Assignment by Mr.

Zaid

The Islamia University of Bahawalpur

Assignment
of
Environmental Science

Course Instructor: Ma’am Nida

Submitted by: Mr. Zaid (606)

Class: BBA 4th

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Assignment by Mr. Zaid

Section 01
01. Ecosystem:

An ecosystem defines a single environment and every living (biotic)

organism and non-living (abiotic) factor that is contained within it or
characterizes it. An ecosystem represents every aspect of a single
habitat, including all interactions between its different elements.
Ecosystem examples are limitless: An ecosystem does not have to
cover a large region. They exist in small ponds, inside human homes,
and even in the human gut. Otherwise, ecosystems can cover huge
areas of the planet.

Kinds of Ecosystem:

1. Terrestrial Ecosystem
Found only on land. The biotic, or living things found in an ecosystem,
include various life forms, such as plants and animals.

2. Marine Ecosystem
Include nearshore systems, such as the salt marshes, mudflats, seagrass
meadows, mangroves, rocky intertidal systems and coral reefs.
3. Aquatic Ecosystem
Include oceans, lakes and rivers. An aquatic ecosystem includes
freshwater habitats like lakes, ponds, rivers, oceans and streams,
wetlands, swamp, etc.
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02. Controlling Measures of Land Pollution:

Recycle and Reuse to Stop Pollution:

Recycling and reusing resources whenever possible reduces waste, cuts
land pollution and saves you money. The EPA (Environmental Protection
Agency) encourages you to recycle available resources to reduce soil
pollution and minimize the cost of buying raw materials and managing
waste. Local and state-sponsored materials and wastes exchanges can
help you do this.

Reduce Waste:
By conserving available resources, we can help to reduce the amount
of waste disposed of in landfills. This decomposing waste produces
toxic gases and liquids, such as methane and leachates.

Buy Organic Products:

Buying organic products is one of the easiest ways to minimize
pollution in the soil. Organic food is produced without the use of
artificial fertilizers and pesticides that are often used in to get
favorable results in conventional agriculture.

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Food Chain Food Web

 The food chain can be said as  It is defined as the
the straight and single convoluted or complicated
pathway for the flow of pathway of an ecosystem
energy in an ecosystem, consist of numerous food
through different species of chains of the different
organisms. trophic level, through
 The flow of energy through a which the energy flow.
single straight pathway from  The interconnected,
the lower trophic level to the numerous food chains
higher trophic level is called through which the energy
food chain. flow in the ecosystem is
 It consists of only one straight called food web.
chain.  It consists of many
interconnected food
chains.

03. Difference between Food Chain & Food Web:

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Section 02:

1. Environmental Science:

Environmental science is an interdisciplinary academic field that

integrates physical, biological and information sciences (including
ecology, biology, physics, chemistry, plant science, zoology, mineralogy,
oceanology, limnology, soil science, geology and physical geography
(geodesy), and atmospheric science to the study of the environment,
and the solution of environmental problems. Environmental science
emerged from the fields of natural history and medicine during the
Enlightenment.[1] Today it provides an integrated, quantitative, and
interdisciplinary approach to the study of environmental systems.

Environmental Issues:
Our environment is constantly changing. There is no denying that.
However, as our environment changes, so does the need to become
increasingly aware of the problems that surround it. With a massive
influx of natural disasters, warming and cooling periods, different types
of weather patterns and much more, people need to be aware of what
types of environmental problems our planet is facing.
Global Warming:
Global warming has become an undisputed fact about our current
livelihoods, our planet is warming up and we are definitely part of the
problem. However, this isn’t the only environmental problem that we
should be concerned about. All across the world, people are facing a
wealth of new and challenging environmental problems every day.
Some of them are and only effect a few ecosystems, but others are

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drastically changing the landscape of what we already know. So current

environmental problems require urgent attention.
Pollution:
Pollution of air, water and soil require millions of years to recoup.
Industry and motor vehicle exhaust are the main important pollutants.
Heavy metals, nitrates and plastic are toxins responsible for pollution.
While water pollution is caused by oil spill, acid rain, urban runoff; air
pollution is caused by various gases and toxins released by industries
and factories and combustion of fossil fuels; soil pollution is majorly
caused by industrial waste that deprives soil from essential nutrients.
Over population:
The population of the planet is reaching unsustainable levels as it faces
shortage of resources like water, fuel and food. Population explosion in
less developed and developing countries is straining the already scare
resources. Intensive agriculture practiced to produce food damages the
environment through use of chemical fertilizer, pesticides and
insecticides. Overpopulation is one of the crucial current environmental
problem.
Natural Resource Depletion:
It is another crucial current environmental problem. Fossil fuel
consumption results in emission of greenhouse gases, which is
responsible for global warming and climate changes. Globally people
are taking efforts to shift to renewable sources of energy like solar,
wind, biogas and geothermal energy. The cost of installing the
infrastructure and maintaining these sources has plummeted in the
recent years.

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Waste Disposal:
The over consumption of resources and creation of plastics are creating
a global crisis of waste disposal. Developed countries are notorious for
producing an excessive amount of waste garbage and dumping their
waste in the oceans and, less developed countries. Nuclear waste
disposal has tremendous health hazards associated with it. Plastic, fast
food, packaging and cheap electronic wastes threaten the wellbeing of
humans. Waste disposal is one of the urgent current environmental
problem.

Deforestation:
Our forests are natural sinks of carbon dioxide and produce fresh
oxygen as well as helps in regulating temperature and rainfall. At
present forests cover 30% of the land but every year tree cover is lost
due to growing population demand for food, shelter and cloth.
Deforestation simply means clearing of green cover and make that land
available for residential, industrial or commercial purpose.

Ocean acidification:
It is a direct impact of excessive production of CO2. 25% of CO2
produced by humans. The ocean acidity has increased by the last 250
years but by 2100, it may shoot by 15%. The main impact is on shellfish
and plankton in the same way as human osteoporosis.

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Public health issues:

The current environmental problems pose a lot of risk to health of

humans, and animals. Dirty water is the biggest health risk of the world
and poses threat to the quality of life and public health. Run off to
rivers carries along toxins, chemicals and disease carrying organisms.
Pollutants cause respiratory disease like Asthma and cardiac-vascular
problems. High temperatures encourage the spread of infectious
diseases like dengue.

2. Mineral Resources, Types and Conservation

Methods:

Mineral Resources:
Minerals provide the material used to make most of the things of
industrial- based society; roads, cars, computers, fertilizers, etc.
Demand for minerals is increasing worldwide as the population
increases and the consumption demands of individual people increase.
The mining of earth’s natural resources is, therefore accelerating, and it
has accompanying environmental consequences.
Almost all Earth materials are used by humans for something. We
require metals for making machines, sands and gravels for making
roads and buildings, sand for making computer chips, limestone and
gypsum for making concrete, clays for making ceramics, gold, silver,
copper and aluminum for making electric circuits, and diamonds and
corundum (sapphire, ruby, emerald) for abrasives and jewelry.
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Types of Mineral Resources:

Fuel Minerals:
Coal, oil and natural gas are the basic fossil fuel. We have good reserves
for coal but are very poor in more essential fuel — oils and natural gas.
1. Crude oil.
2. Natural Gas
3. Coal
Metallic & Non-Metallic:
Metallic Minerals are in general, they occur as mineral deposits and are
a good conductor of heat and electricity, e.g. iron, copper, gold,
bauxite, manganese etc. They are malleable and ductile in nature so
they can be easily pounded into thin sheets or stretched into wires to
make new products. They are generally found in igneous rocks that are
formed by cooling and solidification of lava or magma.

Metallic minerals are hard and have a shiny surface, so some of them
can be used as gems in jewelry. They are also used in various industries
for different purposes, e.g. silicon, which is obtained from quartz, is
extensively used in the computer industry; aluminum which is obtained
from bauxite is used in automobile and bottling industry.

Non-metallic minerals are the minerals that do not contain metals, e.g.
limestone, mica, coal, gypsum, dolomite, phosphate, salt, manganese,
granite etc. They are used in various industries to produce a variety of
products, e.g. mica is used in electrical industry, limestone is used in
cement industry. Furthermore, they are also used in the production of

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fertilizers and manufacturing of refractories. They are generally found

in sedimentary rocks that are formed by the aggregation of various
materials like minerals, remains of organisms, rock particles etc.

Methods of Conservation:
 Use of minerals in a planned and sustainable manner, recycling of
metals.
 Use of alternative renewable substitutes.
 Improvising the technology so that low-grade ores can be used
profitably.
 To reduce transport cost, processing plants should invariably be
coated in mining areas.
 People can conserve resources by utilizing renewable resources.
For example: using hydroelectricity and solar power as sources of
energy may conserve mineral resources such as coal, natural gas
and oil.
 Mineral resources may also be conserved through recycling. A
good example is recycling of scrap metal.

Thank you.

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