Endangered Ecosystem

Human Activities that Endangered

and Ecosystem

Pollution
• Pollution - Any undesirable change
in
the natural environment caused
by
pollutant.
• Pollutant – substance that cause
pollution
• Pollution – being make dirty
• Types of environmental pollution:

1.Air pollution
2.Water pollution
3.Soil pollution
4.Pollution caused by solid
waste and
hazardous
(dangerous) waste
5.Noise pollution
6.Thermal
pollution
1
Air pollution
• Air pollution is responsible for major health
effects. Every year, the health of countless
people is ruined or endangered by air
pollution.Many different
chemicals in the air
affect the human body
in negative ways. Just
how sick people will get
depends on what
chemicals they are
exposed to, in what
concentrations, and for how long.
• Studies have estimated that the number of
people killed annually in the US alone could
be over 50,000.
• Older people are highly vulnerable to
diseases induced by air pollution. Those with
heart or lung disorders are under additional
risk. Children and infants are also at serious
risk.
• Because people are exposed to so many
potentially dangerous pollutants, it is often
hard to know exactly which pollutants are
responsible for causing sickness. Also,
because a mixture of different pollutants can

2
 intensify sickness, it is often difficult to
isolate those pollutants that are at fault.

• Many diseases could be caused by air

pollution without their becoming apparent for
a long time. Diseases such as bronchitis, lung
cancer, and heart disease may all eventually
appear in
people exposed to
air pollution.
• Air pollutants
such as ozone,
nitrogen
oxides, and
sulfur dioxide also
have harmful
effects on natural ecosystems. They can kill
plants and trees by destroying their leaves,
and can kill animals, especially fish in highly
polluted rivers.

3
Water pollution
• Boston Harbor is a strong example of how
badly pollution can damage bodies of water.
The water is filled with toxic waste and
sewage, and routinely receives more waste
when rainfall pushes it into the harbor.
• Many bodies of water near urban areas are
highly polluted. This is the result of both
garbage dumped by individuals and
dangerous chemicals legally or illegally
dumped by industries. The main problem
caused by water pollution is that it kills life
that inhabits water-based ecosystems. Dead
fish, birds, dolphins, and many other animals
often wind up on beaches, killed by
pollutants in their habitat.
4
 • Pollution disrupts the natural food chain as
well. Pollutants such as lead and cadmium
are eaten by tiny animals. Later, these
animals are consumed by fish and shellfish,
and the food chain continues to be disrupted
at all higher levels.
• Eventually, humans are affected by this
process as well. People can get diseases such
as hepatitis by eating seafood that has been
poisoned.
• Ecosystems can be severely changed or
destroyed by water pollution. Many areas are
now being affected by careless human
pollution, and this pollution is coming back to
hurt humans.

Soil pollution
• Not enough oxygen in the soil,
• acidy soils that may burn the

plant, bugs will

go and start an infestation in the soil,
• it effects plants growth,
• the soil pollution eats away at the

nutrient and becomes a bigger soil

polluter,
• not enough drainage,
• new soil diseases develop every year

• not enough moisture in the soil.

5
Noise
Pollution
• Noise
pollution disturbs
our health and
behavior in a number
of ways
including
deafness causing lack of sleep, irritability,
indigestion, heartburn, high blood pressure,
ulcers, and heart disease. Just one noise
explosion from a passing truck drastically
alters ourendocrinal, neurological, and
6
 cardiovascular functions in many individuals.
If this is prolonged or frequent, the
physiological disturbances become chronic
and contribute to mental illness.
• Sometimes, even low levels of noise are
irritating and can be frustrating, and high
volumes can be annoying. Natural sounds are
less irritating than those we find
uncontrollable but intermittent sounds such
as a tap dripping water can be more irritating
than the sound of falling rain.
• Noise more than 50dB can be very difficult to
hear and interpret and cause problems such
as partial deafness.
• Increased nose levels gives rise to al ack of
concentration and accuracy at work, and
reduce one’s productivity and performance.
Difficult tasks can be impaired, and
instructions or warnings difficult to be.

Thermal pollution
• Realease of excessive
heat into the
enviromant.
• Sources:
 Discharge of
hot water from

7
 factories,nuclear reactors and electric
power station.
 Glass buildings
• The hot water is channeled into the rivers or
seas cousing the temperature to increase.
• When the temperature is 5ᵒc above the
normal water temperature aquatic organisms
can die as it reduces the concentration of
oxygen in the water
• Glass buildings reflect
the sun’s rays from one
building to the next
buildings.As a
result,heat is trap
between the glass
buildings and increases
the temperature in the
surrounding area.

The Greenhouse Effects and

the
8
Thinning of the Ozone Layer

Greenhouse effect.

1. Occur when greenhouse gases

accumulates in the
atmosphere to form a
layer of gases
2. Greenhouse gases –
carbon

dioxide,chlorofluorocarbon,
nitrogen oxides,
methane and water vapour
3. The layer of gases trap the
Sun’s heat
around the world
4. Greenhouse effect cause the
global
Warming

9
Ozone layer
• located in the atmosphere.
• consist of ozone molecules which
made
up of three oxygen atom (O3).
• act as protective shield that
absorb the
Sun’s harmful UV
radiation

Thinning of ozone layer

• Main cause -
chlorofluorocarbon (CFC)
• CFC – man made gases used as
refrigerant (substance that make
things cold or freeze) and
propellants(compressed gas that
forces out the content of an
aerosol container)

10
 • CFC when exposed to UV radiation
will
release chlorine atom which can
break down ozone molecules in
chain reaction causing the ozone
layer become thinner

The need for development and

the
effects of an increasing
population on
the ecosystem
• The increasing in population
cause the
increase in development.
• Development interfere the
balance in nature.
• Unplanned and unmanaged
development
cause environmental problems.
• Proper management of
development activities are
important

The importance of proper management

11
of development activities

• Natural resource are non-

renewable means
once they have been used they
cannot be
replaced.
• They need to be manage in proper
ways to
maintain balance in nature.
• Uncontrolled use of the natural
resources will cause them to be
used up.

The importance of proper

management
of development activities

• Carry out sustainable

development to balance the
demands and the needs for
resources with the need to
conserve the resources.

Measures taken in the management of

12
development activities

1. Implementation of laws
2. Use of technology
3. Education on the management of resources
4. Preservation and conservation activities
5. The practive of biological control

Implementation of laws

• The government has enacted legislation to

govern biological resources and the
environment.
• This legislation is designed to control
pollution which affects the quality of land,
air and water. For example:
• Environmental Quality Act,1974; the
legislation that governs water quality
13
 management in terms of pollution
prevention, control as well as environment
enhancement.
• Protection of Wildlife Act, 1972 and so on.

Use of technology

• Use catalytic converter to clean up exhaust

emissions and convert harmful gases released
during the combustion of fossil fuels into less
harmful products.
• Use unleaded petrol to reduce the emission of
lead into the environment.
• Treat sewage in sewage treatment plants
before it is
discharged so as to reduce water pollution.
• Treat toxic waste produced in factories before
discharging it into the environment and so on.

Education on the management of

Resources

• The public must be educated on the

importance of protecting and caring for the
environment through the mass media and
various environmental campaigns.

14
• The public must be educated on the concept
of the 4Rs. The 4Rs stand for recycle, reuse,
reduce and renew.

Preservation and Conversation

Preservation

• Involves efforts to protect an ecosystem so that

natural
resources are utilised in a sustainable manner
and the
equilibrium of the ecosystem is maintained.

Conservation

• Involves efforts to return an affected ecosystem

to its
natural equilibrium.

Preservation

15
• Sustainable agricultural development is the
effective use and preservation of soil to ensure
continuous agricultural production.
• Clean water is a precious resource and
commodity. As such,water sources and water
catchment areas must be preserved.

 Conservation
The sustainable use of forests is important to
•
strike a balance between continuous
harvesting of forest products,and at the same
time maintaining the environmental services
of forests (afforestation).
• Reforestation- to ensure that forests where
logging
activities have been carried out are not
damaged
and that the forests continue to be
productive and
able to support the diversity of lives.

16
Biological control is better than
using
chemical control which involves
the use of pesticides.This is
because:
• Pesticides are not always selective and
sometimes kill harmless organisms as well as
the pest species. pesticides may be
persistent and remain in the environment for
long periods of the high cost using
pesticides.The extensive us of pesticides
pollutes the environment.Pest develop
resistance, hence a higher dose of pesticides
is required to produce a similar
effect.Pesticides caused biomagnifications.
As a result high concentrations of pesticides
may accumulate in the tissues of final
consumers.These pesticides may be toxic
and may affect the metabolism of the
organisms.

17
The practice of biological control

• Biological control is the use of natural

predators
to control the population of pest species.
• Some examples of biological control are:
• The use of caterpillars of the species
Cactoblastis cactorum to control the prickly
pear
cactus which spreads quickly and invades
farming land.
• The use of hoverfly larvae to control aphids
which feed on crop plants.
• The use of owls to control the population of
rats
in oil palm plantations.

18
The use of renewable energy

• Renewable energy is the energy flow that

occurs
naturally in the environment and can be
used for the
benefit of human. It is inexhaustible and
does not
pollute the environment.
• examples of renewable energy are:
• Solar energy- converted into electricity and
used in heating.
• Wind energy- operates windmills to pump
water for irrigation of crops.
• Wave energy- the motion of waves which is
used to generate energy.
• Geothermal energy.
• Biomass energy- produced when
decomposing organic matter release gas.
• Flowing water- generates hydroelectric
power.
19
 • Palm oil fuel.

The efficient use of energy

• Reduce burning of coal, petroleum and other

fossil
fuels.
• Use cleaner fuel by reducing the content of
sulphur in diesel and switching to gas.
• Substitute natural gas for coal at power
plants.
• Improve energy efficiency in factories.
• Improve fuel efficiency in vehicles-use cars
that have energy-efficient engines.
• Use more hybrid cars which combine electric
and
gasoline engines

20
21