Mr.

Jeffrey Wong-Millenial
Ecotech Sdn.Bhd., Alumni USM
 Ｃｈｐａｔｅｒ Ｉｎｓｔｒｕｃｔｏｒ

1 Description of global environment Dr. Foong Swee Yeok

2 Danger to environment & human health

3 Hazardous Chemical

4 Radioactive Contamination

5 Pest Management

6 Municipal Solid Waste Dr. Nurul Salmi Abd

Latip
7 Global Atmospheric Pollution
8 Air Pollution
9 Aquatic Pollution
10 Noise Pollution
Senarai Buku Teks / Rujukan Utama :
(a) Rujukan utama:
(i)Bernard J.Nebel & Richard T.Wright (2000). Environmental
Science, 7th edition. Prentice-Hall. (N & W).
(ii)G.Tyler Miller, Jr. (2007). Environmental Science, 15th edition.
Thomson-Brooks/cole. (Miller).
(iii)Jerry A. Nathanson, Richard A. Schneider.(2015) 6th edition.
Basic environmental technology : water supply, waste
management, and pollution control / Jerry A. Nathanson,
Richard A. Schneider. Boston, Pearson Publisher.

(b) Rujukan tambahan :

(i)William P. Cunningham, Barbara W.Saigo (2009). Environmental

Science: A global concern, 6th edition. McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0-10-

118102-9.
(ii)Pengenalan kepada Pencemaran Udara (2015). Abd.Rahman

Mohamed, Lee Keat Teong, Irvan Dahlan, Pernerbit Universiti

Sains Malaysia.
 BST 305: Environmental Pollution
Chapter 1: People with their
environment

•Human absolutely dependent on their

environment.

•Past civilizations-lesson to learn. Are

we repeating their mistake? Case study:
The civilization collapse of Easter Island,
Mayans, Greeks, Incas and Romans.
 The haunting ghost on Easter
Island
• Easter Island = striking example of the
dependence of human societies on their
environment and of the consequences of
irreversibly damaging that had done to its
environment.
• One of most isolated islands in the world –
South pacific Coast of South America.
• Statues of giant heads (Moai) standing with their
back to the sea.
 The haunting ghost on Easter Island
• The challenge of transporting the statues, (20 feet
in length and weighing several tens of tons) are
evidence of once a sophisticated civilization.
• 1992, Japanese with cranes & heavy equipment,
worked for 5 years to restore 15 moai .
• Yet, the native were living in primitive level.
 The haunting ghost on Easter Island
• 1200 years ago, Polynesians colonized the islands
• The islands were abundant with forest tree.
• Population increased -> trees were cut for agriculture,
structural material & to move huge stones from the
volcanic quarries to their erection sites.
• By 1600, all trees were gone.
• Bold land failed to hold water, erosion polluted the nearby
sea ->killing fish/shell fish.
• Eroded land baked hard under the hot sun & dry quickly
after rain.
• Agriculture work became harder and rewards fewer.
• Fights between the ruling class & workers
• Starvation & disease became epidemic
• Without trees, no one could escape the island by boat.
• Population dropped from 8000 to few hundreds by mid-
1800.
 Lesson to learn
Disaster=When society fail to care for
environment->Population increase
beyond the sustainbality of soil & land
for food production.
• Earth = Island
• Population growth rocketing high
• Besides exhausting resources, pollution
problems
 The Global Environmental – population growth
• Population growth-exponential since 1830. 2 billion in 25 years (83 million/yr) = 6
billion in 1999.
• Projection -> 10 billion by 2050.
• Increase consumption by increase population
(South Africa,India,China) and increase
consumption per person (developed
countries).
• One third of the world population, cooking fuel
= firewood.
 The Global Environmental – degradation of soil
• Erosion
• Desertification-usually in marginal areas. Mainly caused by over-grazing &
wood collection.
 Linear dunes of the
Sahara Desert encroach
on Nouakchott, the
capital of Mauritania Camels and other
animals trample the soil
in the semiarid Sahel of
Overgrazing -Rio Puerco Africa as they move to
Basin (central New Mexico) water holes such as this
one of the most eroded one in Chad
river basins ->the high
sediment content of the Off-road vehicles
river significantly increase soil
loss in the delicate desert
environment of the
western United States. In
Goat seeks food in the
a few seconds, soils that
sparsely vegetated
took hundreds of years to
Sahel of Africa
develop can be destroyed
 Saline Soil

• ‘crop-fallow” system of farming.

• Strip of land on every other year is kept barren to allow
soil moisture to build up and eliminate weeds.
• On these strips, called “summer fallow”, there are no
plants to absorb the water from rain or melted snow,
• Rain more easily soaks through the soil, leaching salts
along the way and causing an elevated water table
 The Global Environmental – population growth
Water depletion
• Pollution from runoff from over-irrigation of agricultural and urban lands;

• Additional dams and reservoirs and additional water and wastewater

treatment facilities;
- Empangan Timah Tasoh, Perlis.

• Habitat degradation from surface water withdrawals; - Bangkok, land

subsidence – ground water extraction.

• Destruction of wetlands, which filter pollutants; and

• Increased energy needed to treat wastewater and byproducts from

power plants.
The Global Environmental – population growth
• Fertile soil give way for development
• Some 75% of farm land in Africa is
severely degraded & losing essential
nutrients (N,P,K) for plant grow (Int.Center for
Soil Fertility & Plant Development, IFDC).
 The Global Environmental –
Global Atmosferic Change
• Global climate change due to CO2. from fossil
fuel burning (crude oil,coal,natural gas).
• CO2 as greenhouse gas-absorb infrared energy
from sunlight.
• CO2 level increased from 280 ppm (0.028%) in
1990 to 370 ppm in 2000, and 400ppm in 2018.
• The increase of 0.4% per year will double in next
century.
• CO2 is responsible to 60% of the increase in
global warming.(will be discussed further in
other lecture)
Global Atmosferic Change
combined land-surface air and
sea surface temperatures
(degrees Centigrade) 1861 to
1998, relative to the average
temperature between 1961 and
1990

• Precipitation has increased over land at

high latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere,
especially during the cold season.
Decrease in precipitation occurred in steps
after the 1960s over the subtropics and the
tropics from Africa to Indonesia

Over the last 100 years, the global sea level

has risen by about 10 to 25 cm
 The Global Environmental –
Loss of Biodiversity
• The need for land for urban & agriculture development – loss of
land.
• Pollution (aquatic & marine) – destroy species
• Human exploitation – tongkat ali,shark fin,bird nest ….many many
more!
• Estimated 4000 species extinct/year.
• 1.75 million species have been described, 100 million more remain
unidentified.
• Biodiversity – genetic source for domestic plants & animals used in
agriculture. (between 1959-1980,25% of drugs were originally from
plants).
• Biodiversity – maintining the stability of natural systems especially
after disturbances such as fire & volcanic eruption.
• Biodiversity – our moral responsibility
https://
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