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Lecture 1 Environmental Science

lecture 1 environmental science faculty of science Alexandria university

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43 views24 pages

Lecture 1 Environmental Science

lecture 1 environmental science faculty of science Alexandria university

Uploaded by

ebrahim.ahmed.fayez
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

Introduction to
environmental science

Lecture 1:
The environment
Lecture 1 Environment

► The environment of any organism includes


▪ Abiotic, or nonliving component
▪ Biotic, or living organisms
▪ Interactions between the organisms and their surroundings

The environment is all external conditions and factors, living and non-
living, that affect the organism or other specified systems during its
lifetime.

► Abiotic factors that affect the organisms may include


▪ Temperature
▪ Water
▪ Sunlight
▪ Oxygen
▪ Chemical elements
▪ Wind
Lecture 1 environment
► Abiotic factors:

1. The temperature
▪ high temperature cause cell membranes to leak and enzymes to stop
working.
▪ low temperature causes freezing.

Winter coloration of arctic animals


Big ears of the jackrabbit

Summer coloration of arctic animals

Huddling of the penguins


• Abiotic factors:
1. The temperature
Lecture 1 environment

► Abiotic factors:

2. The water availability


- too little water results in desiccation
- Deserts, saltwater

- too much water results in anaerobic conditions


- lakes, oceans
Lecture 1 environment

Water storage in plants and animals

Aquatic organism
Lecture 1 environment

► Biotic factors that affect the organisms may include


▪ Interactions with other species
▪ Predation
▪ Competition
Lecture 1 environment

► Biotic factors that affect the organisms may include the role of man:

People are the actual managers of the planet. So we have impacts not only on
our planet (biotic and abiotic) we have also impacts on ourselves. There are
recent definitions of the environment that would include the social, cultural and
economic factors of the people in addition to natural world.

Some human impacts on nature

•Land use changes


- Urban Sprawl
- Landfills
•Habitat destruction
•Pollution
•Eutrophication
•Ozone depletion
•Climate change
Lecture 1 environment

Some human impacts on nature


•Land use changes
- Urban Sprawl
- Landfills

Landfills Urban Sprawl


Lecture 1 environment

Some human impacts on nature


•Habitat destruction
•Pollution

Pollution
Habitat destruction
Lecture 1 environment

Some human impacts on nature


•Eutrophication
•Ozone depletion
•Climate change

Eutrophication
Lecture 1 Environmental sciences

► Environmental sciences is an interdisciplinary combination of basic


sciences applied to the study of the environment, particularly biology,
geology, chemistry and social sciences. These and other scientific disciplines
including climatology, oceanography, soil sciences, statistics and economics
are applied to the study of the environment and contribute to our
understanding of this complex planet we inhabit.

► Environmental sciences is the study of how we and other species interact


with one another and with the non-living environment (matter and energy).

► It integrate the knowledge from a wide range of disciplines to help us


understands such complex components and relations of the biotic and non-
biotic elements of nature.
Lecture 1 Environmental sciences
Lecture 1 Environmental sciences

The goals of Environmental Science


► are to learn how nature works,
► how the environment affects us, how we affect the environment,
► and how to deal with environmental problems and live more sustainably.
Lecture 1 Environmental spheres
► The environmental spheres are:
▪ Biosphere (living organism)
▪ Lithosphere (soil and sediments)
▪ Atmosphere (air)
▪ Hydrosphere (water)
Lecture 1 Biosphere

► The biosphere is all regions of the Earth that are capable of supporting life.
It is known also as the living sphere or the ecosphere.

► The biosphere is a complex, interactive system of abiotic (nonliving) and


biotic (living) components that interact with the atmosphere, hydrosphere
and lithosphere.

► Includes portions of the hydrosphere (water), lithosphere (substrates such as


land and ocean floor), and atmosphere (air).

► The biosphere includes innumerable living beings which belong to millions of


different species.
Lecture 1 Biosphere
Lecture 1 Lithosphere

► The lithosphere (from the Greek for "rocky" sphere) is the solid outermost
shell of a rocky planet.

► On the Earth, the lithosphere includes :


• Oceanic lithosphere, which is associated with Oceanic crust
• Continental lithosphere, which is associated with Continental crust

► Biological role

▪ Provides protection/shelter to many organisms.


▪ Substrate for growth.
▪ Accumulation of elements and wastes of human
activities.
Lecture 1 Atmosphere

► The atmosphere is a layer of gases surrounding the planet Earth and


retained by the Earth's gravity. It contains roughly 78% nitrogen, 20.95%
oxygen, 0.93% argon, 0.038% carbon dioxide, trace amounts of other
gases, and a variable amount (average around 1%) of water vapor. This
mixture of gases is commonly known as air. Primarily N2 (78%) and O2
(21%).

► Importance to organisms:

▪ Provides gases for respiration


▪ Protects organisms from UV rays
▪ Absorbs energy from the sun and
acts as an insulator
Lecture 1 Atmosphere

► Divided into five layers:

▪ Troposphere
▪ Stratosphere
▪ Mesosphere
▪ Thermosphere
▪ Exosphere
Lecture 1 Hydrosphere

► The hydrosphere is the liquid water component of the Earth.


► It includes the oceans, seas, lakes, ponds, rivers and streams. The hydrosphere
covers about 70% of the surface of the Earth and is the home for many plants
and animals.
► It is a large reservoir of chemicals that can contribute to the greenhouse effect in
the atmosphere and energy absorbing 90% of the solar radiation which hits the
surface. This reservoir changes very slowly limiting how fast the climate can
change.
► It works with the atmosphere to redistribute the energy received from the sun
such that the heat in the topics, where a lot of energy is received from the sun, is
transferred toward the poles, where heat is generally lost to space.
Lecture 1 Hydrosphere

• The Earth's water is always in movement, and the water cycle, also known
as the hydrologic cycle, describes the continuous movement of water on,
above, and below the surface of the Earth.

• The hydrologic cycle is the circulation of water from the oceans, to the
atmosphere, to the land, and back to the ocean.

• Water circulates among the major reservoirs (that is, oceans, atmosphere,
ice, and ground water) through key hydrogeological processes such as
atmospheric transport, precipitation, evapotranspiration, river flow, and
ground-water flow.

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