LESSON 1 – P:

ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING INTRODUCTION

Environment – all facets of man’s surroundings, physical, ecological, aesthetic,

cultural, economic, historic, institutional and social.
Ecosystem
• A natural complex of functional unit of living organisms and the abiotic
environment interacting to form a stable and self-sustaining system with
the exchange of materials and energy. Any system in which there is an
interdependence and interaction between living organisms and their
immediate physical, chemical and biological environments.
• A complex web linking air, water, animals, plants and every other life form
in the biosphere. These elements interrelate with each other in the cyclic
life sustaining way through the regular provision of energy by the sun and
are arranged altogether in a “steady state” of dynamic balance.

Diversity – number of different species in an ecosystem

Biosphere – the portion of the earth and its atmosphere that is capable of
supporting life. It is the thin outer portion of the planet that contains and sustains
life.
Environmental Impacts – are effects generated by activities undertaken within
a certain environment
Why measure environmental impacts?
Four Laws of Ecology
1. Everything is connected with everything else. In this first law, the
importance of recognizing the interrelationship of all things within an
ecosystem. A project or facility has the potential of disturbing this inter-
relationship.
2. Everything must go somewhere. Waste products of any given projects
or facility cannot just disappear into thin air. These must end somewhere.
Unfortunately, the tendency is to neglect wastes as long as there are not
within our backyard. NIMBY
 3. Nature knows best. This law is obviously self-explanatory. Nothing can
beat the inherent wisdom in natural laws, cycle and processes. We often
take for granted that these sustain the planet.
4. Nothing comes free. Everything that is taken from nature should be paid
for. All activities of human has no doubt alters nature or exploit its
resources. For this a price may be paid by the proponent in the form of
mitigating measures or, if no mitigating measures are adopted, by the
public in the form of a degraded environment.

Tragedy of the common – refers to the exploitation of a potentially renewable

resource.
Sustainability – meet the needs of present generation without compromising the
ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Conditions in order to be physically sustainable the society’s material and

energy throughputs:
1. Rate of usage of renewable resources do not exceed their rates of
regeneration.
2. Rate of pollution emission do not exceed the assimilative capacity of the
environment

Six biological Principles of Sustainability

1. Conservation – adjusting our needs to minimize the use of a particular
resource, such as energy. Using resources efficiently.
2. Recycling – converting solid wastes into new products by using the
resources contained in discarded materials
3. Regeneration of Renewable Resources
4. Restoration
5. Population Control
6. Adaptability – favorable adaptations increase an organism’s chances of
survival and reproduction.
Evolution is a process that leads to structural, functional and behavioral changes
in species known as adaptation.
Factors that lead to unsustainability:
1. frontier ethics
2. inefficiency
3. overconsumption
4. linearity (linear thinking and linear system)
5. fossil fuel dependence
6. overpopulation

Objectives of studying sustainable

developments:
1. create awareness of environmental issues
2. enhance knowledge and understanding skills
3. influence values and attitudes
4. encourage more responsible behavior
5. promote learning that leads to action

Environmental degradation of the biosphere has reached alarming levels. The

environmental crisis is severe and time is short.
There are several major environmental trends occurring at a global level. Major
efforts need to be done to reverse these trends. However, understanding the crisis
entails the efforts towards creating a sustainable society.
A sustainable society lives within the carrying capacity of the environment. It
meets its needs without impairing future generations or other species in meeting
theirs.
Building a sustainable society will require dramatic changes in the way we live
and conduct business. It will necessitate a change from narrow linear thinking to
holistic system thinking. It will also require participation and cooperation of
virtually all people.
Environmental science offers a broad, multidisciplinary approach to the
environmental crisis. It seeks to understand root causes and offers root-level
solutions.
The sustainable ethics stands in direct contrast to the frontier ethics and
asserts that:
a) the earth has a limited supply of resources, not all for us;
b) humans are part of nature, subject to its laws;
c) success stems from efforts to cooperate with the source of nature;
d) all life depends on maintaining a healthy, well-functioning ecosystem.

Guidance for putting the sustainable ethics into action comes from studies of
natural systems, which reveal six biological principles of sustainability:
conservation, recycling, regeneration of certain renewable resources, restoration,
population control and adaptability.
The development of a body of environmental ethics is primordial to
environmental education. In development of environmental ethics learners should
experience the environmental issues as well as to encourage them to take action
to help minimize/solve problems.
Environmental education enhances the use of critical thinking as a tool for
analyzing environmental problems and arriving at possible options or solutions.
Critical thinking is the capacity to distinguish between beliefs (what we think is
true) and knowledge (facts supported by accurate observation and valid
experimentation). Critical thinking skills are essential to analyzing a wide range of
environmental problems, issues and information.

Realm of Ecology
Entity Components
Ecosystem - The community of organisms and populations is interacting with one
another and physical factors making up their environment.
Community - Populations of different plants and animals living and interacting in
an area at a particular time.
Population - Group of organisms of the same species living within a particular
area.
Organism - Any form of life including all plants and animals.
Components of biosphere:
• atmosphere – air
• lithosphere – solid earth
• hydrosphere – water

Abiotic components or structure – the life support system that enables the
living components to grow, develop and reproduce in the internal cycle of life.
Ecosystem “function” – is the operational interactions and interrelationships of
the living and non- living parts of the ecosystem.
Biotic components - living organisms in the biosphere are usually classified as
producers, consumers and decomposers.

Main functions in the ecosystem based on its trophic structure:

• production – responsible for the accumulation of organic structure in the
ecosystem
• consumption – balances the functional opposites, production and
decomposition
• decomposition – function responsible for the breakdown of complex

Types of Ecosystems:
1. Natural ecosystems
a. Tropical rain forest – forest ecosystems have protective, regulative
and productive functions
Forest influences - effect of these functions on the environment
2. Coastal and marine ecosystems
3. Marginal land ecosystems
4. Man-made ecosystems:
a. agricultural ecosystems
b. urban ecosystems
The basic ecological principles:
1. diversity
2. distribution
3. density
4. dominance
5. species interactions
6. evolution
7. succession
8. tendency of an ecosystem to resist change and remain in equilibrium

Emergence of environmental consciousness is manifested by:

1. establishment of national parks and wilderness areas
2. efforts to protect endangered species and habitats
3. enacting environmental legislations
4. making businesses and governments financially accountable for pollution
Global environment –is a common of shared space and resources

Some Global Environmental Problems:

1. acid rain
2. global warming
3. ozone depletion
4. ocean pollution
5. increase in population
6. technological developments raise the rate of obsolescence through rapid
innovation
7. physical health

Incidents that resulted in significant environmental pollution, injury to

human, life property and major financial liabilities:
1. faulty design
2. lack of adequate safety controls
3. failure of compliance with existing regulations
4. human error
Environmental Management can be achieved by:
• end –of- pipe abatement
• preventive management

End-of-pipe abatement – it is achieved by the control of pollutants once they

have entered the environment, such as monitoring and measuring emissions or
discharges to quantify pollutants.

Pollution control
• also known as end of pipe abatement can be affected by implementing
options for
• abatement by modifying or mitigating effect of pollutants subsequent to
their release. This could be done through operator training, compliance
reporting and emergency response.

Preventive management – emphasizes process and product redesign to

minimize the use of environmental resources and its impact.

Key influence for improving environmental performance:

1. laws and regulations
2. competitive advantage
3. social policy
4. reliability exposure

This area of Engineering addresses the safe and proper production,

transportation, storage, use and disposal of chemicals and wastes. To achieve
these goals, chemical and physical processes are often evaluated, environmental
pathways are identified, and control and remediation processes are designed and
evaluated.
 LESSON 2 – P:
FACTORS THREATENING THE ENVIRONMENT

Factors threatening the environment

• The problems facing the environment are vast and diverse. Global warming,
the depletion of ozone layer in the atmosphere, and destruction of the world’s
rain forests are just some of the problems that many scientists believe will
reach critical portions in the coming decades. All of these problems will be
directly affected by the size of human population.
• The science of ecology attempts to explain why plants and animals live where
they live and why they have that amount of population size. Understanding the
distribution and population size of organisms helps scientists evaluate the
health of environment.

Population Growth

• In biology or human geography, population growth is the increase in the

number of individuals in a population.
• Population
- Group of organisms of the same species living within a particular area.
- In biology, a population is all the organisms of the same group or species,
which live in a particular geographical area, and have the capability of
interbreeding.
• Human population growth is virtual root of all the world’s environmental
problems. Although the growth rate of the world’s population has slowed
slightly since 1990’s, the world’s population increases by about 77 million
human beings each year.
• As the number of people increases, crowding generates pollution, destroys
more habitats and uses up additional natural resources.
• The United Nations (UN) estimates that the population will stabilize at more
than 11 billion in 2200. Other experts predict that numbers will continue to rise
into the foreseeable future, to as many as 19 billion people by the year 2200.
• Although rates of population increase are now much slower in the developed
world than in the developing world, it would be a mistake to assume that
population growth is primarily a problem of developing countries.
 • In fact, because larger amounts of resources per person are used in developed
nations, each individual from the developed world has a much greater
environmental impact than does a human from developing countries. Lifestyles
alteration would greatly lessen environmental impacts which are essential in
the developed world.

Habitat Destruction and Species Extinction

• Habitat destruction is an important cause of known extinctions. As

deforestation proceeds in tropical forests, this promises to become the cause
of mass extinctions caused by human activity.
• All species have specific food and habitat needs. The more specific these needs
and localized the habitat, the greater the vulnerability of species to loss of
habitat to agricultural land, livestock, road, and cities.

ELEMENTS OF HABITAT LOSS

• Destruction
• Degradation
• Fragmentation

COASTAL AND MARINE AREAS

• In 1994, it was estimated that 37% of the global population lived within 60km
of the coast. Poverty, consumption contribute to degradation of marine
habitats.

IMPACT OF HABITAT LOSS ON SPECIES

• Habitat loss poses the greatest threat to species. Without a strong plan to
create terrestrial and marine protected areas important ecological habitats will
continue to be lost.

LOSING THEIR HOMES BECAUSE OF THE GROWING NEEDS OF HUMANS

• Increasing of food production is a major agent for the conversion of natural

habitat into agricultural land.
WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?

• Forest loss and degradation is mostly caused by the expansion of agricultural

land, wood for fuel, and forest products

PROTECTED AREAS

• These are the most effective tools for conserving species and natural habitats.
• For example, well-planned and well-managed protected areas can help to
safeguard freshwater and food supplies, reduce poverty, and reduce impacts
of natural disasters.

EXTINCT ANIMALS WE’VE LOST IN OUR LIFETIME

Madeiran Large White (2007) Tecopa Pupfish (1982)

Pyrenean Ibex (2000) West African Black Rhinoceros (2006)

Javan Tiger (1979) Spix’s Macaw (2004)

Round Island Burrowing Boa (1975) Dutch Alcon Blue Butterfly (1979)

Po’ouli (2004) Zanzibar Leopard (1996) Golden Toad (1989)

CHEMICAL RISKS
• A number of toxic substances that humans encounter regularly may pose
serious health risks. Pesticide residues on vegetable crops, mercury in fish, and
many industrially produced chemicals may cause cancer, birth defects, genetic
mutations, or death.
• Many chemicals have been found to mimic estrogen, the hormone that controls
the development of the female reproductive system in a large number of animal
species. Preliminary results indicate that these chemicals, in trace amounts,
may disrupt development and lead to a host of serious problems in both males
and females, including fertility, increased mortality of offspring, and behavioral
changes such as increased aggression.
Global Warming
• An average increase in the temperature of the atmosphere near the earth’s
surface and in the troposphere, which can contribute to changes in global
climate patterns.
Greenhouse Effect
• Certain gases in the Earth’s atmosphere permit the sun’s radiation to heat
earth. At the same time, these gases retard the escape into space of the
infrared energy radiated back out by Earth.
Gases that helps to maintain warm temperature

Water Vapor
• The most abundant greenhouse gas, but
importantly, it acts as a feedback to the climate.
Water vapor increases as the Earth's atmosphere
warms, but so does the possibility of clouds and
precipitation, making these some of the most
important feedback mechanisms to the greenhouse
effect
Carbon Dioxide (CO2)
• A minor but very important component of the
atmosphere, carbon dioxide is released through
natural processes such as respiration and volcano
eruptions and through human activities such as
deforestation, land use changes, and burning fossil
fuels. Humans have increased atmospheric CO2
concentration by more than a third since the
Industrial Revolution began.
Methane
• A hydrocarbon gas produced both through natural
sources and human activities, including the
decomposition of wastes in landfills, agriculture, and
especially rice cultivation, as well as ruminant
digestion and manure management associated with
domestic livestock. On a molecule-for-molecule basis,
methane is a far more active greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, but also one
which is much less abundant in the atmosphere.
Nitrous Oxide
• A powerful greenhouse gas produced by soil
cultivation practices, especially the use of
commercial and organic fertilizers, fossil fuel
combustion, nitric acid production, and
biomass burning.

• Within the past century, the average temperature has increase by about 0.6
Celsius Degree (1 Fahrenheit degree).
• The global temperature will continue to rise by 1.4to 5.8 Celsius degrees (2.5
to 10.4 Fahrenheit degrees) over the next century.

How To Prevent Global Warming

Here are the common yet practical and easy ways to stop or prevent global
warming:
1. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
2. Drive less or Carpool
3. Go Solar
4. Reduce waste
5. Use less hot water
6. Avoid products with lot of packaging
7. Turn off the light if not needed
8. Turn off electronic devices
9. Plant a Tree
10. Use clean fuel
11. Look for renewable fuel options
12. Save Energy
13. Go Green
14. Tune Your car regularly
15. Conserve water
16. Ride your Bike
Air Pollution
• A significant portion of industry and transportation burns fossil fuels, such as
gasoline. When these fuels burn, chemicals and particulate matter are released
into the atmosphere. Although a vast number of substances contribute to air
pollution, the most common air pollutants contain carbon, sulfur and nitrogen.
• These chemicals interact with one another and with ultraviolet radiation in
sunlight in dangerous ways. Smog is usually found in urban areas with large
numbers of automobiles, forms when nitrogen oxides react with hydrocarbons
in the air to produce aldehydes and ketones. Smog can cause serious health
problems.
• Acid rain forms when sulfur dioxide and nitrous oxide transform into sulfuric
acid and nitric acid in the atmosphere and come back to Earth in precipitation.
Acid rain has made numerous lakes so acidic that they no longer support fish
populations. Acid rain is also responsible for the decline of many forest
ecosystems worldwide, including Germany’s Black Forest and forests
throughout the eastern United States.
Water Pollution
• Estimates suggest that nearly 1.5 billion people worldwide lack safe drinking
water and that at least 5 million deaths per year can be attributes to
waterborne diseases. Water pollution may come from point sources or non
point sources. Point sources discharge pollutants from specific locations such
as factories, sewage treatment plants and oil tankers. The technology exists to
monitor and regulate point sources of pollution, although in some areas this
occurs only sporadically.
• Pollution from nonpoint sources occurs when rainfall or snow moves over and
through the ground. As the runoff moves, it picks up and carries away
pollutants such as pesticides and fertilizers, depositing the pollutants into lakes,
rivers, wetlands, coastal waters and even underground sources of drinking
water. Pollution arising from nonpoint sources accounts for a majority of the
contaminants of streams and lakes.
• With almost 80 % of the planet covered by oceans, people have long acted as
if those bodies of water could serve as a limitless dumping ground for wastes.
However, raw sewage, garbage and oil spills have begun to overwhelm the
diluting capabilities of the oceans and most coastal waters are now polluted,
threatening marine wildlife. Beaches around the world close regularly, often
 because the surrounding waters contain high levels of bacteria from sewage
disposal
Groundwater Depletion and Contamination
• Water that collects beneath the ground is called groundwater. Worldwide,
groundwater is 40 times more abundant than fresh water in streams and lakes.
In the United States, approximately half the drinking water comes from
groundwater. Although groundwater is a renewable resource, reserves
replenish relatively slow. Presently groundwater in the United States is
withdrawn approximately four times faster than it is naturally replaced.
• The Ogallala Aquifer, a huge underground reservoir stretching under eight
States of the Great Plains, is drawn down at rates exceeding 100 times the
replacement rate. Agricultural practices depending on this source of water need
to change within a generation in order to save this groundwater resource.
• In addition to groundwater depletion, scientists worry about groundwater
contamination, which arises from leaking underground storage tanks, poorly
designed industrial waste ponds and seepage from the deep well injection of
hazardous wastes into underground geologic formations. By some estimates,
on average, 25 % of usable ground is contaminated, and in some areas as
much as 75 % is contaminated.

Efforts to Protect the Environment

• Most scientists agree that if pollution and other environmental deterrents
continue at their present rates, the result will be irreversible damage to the
ecological cycles and balances in nature upon which all life depends. Scientists
warn that fundamental and perhaps drastic changes in human behavior will be
required to avert an ecological crisis.
• To safeguard the healthful environment that is essential to life, human must
learn that Earth does not have infinite sources. Earth’s limited sources must be
conserved and whenever possible, reused. Furthermore, humans must devise
new strategies that mesh environmental progress with economic growth. The
future growth of developing nations depends upon the development of
sustainable conservation methods that protect the environment while also
meeting present needs.
 • Many nations have acted to control or reduce environmental problems. For
example, Great Britain has largely succeeded in cleaning up the waters of the
Thames and other rivers, and London no longer suffers the heavy smogs
caused by industrial pollutants. Japan has some of the world’s strictest
standards for the control of water and air pollutants.

Global Efforts
• During the late 1960s and early 1970s nation began to work together to
develop worldwide approaches for monitoring and restricting global pollution.
The first major international conference on environmental issues was held in
Stockholm, Sweden in 1972 and was sponsored by the United Nations.
• This meeting, at which the United States took a leading role, was controversial
because many developing countries were fearful that a focus on environmental
protection was a means for the developed world to keep undeveloped world in
an economically subservient position. The most important outcome of the
conference was the creation of the United Nation Environmental Program
(UNEP).
• UNEP was designed to be “the environmental conscience of the United Nations,”
and, in an attempt to allay fears of the developing world, it became the first
UN agency to be headquartered in a developing country, with offices in Nairobi,
Kenya. In addition to attempting to achieve scientific consensus about major
environmental issues, a major focus for UNEP has been the study of ways to
encourage sustainable development – increasing standards of living without
destroying the environment.