Department of Environmental Sciences

Env.1211:Environmental Chemistry

L2 by: Dr. Md. Mostafizur Rahman

Email: rahmanmm@juniv.edu

http://www.juniv.edu/teachers/rahmanmm
 Recap…..

Three Principles for Sustainability

Nature has sustained itself for billions of years by relying on

solar energy, biodiversity, and nutrient cycling.

our lives and economies depend on energy from the sun

and on natural resources and natural services (natural

capital) provided by the earth.

 Climate System
and
Anthropocene

Source: National Science Review

Global Life support System
The atmosphere is a thin spherical envelope of

gases surrounding the earth’s surface. Troposphere

(17 km), Stratosphere ( 17-50 km)

The hydrosphere consists of all of the water on or near

the earth’s surface. It is found as water vapor in the

atmosphere, liquid water on the surface and under-

ground, and ice—polar ice, icebergs, glaciers, and ice in

frozen soil layers called permafrost.

The geosphere consists of the earth’s intensely hot

core, a thick mantle composed mostly of rock, and

a thin outer crust.

The biosphere consists of the parts of the

atmosphere, hydrosphere, and geosphere where

life is found. If the earth were an apple, the

biosphere would be no thicker than the apple’s

skin.
One important goal of environmental science is to understand the
interactions that occur within this thin layer of air, water, soil, and
organisms.
Major Components of an Ecosystem?
Key living and nonliving
components of an ecosystem
in a field are shown in this
diagram.
This diagram shows the main
structural components of an
ecosystem (energy, chemicals,
and organisms). Nutrient cycling
and the flow of energy—first from
the sun, then through organisms,
and finally into the environment as
low-quality heat
The Water Cycle
The Carbon Cycle
Carbon Cycle
The carbon cycle is based on carbon dioxide (CO2) gas, which
makes up 0.039% of the volume of the earth’s atmosphere and
is also dissolved in water.
Carbon dioxide (along with water vapor in the water cycle)
is a key component of the atmosphere’s thermostat.

We are altering the carbon cycle mostly by adding large

amounts of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.
The Nitrogen Cycle
Nitrogen Cycle
 The major reservoir for nitrogen is the atmosphere.
Chemically unreactive nitrogen gas (N2) makes up 78% of
the volume of the atmosphere.
 Nitrogen is a crucial component of proteins, many
vitamins, and nucleic acids such as DNA.

 However, N2 cannot be absorbed and used directly as a

nutrient by multicellular plants or animals.
 Fortunately, two natural processes convert, or fix, N2 into
compounds that plants and animals can use as nutrients.

electrical discharges,
or lightning nitrogen-fixing bacteria,
The Phosphorus Cycle
 Phosphorus Cycle

Most of these compounds contain phosphate ions (PO43–),

which are a combination of phosphorus and oxygen and
which serve as an important nutrient.
The major reservoir for phosphorous is phosphate salts
containing phosphate ions (PO43–) in terrestrial rock
formations and ocean bottom sediments.
we are altering the phosphorous cycle by removing fairly
scarce phosphate ions from land areas where they are
needed by plants and feeding them in excessive amounts to
producers in aquatic systems, causing these producer
populations to explode.
The Sulfur Cycle
Sulfur Cycle
Much of the earth’s sulfur is stored underground in rocks
and minerals and in the form of sulfate (SO42–) salts buried
deep under ocean sediments.
H2S and SO2 can be released from the volcanoes
Particles of sulfate (SO42–) salts, such as ammonium sulfate,
enter the atmosphere from sea spray, dust storms, and
forest fires.
Ultimately…..

Thanks…..