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Environment
NCERT-Our Environment

Environment is everything that is around us, it can be living or non-living and includes physical, chemical, and other
natural forces. Balance in nature is maintained by the interaction between Biotic components with that of Abiotic
components. In this chapter, we will learn about the natural environment and its different domains, Biotic and Abiotic
components, ecosystem, and human environment.
 Introduction 

Environment is a basic life support system that provides air to

breathe, water to drink, food to eat, and land to live.

The word ‘environment’ comes from the French word

environer/environner, meaning neighborhood. The place, people,
things, and nature that surround any living organism are called the
environment. It is a combination of natural and human-made
phenomena.

Both humans and the environment are interrelated. Thus, a perfect

balance is necessary between the natural and human environment.
1.1 Natural Environment
It refers to both biotic and abiotic
conditions existing on the earth as follows:-
• Biotic Environment
It includes every living thing in
the world.
e.g. Plants and Animals
• Abiotic Environment
It includes every non-living
thing in the world.
e.g. Land, Water and Air
 Domains of Natural Environment

There are four domains of the natural environment.

• Lithosphere
• Hydrosphere
• Atmosphere
• Biosphere

KNOWLEDGE PLUS
World Environment day
It is celebrated on 5th June each year to raise awareness about environmental issues and promote environmental
protection.
Lithosphere

The lithosphere is the solid, outer part of Earth.

The lithosphere includes the brittle upper portion
of the mantle and the crust, the outermost layers
of Earth's structure. It is bounded by the
atmosphere above and the asthenosphere (another
part of the upper mantle) below.
Hydrosphere

A hydrosphere is the total amount of water on a

planet. The hydrosphere includes water that is on
the surface of the planet, underground, and in the
air. A planet's hydrosphere can be liquid, vapor, or
ice. On Earth, liquid water exists on the surface in
the form of oceans, lakes, and rivers.
The water cycle shows the continuous movement
of water within the Earth and atmosphere. It is a
complex system that includes many different
processes. Liquid water evaporates into water
vapor, condenses to form clouds, and precipitates
back to earth in the form of rain and snow.
 Atmosphere

An atmosphere is made of the layers of gases surrounding a planet or other celestial

body. Earth's atmosphere is composed of about 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and one
percent other gases.
• Exosphere: 700 to 10,000 km (440 to 6,200 miles)
• Thermosphere: 80 to 700 km (50 to 440 miles)
• Mesosphere: 50 to 80 km (31 to 50 miles)
• Stratosphere: 12 to 50 km (7 to 31 miles)
• Troposphere: 0 to 12 km (0 to 7 miles)
• Magnetosphere
The Troposphere

This is the lowest part of the atmosphere - the part we live in. It contains most of our weather - clouds, rain, snow.
In this part of the atmosphere, the temperature gets colder as the distance above the earth increases, by about 6.5°C
per kilometre. The actual change of temperature with height varies from day to day, depending on the weather.
The troposphere contains about 75% of all of the air in the atmosphere and almost all of the water vapor (which
forms clouds and rain). The decrease in temperature with height is a result of the decreasing pressure. If a parcel of
air moves upwards it expands (because of the lower pressure). When air expands it cools. So air higher up is cooler
than air lower down.
The lowest part of the troposphere is called the boundary layer. This is where the air motion is determined by the
properties of the Earth's surface. Turbulence is generated as the wind blows over the Earth's surface and by
thermals rising from the land as it is heated by the sun. This turbulence redistributes heat and moisture within the
boundary layer, as well as pollutants and other constituents of the atmosphere.
The top of the troposphere is called the tropopause. This is lowest at the poles, where it is about 7 - 10 km above
the Earth's surface. It is highest (about 17 - 18 km) near the equator.
 The Stratosphere

This extends upwards from the tropopause to about 50 km. It contains much of the ozone in
the atmosphere. The increase in temperature with height occurs because of the absorption of
ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun by this ozone. Temperatures in the stratosphere are
highest over the summer pole, and lowest over the winter pole.
By absorbing dangerous UV radiation, the ozone in the stratosphere protects us from skin
cancer and other health damage. However, chemicals (called CFCs or freons, and halons)
which were once used in refrigerators, spray cans, and fire extinguishers have reduced the
amount of ozone in the stratosphere, particularly at polar latitudes, leading to the so-called
"Antarctic ozone hole".
Now humans have stopped making most of the harmful CFCs we expect the ozone hole will
eventually recover over the 21st century, but this is a slow process.
The Mesosphere

The region above the stratosphere is called the mesosphere. Here the temperature again
decreases with height, reaching a minimum of about -90°C at the "mesopause".
The Thermosphere and Ionosphere

The thermosphere lies above the mesopause and is a region in which temperatures again
increase with height. This temperature increase is caused by the absorption of energetic
ultraviolet and X-ray radiation from the sun.
The region of the atmosphere above about 80 km is also caused by the "ionosphere", since
the energetic solar radiation knocks electrons off molecules and atoms, turning them into
"ions" with a positive charge. The temperature of the thermosphere varies between night and
day and between the seasons, as do the numbers of ions and electrons that are present. The
ionosphere reflects and absorbs radio waves, allowing us to receive shortwave radio
broadcasts in New Zealand from other parts of the world.
The Exosphere

The region above about 500 km is called the exosphere. It contains mainly oxygen and
hydrogen atoms, but there are so few of them that they rarely collide - they follow "ballistic"
trajectories under the influence of gravity, and some of them escape right out into space.
The Magnetosphere

The earth behaves like a huge magnet. It traps electrons (negative charge) and protons
(positive), concentrating them in two bands about 3,000 and 16,000 km above the globe - the
Van Allen "radiation" belts. This outer region surrounding the earth, where charged particles
spiral along the magnetic field lines, is called the magnetosphere.
Ecosystem

 An ecosystem includes all the living things (plants, animals and organisms) in a given
area, interacting with each other, and with their non-living environments (weather, earth,
sun, soil, climate, atmosphere). In an ecosystem, each organism has its own niche or role
to play.
 1.2 Human Environment

Early human beings depended entirely on nature for food, clothing, and shelter; but with time they learned new skills to grow food, build homes, and
develop better means of transport and communication. In this way, they modified the environment where they lived.
Settlements are places where people build their homes. Early human beings lived on trees and in caves. When they started to grow crops it became
necessary to have a permanent home. The settlements grew near the river valleys as water was available and land was fertile. With the development of
trade, commerce, and manufacturing, human settlements became larger. Settlement flourished and civilizations developed near river valleys. Do you recall
the names of civ that grew along the banks of rivers Indus, Tigris, Nile, and Hwang-He?
Settlements can be permanent or temporary. Settlements which are occupied for a short time are called temporary settlements. The people living in deep
forests, hot and cold deserts, and mountains often dwell in such temporary settlements. They practice hunting, gathering, shifting cultivation, and
transhumance. However more and more settlements today are permanent settlements. In these settlements, people build homes to live in.
We can identify two different pictures of settlements – the rural and the urban settlements. The villages are rural settlements where people are engaged in
activities like agriculture, fishing, forestry, crafts work trading, etc. Rural settlements can be compact or scattered. A compact settlement is a closely built
area of dwellings, wherever flat land is available (Fig. 7.2). In a scattered settlement dwellings are spaced over an extensive area. This type of settlement is
mostly found in hilly tracts, thick forests, and regions of extreme climate .
The End