Biology project

general studies

1. GENERAL STUDIES

2. MYSELF NAME – DHANOOP KUMAR CLASS – XII SECTION -SCIENCE ROLL NO. – 5

3. PROTECTION OF ENVIRONMENT

4. Environmental protection  is a practice of protecting the natural environment on individual, organization controlled or governmental levels, for the benefit of both the environment and humans. Due to the pressures of over consumption, population and technology, the biophysical environment is being degraded, sometimes permanently. This has been recognized, and governments have begun placing restraints on activities that cause environmental degradation. Since the 1960s, activity of environmental movements has created awareness of the various environmental issues. There is no agreement on the extent of the environmental impact of human activity and even scientific dishonesty occurs, so protection measures are occasionally debated. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

5. NATURAL RESOURCES Preservation of the natural environment is essential for maintaining community sustainability. This section presents various approaches and techniques used successfully in different communities to protect and restore their natural resources. Water   Adequate water supplies of high quality are necessary both for community use and local ecosystems. Communities and jurisdictions must work together to assure an adequate water supply to meet future needs. This section presents resources to aid in that effort. Energy   Communities require energy. Nonrenewable sources for power generation, home and workplace, and transportation cause pollution and its harmful impacts. Energy conservation and the use of renewable fuels provide cost-effective and more sustainable alternatives. This section contains resources available to make energy use more efficient. Air and Climate   Both the natural ecosystem and human health can be adversely impacted by declining air quality and climatic change. Communities can preserve air quality by limiting or eliminating the discharge of harmful chemicals into the air and by minimizing the sources of air pollution. This section contains resources and approaches that address air quality and climate change. Biodiversity   Biodiversity is particularly important for creating sustainability because of the specialized roles each species plays in maintaining ecological balance. Communities can promote healthy wildlife by supporting integrative approaches for managing, protecting, and enhancing wildlife populations and habitats appropriate to their area. Some examples are given here. Land, Forests, and Ecosystems   While providing a protective covering for soil, water, and the atmosphere, forests are also renewable sources of an endless variety of products. In a healthy ecosystem, policies and programs must balance economic and conservation needs. This section highlights cases where communities have developed land use practices and businesses that both conserve ecosystems and enhance local economies.

6. PRESERVATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES Alternative Sources Of Energy -- Use alternative sources of energy such as Solar Energy for cooking and heating water.  Do Not Waste Water -- Water should not be wasted to avoid water scarcity problems in the future. Rather than washing our cars, they can be wiped. Instead of using a shower we can use a bucket to bath.  Avoid damaging trees-- Trees should not be cut. And if they r, 2 trees should be planted in compensation of that 1 tree.  Saving Electricity-- Switching off lights and fans wen not in use, unplugging mobile chargers, Switching off the TV rather than keeping it in stand by mode can help save enough electricity to light up a small town. Creating Awareness -- Pamphlets, flyers and clubs can be formed to create awareness among people about the necessity to conserve and judiciously use the natural resources. 

7. RENEWABLE RESOURCES Renewable resources  are resources that are replenished by the environment over relatively short periods of time. This type of resource is much more desirable to use because often a resource renews so fast that it will have regenerated by the time you've used it up. Think of this like the ice cube maker in your refrigerator. As you take some ice out, more ice gets made. If you take a lot of ice out, it takes a little more time to refill the bin but not a very long time at all. Even if you completely emptied the entire ice cube bin, it would probably only take a few hours to 'renew' and refill that ice bin for you. Renewable resources in the natural environment work the same way. Solar energy is one such resource because the sun shines all the time. Imagine trying to harness all of the sun's energy before it ran out! Wind energy is another renewable resource. You can't stop the wind from blowing any more than you can stop the sun from shining, which makes it easy to 'renew.' Any plants that are grown for use in food and manufactured products are also renewable resources. Trees used for timber, cotton used for clothes, and food crops, such as corn and wheat, can all be replanted and regrown after the harvest is collected.

8. The sun, wind, geothermal, ocean energy are available in the abundant quantity and free to use. Renewable sources have low carbon emissions, therefore they are considered as green and environment friendly. Renewable helps in stimulating the economy and creating job opportunities. The money that is used to build these plants can provide jobs to thousands to millions of people. You don’t have to rely on any third country for the supply of renewable sources as in case of non-renewable sources. Renewable sources can cost less than consuming the local electrical supply. In the long run, the prices of electricity are expected to soar since they are based on the prices of crude oil, so renewable sources can cut your electricity bills. Various tax incentives in the form of tax waivers, credit deductions are available for individuals and businesses who want to go green. PROS OF RENEWABLE RESOURCES

9. It is not easy to set up a plant as the initial costs are quite steep. Solar energy can be used during the day time and not during night or rainy season. Geothermal energy which can be used to generate electricity has side effects too. It can bring toxic chemicals beneath the earth surface onto the top and can create environmental changes. Hydroelectric provide pure form of energy but building dams across the river which is quite expensive can affect natural flow and affect wildlife. To use wind energy, you have to rely on strong winds therefore you have to choose suitable site to operate them. Also, they can affect bird population as they are quite high. CONS OF RENEWABLE RESOURCES

10. NON RENEWABLE RESOURCES Non-Renewable energy is the energy which is taken from the sources that are available on the earth in limited quantity and will vanish fifty-sixty years from now. Non-renewable sources are not environmental friendly and can have serious affect on our health. They are called non-renewable because they cannot be re-generated within a short span of time. Non-renewable sources exist in the form of fossil fuels, natural gas, oil and coal.

11. PROS OF NON RENEWABLE RESOURCES Non-renewable sources are cheap and easy to use. You can easily fill up your car tank and power your motor vehicle. You can use small amount of nuclear energy to produce large amount of power. Non-renewable have little or no competition at all. For eg : if you are driving a battery driven car your battery gets discharged then you won’t be able to charge it in the middle if the road rather it is easy to find a gas pumping station. They are considered as cheap when converting from one type of energy to another.

12. CONS OF NON RENEWABLE RESOURCES Non-renewable sources will expire some day and we have to us our endangered resources to create more non-renewable sources of energy. The speed at which such resources are being utilized can have serious environmental changes. Non-renewable sources release toxic gases in the air when burnt which are the major cause for global warming. Since these sources are going to expire soon, prices of these sources are soaring day by day.

13. FACTORS AFFECTING ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION

14. WHAT IS ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION Environmental degradation is the disintegration of the earth or deterioration of the environment through consumption of assets, for example, air, water and soil; the destruction of environments and the eradication of wildlife. It is characterized as any change or aggravation to nature’s turf seen to be pernicious or undesirable. Ecological effect or degradation is created by the consolidation of an effectively substantial and expanding human populace, constantly expanding monetary development or per capita fortune and the application of asset exhausting and polluting technology. It occurs when earth’s natural resources are depleted and environment is compromised in the form of extinction of species, pollution in air, water and soil, and rapid growth in population. Environmental degradation is one of the largest threats that are being looked at in the world today. The United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction characterizes environmental degradation as the lessening of the limit of the earth to meet social and environmental destinations, and needs. Environmental degradation can happen in a number of ways. At the point when environments are wrecked or common assets are exhausted, the environment is considered to be corrupted and harmed. There are a number of different techniques that are being used to prevent this, including environmental resource protection and general protection efforts.

15. CAUSES OF ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION 1. Land Disturbance: A more basic cause of environmental degradation is land damage. Numerous weedy plant species, for example, garlic mustard, are both foreign and obtrusive. A rupture in the  environmental  surroundings provides for them a chance to start growing and spreading. These plants can assume control over nature, eliminating the local greenery. The result is territory with a solitary predominant plant which doesn’t give satisfactory food assets to all the environmental life. Whole environments can be destroyed because of these invasive species. 2. Pollution: Pollution, in whatever form, whether it is air, water, land or noise is harmful for the environment.  Air pollution  pollutes the air that we breathe which causes health issues. Water pollution degrades the quality of water that we use for drinking purposes.  Land pollution  results in degradation of earth’s surface as a result of human activities.  Noise pollution  can cause irreparable damage to our ears when exposed to continuous large sounds like honking of vehicles on a busy road or machines producing large noise in a factory or a mill. 3. Overpopulation: Rapid population growth puts strain on natural resources which results in degradation of our environment. Mortality rate has gone down due to better medical facilities which has resulted in increased lifespan. More population simple means more demand for food, clothes and shelter. You need more space to grow food and provide homes to millions of people. This results in deforestation which is another factor of environmental degradation.

16. CAUSES OF ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION CONT….. 4. Landfills: Landfills pollute the environment and destroy the beauty of the city. Landfills come within the city due the large amount of waste that gets generated by households, industries, factories and hospitals. Landfills pose a great risk to the health of the environment and the people who live there. Landfills produce foul smell when burned and cause huge environmental degradation. 5. Deforestation: Deforestation is the cutting down of trees to make way for more homes and industries. Rapid growth in population and urban sprawl are two of the major causes of deforestation. Apart from that, use of forest land for agriculture, animal grazing, harvest for fuel wood and logging are some of the other causes of deforestation. Deforestation contributes to global warming as decreased forest size puts carbon back into the environment. 6: Natural Causes: Things like avalanches, quakes, tidal waves, storms, and wildfires can totally crush nearby animal and plant groups to the point where they can no longer survive in those areas. This can either come to fruition through physical demolition as the result of a specific disaster, or by the long term degradation of assets by the presentation of an obtrusive foreign species to the environment. The latter frequently happens after tidal waves, when reptiles and bugs are washed ashore.

17. EFFECTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION 1. Impact on Human Health: Human health might be at the receiving end as a result of the environmental degradation. Areas exposed to toxic air pollutants can cause respiratory problems like pneumonia and asthma. Millions of people are known to have died of due to indirect effects of air pollution. 2. Loss of Biodiversity: Biodiversity is important for maintaining balance of the ecosystem in the form of combating pollution, restoring nutrients, protecting water sources and stabilizing climate. Deforestation, global warming, overpopulation and pollution are few of the major causes for loss of biodiversity. 3. Ozone Layer Depletion: Ozone layer is responsible for protecting earth from harmful ultraviolet rays. The presence of chlorofluorocarbons, hydro chlorofluorocarbons in the atmosphere is causing the ozone layer to deplete. As it will deplete, it will emit harmful radiations back to the earth. 4. Loss for Tourism Industry: The deterioration of environment can be a huge setback for tourism industry that rely on tourists for their daily livelihood. Environmental damage in the form of loss of green cover, loss of biodiversity, huge landfills, increased air and water pollution can be a big turn off for most of the tourists.

18. UNDERSTANDING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT Sustainable development  is a process for meeting human development goals while sustaining the ability of natural systems to continue to provide the natural resources and ecosystem services upon which the economy and society depends. While the modern concept of sustainable development is derived most strongly from the 1987 Brundtland Report, it is rooted in earlier ideas about sustainable forest management and twentieth century environmental concerns. As the concept developed, it has shifted to focus more on economic development, social development and environmental protection for future generations. Sustainable development is the organizing principle for sustaining finite resources necessary to provide for the needs of future generations of life on the planet. It is a process that envisions a desirable future state for human societies in which living conditions and resource-use continue to meet human needs without undermining the "integrity, stability and beauty" of natural biotic systems. It was suggested that "the term 'sustainability' should be viewed as humanity's target goal of human-ecosystem equilibrium (homeostasis), while 'sustainable development' refers to the holistic approach and temporal processes that lead us to the end point of sustainability." 

19. BIBLIOGRAPHY GOOGLE.COM SUPER SIMPLIFLIED SCIENCE BIOLOGY

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