Science B1b Humans and the environment

 Human beings compete with other living things for resources and space.
 As the world’s population continues to increase, and standards of living improve,
there is danger of a permanent change to the global environment.
 Human activities have led to the pollution of the environment, and a reduction in
the amount of land available for other animals and plants, which makes it difficult
for some species to survive.
 There is a need to achieve a level of development that also sustains the
environment for future generations.

The human population

Population growth

 Like all living things, humans exploit their surroundings for resources.
 Before the beginning of agriculture about 10,000 years ago, small groups of
humans wandered across large areas, hunting and gathering just enough food to
stay alive.
 Population numbers were kept low because of the difficulty of finding food.
 The development of agriculture led to a population explosion that has accelerated
enormously during the past 500 years. Unlike other species, humans can adapt to
and survive in almost all habitats and climates

Human population growth over the past 10,000 years

Standards of living

People in the developed world enjoy a high standard of living, with abundant food,
cars and comfortable housing. People in the developing world have a lower standard
of living, but many countries are catching up quickly.
Science B1b Humans and the environment

Impact of humans

The world’s human population has passed 6 billion and continues to increase. The
growth in the human population and the increase in the standard of living are putting
strains on the global environment. Here are some of the ways in which this is
happening:

 non-renewable energy resources, such as coal, oil and natural gas, are being
used up rapidly
 raw materials are being used up rapidly
 more waste is being produced
 more pollution is being caused

Waste

 Pollution is the addition of substances to the environment that may be harmful to

living organisms.
 Population growth and increases in the standard of living cause more waste to be
produced.
 If this waste is not handled correctly, it leads to pollution.
 The most obvious form of pollution is often simply just litter on the ground, but
pollution can affect the air and water too.

A mountain of household and industrial rubbish

Land pollution

 Most rubbish is buried in landfill sites and not all of it comprises safe materials.
 Even common household items can contain toxic chemicals such as poisonous
metals.

 Many smoke alarms contain radioactive americium.

 Industrial waste is also discharged onto the land.

 Many farmers apply pesticides to improve their crops, but these can damage living
things.

 Toxic chemicals can be washed from the land into rivers, lakes and seas
Science B1b Humans and the environment

Water pollution

 Water pollution is caused by the discharge of harmful substances into rivers, lakes
and seas.
 Many aquatic invertebrate animals cannot survive in polluted water, so their
presence or absence indicates the extent to which a body of water is polluted.

Spilled crude oil causes a lot of harm to the environment, both sea and land

Some common water pollutants and their effect

Air pollution
 The most common source of air pollution is the combustion of fossil fuels.
 This usually happens in vehicle engines and power stations.

Some common air pollutants and their effect

Science B1b Humans and the environment

Indicators of air pollution

Lichens are plants that grow in exposed places such as rocks or tree bark. They need
to be very good at absorbing water and nutrients to grow there, and rainwater contains
just enough nutrients to keep them alive. Air pollutants dissolved in rainwater,
especially sulphur dioxide, can damage lichens, and prevent them from growing. This
makes lichens natural indicators of air pollution. For example:

 bushy lichens need really clean air

 leafy lichens can survive a small amount of air pollution
 crusty lichens can survive in more polluted air

In places where no lichens are growing, it's often a sign that the air is heavily polluted
with sulphur dioxide.

Deforestation

 Humans have been cutting down trees for thousands of years.

 We do this to clear land for farming and building, and for wood to use as a fuel or
building material
 Forestry is sustainable as long as forests are allowed to replace themselves, or are
replanted after felling, but often this is not done.
 The result is that the world’s forests are steadily shrinking.

This process is called deforestation. It has some important consequences:

 forest habitats are destroyed

 soil erosion increases, which causes barren land, flooding and land slides
 atmospheric pollution is caused when forests are cleared by burning trees

Loss of biodiversity

 The term biodiversity refers not only to the number of different species, but also
to all the variations within and between species, and all the differences between
the habitats and ecosystems that make up the Earth’s biosphere.
 The loss of forests reduces biodiversity and we run the risk of losing organisms
that might have been useful in the future - for example as sources of new
medicines. There is also a moral responsibility to look after the planet and its
resources

Greenhouse gases

 Methane and carbon dioxide are greenhouse gases. They absorb heat energy and
prevent it escaping into space. This keeps the Earth warmer than it would be
without these gases. The Moon and the Earth are the same distance from the Sun.
Science B1b Humans and the environment

The Moon has no atmosphere and has an average surface temperature of –18ºC,
while the Earth has an average surface temperature of 14ºC.
 So you can see that greenhouse gases are not a bad thing in themselves, but too
much of them in the atmosphere lead to global warming.
Extra methane

 Rice paddy fields produce methane gas, and so do cattle.

 As the numbers of rice fields and cattle have increased, so has the amount of
methane in the atmosphere.

Extra carbon dioxide

 Carbon dioxide is produced by burning fossil fuels.

 When land is cleared for timber and farms, there are fewer trees to perform the
important task of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by
photosynthesis.

 In addition, if the fallen trees are burned or left to rot, additional carbon dioxide is
released into the atmosphere.

 These factors are particularly important in tropical areas, where forests might be
cleared to make way for cattle farms.

 Then, not only are there fewer trees left to absorb carbon dioxide, but the
graphburning trees release carbon dioxide and the cattle release methane.

Global warming

As the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere has increased, so too has
the average global temperature. This is what scientists mean when they talk of global
warming.
Science B1b Humans and the environment

Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has risen at a higher rate since the 19th century

The temperature of the earth has risen over the years

An increase of only a few degrees will cause changes to the Earth’s climate, and lead
to sea levels rising.

Sustainable development

Humans reduce the amount of land and resources available for plants and animals.
This happens because of farming, quarrying, dumping waste and building.
Science B1b Humans and the environment

Urbanisation

 Urbanisation means the growth of cities. About half the world’s population live in
cities, and most of the population growth in the future is expected to take place in
cities. It is predicted that by 2015, the world’s six largest cities will each have
more than 20 million inhabitants. These are some of the effects of urbanisation:

 increased pollution
 increased energy consumption
 land no longer used for food production
 loss of natural habitats
 decline of rural towns and villages as people leave them to live in cities

Sustainable development means improving our quality of life without damaging the
quality of life of future generations. It is important to all of us, not just the other
inhabitants of the planet, that sustainable development is achieved. This involves each
of us as individuals, and careful planning at local, regional and global levels.