MED 001

UNDERSTANDING THE ENVIRONMENT

Programme: MA/2021/2022

Course Code: MED 001

Max. Marks: 100

IGNOU MED 001 Free Solved Assignment 2022, MED 001 Solved Assignment 2022, MED 001 Assignment 2022, FREE MED 001 Assignment, IGNOU Assignments 2022- Gandhi National Open University had recently uploaded the assignments of this session for the year 2022. Students are recommended to download their Assignments from this webpage itself. IGNOU MED 001 Free Solved Assignment 2022 They don’t need to go anywhere else when everything regarding the Assignments are available during this text only.

IGNOU MED 001 Free Solved Assignment 2022

MED 001 Free Solved Assignment 2022: for college kids – MED 001 UNDERSTANDING THE ENVIRONMENT Solved Assignment 2022, Students are advised that after successfully downloading their Assignments, you’ll find each and every course assignments of your downloaded. Candidates got to create separate assignment for the IGNOU Master Course, so as that it’s easy for Evaluators to ascertain your assignments.

MED 001 Free Solved Assignment

1. Describe the human activities in your own surrounding that affect the carrying capacity of earth. List the measures to increase the carrying capacity? and describe any one measure of your choice. (10)

Carrying capacity refers to the maximum abundance of a species that can be sustained within a given area of habitat. When an ideal population is at equilibrium with the carrying capacity of its environment, the birth and death rates are equal, and size of the population does not change. Populations larger than the carrying capacity are not sustainable, and will degrade their habitat. In nature, however, neither carrying capacity nor populations are ideal—both vary over time for reasons that may be complex, and in ways that may be difficult to predict. Nevertheless, the notion of carrying capacity is very useful because it highlights the ecological fact that, for all species, there are environmental limitations to the sizes of populations that can be sustained. Carrying capacity is never static. It varies over time in response to gradual environmental changes, perhaps associated with climatic change or the successional development of ecosystems. More rapid changes in carrying capacity may be caused by disturbances of the habitat occurring because of a fire or windstorm, or because of a human influence such as timber harvesting, pollution, or the introduction of a non-native competitor, predator, or disease. Carrying capacity can also be damaged by overpopulation, which leads to excessive exploitation of resources and a degradation of the habitat's ability to support the species. Of course, birth and death rates of a species must respond to changes in carrying capacity along with changes in other factors, such as the intensities of disease or predation.

Humans, like all organisms, can only sustain themselves and their populations by having access to the products and services of their environment, including those of other species and ecosystems. However, humans are clever at developing and using technologies; as a result they have an unparalleled ability to manipulate the carrying capacity of the environment in support of their own activities. When prehistoric humans first discovered that crude tools and weapons allowed greate effectiveness in gathering wild foods and hunting animals, they effectively increased the carrying capacity of the environment for their species. The subsequent development and improvement of agricultural systems has had a similar effect, as have discoveries in medicine and industrial technology.

Clearly, the cultural evolution of human socio-technological systems has allowed enormous increases to be achieved in carrying capacity for our species. This increased effectiveness of environmental exploitation has allowed a tremendous multiplying of the human population to occur. In prehistoric times (that is, more than 10,000 years ago) all humans were engaged in a primitive hunting and gathering lifestyle, and their global population probably amounted to several million individuals. In the year 2000, because humans have been so adept at increasing the carrying capacity of their environment, more than six billion individuals were sustained, and the global population is still increasing.

2. a) Differentiate between a food chain and a food web? Describe the different types of food chains with examples and diagrams. (5)

The food chain is a sequential pathway that shows that the flow of energy moves or transfers from one organism to the other. In this pathway, energy is not created, nor can it be destroyed but it flows from one level to the other level through different organisms. Similarly, there are producers, consumers, and decomposers who are interconnected through many food chains that create a food web. This shows the interactions between different organisms in an ecosystem. Both the food chain and food web represent the flow of energy and matter in trophic levels and efficiency of energy transfer. In these pathways, organisms are dependent on each other for food.

Food webs are useful in understanding that plants are the basis of all ecosystems and food chains, providing nutrients and oxygen required for existence and reproduction. Food webs describe how energy flows across an ecosystem, from the sun to producers to consumers. Other elements can travel through an ecosystem in the same way that energy does.

When toxic elements or poisons are introduced into an environment, the consequences can be disastrous. Food webs facilitate knowledge of natural selection by depicting species classification, with carnivorous, omnivorous, and tertiary animals at the top of all food chains. Food webs also explain how food scarcity caused by overhunting, poaching, global warming, and habitat destruction disturb populations, eventually leading to extinction.

b) List the various types biomes. What are the factors that lead to their formation? What are the major threats to each of them? (5)

Biomes such as forests and grasslands all over the world are diminishing every second, mainly due to the activities of one species: man. Scientists define biomes as expansive areas of the world that house animal and plant life specifically adapted to those regions. Many scientists agree that five major biomes exist throughout the world, although some suggest divisions within the major types.

Aquatic (Freshwater and Marine Biomes)

Rivers, streams, lakes and ponds comprise freshwater biomes. The wetlands such as marshes and swamps, which are part of freshwater biomes, support plant species that thrive in extreme moisture. The World Biomes website asserts that wetlands accommodate a rich array of animal life, ranging from insects to amphibians and mammals. Rivers and streams support many types of organisms, such as salmon and catfish that have adapted to the ever-moving fresh water not found among the still waters of ponds and lakes.

Desert

Deserts receive less than 50 cm of rainfall per year. Several types of desert exist: the hot and dry, semiarid, coastal and cold. According to the University of California’s Museum of Paleontology, the Atacama Desert of Chile, the world’s driest desert, averages under 1.5 cm of rain a year. In deserts, the rate of water evaporation surpasses the rate of rainfall. The soil is usually coarse and drains well. Plant life, or flora, leans toward short and stocky stems with compact leaves, indicative of cactus-like vegetation. Animals, or fauna, thriving in desert regions reduce daylight activities in favor of foraging at night when temperatures cool. Surprisingly, deserts also exist in the intense frigidity of the Arctic, Antarctica and Greenland.

Forest

The World Biomes website states that forests cover about a third of the world’s land. The dense foliage of the tallest trees allows limited amounts of sunlight to penetrate to the forest floor. Tropical forests receive the most rainfall and have only two seasons: rainy and dry. Temperate forests house plant species such as maple and oak and animals such as bears, foxes and deer. The boreal forests, or taiga, cover large areas of land in northern parts of Asia, Europe and North America.

Soil Formation

Soil forms layers or horizons, roughly parallel to the earth’s surface, in response to five soil forming factors. The whole soil, from the surface to its lowest depths, develops naturally as a result of these five factors. The five factors are: 1) parent material, 2) relief or topography, 3) organisms (including humans), 4) climate, and 5) time. If a single parent material is exposed to different climates then a different soil individual will form. If any one of the five factors is changed but the remaining four factors remain the same, a new soil will form. This process is called “soil genesis”.

3. a) What makes the biosphere as the Earth’s integrated life supporting system? (5)

The biosphere has existed for about 3.5 billion years. The biosphere’s earliest lifeforms, called prokaryotes, survived without oxygen. Ancient prokaryotes included single-celled organisms such as bacteria and archaea. Some prokaryotes developed a unique chemical process. They were able to use sunlight to make simple sugars and oxygen out of water and carbon dioxide, a process called photosynthesis. These photosynthetic organisms were so plentiful that they changed the biosphere. Over a long period of time, the atmosphere developed a mix of oxygen and other gases that could sustain new forms of life. The addition of oxygen to the biosphere allowed more complex life-forms to evolve. Millions of different plants and other photosynthetic species developed. Animals, which consume plants (and other animals) evolved. Bacteria and other organisms evolved to decompose, or break down, dead animals and plants. The biosphere benefits from this food web. The remains of dead plants and animals release nutrients into the soil and ocean. These nutrients are re-absorbed by growing plants. This exchange of food and energy makes the biosphere a selfsupporting and self-regulating system.

Related Link:

IGNOU BEGC 131 Free Solved Assignment 2022

IGNOU BEGC 133 Free Solved Assignment 2022

IGNOU BANS 184 Free Solved Assignment 2022

IGNOU BEGAE 182 Free Solved Assignment 2022   

The biosphere is sometimes thought of as one large ecosystem—a complex community of living and nonliving things functioning as a single unit. More often, however, the biosphere is described as having many ecosystems.

b) The disproportionate growth of human population and attitude has a direct bearing on the availability of natural resources. Explain. (5)

Land Resources

More than 99 percent of human food comes from the terrestrial environment, and the remaining small percentage comes from the oceans, lakes, and other aquatic ecosystems (Pimentel and Pimentel, 1996). Worldwide, food and fiber crops are grown on 12 percent of the earths total land area (Burring, 1989). Another 24 percent of the land is used as pasture to graze livestock that provide meat and milk products; forests cover an additional 31 percent (Burring, 1989).

The small percentage of forest and grassland set aside as protected national parks to conserve biological diversity amounts to only 3.2 percent of the total terrestrial ecosystem (Reid and Miller, 1989). Most of the remaining portion of land area (34 percent), is unsuitable for crops, pasture, and forests because it is too cold, dry, steep, stony, or wet, or because the soil is too infertile or shallow to support plant growth (Table 3) (Burring, 1989). To provide a diverse nutritious diet of plant and animal products, about 0.5 ha of cropland per capita is needed (Lal, 1989). At present, the United States has slightly more than this amount. In China, only 0.08 ha of cropland is available to feed the people; this is rapidly declining both because of continuing population growth and rapid land degradation (Leach, 1995). The world cropland average is only 0.27 ha available per capita, or roughly one-half the needed amount (Table 1). This shortage of productive cropland is, in part, the cause of the food shortages and poverty that many humans are experiencing today (Leach, 1995).

Water Resources

The present and future availability of adequate supplies of fresh water is frequently taken for granted. Natural collectors of water such as rivers and lakes vary in distribution throughout the world and frequently are shared within and between countries. All surface water supplies, especially those in arid regions, are diminished by evaporation. For instance, reservoir water experiences an average yearly loss of about 24 percent (Meyers, 1962). All vegetation requires and transpires massive amounts of water during the growing season. For example, a corn crop that produces about 7500 kg/ha of grain will take up and transpire about 5 million liters/ha of water during the growing season (Layton, 1983). To supply this much water to the crop, not only must 8 million liters (800 mm) of rain lull per hectare, but a significant portion must fall during the growing season (Pimentel et al., 1996b).

4. a) Discuss various human activities which affect the hydrological cycle? (5)

Human activity such as the burning of fossil fuels has an effect on the overall increase of the Earth’s temperature. Raising the Earth’s temperature means that there is an increase of evaporation, melting of land and sea ice, and impacts on other processes of the water cycle that adversely affect the climate on Earth. Humans directly change the dynamics of the water cycle through dams constructed for water storage, and through water withdrawals for industrial, agricultural, or domestic purposes. Climate change is expected to additionally affect water supply and demand. Here, analyses of climate change and direct human impacts on the terrestrial water cycle are presented and compared using a multimodal approach. Seven global hydrological models have been forced with multiple climate projections, and with and without taking into account impacts of human interventions such as dams and water withdrawals on the hydrological cycle. Model results are analyzed for different levels of global warming, allowing for analyses in line with temperature targets for climate change mitigation. The results indicate that direct human impacts on the water cycle in some regions, e.g., parts of Asia and in the western United States, are of the same order of magnitude, or even exceed impacts to be expected for moderate levels of global warming (+2 K). Despite some spread in model projections, irrigation water consumption is generally projected to increase with higher global mean temperatures. Irrigation water scarcity is particularly large in parts of southern and eastern Asia, and is expected to become even larger in the future.

b) Describe the main factors that affect population size. (5)

Population growth is determined by fertility rates (the number of children per adult) – fatality rates. Birth rates and mortality rates are, in turn, determined by a combination of factors. Often economic growth and economic development have led to a decline in population growth, but there are no hard and fast rules and other factors, such as availability of family planning, social expectations and government intervention can play an important role.

Factors influencing population growth

Economic development. Countries who are in the early stages of economic development tend to have higher rates of population growth. In agriculturally based societies, children are seen as potential income earners. From an early age, they can help with household tasks and collecting the harvest. Also, in societies without state pensions, parents often want more children to act as an insurance for their old age. It is expected children will look after parents in old age. Because child mortality rates are often higher, therefore there is a need to have more children to ensure the parents have sufficient children to look after them in old age. Education. In developed countries, education is usually compulsory until the age of 16. As education becomes compulsory, children are no longer economic assets – but economic costs. In the US, it is estimated a child can cost approx. $230,000 by the time they leave college. Therefore, the cost of bringing up children provides an incentive to reduce family size. Quality of children. Gary Becker produced a paper in 1973 with Gregg Lewis which stated that parents choose the number of children based on a marginal cost and marginal benefit analysis. In developed countries with high rates of return from education, parents have an incentive to have a lower number of children and spend more on their education – to give their children not just standard education but a relatively better education than others.

Welfare payments/State pensions. A generous state pension scheme means couples don’t need to have children to provide an effective retirement support when they are old. Family sizes in developing countries are higher because children are viewed as ‘insurance’ to look after them in old age. In modern societies, this is not necessary and birth rates fall as a result.

5. What are biogeochemical cycles? Explaining the general features describe the nitrogen cycle using a neat diagram. (10)

Biogeochemical cycle, any of the natural pathways by which essential elements of living matter are circulated. The term biogeochemical is a contraction that refers to the consideration of the biological, geological, and chemical aspects of each cycle.

Elements within biogeochemical cycles flow in various forms from the nonliving (abiotic) components of the biosphere to the living (biotic) components and back. In order for the living components of a major ecosystem (e.g., a lake or a forest) to survive, all the chemical elements that make up living cells must be recycled continuously. Each biogeochemical cycle can be considered as having a reservoir (nutrient) pool—a larger, slow-moving, usually abiotic portion—and an exchange (cycling) pool—a smaller but more-active portion concerned with the rapid exchange between the biotic and abiotic aspects of an ecosystem. Nitrogen Cycle is a biogeochemical process through which nitrogen is converted into many forms, consecutively passing from the atmosphere to the soil to organism and back into the atmosphere. It involves several processes such as nitrogen fixation, nitrification, denitrification, decay and putrefaction. Nitrogen gas exists in both organic and inorganic forms. Organic nitrogen exists in living organisms, and they get passed through the food chain by the consumption of other living organisms. Inorganic forms of nitrogen are found in abundance in the atmosphere. This nitrogen is made available to plants by symbiotic bacteria which can convert the inert nitrogen into a usable form – such as nitrites and nitrates. Nitrogen undergoes various types of transformation to maintain a balance in the ecosystem. Furthermore, this process extends to various biomes, with the marine nitrogen cycle being one of the most complicated biogeochemical cycles.

6. a) Suggest how a scheme of ‘zero garbage generation’ in a city based on the principle of Reduce, Reuse and Recycle can be made successful. (5)

This document outlines the principles and some of the practical steps being taken around the world in both large urban communities and small rural communities in the pursuit of Zero Waste. Zero Waste programs are the fastest and most cost effective ways that local governments can contribute to reducing climate change, protect health, create green jobs, and promote local sustainability. There are three overarching goals needed for sustainable resource management. Producer responsibility at the front end of the problem: industrial production and design. Community responsibility at the back end of the problem: consumption, discard use and disposal. Political responsibility to bring both community and industrial responsibility together in a harmonious whole. Zero Waste is a critical stepping-stone to other necessary steps in the efforts to protect health, improve equity and reach sustainability. Zero Waste can be linked to sustainable agriculture, architecture, energy, industrial, economic and community development. Every single person in the world makes waste and as such is part of a nonsustainable society. However, with good political leadership, everyone could be engaged in the necessary shift towards a sustainable society. Good political leadership in this matter involves treating citizens as key allies to protect human health and the environment and in making the transition to a sustainable future. Governments need to “govern” rather than attempt to “manage” this change to sustainable resource conservation practices. This includes a significant investment in public outreach and education so that citizens can help communities make the most informed choices.

b) What is land degradation? What are its major causes? (5)

Land is a vital resource to humankind, like air and water. Land degradation—the deterioration or loss of the productive capacity of the soils for present and future— is a global challenge that affects everyone through food insecurity, higher food prices, climate change, environmental hazards, and the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services. Land degradation is happening at an alarming pace, contributing to a dramatic decline in the productivity of croplands and rangelands worldwide. Land degradation is one of the world’s most pressing environmental problems and it will worsen without rapid remedial action. Globally, about 25 percent of the total land area has been degraded. When land is degraded, soil carbon and nitrous oxide is released into the atmosphere, making land degradation one of the most important contributors to climate change. Scientists recently warned that 24 billion tons of fertile soil was being lost per year, largely due to unsustainable agriculture practices. If this trend continues, 95 percent of the Earth’s land areas could become degraded by 2050

7. Answer the following in approximately 300 words:

a) Concept of Harness Technology in Sustainable Development. (5)

The concept of strengthening science and technology programmers towards sustainable development emerged in the 1990s. Most of the earliest contributions for integrating science and technology with sustainable development came from the developing world through the work of individual scholars and institutions. The concept was globally accepted following which guidelines were formulated to implement the process. Chapter 31 of Agenda 21 adopted in the Rio Earth Summit states that interdisciplinary studies (should be) developed between the scientific and technological community and policy makers and with the general public to provide leadership and practical know-how to the concept of sustainable development. The public should be assisted in communicating their sentiments to the scientific and technological community concerning how science and technology might be better managed to affect their lives in a beneficial way. The international community addressed the issue of relevance of science and technology in social development for the first time in the World Summit for Social Development organized by United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Copenhagen in 1995.

b) Environmental impact of industrialisation. (5)

The impact of industrialization on the environment needs to be emphasized with more intensity and feeling as the world is quietly but surely facing destruction from man-made follies. For example, did you know that in three Pennsylvania river basins, there is a growing population of mutated fish? Male fish have female parts and vice versa, open sores, and unusual blotches on their bodies and it doesn’t make national news. This is because extreme animal mutations, tons of dead birds, farm animals, and fishes have become a common occurrence around the world in the past 5 years. It’s no longer headlines news because it’s become “commonplace.”

Scientists have traced the cause of mutation in fish to be from estrogenic compounds in the water. While there are natural estrogenic compounds found in soy, urine, and manure most come from synthetic sources like chemicals, birth control pills, BPA plastics, and pesticides – all of which come from the efforts and successes of industrialized farming. They end up in waterways and rivers because of farm irrigation. More alarming is that exposure to estrogenic compounds is not limited to the fish in the rivers of Pennsylvania. They are seen everywhere including big cities and provincial towns. For example, in an effort to ease menstrual cramps and prevent premature labor, a synthetic drug commonly referred to as DES was developed which eventually led to cervical and breast cancer. It was also used on cattle right before slaughter to fatten them and researchers believed it is a significant factor in the spike in cancer patients and low male sperm production.

8. Define a community in an ecosystem. How do species interactions maintain a community’s structure? Explain with help of a suitable example. (10)

In ecology, a community is a group or association of populations of two or more different species occupying the same geographical area at the same time, also known as a biocoenosis, biotic community, biological community, ecological community, or life assemblage. The term community has a variety of uses. In its simplest form it refers to groups of organisms in a specific place or time, for example, "the fish community of Lake Ontario before industrialization". Community ecology or synecology is the study of the interactions between species in communities on many spatial and temporal scales, including the distribution, structure, abundance, demography, and interactions between coexisting populations. The primary focus of community ecology is on the interactions between populations as determined by specific genotypic and phenotypic characteristics. Community ecology also takes into account abiotic factors that influence species distributions or interactions (e.g. annual temperature or soil pH).

For example, the plant communities inhabiting deserts are very different from those found in tropical rainforests due to differences in annual precipitation. Humans can also affect community structure through habitat disturbance, such as the introduction of invasive species.

Species richness is the number of different species in a particular community. If we found 303030 species in one community, and 300300300 species in another, the second community would have much higher species richness than the first. Communities with the highest species richness tend to be found in areas near the equator, which have lots of solar energy (supporting high primary productivity), warm temperatures, large amounts of rainfall, and little seasonal change. Communities with the lowest species richness lie near the poles, which get less solar energy and are colder, drier, and less amenable to life. This pattern is illustrated below for mammalian species richness (species richness calculated only for mammal species, not for all species). Many other factors in addition to latitude can also affect a community's species-richness.

9. Write briefly about the following in mot more than 250 words:

a) Eutrophication

Eutrophication is the process in which a water body becomes overly enriched with nutrients, leading to plentiful growth of simple plant life. The excessive growth (or bloom) of algae and plankton in a water body are indicators of this process. Eutrophication is considered to be a serious environmental concern since it often results in the deterioration of water quality and the depletion of dissolved oxygen in water bodies. Eutrophic waters can eventually become “dead zones” that are incapable of supporting life. Many lakes are naturally eutrophic and in some cases there is a progressive eutrophication as the lake matures. The term Eutrophication is more widely known in relation to human activities where the artificial introduction of plant nutrients has led to community changes and a deterioration of water quality in many freshwater systems. This aspect has become increasingly important with increases in human population and more extensive development of agriculture and eutrophication now ranks with other major anthropogenic effects such as deforestation, global warming depletion of the ozone layer and large scale environmental disturbance in relation to its potentially harmful effect on natural ecosystems

b) Tectonic estuaries

The features of an estuary are determined by a region's geology, and influenced by physical, chemical, and climatic conditions. For example, movements in the Earth’s crust elevate or lower the coastline, changing the amount of seawater that enters an estuary from the ocean. The coastal elevation also determines the rate of fresh water that flows into an estuary from rivers and streams. The amounts of seawater and fresh water flowing into an estuary are never constant. The quantity of seawater in an estuary changes with the changing tides, and the quantity of fresh water flowing into an estuary increases and decreases with rainfall and snowmelt Estuaries are typically classified by their existing geology or their geologic origins (in other words, how they were formed). The four major types of estuaries classified by their geology are drowned river valley, bar-built, tectonic, and fjords. In geologic time, which is often measured on scales of hundreds of thousands to millions of years, estuaries are often fleeting features of the landscape. In fact, most estuaries are less than 10,000 years old. Drowned river valley estuaries are formed when rising sea levels flood existing river valleys. Bar-built estuaries are characterized by barrier beaches or islands that form parallel to the coastline and separate the estuary from the ocean. Barrier beaches and islands are formed by the accumulation of sand or sediments deposited by ocean waves.

c) Primary and secondary air pollutants

Sources of PM

PM2.5 (also known as fine fraction particles) is generally defined as those particles with an aerodynamic diameter of 2.5 microns or less. Sources of fine particles include all types of combustion activities (motor vehicles, power plants, wood burning, etc.) and certain industrial processes. PM10-2.5(also known as coarse fraction particles) is generally defined as those particles with an aerodynamic diameter greater than 2.5 microns, but equal to or less than a nominal 10 microns. Sources of coarse particles include crushing or grinding operations, and dust from paved or unpaved roads. Other PM may be formed in the air from the chemical change of gases. They are indirectly formed when gases from burning fuels react with sunlight and water vapor. The sources can be from fuel combustion in motor vehicles, at power plants, and in other industrial processes.

d) Biomagnification

Bio magnification refers to the condition where the chemical concentration in an organism exceeds the concentration of its food when the major exposure route occurs from the organism’s diet. The term food web bio magnification is used to describe trophic enrichment of contaminants within food webs and refers to the progressive increase in chemical concentrations with increasing animal trophic status. For hydrophobic organic contaminants, the terms bio magnification and food web bio magnification are more narrowly defined to reflect the thermodynamic condition where the chemical potential in an animal exceeds its diet and environment and increases through successive trophic levels.

IGNOU MED 001 Free Solved Assignment 2022: IGNOU MED 001 UNDERSTANDING THE ENVIRONMENT Solved Assignment 2022: Those students who had successfully submitted their Assignments to their allocated study centres can now check their Assignment Status. Alongside assignment status, they will also checkout their assignment marks & result. IGNOU MED 001 Free Solved Assignment 2022 All this is often available in a web mode. After submitting the assignment, you'll check you IGNOU Assignment Status only after 3-4 weeks. it'd take 40 days to declare.

 

Those students who had successfully submitted their Assignments to their allocated study centres can now check their Assignment Status. Along with assignment status, they can also checkout their assignment marks & result. IGNOU MED 001 Free Solved Assignment 2022 All this is available in an online mode. IGNOU MED 001 Free Solved Assignment 2022 After submitting the assignment, you can check you IGNOU Assignment Status only after 3-4 weeks. It might take 40 days to declare.

 

Whatsapp 7838475019