MEETING THE

CHALLENGE OF HUMAN
SURVIVAL ON EARTH
ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
THE ENVIRONMENTAL CRISIS

• A term used to describe the sum of the environmental problems that

we face today, For example global warming, greenhouse effects, hole in
the ozone layer etc(Chris Park,2007)

• It shows that we as humans we are in the process of destroying the

world that we are living in.
• We are faced with this critical issue and it is therefore our
responsibility to make close observations at our environment on
how it is being destroyed on a daily basis so that we can know how
to save it from further destruction.
ENVIRONMENTAL CRISIS ENCOMPASSES
THE FOLLOWING
• Climate change
• Degraded air quality
• Degraded water quality
• Loss of Biodiversity
• Soil erosion and degradation
• Stratospheric Ozone depletion
• Resource overuse
CLIMATE CHANGE

• Climate change is a long-term shift in global or regional climate patterns. Often climate
change refers specifically to the rise in global temperatures from the mid 20th century to
present.
• Temperatures changes drastically as a result of the work of man and thus leading to
environmental crisis.
CLIMATE CHANGE
Is a process through which the natural
environment is compromised in some way,
reducing biological diversity and the general
health of the environment.

ENVIRONMENTAL
DEGRADATION
It is usually accelerated by human activities

The earth is irreparably compromised by

humans which might lead to the end of
human
existence.(http://www.wisegeek.com/what
is environmental-degradation.htm)
POPULATION GROWTH

• Research shows that the human population has continued to increase at a faster rate. The
more the population grows the greater the demand it places on the environment.The
earth has a limited number of resources and once they have been depleted there is no
where to run to.
URBANISATION

• Due to overpopulation and increasing opportunities concentrated in cities, environmental

problems such as overcrowding, pollution, public health issues and sanitation has
developed. It is through this process that mankind has been forced to neglect the
environment in order to live luxury
DEGRADED AIR QUALITY

• Degradation can simply be defined as the process in which the beauty of something is
destroyed.
• Here it refers to the process in which the quality of air is destroyed due to human beings.
In the process of burning coal, driving many cars, mining minerals and so on, in that
process we greatly damage the quality of air. This lead to serious environmental crisis.
DEGRADED WATER QUALITY

• This simply refers to the process in which the quality of water is polluted. Due to
overpopulation, poor sanitation and a lot of harm which man bring in the land in an
attempt to make money, The quality of our water is being contaminated and humans in
turn suffer the consequences. Thus once more we see the picture of environmental crisis
clearly.
STRATOSPHERIC OZONE DEPLETION

• Due to the works of many industries a lot of poisonous gases are released. This gases
affect the ozone layer and is slowly bringing it to depletion. We know that the ozone
serve as a protection for the earth against the extreme temperatures coming from the
sun. This can cause a wide spread of cancer(health defects) and thus causing change in
environmental conditions.
The earth consists of a large number of species of
plants and animals

The biota reflects a well balanced composition

due to the complex food chains which must
ANALYSIS OF THE
remain balanced DYNAMICS OF THE
ENVIRONMENTAL
PROBLEM
The environment gives rise to erosion and
weathering process which produce specific
landform and soil

The species and the environment are

interconnected hence if the environment is
disturbed it affects the animal and plants species
WHAT IS A SYSTEM AND THE FUNCTIONING OF
THE SYSTEM
• To get a clear picture of how a system works we will use the car engine as our example.
A car engine is made up of different parts or components. These parts or components
are all interrelated with one another directly or indirectly. If one part is not functioning
then the other parts will either not function or they will not function well.
A SYSTEM APPROACH

• Characteristics of a system
• Types of systems
 Each system forms part of larger system
 Isolated system: no interaction of the
 flow takes place into and out of the systems
environment and the system e.g. Laboratories
 Open system is not independent
 Closed system: matter is not exchanged but
energy flows around the system • Functioning of the system

 Open system: environmental systems like  To maintain a stable environment(negative

forests feedback)
 Maintain dynamic equilibrium: homeostasis
THE ECOSYSTEM

• It includes all living things such as plants and

animals in a given area, interreacting with each
other and also with their non living environments.
Elements are connected to each other in a food
chain. We know how the food chain works and the
cycle it goes, from the sun providing solar energy
and being absorbed by plants… this is an ongoing
process. When we disturb the environment and
bring changes to this cycle and it’s composition we
do more harm to the environment and thus cause
environmental crisis.
THE EARTH SYSTEM AND
SUSTAINABLE LIVING
• The concept of environmental crisis and degradation have been
addressed now a solution must be employed
• Conservation organizations are formed to sustain the environment
• Furthermore in order to attack the problems we humanity create
for ourselves is by learning and understanding the earth as a system
• Knowledge is one the greatest tools to tackle the issues
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
SESSION
THANK YOU
TAKE CARE OF YOUR ENVIRONMENT