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Environment Geography NCERT
Notes For UPSC
NCERT Notes on Environment is an integral topic of Geography subject for the UPSC IAS exam. We
can say that the environment is the place where we all exist together. The term environment
means anything that surrounds us all.
• Environment can be living like biotic or nonliving abiotic things.
• It includes physical, chemical and other natural forces.
• The living and non-living things of the environment constantly interact with each other
and adapt themselves to conditions of their environment.
The people who are in different fields of knowledge use the word environment too very
differently. The environment electromagnetic waves are radio waves and other radiations of
electromagnetic and magnetic fields. The environment that is of the galaxy usually refers to
conditions of the interstellar medium.
Check the detailed UPSC Mains Syllabus here!
In medical and psychology a person's environment is the people, the physical things and the
places that the person lives with. The environment usually affects the growth and then the
development of the person. It is said that it affects the person's behavior, the body, and the
mind and heart as well.
Read these NCERT notes on Environment carefully to prepare for UPSC IAS exam and other
competitive exams.
The Ecosystem
The term ecosystem is an area that is geographic where plants, and the animals, and other
organisms as well as weather and landscape all of them work together to form a bubble of life.
The ecosystems contain livin or the biotic part along with the abiotic factors or even the
nonliving parts. The factors that are biotic include plants, and the animals, and other
organisms. There are some of the abiotic factors including rocks, the temperature, and
humidity.
Every factor in an ecosystem usually depends on every other factor that is either indirectly and
directly. When there is a change in the temperature of an ecosystem it will often affect what
plants will grow there for instance we say that. Animals that totally depend on plants for food
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and shelter as well will have to adapt to the changes, move to another ecosystem or it is to
perish.
Check the NCERT Notes Geography on Structure of Atmosphere here.
Biodegradable And Non-Biodegradable Waste of the Environment
As the number of people which are present on Earth increases, naturally, we need more and
even more resources to satisfy everyone’s needs and wants. We can say that with the current
population that is at 7.4 billion, which is only increasing day by day, we cannot generally
expect to utilize a lesser number of resources. We need more land and even more water and
more food, more oil, more factories, etc. Naturally we can explain that more waste will also be
generated. Now let’s understand that what happens to the waste that we add to the
environment, there are two kinds of processes which we can perform:
Biodegradable Waste:
There are such substances which can be broken down into their simpler forms or substances
by the process that are biological or are carried out by certain kinds of microorganisms. And
hence, they will decompose slowly. For example, the biodegradable substances include
natural substances such as vegetable peels, the tea leaves, the stale food, the cotton, the
woolen or the silk clothes, etc.
Non-biodegradable Waste:
There are substances that cannot be broken down by the action of certain bacteria and other
microorganisms and then these do not get decomposed easily. The pressure and heat do
affect such substances, however they take a lot of time to decompose and instead harm the
ecosystem.
Also, check the NCERT Notes Geography on Endogenic Processes here.
Food Web And Food Chain
Before we can understand the movement of a food web, it is very important to look at a food
chain and understand it. In the term which is simplest of all a food chain shows us the
movement of energy from producers to consumers. For example we can say that a plant that
uses photosynthesis to make another form of energy. The plant that we have around is then
eaten by a worm. The earthworm is then eaten by a bird instead. This is a very simple food
chain.
• The plant - to the worm - to the bird.
The food chains generally happen in all of the ecosystems. However we can say that there is
the type of producers and consumers that vary. For example there is a food chain which is
present in a forest ecosystem that is different from a food chain found within a pond
ecosystem.
For example the plants - to the deer - the humans.
• The grass - to the goats - the tigers.
• The flowers - to the mice - to the snakes - to the eagles.
• The grass - to the rabbit - the fox - the coyote.
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While there is a food chain that follows a singular path of energy from a producer to a top
predator and then food webs illustrate that is the way different animals are interconnected and
interact in a food chain. For instance we can say that there are several predators that can eat a
mouse or a rabbit. It also explores the different paths which energy can take within an
ecosystem.
For example there is phytoplankton which can be eaten by primary consumers like small
planktivorous or the fish, then the benthic invertebrates, and bivalves in a bay ecosystem.
There are even small planktivorous fish that can then be eaten by secondary consumers,
which includes gulls, the wading birds, and large fish. Those large fish can then be eaten by
the tertiary consumer or the third level, like the bald eagle.
Check the NCERT Notes Geography on Continental Drift for UPSC.
Ozone Layer
The ozone layer is a region in the planet's stratosphere that contains high concentrations of
ozone and protects the earth from the harmful ultraviolet radiations or we say it the UV rays of
the sun.
The depletion of the Ozone layer is the gradual thinning of the earth’s ozone layer in the upper
atmosphere that is caused due to the release of chemical compounds which contain gaseous
bromine or chlorine from industries or other activities of humans.
• Avoid using pesticides
We can use Natural ones should be used to get rid of pests and weeds instead of using the
these chemicals. One can use some of the eco-friendly chemicals to remove the pests
solutions or remove the weeds manually.
for avoiding • Minimize the use of vehicles
it from the The vehicles which emit a very large amount of greenhouse gases that usually
depletion: lead to the effect of global warming as well as the depletion of the ozone layer.
Therefore, the use of vehicles which we did on our day to day lives should be
minimized as much as possible.
• Use Eco-friendly cleaning products
Most of the products which are cleaned have chlorine and bromine releasing chemicals that
find a way into the atmosphere and then it affects the ozone layer. These should be substituted
with all natural products to protect the environment.
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