BP206T environmental science  NOTES B.Pharmacy 2nd Semester 2024 (2023-2024) Previous Year's Question Papers/Notes Download - HK Technical PGIMS

What is the environmental Science?
environmental science is the field of science that studies the interactions of the
physical, chemical, and biological components of the environment and also the
relationships and effects of these components with the organisms in the
environment. The field of environmental science can be divided into three main
goals, which are to learn how the natural world works, to understand how we
as humans interact with the environment, and also to determine how we affect
the environment. The third goal of determining how humans affect the
environment also includes finding ways to deal with these effects on the
environment.
Multidisciplinary Nature of Environmental Studies:
Environment belongs to all the lining beings and thus is, important for all. Each
and every body of whatever occupation he or she may have is affected by
environmental issues like global warming, depletion of ozone layer, dwindling
forest, energy resources, loss of global biodiversity etc..
Environment study deals with the analysis of the processes in water, air, land,
soil and organisms which leads to pollute or degrade environment. It helps us
for establishing standard, for safe, clean and healthy natural ecosystem. It also
deals with important issues like safe and clean drinking water, hygienic living
conditions and clean and fresh air, fertility of land, healthy food and
development.
Because, the environment is complex and actually made up of many different
environments, including natural, constructed and cultural environments,
environmental studies is the inter disciplinary examination of how biology,
geology, politics policy studies, law, geology, religion engineering, chemistry and
economics combine to inform the consideration of humanity’s effects on the
natural world.
This subject educates the students to appreciate the complexity of
environmental issues and citizens and experts in many fields. By studying
environmental science, students may develop a breadth of the interdisciplinary
and methodological knowledge in the environmental fields that enables them
to facilitate the definition and solution of environmental problems.
 Natural resources
Natural resources are resources that exist without actions of humankind. This
includes all valued characteristics such as magnetic, gravitational, electrical
properties and forces etc. On earth it
includes: sunlight, atmosphere, water, land (includes all minerals) along with
all vegetation, crops and animal life that naturally subsists upon or within the
heretofore identified characteristics and substances. Natural resources may be
further classified in different ways. Natural resources are materials and
components (something that can be used) that can be found within the
environment. Every man-made product is composed of natural resources (at its
fundamental level). A natural resource may exist as a separate entity such as
fresh water, air, and as well as a living organism such as a fish, or it may exist in
an alternate form that must be processed to obtain the resource such as metal
ores, rare earth metals, petroleum, and most forms of energy. Some natural
resources such as sunlight and air can be found everywhere, and are known as
ubiquitous resources. However, most resources only occur in small sporadic
areas, and are referred to as localised resources. There are very few resources
that are considered inexhaustible (will not run out in foreseeable future) – these
are solar radiation, geothermal energy, and air (though access to clean air may
not be). The vast majority of resources are theoretically exhaustible, which
means they have a finite quantity and can be depleted if managed improperly.
Many natural resources can be categorized as either renewable or nonrenewable:
 Renewable resources — Renewable resources can be replenished naturally.
Some of these resources, like sunlight, air, wind, water, etc., are continuously
available and their quantity is not noticeably affected by human
consumption. Though many renewable resources do not have such a rapid
recovery rate, these resources are susceptible to depletion by over-use.
Resources from a human use perspective are classified as renewable so long
as the rate of replenishment/recovery exceeds that of the rate of
consumption. They replenish easily compared to Non-renewable resources.
 Non-renewable resources – Non-renewable resources either form slowly or
do not naturally form in the environment. Minerals are the most common
resource included in this category. By the human perspective, resources are
non-renewable when their rate of consumption exceeds the rate of
replenishment/recovery; a good example of this are fossil fuels, which are in
this category because their rate of formation is extremely slow (potentially
millions of years), meaning they are considered non-renewable. Some
resources actually naturally deplete in amount without human interference,
the most notable of these being radio-active elements such as uranium,
which naturally decay into heavy metals. Of these, the metallic minerals can
be re-used by recycling them,[5] but coal and petroleum cannot
be recycled.
[6] Once they are completely used they take millions of years to
replenish.
Natural resources and associated problems:-
 Human population is growing day-by-day. Continuous increase in
population caused an increasing demand for natural resources. Due to
urban expansion, electricity need and industrialization, man started
utilising natural resources at a much larger scale. Non-renewable
resources are limited.
 They cannot be replaced easily. After some time, these resources may
come to an end. It is a matter of much concern and ensures a balance
between population growth and utilisation of resources.
 This overutilisation creates many problems. In some regions there are
problems of water logging due to over irrigation. In some areas, there is
no sufficient water for industry and agriculture. Thus, there is need for
conservation of natural resources.
 There are many problems associated with natural resources:
 Forest resources and associated problems
 1. Use and over-exploitation.
 2. Deforestation.
 3. Timber extraction.
 4. Mining and its effects on forest.
 5. Dams and their effects on forests and tribal people.
 Water resources and associated problems
 1. Use and overutilization of water.
 2. Floods, droughts etc.
 3. Conflicts over water.
 4. Dams and problems.
 Mineral resource and associated problems
 1. Use and exploitation.
 2. Environmental effects of extracting and using minerals.
 Food resources and associated problems
 1. World food problems.
 2. Changes caused by agriculture and over grazing.
 3. Effects of modern agriculture.
 4. Fertilizer-pesticide problems.
 5. Water logging and salinity.
 Energy resources and associated problems
 1. Growing energy needs.
 Land resources and associated problems
 1. Land degradation.
 2. Man-induced landslides.
 3. Soil erosion and desertification.
Role of an individual in conservation of natural resources:
Conservation of energy:
1. Switch off light, fan and other appliances when not in use.
2. Use solar heater for cooking.
3. Dry the cloth in the sun light instead of driers.
4. Use always pressure cookers
5. Grow trees near the house to get cool breeze instead of using AC and ai cooler.
6. Ride bicycle or just walk instead of using scooter for ashort distance.
Conservation of water:
1. Use minimum water for all domestic purposes.
2. check the water leaks in pipes and repair them properly.
3. Reuse the soapy water, after washing clothes for washing courtyard, carpets
etc.
4. Use drip irrigation.
5. Rain water harvesting system should be installed in all the houses.
6. Sewage treatment plant may be installed in all industries and institution.
7. Continuous running of water taps should be avoided.
8. Watering of plants should be done in the evening.
Conservation of soil:
1. Grow different type plants i.e trees, herbs and shrubs.
2. In the irrigation process, using strong flow of water should be avoided.
3. Soil erosion can be prevented by sprinkling irrigation.
Conservation of food resources:
1.Cook required amount of food.
2.Don’t waste the food, give it to some one before spoiling.
3.Don’t store large amount of food grains and protect them from damaging
insects.
Conservation of forest:
1.Use non timber product.
2.Plant more trees.
3.Grassing must be controlled
4.Minimise the use of paper and fuel.
5.Avoid the construction of dam, road in the forest areas.