Introduction to Environmental

Science
(SENG 101)
By:

DR. SAMUEL F. GYASI

©2013
Course Objectives:

 To introduce you to the world of our environment;

 Look at the environment in the light of your

profession;

 To guide you in your designs to solve

environmental and other engineering problems;

 To have a deep sense of commitment to the

environment for sustainability in your career.
 HUMANS AND THE ENVIRONMENT
Humans and Nature an Overview
 Environmental Science is broadly the protection of the
environment

 Study is based on both the pure sciences and the Social

Sciences

 To study our immediate environment the Earth and its

cosmic environment must be understood

 Earth revolves around the Sun and the only planet where
life is found.

 Failure of man to fit into the delicate structure is what is

causing the environmental problems
The Sun and Solar System
 Sun provides the earth with all the energy it needs

 Sun is one of the stars in the Milky Way Galaxy

 Hot gases make up the Sun; it is 1.35 million kilometres
in diameter and 150 million kilometres from the Earth
 Observation and facts about the sun were studied
through X-ray telescopes
 Sun is a solar fusion reactor, which constantly converts
Hydrogen atoms to produce Helium atoms
 The process involves a loss in weight, which is converted
into energy in accordance with Einstein’s law:
energy from the sun = mc2
Structure of the Sun
CORE
 Innermost part of the sun
 Temperature more than a 1,000,000 °C
 Cannot be seen

PHOTOSPHERE
 Is visible and it gives off light
 Average temperature is about 6,000 °C

CHROMOSPHERE
 Inner part of the sun’s atmosphere
 The red colour is caused by the glow of hydrogen
 The average temperature is 15,000 °C
Chromosphere and Corona are visible only during a total
solar eclipse
The sun has cooler spots known as sun spots which
appears dark
The sun keeps the earth warm, gives it light and controls
the weather
These spots are accompanied by sun flares
It provides energy for photosynthesis, and provides vitamin D.
 Without the sun, the earth’s atmospheric temperature would
be about 38°C less than what it is now
 Solar Electromagnetic spectrum
 What is light Energy? Made of many frequencies and
wave lengths of which visible light forms a part

 EMS is a name given to a several types of radiations put

together

 Radiations is a form of energy that travels and spreads out

as it moves

 Energy levels of these radiations depend;

(i) Speed
(ii) Frequency
 Gamma rays,
 x-ray
 ultraviolet (UV rays)
 Visible Light rays
 Infrared
 Microwaves
 Radio waves etc
 THE PLANETS
 A planet is a celestial body orbiting a star
 Massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity,
 Not massive enough to cause thermonuclear fusion
 Cleared its neighbouring region of planetsimals (IAU,
2006)
 Objects thought to exist in protoplanetory disk

 A rotating circum stella disc of a young dense gas

surrounding a newly formed star

 Become gravitationally dominant, and there are no other

bodies of comparable size other than its own satellites or
those otherwise under its gravitational influence
 There are 8 planets
The solar system
 Temperatures on other Planets and our Moon
Planet Mercury
 It is about 58mil. km from the sun and the nearest
 Has no atmosphere due to low gravity and high day time
temperature
 Temperature during the day is 400oC and at night
-200oC

Planet Venus
 It is 108mil. km from the sun; has thin pale yellow clouds
 Earth’s twin due to its size with a pale yellow cloud
 Atmosphere mainly C02 with 1 to 3% Nitrogen
 Has small amounts of helium, argon and water vapour and allows
only 25% of the sun’s rays to penetrate its surface and heat the
rock.
Planet Mars
 About 249 mil. km from the sun
 Referred to as the red planet with 2 moons
 Atmospheric daytime temperature ranges from 0o to 27oC
because of its C02
 Night time temperature is about –125oC because of its thin
atmosphere

Planet Jupiter
 More than 800 mil. km from the sun and has clouds
 Named after the Greek god Zeus is the 4th brightest with 2
moons
 Has H2 He, methane, water droplets and ammonia crystals
in it’s atmosphere;
 Radiate more heat back into space than it get from the sun
 Cloud top temperature is about -150oC.
Planet Saturn
 Named after sun god of Agric of the roman mythology
 It is the least dense with specific gravity of 0.7 i.e. less than water
 Atmosphere mainly 25% Hydrogen and 25% Helium with traces
of water, methane and ammonia and a rock
 Has small amounts of helium, argon and water vapour and
allows only 25% of the sun’s rays to penetrate its surface and heat
the rock.
Planet Uranus
 Named after the Greek god of the sky
 It has 7 rings
 The mass of Uranus is 14 times that of the earth.
Planet Neptune
 Named after roman god of the sea
 Is a dynamic planet with several large dark spots reminiscent of
Jupiters hurricane-like storms
 Our Planet Earth
 The planet earth is one of the 8 planets of the solar system;
often called the living planet

 The earth is 12,800 km in diameter;

 Earth’s atmosphere has large amounts of oxygen and water

vapour; help to make life possible on earth.

 Constantly revolves around the sun in an orbit once in 365 days

in a year
 About 75% of the earth’s surface is covered with
water

 97.1% of the water is Saline

 The remaining 2.9% are not available for use; tied

in icecaps, glaciers and the atmosphere

 Only 0.32% of the world’s water is available for use

The Earth’s Moon
 Has no atmosphere and therefore no weathering takes place
 Also known as lunar, Selene or Artimis
 No wind and erosion and acquires light from the sun
 Temperature is 100oC at daytime and -150oC at night time
 Plate Tectonics
 The earth experiences a lot of non human activities which
has serious consequences
 One of these is the plate Tectonics
The earth is made up of the ff:

 Lithosphere (hard plate),

 Asthenosphere (hot gases and liquid)
 Innermost part (metal core)
The Earth
Theory of Plate Tectonics begins with the idea that
the crust (lithosphere) of the earth is made up of
seven major plates and several smaller plates

 A scientific theory that describes the large scale

motions of Earth's lithosphere is known as the
Plate Tectonics
The Earth's Plate Tectonics Behaviour
Seven major lithospheric plates:
 the Pacific,
 the North American,
 the South American,
 the Eurasian,
 the African,
 the Antarctic, and
 the Australian
Asthenosphere
 Although scientist are aware of plates boundaries, they are doubtful
about its movements
 The asthenosphere is made up of hot liquid rock
 Hot liquid and gases flow outward from the inner part of the
asthenosphere
 Flow of hot liquid rock below the lithosphere causes the plates to
move
Ocean – Floor Spreading
 This concepts confirms Plate Tectonics
 These are formed in all oceans
 Deep rifts run via the centre and erupts out of the rift
 Eruption of lava from between plates can cause the opposite
edges of plates to be pushed down into the asthenosphere
 The process is called Ocean Floor Spreading
Continental Drift
Earlier theory by Wegener in 1900 postulated:
 that all the continents were once together and drifted apart
 The theory of plate tectonics is key in the understanding of
many natural occurrences like earthquakes in addition to
ocean floor spreading and continental drift
 Composition and Structure of the Earth’s
Atmosphere
 According to the temperature profile of the earth, there is heat
within the earth atmosphere which affects our environment

 Earth’s atmosphere is divided into 4 Major layers based on:

(A) Distance, temperature and gaseous composition

These are;
 Troposphere, Stratosphere, Mesosphere & Thermosphere

 The concept of the higher you go, the cooler it becomes occurs
only between the Troposphere & Mesosphere,
 That is, the stratosphere and thermosphere
The Temperature Profile of the Earth’s
Atmosphere
(B) Gaseous Composition

 Nitrogen 78.00%
 Oxygen 21.00%
 Argon 1.00%
 Carbon dioxide 0.03%
 Albedo
-Is the reflection of solar radiation back into the atmosphere

 Abt. 30% of solar radiation is reflected by clouds, dust from

industry and land clearing activities

 Abt. 70% of these is absorbed by the earth’s atmosphere,

lithosphere and hydrosphere

 Abt. 47% of the in coming radiation is used to heat the earth

 23% of the solar radiation is used to regulate the hydrological
cycle

 Abt. 0.2% is used to generate air currents and winds

 0.00023% is used for photosynthesize
Emissivity: The total amount of heat flow into space

FACTORS AFFECTING EMISSIVITY

 H2O vapour [water vapour]

 CO [Carbon monoxide]
 CO2 [Carbon dioxide]
 CH4 [methane]
 Human Societies and Their Impacts on the
Environment
Mankind has been on the planet earth and has survived via
 Cooperation
 Use of tools to gather food
 Use of language for communication
 Belief in a supreme being

However, man has survived today depending on

 Easy life style & effective knowledge transfer
 High usage of synthetic products
 Polished and refined food
 Luxurious life style & think that resources are unlimited
 Throwaway society and a rush through life
 Human Societies and Their Impacts on the
Environment

1. Early Hunter Gatherers :

 Nature controlled them
 Material possession was minimal
 Used crude tools
 Cooperation and sharing of resources
 Survival was based on ecological wisdom
 Effective social organization
 Belief in a supreme Being as the Creator

2. Advanced Hunter Gatherers :

 Had affluent life styles
 Fire for hunting and stone axes were made
 Fire destroyed their local environment
 Survival was also based on ecological wisdom
 Nature controlled this society as well
Agricultural Society :
 Learned to use fire to clear land and practiced mono
cropping
 They became shepherds of large flock
 Landscape was changed dramatically
 Plant and animal diseases (Pests)
 Communicable diseases in man
Industrial Society :
 Machines were made to manufacture goods and provide
services in agriculture
 Synthetic products to mimic natural things
 Water and Air pollution (acid rain)

Computer and Robotics Age :

 Fast transfer of information
 Rapid production, improvement and efficiency of delivery
in the manufacturing industry
 Health problems which includes blood pressure, diabetes
etc
 Increased organised crime
Nano age
Medical breakthroughs , communication, other impacts
not yet known
 Nanotechnology
 This is the design, manipulation, precision, placement,
modelling or fabrication of matter at nano scale
 At least 1 dimension should measure at least 100nm or less
 This is the engineering of functional systems at the molecular
and atomic level.

It makes most products

 lighter
 stronger
 cleaner
 cheaper and less expensive.
 Utilise less quantity of resources
Some applications of Nanotech
Nano structures
Human activities contribute heat to our environment
 Use of air condition in a house
 Use of washing machine
 Use of microwave oven
 Resources and population growth
Natural resources in danger
What is the global resources regarding population growth?
Resource: Anything needed by an organism or
ecosystem
1. Renewable resources: Can theoretically last for ever
Eg Plants, animals, fresh soil, energy from the sun, wind, tides
and flowing water
2. Non renewable resources: Can be depleted over a relatively
short period of time, further recovery is impossible or
expensive Eg. Metallic (Fe, Al, Cu, Ur)
Non metallic (Fossil fuels, clay, sand, salt,
Phosphate)
 Are we running out of resources?
 What can be done?
Population versus resources
A Population is a group of individual species that lives in a
particular area
And this changes with time due to some factors

1. FACTORS INFLUENCING POPULATION GROWTH:

 Birth,
 Immigration
2. FACTORS LIMITING POPULATION GROWTH
 Emigration,
 Death
 If resources that support a population are depleted, this
population could become extinct.
 Factors that limit population growth is known as limiting
factors

Eg Fertility rate, migration and emigration, availability of food,

conflict, education and disease

Equation for population studies

 Birth rate
 Death rate
 Rate of increase
 Percentage annual growth
 Approximate doubling time
THE LOOMING CRISIS (J- CURVE)
 Most of the population growth occurs within the developing
countries

 Since we share common boarders, the effect of one country

may affect the other

 There is therefore the need to control those increasing too

fast and those reducing too fast

 Carrying capacity
 Is the maximum abundance of a species that can be
sustained within a given area of habitat

 Or the maximum population a given ecosystem (or planet)

can support indefinitely without harming the ecosystem so
future generation will not have to reduce their number
 When an ideal population is at equilibrium with the
carrying capacity of its environment, the birth and death
rates are equal, ie the size of the population remains
constant

 However, in nature, neither the carrying capacity nor the

population size remains constant

Due to the following;

Climate change, successional development, fire outbreaks, wind
storm, pollution etc
 Carrying capacity for humans
 Humans like other species need to sustain themselves by having
access to products and services of their environment

 The earthmanship society

 In view of the destruction of nature, rapid population growth,
depletion of resources and population etc man must move into
a better society, living with the environment instead of living
against the environment

 The earthmanship society is based on cooperation with nature

through matter recycling, energy conservation, population
control and reduction in resources use
 THE ENVIRONMENT
What Environment Is
 The sum total of external influences acting on an
organism or on part of an organism

Some Terminologies Relating To Environment

Studies
 Environmental Control Systems (Engineering)
the system provides the occupants with a suitably
controlled atmosphere to permit them to live and work
in the area.
 Environmental Engineering
 EIA etc
What Environmental Engineering Is
 The solution of problems of environmental sanitation,
 Control of water,
 Soil,
 Atmospheric pollution, and
 Social and environmental impact of these solutions

Engineering Ethics And The Environment

Environmental ethics deals with:
 the attitude of people towards other living things and
 towards the natural environment