VARDHAMAN COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING 
                                 (Autonomous) 
            (Permanently Affiliated to JNTUH, Approved by AICTE, New 
                           Delhi & Accredited by NBA) 
                        Shamshabad – 501218, Hyderabad. 
                                          
           
                    ENVIRONMENTAL SEIENCE 
                            LECTURE NOTES 
                                          
                                          
           
           
                                   Prepared by 
                            DURGASRILAKSHMI HARI 
                               Assistant Professor 
                      DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING 
           
           
           
                                        i 
           
                              COURSE CODE                             :    A3010 
                              COURSE TITLE                            :    ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE 
                         COURSE STRUCTURE                             :    Lectures  Tutorials  Practicals  Credits 
                                                                                 4                 -                  -             4 
              SYLLABUS: 
                        UNIT I - ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE INTRODUCTION AND NATURAL RESOURCES 
                        INTRODUCTION: Multidisciplinary nature of Environmental Studies: Definition, Scope and Importance – 
                        Need for Public Awareness. 
                        NATURAL RESOURCES: Renewable and non-renewable resources. Natural resources and associated 
                        problems. 
                        Forest resources: Use and over – exploitation, deforestation, timber extraction, mining, dams and other 
                        effects on forest and tribal people. 
                        Water resources: Use and over- utilization of surface and ground water, floods, drought, conflicts over 
                        water, dams: benefits and problems.  
                        Mineral  resources:  Use  and  exploitation,  environmental  effects  of  extracting  and  using  mineral 
                        resources. 
                        Food  resources:  World  food  problems,  changes  caused  by  agriculture  and  overgrazing,  effects  of 
                        modern agriculture, fertilizer and pesticide problems, water logging, salinity. 
                        Energy  resources:  Growing  energy  needs,  renewable  and  non-renewable  energy  sources,  use  of 
                        alternate energy sources, Case studies.  
                        Land  resources:  Land  as  a  resource,  land  degradation,  man  induced  landslides,  soil  erosion  and 
                        desertification. Role of an individual in conservation of natural resources.   
                         
                        UNIT II - ECOSYSTEM AND BIODIVERSITY 
                         
                        ECOSYSTEMS: Concept of an ecosystem. Structure and function of an ecosystem. Producers, consumers 
                        and decomposers. Energy flow in the ecosystem. Ecological succession. Food chains ,food webs and 
                        ecological pyramids. Introduction, types, characteristic features, structure and function of the following 
                        ecosystem: Forest ecosystem, grassland ecosystem, desert ecosystem, aquatic ecosystems. 
                        BIODIVERSITY  AND  ITS  CONSERVATION:  Introduction  .Definition:  genetic,  species  and  ecosystem 
                        diversity. Value of biodiversity: consumptive use, productive use, social, ethical, aesthetic and option 
                        values. Biodiversity at global, national and local levels. India as a mega diversity nation . Hotspots of 
                        biodiversity.  Threats  to  biodiversity:  habitat  loss,  poaching  of  wildlife,  man  -wildlife  conflicts. 
                        Endangered and endemic species of India .Conservation of biodiversity: In-situ and Ex-situ conservation 
                        of biodiversity. 
                         
                        UNIT  -  III  -  ENVIRONMENTAL  POLLUTION,  GLOBAL  ENVIRONMENTAL  ISSUES  AND  CONTROL 
                        MEASURES 
                         
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                      Environmental  Pollution:  Definition,  causes,  effects  and  control  measures  of  air  pollution,  water 
                      pollution,  soil  pollution,  marine  pollution,  noise  pollution,  thermal  pollution  and  nuclear  hazards, 
                      Pollution during Diwali and Fireworks. 
                      Solid waste Management: Causes, effects and control measures of urban and industrial wastes. Role of 
                      an individual in prevention of pollution. Case studies.  
                      Disaster management: Floods, earthquake, cyclone and landslides. E-waste and plastic waste: recycling 
                      and reuse 
                      Water conservation: Rain water harvesting, watershed management .Resettlement and rehabilitation of 
                      people: its problems and concerns. Case Studies. Climate change, global warming, acid rain, ozone layer 
                      depletion, nuclear accidents and holocaust. Case Studies.  
                       
                      UNIT- IV- GREEN ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES 
                       
                      Introduction  –  Clean  development  mechanism,  carbon  foot  printing,  carbon  credits,  carbon 
                      sequestration and Polluter pay principle. Green building practices. Approaches to green computing and 
                      nanotechnology .IS014000. Role of information technology in environment and human health. Case 
                      Studies. 
                       
                      UNIT – V- ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS, ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESMENT & ROLE OF NGOs.  
                       
                      ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS: Environment Protection Act. -Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act. 
                      Water (Prevention and control of Pollution) Act .Wildlife Protection Act .Forest Conservation Act .Issues 
                      involved in enforcement of environmental legislation. Public awareness. 
                      ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESMENT: Conceptual facts of EIA, Baseline date acquisition, planning and 
                      management of impact studies, operational aspects of EIA, methods for impact identification, prediction 
                      of impacts(air, water, noise, soil, biological and socio- economic)Environmental Management Plan. Role 
                      of NGOs in creating awareness among people regarding environmental issues. 
                       
                      IX.      List of Text Books / References / Websites / Journals / Others 
                       
                              Text Books: 
                                  1.  Benny Joseph (2005)., Environmental Studies, New Delhi, Tata McGraw Hill Publishing co. 
                                       Ltd 
                                  2.  Erach Bharucha (2005)., Textbook of Environmental Studies for Undergraduate Courses, 
                                       Hyderabad, Universities   Press.  
                               
                              Reference Books: 
                                  1.  Anji Reddy .M (2007), Textbook of Environmental Sciences and Technology, Hyderabad, BS 
                                       Publications. 
                                  1.  Y Anjaneyulu.(2004),  Introduction to Environmental Sciences, BS Publications. 
                       
                       
                       
                       
                       
                       
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                            UNIT-I 
                                
           ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE INTRODUCTION AND 
                      NATURAL RESOURCES 
         
        1.1 INTRODUCTION 
         
        The word Environment is derived from the French word “Environ” which means “surrounding”. 
        Our surrounding includes biotic factors like human beings, Plants, animals, microbes, etc and 
        abiotic factors such as light, air, water, soil, etc. Environment is a complex of many variables, 
        which surrounds man as well as the living organisms.  
         
        Environment includes water, air and land and the interrelation ships which exist among and 
        between water, air and land and human beings and other living creatures such as plants, animals 
        and micro organisms. She suggested that environment consists of an inseparable whole system 
        constituted by physical, chemical, biological, social and cultural elements, which are interlinked 
        individually  and  collectively  in  myriad  ways.  The  natural  environment  consist  of  four 
        interlinking systems namely, the atmosphere, the hydrosphere, the lithosphere and the biosphere. 
        These four systems are in constant change and such changes are affected by human activities and 
        vice versa.  
         
        Components of Environment  
         
         Environment has been classified into four major components:  
         
           1. Hydrosphere,  
           2. Lithosphere,  
           3. Atmosphere,  
           4. Biosphere.  
            
        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. 
        Lithosphere means the mantle of rocks constituting the earth’s crust. The earth is a cold spherical 
        solid planet of the solar system, which spins in its axis and revolves around the sun at a certain 
        constant distance. 
        Lithosphere mainly, contains soil, earth rocks, mountain etc. Lithosphere is divided into three 
        layers-crusts, mantle and core (outer and inner). Atmosphere 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 within the atmosphere, which can be differentiated on the basis of temperature 
        and each layer has its own characteristics. These include the troposphere, the stratosphere, the 
        mesosphere, the thermosphere and the exosphere.  
        Biosphere it is otherwise 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, 
        ranging  from  the  tiniest  microscopic  organism  to  the  largest  whales  in  the  sea.  Biology  is 
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