Academic Year

2020-2021

GE Environmental
Science
Module 3 – Environmental Problems and Issues

MEDIELYN M. ODTOJAN
Instructor 1

SURIGAO STATE COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY

LEARNING MODULE SURIGAO STATE COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY

TOPIC: Module 3 – Environmental Problems / Issues

TIME FRAME: 12 hours

INTRODUCTION

Studying environment science is all about learning the way we should live and how we can develop
sustainable strategies to protect the environment. It helps every student to develop an understanding
of living and physical environment and how to resolve challenging environmental issues affecting
nature. In addition to studying the physical aspects of the environment, it also emphasizes the need
to conserve biodiversity and adopt a more sustainable lifestyle and utilize resources in a responsible
way. The inclusion in the curriculum is a way to increase
public awareness about environmental issues, explore possible solutions, and to lay the foundations
for a fully informed and active participation of individual in the protection of environment and the
prudent and rational use of natural resources.

With natural resources such as air, water, oil, minerals are getting depleted rapidly, the
environmental studies course can help students understand the importance of these resources and
how we can improve the situation by taking appropriate actions in our regular lives to preserve these
resources.

OBJECTIVES
 To discuss how human activities result in environmental problems.
 To describe the nature of environmental problems / issues, their causes, risks, and
effects.

PRE-TEST
1. In one word, describe the picture below. Discuss your answer.

2. What do you think are the causes of water pollution? Write your answers on the space
provided.

CAUSES OF
WATER
POLLUTION

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LEARNING ACTIVITIES

Land pollution, solid and hazardous wastes

Land pollution – the deposition of solid or liquid waste materials on land or underground in a manner
that can contaminate the soil and groundwater, threaten public health, and cause unsightly conditions
and nuisances.

Causes of land pollution

 Improper waste disposal
 Urbanization
 Deforestation/Soil erosion
 Agricultural activities
 Mining activities
 Overcrowded landfill
 Industrialization

Effects of Land Pollution

 Chemical effects on life: chemical contamination is one of the biggest threats to the land.
Chemicals like plastics, toxins and wastes seep into the ground and poison it. This leads to
loss of plants that grow in the soil, animal life and create long-term health problems such as
cancer.
 Effects on human health: The land when contaminated with toxic chemicals and pesticides
lead to problem of skin cancer and human respiratory system. The toxic chemicals can reach
our body through food and vegetables that we eat as they are grown in polluted soil.
 Environmental impact: When land pollution is bad enough, it leads to a steep imbalance in
the rain cycle which affects a lot of factors. Trees and plants help balance the atmosphere and
without them we are subjected to various concern like; global warming the greenhouse effect,
irregular rainfall and flash floods among other imbalances.
 Destruction of Habitat: when the land which is the natural habitat of plant and animal is
polluted, it affect them which lead to loss of biodiversity.
 Decrease Food Production: When land is polluted it affects the fertility of the soil which lead
to reduction in food production

What can we do?

 People should be educated and made aware of the harmful effects of littering in the
environment.
 Proper disposal of waste (in the industries, and in our communities): Creates dumping ground
away from residential areas.
 Reduce the use of chemicals in agricultural activities: farmers should be encouraged to use
animal manure (organic manure) instead of inorganic manure/fertilizer .Farmers should be
advised to use biological means to control pests instead of using pesticides and insecticides.
 Reduce, Re-use and Recycle waste: Reuse any items that you can. Items like clothing, bottles
wrapping papers and shopping bags can be used over and over again, rather than buying new
ones.
 Mining industries should reclaim or restore the land after they have finished working.
 Re-afforestation (plant trees)

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Water Pollution

Water Pollution – any alteration of the physical, chemical, biological, or radiological properties of a
water body resulting in the impairment of its purity or quality.

Sources of Water Pollutants

 Point source - any identifiable source of pollution with specific point of discharge into a
particular water body.
 Nonpoint source - any source of pollution not identifiable as point source to include, but not be
limited to, runoff from irrigation or rainwater, which picks up pollutants from farms and urban
areas.

Figure 1. Point and Nonpoint Source of Water Pollutants

Eight (8) Classes of Water Pollutants and its Effects

Water Pollutants Effects

1. Infectious agents Sickness and death
(bacteria, viruses & parasitic worms from
human & animal waste)

2. Oxygen-depleting wastes • Depletion of oxygen

(Animal manure & farm runoff, plant debris, • Eutrophication
industrial discharge, & urban sewage) • Death of oxygen-consuming
- Consumed by aerobic bacteria aquatic life
3. Inorganic chemical wastes • Renders water undrinkable
Mineral acids, toxic metals (Pb, Cd, Hg, & • Cancer
hexavalent chromium) & mineral salts found in • Birth defects
industrial discharge, chemicals in household • Death of fishes and other aquatic life
• Plant damage and lower crop yields

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wastewater & seepage from municipal dumps • Corrosion of metals

& landfills
4. Organic chemical wastes • Cancer
A wide variety of compounds including • Damage to the central nervous system
petroleum products (oil, gasoline), pesticides • Birth defects
& organic solvents from industrial discharge &
runoff from farm & urban areas
5. Plant nutrient pollutants • Excessive algae growth in lakes and
found mainly in urban sewage, runoff from ponds
farms & gardens, & household water • Eutrophication
chemicals include nitrates
(NO3-), phosphates (PO43-) & ammonium
(NH4+) salts commonly found in fertilizers and
detergents
6. Sediments/Silts • Reduction of available sunlight to plants
From erosion of soils (reduced photosynthesis)
• Clogged gills
• Smothered eggs of fish and other aquatic
organisms
• Disruption of local ecosystem
• Fills up or clogs water bodies &
waterways
7. Radioactive materials • can be introduced into the food chain
Iodine-131 and strontium-90 found in nuclear through plants and become incorporated
power plant effluents and fallout from in body tissues of humans and animals
atmospheric nuclear testing • Their ionizing radiation can produce
cancers, especially in the thyroid and
bone where they tend to concentrate.
8. Thermal pollution • Depletion of dissolved oxygen
Discharged water from industrial discharges • Increased temperature may exceed the
that is significantly warmer than the ambient range of tolerance of some aquatic
environment species and lead to disruption of local
ecosystem

Air pollution, global warming, climate change, ozone layer depletion

Air Pollution - any alteration of the physical, chemical and biological properties of the atmospheric
air, or any discharge thereto of any liquid, gaseous or solid substances that will or is likely to create or
to render the air resources of the country harmful, detrimental, or injurious to public health, safety or
welfare or which will adversely affect their utilization for domestic, commercial, industrial, agricultural,
recreational, or other legitimate purposes.

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Types of Air Pollution

Figure 2. Types of Air Pollution

Sources of Air Pollution

 Natural sources – caused by nature
o Example: dust storms, volcanic eruptions, wildfires
 Human sources – caused by human
o Stationary source - any building or immobile structure, facility or installation which emits or
may emit any air pollutant
o Mobile source - any vehicle propelled by or through combustion of carbon-based or other
fuel, constructed and operated principally for the conveyance of persons or the
transportation of property goods

Major Outdoor Air Pollutants

Air Pollutant Source Health Effects
Carbon Oxides (CO)  Motor vehicle exhaust Chronic exposure:
 Colorless  Burning of forests & • Heart attacks
 Odorless grasslands • Lung diseases (asthma,
 Highly Toxic  Tobacco smoke emphysema)
 Open fires At high levels:
 Inefficient stoves used for • Headache, nausea,
cooking drowsiness, mental
impairment, collapse,
coma, death
Carbon dioxides (CO2)  93% from the natural Effects of climate change:
 Colorless carbon cycle • Heat stroke
 Odorless • Malnutrition and starvation
 Classified as an air The rest: • Tropical infectious
pollutant in 2009 by the  Burning of fossil fuels diseases (dengue fever,
USEPA due to effects  Clearing of CO2 -absorbing yellow fever, malaria)
of climate change on forests and grasslands • Diarrhea
human health

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Nitrogen Oxide (NOx)  Lightning & certain bacteria • Irritation of the eyes, nose
 Colorless in soil & water (nitrogen and throat
 Plays a role in the cycle) • Aggravation of lung
formation of  Automobile engines ailments (asthma,
photochemical smog  Coal-burning power and bronchitis)
industrial plants

Nitrogen dioxide (NO2)  NO reaction with oxygen • Irritation of the eyes, nose
 Reddish brown gas and throat
 Plays a role in the • Aggravation of lung
formation of ailments (asthma,
photochemical smog bronchitis)

NOx: HNO3 (nitric acid),  NO2 reaction with water • Irritation of the eyes, nose
NO3- (nitrate salts) vapor in the air and throat
 Components of acid • Aggravation of lung
deposition ailments (asthma,
bronchitis)

NOx: N2O (nitrous oxide)  Fertilizers • Irritation of the eyes, nose

 A greenhouse gas  Animal wastes and throat
 Burning of fossil fuels • Aggravation of lung
ailments (asthma,
bronchitis)
SOx: SO2 (sulfur  1/3 of SO2 in the • Aggravation of breathing
dioxide), H2SO4 (sulfuric atmosphere comes from problems
acid) SO42- (sulfate natural sources as part of
salts) the sulfur cycle
 Colorless gas  2/3 from human sources
 Irritating odor (combustion of sulfur-
 Component of acid containing coal in electric
deposition power and industrial plants
 Major component of and oil refining and smelting
the Asian Brown Cloud of sulfide ores
Particulates (Suspended  About 62% comes from • Irritation of nose and throat
Particulate Matter): natural sources such as • Lung damage
PM10, PM2.5 dust, wildfires, and sea salt • Aggravation of asthma and
 Fine (PM10) or  38% from human sources bronchitis
ultrafine (PM2.5) (coal-burning power and • Shortens life
 Major component of industrial plants, motor
the Asian Brown Cloud vehicles, road construction,
tobacco smoke)
Particulates (SPM): Pb,  Human sources (coal- • Mutations
Cd, PCBs burning power and • Reproductive problems
(polychlorinated industrial plants, motor • Cancer
biphenyls) vehicles, road construction,
 Toxic particulates tobacco smoke)

O3 (ozone)  Vehicles • Coughing and breathing

 Colorless  industries problems
 Highly reactive gas • Aggravation of lung and
 A major ingredient of heart diseases
photochemical smog

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• Reduced resistance to
colds and pneumonia
• Irritation of the eyes, nose
and throat
VOCs: HCs  1/3 of global methane • Eye, nose and throat
(hydrocarbons), CH4 emissions come from irritation
(methane), benzene, & natural sources (plants, • Headaches, loss of
other liquids wetlands, termites) coordination, nausea
 Emitted as gases from  2/3 from human sources • Damage to liver, kidney
certain solids or liquids (rice paddies, landfills, oil and central nervous
and natural gas wells, system
belching of cows) • Cancer
 Household products, fuels

Global Warming and Climate Change

Global warming – refers to the increase in the earth’s mean temperature due to the so-called
enhanced greenhouse effect.

Figure 3. A Greenhouse

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Figure 4. Global Warming Schematic

Figure 5. The Greenhouse Effect

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Climate Change – refers to noticeable changes in the global climate, attributed directly/indirectly to
human activities.
 Increase in the global temperatures
 Increase/decrease in rainfall
 Increase in severity/frequency of tropical cyclones

Human activities that produce greenhouse gases

 Agricultural activity
 Deforestation
 Industries
 Transportation (mobile vehicles)
 Burning wastes

Video viewing on Climate Change

Species extinction, ecological disturbance

Species extinction – the end d of an organism, or group of an organism normally a species.

 Extinctions occur when the last individual of a species dies out.
 Functional Extinctions occur when individuals remain but the odds of sustainable reproduction
are low
 i.e. the species is effectively extinct even though individuals remain.

How Many Species

are there on Earth?

Eight million seven hundred thousand (give or take 1.3 million) is

the latest estimated total number of species on Earth and the
most precise calculation ever offered, according to a new study
co-authored by a researcher with the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP,2015)

Figure 6. Extinction per thousand species per millennium

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When do extinctions occur?

 Extinctions occur when the environment of a species changes faster than the species can
adapt.
 In other words, a species’ adaptations are no longer sufficient in allowing that species to acquire
and compete for resources.
 Extinctions can be local, widespread, or global.
 For example, the timber wolf was until recently extinct in Wisconsin but not in Minnesota
 Wild elk and woodland caribou are now extinct in Wisconsin but may be found on game farms.

Figure 7. Causes of Species Extinction

Causes of species extinction

 Natural Causes of species Extinction
o Climatic heating and cooling
o Changes in Sea Level or Currents
o Acid rain
o Invasive species
 Human Causes of species Extinction
o pollution
o Increased human population
o Destruction/fragmentation of habitat
o Wildlife hunting
o Overfishing

Easy Things You Can Do to Save Endangered Species and stop species extinction
 Learn about endangered species in your area
 Visit a national wildlife refuge, park or other open space
 Make your home wildlife friendly
 Native plants provide food and shelter for native wildlife
 Herbicides and pesticides may keep yards looking nice but they are in fact hazardous
pollutants that affect wildlife at many levels
 Slow down when driving
 Recycle and buy sustainable products
 Never purchase products made from threatened or endangered species

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 Harassing wildlife is cruel and illegal

 Protect wildlife habitat

Principal Pressures of Biodiversity Loss in the Philippines

The DENR identified five (5) major pressures of biodiversity in the Philippines (Figure 8).

a. Habitat Loss and Degradation

 Deforestation
 Mining
 Degradation of Marine Ecosystems

b. Overexploitation
 Fisheries
 Illegal Wildlife Trading

c. Pollution
d. Climate Change
e. Invasive Alien Species

Basic Causes of Environmental Problems

To deal with environmental problems we face we must understand their causes. According to a
significant number of environment and social scientists, the major causes of today’s environmental
problems are:
 Population growth
 Wasteful and unsustainable resource use
 Poverty
 Omission of the harmful environmental and health costs of goods and services in the
market
 Increasing isolation from nature
 Competing environmental worldviews

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SELF-EVALUATION

1. What are the sources of air pollution and how this pollution affects the human health?
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2. Is the ozone hole causing climate change?

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3. What are some effective ways to clean-up polluted water? Support your answer.
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REVIEW OF CONCEPTS
 Can you discuss how human activities result in environmental problems?
 Can you describe the nature of environmental problems / issues, their causes, risks, and
effects?

POST-TEST

 Synthesize journal articles (at least 5 articles - local) related to species extinction (by group).
Criteria:
 Composition- 13
 Organization- 5
 Originality/Citation- 5
 Grammar- 2

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REFERENCES

Miller, G. T., & Spoolman, S. (2011). Living in the environment: principles, connections, and
solutions. Nelson Education.

Doherty, T. S., Dickman, C. R., Nimmo, D. G., & Ritchie, E. G. (2015). Multiple threats, or
multiplying the threats? Interactions between invasive predators and other ecological
disturbances. Biological Conservation, 190, 60-68.

Department of Environment and Natural Resources – Biodiversity Management Bureau, United

Nations Development Programme - Global Environment Facility, Foundation for the
Philippine Environment (2016) Philippine Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan 2015-2028,
Bringing Resilience to Filipino Communities

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