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Chapter 3: Hydrosphere
Environmental Management

By Niharika Shinde

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 Composition of the Air
Gas Percentage
Composition (%)
Nitrogen 78

Oxygen 21

Carbon Dioxide 0.04

Argon 0.96
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 Energy Source
Sunlight is a shortwave radiation
Reflected heat is longwave radiation

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 Insolation
Insolation is the amount of solar radiation reaching a given area.
Insolation rate is the highest at the equator and is lowest at the
poles

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 Atmospheric Pollution Causes
Fossil fuels in power stations
Waste from industries
Bare soil: is carried by wind resulting in soil erosion
CFCs and Halons
Deforestation

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 Atmospheric Pollution Effects
Poor air quality, can affect lungs:
Asthama
Reduced visibility
Acid rain
Due to sulfur dioxide and oxides of nitrogen
Source: Vehicles, power stations, industries
Effects: Crop destruction, forest destruction, soil
erosions, trees become less resistant to droughts,
leaves fall early, acidity in lake causes death of marine
animals

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 Atmospheric Pollution Effects
Ozone layer Depletion
Cause: CFCs
Source of CFCs: Hair sprays, refrigerants, air conditioning
Increased UV radiation
Skin cancer
Effects humans and animals
Less transpiration
Less precipitation due to less cloud formation
Droughts, decrease in crop yields and food supply
Global Warming Increases
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Green house gases:
Carbon dioxide Source: burning fossil fuels and wood & deforestation
Methane Source: Deforestation and decomposition of waste
NOx (oxides of nitrogen) Source: transport systems, burning of fuels, use of fertilizers
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 Increased Greenhouse effect
Effect of this increased process:
Increase in global temperature
Ice sheets melting
Rise in sea levels
Flooding in low-lying coastal areas
Defenses breached
Populated areas no longer habitable

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 Atmospheric Pollution Solution
Catalytic convertors installed in vehicle
exhausts
Using gas instead of petrol and diesel
Adding powdered limestone in lakes
Limestone treatment in chimneys of power
stations to convert Sulfur Dioxide into Calcium
Sulfate before it leaves the chimney the oxides
of nitrogen are reduced by using ammonia

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 Atmospheric Pollution Solution
Natural gas power stations instead of coal
power stations
Alternative energy sources like Hydro-electric
power stations
Reduction in use of CFCs
Increased plantation
Reduced burning of fossil fuels

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 Measuring the weather
Air pressure:
Barometer (either mercury or aneroid)
Mercury barometer: mercury level increases and falls
with increase and decrease in air pressure
Aneroid: upper surface is sensitive to changes in
pressure
Air pressure is measured in millibars or mmHg

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 Measuring the weather
Temperature:
Thermometer
(either minimum or maximum)
Maximum thermometer consists of mercury and a
metal index. The mercury rises and falls with changes in
temperature, pushing and leaving behind the metal
index in the process.
Minimum thermometer consists of alcohol and metal
index. Alcohol expands and contracts with changes in
temperature, moving the metal index up and down

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 Measuring the weather
Precipitation:
Rain gauge
Rain enters the funnel and the measuring cylinder is used to
take readings.
Wind:
Weathervane
Anemometer
3 or 4 cups that rotate and there is a counter.
Sunshine:
Sunshine Recorder
Glass sphere and recording paper with divisions for the time
of day
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 Farming systems
Arable
Only crops are grown
Pastoral
Rear animals either for animal by-products or for meat
Commercial
Crops and animals are produced to sell
Subsistence
Crops and animals are produced to feed the farmers own family
Extensive
Small yield, large farmland area
Instensive
Small area, high yield

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 Farming
Normal cultivation (rainforest)
1. Small plot is cleared by slash and burn method
2. Crops planted
3. No nutrient added to soil
4. Soil loses fertility over the years
5. Plot is abandoned and another plot is cleared
and used
6. Small plants take over abandoned plot

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 Farming
Wet rice cultivation (Asia)
Monsoon brings heavy rains
Flat flood plains and delta
Silt soils fertile, deep, easy to work with

Techniques to Increase Yield - Farming

Irrigation from rivers and lakes through canals
Inorganic Fertilizers and Pesticides
Tractors
High yielding varieties of seeds (HYV)
Plants with certain resistance used (e.g. disease resistant)
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 Adverse effects of modern practices
Overuse of fertilizers & pesticides leads to
eutrophication and nitrates accumulate in
drinking water
Eutrophication: excessive richness of nutrients in a lake or
other body of water, frequently due to run-off from the land,
which causes a dense growth of plant life.
Irrigation causes salinization
Salinization: the process of increasing the salt content in the
soil is known as salinization
Overcultivation and overgrazing results in soil
erosion and desertification
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 Solutions
Instead of irrigation surface channels, use
sprinklers and trickle drip
Use organic fertilizers
Mixing crops
Use natural predators instead of pesticides

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 Climatic Hazards
Tropical cyclones :
storms formed when sea water is at its hottest, air above sea surface
heats up and warm moist air starts to rise (show diagram), low
pressure develops deeply in the centre and sucks up more air from the
surface, huge circular swirl of cloud forms, around which wind speed
increases, rainfall from clouds.
Impact:
Immediate loss of life
Destroy buildings
Flooding due to rains
Economic losses
Infrastructure damaged
Disruption of water supplied diseases
Farming economy ruined

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