Biosphere as a system for guaranteeing of human existence

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Biosphere as a system for guaranteeing of human
existence
Lecturer assistant Nedoshytko Khrystyna
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PLAN

1. The structure of biosphere
2. Ecosystem as a unit of biosphere
3. Human ecology as ecology of Homo sapiens
4. Pollution of environment

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• At the first time the term "biosphere" was coined
  by austrian geologist Eduard Suess in 1875 he
  defined
• The biosphere is the aggregate of different
  organisms that live on Earth's surface.
• In the 1929 the term "Biosphere" was coined by
  Russian scientist Vladimir Vernadsky as
• The biosphere is the life zone of the Earth and
  consists of all living organisms, including human
  beings, and all organic matters.

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The structure of biosphere

• Biosphere has 3 phases of substances
• Liquid
• Solid
• Gas
• The parts of hydrosphere, atmosphere and
  lithosphere (where the organisms live) belong to
  biosphere.

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Atmospheric gas composition (average).
Concentrations of gases shown in color are rising
due to human activities.
Gas Mole fraction
Nitrogen (N2) 0.78
Oxygen (O2) 0.21
Water (H2O) 0.04 to lt 5x10-3 4x10-6 strat
Argon (Ar) 0.0093
Carbon Dioxide (CO2) 370x10-6 (date 2000)
Neon (Ne) 18.2x10-6
Ozone (O3) 0.02x10-6 to 10x10-6
Helium (He) 5.2x10-6
Methane (CH4) 1.7x10-6
Krypton (Kr) 1.1x10-6
Hydrogen (H2) 0.55x10-6
Nitrous Oxide (N2O) 0.32x10-6
Carbon Monoxide (CO) 0.03x10-6 to 0.3x10-6
Chlorofluorocarbons 3.0x10-9
Carbonyl Sulfide (COS) 0.1x10-9
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Atmosphere structure

• Earth's atmosphere extends more than 560
  kilometers (348 miles) above the planet's surface
  and is divided into four layers, each of which
  has distinct thermal, chemical, and physical
  properties. Life can exist only in the lowest
  part of atmosphere troposphere.

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Hydrosphere

• Water is essential substance for all living
  organisms on Earth and plays a key role in the
  evolution and development of life on our planet.
• The biosphere as we know would not exist without
  liquid water (for example, planet of Solar system
  Mars).
• Water is also important for living organisms to
  transport the soluble nutrients (phosphates and
  nitrates).

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Hydrosphere structure

• Oceans are divided into zones that offer a wide
  range of conditions for life.

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Lithosphere

• Soil is the component of lithosphere. It contains
  mineral and organic matters. All living organisms
  can use these matters for their nutrition and
  development.

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Lithosphere structure
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Anthroposphere

• It is that part of the environment that is made
  or modified by humans for use for human
  activities and human habitats. It is sometimes
  also called technosphere.
• Human population causes the destruction of
  different parts of biosphere (deforestation,
  desertification, pollution etc.).

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Ecology

• Ecology is the scientific study of relationships
  in the natural world.
• It includes relationships
• -between organisms and their physical
  environments (physiological ecology)
• -between organisms of the same species
  (population ecology)
• -between organisms of different species
  (community ecology)
• -between organisms and the fluxes of matter and
  energy through biological systems (ecosystem
  ecology).

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• Ecosystem is the complex association of plants,
  animals, fungi, and microorganisms that interact
  with their nonliving environment in such way to
  regulate the flow of energy through them and the
  cycling ofnutrients within them. Ecosystem
  consists of both living (biotic) and nonliving
  (abiotic) components.

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Abiotic factors
They include

• soil,
• water,
• light,
• inorganic matters,
• weather.

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Biotic factors

• They are the factors of the living nature. There
  are 2 forms of interaction of biotic factors
• Predation
• Symbiosis.

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Predation

• One animal,
• the predator
• kills and eats
• another animal,
• the prey.

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Symbiosis

• It is a biological relationship in which two
  dissimilar organisms live together in a close
  association. Biologists distinguish three main
  types of symbiosis
• parasitism,
• commensalisms,
• mutualism.

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Parasitism

• It is a relationship where one species benefits
  and the other is harmed.

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Commensalisms

• It is a relationship where one
• species benefits and the
• other is not affected.

Entamoeba coli
Mutualism
It is a relationship where both species benefit
.
Escherichia coli
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Living components

• Producers are autotrophic organisms with the
  capability of carrying on photosynthesis and
  making food for themselves (green plants on land
  and algae in water). A plant fixes about 1 of
  the solar energy that falls on its green parts.
• Photosynthesis a process where by
  chlorophyll-containing organisms trap sunlight
  energy to build a sugar from carbon dioxide and
  water.

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Living components

• Concumers are heterotrophic organisms that use
  preformed food. There are 4 types of consumers
• Herbivores (primary consumers) feed directly on
  green plants or plant products.
• Examples are grasshoppers, mice, rabbits,
• deer, beavers, moose, cows, sheep,
• goats and groundhogs.
• Carnivores (secondary or tertiary, consumers)
  feed on only other animals.
• Examples are foxes, frogs, snakes,
• lions

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Living components

• Omnivores feed on both plants and animals.
• Examples of omnivores are
• bears, turtles, monkeys,
• squirrels. A human being
• eating both leafy
• green vegetables and beef
• is an omnivore too.
• Decomposers feed
• on detritus.
• There are a bacterial
• and fungal species.

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Every ecosystem is characterized by 2
fundamental phenomena

• -energy flow
• -chemical cycling

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Chemical cycling

• water cycle
• carbon cycle

• nitrogen cycle
• oxygen cycle

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Energy flow

• It occurs because all the energy content of
  organic food is eventually lost to the
  environment as heat.
• It begins
• when
• producers
• absorb
• solar
• energy.

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Energy and nutrient transfer through ecosystems
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The sequence of organisms through which energy
may move in a community is called a food chain.
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• Human ecology views human communities and human
  populations as part of the ecosystem of Earth. It
  is the special ecology of the species Homo
  sapiens.
• In the world, human ecology was established as a
  sociological field in the 1920's, although
  geographers were using the term much earlier.

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Nowadays the main development line of
human ecology is directed to the decision
of the problems by the environment, ways of the
rational usage of nature , the optimization of
human life conditions in diverse anthropological
systems.
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• The object of investigation is the system

Environment
Human
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The structure of environment
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The place of human ecology in the system of
ecological sciences

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• Human ecology uses many methods of investigation

• mathematical
• statistical
• biochemical
• physical
• bacteriological
• clinical
• physiological etc.

• Human ecology is connected with many sciences

• immunology
• hygiene of environment
• ecotoxicology
• medical geography etc.

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The main terms of human ecology

• Hygiene standard is the definite range of
  values of the environmental factor which is
  optimal or is not dangerous for human health,
  activity and life
• Maximum permissible concentration is maximum
  amount of toxic substance in unit of volume or
  mass of water, air or soil which does not have
  any influence to human health
• Maximum permissible level is periodical or
  permanent influence of the environmental factor
  to human organism which can not cause any
  diseases or changes in human health condition
• Maximum permissible dose is the amount of toxic
  substance which penetrating in human organism
  does not hurt it.

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In real conditions humans feel the influence of
different environmental factors.
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The influence of physical factors to human
organism

• solar activity there is the close connection
  between death, birth and solar activity.

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• If there are spots on the sun surface, people
  have bad mood, their activity is reduced, there
  is an accentuation of chronic diseases,
  especially diseases of cardiovascular and central
  nervous systems.

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• weather it can have different influence to
  human organism. It influences to human behavior
  and psychological condition. Many peoples suffer
  foehnic disease 1-2 days before the beginning
  wind weather

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• temperature high temperature can change
• the immunological reactionary
• of human organism, reduces
• the attention and causes
• anemia. Low temperature can
• change the system of
• thermoregulation of human
• organism. It reduces
• metabolism and
• immunological reactions to
• different infections.

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The influence of anthropogenic factors to human
organism

• ozone hole it can pass ultraviolet rays that
  effect human cells, cause mutations.

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• greenhouse effect it is the increase of
  environmental temperature (global warming) that
  has negative influence to human organism.

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• acid rains they can hurt human respiratory
  tracts and skin, attack fruits and vegetables.

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• photochemical fogs it is the mixture of
  different gases that are wastes from the plants
  of chemical industry and transport. It hurts
  human respiratory tracts and causes poisoning.

Santiago/Chile/Winter 2003
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• heavy metals lead, mercury, manganese, zinc,
  chromium etc. they are poisons that hurt all
  organs and central nervous system in human
  organism, cause pathological changes in them.

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Effects on humans

• Some of these elements are actually necessary for
  humans in minute amounts (cobalt, copper,
  chromium, manganese, nickel) while others are
  carcinogenic or toxic, affecting central nervous
  system (manganese, mercury, lead, arsenic),
  kidneys or liver (mercury, lead, cadmium, copper)
  or skin, bones, teeth (nickel, cadmium, copper,
  chromium).

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Water pollution

• Water is the most spread nonorganic substance in
  whole world. It is the basis of all processes in
  alive organisms and it is the unique source of
  oxygen in the process of photosynthesis. The
  biosphere would not exist without liquid water.

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• Hydrosphere is polluted with human help.
  Industrial wastes
• can include heavy metals and organic chlorides,
  such as
• pesticides. These materials are not destroyed
  under natural
• conditions. So they accumulate in the bottom mud
  of deltas
• of highly polluted rivers and cause environmental
  problems.

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Every year 5 million peoples die in the result of
poisoning by polluted water. Nowadays new
diseases appear that are connected with chemical
water pollution.

• Itay-itay it is the disease caused by water
  with high concentration of cadmium
• Minomata it is the disease caused by water with
  high concentration of mercury
• Molybdenum podagra it is the disease caused by
  water with high concentration of molybdenum
• Fluorosis - it is the disease caused by water
  with high concentration of fluor.

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land pollution

• The geosphere and biosphere are intimately
  connected through soils, which consist of a
  mixture of air, mineral matters, organic matters,
  and water. Soils can accumulate almost all toxic
  substances.

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The main sources of soil pollution are

• Industry
• Transport
• Agriculture.

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• In agriculture people use pesticides and
  nitrates. These substances are very dangerous and
  toxic. They can cause mutations, cancer,
  pathological processes in central nervous system,
  respiratory and alimentary tracts, skin.

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Teratogen is any agent that can disturb the
development of an embryo or fetus. Teratogens may
cause a birth defect in the child. The classes of
teratogens include -radiation, -maternal
infections, -chemicals, -drugs.
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air pollution

• Air pollution is
• the introduction
• of chemicals,
• particulate matters
• or biological
• materials that
• cause harm or
• discomfort to
• humans or other living organisms, into the
• atmosphere.

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The results of air pollution

• Photochemical smog
• Acid deposition
• Global warming
• Destruction of the ozone shield.

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DEFORESTATION

• Human population
• poses a threat to
• the biosphere by
• habitat destruction,
• especially by the
• destruction of
• tropical rainforests
• (deforestation).
• This process is driving thousands of species to
  extinction each year and reducing biological
  diversity.

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SOUND POllution
It is excessive, displeasing human,
animal or machine-created environmental
noise that disrupts the activity or
balance of human or animal life.
The source of most outdoor noise worldwide
is mainly construction and transportation
systems, including motor vehicle noise,
aircraft noise and rail noise. Noise
pollution can cause annoyance and aggression,
hypertension, high stress levels, tinnitus,
hearing loss, sleep disturbances, and other
harmful effects. Furthermore, stress and
hypertension are the leading causes to health
problems, whereas tinnitus can lead to
forgetfulness, severe depression and at times
panic attacks. High noise can contribute to
cardiovascular effects. It can increase or
decrease blood pressure that lead to coronary
artery disease.
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RADIATION POllution
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The Chernobyl disaster

• The Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear accident
  that occurred on 26 of April in 1986 at the
  Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the Ukrainian
  SSR (now Ukraine). It is considered the worst
  nuclear power plant accident in history, and it
  is the only one classified as a level 7 event on
  the International Nuclear Event Scale.

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• Acute radiation syndrome (ARS) also known as
  radiation poisoning, radiation sickness or
  radiation toxicity, is a constellation of health
  effects which occur within several months of
  exposure to high amounts of ionizing radiation.
• The onset and type of symptoms that develop
  depends on the dose of radiation exposure.
• Relatively smaller doses result in
• gastrointestinal effects such as
• nausea and vomiting and symptoms
• related to falling blood counts such
• as infection and bleeding.
• Relatively larger doses can result
• in neurological effects and rapid
• death. Treatment of acute radiation
• syndrome is generally supportive with
• blood transfusions and antibiotics.

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It Is Not Too Late
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Reduce, Reuse and Recycle
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Love your planet! dont harm it!
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Thank you for attention !