5 Man’s impact on his environment Getcing OVE) © How does Man interact with his environment? \\ + What is the negative impact of Man's activities on his environment? ( * What can Man do to make a positive impact on \___ his environment? \ There is a close relationship between Mon and his environment. Man interacts with living things and non-living things in his environment, For example, Man breathes in air to b) stay alive and obtains wood from trees to build houses. How are the interactions between Man and his environment harmful or helpful to the environment? How does Man depend on his environment to survive? are obtained from our environment to build houses. How does this affect our environment?How does Man interact with his environment? Man depends on his environment for natural resources which occur naturally on the Earth. Examples of natural fesources are the Sun, forests, fossil fuels, land, water, metals and minerals. ‘What does Man obtain from his environment? Man obtains energy, materials and food from natural resources for his survival. For example, Man uses land to grow plants for food. Man also uses running water to generate electrical energy. ‘4 Land is used to grow plants for food. ‘A Running water is used to generate electrical energy in power stations. As Man interacts with his environment, he makes both Positive and negative impacts on the environment. Whatis the negative impact of Man's activities on his environment? Some of Man’s activities have a negative impact on his environment. How do these activities cause harm to the environment? impact on his environment om)Depletion of natural resources Natural resources can become depleted or run out over time if they are not replaced. How quickly a natural resource is depleted depends on how quickly it is used up. Some natural resources cannot be replaced once they are used up. Others can be replaced but this requires time. Fossil fuels connect! Fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas provide energy for Outs vehicles and factories to work. Fossil fuels are found You will learn more about underground. They cannot be replaced quickly once they ore fossil fuels in the theme of depleted. Energy. Y Cll is pumped up from the ground. Materials Materials such as metals, minerals and wood are used to make objects. Metals and minerals are obtained from the ground. They cannot be replaced when they are removed from the ground. Y Minerals are mined using machinery.Trees in forests provide Man with wood which is used as a building material. To obtain wood, trees have to be cut down. When the number of trees cut down is more than the number of trees replaced, forests can become depleted. Food source Some food depleted. For exainple, the depletion of fish in the sea can be caused by overfishing. When the number of fish caught is greater than the number of fish reproduced, the population of fish will decrease over time. As a result, some kinds of fish O will become endangered or not exist anymore. = How does the depletion of fish affect other living things in the sea?, Givits The number of sharks in the se0 is falling rapidly because too many sharks are hunted ean ‘AA Fish are caught in large numbers from the sea. Mon’s impact on his environment s)Deforestation Forests are important to life on the Earth. Trees in forests take in carbon dioxide from the air and give out oxygen through photosynthesis. Forests are also the habitats of many organisms. To obtain land for uses such as farming and building of roads, forests are cleared by buming or cutting down trees. When forests are destroyed, deforestation occurs. Deforestation can have the following negative effects on the environment. Organisms in the forests lose their habitats. With no shelter and food, they die. This can (= cause some kinds of organisms to become extinct, a5) ‘A decrease in the population of one kind BEAK of organism also affects the populations of fe other kinds of organisms in a food web. The land becomes dry due to less rainfall. Thisis because there are fewer trees to give ‘out water vapour into the air. Less clouds, are formed and hence the amount of rain7a The amount of carbon dioxide in the air increases as there are fewer trees to take in carbon dioxide | during photosynthesis. This can cause global | warming. | o = aL | the soil ; more easily removed by wind | ond wat “re ate fewer trees to hold onto | the soil result in soil erosion. When the 0 water bodies, organisms in the nay not be able to survive. VA | How ae orgenimsin vers and ponds affected when soil is washed into these water bodies?Pollution Pollution occurs when harmful substances, known as pollutants, are released into the land, water or air, It can occur as a result of Man's activities. Pollutants harm our environment and our health. The following shows some examples of pollutants. Waste Every day, we produce large amounts of waste. If waste is not properly disposed of, it can pollute the land, water or air. Waste takes up space on land when it does not break down, quickly. Some materials take a longer time to break down, naturally than others. When waste breaks down, it gives off bad-smelling gases. If waste catches fire, it may give off poisonous gases which are bad for health. YY Waste can cause land, water or air pollution when itis not disposed of properly 2, ee Use the Internet to find out how waste is disposed of in Singopore. be broken d natural decompo: are called biodea: metericls. Materials such as plastics ond ‘ceramics cannot be broken down easily. They are called non- biodegradable materials. These materials can remain as pollutants for many yeors.Human and animal waste should also be disposed of properly. Harmful substances and bacteria are found in waste. If they get into water bodies, the water may become unsafe for use and may even cause diseases. Bacteria from waste can multiply very quickly in the water. They compete with other organisms in the water for oxygen. When these organisms do not have enough oxygen, they may die. Harmful chemicals Chemicals in factory waste, pesticides, fertilisers and oil that are discharged into water bodies pollute our water. They make the water unsafe for use. If these substances get into organisms, the organisms may get poisoned the bodies o oreven die.‘Smoke ‘Smoke contains pollutants. These pollutants are released into the air when fuels such as oil, coal and wood are burt in factories and vehicles. ‘A Smoke released from a factory and a car Some harmful gases in smoke can dissolve in rainwater to form acid rain. Acid rain can damage buildings and structures made of stone and metal. Acid rain is also harmful to living things. It can cause trees to die. When acid rain gets into water bodies, it can kill the ‘organisms living in the water. Haze Haze occurs when there is too much dust or smoke in the air. This can harm our health as well as affect how clearly we can see. Y Haze in Singapore tet eat A Stone statue damaged by acid rain er: SUrithits \ Smoke from cigarettes contains substances that pollute the air and harm ‘our health, In Singapore, ‘smoking is not allowed in air-conditioned areas and mony public places.CFCs The Earth is surrounded by a layer of ozone. Ozone protects the Earth from most of the harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays from the Sun. Some parts of the ozone layer have become thinner over the years. Chemical substances such as CFCs have been found to destroy the ozone layer. CFCs were once used in refrigerators and spray cans. ‘As the ozone layer becomes thinner, more UV rays from the Sun can feu the Earth, These UV rays can cause sunburns, eye proble~ > ond even skin cancer. They can also kill plants. Y¥ The ozone layer protects the Eorth from harmful UV rays. Science «@) citizen © Use CFC-free products to rotect the ozone layer from alee damage. ‘A Example of a label on a CFC-free productheat given off eee ‘A When the Sun's heat reaches the Earth, some heat is given off into space and some heat is trapped on the Earth. When there is more carbon dioxide in the air, more heat is trapped on the Earth. This causes the average temperature of the Earth to rise. The rise in the Earth’s temperature can lead to global warming. Global warming can therefore be caused by Man‘s activities which increase the amount of carbon dioxide in the air. Some examples are deforestation and the burning of fuels. 76) Interactions Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gos. The wy greenhouse gases trop heat and keep the Earth worm is known as the greenhouse el What activities can cause the amount of carbon dioxide in the air to increase?Global warming can result in changes in the environment. One of these changes is the melting of ice in some parts of the world. When a large amount of ice melts, the sea level will rise ond water will cover many areas near the sea. What are the effects of global warming? ) AA tise ir 2vel can cause areas near the sea to be covered in 3 Global warming can also affect the world's weather pattems, ~G® Some places may have droughts when there is little or no Use the Internet to find out rain over a long period of time. Other places may have floods how some countries are due to heavy rain. These weather conditions destroy plants, coffected by droughts or which can lead to a shortage of food. As a result, some people Floods. will go hungry. YA drought can cause plants to dry up. VA flood can destroy plants.~What can Man do to make a positive impact on his environment? ‘Man depends on natural resources from his environment for his survival. To protect his environment, Man needs to take actions that have a positive impact on his environment. Conservation of natural resources Olet’s connect! We obtain energy, materials and food from natural resources re in our environment. To prevent our natural resources from peracid welsciniel being destroyed or running out too soon, we need to conserve theme of Cycles them. Reducing, reusing and recycling materials Materials such as plastic, paper, glass and metal come from natural resources. We can conserve natural resources by practising the three ‘R's — reduce, reuse and recycle. Reduce the amount Reuse old plastic Co Project wor. of waste produced by bags or bring along Use unwanted materials to using less material for reusable bags when make objects that you can packaging. shopping, use in school or at home. Display them in class. How does using less plastic help our environment? Recycle materials. Place unwanted objects made of plastic, paper, glass and metal in recycling bins so that they can be sent for recycling. ‘a Recycling bin & InteractionsReducing land, water and air pollution The following are some examples of activities that can reduce land, water and air pollution. | throw ru into bins to keep the surroundings clean. 2 — A Travelling by public transport will help to reduce the number of vehicles on the road. When fewer vehicles are used, less fossil fuels are burnt and thus less pollutants are given off into the air. Scien Your actions can affect the environment. Do your part to ensure that the environment will be clean and healthy for all to live in. Man’s impact on his environment 79.Protecting wildlife We should conserve wildlife so that there will always be a diversity of living things on the Earth. Wildlife can be conserved by protecting their natural habitats such as seas and forests. We can also set up more nature parks to encourage wildlife to grow and reproduce. V Nature reserve Reforestation | Reforestation is carried out to reduce the negative impact of | deforestation. Seeds and young plonts are planted in forests where trees have been removed. This will restore forests and | the wildlife living in the forests. | New trees planted will take in carbon dioxide and give out | oxygen during photosynthesis. The amount of carbon dioxide in the air will decrease and this helps to reduce global warming. The new trees also become the habitats for wildlife. = i ([80)p Interactions Science citizen Forests contain many kinds of plants and animals. Protecting forests ensures that o diversity of plants ond conimals will continue to exist. OB as Use the Internet to find out the kinds of wildlife that a iy | > Young plants are planted to replace | trees that have been cut down. \> © depletion © conservation e deforestation @ reduce © pollution © reuse @ global warming @ recycle @ reforestation d cir pollition « Protect widife Man's impact on his environmen 1 Papbets explore Q 1. Study the picture below. Hows the environment affected when there is global warming? ©} Name a gas in the air that can cause global warming. b) Explain how global warming affects the polar bear. 2. The amount of substance P in the air was measured in three cities, X, Y and Z, over three years. P will harm the environment if its amount in the air is above 50 points, ‘Amount of substance P (points) ‘What isthe relationship between the amount of P produced and the use of fossil fuels? 2010 2011 2012 )_Inwhich of the cities was substance P at harmful levels in all three years? b) Substance P is produced when fossil fuels are burnt. Which cities most likely decreased their use of fossil fuels, over the three years? J Suggest two ways in which people in the cities can help to conserve fossil fuels. & ‘ Workbook exercise 5 > Interactions