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Environmental Science Foundations
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Environmental Science Foundations
Environmental Science Foundations
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1
Question
What is the origin of the word 'environment' and its literal meaning?
Page 3
Answer
The word 'environment' is derived from the French word 'Environner', which means 'surrounding'.
2
Question
Who first coined the term 'Environment' and in what year?
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Answer
Thomas Carlyle, a Historian and Philosopher, first coined the term 'Environment' in 1828.
3
Question
Who introduced the term 'Environment' in the field of Ecology?
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Answer
Jacob Van Uerkal introduced the word 'Environment' in Ecology.
4
Question
Who is known as the Father of Environment?
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Answer
Alexander von Humboldt is known as the Father of Environment.
5
Question
According to C.C. Park in 1980, what is the definition of environment?
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Answer
Environment is the 'Sum total of conditions which surrounds a man at a given point in space and time'.
6
Question
How does Edwin G. Boring's 1950 definition of environment differ from C.C. Park's?
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Answer
Edwin G. Boring (1950) defines it as 'A person’s environment consists of the sum total of the stimulation which he receives from his conception until his death', emphasizing lifelong stimuli including physical, intellectual, economic, political, cultural, social, moral, and emotional forces, while Park focuses on conditions at a specific point.
7
Question
What key forces does Edwin G. Boring's definition of environment include?
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Answer
Various types of forces such as physical, intellectual, economic, political, culture, social, moral, and emotional.
8
Question
According to Douglas and Holland in 1947, how is environment used to describe external factors?
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Answer
The term environment is used to describe, in aggregate, all the external forces, influences and conditions, which affect the life, nature, behavior and the growth, development and maturity of living organisms.
9
Question
Why does the diagram on environment emphasize interactions between living and non-living components?
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Answer
It shows living components like plants, animals, and micro-organisms interacting with non-living like air, water, soil, and sunlight, illustrating how environment encompasses these mutual influences.
10
Question
What broad definition captures social, cultural, and physical conditions affecting organisms?
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Answer
The social, cultural and physical conditions that surround, affect and influence the survival, growth and development of people, animals and plants, including natural world, technological environment, and cultural/social contexts.
11
Question
How do biotic and abiotic components relate within the environment?
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Answer
Abiotic (non-living) consists of air, water, soil, etc., while biotic (living) includes plants, animals, microbes, and human beings; environment includes all around any organism.
12
Question
What does Section 2(a) of the Environment Protection Act, 1986 define as environment?
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Answer
Environment includes water, air and land and the interrelationship which exists among and between air, water, land, human beings, plants, micro-organisms and other living creatures and property.
13
Question
Why are the four segments of the natural environment in constant change?
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Answer
Such changes are affected by human activities and vice versa, highlighting dynamic interactions.
14
Question
What triggered the Silent Valley Movement in the early 1970s?
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Answer
A proposal to build a hydroelectric dam on the Kunthipuzha River, which would submerge a substantial portion of the pristine rainforest known for its rich biodiversity.
15
Question
How did the Silent Valley Movement achieve success, and what were the outcomes?
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Answer
Led by environmentalists like P.K. Kalan and Kerala Sasthra Sahithya Parishad (KSSP), it mobilized public support through protests, awareness campaigns, and scientific studies highlighting ecological value, leading to dam cancellation in 1984 and declaration as national park in 1985.
16
Question
What were the main goals of the Narmada Bachao Andolan launched in the 1980s?
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Answer
Opposed construction of large dams like Sardar Sarovar on Narmada River, addressing displacement of local communities, loss of livelihoods, environmental degradation, and promoting fair rehabilitation, compensation, and sustainable development.
17
Question
How do Silent Valley Movement and Narmada Bachao Andolan compare in their approaches to environmental protection?
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Answer
Both used protests, awareness, and advocacy against dams; Silent Valley focused on biodiversity preservation via scientific studies leading to project cancellation, while NBA emphasized rehabilitation for displaced communities through legal battles.
18
Question
What are the four segments of the environment?
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Answer
Hydrosphere, Atmosphere, Lithosphere, and Biosphere.
19
Question
What comprises the hydrosphere and what percentage is in oceans and seas?
Page 5
Answer
All types of water bodies such as oceans, seas, lakes, rivers, streams, reservoirs, polar icecaps, glaciers, ground water, surface water; 97% of the earth’s water supply is in the oceans and seas.
20
Question
Why is only about 1% of Earth's water available for human consumption?
Page 5
Answer
About 2% is locked in polar ice caps and glaciers, 97% in oceans and seas, leaving only 1% as fresh surface water in lakes, rivers, ponds, ground water, etc.
21
Question
What is the primary function of the atmosphere as a protective blanket?
Page 5
Answer
It sustains life on earth by saving it from the hostile environment of outer space, absorbing most cosmic rays and major portion of electromagnetic radiation from the sun, while transmitting UV above 300nm, visible, near infrared, and radio waves.
22
Question
What is the gaseous composition of Earth's atmosphere?
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Answer
Nitrogen (78%), oxygen (21%), argon (>1%), carbon dioxide (0.04%), and other gases.
23
Question
How does the troposphere support weather phenomena?
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Answer
It contains 75% of all air and 99% of water vapour, where most clouds appear, with temperature and pressure dropping as height increases due to thinning gases.
24
Question
Why does temperature increase with height in the stratosphere unlike the troposphere?
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Answer
Ozone molecules absorb high-energy ultraviolet light from the Sun, converting it into heat, making the stratosphere warmer higher up and preventing convection.
25
Question
What unique role does the mesosphere play in protecting Earth from space objects?
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Answer
Gases are thick enough to slow down meteors, incinerating them before reaching the surface and leaving fiery trails.
26
Question
Why does the thermosphere feel cold despite high temperatures up to 1500°C?
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Answer
The air is so thin that it would feel freezing cold, even though temperature increases due to absorption of ultraviolet and X-ray radiation.
27
Question
How do the temperature ranges and heights differ between troposphere and stratosphere?
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Answer
Troposphere: 0-11 km, 15°C to -56°C; Stratosphere: 11-50 km, -56°C to -2°C, with ozone causing warming.
28
Question
What practical application do satellites have in relation to the thermosphere?
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Answer
Satellites orbit Earth within the thermosphere.
29
Question
What is the lithosphere and its main divisions?
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Answer
The rigid, outermost shell of the Earth containing soil, earth rocks, mountains; divided into crust, mantle, and core (inner and outer).
30
Question
What are the rock compositions in Earth's crust?
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Answer
95% igneous and metamorphic rocks, 4% shale, 0.75% sandstone, and 0.25% limestone; temperature 200-400°C, thickness 25-70 km continental and 5-10 km oceanic.