THE DOMAIN OF LIFE
The biosphere is the narrow zone of contact between the land, water and air. It is in this zone that life, that is unique to this planet, exists. There are several species of organisms that vary in size from microbes and bacteria to huge mammals. All the living organisms including humans are linked to each other and to the biosphere for survival. The organisms in the biosphere may broadly be divided into the plant kingdom and the animal kingdom. The three domains of the earth interact with each other and affect each other in some way or the other. For example, cutting of forests for fulfilling our needs of wood, or clearing land for agriculture may lead to fast removal of soil from slopes. Similarly earth’s surface may be changed due to natural calamities like earthquakes. For example, there could be submergence of land, as happened in the case of Tsunami recently. Parts of Andaman & Nicobar islands were submerged under water. Discharge of waste material into lakes and rivers makes the water unsuitable for human use. It also damages other forms of life. Emission from industries, thermal power plants and vehicles, pollute the air. Carbon dioxide (CO2 ) is an important constituent of air. But increase in the amount of CO2 leads to increase in global temperatures. This is termed as global warming. There is thus, a need to limit the use of resources of the earth to maintain the balance of nature between the domains of the lithosphere, the atmosphere and the hydrosphere.
No comments:
Post a Comment