CHAPTER VI.

THE BIOSPHERE AND ITS

POLLUTION
 The Planet Earth along with its living organisms
and atmosphere (air, land, and water), which
sustains life, is known as the Biosphere.
 The biosphere extends vertically into the
atmosphere to about 10Km, downward into the
ocean to depth of about 35,000ft, and into
about 23,000ft. of the earth surface itself where
living organisms have been found.
 ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
 are any such issues created due to human activities and cause harm to
the environment:
1. SOIL POLLUTION 7. GLOBAL WARMING
2. WATER POLLUTION 8. CLIMATE CHANGE
3. AIR POLLUTION 9. OZONE LAYER
4. NOISE POLLUTION 10. ACID RAIN
5. DEFORESTATION
6. OVERPOPULATION
 1. WATER POLLUTION
 Water is one of the most important and most
precious of natural resources, and a regular
and plentiful supply of clean water is essential
for the survival and health of most living
organisms.
 SOURCES OF WATER
POLLUTION
 Pollutants can enter waterways by a number of
different routs.
 Sources of pollution can be categorized into
two: point source pollution and non-point
source pollution.
TYPES AND EFFECTS OF
WATER POLLUTION
TYPES AND EFFECTS OF
WATER POLLUTION
 A. INFECTIOUS AGENTS
 The most serious water pollutants in terms
of human health are pathogenic
organisms. Among the most important
waterborne diseases are typhoid fever,
cholera, bacterial and amoebic dysentery,
polio, hepatitis and schistosomiasis.
 B. OXYGEN DEMANDING
WASTES
 The amount of dissolved oxygen (DO) in water
is a good indicator of water quality and the
kinds of life it will support. Oxygen is added to
water by diffusion from the air, especially when
turbulence and mixing rates are high, and by
photosynthesis of green plants and algae.
 Oxygen is removed from water by respiration
and chemical processes that consume oxygen.
 C. PLANT NUTRIENTS AND
EUTROPHICATION
 Aquatic plants require certain nutrients for health
growth and metabolism.
 An excess of these essential elements (from
such sources as sewage treatment plants, runoff
from animal feedlots or fertilized agricultural
lands), however, can result in a plant population
explosion which leads to serious degradation of
water quality and radical changes in the species
composition of the over-fed lake, pond or stream.
 D. TOXIC INORGANIC
CHEMICALS
 Toxic, inorganic chemicals introduced into
water as a result of human activities have
become the most serious forms of water
pollution.
 E. ORGANIC CHEMICALS
 Thousands of different natural synthetic
organic chemicals are used in the
chemical industry to make pesticides,
plastics, pigments and other products.
Many of these chemicals are highly toxic.
 F. THERMAL POLLUTION
• Change in species
composition;
• Fish may migrate or be killed
by suffocation (because
warm water holds less
oxygen than cold water);
• The BOD of the water rises;
• Increase the susceptibility of
aquatic organisms to disease;
• Reproductive cycles of fish
and other aquatic organisms
may be disrupted.
 2. AIR POLLUTION
 Air pollution occurs through enrichment
(contamination) of the atmosphere or air
with noxious gases and other undesirable
substances; caused largely as a result of
burning fuels and through release of gases
by various industries and automobiles.
2. AIR POLLUTION
SOURCES OF AIR POLLUTANTS
 Air pollutants come from many sources and
contain diverse chemicals.
 All air contains natural contaminants such as
pollen, fungi spores, and smoke and dust particles
from forest fires and volcanic eruptions.
 It contains also naturally occurring carbon
monoxide (CO) from the breakdown of methane
(CH4); hydrocarbons; and hydrogen sulphide
(H2S) and methane (CH4) from the anaerobic
decomposition of organic matter.
Major Air Pollutants and Their
Effects
 A. Suspended Particulate
• Damage to buildings paints
• Dirt into clothing
• Obscure visibility
• Corrode metals
• When inhaled, suspended particulate
irritates the respiratory tract.
 B. Sulfur dioxide (SO2)
• Irritates respiratory system
• Corrodes metals and statues
• Impairs visibility
• Kills or stunt growth of plants
• Is a precursor of acid precipitation
 C. Carbon monoxide (CO)
• Binds to hemoglobin in the blood,
displacing oxygen and thereby reducing
the amount of oxygen carried in the blood
stream.
• Slow down mental processes and reaction
time
 D. Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2)
• Stunt plant growth
• Reduce visibility by its yellow brown smog
it forms
• Contribute to the formation of acid rain.
 E. Ozone (O3)
 This is one of the constituents of
photochemical oxidant.
 Photochemical oxidants are formed from a
complex series of chemical reaction when
NO2 and hydrocarbons react with O2 and
sunlight to produce photochemical smog.
 F. Hydrocarbons
 Those compounds containing hydrogen
and carbon atoms in various combinations
are the hydrocarbon groups. Examples are
benzene, and benzo(a)pyrene, which is
potent carcinogen. Apart from their long
time effect, they being catalysts for
photochemical smog is the most felt
problem.
 G. Lead
 Lead is a toxic metal, which is traced to
automobile emissions from leaded
gasoline.
 Lead is a metabolic poison and a
neurotoxin that binds to essential enzymes
and cellular components and inactivates
them.
 3. LAND/SOIL POLLUTION
 Solid wastes are the wastes arising from
human and animal activities that are
normally solid and that are discarded as
useless or unwanted.
 It encompass the heterogeneous mass of
throw away from mostly urban
communities as well as the more
homogenous accumulation of agricultural,
industrial and mineral wastes.
 Ecological impacts of solid waste include:-
a. Water and air pollution.
b. Liquid that seeps from open dumps or
poorly engineered landfills will
contaminate surface water and ground
water found in the vicinity.
c. In mining areas, the liquid leached from
waste dump may contain toxic elements
such as copper, arsenic or may
contaminate water supplies from
unwanted salts of calcium and
magnesium.
 PESTICIDES
• Insecticides; kill insects
• Rodenticides; kill rats and mice
• Herbicides; kill weeds
• Nematicides; kill nematodes
 INSECTICIDES
 The largest numbers of pesticides are employed
against a wide variety of insects, and include:
stomach poison (taken into the body through the
mouth); contact poisons (penetrate through the
body wall); and fumigants (enter insects through
its breathing pores).
 BOTANICAL
 Certain plant extracts are very effective
contact poisons, providing quick
knockdown of insects.
 Most botanical preparations are nontoxic
to humans, and can be safely used.
 CHLORINATED HYDROCARBONS
 These are contact poisons. DDT, chlordane,
lindane, endrine, alderin are some of the
chlorinated hydrocarbon.
 These insecticides are broad-spectrum, and act
primarily on the central nervous system, causing
the insect to go through a series of convulsions
prior to death.
 They are also persistent in the environment,
breaking down very slowly, and therefore,
retaining their effectiveness for a relatively long
period after application.
 ORGANOPHOSPHATES
 Organophosphate are broad-spectrum contact
poisons.
 Unlike chlorinated hydrocarbons,
organophosphates are not persistent, usually
breaking down two weeks or less after application.
 They are nerve poisons, which act to inhibit the
enzyme cholinesterase, causing the insect to lose
coordination and go into convulsion. Methyl
parathion, phosdrin and malathion are examples of
this group.
 CARBAMATES
 These are contact poisons, which act in a
manner similar to the organophosphates.
Carbamates are widely used in public health
work and agriculture because of their rapid
knockdown of insects and low toxicity to
mammals.
 PESTICIDE PROBLEMS
• Killing of beneficial species;
• Development of resistance;
• Environmental contamination
• Hazards to human health especially workers
who do not use personal protection equipment
during application
 RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
 There are various kinds of atoms of each elemental
substance, each with a slightly different make-up,
some radioactive, some not radioactive.
 When radioactive materials are released into the
environment, they become dispersed and diluted, but
they may also become concentrated in living
organisms and during food chain transfers by a
variety of means. Radioactive substances may also
simply accumulate in water, soils sediments, or air if
the input exceeds the rate of natural radioactive
decay.
 Prevention and Control of
Pollution
• Recycling and reuse of waste materials;
• Waste reduction;
• Control the use of chemicals;
• Proper disposal of wastes;
• Treatment of wastes before discharge;
• Use of “cleaner” energy sources, such as sun
energy, wind, etc.;
• Reduce emission of air pollutants using
different techniques;
• Formulation of rules and regulations.
 4. NOISE POLLUTION
 Disturbing or excessive noise that may
harm the activity or balance of human or
animal life
 SOURCES OF NOISE POLLUTION
1. Household sources
2. Social events
3. Commercial and Industrial activities
4. Transportation
 5. DEFORESTATION
 Refers to the cutting, clearing and removal of
rainforest or related ecosystems into less bio-
diverse ecosystems such as pasture, cropland
or plantations
 CAUSES OF DEFORESTATION
1. SHIFTING CULTIVATION
most of the clear of forest is done for
agricultural purposes
 CAUSES OF DEFORESTATION
2. COMMERCIAL LOGGING
It involves cutting trees for sale as timber or
pulp
 CAUSES OF DEFORESTATION
3. MINING AND DAMS
Mining-industrial development and hydroelectric
power plant projects
Dams open inaccessible forest and damage
ecosystem
 6. OVERPOPULATION
 The population of the planet is reaching
unsustainability levels as it faces shortage
or resources like water, fuel, and food
 7. GLOBAL WARMING
 Leads to rising temperatures of the oceans
and the earth surface causing melting of
polar ice caps, rise in sea levels and also
unnatural patterns of precipitation such as
flashfloods and excessive snow
 CAUSES OF GLOBAL WARMING
1. NATURAL CAUSES
 are causes that created by nature
2. MAN-MADE CAUSES
causes probably do the most damage to our planet
 8. CLIMATE CHANGE
 is a change in the statistical distribution of
weather over periods of time that range from
decades to million of years
 CAUSES OF CLIMATE CHANGE
1. NATURAL CAUSES
volcanic eruptions
ocean currents
Earth orbital changes
Solar variation
 CAUSES OF CLIMATE CHANGE
2. HUMAN CAUSES
Greenhouse gases
Deforestation
Coal mining
Burning of fossil fuels
Industrial processes
 9. OZONE LAYER`
 is a region of Earth’s stratosphere that absorbs
most of the sun’s ultraviolet (UV) radiation
 10. ACID RAIN
 is caused by the burning of fossil fuels.
 these gases mix with water droplets in the
atmosphere creating weak solutions of nitric
and sulfuric acid. When precipitation occurs
these solutions fall as acid rain
 CAUSES OF ACID RAIN
1. Natural Causes
Volcanic emissions
Biological processes
lightning
2. Anthropogenic Causes
Factories
Motor vehicles
Coal based power plants
FORMATION OF ACID RAIN