3. Definition:
Environ (French) = to surround.
It refers to an aggregate of all conditions that affect
the existence, growth and welfare of an organism
or a group of organisms.
Sum total of all social, economical, biological,
physical, and chemical factors which constitute the
surroundings of humans.
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7. Troposphere
Closest to the Earth's surface
Extends up to 6-20 km above the Earth's surface
Wider at the equator than at the poles
Temperature decreases with altitude (17 to -51ºC)
Tropopause
Stratosphere
About 35 km deep
From about 15 to 50 km above the Earth's surface
Warmer at the top than the bottom- due to ozone
The Ozone Layer shields the earth from harmful
UV rays of the sun
Stratopause
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8. MESOSPHERE
Extends from 50 to 80 km above the Earth's surface
Cold layer -temperature generally decreases with
increasing altitude
Mesopause
THERMOSPHERE ( Upper atmosphere)
690 km above the earth
Temperature increases with altitude and reaches approx.
2000 ºC
Thermopause
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9. EXOSPHERE
Outermost layer of the atmosphere
Extends from thermopause to 10,000 km above the earth
Satellites.
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11. The Four Layers
The Earth is composed of
four different layers.
The crust is the layer that we
live on, and it is the most
widely studied and
understood.
The mantle is much hotter
and has the ability to flow.
The outer core and inner
core are even hotter.
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12. A. The Crust
The Earth's Crust is like the
skin of an apple. It is very
thin in comparison to the
other three layers.
The crust is only about 3-5
miles (8 kilometers) thick
under the oceans (oceanic
crust) and about 25 miles
(32 kilometers) thick under
the continents (continental
crust).
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13. B. The Mantle
The Mantle is the largest
layer of the Earth. The
middle mantle is
composed of very hot
dense rock that flows like
asphalt under a heavy
weight.
The movement of the
middle mantle
(asthenosphere) is the
reason that the crustal
plates of the Earth move.
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14. C. The Outer Core
The core of the
Earth is like a ball
of very hot
metals.
The outer core is
so hot that the
metals in it are all
in the liquid state.
The outer core is
composed of the
melted metals of
nickel and iron.14
15. D. The Inner Core
The Inner core of
the Earth has
temperatures and
pressures so high
that the metals are
squeezed together
and are not able to
move about like a
liquid, but are
forced to vibrate in
place like a solid.
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16. Part of the earth that contains water.
3. Hydrosphere
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17. The Structure of Hydrosphere
Oceans—97% of
water is salt water
and it found in the
oceans.
Fresh water—the
remaining 3 percent
is freshwater.
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18. Understanding Where Water Is Located—
Oceans and Ice
• What bodies of water hold the largest amount
of water?
– Oceans — the largest bodies of water on
Earth (contain salt water only)
• Examples of oceans:
• Atlantic Ocean
• Indian Ocean
• Pacific Ocean
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19. • What features house
water as ice?
– Icebergs: a large
piece of freshwater
ice floating in open
waters.
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20. • What features house
water as ice?
– Glaciers: large
mass of ice that
has ability to
moves.
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21. Fresh Water Locations—Rivers, Streams,
and Lakes
• What is a river?
– A large channel
along which water
is continually
flowing down a
slope—made of
many streams that
come together.
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22. Fresh Water Locations—Rivers, Streams,
and Lakes
• What is a stream?
– A small channel
along which water
is continually
flowing down a
slope—made of
small gullies.
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23. Fresh Water Locations—Rivers, Streams,
and Lakes
• What is a lake?
– A body of water of
considerable size
contained on a
body of land.
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24. Fresh Water Locations--Groundwater
• What is
groundwater?
– The water found in
cracks and pores
in sand, gravel
and rocks below
the earth’s
surface.
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25. Aquifer
• What is Aquifer?
Aquifer is a rock
layer that stores
water and allows
water to flow through
it.
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26. Other Surface Waters
• What is a wetland?
– An area where the
water table is at,
near or above the
land surface long
enough during the
year to support
adapted plant
growth.
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27. Other Surface Waters
• What are the types of wetlands?
– Swamps, bogs, and marshes
• Swamp: a wetland dominated by trees
• Bogs: a wetland dominated by peat moss
• Marshes: a wetland dominated by grasses
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28. Multidimensional Nature of the Environment
Food
Housing
Clothes
Industry
Respiration
Medicine
Recreation
Research
Housing
Sewage
etc.
Environment
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29. Scope of Environmental Studies
1. Ecosystem Structure and Function: study of the
process that link the living or biotic components to
the non-living or abiotic components.
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30. 2. Natural Resources Management: natural
resources such as forest contribute towards
maintaining a balance in the environment.
Therefore, managing and maintenance of forest
and wildlife is an important task under natural
resource management.
3. Environmental Pollution Control: with the
knowledge of environment sciences, one can look
for methods to control pollution and mange waste
effectively
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31. 4. Environmental Management:
Several independent environmental consultants
working with central and state pollution control
boards.
Offer advice related to environmental problems
and their solutions. They also direct the concerned
industry to lawyers specialized in the field of
environmental laws.
The consultants working with government
pollution control boards are involved in policy
making, pollution control, and maintenance of
ecological balance.
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32. 5. Industry:
Most industries have a separate environmental
research and developmental section which governs
the impact that their industry has on the
environment.
Rapid industrialization is increasingly degrading
the environment. To combat this menace, there is a
growing trend towards manufacture of ‘green’ goods
and products.
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33. 6. Research and Development:
Various universities and governmental organizations
offer avenues for research in order to develop theories or
methods of monitoring and controlling environmental
pollution.
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34. 7. Environmentalists: environmentalists analyze the
causes and effects of environmental issues locally and
help in devising ways to combat the problems. They also
works towards gathering public opinion on environmental
issues.
8. Environmental Journalism: there is an increasing
demand for people who can report on environmental
issues to generated awareness among people.
Environmental journalism is an emerging field which
helps in bringing environmental issues.
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35. 9. Green Advocacy: with the increase in the
implementation of environmental related laws and acts, the
needs is felts to have environmental lawyers who can deal
with the cases related to water and air pollution,
biodiversity protection, etc.
10. Green Marketing: green marketing refers to the
process of selling environmentally friendly products and/or
services. There is a growing interest among the consumers
all over the world regarding the protection of environment.
Therefore, in the years to come, the demand for
environment auditors and manager will be more.
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36. Environmental studies provides the skills necessary to
obtain solutions to the environmental problems our planet
is facing today. Moreover , it encourages the development
of scientific principles and the application of these
principles to solve environmental problems.
It gives information regarding the changes that take
place due to anthropogenic factors and helps gain skills
of analyzing various environmental system and the effect
of human activities on them.
Importance of Environmental Studies
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