Geography Environment NCERT Notes For UPSC

NCERT Notes Geography Environment: 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. 

• The 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 the conditions of their environment.

People who are in different fields of knowledge use the word environment too very differently. The environment’s electromagnetic waves are radio waves and other radiations of electromagnetic and magnetic fields. The environment that is of the galaxy usually refers to the conditions of the interstellar medium.

In medicine 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 behaviour, the body, and the mind and heart as well. Read these NCERT notes on Geography Environment carefully to prepare for the UPSC Exam and other competitive exams.

Geography Environment NCERT Notes: Download PDF Here!

What is an Ecosystem?

The term ecosystem is an area that is geographic where plants, animals, and other organisms as well as weather and landscape of them work together to form a bubble of life. The ecosystems contain living or biotic parts along with abiotic factors or even nonliving parts. The factors that are biotic include plants, animals, and other organisms. There are some abiotic factors including rocks, temperature, and humidity. Every factor in an ecosystem usually depends on every other factor that is either indirectly or 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 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 which 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 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, biodegradable substances include natural substances such as vegetable peels, tea leaves, stale food, cotton, woollen or 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:

• The plant – to the worm – to the bird: Here, we can say that a plant 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 food chains generally happen in all 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.

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 fish, and 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 include gulls, 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 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.

We can use these solutions for avoiding  Ozone depletion:

• Avoid using pesticides

Natural ones should be used to get rid of pests and weeds instead of using chemicals. One can use some eco-friendly chemicals to remove the pests or remove the weeds manually.

• Minimize the use of vehicles

Vehicles emit a very large amount of greenhouse gases that usually lead to the effect of global warming as well as the depletion of the ozone layer. Therefore, the use of vehicles which we did in 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 their way into the atmosphere and then affects the ozone layer. These should be substituted with all-natural products to protect the environment.

Prepare for your UPSC IAS exam and other government or competitive exams with Testbook. Solve mock tests, take the test series, attempt previous year’s papers and get all exam-related information. Download the Testbook App now!