What is environment?

An environment can be simply defined as a system that includes

all biotic and abiotic components that have an impact on human
life. All flora and animals are considered biotic, or living,
elements, whereas water, sunlight, air, climate, etc. are
considered abiotic.
Segments of environment
Atmosphere
The atmosphere is a mixture of gases that surrounds the Earth. It
helps make life possible by providing us with air to breathe, shielding us
from harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation coming from the Sun, trapping heat
to warm the planet, and preventing extreme temperature differences
between day and night.
The structure of atmosphere is divided into four layers as :
1. Troposphere
2. Stratosphere
3. Mesosphere
4. Thermosphere

Hydrosphere
A hydrosphere is the total amount of water on a planet. The hydrosphere includes water that is on the
surface of the planet, underground, and in the air. A planet's hydrosphere can be liquid, vapor, or ice. On
Earth, liquid water exists on the surface in the form of oceans, lakes and rivers

Lithosphere
Lithosphere is the solid crust or the hard top layer of the earth. It is made up of rocks and minerals. It is
covered by a thin layer of soil. It is an irregular surface with various landforms such as mountains, plateaus,
desert, plains, valleys, etc.

Biosphere
The biosphere is the fourth sphere of Earth that encompasses all other three spheres, i.e.
lithosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere. The biosphere is a place where living things thrive and lives.
It consists of flora and fauna, i.e. plants, animals and microorganisms.

What is environmental studies?

Environmental Studies is an interdisciplinary field that draws on knowledge and analytical tools from many
areas of study to understand the function of natural ecosystems, the effects of human societies on the
environment, and the role that the environment has played in shaping human cultures and artistic
endeavors.
SCOPE

1. Prioritise the environment: The developmental projects degrade the balance, hence negligence of the
environment should be a big concern for any project.

2. Ecological balance: It means that the conservation of biodiversity needs to be done in a way to maintain
ecological balance.

3. Environment impact assessment: Necessary assessment of the impact on the environment should be done and
strong and strong law needs to be implemented. The environmental impact assessment brings the reality of the
action.

4. Research and Development: The research and development (R&D) and the expenditure by the government
need to improve.

5. Environmental activism: It should be there to create pressure as well as awareness to people.

6. Environmental science: It is required for the scientific study of the environment and also to study human
interaction and intervention with the environment.

7. Environmental engineering in which the technology intervention reuired for maintaining the environmental
balance.

8. Development and growth, as development should not be at the cost of the environment, and inclusive growth
should be emphasized.

9. Industry and environment: Industries are creating waste and diluting the harmony between the environment
and biodiversity in marine ecosystems that need to be controlled.

IMPORTANCE
1. Environmental studies provide efficient use of resources in a balanced manner that the using of resources will
not impact the environment in a negative manner.

2. Conservation through environmental study provides a way to conserve the environment and biodiversity and
maintain sustainability in the environment.

3. The professionals with a degree in environmental-related subjects are aware of the ecosystem which leads to
creating a harmonious interaction between the people and the environment.

4. Environmental studies provide higher priority to the environmental issue at the global and at the local level, it
also creates an interrelation between the ecosystem and ecology.

5. Through environmental studies we are able to find the problems of wildlife and tried to solve the problem
through using research and development (R&D).

6. Provide the alternative solution to the permanent problem.

7. Through environmental study we try to achieve this sustainable development goal which focuses on the
sustainable use of resources through a common goal.
8. The environmental study provides planning with a focus on the execution of the action in a proper manner that
should not disturb the environment and ecology.

NEED FOR PUBLIC AWARENESS

1. Increasing population, urbanization and poverty have generated pressure on the natural resourses and lead to a
degradation of the environment.
2. To prevent the environment from further degradation ,the supreme court has ordered and initiated environment
protection awareness through government and non government agencies to take part in protecting our
environment.
3. Environmental pollution cannot prevented by laws alone. Public participation is equally important with regard
to environmental protection.
4. Environmental education is a process of learning by giving an overall perspective of knowledge and
awareness of the environment.
5. It sensitizes the society about environmental issues and challenges interested individuals to develop skills and
expertise thereby providing appropriate solution.
6. Climate change, loss of diversity ,ozone layer depletion, illegal trade of endangered species, destruction of
habitats, land degradation, environmental pollution, storm water pose a serious threat to ecosystem in forest,
rural, urban and marine ecosystem.
7. Both formal and informal education on the environment will give the interested individual the knowledge,
values, skills and tools needed to the face the environmental challenges on a local and global level.

What is ecology?
Ecology is the study of organisms and how they interact with the environment around them.
An ecologist studies the relationship between living things and their habitats.

What is ecosystem?
An ecosystem is a geographic area where plants, animals, and other organisms, as well as
weather and landscape, work together to form a bubble of life. Ecosystems contain biotic or
living, parts, as well as abiotic factors, or nonliving parts.

Structure of the Ecosystem

Abiotic component
2. Biotic component
Abiotic Component
This basically involves inorganic minerals, calcium, phosphorus & iron. It also includes soil, water,
land & solar radiation. It is further divided into climatic factors and edaphic factors which include
rain, light, temperature, and wind, soil, pH, minerals, and topography.
Biotic Component
The biotic component consists of all the living organisms in the ecosystem. It can be classified as
Autotrophic organisms that produce their own food and heterotrophic organisms which depend on
other organisms for food. This classification is based on nutritional requirements of the organism.
 Producers: These are the organisms in the ecosystem that generate the food and energy with
the help of sunlight, oxygen, and all other abiotic components. The main producers of the
ecosystem are the plants.
 Consumers: These are the organisms that take their nutrition from the food that is made by
the producers.
  Primary Consumers: These organisms feed directly from the producers. They are
herbivorous animals like deer, rabbit, cow, buffalo, and giraffes.
 Secondary Consumers: These organisms feed on the primary consumers for their nutrition.
These are carnivorous and omnivorous animals like crows, dogs, cats, snakes.
 Tertiary Consumers: These organisms feed on secondary consumers. These are only
carnivores where they only consume meat usually by preying on prey. Eg., lion, tiger,
cheetah
The Function of the Ecosystem
The primary function of any ecosystem is the exchange of energy from one life form to others,
which eventually runs in a circle and sustains the entire life of the planet. Without the ecosystems
maintaining balance, there would not have been any life form existing on earth.
Classification of ecosystem
 Forest Ecosystem: These ecosystems are a densely packed environment of various flora and
fauna. It has the highest number of organisms living per square km. It is important to
conserve this ecosystem as many rare species of the earth are found here. Most of the oxygen
in the world is supplied by the forests.
 Desert Ecosystem: Deserts are defined as ecosystems that receive rainfall of less than 25cm
indicating extreme climate. Even in harsh temperatures, there are organisms that have
resistance towards high temperatures and plants that require very little water to survive,
having modified their leaves and stem to conserve water. Camels, rattlesnakes, and cacti are
a few examples.
 Grassland Ecosystem: It mainly includes shrubs, herbs, and few trees which are not as
dense as the forests. These basically include grazing animals, insectivores, herbivores. The
temperatures are not too extreme in these ecosystems. There are two main forms: The
savannas and prairies. The savannas are the tropical grasslands. It dries seasonally with many
predators and grazers. The prairies are temperate grassland, which lack large shrubs and
trees.
Aquatic Ecosystem
The aquatic ecosystem consists mainly of animals and organisms that stay in the water
bodies, such as lakes, oceans and seas. Amphibians, fish, sea creatures all come under this
ecosystem. Since water is in abundance, organisms survive using the oxygen dissolved in
water. This ecosystem is much larger than the terrestrial ecosystem as it acquires a greater
part of the earth.
What is Natural resource?
Natural resources are materials from the Earth that are used to support life and meet people's
needs. Any natural substance that humans use can be considered a natural resource. Oil,
coal, natural gas, metals, stone and sand are natural resources.
Types

Renewable natural resources

Renewable natural resources are the resources that can be generated again once they are
used. Some of the examples of renewable natural resources include sunlight, water, and
wood.

Non-renewable natural resources

Non-renewable natural resources are the ones that exhaust after their frequent usage and
sometimes it takes a really long time for them to regenerate. An example of this includes
natural gas. Another example of a non-renewable natural resource is coal.

Forest resource
forest resources means those products, uses, and values associated with forest land,
including recreation and aesthetics, fish, forage, soil, timber, watershed, wilderness, and
wildlife.

Water resources
Water resources are natural resources of water that are potentially useful for humans, for example as a source
of drinking water supply or irrigation water. 97% of the water on the Earth is salt water and only three percent is
fresh water; slightly over two thirds of this is frozen in glaciers and polar ice caps

Mineral resources

Minerals are substances or materials found in the Earth's crust or in the atmosphere
or in our surroundings having some definite chemical and physical properties. These
substances become resources when there is some economic value added to it. Hence
mineral resources are substances found in the earth’s crust and have some economic
value.