Topic Atmosphere hydrosphere lithosphere — the essential elements

Topic: Atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere - the essential elements of the biosphere. Sources of pollution. Lecturer: Ph. D in Public Health Dinara Kenessary

ATMOSPHERE - GAS SHELL OF THE EARTH AIR BASIN - a part of the atmosphere over a certain area of the Earth. Atmosphere includes: troposphere, ozone, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere and exosphere.

AIR POLLUTION IS DIVIDED INTO 2 GROUPS: THE BACKGROUND ANTHROPOGENIC Background pollution – state of air quality away from the populated areas and industrial sites where the concentration of various impurities (gases, dust, chemicals) is significantly below the MRL for settlements.

Anthropogenic pollution changes in the quality of the atmosphere, as a result of human activities, transport and agricultural sources.

Probably soon all the residents of large cities will look like this.

Ambient air pollution of settlements: Industrial enterprises. Heat-power stations. Transport. Sources of air pollution in rural areas. Natural sources of pollution. Radiocontamination.

There are four categories of surveillance posts: stationary post route post mobile post control post

Air Pollution Index (API) Cities Aktobe Almaty Balhash Atyrau Taraz Zhezkazgan Ziryanovsk Kapchagai Karaganda 1986 5, 0 5, 2 5, 1 5, 2 API 1990 7, 9 19, 4 15, 4 3, 3 14, 7 6, 7 20, 9 1, 2 7, 6 2009 7, 8 12, 4 3, 1 0, 8 7, 0 4, 6 12, 3

Protection of the atmosphere To protect the air from the negative anthropogenic impact of its hazardous substances the following steps are used: greening process (creation of closed technological cycles, non-waste and low-waste technology; cleaning of gas emissions from harmful impurities (dry, wet precipitators, filters);

Water pollution is manifested in variation of the physical and organoleptic properties (violation of transparency, color, smell, taste), an increase of sulfates, chlorides, nitrates, toxic heavy metals, reducing dissolved oxygen, appearance of the radioactive elements, bacteria and other contaminants.

There is a distinguish between chemical, biological and physical contaminants.

The main water pollutants Chemical contaminants Acid Alkalis Salt Oil and oil products Pesticides Heavy metals Biological contaminants Viruses Bacteria, etc. Physical contaminants Radioactive elements Suspended solid particles Heat

The processes of surface water contamination are caused by various factors. The main of them are: 1. dumping of untreated waste water treatment; 2. flushing of pesticides; 3. Flue-gas emissions; 4. Leakage of oil and oil products.

Municipal sewage water in large quantities comes from residential and public buildings, laundries, kitchens, hospitals, etc. This type of wastewater is dominated by various organic substances and microorganisms that can cause bacterial contamination.

Due to the influence of pollutants we may observe a freshwater ecosystems resistance decline due to violations of the food pyramid and breaking the signal connections in the biocenosis, microbiological contamination, eutrophication and other dire process. The pollutants reduce the rate of growth of aquatic organisms, their fertility, and in some cases lead to their death.

Among all the most observed is the process of water bodies eutrophication. This natural process, that is typical for the entire geological history of the planet, usually occurs very slowly and gradually, but in recent decades, due to the increasing anthropogenic pressure, the speed of its development has increased dramatically.

The accelerated, or the so-called anthropogenic eutrophication is due to an admission of a significant amount of nutrients into water - nitrogen, phosphorus and other elements in the form of fertilizers, detergents, animal waste, atmospheric aerosols etc. In a modern condition eutrophication occurs in a much shorter time - a few decades or less.

According to Israel A. (1985), the environmental pollution of marine ecosystems is expressed in the following processes and phenomena: violation of the sustainability of ecosystems; progressive eutrophication; the appearance of "red tides"; accumulation of chemical toxicants in biota; reduction of biological productivity; occurrence of mutagenesis and carcinogenesis in the marine environment; microbiological contamination of coastal sea.

Depletion of water should be understood as an unacceptable reduction of it’s stocks in a particular territory (groundwater) or decrease of the minimum permissible flow (for surface water). Both leads to an adverse environmental effects, violates the established ecological relationships in the "man - biosphere“ system. Depletion of surface water is manifested in the progressive reduction of their minimum permissible flow.

The main components of the lithosphere: • 1) soil; • 2) rocks and their arrays; • 3) subsoil

Soil — one of the most important components of the natural environment. All its basic ecological functions underpinned by a general indicator - soil fertility. Alienating from the fields the main harvest (grain, root crops, vegetables, etc. ) and it’s surplus (straw, leaves, tops, etc. ), the man partially or fully disconnects the biological cycle of substances that interfere with the ability of the soil to regulate and reduce its fertility. Even a partial loss of humus and, consequently, reduced fertility, prevent soil to implement fully their ecological functions, and it starts to degrade its properties. Some other reasons, mainly anthropogenic, also lead to the soil (land) degradation.

The main types of human impact on the soil are following: 1. erosion (wind and water); 2. pollution; 3. secondary salinization and water logging; 4. desertification; 5. land acquisition for industrial and public utilities construction.

Erosion (from lat. erosio — corrosion) — demolition and removal of the upper horizons of the most fertile and bedrock wind (wind erosion) or flowing water (water erosion). Land that is subjected to destruction in the process of erosion is often called eroded.

The erosion processes also include industrial erosion (destruction of agricultural land for the construction and quarrying), military erosion (funnel trench), pasture erosion (intensive cattle grazing), irrigation (the destruction of soil at channeling and improper irrigation), and others. However, the real scourge of agriculture in our country and in the world remains the water erosion (31% of land is exposed to it) and wind erosion (deflation), that is active on the 34% of the land surface.

Wind erosion (deflation) of soils. Wind erosion is a blowing, transportation and deposition of tiny soil particles by wind. The intensity of wind erosion depends on the speed of wind, soil stability, the presence of vegetation, topography and other factors. Anthropogenic factors render a huge impact on its development. For example, the destruction of vegetation, overgrazing, misuse of agro-technical measures harshly intensify the erosion processes.

Water erosion of soil (land). The water erosion is a soil destruction by the interim water flows. There are the following forms of water erosion: planar, jet, gullies, coastal. As in the case of wind erosion, the conditions for the manifestation of water erosion are created by natural factors, but the main reason for their development is the production and other human activities. In particular, the emergence of a new heavy tillage equipment destructive for soil structure is one of the reasons for activation of water erosion in recent decades.

Major pollutants of soil: 1. pesticides (insecticides); 2. fertilizers; 3. waste and industrial waste; 4. flue-gas emissions into the atmosphere; 5. oil and oil products.

A significant threat to human health represents the soil pollution by various pathogens that can enter the body in a following way (Rozanov, 1984): First, through a chain of 'man - soil - man“. Pathogens are allocated by an infected person and are transferred through the soil to another person, or through fruits and vegetables that have been cultivated at a contaminated soil. Thus people might get sick with cholera, bacillary, dysentery, typhoid, paratyphoid, etc. In a similar way the human body might be exposed to worms and parasites; Second, through a chain of "animal - soil - man“. There is a number of animal diseases that are transmissible to humans (leptosoriaz, anthrax, tularemia, Q fever, etc. ) through direct contact with soil that is contaminated with secretions of infected animals; Third, through a chain of "soil - a man" when pathogens are transported to the human body through direct contact (tetanus, botulism, fungal infections, etc. ).

Secondary salinization and waterlogging During the economic activity a human can increase the natural soil salinity. This phenomenon is known as the secondary salinization and it is developed in the case of immoderate watering of irrigated land in dry areas. Waterlogging occurs in heavily moistened areas

One of the manifestations of global soil degradation and the whole of the environment in general is the desertification. According to Rozanov (1984), desertification - is a process of irreversible changes in soil and vegetation and a decrease of biological productivity, which in extreme cases can lead to complete destruction of the biosphere capacity and to modification of the Territory into a desert.

Land alienation Soil cover of agroecosystems is irreversibly disrupted due to the process of alienation of land for non-agricultural use: construction of industrial facilities, cities, towns, laying linearly extended systems (roads, pipelines, communication lines), for open-pit mining, etc. According to the UN in the world only each year over 300 thousand hectares of arable lands are lost due to the construction of cities and roads.

Impact on the rocks and their arrays In the process of engineering and human activities rocks that make up the upper part of the earth's crust in varying degrees undergo through compression, stretching, subsidence, water saturation, drainage, vibration and other impacts

Static loads. This is the most common form of human impact on the rocks. Under static loads from buildings and structures, as high as 2 MPa or more, a zone of active change of rock is formed, that reaches depths of 70100 m.

Dynamic loads Vibration, pounding, bumps and other dynamic loads are typical while the transport is working, for the pounding and vibration construction equipment, factory machinery and so on.

Thermal effect. The rock temperature increase is observed at underground coal gasification, at the base domain and open-hearth furnaces, etc. In some cases, the rock temperature rises up to 40 -50 ° C, and sometimes up to 100 ° C and over (at the base of blast furnaces. ) In the area of the coal underground gasification at 1000 -1600 ° C rocks do sinter, "turn to stone", lose their original properties.

Electric effect. The artificial electric field produced in the rocks (electric transport, power lines, etc. ) generates stray currents and fields. Most often they do appear in the urban areas, where is the greatest density of electricity sources, which causes changes in the electrical conductivity, electrical resistance and other electrical properties of rocks. Dynamic, thermal and electrical effects on the rocks create a physical environment contamination.

Rock masses, and, above all, their surface strata in the engineering and economic development are subjected to a powerful human impact, that develops such risk of damage-forming processes such as landslides, karst, flooding, subsidence and other processes.

Subsoil is the top of the crust, within which mining is possible. Source of mineral and energetic natural resources Place of hazardous substances and waste burial, waste water discharges Storage of oil, gas and other substances Protected areas (nature reserves, natural monuments - karst caves, etc. ) Environment for the construction of underground structures