People and the planet

• Scientists believe human beings first developed in

East Africa 200 000years ago then spread to the
North and other areas.
Early times
• Since this time human life has changed a lot.
• The earliest people lived as hunters and
gatherers.
• They lived in small groups and collected enough
food from their environment.
• They moved from one place to the next to allow
the plants to regrow and animals to reproduce.
• They also used wood and grass to make
temporary shelters.
• Later on people began to practice farming, they
cleared land and grew crops
• Farming provided food for more people who
gathered in villages, cities and towns
• People started taking other occupations like
pottery, cloth and furniture making.
• Trade in goods grew between countries.
• They used animals for ploughing and transport.
• Animals like cows and horses were domesticated
• Animal power was faster than using hand tools.
• Wood was used as a fuel to provide heat for
cooking and keeping warm. It was also used in
pottery making.
 Early machines
• About 2200 years ago the ancient Greeks invented a
water mill.
• It used water power to grind flour.
• it had a wheel turned by water and a mechanism to
transfer this turning motion to stones for grinding flour.
• Water power was also used for sawing wood, weaving.
• Windmills were invented between 1500 and 1100 year
in Persia.
• Its main purpose was to grind flour and pumping
water.
The water mill
The early wind mill
 The steam engines
• It was invented by Thomas Savery in 1698 in England.
• Produced up and down movements and was used to
pump water out of mines.
• James Watt built a better version in 1783 which could
produce rotary motion like water wheel and wind
mills.
• In time the engine became powerful and was used to
drive different machines in factories, eg paper mills
and iron works
• This was when the industrial revolution got underway.
• People moved to cities in large numbers to
work in factories and earn more money.
• It was better than working on farms.
• Many industrial towns grew and huge
amounts of smoke were produced into the air
polluting it.
 Generating electricity
• Michael Faraday discovered how to generate electricity
in the 19th century.
• This lead to the development of the generator.
• When a magnet is made to move quickly past a wire a
current of electricity is generated.
• water for the steam engine was heated using coal
• Other sources of energy today include gas and oil.
• These sources are fossil fuels because they were made
from previously living things.
• Fossil fuels are non renewable, this means they can not
be easily replaced once used up.
• Nuclear fuel from uranium is also non renewable.
• Some power stations use renewable energy
sources.
• These include
1. hydroelectric power stations,
2. wind turbines,
3. geothermal enegy( from hot rocks in the earths
crust),
4. Solar from the sunlight
5. Biofuels from plants grown for energy production
eg ethanol from sugarcane
6. Renewable energy sources can be easily replaced.
 Transport
• The steam engine was used to transport people
and goods in steam run locomotives.
• The locomotives helped people transport heavy
loads quickly over long distances.
• Petrol and diesel engines were later on
developed, these are still used today in cars ,
buses and trucks.
• Petrol and diesel are made from oil
• Jet engines were developed in the mid 20th
century and are now used in most aircrafts
• They run from kerosene which is made from oil.
• Fuels in steam, petrol, diesel and jet engines
produce carbon dioxide gas which causes
global warming.
• Carbon dioxide gas helps the atmosphere hold
onto heat from the sun.
 People today
• Some people still use animals to provide power,
fuel wood for cooking and keeping warm just like
people in the past.
• In places where industry has developed many
people have electricity in homes and workplaces.
• They travel in vehicles and buy food instead of
growing it.
• Some fly from one country to the other.
 Changes in the environment
Changes on land.
• Destruction of habitats
• Pollution from burning fossil fuels and use of
pesticides and fertilisers in farms
• Deaths of non targeted organisms due to
bioaccumulation of poisons
• Destruction of the environment by mining
activities
 Changes at sea
• Oil spillages kill sea organisms
• Spillages can last for many years without breaking
down.
Changes in the atmosphere
• Gases in the atmosphere were produced by volcanoes
• They included water vapour, carbon dioxide, and
nitrogen
• As plants photosynthesised they produced oxygen
• The ultraviolet rays from the sun reacted with oxygen
producing ozone.
• Ozone screens out harmful rays from the sun
 The greenhouse effect
• Rays from the sun get to earth and warm it
• Some heat is radiated back to space.
• As it goes back to space some is absorbed by carbon
dioxide and remains trapped. (This is greenhouse
effect).
• Today the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere
has increased due to use of fossil fuels.
• This means more heat is trapped around earth by the
carbon dioxide.
• When more heat is trapped temperature increase and
this is called global warming.
 Acid rain
• Some gases that are released into the air eg
sulphur dioxide react with water droplets in
clouds making rain slightly acidic.
• These gases are produced by volcanic
eruptions and by burning fossil fuels.
• Acid rain kills plants, damages the soil and kills
aquatic organisms.
 The ozone layer
• In the 1920s chlorofluorocarbon (CFCs) gases
were used as coolants in refridgerators
• These CFCs were released into the
atmosphere and reacted with ozone thus
destroying it.
• Countries have agreed to stop using CFCs so as
to save the ozone layer.
 Saving the planet
• Avoid cutting down trees as this destroys
habitats.
• Switch off electrical lights and equipment not in
use.
• Do not leave TVs and computers on standby
• Use low energy light bulbs
• Dry clothes outside instead of the tumble dryer
• Put on warm clothes rather than using heaters
• Recycle paper instead of cutting down trees.
• Reusing things like plastic bags and bottles
• Use cloth bags in place of plastic bags
• Governments should set up rules that protect
the environment
• Setting up protected areas eg botanical
gardens and national parks.