ENVIRONMENT AND HUMAN

SETTLEMENT
1. Human settlements as Ecological systems
 Ecosystem
 Components of an Ecosystem
 Pound as an Example of a Natural Ecosystem
 History of Human Settlement
 Human Settlement as an Ecosystem: The City
Biosphere
The parts of the land, sea, and atmosphere in which 
organisms are able to live. The biosphere is an
irregularly shaped, relatively thin zone in which life is 
concentrated on or near the Earth's surface and
throughout its waters.
Origin and evolution of life
Forest or vegetational biomes
1.5 million species have been identified and described
Ecology and the Environment
Ecology
“Ecology is the study of living organisms in
relation to the surroundings where they live”
Ecology discuss natural environment or natural
conditios as well as the study of interaction
among organisms and between organisms and
their environment or effect on a biotic and biotic
.
Ecology and the Environment
Ecosystem
Consists of the plants and animals and the physical
environment in which they live e.g., A small pond, a big
forest

Components of an Ecosystem
Two components of any ecosystem are abiotic ie, physical
(non-living) environment such as climate, topography,
and biotic ie., living environment such as plants, animals
and aquatic life
Pound as an example of
Natural Ecosystem
Ideal and complete ecosystem have the following
components
Inorganic substances
Organic compounds
Air water and substrate environment
Producers
Consumers
Decomposers
Ecology and the Environment
Both abiotic and biotic environments are
interrelated and supplement and influence each
other.
The abiotic or non-living component of an
ecosystem comprises of:
Inorganic substances e.g., Ca, O2, Water, CO2, CO3,
which are usually cycled through the system
Organic substances e.g., Carbohydrates, proteins, humic
substances, etc. which are actually the bi-product of
activities of living organisms and synthesized by them
earlier; these substances link the biotic and abiotic
components in the ecosystem
The Climate Regime – Moisture, wind, solar radiation,
heat etc., which control the activities of biotic
components.
 Ecology and the Environment
The biotic or living components of an ecosystem are
divided into three functional types of living organisms
such as: Producers, Consumers and Decomposers.
PRODUCERS i.e., Largely green plants, which can synthesize
organic molecules for their own growth and transform the
solar energy into a chemical form. The energy remains
stored in the chemical form and is utilized in the organism’s
other activities. Such organisms are called autotrophic
organisms.
CONSUMERS: There may be two types of consumers: primary
and secondary
 Primary consumers feed on plants
 Secondary consumers derive their nutritional requirements from
procedures (plants) indirectly through primary consumers
 Both 1o and 2o consumers are called heterotrophic means other
feeding
Ecology and the Environment
DECOMPOSERS or micro-consumers: These include
bacteria, fungi, etc., which degrade the dead plants
and animal materials into simpler materials and
absorb them for their growth and other metabolic
activities. In this process mineralization of organic
substances are accomplished and released inorganic
substances are made available to the producers again.
Decomposers are also called apostrophes
Biogeochemical Cycles or flow
of Materials
A biogeochemical cycle or substance turnover or
cycling of substances is a pathway by which a chemical
substance moves through biotic (biosphere) and abiotic
(lithosphere, atmosphere, and hydrosphere)
compartments of Earth.
 There are four biogeochemical cycles, and each of
them returns to the earth
The Hydrologic(Water) Cycle
The Carbon Cycle
The Phosphorus cycle
 The Nitrogen Cycle
History of Human Settlement
Lived off the land
Early humans survived in small tribes as hunter-
gatherers, catching wildlife and gathering seeds.
• Development of agriculture and animal husbandry
started about 10,000 year ago
Rural Settlement
 Depend on Primary sector activities such as
agriculture, animal husbandry, fishing etc.
 Entry of European with plough before 1500 year ago
History of Human Settlement
con
Linear Y shaped village
Compact
Rectangular Disperse
Circular Planned
Star like etc
T- Shaped village
Changes due to Agriculture
Development
Abundant and reliable food supply
Specialization of labor
More incentive and potential for technological
development
Trade with other settlements begin and thus
commerce is born.
Mortality rate declined
 Convert natural ecosystems into agriculture and
other human development to support growing
human populations
History of Human Settlement
con:
Urban settlements
All places which have municipality, corporation,
cantonment board or notified town area committee
and have a minimum population of 5000 persons, at
least 75 percent of male workers are engaged in non-
agricultural pursuits and a density of population of at
least 400 persons per square kilometers.
Origin of Cities

Through most of history, the human population has lived

a rural lifestyle.
Settled communities of people became possible with the
advent of agriculture (10,000 to 4,000 BC).
How

does a city get started?
Usually an historic trade route or location near
some valuable resource, e.g. water
Usually without any long-term planning
Usually in an area where it
is easiest to build structures,
e.g. flat or gentle terrain
(– San Francisco!)
What is
“Urbanization?”
Often related to industrialization
Up until very recently -- about 200 years ago -- the
proportion of the world’s urban population was limited to
about 5%
 Urbanization
 Urban growth
 Urban growth is the rate of increase of urban
population
 Natural Increases: More birth than deaths
 Immigration: Caused by a combination of push
factors that force people out of rural areas and pull
factors that draw them into the city
 Urbanization
Push Factors:
Poverty
Lack of Land
Declining Agricultural jobs (b/c use of mechanized
agriculture or government policies that set food
prices for urban dwellers so low that rural farmers
find it uneconomical to grow crops)
Famine
War
 Urbanization
Pull Factors:
Search of jobs
Food
Housing
A better life
Entertainment
Freedom
Escape from social constraints of village
cultural life and from religious, racial, and
political conflicts
Speed of
Urbanization
In 18003%
By 190014 %
In 1950 30%
In 2000 47 % (about 2.8 billion)
Rapid Urbanization
Air Pollution(Paper products)
Pulp Production
• Energy Consumption
• Consumes 1000 or more times as much energy as
similar areas of rural environment(heat dust and
other air pollution).
• Urban Construction(suburban and industrial
developments, soil erosion)
• Sparsely settle regions
Natural Disasters and Human
Settlement
Natural Disaster and Human Settlements in the
context of Cross Cutting Themes
1. Natural Disaster affecting Human Settlements
Flood
Earthquakes
Hurricanes and tornadoes
Difference between Disaster and Hazard
Flood Hazard
 Floods

 Flood can be defined as a stage or height of water

above some given datum such as banks of normal
datum
 Flood occurs whenever river overflows its banks
 To the inhabitants of flood plain, however, a flood
occurs whenever water rises sufficiently so that life and
property are damaged and threatened
Types of Flooding
 River Floods
 Flash Floods
 Coastal Floods
 Urban Floods
 GLOF
 Factors –Flood severity
 Many factors
 The quantity of water involved
 The rate at which it enters
 When water inputs exceeds the capacity of the stream
to carry that water away downstream within its
channel, the water overflows the banks
Flood Plain Evolution
Contributing Factors to Flooding
 Saturated ground
 Deposition of silt
 Deforestation
 Building of impermeable concrete and
other surfaces in river basins
(Urbanization)
 Clogged drains and canals
Flooding in the Indus Basin

56% of the Basin is located in

Pakistan comprising Indus and

its tributaries: Kabul, Jhelum,
Chenab, Ravi, Beas and Sutlej
Since creation of Pakistan,
floods along the Indus Basin
have wrecked economic
damage worth US $ 5 billion
approximately and about
6,000 lives have been lost
These floods occur as a
consequence of the monsoon
rains
 Flash Floods
NAs. Hunza, Ghizar,
Astore, Gilgit & Skardu
NWFP. Charsadda,
Peshawar, Mardan, DI
Khan, Swat, Mansehra,
Upper /Lower Dir & Chitral

AJK. Muzzafarabad,
Neelum, Bagh, Kotli &
Bhimber

Punjab. Sialkot,
Wazirabad, Gujranwala,
Gujrat, Bhakkar, Mianwali
& DG Khan

Balochistan. Sibi, Jhal

Magsi, Bolan, Kech,
Gwador, Kharan, Kalat,
Khuzdar & Lasbela

Sindh. Dadu, Qambar-

Shahdadkot, Larkana,
Karachi, Hyderabad,
Sanghar & Badin

Urban Floods. Karachi,

Hyderabad, Rawalpindi &
Lahore
 Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOF)
There are 5218 glaciers in
Pakistan with a total of
2420 lakes

Out of which 52 lakes are

considered dangerous

An agreement for GLOF

monitoring was arrived at
with ICIMOD in 2003
Remedy
Conserving forest
Avoiding erosion of soil
Avoiding construction in the Flood plains
Structure must be higher than the tidal level
Earthquakes
The earthquakes are the release of energy that has
slowly built up due to stress in the earth and cause
the shaking trembling and vibrating the earth’s
surface
(A Dictionary of Geography)
Type of Waves
o Primary Waves
o Secondary Waves
o Long/Surface Waves
Earthquakes Con:-
Primary Waves/P Waves/Push Waves
o Speed (8 Km/Second or 5Mile/Second)
o Can cross solid and liquid easily
o Speed reduce when cross liquid substances
o Parallel movement of particles
 Secondary Waves
• Vertical movement of particles
• Speed (4.5 km/Second or 2.7 Mile/Second)
• Can not cross the liquid substances
Earthquakes Con:-
Long/Surface Waves
slow speed among the primary and secondary ways
Destruction on surface of the earth
PLATE TECTONICS THEORY
Conversion of Plates
Pressure
Fault(eg.San Andreas fault in USA)
PLATE TECTONICS THEORY
PLATE TECTONICS THEORY

MOUNT FUJI - JAPAN

Volcanoes
A volcano is a rupture in the crust 
A place on the earth’s surface (or any other planet)
where molten rock and gases are erupted.
that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape
from a magma chamber below the surface
The total number of recognizable volcanoes is about
10,000
ACTIVE – volcanoes known to have erupted during
historical times. Total Number = 529
DORMANT – volcanoes that have not erupted during
historical times, but will probably erupt again. Total
Number = 1,340
EXTINCT – volcanoes that are unlikely to erupt again.
PLATE TECTONICS THEORY
STRATA VOLCANOS
Tornadoes and Hurricanes
Tornadoes locally known as cyclones/twister
Not common but one of the most destructive forces
Short duration, rotating column of air
Heavy rain fall often damaging hail
In 1931 a tornado carried as 83-ton railroad coach and
its 117 passengers, 24 meter through the air and
dropped them in a ditch.
More intense
storms…
Hurricanes get their energy
and staying power from warm
water in the tropical oceans.
As waters get warmer, we
expect that hurricanes will
become more intense.
Comparison
Hurricane Tornado
• North Atlantic Ocean, • Tornados have been
the Northeast Pacific spotted in all continents
Ocean east of the except Antarctica
International Date Line, • Places where cold and
or the South Pacific warm fronts converge.
Ocean east of 160E. Can be just almost
Hurricanes are found anywhere.
near the tropical zone,
over warm waters in the
Atlantic and Pacific
ocean.
• Usually warm areas