Environment

General Science and Ability

By CSS All in One
 Definition

• The term environment has been derived from a French word

“Environia” means to surround.
• Surroundings in which the organism lives
• “Environment is anything immediately surrounding an object
and exerting a direct influence on it.”
• The two major classifications of environment are :
• Physical Environment: External physical factors like Air, Water,
and Land etc. This is also called the Abiotic Environment.
• Living Environment: All living organisms around us viz. plants,
animals, and microorganisms. This is also called the Biotic
Environment.
 Components

• Earth’s environment can be further subdivided

into the following four segments:
• Atmosphere
• Hydrosphere
• Biosphere.
• Lithosphere
 Atmosphere
• Atmosphere is a gaseous layer
surrounding the earth. In other
words, we can say that our
earth is surrounded by a thin
layer of gases, called
atmosphere.
• Gases that in the atmosphere
are divided into two kinds,
based on their concentration,
viz., constant gases and
variable gases.
Composition of atmosphere

• Constant gases are the ones, whose concentrations do

not change over time, and their concentrations almost
remain same. Nitrogen and oxygen are the two major
constant gases.
• Variable gases are hose gases whose concentrations
change from time to time and from place to place. Some
of those gases are important to weather and climate.
Atmospheric Composition
Layers of the Atmosphere

• The atmosphere is divided into several layers based

on …..
• thermal characteristics (temperature changes),
• chemical composition,
• movement, and
• density
Umer saeed: General Science and Ability
 Layers of the Atmosphere

The four layers of the atmosphere include:

1. the troposphere, where we live;
2. the stratosphere, which contains the
ozone layer;
3. the mesosphere, where meteors burn;
and
4. the thermosphere, where satellites
orbit Earth.
 The Troposphere
The density of the atmosphere decreases rapidly with
increasing height. The troposphere has the following
characteristics:
• it is about 12-16 km (7 mi) thick,
• the temperature decreases rapidly with altitude,
• the mean temperatures at the bottom and top are 15°C & -53°C,
• it is heated from below by conduction and from condensation of
water vapor,
• it is the region where you find precipitation, evaporation, rapid
convection, the major wind systems, and clouds, and life
 The Stratosphere

• Above the troposphere is a region of relatively constant

temperature, -53°C, about 10 km (6 mi) thick called the tropopause.
The stratosphere has the following characteristics:
• it is about 28 km (17 mi) thick,
• the temperature increases with altitude from about -53°C to -3°C,
• this is where ozone, an unstable form of oxygen, appears,
• it is heated as the ozone absorbs incoming ultraviolet radiation.
Mesosphere & thermosphere
• Mesosphere temperatures fall with increasing altitude until
they reach the Mesopause at 80Km (50-80 km)-93oC at
80km, coldest layer

• Above the mesosphere is the Thermosphere where

temperatures rise with increasing altitude (isothermal)

• The thermosphere is very sensitive to incoming solar

radiation
The Ionosphere

• Ionosphere is a region of Earth's atmosphere in which the

number of electrically charged particles—ions and electrons
—are large enough to affect the propagation of radio waves.
The charged particles are created by the action of
extraterrestrial radiation (mainly from the Sun) on neutral
atoms and molecules of air.
• From 60km in the Thermosphere to an indefinite altitude in the
Thermosphere
• High concentration of ions of Oxygen and Nitrogen
• Solar wind FREE electrons from these atoms and molecules
Layers of the Atmosphere

• The exosphere begins at

about 500 to 600
kilometers above Earth
and does not have a
specific outer limit.
• Satellites orbit Earth in
the exosphere.
 Review
of Atmosphere
Hydrosphere

• The hydrosphere is the part of the earth that

contains water.
• The vast majority of Earth’s water is in the
oceans (salt water), with smaller, but
geologically important, quantities of fresh
water in lakes, rivers, and ground water.
• The components of the hydrosphere, as well
as the cryosphere (frozen water), the
atmosphere, and the biosphere, participate
in the global hydrologic cycle.
Distribution of Water
on Earth

Umer saeed: General Science and Ability

 The Hydrologic Cycle

Water never leaves the Earth. It is

constantly being cycled through the
atmosphere, ocean, and land. This
process, known as the water cycle, it is
the circulation of water b/w the different
compartments or reservoirs of the earth’s
Hydrosphere, is driven by energy from the
sun. The water cycle is crucial to the
existence of life on our planet.
Umer saeed: General Science and Ability
 The Water Cycle

The sun heats up liquid water and changes it to a gas by the

process of evaporation. Water that evaporates from earth’s
oceans, lakes, rivers, and moist soil rises up into the atmosphere.
The process of evaporation from plants is
called transpiration. (In other words, it’s
like plants sweating.)
As water (in the form of gas) rises higher in the
atmosphere, it starts to cool and become a liquid
again. This process is called condensation. When a
large amount of water vapor condenses, it results in
the formation of clouds.
When the water in the clouds gets too heavy, the water
falls back to the earth. This is called precipitation.
When rain falls on the land, some of the water is absorbed into
the ground forming pockets of water called groundwater. Most
groundwater eventually returns to the ocean. Other
precipitation runs directly into streams or rivers. Water that
collects in rivers, streams, and oceans is called runoff.
Biosphere
• Earth’s organisms live in
the biosphere.
• The biosphere consists
of the parts of the
planet in which all life
exists.
• The life supporting zone
of the earth where
atmosphere,
hydrosphere and
lithosphere meet,
interact and make life
possible is bioshpere.
Levels Of Ecological
Organization:
Ecosystem

• Biosphere consists of smaller functional units

known as ecosystems or ecological systems.
• An ecosystem includes all the organisms that live
in a particular place, together with their physical
environment.
• A group of ecosystems that have similar climates
and organisms is called a biome.
Biomes

• A group of ecosystems that have similar

climates and organisms is called a biome.
• Examples
• Tropical Rain Forest
• Desert
• Temperate Forest
Thank You
By CSS All in One