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Unit II Notes

The environment is composed of four major components: hydrosphere, lithosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere, which are interconnected and influenced by human activities. Natural resources are categorized into renewable resources, like forests and wind energy, and non-renewable resources, such as fossil fuels, and they are essential for meeting human needs. These resources can be physical, like air and water, or biological, including plants and animals.
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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
37 views2 pages

Unit II Notes

The environment is composed of four major components: hydrosphere, lithosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere, which are interconnected and influenced by human activities. Natural resources are categorized into renewable resources, like forests and wind energy, and non-renewable resources, such as fossil fuels, and they are essential for meeting human needs. These resources can be physical, like air and water, or biological, including plants and animals.
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Unit II: Environment and Natural Resources

Components of the Environment: atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, and biosphere;


Natural resources: physical and biological.

Environment consists of physical, chemical, biological, social and cultural elements, which
are interlinked individually and collectively.

The Environment has been classified into four major components.


i. Hydrosphere
ii. Lithosphere
iii. Atmosphere
iv. Biosphere

They constantly change and such changes are affected by human activities and vice versa.

i. Hydrosphere includes all water bodies such as lakes, ponds, rivers, streams and ocean etc.
Hydrosphere functions in a cyclic nature, which is termed as hydrological cycle or water
cycle.

ii. Lithosphere means the mantle of rocks constituting the earth’s crust. Lithosphere mainly,
contains soil, earth rocks, mountain etc. Lithosphere is divided into three layers - crusts,
mantle and core (outer and inner).

iii. Atmosphere is the cover of the air, that envelope the earth is known as the atmosphere.
Atmosphere is a thin layer which contains gases like oxygen, carbon dioxide etc. and which
protects the solid earth and human beings from the harmful radiations of the sun.

There are five concentric layers (i.e., the troposphere, the stratosphere, the mesosphere, the
thermosphere and the exosphere) within the atmosphere, which can be differentiated on the
basis of temperature and each layer has its own characteristics.

iv. Biosphere is known as the life layer, it refers to all organisms on the earth’s surface and
their interaction with water and air. It consists of plants, animals and micro-organisms.
Natural Resources

Any stock or reserve that can be drawn from nature is a natural resource. Natural resources
are two kinds.

i. Renewable resources: These are in exhaustive and can be regenerated within a given span
of time.

E.g. Forests, wind energy, biomass energy etc.

ii. Non-renewable resources: These are exhaustive and cannot be regenerated within a given
span of time.

E.g. Fossil fuels like coal, petroleum, natural gas

Natural resources are also a products of geological, ecological, and biological processes that
are used to meet human needs. They can be physical or biological, and include things
like water, soil, air, plants, and animals.
Physical resources
 Air: A mixture of gases, including nitrogen and oxygen, that is essential for life
 Water: Available in many forms, including oceans, lakes, rivers, and groundwater
 Soil: A natural filter that provides nutrients and water for plants
 Sunlight: A source of energy that powers the Earth's plant life, winds, and ocean currents
Minerals: Non-living, inorganic resources like gold, copper, iron, and diamonds
Biological resources
 Plants: A living resource that uses solar energy to convert it into a form that humans and
animals can use
 Animals: A living resource that is part of the biosphere
 Fossil fuels: Formed from the decay of organic matter over millions of years, coal, oil, and
natural gas are biotic resources

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