ENVIRONMENTAL

PROBLEMS AND Musadiq Zahoor

MODELS Shuja Rehman

1) Air Pollution

2) Water Pollution

3) Solid Wastes

4) Agro-chemicals and their Effects

5) Global Warming

6) Deforestation

7) Mining

8) Ozone Depletion in the Stratosphere

1) Air Pollution
Every day, the average person inhales about 20,000 liters of air.
Every time we breathe, we risk inhaling dangerous chemicals
that have found their way into the air.

Air pollution includes all contaminants found in the

atmosphere. These dangerous substances can be either in the
form of gases or particles.

Air pollution can be found both outdoors and indoors.

Pollutants can be trapped inside buildings, causing indoor
pollution that lasts for a long time.

The sources of air pollution are both natural and

human-based. As one might expect, humans have been
producing increasing amounts of pollution as time has
progressed, and they now account for the majority of pollutants
released into the air.
Fundamental causes of air pollution

• Industrialization set in motion the widespread use of fossil fuels

which are now the main drivers of pollution as we know it.

• Population growth causes the demand for food and other goods
to go up, which is met by expanded production and use of natural
resources. This then leads to higher levels of atmospheric pollution.

• Globalization has in a way become a facilitator of air pollution.

Big industry takes advantage of lax environmental controls in
developing nations and moves its manufacturing facilities to such
“pollution havens” from where air pollution travels around the world
without any obstacles.
 Air Pollution Effects

Of course, atmospheric pollution would not be such a big problem if it weren’t for its
harmful effects on humans, animals, trees and the wider environment.

We can distinguish between short-term acute effects and long-term chronic effects of air
pollution. Air pollutants enter the body primarily through the respiratory system which thus
becomes their main victim.

Each air pollutant exerts their own specific adverse impacts, ranging from mild to really
damaging.
 AIR POLLUTION SOLUTION

Air pollution has many disastrous effects that need to be curbed. In order to accomplish this, governments,
scientists and environmentalists are using or testing a variety of methods aimed at reducing pollution.
There are two main types of pollution control.

INPUT CONTROL involves preventing a problem before it occurs, or at least limiting the effects the process
will produce.
Five major input control methods exist. People may try to restrict population growth use less energy, improve
energy efficiency, reduce waste, and move to non-polluting renewable forms of energy production. Also,
automobile-produced pollution can be decreased with highly beneficial results.

OUTPUT CONTROL the opposite method, seeks to fix the problems caused by air pollution. This usually
means cleaning up an area that has been damaged by pollution.
Input controls are usually more effective than output controls. Output controls are also more expensive, making
them less desirable to tax payers and polluting industries.
Current air pollution control efforts are not all highly effective. In wealthier countries, industries are often able to
shift to methods that decrease air pollution. In the United States, for example, air pollution control laws have
been successful in stopping air pollution levels from rising. However, in developing countries and even in
countries where pollution is strictly regulated, much more needs to be done.
 Water Pollution
Water Pollution occurs when energy and other materials are released into the water,
contaminating the quality of it for other users.
• Water pollution can be defined as presence of solid, liquid or gaseous contaminants in such
concentration that may alter the quality of water.
• Water pollution is defined as the addition to water of an excess material or heat that is
harmful to the living organism or which impairs the beneficial use of water.
 Types of water pollution

Surface water pollution

found on the exterior of the Earth's crust, oceans, rivers and lakes

Groundwater Pollution
found in soil or under rock structure or aquifers

Microbiological pollution
microorganisms that thrives on water and fishes that can cause illness to land
animals and humans
Oxygen Depletion pollution
microorganisms that in water and feeds on biodegradable substances
 Cause of water pollution

Marine Dumping
Industrial Waste
Sewage, mainly from households
Nuclear waste
Oil pollution
Underground storage leaks
 Effects of water pollution
Effects on environment
• Toxic water
• Thermal heating
• Our sources of water

Effects on humans
Diseases caused by:
• Drinking contaminated water
• Swimming in polluted water
• Contact with chemically polluted water

Effects on animals
• 200 turtles in Australia’s surround
waters die each year
• Birds and mammals become coated
with oil
 SOLID WASTES
• Solid wastes refer to everything that goes out in trash.
• Municipal solid wastes are wastes from homes, offices, stores, schools,
hospitals, etc., that are collected and disposed by the municipality.
• The municipal solid wastes generally comprise paper, food wastes,
plastics, glass, metals, rubber, leather, textile, etc. Burning reduces the
volume of the wastes,
• Sanitary landfills were adopted as the substitute for open-burning
dumps. In a sanitary landfill,
• wastes are dumped in a depression or trench after compaction,
and
• covered with dirt everyday.
• Landfills are also not really much of a solution since the amount of
garbage generation specially in the metros has increased so much that
these sites are getting filled too. Also there is danger of seepage of
chemicals, etc., from these landfills polluting the underground water
resources.
 SOLUTION

A solution to all this can only be in human beings becoming more sensitive
to these environment issues. All waste that we generate can be categorised
into three types – (a) bio-degradable
(b) recyclable
(c) the non-biodegradable.
It is important that all garbage generated is sorted. What can be reused or
recycled should be separated out; our kabaddi wallahs and rag-pickers do a
great job of separation of materials for recycling. The biodegradable
materials can be put into deep pits in the ground and be left for natural
breakdown. That leaves only the non-biodegradable to be disposed off.
The need to reduce our garbage generation should be a prime goal,
instead, we are increasing the use of non-biodegradable products.
 Agro-chemicals and their Effects
• Agrochemicals are chemicals which are used in agriculture.
• These are used to improve quality and quantity of food.

EFFECT OF AGROCHEMICALS ON
ENVIRONMENT
• Soil
• Water
• Air
• Human health
NEGATIVE IMPACTS OF EFFECT ON WATER
AGROCHEMICALS ON SOIL HEALTH • Water become unfit for drinking.
• Kills beneficial organisms. • The runoff of
• Increase in nitrate levels of soils. agrochemicals into
• Damage natural make up of soil. streams, lakes, and other
• Alters the pH. surface waters can
• Decrease soil quality. increase the growth of
• Kills soil organisms. algae.
• Toxic to microbes. • Eutrophication- Change
• Toxicity availability of nutrients.
in quality and
• Kills earthworms.
composition of aquatic
• Growth regulators:
ecosystems by
• Residual effect.
• Toxic to soil organisms. accumulation of
excessive chemicals in
water bodies.
• Polluted water leading to the
death of fish and other aquatic
animals.
• Excessive use of agrochemicals
has led to the contamination of
groundwater .
EFFECT ON AIR EFFECT ON HUMAN
• Pesticides can contribute to air pollution. HEALTH
• Pesticide drift occurs when pesticides suspended in
• Direct effect
the air as particles are carried by wind to other
areas. • Indirect effect
• Weather conditions at the time of application as well  Air
as temperature and relative humidity change the  Water
spread of the pesticide in the air.  Food chain
• Low relative humidity and high temperature
 Ingestion
result in more spray evaporating.
• The polluted air is inhaled by humans end with up
with different diseases.
Deforestation

Jungle burned for agriculture in southern Mexico

Logging in
Malaysia.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
CAUSED BY DEFORESTATION
Burning forests and decay of wood after logging contribute to the release of
greenhouse gases
Loss of biodiversity
Forests are important parts of hydrologic cycle in nature
Mining

Chuquicamata, the largest open pit copper mine in the world, Chile
Iron hydroxide precipitate stains a
stream receiving acid drainage
from surface coal mining.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
OF MINING
Land/soil erosion
Formation of sinkholes,
Loss of biodiversity in the area
Contamination of groundwaters by chemicals from the mining process and products.
Abandoned mines can still pose safety hazards such as deadly gases
CHEMICALS USED FOR
MINING
Sodium cyanide for extraction of gold
Sulphuric acid for extraction of copper from copper oxides
If these chemicals are not handled properly, serious environmental impacts may
occur to the neighbouring environment
Global Warming
ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS OF
GLOBAL WARMING
Melting of permafrost and polar ice
Rising sea level
Spread of pests and disease
Ecological impacts (e.g. disturbed life cycle of flora-fauna)
This image is of the Easton Glacier on Mount Baker in the
North Cascades of Washington taken in 2003. It shows the
terminus position of the glacier in 1985 as well.
“TRAGEDY OF THE
COMMONS”
Free access and unrestricted demand for a finite resource ultimately
dooms the resource through over-exploitation.
Release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere is one example. As
everyone can release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere with little
personal consequence, people tends to care very little about limiting
its emission.
Overfishing in the open sea is another example. If everyone with a
fishing boat can fish as much as they like, they will eventually drive
the fish stock to commercially extinct.
STATE OF GLOBAL FISHERIES
The FAO State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2004 report
estimates that in 2003, of the main fish stocks or groups of
resources for which assessment information is available,
"approximately one-quarter were overexploited, depleted or
recovering from depletion… and needed rebuilding.“
edible fish are endangered in 14 of the world's 16 major fishing
areas
 MAJOR BIRD MIGRATION
FLYWAYS

Birds species that migrate to the Arctic coasts and

wetlands arrive from nearly every corner of the planet
GIANT PANDA
 MAJOR
CONCERNS CAUSE ILLNESS
AND DEATH

PEACE AND SECURITY DAMAGE TO

HABITAT AND
ECOSYSTEMS

TRANSBOUNDARY IMPACTS
- Acid rain
- Haze pollution
- Water pollution
LOSS OF PLANT
- Nuclear fallout
AND ANIMAL LIFE

ECONOMIC
CONSEQUENCES LOSS OF NATURAL
RESOURCES
 MODELS A MODEL IS A SIMPLIFIED REPRESENTATION OF REALITY, BASED ON CONCEPTS,
HYPOTHESES, AND THEORIES OF HOW THE REAL SYSTEM WORKS

Environmental systems are generally characterized by four main features.

(i) Environmental systems generally depend on complex nonlinear interactions of different system components.
(ii) The main forcing variables or states of environmental systems, such as those related to climate, topography,
soil types or population density are commonly extremely heterogeneous, varying over fairly small temporal and
spatial scales. This means that data collected at larger scales is often insufficient to fully characterize the
variability of the system.
(iii) The characteristic temporal and spatial scales of environmental system components are often incompatible,
meaning that it presents challenges for combining models of different system components.
(iv) Many environmental systems are inaccessible, or their processes are unobservable, for example groundwater
behavior cannot be observed directly; rather it must be inferred using sparse measurements. As well, observations
are typically errorladen. This can limit human understanding of environmental processes and can impede the
creation of accurate system models.
TYPES OF MODELS
Three main types of models are used to model environmental systems:
empirical, conceptual and process-based models.
These model types differ in complexity,
• with empirical models generally being considered to be the most simple model type, used for describing
aggregate processes, and process-based models being the most complex model type, generally containing a
large number of spatially distributed parameters.
• Conceptual models are considered to have a complexity between these two model types. Different types of
models are more commonly used with different environmental systems. For example, climate models tend to
be very complex process (physics) models containing a very large number of parameters and modeling over
very large distributed spatial scales.
• Empirical or stochastic models are more commonly used in areas such as ecological modeling, to model
population or biodiversity.
Integrating ecological and
environmental models helps
understand the science and
management of ecosystems and
environmental problem solving.
Conceptual: system description and
problem definition
• Define the questions to be answered by the
model
• Verbal descriptions, assumptions, questions
• Graphical block diagrams and arrows
• Identify biological (species, organisms) and
physical and chemical (abiotic) components
• Identify scales in time and space
Mathematical: model and components
• Equations
• Parameters, variables, units
• Preliminary analysis
Simulation: numerical analysis
• Use available data for calibration or
parameter estimation
• Perform sensitivity analysis
• Use available data for model evaluation
• Define scenarios to be simulated
Analysis: generation of results
• Answer the questions that motivated using
the model
 EXAMPLES
POPULATION DYNAMICS

A population could be defined as a collection of organisms of the same species in a given region (Ford, 1999; Hallam, 1986b; Keen and Spain, 1992). The
exponential model applies to nonstructured, spatially homogeneous populations and assumes density-independent growth, which is to say the per capita rate is
independent of population density. By population density we mean the number of individuals per unit area or per unit volume, depending on what type of
population we are considering. For example, for trees we may use individuals per unit area, and for zooplankton we may use individuals per unit volume (of water).
Therefore, units of population density are expressed in [individuals] ・ L−2 or L−3. For simplicity we will use [ind] or [indiv] to denote population density
regardless of whether we are dealing with area or volume. The main assumption of the exponential population model is (Hallam, 1986b) that the net rate of change
is proportional to the density, X: rate of change = r × density

Mathematically, the ODE is given by

dX/dt = rX (3.8)

The constant r is the per capita rate of change or the rate coefficient. The letter r commonly denotes the rate coefficient in population dynamics. The net rate of
change, rX, will vary according to the value of X at any particular time, t. The units are: for density [ind] and for rate [ind] ・ T−1. For example, if the unit of t is
[days] then the unit of r is [days−1] and the unit of dX/dt is [ind days−1].

CHEMICAL FATE

In this case, the dependent variable X denotes the concentration of a compound in some environmental medium, for example, in water, sediments of a stream, or
soil (Ford, 1999, pp. 29–30; Keen and Spain, 1992, pp. 17–22). The simplest assumption is linearity or first-order kinetics that leads to an exponential model
stating that the rate of decay or degradation or breakdown is proportional to the concentration:

MONOD KINETICS
EXAMPLES
BIOACCUMULATION

To estimate the effects of a pollutant or toxicant on an organism, we have to model how fast the pollutant enters the organism (i.e., uptake) and how fast it
leaves the organism, that is, depuration or clearance (Calabrese and Baldwin, 1993; Jorgensen, 1988; O’Connor et al., 1989). The balance between these
two processes determines how much of it accumulates in the organism, for example, the net rate of accumulation in the body of an animal. To determine
the uptake, we examine the entry pathways of the toxic substance into the body, for example, whether it enters with the food or directly from the
environment (air or water). To determine the depuration, we examine the ways of getting rid of the compound, for example, metabolic breakdown or
excretion rate.
GROUND WATER AS A CASE
CONCLUSION
• Understanding is required of the process humans get involved in and how does it
effect the environment
•To model the effects is necessary to understand the quantity and prepare