Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
A new report shows that some 60 per cent of the benefits that the
global ecosystem provides to support life on Earth (such as fresh water,
clean air, and a relatively stable climate) are being degraded or used
unsustainably. In the report, scientist working on the Millennium Ecosystem
Assessment (MA) warns that harmful consequences of this degradation to
human health are already being felt and could grow significantly worse over
the next 50 years.
Biology Page 1
Objective
Learning outcomes
Biology Page 2
Impact of human activities
Human activities which threaten the ecosystem are:
• Development
• Uncontrolled deforestation
• Soil erosion
• Flash flood
• Landslide
• Eutrophication
Biology Page 3
• Depletion of the ozone layer
• Climatic change
Pollution
Air pollution
Biology Page 4
Effects of air pollution
• Increases the acidity in the soil and cause the soil to be infertile.
• Acid rain reduces the pH level of the lakes and the rivers and threatens
the aquatic life
• Acid rain corrodes metal structure and erodes limestone used for
making building
Water pollution
Biology Page 5
Discharge of agriculture wastes • Cause Eutrophication
• Agrochemicals are poisonous to
aquatic animals and cause cancer
Oil spillage • Cause death to all life forms in
the sea
• Pollute the beaches
Eutrophication
Biology Page 6
Eutrophication occurs when large quantities of nutrients such as
nitrates and phosphates enter an aquatic environment. Sources of these
nutrients include animal wastes, agricultural runoff, and sewage. The
ecosystem quickly experiences and increase in photosynthetic and blue-
green algae, as these organisms thrive in the presence of the added
nutrients. An algae bloom occurs as the algae accumulates into dense,
visible patches near the surface of the water, prohibiting light from
penetrating deeper areas of the lake or stream. Some fish are unable to
survive without this light, but for them an even more serious problem arises
when the algae begin to die. At this point, oxygen-demanding bacteria take
over the ecosystem, decomposing the algae and using up dissolved oxygen
in the process. These bacteria increase the biological oxygen demand (BOD)
of the ecosystem. BOD is the amount of oxygen required for the
Biology Page 7
higher BOD indicates a lower level of dissolved oxygen. This lower
concentration of oxygen causes many fish suffocate, and as the die, the
number of oxygen-demanding decomposers increases even more.
Thermal pollution
Biology Page 8
Noise pollution
Biology Page 9
The sources of noise pollution are
• Ear injury
• Headaches
Greenhouse effect
Biology Page 10
The greenhouse effect is the heating of the surface of a planet or moon
due to the presence of an atmosphere containing gases that absorb and emit
infrared radiation. Greenhouse gases, which include water vapour, carbon
dioxide, methane, CFC and nitrogen dioxide, are almost transparent to solar
radiation but strongly absorb and emit infrared radiation. Thus, greenhouse
gases trap heat within the surface-troposphere system. This mechanism is
fundamentally different from that of an actual greenhouse, which works by
isolating warm air inside the structure so that heat is not lost by convection.
The greenhouse effect was discovered by Joseph Fourier in 1824, first
reliably experimented on by John Tyndall in 1858, and first reported
quantitatively by Svante Arrhenius in 1896. Greenhouse effect makes the
earth’s temperature rises causing global warming.
Biology Page 11
The following human activities can increase the concentration of carbon
dioxide in the atmosphere to cause a greenhouse effect are:
• Forest fires
• Deforestation
• Coal-fuelled power-stations
• Use of CFC
Biology Page 12
Thinning of the ozone layer
Biology Page 13
Impact of the Thinning of the Ozone Layer and Global Warming on the
Ecosystem
1. The thinning of the ozone layer allows ultraviolet radiation to reach the
Earth surface and destroy the planktons in the food chains. This
problem threatens other marine life.
Biology Page 14
Steps to maintain a stable environment
• Implementation of laws
ii. Factory and Machine Act 1967/1983 to protect the workers from
being exposed to noise levels of more than 95 dB for 4 hours
continuously.
iv. National Forestry Act 1984 to protect and preserve forest as well
as all wild-life in the forests
• Use of technology
Biology Page 15
• Education on the management of resources
Biology Page 16
• Preservation and conservation of the ecosystem
- Preservations of soil
- Preservations of water
Biology Page 17
• The use of renewable energy
ii. Renewable energy is inexhaustible and does not pollute the air
vi. Use more hybrid car which combines electric and gasoline
engines
Conclusion
Management of the ecosystem is the task of maintaining the balance
of nature by means of preservations and conservation of natural resources
Biology Page 18
as well as protecting the ecosystem. Improper management of development
activities can threaten the ecosystem.
Biology Page 19