CHAPTER , ‘Syllabus Detnions, need of environmental studies, Segments of environment ~ Aimosphere, Hydrosphere, Lithosphere, Biosphere, Environmental Issues - Groen house effects, Cimate change, Global warming, Aci rain ozone layer epetion, Nuclear accident, Concept of 4R (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Recover), Public awareness about ‘vironment. ‘Syllabus Topic : Definition, Need of Environmental Studies 44 Need/Scope of Environmental Studies aviroament msily comprises of — ‘Environment’ is a subject matter not only of | -) 1. Atmosphere sciences but also of the social studies and humanities. To study environment, one has to know the subjects ‘such as physics, chemistry, biology and geography. To ‘save our environment, one also has to study the social | — The atmosphere comprises of 18%: Nitrogen gas, sciences like resource management, economics and | _ 21% oxygen and 0,9% argon, Trace gases like carbon Popaltion issues of country. dioxide, nitrous oxides, methane and ozone comprise So the study of environment has a very wide scope and _about a tenth of 1% of the atmosphere. it covers almost all the disciplines of pure as well as | 9 The Greek word ‘atmo’ means air, The atmosphere is the body of air which surrounds our Planet. applied sciences. eee | — The, Greek word) ‘Hydro’. means water. The yest Ceameaee te cl Emirone ee hhydrosphere comprises of all the water bodies on of here Atmosphere, Hydrosphere, Lithosphere, Biosp! i Bee AQ Segments of Environment It includes the oceans, seas, rivers, lakes, snow, ice, underground and atmospheric water (moisture in the atmosphere) too. An enormous mass of water is concentrated in oceans and seas, This occupies, 7196 of the surface of the RRR TEER SOK es eS)| 1.4.3. Climate Change ¥ ‘The rise in sea level © Which wit! put the low level coastal plain areas Underwater. It has heen estimated that if the ¥ea is the sea water will occupy the ‘upto the width of level rises by © Most of the countries in world have the largest Urban centers and the industrial areas along the se coast like Mumbai, Shangal, New York, Toklo etc would be under sea-water. The global warming, © Would change the present pattern of rainfall. ic. it may cause famines in the areas having optimum rainfall, © twill dry up the surface water bodies ic, lakes, ponds etc. © It will reduce the ground water level, © It will create serious problem of water shortage. © twill reduce the ylelds of the crops. © It will afect the natural ecological cycles, © It will change the present pattern of economic activities over the world, Syllabus Topic : Climate Change ‘The Earth's climate has changed throughout history. Most of these climate changes are attributed to very small variations in Earths orbit that change the amount of solar energy our planet receives, Environmental Studi (MSBTE) ec (a) Excess solar energy (4) Glaciers Retreat Fig. 14.1 a© crvroimenal sues WSETE * Control Measures through the concept of 4R. Four principle of waste reduction are, Reduce sion 5 Reale i (aR () 3R Fig. 1.8.1 ; Principle for control of damage to Environment 1.8.1 Reduce ~ If we avoid making garbage, we need not worry about disposing of waste or recycling it ater. Changing the habits of shopping, working and playing ‘can reduce our waste. There's a ton of ways to reduce ‘waste, saving some time and money and being good to the Earth at the same time ~ By reducing and reusing, consumers and industry can save natural resources and reduce Waste management costs. Waste prevention, or source reduction, is the strategy behind reducing and reusing waste parcha ee So that generate less w. used. natural resources are 1.8.1.1 Advantages @ a ai, out the ti Saves natal rsoures Trova ant ‘a product from extraction * 2, manufacturing and portation, processing, manuf use, waste is generated. Reusing items or makin with less material decreases waste dram Ultimately, fewer materials will need t0 be re theag, ii) R ‘combusted for energy. of land filled. Reduces toxicity of waste : Sharing products contain hazardous chemicals instead of throwin leftovers, using the smallest amount necessary reduce waste toxicity aw Reduces cost : Preventing waste also can busine for commun economic savings es, organizations, and individual consumers. Gi, 1.8.2 Reuse Reuse is the best policy for resource conservation.) 1.8, reuse is to use an item again after is been used. includes conventional reuse where the item is us again for the same function and new-life reuse is used for a different function, Example of conventional reuse is refillable 1 bottles, of and the returnable/reusable plastic boxes, shippin ete retreading tires use Scientific research has shown that re-using.» pro! can reduce CO; emissions and carbon foot) more than 50% relative to the complete prod cycle Rising wages and consequent consumer desi! disposable products has made the reuse of | items uneconomic. But current environmental awareness is. 2 changing attitudes and regulations, such as0 Printer cartridges and toners reuse ~ Printer ink cartridges can be reused. The companies Envronmental Sues (MSSTE) 128 that created these cartridges can refill and sold hack 10 = a a. ‘Consumers. Toner cartridges are recycled the same Way ciate ote | 8 ink caridges, c—e ‘This method is highly efficient as there is no energy | 1,8,3.1 Advantages Spent on melting and recreating the cartridges. (i) Recycling reduces the consumption of fresh... | > Repurposing ‘materials. : Itreduce energy usage, | 1.8.3 Recycling Repurposing means using a tool usually for a purpose | iy lunintended by the original ool-maker. Examples of repurposing include using tires as boat fenders and stee! drums as feeding troughs. ‘Similarly fly-ash produced by power plants is used extensively as an additive to concrete, providing increased strength, Recycling is breaking down of an item into raw ‘materials which are then used to make new potentially (iii) Itreduce air pollution (from incineration), | (iy) It reduces water pollution by reducing the need j. conventional waste disposal. Ik lowers greenhouse gas emissions as compared virgin production. According to a study following is the cost effectiveness ' useful materials. Recyclable materials include many kinds of glass, paper, metal, plastic, textiles, and electronics. Recycling tums materials that would otherwise become waste into valuable resources, Collecting used bottles, cans, and newspapers and ‘aking them to the curb or to a collection facility is just the first in a series of steps that generates a host of financial, environmental, and social retumns. Recycling of a material may produce a fresh supply of F the same material-for example used office paper would be converted into new office paper, or used foamed polystyrene into new polystyrene. Sometimes recycling is difficult or too expensive so “recycling” of many products or materials may involve | 4 their reuse in producing different materials (€.8. paperboard) instead. Another form of recyeling is thessalvage of certain ‘materials from complex products, cither due to their inrinsic value eg, ead-from car baneres, or gold | ‘fom computer components, or due to ter hazardous afer: Table 1.81 ! Material | Energy savings | Air pollution savings | Aluminium | 956 99% | ‘Cardboard, 24% = a Gis 330% 20% Paper 40% 73% Plastics 10% “¥ Steel 60% — 8.3.2 Disadvantages Cities dispute the net economic and environments! benefits of recycling over its costs, According to critics we ‘must consider following points, ) The costs and energy used in collection at! transportation detract from (and outweigh) the coss ‘and energy saved in the production process, @ The jobs produced by the recycling industry can be # Poor trade for the jobs lost in logging, mining. ax! ther industies associated with virgin production,Environmental Studies (MSBTE) 4 Envronment (ii) Materials such as paper pullp can only be recycled a few times before material degradation prevents. further recycling. 4.84 Recover The 4 R’s “Recover” provides an ecologically sound and environmentally friendly approach to minimizing and managing waste and waste sueams, RECOVER is to convert Waste into resources (such as electricity, heat compost and fuel) through thermal and biological means resource Recovery occurs after reduce, reuse and recycle have been attempted, Fig. 183, Recovery is when most of the material thrown as garbage is used and processed in ways other than being destroyed. When it is not possible to reuse or recycle objects - such as mobile phones, computers, televisions and ‘other electronic gadgets, all of which may contain toxic elements, recovery isthe last option, ‘This means turning waste into a fuel for manufacturing, processes after removing all the individual components that may be used again, ‘eg.The waste is sent to scrap dealers, can be a source to recover gold and silver from the contacts, copper from the PCBs, all the metal from the casings, the plugs ‘and sockets ete. which can all be re-used ay az as aa as a6 a7 os aa a10 an ar 0.13 Define Environment. (Reler Section 1.1) Define (@) Atmosphere (©) Hydrosphere (©) Lithosphere (6) Biosphere (Reter Section 1.2) List segments of Environment. (Reler Section 1.2) Why public awareness about _ Environmental Protection is essential ? How is It created ? (Reter Section 1.3) st Environmental Issues, (Refer Section 1.4) List Green House gases. (Refer Section 1.4.1(A)) Explain Green House Etfects. (Reter Section 1.4.2) |Wite note on Global warming (Refer Section 1.4.2) What is climate change? Explain its effect on Environment. (Refer Section 1.4.3) Write a note on Acid Rain. (Reler Section 1.5) ‘Write @ note on Ozone Layer Depletion. (Peter Section 1.6) What are nuclear accidents ? Give examples. (Refer Section 1.7) List 4R and expiain each in contra with Environmental Issues. (Reter Section 1.8) LTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS a1 Ans. : a2 Ans. Wich ofthese causes the sea level change over flooding due o process of meting of snow 7 0 (i) Ozone layer damaging (ip Batn (9 ana (i) (iv) None of these. Global warming wy Which of them can be recycled ? (Paper (i) Plastic (i) Metal G9 Not hese wy etn &,