfishing and other waste materials and contaminants in the ocean.

10. Over Population

It increases destruction of natural habitats, as people convert environments to commercial and residential
land. Moreover, over population demands for large consumption of resources by people which harms the
environment.

Habitat Destruction

It is when humans alter ecosystems either by adding or removing specific organism, serious consequences may
result. Human activities of various kinds have had a direct impact on the biotic part of many ecosystems, preeminently
endangerment or precocious extinction of many species of plants and animals.

Habitat destruction happens when the natural habitat is relinquished functionally incapable of sustaining the present
species. The desolation is basically done by human exertion for the intention of harvesting natural resources. It can also be
considered as a form of destruction of species or group of animals which result in species migration or extinction.

Overhunting of animals resulted in the extinction of many species and has endangered others. Organism harmful to
a particular environment has intentionally or unintentionally been introduced into the environment. Examples are the
emerging number of janitor fish in the river that caused imbalanced in the biotic river system. Exploitation of organism by
commercial trade in exotic plants and animals.

Conservation Biology

Since biological diversity is declining, and eve more severe in third world countries. These is another branch of
biology that caters the study of how human impact organism and of the many ways to defend biological diversity is called
Conservation Biology. This shows at least partly successful in reducing biodiversity loss which covers the following actions:

1. Species protection and recovery measures.

2. In situ conservation which includes the establishment of parks and reserves, concentrations on preserving the
biodiversity in nature.
3. Ex situ conservation which conserves individual’s species in human controlled settings like breeding species in zoo.
4. Public awareness, communication, and education.
5. Enhancement of institutional capacity for biodiversity conservation
6. Increased integration of sectorial responses.

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 NAME OF LEARNER: MODULE #: 9

SECTION: SUBJECT: Environmental Science

VI. BOOST UP YOUR LEARNING

Directions: Answer the question below.

1. What are small ways that you think would promote safekeeping our biodiversity? (20 pts)

VII. LEVEL UP YOUR LEARNING

Online Quiz

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