EARTH SCIENCE/EARTH AND LIFE SCIENCE

First Semester, First Quarter

WATER RESOURCES

WATER
- A simple compound, made of two atoms of Hydrogen and one atom of oxygen bonded together.
- More than any other substance on the Earth, water is important to life and has remarkable properties.
Without water, life could probably not even exist on Earth.
- When looking at Earth from space, the abundance of water on Earth becomes obvious.
- On land, water is also common: it swirls and meanders through streams, falls from the sky, freezes into
snowflakes, and even makes up most of you and me. We’ll look at the distribution of water on Earth, and
also examine some of its unique properties.

DISTRIBUTION OF WATER ON EARTH

 Water is the most abundant substance on the Earth’s surface. About 71% of the Earth’s surface is covered with
water, most of which is found in the oceans. In fact, 97.5% of Earth's water, nearly all of it, is in the Earth’s oceans.
 This means that just 2.5% of Earth's water is fresh water, water with low concentrations of salts. Most freshwater is
found as ice in the vast glaciers of Greenland and the immense ice sheets of Antarctica. That leaves just 0.4% of
Earth’s water that is freshwater that humans can easily use. Most liquid freshwater is found under the Earth’s surface
as groundwater, while the rest is found in lakes, rivers, and streams, and water vapor in the sky

WHERE AND WHAT FORMS IS WATER AVAILABLE ON EARTH?

 The world’s water exists naturally in different forms and locations: in the air, on the surface, below the ground and in the
oceans.
 Just 2.5% of the Earth’s water is freshwater, and most is frozen in glaciers and ice sheets. About 96% of all liquid freshwater can
be found underground. The remaining small fraction is on the surface or in the air.
 Knowing how water cycles through the environment can help in determining how much water is available in
different parts of the world. The Earth’s water cycle is the global mechanism by which water moves from the air to
the Earth (precipitation) and eventually back to the atmosphere (evaporation).
 The principal natural components of this cycle are precipitation, infiltration into the soil, runoff on the surface,
groundwater discharge to surface waters and the oceans, and evapotranspiration from water bodies, the soil, and
plants.
 “Blue water”— the water in rivers, lakes, and aquifers— can be distinguished from “green water” — which feeds
plants and crops, and which is subsequently released into the air. This distinction may help managers focus on those
areas which green water feeds and passes through, such as farms, forests, and wetlands.

Problem in water availability and water quality is nothing new already. This has already been a concern throughout
the ages in almost all parts of the globe.

SOIL RESOURCES

Soil- referred to as earth or dirt

THREE MAIN LAYERS OF SOIL

Top Soil- top layer of the soil, dark in color, full of manures. Plants grow in this layer
Subsoil- light colored layer, a thick layer and full of sand and gravels
Bed rock- made of solid rocks
HUMAN ACTIVITIES THAT AFFECT THE QUALITY AND QUANTITY OF SOIL

1. AGRICULTURAL DEPLETION
-Farming can degrade the topsoil and lead to an increase in erosion.
- disappearance of nutrients and minerals needed for plant growth
-occurs when the soil is degraded, eroded, modified, or disturbed due to extensive agriculture, poor management
practices, industrialization, and deforestation
2. OVERGRAZING ANIMALS
Grazing animals are animals that live on large areas of grassland. They wander over the area and eat grasses and shrubs.
They can remove large amounts of the plant cover for an area. If too many animals graze the same land area, once the
tips of grasses and shrubs have been eaten, they will use their hooves to pull plants out by their roots.
3. DEFORESTRATION
Deforestation is another practice that can greatly increase the rate of erosion in a region. One of the most
important barriers to erosion is plant life, as long-lived trees and other species put down roots that literally help
hold the soil together.
4. MINING OPERATIONS
Mining techniques involve shifting large amounts of earth, such as strip mining or mountaintop removal. These
operations leave large amounts of loose soil exposed to the elements, and they often require large amounts of
water, which can exacerbate the erosion process. Even once the mining operation is completed and the company
replaces the earth, it lacks the established vegetation that helped it maintain its coherency before removal, and until
plants can reestablish themselves, erosion will continue to be a problem.
5. DEVELOPMENT AND EXPANSION
Urban and suburban development can also exacerbate erosion, especially if the developers ignore the natural state
of the land. Construction of a building often begins by clearing the area of any plants or other natural defenses
against soil erosion. In addition, some landscapers replace natural ground cover with plant species unsuited to the
climate, and these plants may not be as effective at preventing erosion.
6. RECREATIONAL ACTIVITIES
Humans also cause erosion through recreational activities, like hiking and riding off-road vehicles. An even greater
amount of erosion occurs when people drive off-road vehicles over an area. The area eventually develops bare
spots where no plants can grow. Erosion becomes a serious problem in these areas.
WASTE
-unwanted or unused materials
▪ Republic Act No. 9003 is an act providing for an ecological solid waste management
program, creating the necessary institutional mechanism and incentives, declaring certain acts
prohibited and providing penalties, appropriating funds therefor, and for other purposes.

Prohibited Acts Includes:

▪ ๏ Littering, throwing, dumping of waste matters in public places
▪ ๏ Undertaking activities in violation of sanitation operation
▪ ๏ Open burning of solid waste
▪ ๏ Causing non-segregated waste
▪ ๏ Squatting in open dumps and landfills
▪ ๏ Open dumping, burying of biodegradable materials in flood-prone areas
▪ ๏ Unauthorized removal of recyclable material
▪ ๏ Mixing of source-separated recyclable material with other solid waste
▪ ๏ Establishment or operation of open-dumps
▪ ๏ Manufacturing, distributing, using, and importing consumer products that are non-
environmentally-friendly materials
▪ ๏ Importing toxic wastes misrepresented as ‘recyclable’ or ‘with recyclable content’
▪ ๏ Transporting and dumping in bulk in areas other than facility centers
▪ ๏ Site preparation, construction, expansion or operation of waste management facilities
without an Environmental Compliance Certificate and not conforming with the land use
plan of LGUs
▪ ๏ Construction of establishment within 200 meters from dump sites or sanitary landfills
▪ ๏ Operation of waste disposal facility on any aquifer, groundwater reservoir or watershed area

Other Sources of Wastes and their Environmental Impact

1. Industrial wastes- Released from manufacturing plants such as chemical plants, cement
production, textile industries, metallurgical plants, textile, food processing, power plants, etc.

2. Agricultural wastes-
• Excess use of fertilizers and pesticides can cause land and water pollution.
• Rice paddies release methane to the atmosphere.
• Excess excrement from poultry and other livestock can cause eutrophication of bodies of water.
3. Mining wastes- Waste generated from the exploitation of mineral resources
• Overburden material - ground (soil and rock) that is removed to extract the mineral deposit.
Release of overburden material to the environment as a result of improper management can cause
siltation of bodies of water.

• Acid mine drainage - water that has come to contact with oxidized rock or overburden that contains
sulphide material (coal, zinc, copper, and lead). When acid mine drainage is not properly managed, it
can find its way into waterways and the ground water. High pH waters can be detrimental to plant
and animal life.
4. Biological wastes-
• Waste generated by hospitals and other health care institutions
• This type of hazardous waste includes infectious waste and chemical waste dangerous to
people and the environment

Some of the possible hazards associated with improper waste disposal:

▪ Pollution of bodies of waters, such as rivers, lakes, the marine environment, and ground water
▪ Loss of habitat from pollution of environment
▪ Clogging of waterways /drainage system (canals, rivers, and streams) which can cause flooding
▪ Unsanitary conditions leading to the spread of disease and pests that carry disease
▪ Burning of waste can release toxic gases (formaldehyde, hydrogen chloride, sulfur dioxide, dioxins,
and furans)
▪ Unsightly and destroys the natural beauty of the environment