Category: Environment & Ecology

Seawater Pollution: It is polluted mostly near the coast through the disposal of urban and industrial waste matters into the coastal waters. Causes Discharge of sewage, industrial effluents and toxic chemicals from urban areas and industrial establishment. Discharge of solid waste materials mainly plastics, microbeads, etc. According to UNEP, plastic accounts for 90% of all… Continue reading Sea water pollution

Water Pollution refers to the deterioration of physical (such as color, odor, turbidity, taste, temperature), chemical (such as acidity, alkalinity, salinity, etc.), and biological (presence of bacteria, coliform MPN, algae, etc.) characteristics of water through natural and anthropogenic processes to such an extent that it becomes harmful to human beings, plants, and animal communities. SOURCES… Continue reading Water Pollution: Sources

Effects on Weather and Climate   Air pollution changes our planet’s climate Some types cause global warming to speed up. Others cause global warming to slow down by creating a temporary cooling effect for a few days or weeks. Depletion of Ozone Chlorofluorocarbons attacked and destroyed the ozone layer, producing holes that would allow dangerous… Continue reading EFFECTS OF AIR POLLUTION

 Secondary Air Pollutants  Smog is a kind of air pollution. Its types are: Classic smog results from large amounts of coal burning in an area caused by a mixture of smoke and Sulphur dioxide. Modern smog does not usually come from coal but from vehicular and industrial emissions that are acted on in the atmosphere… Continue reading Secondary Air Pollutants

Primary Air pollutants POLLUTANTS SOURCES EFFECTS/IMPACTS Carbon Dioxide   Natural Sources: Exhalation through organisms. Forest fires and volcanoes, hot springs and geysers It is freed from carbonate rocks by dissolution in water and acids. Carbon dioxide is soluble in water, it occurs naturally in groundwater, rivers and lakes, in ice caps and glaciers and also… Continue reading Primary Air Pollutants

According to the WHO, air pollution is defined as limited to situations in which the outdoor ambient atmosphere contains materials in concentration, which are harmful to the environment and his/her surrounding environment. The nature, dimensions, and magnitude of air pollution depends on a variety of factors such as residence time of pollutants in the atmosphere,… Continue reading AIR POLLUTION

A pollutant is defined as any form of energy or matter or action that causes a state of disequilibrium from the state of equilibrium in any existing natural ecosystem. Pollutants are those unnecessary materials that are barely degradable and cause harmful effects to the environment. TYPES OF POLLUTANTS On the basis of source of genesis… Continue reading Pollutants

There is a circulation of chemical nutrients like oxygen, carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, calcium, and water, etc. through the physical and biological world; between the atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, and biosphere. These cycles are known as biogeochemical cycles. These cycles are natural pathways of the circulation of essential elements of life. For the survival of the major… Continue reading BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES

Ecological pyramids are the diagrammatic representations of the feeding relationship and energy transfers in the ecosystem. They are of three types: Pyramid of Numbers, Pyramid of Biomass and Pyramid of Energy. Pyramid of Numbers: It represents the relationship between number of individuals of primary producers and consumers at different trophic levels. It can be upright… Continue reading Ecological Pyramids

Food Chains A food chain describes how energy and nutrients move through an ecosystem. It basically shows who eats what in the ecosystem. Thus, the transfer of energy from the source in plants through a series of organisms by eating and being eaten constitutes food chains. At each transfer, a large proportion of energy is… Continue reading Food chains and Food webs

The term ecological niche was developed by Charles Elton. Ecological niche may be defined as ‘the functional role and position (micro-habitat) of species in its ecosystem, including what resources it uses, how and when it uses the resources, and how it interacts with other species. The ecosystem stability depends upon the diversity of the niche.… Continue reading Ecological niche

F.E. Clement postulated the concept of Vegetation/Ecological succession which is the process of change in the species structure of an ecological community over time. The time scale can be decades (after a wildfire), or even millions of years after a mass extinction (Permian, Triassic, cretaceous). The development of vegetation community in any ecosystem or habitat… Continue reading Ecological succession

Ecosystem functions through the input of energy mainly solar radiation. L. Lindeman has formulated principles about the relationship between trophic levels within a natural ecosystem. Principle 1: As the distance between the organisms of a given trophic level and the initial source of energy (trophic level one) increases, the probability of the organisms to depend… Continue reading Principles of ecosystem function?

“Ecosystem” term was first coined by A.G. Tansely, in the year 1935. In simple terms, it is a community of living and non-living things that work together. The living and non-living things continuously exchange materials and energy between them. It forms the structural and functional unit of the biosphere (sphere of life). Ecosystem varies greatly… Continue reading What is an Ecosystem?

What is Environment? The word Environment means ‘surroundings’ (environs). Therefore, the environment of an individual, object, or system includes all of the other entities – both living (biotic) and non-living (abiotic)-with which it is surrounded. In an environment. What are the different types of environment? Primarily, the environment can be categorised into two: Natural Environment:… Continue reading What is Environment?

News: China has announced significant climate change announcements at the virtual UN General Assembly in New York. Facts: What has China announced? China would become carbon net-zero by the year 2060. Net-zero: It is a state in which a country’s emissions are compensated by absorptions and removal of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. Absorption can… Continue reading China’s climate commitment: How is it significant?

Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 is an Act passed by the Parliament of India which came into force on 9th September 1972. It was enacted for the protection of plants, birds and animal species. It has six schedules that extend to the whole of India. Schedule I to V deals with animals, whereas Schedule VI regulates… Continue reading Wildlife Protection Act, 1972

The social cost of carbon (SCC), tries to add up all the monetary value of quantifiable benefits and costs of emitting one additional tonne of CO2. This value can then be used to weigh the benefits of reduced warming against the costs of cutting emissions. According to OECD, The Social Cost of Carbon is usually… Continue reading social cost of carbon (SCC)

Punjab Preservation of Sub-Soil Water Act, 2009 prohibits farmers from transplanting the sapling and sowing paddy seeds in nurseries, prior to the notified dates. Haryana too implemented a similar law in 2009. Prior to the enactment of this law, farmers would begin the sowing cycle in April for the crop which can typically take up… Continue reading Delhi Air pollution and Punjab act, 2009

India has come up with an Air Quality index India (AQI) to give an aggregate sense of the quality of air. The formulation of the index was a continuation of the initiatives under Swachh Bharat Mission envisioned by the present Prime Minister of India. There are six AQI categories, namely Good, Satisfactory, Moderately polluted, Poor,… Continue reading Air Quality index India (AQI)