 What are various environmental segments?

Environment is divided into four segments i.e. Lithosphere,

Hydrosphere, Biosphere and Atmosphere.
Now we are going to discuss it one by one.

1) LITHOSPHERE
it is the part of environmental segment including the region from

earth mantle to its crust.

Lithosphere consists of rocks, soil, mountains etc.
 Which is the most important portion of lithosphere?

Soil is the most important portion of the lithosphere because it is

 the residence of all plants and animals, a source of food and in
fact it is a biological laboratory.
 Composition of soil
soil is composed of various organic and inorganic
substances. Humus is an organic matter while various salts,
silica and minerals are inorganic matters in soil.

Lithosphere is of great importance especially soil.

2) HYDROSPHERE
This portion includes all types of water bodies present in the
environment.
The surface water, underground water, water vapours and water in the
form of clouds, rain all are studied in the hydrosphere.

 Why earth is called blue planet?

Earth is called a blue planet because of the presence of a large
amount of water on it. About 79% of the earth surface is covered
by water while about 97% water is present on earth in the form of
oceans about 2.4% water in the form of glaciers while the
remaining 0.7-1% water is present in the form of fresh water
which is used in various activities.
 Uses of water
About 50% of the total fresh water is used in power
plants,30% is used in agriculture,13% in industries and only
7% of the total fresh water is used in domestic activities.

3) BIOSPHERE
The environmental segment wherever there is life is called
Biosphere. It includes atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere
with life like plants, animals and other organisms. Its range
from 10,000m below sea level up to 600km above sea level.
It deals with the study of living organisms including man,
plants and animals there interaction with each other and
their relation to the environment.
Biosphere is actually the biochemistry of the environment in
terms of environmental chemistry.
 4) ATMOSPHERE
The environmental segment including all air portions is
termed as Atmosphere. It is the gaseous blanket
surrounding our environment.
Atmosphere ranges from the earth surface up to 500km
above.
 Composition of the Atmosphere
It is a mixture of various gases including N, CO2, O2, He, Ne, Ar
etc, solid particles and water vapors.
 Total weight of Atmosphere
The total weight of the atmosphere is about 5×1015 metric
ton.
 Temperature of Atmosphere
The temperature of atmosphere is variable ranging from
-100_1200 degree centigrade.
 Atmospheric pressure
At 100km above sea level the atmospheric pressure is 3×10-7
Atm while atmospheric pressure at sea level is considered as
1Atm.

 Layers of Atmosphere
1)Troposphere(site of all weather on earth)
 2)Stratosphere(ozone layer is found here)
3)Mesosphere(coldest atmospheric layer)
4)Thermosphere(hottest atmospheric layer)
5)Exosphere(highest and top layer of Earth’s atmosphere)

 Atmosphere protects the earth from EM radiations

Atmosphere absorbs most of the energy of cosmic rays and
also absorbs some toxic electromagnetic radiations from the
sun. Hence it shields the earth from these harmful
radiations.