Day 24 – Environment and Ecology

Consumers
ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY
• Organisms which cannot produce their own food, need
Our environment
to eat other organisms as food.
• The surroundings or space in which a person, animal, or
• These organisms are called consumers.
plant lives, is known as on environment.
• All animals are consumers as they cannot produce their
• Environment is everything that is surround us. It can
own food. Consumers are also called heterotrophs.
have both living (biotic) and non-living things (abiotic).

• Abiotic factors are non-living parts such as sunlight, air, Decomposers

water and minerals in soil.
• Micro-organisms that obtain energy from the chemical
• Biotic factors are living things of our environment such breakdown of dead organisms (both plants and
as plants, animals, bacteria and more. animals).
• Organisms live, constantly interact with one another • They break complex organic substances into simple
and adapt themselves to conditions to their organic substances that goes into the soil and are used
environment by plants. (e.g) Bacterium, Fungi

The Ecosystem
Food chain
• Ecosystem is a community of living and non-living things
• It describes how organisms get energy and nutrients by
that work together.
eating other organisms.
• Each part of an ecosystem has a role to play.
• A food chain shows the relationship between producers
• Any changes in the environment such as increased (e.g. grass) and consumers (e.g. deer, goats)
temperature or heavy rains, can have a big impact on an
• Animals that eat plants are primary consumers.
ecosystem.
• Animals that eat primary consumers are called
• Ecosystems can be either natural or artificial
secondary consumers.
• We can therefore identify different feeding types in an
ecosystem, based on how the organism obtain (gets) its • Animals that eat the secondary consumers (mostly
food. predators) are the tertiary consumers.

• They are producers and consumers. • There may even be large predators that eat tertiary
consumers. They are called as quaternary consumers
Producers
Food web
• Producers are organisms that are able to produce their
own organic food. • If we put all the food chains within an ecosystem

• They do not need to eat other organisms to do this. together, then we end up with many interconnected
Producers are also called autotrophs. food chains. This is called a food web.

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Solid Waste Management and Recycling Pollution

• Solid wastes mainly include municipal wastes, hospital • Pollution is the damage caused to the environment
wastes, industrial wastes and e-wastes etc. mainly because of human activities.

• The solid wastes are dumped in the soil which results in • Any substance that causes pollution is known as a
landscape pollution pollutant.

• Solid-waste management involves the collection, • Pollution is an unwanted change in the physical,
treatment and proper disposing of solid material that is chemical and biological characteristics of our land, air
discarded from the household and industrial activities. and water

Two major types of Soild waste: Types of Pollution

There are four major kinds of pollution:

• Bio degradable waste
• Air pollution
• Non – bio degradable waste.
• Water pollution
Methods of solid wastes disposal
• Land (soil) pollution
Segregation: • Noise pollution
It is the separation of different type of waste materials like
Effects of air pollution
biodegradable and non biodegradable wastes.
• Most air pollution is caused by the burning of fossil fuels
Sanitary landfill: (e.g. oil, petrol, coal and natural gas).

• Solid wastes are dumped into low lying areas. • These fossil fuels are used in factories (industries),
power plants and motor vehicles.
• The layers are compacted by trucks to allow settlement.
• Burning these fossil fuels release toxic gases and fine
• The waste materials get stabilised in about2-12 months.
particles (such as ash and soot) into the air causing air
• The organic matter undergoes decomposition. pollution.

Incineration: Acid rain

It is the burning of non-bio degradable solid wastes (medical • Certain toxic gases produced by industries mix with
wastes) in properly constructed furnace at high temperature. raindrops high in the atmosphere and make rain unusually
acidic. This is called acid rain.
Composting:
• It damages plants, washes the nutrients out of soils and kills
Biodegradable matter of solid wastes is digested by microbial
fish
action or earthworms and converted into humus.
Solid Waste Management and Recycling
Recycling of wastes
• Solid wastes mainly include municipal wastes, hospital
• Agricultural wastes like coconut shells, jute cotton stalk, wastes, industrial wastes and e-wastes etc.
bagasse of sugarcane can be used to make paper and • The solid wastes are dumped in the soil which results in
hard board. landscape pollution
• Paddy husk can be used as livestock fodder. • Solid-waste management involves the collection,
• Cow dung and other organic wastes can be used in go treatment and proper disposing of solid material that is
bar gas plant to provide biogas and manure for fields. discarded from the household and industrial activities.

3R Approach Two major types of Soild waste:

The 3R approach such as Reduce, Reuse and Recycle may be • Bio degradable waste

followed for effective waste management. • Non – bio degradable waste.

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 Extreme Circle

Methods of solid wastes disposal • Land (soil) pollution

• Noise pollution
Segregation:

It is the separation of different type of waste materials like Effects of air pollution
biodegradable and non biodegradable wastes. • Most air pollution is caused by the burning of fossil fuels
(e.g. oil, petrol, coal and natural gas).
Sanitary landfill:
• These fossil fuels are used in factories (industries),
• Solid wastes are dumped into low lying areas.
power plants and motor vehicles.
• The layers are compacted by trucks to allow settlement.
• Burning these fossil fuels release toxic gases and fine
• The waste materials get stabilised in about2-12 months. particles (such as ash and soot) into the air causing air
• The organic matter undergoes decomposition. pollution.

Incineration: Acid rain

It is the burning of non-bio degradable solid wastes (medical • Certain toxic gases produced by industries mix with
wastes) in properly constructed furnace at high temperature. raindrops high in the atmosphere and make rain
unusually acidic. This is called acid rain.
Composting:
• It damages plants, washes the nutrients out of soils and
Biodegradable matter of solid wastes is digested by microbial kills fish
action or earthworms and converted into humus.
Water pollution
Recycling of wastes • Water pollution occurs when wastes from factories,
• Agricultural wastes like coconut shells, jute cotton stalk, houses and farms mixes with the water in rivers, lakes,
bagasse of sugarcane can be used to make paper and ponds, the ocean or even groundwater.
hard board. • Contaminated or polluted water can spread diseases

• Paddy husk can be used as livestock fodder. and chemicals which are not good for our health.

• Cow dung and other organic wastes can be used in go The most significant sources of water pollutants are:
bar gas plant to provide biogas and manure for fields. • Sewage (water we use at home for bathing, cleaning,
cooking).
3R Approach

The 3R approach such as Reduce, Reuse and Recycle may be • Industrial effluents (liquid wastes from factories).

followed for effective waste management. • Agricultural pollutants (chemical pesticides and
fertilizers that get washed from farms).
Pollution
• Solid waste (when waste gets dumped into water
• Pollution is the damage caused to the environment
bodies).
mainly because of human activities.
Soil pollution
• Any substance that causes pollution is known as a
pollutant. • In the same way as water and air get polluted, land or
soil pollution happens when toxic chemicals change the
• Pollution is an unwanted change in the physical,
natural balance in soil.
chemical and biological characteristics of our land, air
and water • Land pollution comes from farming (Excess use of
chemical pesticides and fertilizers), mining (digging up
Types of Pollution metals and other materials), factories (industrial waste)
There are four major kinds of pollution: and the solid waste from our own homes like plastics
• Air pollution and broken electronics.

• Water pollution • Soil pollution affects animals, humans and even plants

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 Extreme Circle

Noise pollution Methane

• Unwanted and unpleasant sound is called noise • Methane is 20 times as effective as CO2 at trapping heat
pollution. in the atmosphere.
• Noise level above 120 db is considered harmful to • Its sources are attributed paddy cultivation, cattle
human beings. rearing and bacteria in water bodies, fossil fuel
production, ocean, non-wetland soils and forest / wild
Effects of noise pollution
fires.
• Noise pollution affects the environment.

• Loud music, the sounds of motor vehicles, fireworks and N2O (Nitrous oxide)
machines cause noise pollution. • It is naturally produced in Oceans from biological
• Continuous noise disturbs our sleep and does not let us sources of soil and water due to microbial actions and
to study. rainforests.

• Noise pollution has been directly linked to stress and • Man-made sources include nylon and nitric acid
health impacts such as high blood pressure and hearing production, use of fertilizers in agriculture, manures
loss. cars with catalytic converter and burning of organic
• Loud noise or even loud music can damage our ears. matter.

• Noise pollution also disturb animals. Effects of Global Warming

• Birds have to communicate (talk) louder so that, they • Rise in global temperature which causes sea levels to
can hear each other in noisy areas. rise as polar ice caps and glaciers
• Even underwater noise pollution from ships, can make begin to melt causing submergence of many coastal
whales lose their way as they use sounds to navigate.
cities in many parts of the world.
Global warming • There will be a drastic change in weather patterns
• It refers to an average increase in the temperature of bringing more floods or droughts
the atmosphere or simply it is the warming of the earth. in some areas.
• 1998 was the hottest year the world over. • Biological diversity may get modified, some species

Green House effect ranges get redefined. Tropics

• Green House Effect is a process by which radiant heat and sub-tropics may face the problem of decreased
from the sun is captured by gas in the atmosphere that food production.
increase the temperature of the earth ultimately.
Ozone depletion
• The gases that capture heat are called Green House
• Ozone layer is a region of Earth’s stratosphere that
Gases which include carbon dioxide (CO2), methane
absorbs most of the Sun’s ultra violet radiation.
(CH4), Nitrous Oxide (N2O) and a variety of
manufactured chemicals like chlorofluorocarbon (CFC). • The ozone layer is also called as the ozone shield and it

• Increase in green house gases lead to irreversible acts as a protective shield, cutting the ultra-violet
changes in major ecosystems and climate patterns. radiation emitted by the sun.

• The ozone shield is being damaged by chemicals

CO2 (Carbon dioxide)
released on the Earth’s surface notably the
• Coal based power plants, by the burning of fossil fuels
chlorofluorocarbons widely used in refrigeration,
for electricity generation.
aerosols, chemicals used as cleaners in many industries.
• Combustion of fuels in the engines of automobiles,
• The decline in the thickness of the ozone layer over
commercial vehicles and air planes contribute the most
restricted area is called Ozone hole.
of global warming

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