UNIT II- NATURAL RESOURCES AND ITS CONSERVATION

UNIT II
NATURAL RESOURCES AND ITS CONSERVATION
PART-A

1. Mention any two environmental effects of mining of mineral resources.

1. Devegetation and defacing of landscape.
2. Surface water pollution.
2. Differentiate between renewable and non-renewable resources.

S. No. Renewable resources Non renewable resources

1. Resources which are in exhaustive and Resources which cannot be regenerated
regenerated within a given time of span. once gets used. E.g. Fossil fuels like
E.g. Forests, solar energy, wind energy coal, petroleum and minerals
2. Causes low pollution Causes high pollution
3. Easy to store Often very difficult to store
4. Reliable supply Unreliable supply

3. What is rain water harvesting? Why it is needed?

Rain water harvesting is the one of the water conservation method, by which the rain
water is collected and stored in the ground during rainy season. By storing water it is easy for
us to use when it is needed. Rain water harvesting is needed because,
1. To meet ever increasing demand of water.
2. To reduce run-off and to avoid flooding.
3. To reduce the soil erosion.

4. How the forest is useful to mankind?

1. Trees protect the soil against erosion and reduce the risks of landslides and avalanches.
2. Forests provide food, security and shelter for many organisms.
3. It purifies air, providing oxygen and absorbs carbon ejected by industries.
4. It gives wood, honey, rubber, fruits, vegetables, sandal and other useful and valuable
materials.

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UNIT II- NATURAL RESOURCES AND ITS CONSERVATION

5. Write any four functions of forests.

1. They recycle rainwater and remove pollutants from air.
2. They control water quality and quantity.
3. They are habitats to millions of plants, animals and wildlife.
4. Forests perform very important functions both to humans and to nature.

6. What is meant by deforestation?

Land degradation in arid, semi-arid and sub-humid areas resulting from various factors
including climatic variations and human activities.

7. What are the causes and effects of deforestation?

Causes: Agriculture, commercial logging, cash crop economy, mining and dams.
Effects: Destruction of biodiversity, desiccation of previously moist forest soil, moist humid
region changes to desert, no recycling of water, less carbon dioxide and nitrogen exchange,
more desertification.

8. What are the preventive measures of deforestation?

1. To counter the depletion of forest areas, tree plantation programs have been started.
2. Steps should be taken by the government to discourage the migration of people into the
islands from mainland.
3. Education and awareness programmes must be conducted.
4. Strict implementation of law of Forest Conservation Act.

9. Give your suggestions to solve the ‘water conflict’ problem.

1. Environmental and human costs of projects can also be enormous.
2. River Linking Project can be implemented.
3. Implementation of water conservation programme is essential.
4. Wise management of water resource (like drip irrigation) is important.

10. Differentiate between deforestation and forest degradation.

S. No. Forest degradation Deforestation

1. Process of deterioration of forest materials. Process of destruction of forest materials.

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UNIT II- NATURAL RESOURCES AND ITS CONSERVATION

2. Slow process. Rapid process.

Global warming, soil erosion, flood and Global warming, soil erosion, flood and
3.
landslides are minimized. landslides occurs.

11. What is water shed Management?

Watershed as the land area from which water drains under the influence of gravity into a stream,
lake, reservoir or other body of surface water
The watershed management is the management of rainfall and resultant runoff.

12. List out the advantages of rain water harvesting.

1) To meet ever increasing demand of water.
2) To reduce run-off and to avoid flooding.
3) To reduce the soil erosion
4) To maintain ground water level

13. Write the impacts of traditional agriculture.

 Deforestation - Cutting and burning of trees in forest to make cultivation land,

 Soil erosion - Clearing of forest cover exposes the soil to wind and rainfall resulting in
loss of to fertile soil layer
 Loss of nutrients – Soil become poor in nutrient due to the consumption of crops in short
period of time.

14. What is Modern Agriculture?

Modern agriculture is the one which involves the use of hybrid variety of single crop variety,
high-tech equipments, lot of fertilizers, pesticides and water to produce large amount of single
crops.

15. What are the changes caused by overgrazing?

Process of eating away the forest vegetation without giving it a chance to regenerate.
1. Land degradation 2. Soil erosion and loss of useful species.

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UNIT II- NATURAL RESOURCES AND ITS CONSERVATION

16. What is meant by mining? Give its types.

Mining is the Process of extraction of metals from a mineral ore deposit. It can be classified
into two types 1.Surface mining 2. Underground mining

17. Enumerate the effects of mining on the environment.

1. Devegetation and defcaing of landscape 2. Surface water pollution 3. Air pollution

4. Ground water contamination 5. Subsidence of land

18. List out the types of food resources.

1. Cropland ( Rice, white, potato)
2. Rangeland ( meat, milk, fruits)
3. Oceans food ( Fish, prawn, crab)

19. Explain the term under nutrition

People who cannot buy enough food to meet their basic energy needs (carbohydrates) suffer
from under nutrition
They receive less than 90% of these minimum dietary calories

20. What is mal nutrition?

People protein, mineral, vitamins, iron and iodine along with minimum calorie intake.
Deficiency or lack of nutrition often leads to malnutrition result in several diseases.

21. Brief the term “World Food Summit”.

The world food summit .1996 has set the goal to reduce the number of under nourished and
malnourished people to just half by 2015.

22. Explain about Blue baby syndrome or nitrate pollution:

 When nitrogen fertilizers are applied to the soil, it contaminants the ground water.
 This increases the nitrate content in water.
 When the nitrate concentration is more than 25mg/L level, it causes a serious health
problem called Bluebaby syndrome.


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UNIT II- NATURAL RESOURCES AND ITS CONSERVATION

23. Write notes on Eutrophication.

Excessive use of N and P fertilizers in the agricultural field are washed off by run off
water and reaches the water bodies causing over nourishment of the lake. This process is
known as eutrophication.

24. List out uses and over exploitation Al, Cu, Fe minerals.
 Development of industrial plants and machinery
 Construction, housing and settlements
 Communication purposes. (Telephones, wires, cables)

PART – B

1. Discuss the effects of modern agriculture due to usage of fertilizers and pesticides.
I. Problems in using fertilizer:
1. Micro nutrient imbalance:
Most of the chemical fertilizers used in modern agriculture contain the macronutrients nitrogen,
phosphorous and potassium (N,P,K) which boost up the crop growth.
The excessive use of fertilizers causes micronutrients imbalance.
2. Blue baby syndrome or nitratepollution:
When nitrogen fertilizers are applied to the soil, it contaminants the ground water. This increases the
nitrate content in water.When the nitrate concentration is more than 25mg/L level, it causes a serious
health problem called Bluebaby syndrome or methemaglobinemia.
3. Eutrophication:
 Excessive use of N and P fertilizers in the agricultural field are washed off by run off water
and reaches the water bodies causing over nourishment of the lake. This process is known
as eutrophication.
 Because of this,large quantities of algae grow more rapidly by using the nutrients.
 Thus algal species quickly complete their lifecycle and pollute the water.
II. Problems in using Pesticides:
Various pesticides are used in agriculture to improve the crop productivity.
Two types of Pesticides are used to control pests.

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UNIT II- NATURAL RESOURCES AND ITS CONSERVATION

They are (i) First generation pesticides. (ii) Second generation Pesticides.
First generation pesticides: S,As,Pb and Hg are commonly used pesticides having to control the
pest.
Second generation Pesticides: DDT(Dichloro Diphenyl Trichloroethane)and BHC(Benzene Hexa
Chloride)are used to kill the pest.
III. Effects of modern agriculture:
Non targeted species: Many pesticides not only kill the target species, but also kill the several non
targets species which are useful to us.
1. Producing new pests:
Some pest species usually survive even after the pesticide spray.
 This generates high resistant generations.
 They are immune to all types of pesticides and are called super pests.
 Some pesticides are not easily biodegraded in the environment.
2. Biomagnifications:
 Pesticides like DDT and Dioxins did not readily decompose in the environment and
consumed by animals.
 It is concentrated and stored in the fat of the animals.
 Then it could be magnified and transferred through food chain.
 The process of accumulation of pesticides in the cells of animals known is as
biomagnifications or biological magnification.

2. Distinguish between commercial and ecological uses of forest resources. Enumerate the
consequences of deforestation
Commercial uses
1. Forests supply the wood/timber used as fuel, furniture, pulp, paper, board.
2. Forests provide food products, fruits, leaves, roots, tubers, flesh of animals.
3. Forests provide raw materials for textile industries.
4. Forests provide gums, insecticides and medicinal products.
5. Forest are used for making dams, mining, grazing and eco tourism

Ecological uses
1. Production of oxygen

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UNIT II- NATURAL RESOURCES AND ITS CONSERVATION

Plants produce oxygen through photo synthesis. Hence, they are called earth’s lungs.
2. Reduction of global warming
The plants, trees in the forest absorb the greenhouse gas(CO2) which is the raw material for
photosynthesis and reduces the global warming.
3. Soil Conservation
Trees prevent soil erosion by binding the soil tightly and reduces the velocity of wind and rain.
4. Wild life shelter
Forests provide shelter for millions of wild animals, plants, birds and insects/microbes
5. Pollution reduction
Forests reduce the air pollution by absorbing the toxic gases purify the environment.
6. Climate control
Transpiration of plants increases the atmospheric humidity and increases t h e rainfall and
contr ols t he atmospheric temperature.
7. Aesthetic value
Forest serves as gene reserve of important species. Examples Bamboo, wild grass, medicinal
plants, aromatic oils, alcoholic drinks.
8. Ecotourism
Beautiful nature of the forest provides ecotourism, which increases the economy to the nations

3. What is over utilization of water resources? Mention the remedial measures.

Overutilization of water:
The rapid increases in population and industrial growth have increased the demand for water
resources. Because of ground water usage, annual extraction of ground water is far excess than the natural
recharge.
Problems:
• Because of increased usage of water, there is decrease in the water table. This affects the animal life
• Agriculture over exploitation of ground water affects the irrigated lands through increase in salinity
water logging. This reduces production.
• When the ground water usage is more than its recharge rate, the sediments in the aquifer get
compacted. These result in sinking of overlaying land surface. This is known as ground subsidence
• Excess pumping of ground water leads saltwater intrusion in coastal zones. This upsets the ecological
balance.

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UNIT II- NATURAL RESOURCES AND ITS CONSERVATION

• The building construction activities are sealing the permeable soil zones. This reduces the area for
percolation and increases the surface runoff.
• Overutilization of ground water causes earthquake, famine, landslides, etc..
• Well sand bore wells are dried up.

• When the ground water level near the agricultural land decreases, it pollutes ground water
considerably.
Remedial measure:
Use minimum water for all purposes.
Check frequently or periodically water leaks in pipes, boilers and repair them promptly.
Install water saving toilets
Reuse the domestic waste water for gardening.
Build rainwater harvesting system in the house.
4. Explain the environmental effects of extracting and using mineral resources.
De-vegetation and defacing of landscape:
 The top soil and vegetation are removed from the mineral area to access the
deposit.
 This affects the land because of chemical contamination and destruction of productive layers of
soil.
 Large mining operations disturb the land by directly removing material in some areas and
dumping wastes in other area.
 The large quantities of debris and tailings along with bigs cars and disruptions spoil the aesthetic
value of the region and make it prone to soil erosion.
Ground water contamination:
 Many ores have sulphur and is converted into H2SO4 through microbial action which
makes the water more acidic.
 Some heavy metals get leached into the ground water.
 Surface water pollution:
 The acid mine drainage contaminates near by lakes.
 These cause dangerous effects to aquatic life.
 Some heavy metals and radioactive metals contaminate the surface water and kill many
aquatic animals.

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UNIT II- NATURAL RESOURCES AND ITS CONSERVATION

Air Pollution:
 In mining huge volumes of dust is generated by explosion, transportations and
processing.
 During the purification of metals, the toxic gases like CO, SO2, and NOx are emitted to
air.

Subsidence of land:
 Subsidence of mining area results in tilling of buildings cracks in houses, blocking of
roads, bending of railway tracks and leaking of gas from cracked pipelines leading to
serious disasters.
 Blasting and transportation cause noise pollution to local people and wildlife.
 Extraction leads to acid rain and global warming as it requires huge amount of energy.
 Mining activities, sometimes, destroy the dam which leads to floods, internal erosion and even
earthquake.
5. What is rain water harvesting? How are the rainwater harvesting methods classified?
Briefly explain.

There are so many methods available for water conservation, of which the following is an important
method. Rainwater harvesting is a technique of capturing and storing of rainwater for further utiliation.
Rainwater is collected from a roof like surface and redirected to a tank, deep pit (well, shaft, or
borehole), aquifer, or a reservoir with percolation, so that it seeps down and restores the ground water.

I. Need (or) objectives of rain water harvesting

 To meet the increasing demands of water
 To raise the water table by recharging the ground water
 To reduce the Ground water contamination from intrusion of salt water
 To reduce the surface run off loss
 To increase hydrostatic pressure to stop land subsidence.
 To minimize water crisis and water conflicts.

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UNIT II- NATURAL RESOURCES AND ITS CONSERVATION

II. Concept of rain water harvesting

 Rain water harvesting involves collecting and storing water through PVC or akuminium
Pipe to a nearby storage unit.
 A smoother, cleaner and more impervious roofing material gives quality and quantity of
water.
III. Advantages of rain water harvesting
 Reduction in the use of current for pumping water
 Mitigating the effects of drought
 Rise in ground water levels
 Minimizing the soil erosion and flood hazards
 Future generation is assured of water.

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