Environmental Science Module Geol-M1033

ODABULTUM UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF NATURAL AND COMPUTATIONAL SCIENCE DEPARTMENT OF
MATHEMATICS

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE MODULE (Geol-M1033) FOR MATHEMATICS STUDENTS

VOLUME-1

Prepared by:-Shikuri Mahmud (Geological Engineer, M.Sc)

Language editor: - Megersa Gemechu (MA. in TEFL)

September, 2021

Chiro, Ethiopia

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Environmental Science Module Geol-M1033

Table of Contents
MODULE INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... V

MODULE OBJECTIVES ........................................................................................................... V

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................... 1

1.1. Definition and Scope ............................................................................................................ 1

1.2. Global environmental issues and challenges ........................................................................ 3

1.3. Managing Resources and sustainability ............................................................................... 4

1.4. Population and the Environment .......................................................................................... 5

1.4.1 Human Population Growth ............................................................................................. 5

1.4.2 World Birth and Death Rates.......................................................................................... 6

1.4.3 Population Distribution................................................................................................... 7

1.4.4 Urban concentrations ................................................................................................ 8

1.5. Population-resource-environment linkage ........................................................................... 9

1.6. Earth materials, systems and cycles ................................................................................... 10

CHAPTER TWO: NATURAL HAZARDS............................................................................. 14

2.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 14

2.2. Internal Structure and composition of the earth ................................................................. 15

2.3 Earthquakes ......................................................................................................................... 18

2.3.1 Origin of Earthquakes ................................................................................................... 18

2.3.2 Seismic Waves .............................................................................................................. 19

2.2.3. Measurement of Earthquakes ...................................................................................... 20

2.3.4 Effects of Earthquakes, Predicting earthquakes and earthquake risks ......................... 21

2.3.5 Earthquake Mitigation measures .................................................................................. 22

2.3.6 Earthquake history of Ethiopia ..................................................................................... 22

2.4. Volcanism and Volcanic Hazards ...................................................................................... 23

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2.4.1 Causes of Volcanic Hazards ......................................................................................... 26

2.4.2. Effect of Volcanic Hazards.......................................................................................... 26

2.4.3. Forecasting volcanic activity ....................................................................................... 28

2.4.4. Volcanic Hazard Mitigation measures ........................................................................ 29

2.4.5. Adjustment to and perception of volcanic Hazards ..................................................... 30

2.4.6. Volcanic Hazards in Ethiopia ...................................................................................... 30

2.5. Landslides and Hydro-climatic hazards ............................................................................. 32

2.5.1. Introduction to landslide, Slope processes and types of landslides & slope stability . 32

2.5.2. Triggering of Landslide Events ................................................................................... 36

2.5.3. Landslide hazards ........................................................................................................ 37

2.5.4. Minimizing the landslide hazard, perception of the landslide hazard ......................... 37

2.5.5. Landslide hazard in Ethiopia ....................................................................................... 38

2.6. Hydro climatic hazards....................................................................................................... 39

2.6.1. Climatic hazards .......................................................................................................... 39

2.6.2. Hydrological Hazards: Flooding, Magnitude and frequency ...................................... 44

2.6.4. Mitigation of Hydrological Hazards ............................................................................ 45

CHAPTER THREE: GLOBAL WATER RESOURCES ....................................................... 46

3.1. Global water balance .......................................................................................................... 46

3.2. Global water supply and demand ....................................................................................... 47

3.3. Mechanics of Groundwater ................................................................................................ 48

3.4. International Waters and Conflict on water resources ....................................................... 51

3.5. Groundwater as Environmental, Social and Economic Good ............................................ 52

3.6. Concepts of Integrated Water Resources Management ..................................................... 53

3.7. Human impact on Groundwater ......................................................................................... 54

3.7.1. Groundwater pollution and its clean up ....................................................................... 54

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3.8. Oceans and the Environment.............................................................................................. 55

3.8.1. Ocean Resource ........................................................................................................... 55

3.8.2. Adaptation of Organisms to the Marine Environment ................................................ 56

3.8.3. Oceans as sinks of global CO2 .................................................................................... 57

3.9. International Laws on Oceans ............................................................................................ 58

CHAPTER FOUR: ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION SOURCES AND PROCESSES . 60

4.1. Atmosphere of the Earth .................................................................................................... 60

4.1.1. Structure of the Atmosphere ........................................................................................ 61

4.2 Air pollution and sources .................................................................................................... 62

4.2.1. Sources & Classification of Air pollution ................................................................... 63

4.2.2. Consequences of Air Pollution .................................................................................... 65

4.2.3. Control of Air Pollution ............................................................................................... 66

4.3. Water pollution and sources ............................................................................................... 67

4.3.1. Sources of water pollution ........................................................................................... 67

4.3.2. Eutrophication ............................................................................................................. 68

4.3.3. Control of water pollution ........................................................................................... 69

CHAPTER FIVE: MINERAL AND ENERGY RESOURCE AND THEIR LINK TO THE
ENVIRONMENT ........................................................................................................................ 70

5.1. Mineral Resources ............................................................................................................... 70

5.1.2. Useful Mineral substances ........................................................................................... 77

5.2. Energy Resources ............................................................................................................... 77

5.3. Mining and Metals ............................................................................................................. 77

5.4. Alternative energy resource ............................................................................................... 81

5.4. Environmental impact of Mineral exploitation .................................................................. 81

5.4.1. Environmental effects of using Mineral resources ...................................................... 82

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CHAPTER SIX: SOIL AND ENVIRONMENT ...................................................................... 83

6.1 Definition of Soil................................................................................................................. 83

6.1.1 Soil forming factors ...................................................................................................... 83

6.1.2. Type of Soil ................................................................................................................. 84

6.1.3. Soil Erosion and degradation ....................................................................................... 85

6.1.3.1 Consequences of soil erosion ................................................................................. 85

6.1.3.2 Prevention of soil erosion ...................................................................................... 86

6.1.4 Soil Degradation ........................................................................................................... 86

6.1.4.1 Causes of Soil Degradation .................................................................................... 86

6.1.5 Soil pollution ................................................................................................................ 87

6.1.5.1. Sources of soil pollution ....................................................................................... 87

6.1.5.2. Control of soil pollution ........................................................................................ 88

CHAPTER SEVEN: MEGACITIES AND SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT .................. 89

7.1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 89

7.2. Classification and Types of Waste ..................................................................................... 89

7.3. Solid waste Management ................................................................................................... 91

7.4. Megacities & Various Development Challenges ............................................................... 94

7.5. Solid Waste Management in cities ..................................................................................... 95

7.6. Waste Management challenges in cities/town of Ethiopia................................................. 96

REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................ 98

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MODULE INTRODUCTION

The environmental science module (Geol-M1033) was prepared as a teaching material for
mathematics students to introduce the issues of global environmental challenges that occurs
either naturally or human activities; facing the human society and the controlling measures. This
module comprises introduction, Natural hazards, global water resources, environmental pollution
source and processes, mineral and energy resources and their link to the environment, soil and
environment, megacities and solid waste management.

MODULE OBJECTIVES

The module mainly aims to introduce students to the broader issues of global environmental
challenges facing the human society.

Upon completing this module, students will be able to:

 have an understanding of the interactions between humans and the global environment;
 develop skills and insight into critical thinking and situational awareness of their
surrounding environment;
 gain an understanding of the physical processes that operate in and on earth;
 aware of environmental issues of international or global scale;
 know about the various natural hazards (such as earthquake, volcano, land slide, hazards
etc.) and their effects on the environment and mitigation measures;
 get insight about the global water resource and its environmental, social and economic
goods;
 develop awareness about the various types of pollutions and their impacts to the
environment;
 aware about the different soil forming factors and source of soil pollutions;
 know about some of the natural resources and their effects to the environment during
mining, and utilization; and
 have clues about solid wastes, types of sources and their controlling mechanisms.

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CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION TO ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE

General overview of the chapter

This chapter introduces you to the important concept and key terms that are used in environmental
science. It uses to explain the various global environmental issues and challenges, the linkage between
population- resources with environment. Moreover, it also deals about the earth’s materials, system and
cycles.

Learning outcomes of the chapter

The students will able to: -
 understand the concept of environmental science;
 describe the various global environmental issues and challenges;
 develop awareness about the linkage between population and resource with environment; and
 Understand about the earth’s materials, system and cycles.

1.1. Definition and Scope

The word ‘Environment’ is derived from the French word ‘Environer’ which means to encircle, around
or surround. The biologist Jacob Van Uerkal (1864-1944) introduced the term ‘environment’ in
Ecology. Ecology is the study of the interactions between an organism of some kind and its
environment. As given by Environment Protection Act 1986, Environment is the sum total of land,
water, air, interrelationships among themselves and also with the human beings and other living
organisms. Environmental Science is the interdisciplinary field and requires the study of the
interactions among the physical, chemical and biological components of the environment with a focus
on environmental pollution and degradation.

The science of Environment studies comprises of various branches of studies like chemistry, physics,
life science, medical science, agriculture, public health, sanitary engineering, geography, geology,
atmospheric science, etc. It is the science of physical phenomena in the environment. It studies the
sources, reactions, transport, effect and fate of a biological species in the air, water and soil and the
effect of human activity upon these. Environmental Science deals with the study of processes in soil,
water, air and organisms which lead to pollution or environmental damages and the scientific basis for

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the establishment of a standard which can be considered acceptably clean, safe and healthy for human
beings and natural ecosystems.

The Environment is about the surrounding external conditions influencing development or growth of
people, animal or plants; living or working conditions etc. This involves three questions i.e. what is
surrounded, by what surrounded and where surrounded. The answer to the first one is living objects in
general and man in particular. Human life is concerned to be the main in the study of environment.
However, human life cannot exist or be understood in isolation from the other forms of life like animal
life and plant life. Environment belongs to all living beings and is thus important for all. Hence,
environment refers to the sum total of conditions surround in space and time.

The scope of the term ‘Environment’ has been changing and widening by the passage of time. In the
primitive age, the environment consisted of only physical aspects of the planet earth i.e., land, water
and air as biological communities.

Environment is a broad term that includes the total set of circumstances that surround an individual or
a community. It also includes all the physical conditions (such as air, water, gases, soil, forest,
landforms etc.) and the external factors (such as temperature, rainfall, and day length, wind, and ocean
currents) that affect the growth and development of an individual or community or any form of life.

The interactions of organisms with biotic and abiotic factors form an ecosystem. Even minute changes
in any one factor in an ecosystem can influence whether or not a particular plant or animal species will
be successful in its environment.

Environmental science is the study of the interaction of humans with all aspects of their environment.

The scope of environmental studies is very wide and it deals with many areas like i)Global
environmental issues and challenges, ii) Conservation of natural resources iii) pollution of the
surrounding environment, iv) controlling the pollution, v) social issues connected to it, and vi) impacts
of human population on the environment.

Furthermore, Environmental science almost invariably proposes problems of extreme complexity,

typically characterized by strongly nonlinear evolution dynamics. Many systems in the environment are
complicated due to nonlinear interactions of several different components taking place on a vast range

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of time-space scales. Such systems evolve under the action of macroscopic driving (typically the solar
heating) and modulating (e.g. the Earth’s rotation and gravitation) agents.

The most comprehensive example is the entire climatic system. In its most rigorous definition, the
climatic system is constituted by four intimately interconnected sub-systems: Atmosphere,
Hydrosphere, Cryosphere, and Biosphere. These sub-systems are by themselves complicated, complex
interact and non-linearly with each other on various time-space scales.

Figure1- 1 Schematic view of the components of the global climate system, their processes and
interactions (Pelumi Nicholas Awoyemi, 2020)

1.2. Global environmental issues and challenges

Environmental issues that have global significance and need to be addressed through international
effort, some of these issues threatening the very future of the planet include:

 Population Growth
 Global Warming
 Depletion of the Ozone Layer
 Habitat Destruction and Species Extinction

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 Air Pollution
 Water Pollution
 Soil Pollution
 Groundwater Depletion and Contamination
 Chemical Risks
 Environmental Racism
 Energy Production
 Natural Hazards

1.3. Managing Resources and sustainability

Human existence requires the use of basic resources like water, soil, minerals, oil, coal etc. which must
be managed to ensure sufficient future supply and minimal environmental degradation during
exploitation.

Our current life styles are supported by the use of natural resources. Basic resources such as water and
soil vary in availability and quality around the globe. These essential renewable resources are vital to
food production and have to be managed to support future population. Non-renewable resources such
as, metallic minerals & fossil fuels are used most heavily in the developed and developing countries.
The use of such resources generates waste during extraction, manufacturing, marketing and
consumption. This can lead to pollution and problems with waste disposal. These must be managed to
ensure sufficient future supply with minimal environmental degradation during exploitation.

Sustainability is an environmental objective. We must sustain our environmental resources and

concerned with the quality of the human environment, as earth processes will eventually ‘cleanse’ the
natural environment by geologic processes.
Sustainable global economy (careful management and wise use of the planet and its resources),
Populations of humans and other organisms must live in harmony with natural support systems such as
air, water, and land.
An energy policy is needed so as not to pollute, and cause climatic change. A utilization plan or a
renewable resource such as water, forests, grasslands, fishery that does not deplete the resource or
destroy the ecosystem.
•A resource utilization plan for nonrenewable resources that does not damage the global environment,
and provides for future generations.

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A legal, social, and political system dedicated to sustainability and a socially just global economy.
To Achieve Sustainability:
• Develop effective population control strategies, completely restructure our energy programs, Institute
social, legal, political, and educational changes that have their goal the maintenance of a quality local,
regional, and global environment, Institute policies (economic, tax, etc.) that encourage population
control and wise use of resources.

1.4. Population and the Environment

Population is a term referring to the total human inhabitants of a specified area, such as a city, country,
or continent at a given time. Population study as a discipline is known as demography. It is concerned
with the size, composition, and distribution of populations; their patterns of change over time through
births, deaths, and migration; and the determinants and consequences of such changes. Population
studies yield knowledge important for planning, particularly by governments, in fields such as health,
education, housing, social security, employment, and environmental preservation. Such studies also
provide information needed to formulate government population policies, which seek to modify
demographic trends in order to achieve economic and social objectives.

The link between population growth and environmental impact seems obvious at first glance. More
people consume more resources, damage more of the earth’s natural setting and generate more waste.
Human beings are dynamic force of nature on both renewable and non-renewable resources bringing
irreversible damage to the environment. More people are using more resources with more intensity than
at any point in human history. Fresh water, cropland, forests, fisheries and biodiversity all show signs
of stress at local, regional and global levels.

1.4.1 Human Population Growth

The rapid increase of human population is putting an incredible strain on our environment. While
developed countries continue to pollute the environment and deplete its resources, developing countries
are under increasing pressure to compete economically and their industrial advancements are damaging
as well. The demands that this growth places on our global environment are threatening the future of
sustainable life on earth (Rahul Mittal & Dr. Chandi Gupta Mittal, 2013).
One of the largest environmental effects of human population growth is the problem of global warming.
Some scientists fear that global warming will lead to rising sea levels and extreme weather conditions
in the future. In order to support the growing population, forests are being destroyed at an alarming

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rate. Humans also continue to put a great demand on the natural resources of our planet. Many non-
renewable resources are being depleted due to the unrestrained use of fuel and energy. Many parts of
the world also suffer from a shortage of food and water. The growth of population puts larger demands
on our already limited resources. The environment on earth is suffering from the growth of global
population. The depletion of resources and biodiversity, the production of waste, and the destroying of
natural habitat are serious problems that must be addressed in order to ensure that life on earth will be
sustainable throughout the next century.
To understand and deal with the environmental problem, we need to know how fast population is
growing:

The world population is projected to grow from 6 billion in 1999 to 9 billion by 2042, an increase of 50
percent according to US Census bureau.

Figure1-2: Population trends of the world from the recent past with projection to 2050(US, 2006,
Census Bureau data base).

1.4.2 World Birth and Death Rates

Demographers use birth and death rates to determine population growth and evaluate the general health
of the populations they study. These rates usually denote the number of births and deaths per 1,000
people in a given year. The following chart shows the estimated birth and death rates for different parts
of the world in 2001.

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Figure1-3 the estimated birth and death rates for different parts of the world in 2001(Montgomery,
Carla W., 1951)

1.4.3 Population Distribution

Economists often distinguish between developed and developing nations in analyzing world population
trends

Figure1-4 the world Population Distribution (Montgomery, Carla W., 1951)

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Generally, nations considered to be developing have a lower standard of living than developed nations.
A larger share of the population in these countries live at subsistence levels, and medical resources are
limited. As demonstrated by the above graph, population growth in less developed nations occurs at a
much faster rate than in developed nations.

1.4.4 Urban concentrations

As a country develops from primarily an agricultural to an industrial economy, large-scale migration of
rural residents to towns and cities takes place. During this process, the growth rate of urban areas is
typically double the pace of overall population increase.

Some 29 percent of the world population was living in urban areas in 1950; this figure was 43 percent
in 1990, and is projected to rise to 50 percent by the year 2005. Urbanization eventually leads to a
severe decline in the number of people living in the countryside, with negative population growth rates
in rural areas.

Dealing with these conditions, especially in very large cities, presents massive difficulties for the
governments of less-developed countries.

Example Slum in Rio de Janeiro

Although Rio de Janeiro occupies a setting of magnificent natural beauty, poverty and urban sprawl
have spawned the favelas, densely crowded neighborhoods of flimsy shacks. In contrast to the more
affluent neighborhoods along the city’s southern beaches, favelas cover many of the city’s northern
hills.

Human population growth is at the root of virtually all of the world’s environmental problems.
Although the growth rate of the world’s population has slowed slightly since the 1990s, the world’s
population increases by about 77 million human beings each year. As the number of people increases,
crowding generates pollution, destroys more habitats, and uses up additional natural resources.
Although rates of population increase are now much slower in the developed world than in the
developing world, it would be a mistake to assume that population growth is primarily a problem of
developing countries. In fact, because larger amounts of resources per person are used in developed
nations, each individual from the developed world has a much greater environmental impact than does

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a person from a developing country. Conservation strategies that would not significantly alter life styles
but that would greatly lessen environmental impact are essential in the developed countries.

1.5. Population-resource-environment linkage

A. Human population growth

Human population growth is nearly impossible to predict, because it is the result of bewildering factors,
from advance in agriculture, sanitation, and medicine to the influence of culture, and medical practice.
The rate of population growth in the last few hundred years is most strikingly accelerated, the pattern
can be explained in part by a model known as exponential growth i.e. people increases by a fixed
percentage so that both the base amount and the added quantity become larger and larger, even though
the rate increase does not change.

For example, consider a population of 1 billion people with an annual growth rate of 2 percent. In one
year, the population will increase by 2 percent of 1 billion, or 20 million, in the second year, the
population will increase by 2 percent of 1 billion plus 20 million (or 20.4 million people)…every year,
the number of people added will increase, even though the rate of growth does not change.
The implications of exponential growth: the suddenness with which a growing population can fill all
available space. Human population growth doubles once every 40-46 years at present growth rates
B. Resources
Natural resources can be defined as ‘variety of goods and services provided by nature which are
necessary for our day-to-day lives.
Example: Plants, animals and microbes (living or biotic part), Air, water, soil, minerals, climate and
solar energy (non- living or abiotic part). They are essential for the fulfillment of physiological, social,
economic and cultural needs at the individual and community levels.
They are of two types of resources namely Renewable and Non-Renewable Resources.
1. Renewable resources: The resources that can be replenished through rapid natural cycles are known
as renewable resource. These resources are able to increase their abundance through reproduction and
utilization of simple substances. Example: Plants, (crops and forests) and animals. Some examples of
renewable resources though they do not have life cycle but can be recycled.
Example: Wood and wood-products, pulp products, natural rubber, fibers (e.g. Cotton, jute, animal
wool, silk and synthetic fibers) and leather.

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In addition to these resources, water and soil are also classified as renewable resources. Solar energy
although having a finite life, as a special case, is considered as a renewable resource in as much as solar
stocks is inexhaustible on the human scale.
2. Nonrenewable resources: The resources that cannot be replenished through natural processes are
known as non-renewable resources. These are available in limited amounts, which cannot be increased.
These resources include fossil fuels (petrol, coal etc.), metals (iron, copper, gold, silver, lead, zinc etc.),
minerals and salts (carbonates, phosphates, nitrates etc.).Once a non-renewable resource is consumed, it
is gone forever.

C. Linkage with Environment

Population size is clearly an important factor in measuring environmental impact. Other multipliers in
this equation are level of affluence—measured as consumption per person and unit of consumption,
reflected in the technologies used to supply energy, food, and other resources.
The total environmental impact of population in a given area depends on three factors.

I =PAT
Where I: Impact on their environment
P: Population size
A: Demand on the earth’s resource per person/Affluence
T: Factor of technology main shortcoming is that the factors in the equation are related but in complex
ways. However, the approach has been useful in demonstrating that population dynamics are central to
environmental change
1.6. Earth materials, systems and cycles
a) Earth Materials
The earth materials (such as minerals, rocks and soils) use to determine their potential use as resources
or waste disposal sites and their effects on human health.
b) Earth as a system
Understanding Earth’s systems and their changes is critical to solving environmental problems.
A system is a set of things containing more than one component parts that mutually adjust to function
as a whole, with changes in one component brings about changes in other components.

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The Earth is a system too. It has four major parts all connected and working in harmony to make the
planet function properly. These four parts are called Spheres. Environment has been classified into four
major components (spheres):

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 concerned with how
millions of species of animals, plants and other organisms grow, feed, move, reproduce and evolve over
long periods of time in different environments. Its subject matter is useful to other sciences and
professions that deal with life, such as agriculture, forestry and medicine. The richness of biosphere
depends upon a number of factors like rainfall, temperature, geographical reference etc. Apart from the
physical environmental factors, the man made environment includes human groups, the material
infrastructures built by man, the production relationships and institutional systems that he has devised.

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The social environment shows the way in which human societies have organized themselves and how
they function in order to satisfy their needs.

The Earth is made of several subsystems or "spheres" that interact to form a complex and continuously
changing whole called the Earth system.
Systems can be classified as open, closed, or isolated.
 Open systems allow energy and mass to pass across the system boundary
 A closed system allows energy but not mass across its system boundary
 An isolated system allows neither mass nor energy to pass across the system boundary

The Earth system as a whole is a closed system. The boundary of the Earth system is the outer edge of
the atmosphere. Virtually no mass is exchanged between the Earth system and the rest of the universe
(except for an occasional meteorite).However, energy in the form of solar radiation passes from the
Sun, through the atmosphere to the surface. The Earth in turn emits radiation back out to space across
the system boundary. Hence, energy passes across the Earth's system boundary, but not mass, making it
a closed system.

The Earth system diagram shows arrows representing flows of energy and mass that connect and
intertwine the four spheres. At the top, solar energy drives many of the environmental processes
operating in the four spheres. The Earth's internal heat engine and the gravitational attraction of the
moon are additional sources of energy to power Earth systems. There is a constant cycling of energy
and mass between the hydrosphere, lithosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere as indicated by the arrows.

Figure1-5The Earth system diagram shows arrows representing flows of energy and mass that connects
and intertwine the four spheres (Marileah Mendina, 2006)

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c) Earth cycles

A Cycle is a series of steps that repeats. Some cycles (water cycle) repeat over relatively short periods
of time, while others repeat over millions of years (tectonic cycle). On Earth, the water cycle, energy
cycle, carbon cycle, tectonic cycle and rock cycle “work” together to maintain a dynamic planet.

Figure1-6 the rock cycle (Steven Earle – 2005)

Questions

1. What is Environment? Discuss the scope of Environment.

2. What does environmental science studies?
3. List and explain briefly the global environmental challenges?
4. How population growths influence the sustainability of natural resource? Discuss on it.
5. What is earth system or spheres? List the component of spheres.
6. Give example of Non-renewable resources

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CHAPTER TWO: NATURAL HAZARDS

General overview

This chapter introduces the basic concept and terms of the natural hazards to students. Under this
chapter the internal structures and composition of earth has been explained briefly. Furthermore, the
different geological hazards such as earthquakes, volcanic eruption, landslide or mass wasting, and
other hydro-climatic hazards also elaborated.

Learning outcomes

On successful completion of this chapter, students will be able to:

 have a basic understanding of the concept and should be able to differentiate the different categories
of natural hazards;
 describe the geological hazards such as earthquake, volcanic eruption, landslide and hydro-climatic
hazards and their mitigation measures; and
 understand about the internal structure and composition of earth

2.1 Introduction
Natural hazards are naturally occurring processes that may be dangerous to human life and property,
and other assets. (Edward A. Keller, 2008).
Natural Hazards can be divided into several different categories:
Geologic Hazards - These are the main subject of this course and include: Earthquakes, Volcanic
Eruptions, Tsunami, Landslides, Floods and Subsidence
Atmospheric Hazards - These are also natural hazards but processes operating in the atmosphere are
mainly responsible. They will also be considered in this course, and include: Tornadoes, Droughts,
Severe Thunderstorms, and Lightening
Other Natural Hazards - These are hazards that may occur naturally, but don't fall in to either of the
categories above. They will not be considered to any great extent in this course, but include: Insect
infestations, Disease, Wildfires
Anthropogenic Hazards
These are hazards that occur as a result of human interaction with the environment. They include
Technological Hazards, which occur due to exposure to hazardous substances, such as radon, mercury
and coal dust. They also include other hazards that have formed only through human interaction, such

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as acid rain, and contamination of the atmosphere or surface waters with harmful substances, as well as
the potential for human destruction of the ozone layer and potential global warming

2.2. Internal Structure and composition of the earth

According to A. Palasubramanian (2016), Earth is a very unique planet in the solar system. It is because
of the presence of four dominant environmental segments. They are the Atmosphere, Hydrosphere,
lithosphere, and biosphere. Lithosphere is the basic solid sphere of the planet earth. It is the sphere of
hard rock masses and hot fluids, extending to more than 6000km inside, to the center of the earth. The
land we live in is on this lithosphere only.

All other spheres are attached to this lithosphere due to earth’s gravitational attraction. The Study of the
lithosphere is very essential to understand the lithology, structure, composition, internal processes that
affect the external surface features, and the natural resources that are contained in various rock bodies.
The interior of the earth can reveal the nature of lithosphere.

The earth internal structure can be characterized based on composition and physical properties.
Based on Composition the earth has three layers, crust, mantle and core.
The Crust:-It is the outermost layer extending from the solid surface down to the first major
discontinuity (the Mohorovicic discontinuity) of the lithosphere. Its density ranges from 2.7(continental
crust) to 3.2 (oceanic crust). The crust is made of many types of rocks and thousands of minerals. These
rocks and minerals are made from just 8 elements. They are Oxygen (46.6%), Silicon (27.72%),
Aluminum (8.13%), Iron (5.00%), Calcium (3.63%), Sodium (2.83%), Potassium (2.70%) and
Magnesium (2.09%). The rocks present in the earth’s crust are solid, rigid and brittle in nature. They
are also highly variable; including rocks of molten origin, rocks of sedimentary origin, and rocks that
have undergone all sorts of structural and chemical alterations through metamorphism. The crust itself
is divided into two sub-layers as continental crust and oceanic crust. The continental crust is much
thicker than the oceanic crust.

Oceanic crust
The crustal mass existing under the oceans is about 10 km thick. It is generally made up of rocks rich in
iron and magnesium. The oceanic crust is denser than continental crust. The reason is that this layer is
dominated by relatively heavy, dark, dense rocks of “mafic” composition. Most of these mafic rocks

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are of volcanic in origin and are called “basalts.” This dense, heavy mafic layer is sometimes called as
“SiMa” denoting its chemistry as silica and magnesium
Continental crust
This crustal mass make up the continental layer. The continental crust is about 30 to 50 km in
thickness. It is made up of igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks. The continental crust is less
dense than the oceanic crust. The continental crust is made up of light colored rocks. These rocks are
primarily composed of silicates, enriched in lighter elements, such as aluminum (Al), potassium (K),
and sodium (Na). Hence, this layer is called as “SiAl” as it is dominated by silicate rocks with lighter
elements mixed with aluminum. These rocks are granitic masses. Hence, this layer is normally called as
a granitic layer. This is considerably thicker, around 40 km, than the oceanic crust containing the
basaltic lower layer.

The Mantle: The mantle is the middle layer. This makes up the largest volume of the Earth’s interior.
It is almost 2900 kilometers in thickness. It is comprised of about 83% of the Earth’s total volume. It is
also divided into two distinct layers as upper mantle and lower mantle.

The Upper mantle

The upper mantle is about 670 kilometers in depth. It is a brittle and less dense mass. It is made up of
peridotites. These are rocks made up of minerals like olivine and pyroxene. These are largely silicate
minerals and the rocks are basic in character. These rocks are highly enriched with iron and
magnesium, and hence they are called as “ultramafic” rocks. These ultramafic rocks are dark in color
due to the presence of iron and magnesium. These rocks are extremely heavy and dense compared with
the typical surface rocks. The rocks in the upper mantle are more rigid and brittle because of cooler
temperatures and lower pressures.
The upper mantle is also known as the asthenosphere, which flows as convection currents.
The Lower Mantle
The Lower Mantle is much thicker and denser. It is 670 to 2900 kilometers below the Earth’s surface.
This layer is hot and plastic. The higher pressure existing in this layer causes the formation of minerals
that are different from those of the upper mantle. The mantle varies in its state of matter. It is soft and
in nearly liquid condition near its inner boundary.

The Core

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Earth's Core is thought to be composed mainly of an iron and nickel alloy. The core is the earth's
ultimate source of internal heat because it contains radioactive materials. These radioactive materials
release heat as they break down into more stable substances. The Earth’s central Core contains two
different layers as Outer Core and Inner Core. It is the central mass extending from 2900km up to the
center, 6400km(7,000km in diameter) and has Average density is 10.79 g/cm3 and Constitute 16% by
volume and 32% by mass of the Earth.

Based on Physical Properties

Lithosphere: this is the solid, strong and rigid outer part of the Earth that contains the crust and the
upper most part of the mantle. It extends 100 km from the surface.
Asthenosphere "Weak sphere"): There is a major zone within the upper mantle where temperature and
pressure are at just the right balance so that part of the material melts. The rocks lose much of their
strength and become soft plastic and flow like warm tar. It is a distinctive zone in the upper mantle and
is as much as 100km thick-very important zone from the point of view of earthquakes and plate
movement.
Mesosphere: this zone is stronger and much rigid than the asthenosphere because the high pressure at
this depth offsets the effect of high temperature. This is the region b/n the asthenosphere and the core.

Figure-2-1 Internal structure of the earth (Stephen A. Nelson, 2016)

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2.3 Earthquakes
Earthquake is one of the most destructive natural hazards. They may occur at any time of the year, day
or night, with sudden impact and little warning. They can destroy buildings and infrastructure in
seconds, killing or injuring the inhabitants. Earthquakes not only destroy the entire habitation but may
de-stabilize the government, economy and social structure of the country. Earthquake is the sudden
shaking of the earth crust. The impact of an earthquake is sudden and there is hardly any warning,
making it impossible to predict.

Earthquakes occur when energy stored in elastically strained rocks is suddenly released. This release of
energy causes intense ground shaking in the area near the source of the earthquake and sends waves of
elastic energy, called seismic waves throughout the Earth.

2.3.1 Origin of Earthquakes

Most natural earthquakes are caused by sudden slippage along a fault zone. The elastic rebound theory
suggests that if slippage along a fault is hindered such that elastic strain energy builds up in the
deforming rocks on either side of the fault, when the slippage does occur, the energy released causes an
earthquake.
Focus is the point in the earth's crust from which an earthquake disturbance emanates. Epicenter is the
point on the earth's surface immediately above the point of the disturbance. i.e. it is the vertical surficial
projection of the focus. The depth of focus from the epicenter called as focal depth.

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Figure-2- 2 Shows Earthquakes caused by sudden slippage along a fault zone and seismic wave fronts
and waves ray radiate all directions from the focus (source, Science Learning Hub, 2007, The
University of Waikato, https://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/images/352-seismic-waves).

2.3.2 Seismic Waves

The seismic waves radiate in all directions from the focus. The initial waves travel through the interior
of the earth and are called body waves. When the energy reaches the surface, surface waves are
generated.
There are two types of body waves: P -waves and S-waves:
P –waves: called primary waves

Formed by the alternate contraction and expansion of bedrock, push and pool motion,also called
longitudinal wave
 Travel faster than S-waves, reach the seismogram station first.
 Travel at a speed of 5-7 Km/s in the Lithosphere.
 Can travel through solids, liquids and gases.

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Figure-2- 3 the direction of particle motion by the propagation of P-waves (Edward J.Tarbuck and
Frederick K.Lutgens, 1998).

S-Wave (Secondary waves)

S-wave is transverse, which means that particles in the wave’s path move from side to side or up and
down at right angles to the wave’s advance. It Travels much slower than the P wave and is the second
signal to arrive at a recording station. It is advance by shearing displacements, displacements that
change shape without changing volume.

Figure-2- 4 the direction of particle motion by the propagation of S-waves (Edward J.Tarbuck and
Frederick K.Lutgens, 1998)

Surface waves

Surface waves differ from body waves in that they do not travel through the Earth, but instead travel
along paths nearly parallel to the surface of the Earth. Surface waves behave like S-waves in that they
cause up and down and side to side movement as they pass. but they travel slower than S-waves and do
not travel through the body of the Earth .Surface waves are of much greater length and period and
transmit a large proportion of earthquake energy. They are largely responsible for damage to surface
structures.

2.2.3. Measurement of Earthquakes

The vibrations caused by earthquakes are recorded by Seismography. Earthquake vibrations are
measured in two ways:

A) Magnitude of Earthquakes

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Magnitude (M): it is the actual amount of energy released from earthquakes by the fault rupture.
Magnitude of an earthquake is a measure of its size. It is measured using Richter scale ranging from 1
to 10.Informally, earthquakes are classified according to their magnitude size: under 5 small; 5 - 6
moderate; 6 - 7 large; 7 - 7.8 major; 7.8 or above great. = log (a/T) + B
Where 'a' is maximum ground motion
T is duration of one oscillation or period of the seismic wave.
B is the attenuation factor.
A better measure of the size of an earthquake is the amount of energy released by the earthquake. While
this is much more difficult to determine, it can be estimated:
Log E = 11.8 + 1.5 M
Where E is the energy released and M is the Richter Magnitude.

B) Earthquake Intensity: Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale

Intensity is an indicator of the severity of shaking generated at a given location. Earthquake intensity
scales are a qualitative expression of the damage caused by an event at a given location. It is given by
Mercalli scale and range from I to XII, means from non- damage to total damage.
Earthquake Intensity depends on the nature and type of construction, population density and etc.

2.3.4 Effects of Earthquakes, Predicting earthquakes and earthquake risks

Effects of Earthquakes

The risk that an earthquake will occur close to where you live depends on whether or not tectonic
activity that causes deformation is occurring within the crust of that area. The risk is greatest in the
most tectonically active area i.e. near the plate margin.
The impact of an earthquake is determined by the following factors:
1. Amount of energy released
2. Frequency orientation and duration of shaking
3. Distance from epicenter
4. Physical properties of bedrock and sacrificial materials and
5. Building design.

Earthquake Risks

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Most deaths from earthquakes are caused by buildings or other human construction falling down during
an earthquake. Earthquakes located in isolated areas far from human population rarely cause any
deaths. Thus, earthquake hazard risk depends on:
1. Population density,

2. construction standards (building codes) and

3. Emergency preparedness

Earthquake prediction

Long-Term Forecasting- is based mainly on:

 The knowledge of when and where earthquakes have occurred in the past.

 Knowledge of present tectonic setting,

 Historical records, and geological records, to determine locations and recurrence intervals of
earthquakes.

2.3.5 Earthquake Mitigation measures

 Hazard zonation map to avoid areas of potential earthquake.

 Good quality engineering design which resist the earthquake hazards.

 Land use Planning

 Insurance and relief measures

 Social measures (Awareness, public information)

 Early warning

2.3.6 Earthquake history of Ethiopia

Table2. 1 List of earthquake history in Ethiopia (USNGDC,2015)

Place Date Magnitude Damage/effect

(Ms)

Eritrea, Massawa 1921 Not Port of Massawa was destroyed.

earthquake available

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Ethiopia, Awasa 1960 6.1 -

earthquake

Ethiopia, Kara Kore 1961 Not Completely destroyed the town of Majete and
earthquake available severely damaged Kara Kore town.

Ethiopia, Serdo 1969 6.3 People were killed and injured.

earthquake

Ethiopia, Dobi graben 1989 6.5 Destroyed several bridges on the highway
earthquake connecting the port of Assab to Addis Ababa.

Ethiopia, Wondo Genet 1983 Not Not well recorded

earthquake available

Ethiopia, langano 1985 Not Not well recorded

earthquake available

Tsunamis - Tsunamis are giant ocean waves that can rapidly travel across oceans and generated by
earthquakes beneath the sea.

2.4. Volcanism and Volcanic Hazards

Volcanism is one of the most impressive displays of Earth’s dynamic internal processes.

A volcano is “an opening in the Earth’s crust through which an eruption takes place”. Volcanoes are
eruptions of hot molten lava and ash that rises from deep beneath the earth's crust. Volcanic eruptions
are one of Earth's most dramatic and violent agents of change such as alter land, Change our planet's
climate temporarily and force people to abandon their land and homes, sometimes forever.

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Figure-2-5 The parts of a volcano. (Source: Karla Panchuk, 2017)

Terminologies

Magma: hot, liquid rock beneath the Earth’s surface.

Lava: hot, liquid rock that reaches (and goes above) the Earth’s surface.
Magma chamber: The subterranean cavity containing the gas-rich liquid magma which feeds a
volcano.
Conduit: A passage followed by magma in a volcano.
Vent: The opening at the earth's surface through which volcanic materials issue forth.
Cone: A volcanic cone built entirely of loose fragmented material (pyroclastic) and (or) lava flows
erupted from the vent. Erupted material builds up with each eruption forming the cone.

Volcanoes are generally grouped into three major types based on their eruption history.
1. Active Volcanoes- which are in active at present or have been so during the historic period.
Example: Ert’ale volcano in the Afar triangle of Ethiopia.

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Figure-2- 6 The Ert’ale volcano in Afar, Active Volcano (source: Tekele Maru lecture notes)
2. Dormant (slumbering)-volcanoes which have been in action during the historic period but may
erupt in the future, if it hasn't erupted for a long time (less than 1 million years) but could again one
day. Geothermal occurrences are associated with them.
Example: Aluto volcano near Langano, Ziquala Volcano in the Ethiopian rift.

Figure-2- 7 Ziquala Volcano, Dormant Volcano (source: Tekele Maru lecture notes)
3. Extinct Volcanoes- Volcanoes which are geologically ancient and have totally stopped their
activities (will never erupt again).
Example: The plateau volcanoes of the NW and SE highlands of Ethiopia, Amba Alage peak, Tigray,
Northern Ethiopia.

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Figure-2- 8 Amba Alage peak, Tigray, Extinct Volcano ((source: Tekele Maru lecture notes)

2.4.1 Causes of Volcanic Hazards

Volcanic eruptions are caused by magma (a mixture of liquid rock, crystals, and dissolved gas)
expelled onto the Earth's surface. In general, magmas that are generated deep within the Earth begin to
rise because they are less dense than the surrounding solid rocks. The gases inside expand. The result is
a lava flow or a pyroclastic eruption.
In addition, there are also other triggered volcanic activity such as Radioactive decay is a breaking apart
of the nucleus of an atom; as a nucleus breaks apart, it releases energy which is changed into heat,
Original Heat inside the earth may have been trapped when the earth first formed, Friction – results
from the movement of lithospheric plates, Fusion in the core – nuclear fusion, similar to the sun, is
occurring in the core.

2.4.2. Effect of Volcanic Hazards

Volcanic hazards include the primary effects of volcanic activity that are the direct results of the
eruption and secondary effects, which may be caused by the primary effects.

Primary Effects of Volcanism

 Lava Flows
Lava flows are common and the least explosive, although lava flows have been known to travel as fast
as 64 km/hrs, most are slower and give people time to move out of the way. Thus, in general, lava
flows are most damaging to property, as they can destroy anything in their path. Control of lava flows

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has been attempted with limited success by bombing flow fronts to attempt to divert the flow, and by
spraying with water to cool the flow e.g. in Italy.
 Pyroclastic activity is one of the most dangerous aspects of volcanism.
Hot pyroclastic flows can be very fast and cause death by suffocation and burning. Lateral blasts,
tephra falls can cause the collapse of roofs and can affect areas far from the eruption. Tephra falls
destroy vegetation, including crops, and can kill livestock that eat the ash covered vegetation causing
secondary or tertiary effects.
 Poisonous Gas Emissions
Volcanoes emit gases that are often poisonous to living organisms. Among these poisonous gases are:
Hydrogen Chloride (HCl), Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S), Hydrogen Fluoride (HF), and Carbon Dioxide
(CO2). In 1986 an even larger CO2 gas emission from Lake Nyos in Cameroon killed more than 1700
people and 3000 cattle.

Secondary and Tertiary Effects of Volcanism

 Mudflows (Lahars)
Mudflows are mixtures of water and sediment. Volcanoes can emit voluminous quantities of loose,
unconsolidated tephra which become deposited on the landscape. Such loose deposits are subject to
rapid removal if they are exposed to a source of water. Water can be derived by melting of snow or ice
during the eruption, emptying of crater lakes during an eruption, or rainfall that takes place any time
with no eruption. Thus, mudflows can both accompany an eruption and occur many years after an
eruption. They have properties that vary between thick water and wet concrete, and can remove
anything in their paths like bridges, highways, houses, etc.
 Debris Avalanches and Debris Flows
Volcanic mountains tend to become over steepened as a result of the addition of new material over
time as well due to inflation of the mountain as magma intrudes. Over steepened slopes may
become gravitationally unstable, leading to a sudden slope failure that results in landslides, debris
slides or debris avalanches. During the May 18, 1980 eruption of Mt. St. Helens, Washington, a
debris avalanche was triggered by a magnitude 5.0 earthquake. The avalanche removed the upper
500 m of the mountain, and flowed into the Spirit Lake, raising its level about 40 m. It then moved
to the west filling the upper reaches of the North Fork of the Toutle River valley (see map
above).Debris avalanches, landslides, and debris flows do not necessarily occur accompanied by a

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volcanic eruption. There are documented cases of such occurrences where no new magma has been
erupted.
 Flooding
Drainage systems can become blocked by deposition of pyroclastic flows and lava flows. Such
blockage may create a temporary dam that could eventually fill with water and fail resulting in floods
downstream from the natural dam Volcanoes in cold climates can melt snow and glacial ice, rapidly
releasing water into the drainage system and possibly causing floods.

 Tsunami
A tsunami is a very long-wavelength wave of water that is generated by sudden displacement of the
seafloor or disruption of any body of standing water. Tsunamis are sometimes called "seismic sea
waves", although as we will see, they can be generated by mechanisms other than earthquakes. Because
tsunami occur suddenly, often without warning, they are extremely dangerous to coastal communities.
Velocities of normal ocean waves are about 90 km/hr while tsunami has velocities up to 950 km/hr, and
thus move much more rapidly across ocean basins. Volcanic eruptions, landslides, underwater
explosion and meteorite impacts can also generate tsunami.

2.4.3. Forecasting volcanic activity

Long - Term Forecasting and Volcanic Hazards Studies

Studies of the geologic history of a volcano are generally necessary to make an assessment of the types
of hazards posed by the volcano and the frequency at which these types of hazards have occurred in the
past. The best way to determine the future behavior of a volcano is by studying its past behavior as
revealed in the deposits produced by ancient eruptions. Because volcanoes have such long lifetimes
relative to human recorded history, geologic studies are absolutely essential.
Once this information is available, geologists can then make forecasts concerning what areas
surrounding a volcano would be subject to the various kinds of activity should they occur in a future
eruption, and also make forecasts about the long - term likelihood or probability of a volcanic eruption
in the area.
During such studies, geologists examine sequences of layered deposits and lava flows. Armed with
knowledge about the characteristics of deposits left by various types of eruptions, the past behavior of a
volcano can be determined.
Using radiometric age dating of the deposits the past frequency of events can be determined.
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This information is then combined with knowledge about the present surface aspects of the volcano to
make volcanic hazards maps which can aid other scientists, public officials, and the public at large to
plan for evacuations, rescue and recovery in the event that short-term prediction suggests another
eruption. Such hazards maps delineate zones of danger expected from the hazards discussed above: lava
flows, pyroclastic flows, tephra falls, lahars, floods, etc.
Short - Term Prediction based on Volcanic Monitoring
Short-term prediction of volcanic eruptions involves monitoring the volcano to determine when magma
is approaching the surface and monitoring for precursor events that often signal a forthcoming eruption.
Earthquakes - As magma moves toward the surface it usually deforms and fractures rock to generate
earthquakes. Thus an increase in earthquake activity immediately below the volcano is usually a sign
that an eruption will occur.
Ground Deformation - As magma moves into a volcano, the structure may inflate. This will cause
deformation of the ground which can be monitored. Instruments like tilt meters measure changes in the
angle of the Earth's surface. Other instruments track changes in distance between several points on the
ground to monitor deformation.
Changes in Heat Flow - Heat is everywhere flowing out of the surface of the Earth. As magma
approaches the surface or as the temperature of groundwater increases, the amount of surface heat flow
will increase. Although these changes may be small, they measured using infrared remote sensing.
Changes in Gas Compositions - The composition of gases emitted from volcanic vents and fumaroles
often changes just prior to an eruption. In general, increases in the proportions of hydrogen chloride
(HCl) and sulfur dioxide (SO2) are seen to increase relative to the proportion of water vapor.
In general, no single event can be used to predict a volcanic eruption, and thus many events are usually
monitored so that taken in total, an eruption can often be predicted. Still, each volcano behaves
somewhat differently, and until patterns are recognized for an individual volcano, predictions vary in
their reliability. Furthermore, sometimes a volcano can erupt with no precursor events at all.

2.4.4. Volcanic Hazard Mitigation measures

Volcanic hazard mitigation is the reducing of the potential loss of life and property that can be caused
by a volcanic eruption.
Volcanic eruption cannot be prevented, but the damage associated with an eruption can be reduced in
several ways by,
1. Passing zoning laws that control the development permitted in hazardous areas.

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2. Planning for evacuation and disaster relief in communities in high-risk areas.

3. Construction of protective structures such as diversion walls, levees, and ditches.
4. Controlling lava flows by spraying water on the advancing front or bombing the flow in order to
control the direction of the movement.

2.4.5. Adjustment to and perception of volcanic Hazards

Apart from the psychological adjustment to losses, the primary human adjustment to volcanic activity
is evacuation.
Information concerning how people perceive the volcanic hazard is limited. People live near volcanoes
for a variety of reasons, including:
 They were born there, and, in the case of some islands, all land on the island is volcanic.
 The land is fertile and good for farming.
 People are optimistic and believe an eruption is unlikely.
 They do not have any choice as to where they live.

2.4.6. Volcanic Hazards in Ethiopia

Volcanic eruptions are one of the few natural phenomena that can have consequences at a global level.
Volcanic activity can result in loss of life (~280,000 since AD 1600, Auker et al. 2013), as well as
environmental, social and economic losses (e.g. Gencer,2013).

Fifty-nine Holocene volcanoes are currently known in Ethiopia, of which just over half lie in the Afar
Depression (Abebe et al. 2007; Siebert et al. 2010). They form two distinct lines of volcanoes which
can be seen within the East African Rift. The first line is the Main Ethiopian Rift, a NE-trending line
that bisects the middle of the country. The second line is oriented NNW, nearer the border with Eritrea,
and consists of a series of smaller en-echelon lines of volcanoes in the area of the Afar Depression. The
limited records of explosive volcanism in Ethiopia, whether due to poor preservation of the record or an
absence of eruptions of this nature, should not be used to indicate a low probability of such an eruption
in the future (Lenhardt and Oppenheimer 2014).

A preliminary assessment in GAR15 based on indices of hazard and population exposure for Ethiopia
was problematic as a result of insufficient data for many of the known volcanic systems (Brown et al.
2015c). The data to inform this assessment were generally poor consequently there were large
uncertainties about the scale and likely impact of past and future volcanism. Although none of the 59

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volcanoes in Ethiopia were classified at the highest hazard level, large uncertainties in the data reflect
poor base line geological and historic knowledge. The population exposure to volcanic hazards in
Ethiopia is high; there are c. 1.5 million people (1.6% of the population) living within 10 km of a
Holocene volcano, over 11 million (12.3%) within 30 km, and over 42 million (46.5%) within 100 km
(Brown et al. 2015a). Based on the calculated population exposure index, the following systems have
high exposure in Ethiopia: the Bishoftu Volcanic Field, Sodore, the Butajiri Silti Field, Corbetti
Caldera, the Bilate River Field and Hobicha Caldera. However, volcanoes that have been active since
with 1900 with a lower population exposure could pose greater risks as a result of a higher hazard
ranking, including: Alutu, Fentale, Kone and Tullu Moje. The population data used for GAR15 were
from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory LandScan2011 dataset (Bright et al.2012). Comparison of
population data sets reveals a decrease in the level of exposure at 10 km from some volcanoes in the
Main Ethiopian Rift whilst there is a general increase in the level of exposure above levels of average
population growth. There are known to be discrepancies with the census data in Ethiopia, probably as a
result of rapid population growth and development. Based on data from 2000 to 2011 the average
population growth rate is estimated to be 2.7% (Central Statistical Agency 2013).

The volcanic record is particularly poor in Ethiopia and there is no explicit eruptive history for each of
the 59volcanoes (Loughlin et al., 2015).As such, under-reporting may under-estimate the hazard and
attendant risks posed both in the past and at present. Raising the baseline knowledge of volcanism and
volcanic hazards is therefore imperative.

Ethiopia is ranked eleventh of 233 countries in terms of vulnerability to physical climate impacts and
ninth in terms of overall vulnerability (Centre for Global Development2010). As a result, there have
been advances in the levels of knowledge and expertise in DRM (Few et al. 2014).

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Figure-2- 9 Location of volcanoes in Ethiopia (pale grey): A, Alutu; AL, Alayta; BJ, Butajiri Silti
Field; BR, BilateRiver Field; BU, Bishoftu Volcanic Field; C, Corbetti Caldera; D, Dabbahu; EA,
Erta’Ale; F, Fentale; HC, HobichaCaldera; K, Kone; MH, Manda Hararo; S, Sodore; TA, Tat’Ale; and
TM, Tullu Moje volcanoes. Data from the Global Volcanism Program of the Smithsonian Institution
(Smithsonian, 2014)

2.5. Landslides and Hydro-climatic hazards

2.5.1. Introduction to landslide, Slope processes and types of landslides & slope stability
The term’ landslide’ includes all varieties of mass movements of hill slopes and can be defined as the
downward and outward movement of slope forming materials composed of rocks, soils, artificial fills
or combination of all these materials along surfaces of separation by falling, sliding and flowing, either
slowly or quickly from one place to another. Although the landslides are primarily associated with

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mountainous terrains, these can also occur in areas where an activity such as surface excavations for
highways, buildings and open pit mines takes place. They often take place in conjunction with
earthquakes, floods and volcanoes. At times, prolonged rainfall causing landslide may block the flow of
river for quite some time. The formation of river blocks can cause havoc to the settlements downstream
on its bursting.

Landslide also known as mass movement, it is the down-slope movement of surface material in
response to gravitational forces without the aid of a transporting medium such as water, ice, or wind.
As human populations expand and occupy more and more of the land surface, mass wasting processes
become more likely to affect humans, knowledge about the relationships between local geology and
mass-wasting processes can lead to better planning that can reduce vulnerability to such hazards.

Figure-2- 10 Landslide destroyed part of a town near San Salvador, El Salvador, (USGS, 2001)

Slope stability is the stability nature of the materials resisting the force of gravity that pull down the
materials. The force that involves in mass wasting is particularly the gravitational force of the earth.
Gravity is the force that acts everywhere on the Earth's surface, pulling everything in a direction toward
the center of the Earth. As long as the material remains on the flat surface it will not move under the
force of gravity, a material will slide when the component of force caused by gravity and directed
downward the inclined plain is greater than the friction force holding the material in place.

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If resisting force > deriving force =the slope became stable

Deriving force > resisting force = unstable slope.

The driving forces include: The weight of the material, the gradient of the slope and ground vibration.

Resisting forces include: Strength, Cohesion of the material and Friction force

The safety factor is reduced when:

1. There is a reduction of the factors that resist failure (shear strength).

2. There is an increase in factors that promote failure (shear stresses).

When the safety factor is less than or equal to 1.0, movement is likely to take place.

Figure-2- 11(A) Gravity can be divided in to a normal force and downslope force, if the resistance force
caused by friction,is greater than the downslope force the block does not move(stable), (B)If the angel
increases if the downslope force becomes greater than the resistance force the block starts to move(not
slope stable)( Professor Ozeas S. 2017).

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Types of landslide

The common types of landslides are described below. These definitions are based mainly on the work
of Varnes (Varnes, D.J., 1978).

Falls: Abrupt movements of materials that become detached from steep slopes or cliffs, moving by
free-fall, bouncing, and rolling.

Flows: General term including many types of mass movement, such as debris flow, debris avalanche,
lahar, and mudflow.

Creep: Slow, steady downslope movement of soil or rock, often indicated by curved tree trunks, bent
fences or retaining walls, tilted poles or fences.

Debris flow Rapid mass movement in which loose soils, rocks, and organic matter combine with
entrained air and water to form slurry that then flows down slope, usually associated with steep gullies.

Debris avalanche a variety of very rapid to extremely rapid debris flow.

Lahar Mudflow or debris flow that originates on the slope of a volcano, usually triggered by heavy
rainfall eroding volcanic deposits, sudden melting of snow and ice due to heat from volcanic vents, or
the breakout of water from glaciers, crater lakes or lakes dammed by volcanic eruptions.

Mudflow rapidly flowing mass of wet material that contains at least 50 per cent sand, silt, and clay
sized particles.

Lateral spreads often occur on very gentle slopes and result in nearly horizontal movement of earth
materials. Lateral spreads usually are caused by liquefaction, where saturated sediments (usually sands
and silts) are transformed from a solid into a liquefied state, usually triggered by an earthquake.

Slides many types of mass movement are included in the general term “landslide.” The two major types
of landslides are rotational slides and translational landslides.

Topple A block of rock that tilts or rotates forward and falls, bounces, or rolls down the slope.

Soliflucation is a type of mass wasting that occurs when water-saturated soil flows downslope. It is
most common in permafrost regions, where the permanent ice layer causes overlying soil to become
waterlogged, although it can also occur in the absence of permafrost.

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Figure-2- 12 Diagrammatic representation of the Common types of landslide (Graham R.

Thompson&Jonathan Turk, 1997)

2.5.2. Triggering of Landslide Events

A landslide event can occur any time when slope becomes unstable. Sometimes, as in the case of creep,
the slope is unstable all of the time, and the process is continuous. There are several causes of landslide.
Some of the major causes are as follows:

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Geological Weak material: Weakness in the composition and structure of rock or soil may also cause
landslides.
2. Erosion: Erosion of slope toe due to cutting down of vegetation, construction of roads might
increase the vulnerability of the terrain to slide down.
3. Intense rainfall: Storms that produce intense rainfall for periods as short as several hours or have a
more moderate intensity lasting several days have triggered abundant landslides. Heavy melting of
snow in the hilly terrains also results in landslide.
4. Human Excavation of slope and its toe, loading of slope/toe, draw down in reservoir, mining,
deforestation, irrigation, vibration/blast, Water leakage from services.
5. Earthquake shaking has triggered landslides in many different topographic and geologic settings.
Rock falls, soil slides and rockslides from steep slopes involving relatively thin or shallow dis-
aggregated soils or rock, or both have been the most abundant types of landslides triggered by historical
earthquakes.
6. Volcanic eruption Deposition of loose volcanic ash on hillsides commonly is followed by
accelerated erosion and frequent mud or debris flows triggered by intense rainfall.

2.5.3. Landslide hazards

Landslide Hazard refers to the potential of occurrence of a damaging landslide within a given area;
such damage could include loss of life or injury, property damage, social and economic disruption, or
environmental degradation.
Adverse Effects
The most common elements at risk are the settlements built on the steep slopes, built at the toe and
those built at the mouth of the streams emerging from the mountain valley. All those buildings
constructed without appropriate foundation for a given soil and in sloppy areas are also at risk. Roads,
communication lines are vulnerable.

2.5.4. Minimizing the landslide hazard, perception of the landslide hazard

The susceptibility of a given area to landslides can be determined and depicted using hazard zonation.
A landslide hazard map can be prepared early in the planning study and developed in more detail as the
study progresses. It can be used as a tool to help identify land areas best suited for development by
examining the potential risk of land sliding. Furthermore, once landslide susceptibility is identified,
investment projects can be developed which avoid, prevent, or substantially mitigate the hazard. In

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general, however, specifying a time frame for the occurrence of a landslide is difficult to determine
even under ideal conditions. As a result, landslide hazard is often represented by landslide susceptibility

Similar to the concept of flood-prone areas, landslide susceptibility only identifies areas potentially
affected and does not imply a time frame when a landslide might occur. Comparing the location of an
area of proposed development to the degree of landslide hazard present enables the planner to estimate
the landslide risk. This can be used to define land use capability and identify appropriate mitigation
measures.

Almost all mass wasting movement is easily recognized in the field by observation. These all mass
wasting movements can be minimized by different systems. Example:-

 Construction of retaining wall with drain pipe.

 Avoiding over steepening the slope.
 Planting vegetation.

2.5.5. Landslide hazard in Ethiopia

Although landslide studies are not common in Ethiopia, some literature is available for the northern
part of Ethiopia. The main goal in landslide studies in Ethiopia so far, is to get an idea of the spatial
pattern in which these landslides occur. In the articles concerning landslides, the social and economic
consequences of these landslides are stressed out. As the landslides are a limiting factor for
urbanization, infrastructural projects and generally for all activities performed on the slopes, they form
an environmental problem for the development of Ethiopia.

Landslides have been causing major socio-economic problems in the highlands of Ethiopia. Statistics
show that rainfall-triggered landslides are common in most of the hilly and mountainous regions of the
Ethiopian highlands. Due to population expansion, many rural people are moving into areas which are
potentially endangered by slope instabilities, and some towns and cities are expanding into landslide-
prone areas without proper risk assessment and mitigation. This has become a serious concern to the
general public, planners and decision makers at various levels of the government. This project focuses
on slope stability problems in Addishu area, southern Tigray, northern Ethiopia. The area has an
estimated size of 70 square kilometers (14 km length by 5 km width). Landslides in this area have
displaced about 120 people, destroyed 75 rural houses and caused major damage on about 11 hectare of

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agricultural land. However, more than 500 people are still living in terrains potentially endangered by
slope instabilities.

Figure-2- 13 Landslide Hazard Distribution Map in Ethiopia (WHO e-Atlas -2010)

2.6. Hydro climatic hazards

This hazard shows the relationship between climate changes and water related activities.

2.6.1. Climatic hazards

 El Nino and La Nina

El Nino and La Nina are terms for climatic events originating in the tropical Pacific that recur every
few years as part of a naturally-occurring cycle. Each has meteorological effects extending worldwide,
and the associated changes in regional weather can have severe consequences:

As opposite phases of the cycle, El Nino and La Nina events tend to have opposite effects. El Nino
and La Nina events should be regarded as shifting the odds in favor of the typical response which may,

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for example, increase risk of heavy rainfall and consequent damage in a particular region/season of
interest.

The changes in risks can be estimated and quantified from historical data. Moreover, as the cycle is
predictable months in advance, and as sophisticated numerical climate models can represent the
interplay of various influential factors in the ocean-land-atmosphere system, including climate change
effects.

El Niño and La Nina events arise in the tropical Pacific, where strong and extensive interactions
between the ocean and atmosphere exists, which can lead to warmer or cooler than usual ocean
conditions that last several months. ‘El Nino is related with the anomalous warming of the sea surface
temperature that occurs every few years, typically concentrated in the east-central equatorial Pacific.

‘La Nina’ is the term adopted for episodes of cooler-than-normal sea surface temperature in the tropical
Pacific that in many ways are opposite to El Nino. La Nina is often, though not always, preceded by an
El Nino.

The cycle is the consequence of slow feedbacks in the ocean-atmosphere system acting alongside the
strong air-sea interaction processes in the tropics that allow the growth of small disturbances to the
large-scale ocean state.

Normally the equatorial Pacific Ocean has a pool of relatively warm water in the upper ocean in the
west and a shallower layer of relatively cool water in the east, maintained by and in balance with
easterly surface winds. The well-mixed upper ocean layer (a few tens of meters deep) lies above a thin
‘thermo cline’ layer, with cold water below. An El Nino event can start in several ways, usually with
the sea surface temperature raised slightly in the central/east Pacific.

This may be, for example, through the action of ‘westerly wind bursts’ (short-lived storm-like events in
the West Pacific) that disturb the ‘balance’ maintained by easterly winds, or through slow evolution of
the ocean thermo cline. The increased sea surface temperature influences the atmospheric winds, which
in turn influence the upper ocean and the thermo cline such that the sea surface temperature is increased
further – a positive feedback, When conditions are favorable, this feedback generales El Nino event. El
Nino and La Nina events are self-limiting, evolving in such a way that the equatorial sea surface

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temperatures gradually return to normal and the event ends after several months. Often the system
overshoots, to start the opposite phase of the cycle rather than just return to neutral condition.

 Tropical cyclones
Tropical cyclones are amongst the most powerful and destructive meteorological systems on earth.
Globally, 80 to 100 cyclones develop over tropical oceans each year. Many of these make landfall and
can cause considerable damage to property and loss of life. A tropical cyclone is a storm system
characterized by a low pressure Center and numerous thunderstorms that produce strong winds and
flooding rain.
They feed on heat released when moist air rises, resulting in condensation of water vapor contained in
the moist air. The term "tropical" refers to both the geographic origin of these systems, which form
almost exclusively in tropical regions of the globe, and their formation in Maritime Tropical air masses.
The term "cyclone" refers to a storm’s cyclonic nature, with counter clockwise rotation in the Northern
Hemisphere and clockwise rotation in the Southern Hemisphere. Tropical cyclones however produce
exceptionally powerful winds and torrential rain and can produce high waves and damaging storm
surge. These storms develop over large bodies of warm water and lose their strength when it moves
over land. Coastal regions can receive significant damage from a tropical cyclone with inland regions
relatively safe from the receiving strong winds.
 Drought
Drought is a normal, recurrent feature of climate. It occurs almost everywhere, although its features
vary from region to region.
1) Conceptual drought is a protracted period of deficient precipitation resulting in extensive
damage to crops, resulting in loss of yield.
2) Operational drought may compare daily precipitation values to evapo-transpiration rates of soil
moisture depletion.
Drought can be defined in terms of meteorological, hydrological, agricultural and socioeconomic
conditions.
Hydrological drought is associated with the effects of periods of precipitation (including snowfall).
Shortfalls on surface or subsurface water supply (stream flow, reservoir and lake levels, and
groundwater).

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Meteorological drought is defined usually on the basis of the degree of dryness and the duration of the
dry period. It can be considered as region specific since the atmospheric conditions that result in
deficiencies of precipitation are highly variable from region to region.
Socio-economic drought
Socio-economic definitions of drought associate the supply and demand of some economic good with
elements of meteorological, hydrological, and agricultural drought. Its occurrence depends on the time
and space processes of supply and demand to identify or classify droughts.
Agricultural drought
Agricultural drought links various characteristics of meteorological (or hydrological) drought to
agricultural.

Figure-2- 14 Schematic of drought definitions and their impacts

 Floods
Flood is a state of high water level along a river channel or on the coast that leads to inundation of
land, which is not usually sub-merged. Floods may happen gradually and also may take hours or

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even happen suddenly without any warning due to breach in the embankment, spill over, heavy
rains etc.
A flood is an unusual high-water period in which water overflows its natural or artificial banks onto
normally dry land. It is a regular and natural occurrence to which communities must adapt as part of the
usual living conditions that can affect them at any time. Floods are not always disastrous and
disruptive; they have some positive impacts such as:
Nutrients: in the case of the Nile River before the Aswan High Dam of Egypt was built, the Nile
flooded every spring bringing much needed enrichment and moisture to the fertile soil of its flood
plains;
Recharge: floods replenish ground water systems by recharging the underground aquifers;
Replenishes: reservoirs are filled which enhances the national water security; and
Washes away: accumulated waste from water channels and improve the channel water flow.
Causes:
There are several causes of floods and differ from region to region. The causes may vary from a rural
area to an urban area. Some of the major causes are:
a. Heavy rainfall
b. Heavy siltation of the river bed reduces the water carrying capacity of the rivers/stream.
c. Blockage in the drains leads to flooding of the area.
d. Landslides blocking the flow of the stream.
e. Construction of dams and reservoirs
f. In areas prone to cyclone, strong winds accompanied by heavy down pour along with storm
surge leads to flooding.
Typical Adverse Effects:
The most important consequence of floods is the loss of life and property. Structures like houses,
bridges; roads etc. get damaged by the gushing water, landslides triggered on account of water getting
saturated, boats and fishing nets get damaged. There is huge loss to life and livestock caused by
drowning. Lack of proper drinking water facilities, contamination of water (well, ground water, piped
water supply) leads to outbreak of epidemics, diarrhoea, viral infection, malaria and many other
infectious diseases
Flooding also leads to a large area of agricultural land getting inundated as a result there is a huge crop
loss. This results in shortage of food and animal fodder. Floods may also affect the soil characteristics.

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The land may be rendered infertile due to erosion of top layer or may turn saline if sea water floods the
area.
2.6.2. Hydrological Hazards: Flooding, Magnitude and frequency
The objectives of flood frequency analysis and extrapolation are to provide reliable flood estimates for
a full range of preparedness. Thus, analysis approaches that pool data and information from regional
precipitation, regional stream flow, and regional Paleo - flood sources. Climate change is just one of
many pressures facing the hydrological system and water resources. The implications of climate change
for the regularity and size of disaster events is unavoidable. Since the early stages of concern over the
possible consequences of global warming, it has been widely recognized that changes in the cycling of
water between land, sea, and air could have significant impacts across many sectors of the economy,
society, and the environment.

Table2. 2 Social and Economic Impacts of Climate and Rainfall Variability in Selected African
Countries (Source at http://www.sarpn.org.za/wssd/may 2002/water/php)

Country Event Year Impact

Ethiopia Drought 1983/84 300,000 deaths
Zimbabwe Drought 1991/92  45% decline in agricultural production
 11% decline in GDP
 62% decline in stock market
 9% decline in manufacturing
 15%
reduction in power generation
Kenya and El Nino 1998  infrastructure destroyed
Tanzania Rains  Disease and economy-wide damage
Mozambique Floods 2000  Deaths
and Sudan  Homes & infrastructure destroyed
 Economy-wide shock

In some regions, climate change and variability increases the already high degree of temporal and
spatial variability and un-predictability of rainfall. An example of this is in Mozambique, which along
with Angola and Zambia became significantly drier over a 30-year period only to be hit by a
devastating flood in the year 2000. It appears that the drier the country or sub-region, the higher the
rainfallvariability in time and quantity. These variations have high social and economic costs. Table 2.2

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shows the social and economic impacts of drought and floods in selected countries. Text accessed at
http://www.sarpn.org.za/wssd/may 2002/water/php.

2.6.3. Adjustment to flood Hazards and Awareness of Flooding

Water related disaster management focus on these areas:
 Mitigation;
 Preparedness;
 Response and Recovery; and
 Reconstruction

2.6.4. Mitigation of Hydrological Hazards

Short term efforts
Short term hazard forecasting and warning, Evacuation, shelter and food, sanitation, medical treatment
and social relief
Long term efforts
Long term hazard forecasting and warning, structural measures and long term management strategies
for mitigation
Questions
1. What are earthquakes? List out the causes of an earthquake.
2. Differentiate between magnitude and intensity of an earthquake. How are they measured?
3. Identify three major mitigation measures to reduce earthquake risk.
4. What are the main volcanic hazards? Which of these have the greatest potential to cause damage at
large distances from the volcano?
5. Define an active volcano, a dormant volcano, and an extinct volcano.
6. What is the best indicator of the future behavior of a volcano and how is thus determined?
7. What is landslide hazard?
8. Describe the common types of landslide?
9. Compare and contrast El Nino and La Nina?
10. What does socioeconomic drought means?
11. What are the cause and effect of landslide hazards?
12. Define Flood. List out some of the causes and adverse effects of floods.

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CHAPTER THREE: GLOBAL WATER RESOURCES

General overview
This chapter explains the global water balance or hydrological cycle, the distribution of earth water, the
groundwater mechanics and human impact on the groundwater. Under this chapter there are also
discussed about the international water and conflict on water resource, the linkage between
groundwater as environmental, social and economic good and the concept of integrated water resource
management.
Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this chapter students will be able to:

 Have understanding about hydrological cycles and distribution earth water resource;
 Aware the concept of groundwater and its used as economic and social good;
 Explain how human impacts the groundwater; and
 Understand the concept of integrated water resource management

3.1. Global water balance

The hydrologic cycle is a continuous process by which water is transported from the surface of the
earth and the oceans to the atmosphere and back to the land and the sea.

The Hydrologic cycle is the natural system consisting of the endless circulation of water between the
hydrosphere, the atmosphere, lithosphere and biosphere.

Solar radiation is the driving force behind the hydrologic cycle. Because of heating from solar
radiation, the water will be transformed to vapor through the process of evaporation. Vapor laden air
will be lifted up and then the vapor starts to be changed into liquid state through condensation in the
atmosphere forming clouds which letter fall to either the ocean or land surface through precipitation.

The global water cycle involves the movement or transfer of water from one of earth’s storage
components, such as the ocean, lakes, and the atmosphere to another.

Major processes involved in the cycle are: Evaporation, Precipitation, Transpiration, Surface runoff and
Sub surface groundwater flow.

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The annual volume of water transferred from the ocean to the land is balanced by the same volume
returning by river and groundwater flow to the ocean and there is a balance between total evaporation
and precipitation. Water never leaves the Earth. It is constantly being cycled through the atmosphere,
ocean, and land. This process, known as the water cycle, is driven by energy from the sun. The water
cycle is crucial to the existence of life on our planet.

3.2. Global water supply and demand

Distribution of Earth’s Water

We live on a water planet; however most of it is covered in salt water, covering about 71 per cent of the
earth's surface. Total Volume –1400 million km3

Figure3- 1 A graphical distribution of the locations of water on Earth (Igor Shiklamonov, 1993)

Global surface water distribution

• Only 2% of the global water stock is fresh water, 87% of this freshwater is found locked in ice caps
and glaciers or stored deep in underground.

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• Only 0.01% of all water on earth is available in the form that supplies the needs of more than 90%
of the world’s population-river, runoff and lakes.

• Surface water, the most critical of our freshwater resources, is distributed unequally among and
within the continental land masses.

• Increased population and per capital consumption of freshwater, the demand for freshwater has
exceeded its availability in many parts of the world.

• Differences in the water supply are related to the distribution of average annual precipitation,
evapotranspiration (the combination of evaporation from water and land surfaces and transpiration
of water vapor from plants) and runoff.

• If precipitation exceeds evapotranspiration, water is available to fill surface basins and channels and
to infiltrate the pedosphere (the soil system) and recharge the groundwater system.

• If precipitation amount is less than evapotranspiration, water deficit will occur.

3.3. Mechanics of Groundwater

The major source of groundwater is precipitation that infiltrates the surface of the land and goes into
soil and rock. The two major zones of groundwater are the vadose zone and the zone of saturation.

Vadose zone includes the Earth material above the water table which is the boundary between the two
zones, including soil, alluvium, and rock. The vadose zone is seldom saturated. Vadose zone has
special significance because potential pollutants infiltrating at the surface must percolate through the
vadose zone before they enter the saturated zone below the water table. Thus, during environmental
subsurface monitoring, the vadose zone is an early warning area for potential pollution to groundwater
resources. Water that reaches the zone of saturation begins with infiltration from the surface.

Water in the ground, like water on earth’s surface or water vapor in the atmosphere, is in motion
because it has energy. Water enters as excess surface water, and steps downward because of gravity and
the porous nature of soil and rocks. Water continues to move underground, to the oceans and the base
level of rivers. From the oceans and the continental surface, water molecules evaporate to the
atmosphere and contribute to rainfall. All the time, water is entering and leaving the groundwater
system, forming an essential link in the global hydrologic cycle of water. Rainfalls infiltrate the

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subsurface and drain downward through any underlying unsaturated material along interconnected pore
spaces. At the point where all the voids are saturated, infiltrating water becomes part of the
groundwater. The boundary between the unsaturated and saturated zones forms a surface called the
water table. All water bellow earth’s surface is underground water and only the water below the water
table is called groundwater. Elevation and groundwater pressure determine the direction of groundwater
flow. The water table mimics topography and freely moving groundwater flows from places of high
elevation to low elevation.

Figure3- 2 Vertical Distribution of Groundwater (Ralph C.Heath, 1987)

Important terms: Porosity, permeability and their contribution to contaminants transport in the
groundwater

Porosity: the ratio (denoted as %), of void space to total volume of a rock or sediment. The more
porous the rocks and sediments in an area, the more amount of groundwater that can be stored,
Example, well sorted conglomeritic sandstone, loose sediments, alluvial sand materials, vesicular
basalt, etc.

Some pores are original void space in sedimentary rocks or vesicles in igneous rocks, which form as
gases escape during cooling of magma-such porosity is called primary porosity, because it forms at the
same time as the rock itself forms. In sediments compacted and cemented to form sedimentary rocks,
the precipitation of minerals and cementing material reduces the primary porosity. Generally, primary

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porosity is the highest in sediments and sedimentary rocks and lower in unweathered crystalline
igneous and metamorphic rocks.

Primary porosity is higher in volcanic rocks than in plutonic rocks (some volcanic rocks form lava
tube, gas escape vesicles, cracks). Secondary porosity: a porosity caused by fractures caused by
tectonism, uplift and erosion.

Permeability: is the interconnectedness of pore spaces and the capacity of geologic material to allow
fluids inside the earth. A highly porous rock/material like clay can hold huge water compared to its
total volume but, it may not transmit enough water because individual pore spaces are isolated/poorly
interconnected.
 Compare the rate of
contaminant dispersion through
A the various geologic medium.
(consider the porosity and
permeability factors)

Figure3- 3 A) porosity B) Permeability in various geologic materials (source: Tekle Maru Lecture
notes)

The higher the specific retention, the harder to extract every bit of a contaminant from a groundwater
by flushing and pumping the contaminated area

Specific yield: the amount of water that can be drained from a porous rock or sediment (ratio of water
drained/total groundwater). Specific yield is always less than the porosity because some amount of
water is held by surface tension, not possible to extract.

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Specific retention: Ratio of amount of groundwater retained by surface tension to the total
groundwater.

3.4. International Waters and Conflict on water resources

With the ever increasing population on this planet, the resources we will become more strained. Many
resource-based conflicts have been focused on oil and other technologically - replaceable resources.
However, water is a basic resource that is necessary for the production of both fuel and food. It is used
for waste disposal, industrial practices, and transportation.

 The Nature of Water Resource Conflict

Our sources of fresh water are not contained in the political boundaries that we have created; they
naturally flow as the landscape dictates. Some regions of the world have water to waste, where others
depend on every last drop. Water is hard to distribute a plenty of it to those of scarcity. However in
both regions of water wealth and water scarcity, conflict may arise when two or more nations compete
for a water body's limited supply.

As countries progress technologically, the amount of water that is desired and used by its population
increases (Gleick, 1993). At some point, these countries will reach the limit of their resources and it is
possible that the limit of their industrial development will also be reached. The factors which determine
the speed at which these boundaries are reached include the absolute availability of water, the level of
development desired, and the population supplied.

In addition, the quality of the water available is another factor that must be addressed when considering
water availability. Water is worthless if its quality makes it unusable. Water must be available in
sufficient quantities and quality levels. Once a water resource conflict arises, it may be based on the
actual water body, i.e. the amount of water that is present, and/or the effects from water development
projects, such as dams and reservoirs. When the concern is about the amount of water present, there are
several factors that may lead to water resource competition. These include the degree of scarcity of
water, the extent the water supply is shared among countries, the relative power of each of the states,
and the accessibility of alternate fresh water supplies. Conflicts may also arise from the construction of
a dam or reservoirs. Major development projects greatly alter the hydrologic and ecological attributes
of a water body system, and may displace large populations and change the way local resources are
accessible.

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International Water Resource Conflicts may occur in future because clean water resources are limited
while their uses are increased. Additionally, rivers flow across political boundaries man has made.
International river and lake basins cover almost 50% of the world's continental land area.

Example: The Nile hydro politics…water as a source of environmental conflict.

The Nile River is subject to political interactions. It is the world's longest river flowing 6,700
kilometers through ten countries in northeastern Africa – Rwanda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of
the Congo (DRC), Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan and Egypt with varying climates.
Considering the basin area of the Nile, Sudan has the largest size (1.9 million km²) whereas, of the four
major tributaries to the Nile, three originate from Ethiopia - the Blue Nile, Sobat and Atbara. The
modern history of hydro politics in the Nile basin is very complex and has had wide consequence both
for regional and global developments.

An estimated, more than 123 million people depend on the Nile River for survival. 85 % of the Nile
river water originates from Ethiopia, whereas about 94 % of the water is used by Egypt and Sudan. For
several years, there have been tensions among nations through which the Nile runs. However,
nowadays tensions are increasing due to the population growth, poverty, degradation of the ecosystem
and water scarcity that characterized the region.

There has been increasing tension between the Nile basin countries especially between Egypt, Ethiopia
and Sudan. At the heart of the tensions are the 1929 and 1959 Nile Water Agreements. Through these
agreements Egypt assured that the Nile waters could not be interrupted by any circumstances by the rest
of the basin countries, the agreements also prohibited any construction on tributaries that would
interrupt the flow of Nile to Egypt and Sudan. There has been no conflict between countries until now;
and in recent years, countries negotiated to use the Nile water equitably and established a transitional
cooperation mechanism namely Nile Basin Initiative (NBI).

3.5. Groundwater as Environmental, Social and Economic Good

The idea of treating water as an economic good has wide support. But the role of water as a basic need,
a merit good, and a social, economic, financial, and environmental resource makes the selection of an
appropriate set of prices exceptionally difficult. There is an emerging consensus that effective water
resources management includes the management of water as an economic resource. Is economic value
measured by market price? If an item has a price of ETB X, is this also the amount of its economic

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value? Most people assume the answer is yes. If it were true that economic value is measured by market
price, this would imply that only marketed commodities can have an economic value. Items that are
not sold in a market including the natural environment generally would have no economic value. If this
were so, economic value would indeed be a narrow concept and at variance with many people's
perspective sense of what is valuable.

Economic value is different than price. Price does not in general measure economic value, and items
with no market price can still have a positive economic value.

 Water as a social good

Water is both a private and public good.

Example: the water that you use at home, in a factory or in your farm is a private good, while water
insitu can be used for public transport, recreation, etc.
Flowing waters are treated as common to everyone, and are not capable of being owned. These waters
can only be the object of rights of use, but not of rights of ownership. Thus, even though water
and law are often complementary inputs, there is a crucial distinction in that land can be owned, while
water cannot.

3.6. Concepts of Integrated Water Resources Management

Integrated water resources management (IWRM) is the practice of making decisions and taking actions
while considering multiple viewpoints of how water should be managed. These decisions and actions
relate to situations such as river basin planning, organization of task forces, planning of new capital
facilities, controlling reservoir releases, regulating floodplains and developing new laws and
regulations. Integrated water resources management begins with the term "water resources
management" itself, which uses structural measures and nonstructural measures to control natural and
human-made water resources systems for beneficial uses

Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) is "a process which promotes the coordinated
development and management of water, land and related resources, in order to maximize the resultant
economic and social welfare in an equitable manner without compromising the sustainability of vital
ecosystems." Operationally, IWRM approaches involve applying knowledge from various disciplines
as well as the insights from diverse stakeholders to devise and implement efficient, equitable and
sustainable solutions to water and development problems. As such, IWRM is a comprehensive,

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participatory planning and implementation tool for managing and developing water resources in a way
that balances social and economic needs, and that ensures the protection of ecosystems for future
generations.

The basis for the methodology of IWRM is formed by the integrated analysis of three related entities in
the Water Resources System: the Natural System, the Socio-economic System and the Institutional
System and their interfaces

3.7. Human impact on Groundwater

3.7.1. Groundwater pollution and its clean up
Groundwater can be contaminated by biological pollutants, such as bacteria, protozoa, and by industrial
chemicals such as tricholoroethene (TCE). Since the industrial revolution, contamination of
groundwater by chemical pollutants is the greatest threat to drinking water. Surface water is more
susceptible to biological pollution than groundwater, because many pathogens are similar in size to
grains of silt and sand and thus can be trapped in the pore spaces in the aquifer or in the unsaturated
zone above the groundwater table.
Migration of groundwater pollutants

Substances carried by groundwater move at a rate that vary with molecular size, solubility of the
substances, chemical activity, density and viscosity. E.g. when oil seeps underground, it floats at the
water table, and move along the direction of the groundwater flow, giving off petroleum vapor and
contaminating wells.
Miscible contaminants flow in the groundwater as dissolved constituents (e.g. salt). They are initially
diluted by streams and rivers, but in the groundwater, they tend spread out in long plumes through the
process of dispersion.
Immiscible contaminants are insoluble, and their fate in groundwater depends partly on their density.
Those less dancer than water float above the groundwater table and flow down the hydraulic gradient
(flow direction). E.g. Gasoline. Denser immiscible contaminants sink down below the groundwater
table e.g. TCE

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Figure3- 4 Migration of groundwater pollutants) (Bakenaz A. Zeidan, 2016)

Groundwater restoration/clean up

• Groundwater treatment is a difficult and costly task! For the following reasons

 Difficult to detect and locate groundwater pollution

 Long-term residency of groundwater

 Once an aquifer is polluted, it will degrade

 It is a very difficult and expensive practice

• Best practice is to prevent any pollutant from interning the groundwater!

3.8. Oceans and the Environment

3.8.1. Ocean Resource
Organisms can be classified into one of three domains of life: Archaea, Bacteria, Eukarya, etc.

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Classification of living things

Organisms can also be classified into one of five kingdoms: Monera, Protoctista, Fungi, Plantae and
Animalia.

Figure3- 5Classification of five kingdoms systems (by Sagar Aryal, 2019)

3.8.2. Adaptation of Organisms to the Marine Environment

The marine environment presents many challenges to organisms because sea water:

o Is dense enough to support organisms

o Has high viscosity

o Experiences variations in temperature and salinity

o Contains variable amounts of dissolved gases

o Has high transparency

o Has a dramatic change of pressure with depth

Marine organisms have various adaptations for the conditions of the marine environment

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 The diversity of marine life

 The ocean is home to a wide variety of organisms

 Marine organisms range from microscopic bacteria and algae to the largest animal in the world
(blue whale)

 Number of known marine species: 250,000

3.8.3. Oceans as sinks of global CO2

The London Convention 1972 Represents a Permissive Approach to Ocean Dumping
Almost Anything Can Be Dumped at Sea If a Permit Is Granted by a State Party
> General Permits for Most Types of Waste
~ Annex III of the LC 1972 sets out various factors decision makers must
carefully consider before issuing a permit.
~ Those Factors Include, Among Others:
† Characteristics of the Waste, E.G.
 Toxicity

 Persistence

 Oxygen Demand

 Nutrients

Characteristics of the dumping site and method of deposit

 Distance from the Coast and Resource Exploitation Areas

 Dispersal Potentialities (Current Velocity, Vertical Mixing, Strength of Tides)

 Existing Pollutant Loads

† General Considerations, E.G.

 Possible Effects on Marine Living Resources

 Possible Effects on Other Uses of the Sea (Such as Fishing, Shipping and Marine
Conservation Areas)

 Practical Availability of Alternative Land-based Methods of Disposal or

Treatment

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Using inorganic carbon measurements from an international survey effort in the 1990s and a tracer-
based separation technique, we estimate a global oceanic anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) sink for
the period from 1800 to 1994 of 118 ± 19 petagrams of carbon.

The oceanic sink accounts for ∼48% of the total fossil-fuel and cement-manufacturing emissions,
implying that the terrestrial biosphere was a net source of CO2 to the atmosphere of about 39 ± 28
petagrams of carbon for this period. The current fraction of total anthropogenic CO2 emissions stored in
the ocean appears to be about one-third of the long-term potential.

Special permits allowed for example, wastes containing, Arsenic, Chromium, Copper, Lead, Nickel,
Zinc, Cyanides, Fluorides, Pesticides.

Only a limited prohibited list of wastes where ocean dumping is generally not allowed such as Mercury
and Mercury Compounds, Cadmium and Cadmium Compounds, Persistent Plastics, Crude Oil and Its
Wastes, Radioactive Wastes, Biological and Chemical Warfare Materials, Incineration at Sea of
Industrial Waste and Sewage Sludge, Industrial Waste as from January 1, 1996.

3.9. International Laws on Oceans

The 1996 Protocol Shifts Towards a Precautionary Approach. Protocol Explicitly Recognizes the Need
for a Precautionary Approach: In implementing this Protocol, Contracting Parties shall apply a
precautionary approach to environmental protection from dumping of wastes or other matter whereby
appropriate preventative measures are taken when there is reason to believe that wastes or other matter
introduced into the marine environment are likely to cause harm even where there is no conclusive
evidence to prove a causal relation between impacts and their effects. Adopts “Reverse Listing”
Approach Where Listing Favors the Environment and Is Precautionary..
Nothing can be dumped in to marine environment unless it is listed on a “Safe List.”
 Dredged Material
 Sewage Sludge
 Fish Wastes
 Vessels and Platforms or Other Man-made Structures
 Inert, Inorganic Geological Material
 Organic Materials of Natural Origin
 Bulky Items Primarily Comprising Iron, Steel, Concrete, and Similarly Un-harmful
Materials for Which Concern Is Physical Impact (Limited to Where Wastes Are

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Generated at Locations Having No Practicable Access To Disposal Options Other Than

Dumping)
 Sequestration of Carbon Dioxide (CO2 under the Seabed (Adopted 2 November 2006, in
Force 10 February 2007)

Questions

1. Define Hydrologic Cycle?

2. What is the main source of groundwater?
3. Write the difference between porosity and permeability
4. How international water conflict resolved? Elaborate briefly
5. Why the marine environment presently encountered many challenges to organisms?
6. How groundwater is contaminated? Briefly explain
7. What is specific retention?
8. Discuss the difference between miscible and immiscible contaminate? Give example for each?
9. How can we protect the ocean from contamination?

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CHAPTER FOUR: ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION SOURCES AND

PROCESSES

General overview
This chapter briefly explains the environmental pollution particularly air, and water, pollution. It also
describes the source pollution and their controlling mechanism.

Learning outcomes
Upon completion of this chapter, the student will be able to:
 Understand about atmosphere of the earth and its structures;
 Describe the different types of environmental pollution; and
 Explain the source of air, and water, pollution and their controlling measures.

4.1. Atmosphere of the Earth

The Earth’s atmosphere layers are similar to the layers in the interior of the Earth. There are four major
layers of atmosphere above the Earth that are separated by temperature. Each layer of the layers are
separated by an increasing or decreasing temperature of the gases in the layer. The tropopause,
stratopause, mesopause are areas where two atmosphere layers gradually transition from one layer into
another layer.

Figure4- 1 Major Layers of the Earth's Atmosphere (source: online Internet Wikipedia)

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Atmosphere gases

The concentration of atmosphere gases varies depending on the atmosphere layers. The troposphere
contains primarily nitrogen (78%) and oxygen (21%). The remaining 1% of the atmosphere is trace
gases. The stratosphere contains a layer of relatively high concentrations of ozone.

The lower part of the thermosphere is the ionosphere. This layer has free ions and electrons that are the
result of ionization of gas molecules. As the distance increases from Earth, the atmosphere becomes
thinner, and the molecules move further and further apart.

4.1.1. Structure of the Atmosphere

Troposphere
Lower boundary is the surface of the Earth. The upper boundary varies between 7 km (23,000 ft.)
above the poles and 14 km (56,000 ft.) above the equator. This is the layer of the atmosphere where we
live. The troposphere contains 75% of the total mass of the atmosphere. The air cools 6.5°C for each
kilometer above sea level.

Most of the energy from the sun travels through the atmosphere and is absorbed by the ground. The
ground heats up warming the air above creating air currents. The rising of warm air and falling of
cooler air creates convection currents that cause air circulation in this layer of the atmosphere.

Stratosphere 7-17 km to 50 km
The lower boundary is the tropopause which separates the stratosphere from the troposphere. The upper
boundary of the stratosphere is 50 km (32 miles; 170,000 feet). The bottom layer of the stratosphere
remains constantly at approximately 60°C. Jet streams form here as cold air from the poles meets the
warmer air rising from the equator. It is a strong eastward moving wind that blows horizontally around
the Earth.

The stratosphere contains the ozone layer. Ozone is created when radiation from the sun splits two-
atom oxygen molecules into separate atoms. They combine with other two-atom molecules to form a
three-atom molecule. The layer acts as a shield from ultraviolet radiation from the sun. The upper part
of the stratosphere warms up to approximately 18°C as the ozone reacts with ultraviolet radiation
giving off enough heat to warm this layer.

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Mesosphere
The mesosphere is the third layer of the atmosphere. It extends from the top of the stratopause to an
altitude between 80 and 85 km. The temperature begins to drop in this layer until it reaches minus
90°C. The upper region of the mesosphere is the coldest region of the Earths' atmosphere layers.

Water vapor is sometimes present in this layer and it can be seen from Earth as thin feathery clouds of
ice crystals. Many meteors entering the atmosphere burn up in this layer. The heat causes enough
friction between a meteoroid and gas particles in the mesosphere to burn them up. Shooting stars are
the trail of hot glowing gases as a meteoroid burns.

Thermosphere (Ionosphere and exosphere)

Location of layer above Earth: 640 kilometers (400 miles; 2,100,000 feet). The thermosphere has two
layers of Earth’s atmosphere layers. The atmosphere is very thin in the thermosphere. The space
shuttles orbit in the thermosphere. The layer has free ions and electrons that are the result of ionization
of gas particles. Radio waves bounce off the ionosphere allowing communication with countries
overseas. The aurora borealis, (northern lights) form when electrically charged particles from the sun
collide with particles in the ionosphere producing multicolored lights. The temperature in this region
can reach 1500°C (2,730 degrees F). The air particles are so far apart that a person would not feel warm
because of the low density of the particles.

The exosphere is the highest layer of the atmosphere. It extends up to 10,000 km (6,200 miles;
33,000,000 ft.) above the Earth. Satellites orbit the Earth in the exosphere. The atmosphere in this layer
is extremely thin and atoms and molecules of air are constantly escaping into outer space. Free-moving
particles move in and out of the solar wind in the exosphere.

4.2 Air pollution and sources

Pollution may be defined as addition of undesirable material into the environment as a result of human
activities. It is the introduction of contaminants into an environment that causes instability, disorder,
harm or discomfort to the ecosystem i.e. physical systems or living organisms. It is the introduction of
harmful substances or products into the environment. The agents which cause environmental pollution
are called pollutants.

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Air pollution is defined as the presence of pollutants in air in sufficient quantity and duration to cause
them to be injurious to human health and welfare and animal & plant life and to interfere with the
enjoyment of life and property.

Figure4- 2 air pollution (Alfred T. Palmer, 1942)

4.2.1. Sources & Classification of Air pollution

Type-I classification

Source of pollution

Natural Man-made

Domestic Industrial Traffic/Transport

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Type-II as Classification

Source of pollution

Point source Line source Area/volume source

Continuous Instantaneous Continuous Instantaneous Continuous Instantaneous

1) Instantaneous Point Source: ‗Puff‘(small volume) of material is released into atmosphere in

relatively short time. Example: Nuke Explosion, volcanic eruption

2) Continuous Point Source: the polluted gas coming out continuously from a point (relatively small
Diameter). Example: stack emission, industry

3) Instantaneous Line Source: pollutant dispersion into atmosphere from a source which has a line
‘shape at a time. Example: Pesticide spray, path by airplane

4) Continuous Line Source: Dispersion from a line source continuously. Example: Urban Heavy Traffic
Load

5) Instantaneous area/volume Source: the entry of pollutants into atmosphere from an area volume
(relatively large compared with a point source) at a time instant.

Example: Blasting of poisonous gas tank

6) Continuous area/volume Source: entry from an area volume continuously.

Example: an Industrial Park

 Combustion of fuel (natural gas, petroleum, coal and wood)

 Industrial process

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 Natural process (Volcanic)

One of the main causes of air pollution is the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, this
happens because of deforestation and fossil fuel burning.

 Sulfur dioxide is another air polluter and is released into the atmosphere by the burning of sulfur
containing compounds of fossil fuels.

 Sulfur oxides are very dangerous to humans at a high concentration.

 Sulfur in the atmosphere is responsible for acid rain.

 Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) also contribute to air pollution by reducing the amount of ozone the
stratosphere. CFCs come from a variety of places such as: the burning of plastic foam items,
leaking refrigerator equipment and spray cans.

4.2.2. Consequences of Air Pollution

The carbon dioxide (CO2) is a good transmitter of sunlight, but it also partially restricts infrared
radiation going back from the earth into space, which produces the so-called green-house effect that
prevents a drastic cooling of the Earth during the night. Increasing the amount of CO2 in the
atmosphere reinforces this effect and is expected to result in a warming of the Earth's surface.

 CO2 in atmosphere  GLOBAL WARMING

 Acid Rain

When emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitric oxide from stationary sources are transported long
distances by winds, they form secondary pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide, nitric acid vapor, and
droplets containing solutions of sulfuric acid, sulfate, and nitrate salts.These chemicals descend to the
earth's surface in wet form as rain or snow and in dry form as a gases fog, dew, or solid particles; it is
known as acid rain or acid deposition.
 The Ozone layer and its depletion

Ozone: - a reactive gas consisting of 3 oxygen atoms (tri-atomic) formed naturally in the atmosphere by
the association of molecule oxygen and atomic oxygen. Accelerated chemical destruction of the
stratospheric ozone layer by the presence of substances produced for the most part, by human activities.

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Any substance has with an Ozone Depletion Potential (ODP) greater than 0 that can deplete the
stratospheric ozone layer.
A relative index indicating the extent to which a chemical product may cause ozone depletion is called
Ozone Depletion Potential (ODP).Chlorofluorocarbon (CFCs) is a family of organic chemical
composed of chlorine, fluorine and carbon atoms usually characterized by high stability contributing to
a high ODP. These fully halogenated substances are commonly used in refrigerants, foam blowing,
aerosols, sterility, solvent cleaning and a variety of other applications.
 Pollution of the lower Atmosphere
This pollution indicates the change in composition of the lower atmosphere. This implies the
decreasing and increasing the concentration of the greenhouse gases which includes water vapor
(H2O), CO2, Ozone (O3), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), and Chlorofluorocarbon (CFCs).
 Greenhouse effect
 Ozone depletion
 Acidification
 Smog formation
 Eutrophication
 Human health
 Ecosystem health

4.2.3. Control of Air Pollution

The following measures have been suggested to control air pollution:
i. Some gases, which are more soluble in a particular liquid than air, for example, ammonia in
water, can be separated by dissolving in it.
ii. Particles larger than 50 mm are separated in gravity settling tanks. Using cyclone collectors or
electrostatic precipitators separates fine particles.
iii. The height of chimneys should be increased to the highest possible level to reduce pollution at
the ground level.
iv. SO2 pollution can be controlled by extracting sulphur from the fuel before use.
v. Pollution control laws should be enforced strictly.
vi. Trees should be planted on the roadside, riverbanks, parks and’ open places as they keep the
environment fresh.
vii. Population growth, which is the main cause of pollution, should be checked.

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viii. Nuclear explosions should be restricted.

4.3. Water pollution and sources

Addition or presence of undesirable substances in water is called water pollution. Water pollution is
one of the most serious environmental problems. It is caused by a variety of human activities such as
industrial, agricultural and domestic. Agricultural runoff laden with excess fertilizers and pesticides,
industrial effluents with toxic substances and sewage water with human and animal wastes pollute our
water thoroughly. Natural sources of pollution of water are soil erosion, leaching of minerals from
rocks and decaying of organic matter. Rivers, lakes, seas, oceans, estuaries and ground water sources
may be polluted by point or non-point sources. When pollutants are discharged from a specific location
such as a drain pipe carrying industrial effluents discharged directly into a water body, it represents
point source pollution. In contrast, non-point sources include discharge of pollutants from diffused
sources or from a larger area such as run off, from agricultural fields, grazing lands, construction sites,
abandoned mines and pits, roads and streets.

4.3.1. Sources of water pollution

Water pollution is the major source of water borne diseases and other health problems. Sediments
brought by runoff water from agricultural fields and discharge of untreated or partially treated sewage
and industrial effluents, disposal of fly ash or solid waste into or close to a water body cause severe
problems of water pollution. Increased turbidity of water because of sediments reduces penetration of
light in water that reduces photosynthesis by aquatic plants.
(i) Pollution due to pesticides and inorganic chemicals
 Pesticides like DDT and others used in agriculture may contaminate water bodies. Aquatic
organisms take up pesticides from water get into the food chain (aquatic in this case) and move
up the food chain. At higher trophic level they get concentrated and may reach the upper end of
the food chain.
 Metals like lead, zinc, arsenic, copper, mercury and cadmium in industrial waste water
adversely affect humans and other animals. Arsenic pollution of ground water has been reported
from West Bengal, Orissa, Bihar, and Western U.P. Consumption of such arsenic polluted water
leads to accumulation of arsenic in the body parts like blood, nails and hairs causing skin
lesions, rough skin, dry and thickening of skin and ultimately skin cancer.

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 Pollution of water bodies by mercury causes Minamata disease in humans and dropsy in fishes.
Lead causes displexia; cadmium poisoning causes Itai – Itai disease etc.
 Oil pollution of sea occurs from leakage from ships, oil tankers, rigs and pipelines. Accidents of
oil tankers spill large quantity of oil in seas which kills marine birds and adversely affects other
marine life and beaches.

(ii) Thermal pollution

Power plants- thermal and nuclear, chemical and other industries use lot of water (about 30 % of all
abstracted water) for cooling purposes and the used hot water is discharged into rivers, streams or
oceans. The waste heat from the boilers and heating processes increases the temperature of the cooling
water. Discharge of hot water may increase the temperature of the receiving water by 10 to 15 °C above
the ambient water temperature.

This is thermal pollution, Increase in water temperature decreases dissolved oxygen in water which
adversely affects aquatic life. Unlike terrestrial ecosystems, the temperature of water bodies remains
steady and does not change very much. Accordingly, aquatic organisms are adapted to a uniform steady
temperature of environment and any fluctuation in water temperature severely affects aquatic plants and
animals. Hence discharge of hot water from power plants adversely affects aquatic organisms. Aquatic
plants and animals in the warm tropical water live dangerously close to their upper limit of temperature,
particularly during the warm summer months. It requires only a slight deviation from this limit to cause
a thermal stress to these organisms.

Discharge of hot water in water body affects feeding in fishes, increases their metabolism and affects
their growth. Their swimming efficiency declines. Running away from predators or chasing prey
becomes difficult. Their resistance to diseases and parasites decreases. Due to thermal pollution
biological diversity is reduced. One of the best methods of reducing thermal pollution is to store the hot
water in cooling ponds, allow the water to cool before releasing into any receiving water body.

4.3.2. Eutrophication
‘Eu’ means well or healthy and ‘trophy’ means nutrition. The enrichment of water bodies with nutrients
causes eutrophication of the water body.

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Discharge of domestic waste, agricultural surface runoff, land drainage and industrial effluents in a
water body leads to rapid nutrients enrichment in a water body. The excessive nutrient enrichment in a
water body encourages the growth of algae duckweed, water hyacinth, phytoplankton and other aquatic
plants. The biological demand for oxygen (BOD) increases with the increase in aquatic organisms.

As more plants grow and die, the dead and decaying plants and organic matter acted upon by
heterotrophic protozoans and bacteria, deplete the water of dissolved oxygen (DO). Decrease in DO
result in sudden death of large population of fish and other aquatic organisms including plants,
releasing offensive smell and makes the water unfit for human use.

The sudden and explosive growth of phytoplankton and algae impart green colour to the water is
known as water bloom, or “algal blooms”. These phytoplankton release toxic substances in water that
causes sudden death of large population of fishes, this phenomenon of nutrient enrichment of a water
body is called eutrophication.

Human activities are mainly responsible for the eutrophication of a growing number of lakes and water
bodies in the country.

4.3.3. Control of water pollution

The following measures can be adopted to control water pollution:
(a) The water requirement should be minimized by altering the techniques involved.
(b) Water should be reused with or without treatment.
(c) Recycling of water after treatment should be practiced to the maximum extent possible.
(d) The quantity of waste water discharge should be minimized.

Questions

1. What is pollution?
2. Compare and contrast point pollutions and non-point pollutions?
3. The lower boundary which separates the stratosphere from the troposphere is called?
4. What is air pollution? Describe the cause and effect of air pollution.
5. What is the use of ozone? Briefly explain
6. How can the water pollution controlled?

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CHAPTER FIVE: MINERAL AND ENERGY RESOURCE AND THEIR LINK

TO THE ENVIRONMENT

General Overview

This chapter mainly deals about the mineral and energy resources and their impact on the environment
during exploitation or mining for uses.

Learning outcomes

On successful completion of this chapter, the students will be able to:

 Understand about the mineral resources and their distinctive characteristics;
 Describe the different origin of mineral deposits;
 Know the uses of different types of energy resource; and
 Explain the environment impact during mineral exploitation.

5.1. Mineral Resources

A Mineral is a naturally occurring homogeneous solid with a definite chemical composition and a
highly ordered atomic arrangement, usually formed by an inorganic process.

Mineral deposits are any volume of rock containing an enrichment of one or more minerals.

Mineral resources have three distinctive characteristics:

o Occurrences of usable minerals are limited in abundance and localized at places within the
Earth’s crust.
o The quantity of a given mineral available in any one country is rarely known with accuracy.
o Deposit of minerals are depleted by mining and eventually exhausted
Ore is an aggregate of minerals from which one or more minerals can be extracted profitably.
“Ore” is an economic term, whereas mineral deposit is a geologic term. The economic challenges of
ore are to find it, mine it, and refine it as cheaply as possible. The lowest-grade ores ever mined about
0.5 percent copper were worked only at a time of high metal prices. In 2002, lowest grade of mineable
copper ore is closer to 1 percent. Over production of copper around the world, combined with economic
recession, has resulted in the closing of many mines, particularly those exploiting the lowest grades of
ores.

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5.1.1 Origin of Mineral Deposit

All ores are mineral deposits because each of them is a local enrichment of one or more minerals or
mineraloids. Not all minerals deposits are ores In order for a deposit to form, processes must bring
about a localized enrichment of one or more minerals.
Mineral become concentrated in five ways:-
1. Concentration by hot, aqueous solutions flowing through fractures and pore spaces in crustal rock to
form hydrothermal mineral deposits.
2. Concentration by magmatic processes within a body of igneous rock to form magmatic mineral
deposits.
3. Concentration by precipitation from lake water or sea water to form sedimentary mineral deposits.
4. Concentration by flowing surface water in streams or along the shore, to form placers.
5. Concentration by weathering processes to form residual mineral deposits.

1. Hydrothermal Mineral Deposits

Some solutions originate when water dissolved in magma is released as the magma rises and cools.
Other solutions are formed from rainwater or seawater that circulates deep in the crust. Mineral
deposits formed from mid-ocean ridge volcanism are called volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits. The
pyroxene-rich rocks of the oceanic crust yield solutions charged with copper and zinc. As a result,
volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits are rich in copper and zinc. In black smokers, the rising
hydrothermal fluid appears black due to fine particles of iron sulfide and other minerals precipitated
from solution as the plume is cooled by contact with cold seawater. The chimney-like structure is
composed of pyrite, chalcopyrite, and other ore minerals deposited by hydrothermal solution

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Figure 5- 1 diagram shows hydrothermal mineral deposits (Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.1999)

When a hydrothermal solution moves slowly upward, as with groundwater percolating through an
aquifer, the solution cools very slowly. If dissolved minerals were precipitated from such a slow-
moving solution, they would be spread over a large volume of rock and would not be sufficiently
concentrated to form an ore. When a solution flows rapidly, as in an open fracture, or through a mass of
shattered rocks, or through a layer of porous tephra where flow is less restricted, cooling can be sudden
and can occur over short distances. Rapid precipitation and a concentrated mineral deposit are the
result. Veins are formed when hydrothermal solutions deposit minerals in open fractures. Many of such
veins are found in regions of volcanic activity.
2. Magmatic mineral deposits
The processes of partial melting and fractional crystallization are two ways of separating some minerals
from other. The processes involved are entirely magmatic, and so such deposits are referred to as
magmatic mineral deposits. Pegmatites formed by fractional crystallization of granitic magma
commonly contain rich concentrations of such elements as:
 Lithium
 Beryllium
 Cesium

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 Niobium
Much of the world’s lithium is mined from pegmatites such as those at King’s Mountain, North
Carolina, and Bikita in Zimbabwe. Crystal settling, another process of fractional crystallization is
especially important in low-viscosity basaltic magma. One of the first minerals to form is chromite, the
main ore mineral of chromium. The dense chromite crystals settle to the bottom of the magma,
producing almost pure layers of chromite. The world’s principal deposits of chromite are in the
Bushveld igneous complex in South Africa and the Great Dike of Zimbabwe.
3. Sedimentary Mineral Deposits
The term sedimentary mineral deposits are applied to any local concentration of minerals formed
through processes of sedimentation. One form of sedimentation is the precipitation of substances
carried in solution.

There are three types of sedimentary mineral deposits:

 Evaporite deposits
 Iron deposits
 Strata bound deposits

Figure5- 2 Sedimentary mineral deposit diagram (N. Lindsley-Griffin, 1999)

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Evaporite deposits

Evaporite deposits are formed by evaporation of lake water or seawater. The layers of salts precipitate
as a consequence of evaporation. Salts that precipitate from lake water of suitable composition include
sodium carbonate (Na2CO3), Sodium Sulfate (Na2SO4), and borax (Na2B4O7.1OH2O). Huge evaporite
deposits of sodium carbonate were laid down in the Green River basin of Wyoming during the Eocene
Epoch. Oil shales were also deposited in the basin. Borax and other boron-containing minerals are
mined from evaporite lake deposits in Death Valley and Searled and Borax Lakes, all in California; and
in Argentina, Bolivia, Turkey, and China.
Much more common and important than lake water evaporite are the marine evaporite formed by
evaporation of seawater.

Important salts that precipitate from seawater are:

 Gypsum (CaSO4.2H2O).

 Halite (NaCl).

 Carnallite (KCl.MgCl2.6H2O).

Low grade metamorphism of marine evaporite deposits causes another important mineral, sylvite
(KCl), to form from carnallite.

Iron Deposits

Sedimentary deposits of iron minerals are widespread, but the amount of iron in average seawater is so
small that such deposits cannot have formed from seawater that is the same as today’s seawater. All
sedimentary iron deposits are tiny by comparison with the class of deposits characterized by the Lake
Superior-type iron deposits.

These remarkable deposits, mined principally in Michigan and Minnesota, were long the mainstay of
the U.S. steel industry. They are declining in importance today because imported ore is replacing them.

They are of early Proterozoic age (about 2 billion years or older)

 They are found in sedimentary basins on every craton (Labrador, Venezuela, Brazil,
Russia, India, South Africa, and Australia).

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 They appear to be the product of chemical precipitation.

 They are inter-bedded layers of chert and several different kinds of iron minerals.
The cause of precipitation remains uncertain. Many experts suspect these evaporite formed from
seawater of a different composition than today’s seawater. The grade of the deposits ranges from 15 to
30 percent Fe by weight.

Two additional processes can form iron ore: first, leaching of silica during weathering can lead to
secondary enrichment and can produce ores containing as much as 66 percent Fe.
The second way a Lake Superior-type iron can become an ore is through metamorphism.
First, grain sizes increase so that separating ore minerals from the gangue becomes easier and cheaper.
Second, new mineral assemblages form, and iron silicate and iron carbonate minerals originally present
can be replaced by magnetite or hematite, both of which are desirable ore minerals. Ore grade is not
increased by metamorphism. The changes in grain size and mineralogy transform the sedimentary rock
into an ore. Iron ores formed as a result of metamorphism are called taconites, and they are now the
main kind of ore mined in Lake Superior region.

4. Strata bound Deposits

Some of the world’s most important ores of lead, zinc, and copper occur in sedimentary rock;

The ore minerals galena, sphalerite, chalcopyrite, and pyrite—occur in such regular, fine layers that
they look like sediments.

The sulfide mineral layers are enclosed by and parallel to the sedimentary strata in which they occur.
For this reason, they are called stratabound mineral deposits. Most stratabound deposits are diagenetic
in origin. Stratabound deposits form when a hydrothermal solution invades and reacts with muddy
sediment. The famous copper deposits of Zambia, in central Africa, are stratabound deposits.

The world’s largest and richest lead and zinc deposits are also stratabound: Broken Hill, Australia,
Mount Isa in Australia, Kimberley in British Columbia.

5. Placers

A mineral with a high specific gravity will become concentrated by flowing water. Placers are of
minerals having high specific gravities.

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Most placers are found in stream gravels that are geologically young. The most important minerals
concentrated in placers are gold, platinum, cassiterite (SnO2), and diamond. More than half of the gold
recovered throughout all of human history has come from placers. The South African fossil placers are
a series of gold-bearing conglomerates. They were laid down 2.7 billion years ago as gravels in the
shallow marginal waters of a marine basin.

Associated with the gold are grains of pyrite and uranium minerals. Nothing like the deposits in the
Witwatersrand basin has been discovered anywhere else. Mining the Witwatersrand basin has reached a
depth of 3600 m (11,800 ft).The deposits are running out of ore.

Residual mineral deposits

Chemical weathering leads to mineral concentration through the removal of soluble materials and the
concentration of a less soluble residue.

A common example of a deposit formed through residual concentration is bauxite.

Bauxites are:

o The source of the world’s aluminum.

o Concentrated in the tropics because that is where lateritic weathering occurs.

o Found in present-day temperate conditions, such as France, China, Hungary, and Arkansas, where
the climate was tropical when the bauxites formed.

o Not found in glacial regions.

More than 90 percent of all known bauxite deposits formed during the last 60million years, all of the
very large bauxite deposits formed less than 25 million years ago. Many of the world’s manganese
deposits have been formed by secondary enrichment of low-grade primary deposits, particularly in
tropical regions. Secondary enrichment zones are produced by deposition of soluble minerals near the
groundwater table, leached from mineral deposits present near the surface.
One of the largest nickel deposits ever found, in New Caledonia, was formed by secondary enrichment.
Secondary enrichment has led to large deposits in the arid southwestern United States and desert
regions of northern Chile of:
 Pyrite (FeS2).
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 Chalcopyrite (CuFeS2).
 Chalcocite (CuS2).

5.1.2. Useful Mineral substances

Excluding substances used for energy, there are two broad groups of useful minerals:

Metallic minerals, from which metals such as iron, copper, and gold can be recovered. Nonmetallic
minerals, such as salts, gypsum, and clay

Geochemically abundant metals include: Iron, Aluminum, Manganese, Magnesium, and Titanium.

5.2. Energy Resources

The uses of energy can be grouped into three categories:
o Transportation.
o Domestic use.
o Industry (meaning all manufacturing and raw material processing plus the growing
of foodstuffs).
Most energy used by humans is drawn annually from major fuels:
 Coal
 Oil
 Natural gas
 Nuclear power
 Wood and animal dung

5.3. Mining and Metals

Mining is the process by which commercially valuable mineral resources are extracted (removed) from
Earth's surface/subsurface. These resources include ores (minerals usually containing metal elements),
precious stones (such as diamonds), building stones (such as granite), and solid fuels (such as coal).
Although many specific kinds of mining operations have been developed, they can all be classified into
one of two major categories: surface and subsurface (or underground) mining.

Some terminologies

Adit: A horizontal tunnel constructed to gain access to underground mineral deposits.

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Metallurgy: Science and technology of extracting metals from their ores and refining them for use.

Ore: A mineral compound that is mined for one of the elements it contains, usually a metal element.

Overburden: Rocky material that must be removed in order to gain access to an ore or coal bed.

Prospecting: The act of exploring an area in search of mineral deposits or oil

Shaft: A vertical tunnel constructed to gain access to underground mineral deposits.

Two major categories of mining: surface and subsurface (or underground) mining

a. Surface mining

When an ore bed has been located relatively close to Earth's surface, it can be mined by surface
techniques. Surface mining is generally a much preferred approach to mining because it is less
expensive and safer than subsurface mining

Surface mining can be subdivided into two large categories: (1) open-pit mining and (2) strip mining.

1. Open-pit mining is used when an ore bed covers a very large area in both distance and depth.
Mining begins when scrapers remove any non-ore material (called overburden) on top of the ore.
Explosives are then used to blast apart the ore bed itself. Fragments from the blasting are hauled away
in large trucks. As workers dig downward into the ore bed, they also expand the circular area in which
they work. Over time, the open-pit mine develops the shape of a huge bowl with terraces or ledges
running around its inside edge. Open-pit mining continues until the richest part of the ore bed has been
excavated.

2. Strip mining
When an ore bed covers a wide area but is not very deep, strip mining is used. It begins the same as
open-pit mining, with scrapers and other machines removing any overburden. This step involves the
removal of two long parallel rows of material. As the second row is dug, the overburden removed is
dumped into the first row. The ore exposed in the second row is then extracted. When that step has
been completed, machines remove the overburden from a third parallel row, dumping the material
extracted into the second row. This process continues until all the ore has been removed from the area.

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Afterward, the land typically resembles a washboard with parallel rows of hills and valleys consisting
of excavated soil.

b. Subsurface mining
Ores and other mineral resources may often lay hundreds or thousands of feet beneath Earth's surface.
Because of this, their extraction is difficult. To gain access to these resources, miners create either a
horizontal tunnel (Adit) or a vertical tunnel (a shaft). To ensure the safety of workers, these tunnels
must be reinforced with wooden timbers and ceilings. In addition, ventilation shafts must be provided
to allow workers a sufficient supply of air, which is otherwise totally absent within the mine.

Once all safety procedures have been completed, the actual mining process begins. In many cases, the
first step is to blast apart a portion of the ore deposit with explosives. The broken pieces obtained are
then collected in carts or railroad cars and taken to the mine opening.

Other techniques for the mining of subsurface resources are also available. The removal of oil and
natural gas by drilling into Earth's surface are well-known examples. Certain water-soluble minerals
can be removed by dissolving them with hot water that is piped into the ground under pressure. The
dissolved minerals are then carried to the surface. E.g. salt and sulfur minerals

Metals mined include iron, copper, aluminium, lead, zinc, silver, gold and many others.

With care, negative environmental effects of mining, including unsightly tailings piles, surface scars,
land subsidence, and acid mine drainage can be minimized.

Non-metallic resources
Non-metallic resources - not mined to extract a metal or an energy source:

 construction materials:- sand, gravel, limestone, and gypsum

 agriculture:- phosphate, nitrate and potassium compounds)
 industrial uses:-rock salt, sulfur, asbestos)
 Gemstones:-diamonds, rubies, etc.
 household and business products:-glass sand, fluorite, diatomite, graphite
Fossil fuels

The term fossil fuel refers to the remains of plants and animals trapped in sediment that can be used for
fuel. The kind of sediment, the kind of organic matter, and the processes that take place as a result of
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burial and diagenesis, determine the kind of fossil fuel that forms. In many marine and lakes shales,
burial temperatures never reach the levels at which the original organic molecules are converted into oil
and natural gas. Instead, an alteration process occurs in which wax-like substances containing large
molecules are formed. This material, which remains solid, is called kerogen, and it is the substance in
so-called oil shale.

Coal is the most abundant fossil fuel. It is the raw material for nylon, many other plastics, and a
multitude of other organic chemicals. Through coalification, peat is converted to lignite, sub-
bituminous coal, and bituminous coal. Anthracite is a metamorphic rock.

A coal seam is a flat, lens-shaped body having the same surface area as the swamp in which it
originally accumulated. Peat formation has been widespread and more or less continuous from the time
land plants first appeared about 450 million years ago, during the Silurian Period.

Petroleum: Oil and Natural Gas

The major use of oil really started about 1847, when a merchant in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, started
bottling and selling rock oil as a lubricant. In 1852, a Canadian chemist discovered kerosene, a liquid
that could be used in lamps. In Romania in 1856, workers were producing 2000 barrels a year. In 1859,
the first oil well was drilled in Titusville Pennsylvania; modern use of gas started in the early
seventeenth century in Europe, where gas made from wood and coal was used for illumination.

Origin of petroleum
Petroleum is a product of the decomposition of organic matter trapped in sediment. Nearly 60 percent
of all the oil and gas discovered so far has been found in strata of Cenozoic age.
Petroleum migration is analogous to groundwater migration. When oil and gas are squeezed out of the
shale in which they originated and enter a body sandstone or limestone, they can migrate easily.
Because it is lighter than water, the oil tends to glide upward, until it encounters a trap.

Tars
Tar is made of oil that is exceedingly viscous;
The largest known occurrence of tar sand is in Alberta, Canada, where the Athabasca Tar Sand covers
an area of 5000 km2 and reaches a thickness of 60m.similar deposits, almost as large, are known in
Venezuela and in Russia.

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Oil shale
The world’s largest deposit of rich oil shale is in Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah. Only oil shale that
produces 40 liters of oil per ton is worth mining. The richest shales in the U.S. are in Colorado: they
produce as much as 240 liters of oil per ton. Production expenses today make exploitation of oil shales
in all countries unattractive by comparison to oil and gas.

5.4. Alternative energy resource

 Biomass energy
 Wood and animal dung.
 Hydroelectric power.
 Nuclear energy
Heat energy is produced during controlled transformation (fission) of suitable radioactive isotopes.
Three of the radioactive atoms that keep the Earth hot by spontaneous decay—238U, 235U, and 232
Th—
can be mined and used to obtain nuclear energy.
 Geothermal power
Geothermal power is produced by tapping the Earth’s internal heat flux (Zealand, Italy, Iceland and the
United States). Energy from winds, waves, tides, and sunlight: winds and waves are both secondary
expressions of solar energy. Winds have been used as an energy source for thousands of years through
sails on ships and windmills.
Steady surface winds have only about 10 percent of the energy the human race now uses.
Tides arise from the gravitational forces exerted on the Earth by the Moon and the Sun. If a dam is put
across the mouth of a bay so that water can be trapped at high tide, the outward flowing water at low
tide can drive a turbine.

5.4. Environmental impact of Mineral exploitation

The impacts of mining on the health of the miners and the environment are:
a. The dust and noxious fumes inhaled by miners make them vulnerable to pulmonary
diseases.
b. The risk of collapsing mine roofs, inundation and fires in coalmines are a constant threat to
miners.
c. The water sources in the region get contaminated due to mining.

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d. Dumping of waste and slurry leads to degradation of land, soil, and increase in stream and
river pollution.
5.4.1. Environmental effects of using Mineral resources
 Disruption of land surface

 Subsidence

 Erosion of solid mining waste

 Acid mine drainage

 Air pollution

 Storage and leakage of liquid mining waste

Questions

1. What is mineral? Describe the ways of mineral deposits.

2. What are the major categories of mining? Discus
3. Write the difference between Adit and Shaft.
4. Give example for metallic and non-metallic resources.
5. Discuss briefly the use of mineral and energy resources and their impacts on the environment.

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CHAPTER SIX: SOIL AND ENVIRONMENT

General Overview

This chapter basically explains the important concept of soil, the soil erosion and degradation, the soil
pollution and its controlling measures.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this chapter, the students will be able to:

o Understand about the type of soil and the critical soil forming factors;
o Describe the consequence of soil erosion and its prevention measures;

o Describe the causes of soil degradation and its prevention measures; and

o Explain about the source of soil pollution, and its controlling measures.

6.1 Definition of Soil

Soil can be defined as the solid material on the Earth’s surface that results from the interaction of
weathering and biological activity on the parent material or underlying rock.

Soil is the loose surface material consisting of inorganic particles and organic matter that covers most
of the land surface. Soil provides the structural support and the source of water and nutrients for plants
used in agriculture. The study of soils as naturally occurring phenomena is called pedology.

6.1.1 Soil forming factors

The critical factors controlling soil formation are:-
1. Climate
Rainfall, temperature, and their seasonal and diurnal variations affect soil directly. Climate generally
affects the availability of water freeze-thaw cycles, weathering and the type of organisms acting in the
soil.
2. Parent material
The basic characters of soil are affected by the nature of the parent material. The most important
features of the parent material that affects soil formation includes texture, porosity, permeability,
mineral composition, structure, etc.; the parent rock provides chemical elements and mineral grains to
the soil. Basic igneous rocks result in clay soils while acidic igneous rocks result in sandy soils.

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3. Organic activity
Organisms contribute to the formation of soils and provide humus when they die and are decomposed
by bacterial action.
4. Relief and slope
Relief affects soil formation through elevation, since climate changes with elevation.
Slope angle: the steeper the angle the less opportunity for soil development, because soil formation is
slower than soil erosion. The more the steepness, quickly it erodes.
5. Time
Soils can take many years to form. As age of soil increases, its features also changes.

6.1.2. Type of Soil

1- Sandy soil
This type has the biggest particles and the size of the particles does determine the degree of aeration
and drainage that the soil allows. It is granular and consists of rock and mineral particles that are very
small. Therefore the texture is gritty and sandy soil is formed by the disintegration and weathering of
rocks such as limestone, granite, quartz and shale.
2 - Clay Soil
Clay Soil is a kind of material that occurs naturally and consists of very fine grained material with very
less air spaces that is the reason it is difficult to work with since the drainage in this soil is low. Most of
the time, there is a chance of water logging and harm to the roots of the plant.
Clay soil becomes very heavy when wet and if cultivation has to be done, organic fertilizers have to be
added. Clay soil is formed after years of rock disintegration and weathering. It is also formed as
sedimentary deposits after the rock is weathered, eroded and transported.
3 - Loamy Soil
Loamy Soil- This soil consists of sand, silt and clay to some extent. It is considered to be the perfect
soil. The texture is gritty and retains water very easily, yet the drainage is well. There are various kinds
of loamy soil ranging from fertile to very muddy and thick sod. Yet out of all the different kinds of soil
loamy soil is the ideal for cultivation.
4 - Chalky soil
Chalky soil - Unlike Peaty soil, Chalky soil is very alkaline in nature and consists of a large number of
stones. The fertility of this kind of soil depends on the depth of the soil that is on the bed of chalk.

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This kind of soil is prone to dryness and in summers it is a poor choice for plantation, as the plants
would need much more watering and fertilizing than on any other type of soil.
5 - Peaty soil
Though the soil is rich in organic matter, nutrients present are fewer in this soil type than any other
type. Peaty soil is prone to water logging but if the soil is fertilized well and the drainage of the soil is
looked after, it can be the ideal for growing plants.

6.1.3. Soil Erosion and degradation

Soil erosion is the loosening and displacement of topsoil particles from the land. It is a natural process
that occurs on all lands.
Two major agents of soil erosion:
(a)Water erosion (b) Wind erosion
1) Water erosion: - surface runoff carries loose soil particles into local stream systems. Can occur
by sheet erosion (no defined channels), rill erosion (shallow channels), and gully erosion (greater than
25 cm deep).
2) Wind erosion: - usually less effective at removing soil particles than water-related processes unless
there is drought or no vegetation holding soil in place. Both processes are aided by a lack of vegetation
and root systems.
Human activities only make the problem worse:

1) Urbanization: Vegetation removed during development.

2) Agriculture: More long-term effects. Fields uncovered for long periods of time. If enough of the
topsoil is lost crop yields are reduced.
3) Mining: surface mining in particular destroys vegetation, leaving soils unprotected.
4) Lumbering: Same leaves soils bare.
5) Recreational vehicles: Often used in environmentally sensitive areas where vegetation is sparse and
easily destroyed.

6.1.3.1 Consequences of soil erosion

 The fine particles of the topsoil which contain the bulk of nutrients and organic matter needed
by the plants are lost from soil erosion.
 Sedimentation of water bodies deteriorate water quality and damage aquatic habitats and
organisms.

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 Large gullies disrupt normal farm operation.

 Wind erosion also damages roads and fertile agricultural fields by depositing large quantities of
air blown soil particles.
 It also causes mortality in animals and humans.

6.1.3.2 Prevention of soil erosion

 Reforestation: Replant trees after they've been cut down for lumber or cleared for
agriculture, mining, or development
 It is essential to retain vegetation cover that soil is not exposed to rain
 Cattle grazing should be controlled.
 Vegetation and soil management should be improved in order to increase soil organic
matter.
 Wind breaks: Line of trees and large bushes surround fields to slow wind.
 Wind fences: Slatted fences slow the wind and trap soil particles.
 Crop rotation: Helps preserve soil fertility.

6.1.4 Soil Degradation

Soil degradation simply means the decline in soil quality which comes about due to aspects such as
improper land use, agriculture, and pasture, urban or industrial purposes. It involves the decline of the
soil’s physical, biological and chemical state.

6.1.4.1 Causes of Soil Degradation

1. Physical Factors
Rainfall, surface runoff, floods, wind erosion, tillage, and mass movements result in the loss of fertile
top spoil thereby declining soil quality. In the long-term, the physical forces and weathering processes
lead to the decline in soil fertility and adverse changes in the soil’s composition/structure.
2. Biological Factors
Biological factors refer to the human and plant activities that tend to reduce the quality of soil. Some
bacteria and fungi overgrowth in an area can highly impact the microbial activity of the soil through
bio-chemical reactions, which reduces crop yield and the suitability of soil productivity capacity.
Human activities such as poor farming practices may also deplete soil nutrients thus diminishing soil
fertility.
3. Chemical Factors:

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The reduction of soil nutrients because of alkalinity or acidity or water logging are all categorized
under the chemical components of soil degradation.
4. Deforestation
Deforestation causes soil degradation on the account of exposing soil minerals by removing trees and
crop cover, which support the availability of humus and litter layers on the surface of the soil.
5. Misuse or excess use of fertilizers
The excessive use and the misuse of pesticides and chemical fertilizers kill organisms that assist in
binding the soil together. Killing of soil’s beneficial bacteria and other micro-organisms that help in
soil formation
6. Industrial and Mining activities
Soil is chiefly polluted by industrial and mining activities. Mining destroys crop cover and releases a
myriad of toxic chemicals such as mercury into the soil thereby poisoning it.
7. Overgrazing
Overgrazing destroys surface crop cover and breaks down soil particles, increasing the rates of soil
erosion. As a result, soil quality and agricultural productivity is greatly affected.

6.1.5 Soil pollution

Any undesirable change in the physical, chemical or biological properties of the soil, which is harmful
to environment, living organisms and plants, is called ‘soil pollution’. It adversely affects human
nutrition and crop production and productivity, and the quality and utility of soil. Cadmium, chromium,
copper, pesticide, chemical fertilizer, weed, toxic gases etc. are major soil pollutants. For example, if
pesticides are used while farming, then they affect the plants and the soil apart from killing the insects.

6.1.5.1. Sources of soil pollution

Domestic sources – Electronic goods, broken furniture, junk papers, polythene bags, plastic cans,
bottles, waste water, toxic waste from the hospital etc. are examples of solid waste which pollute the
soil. Because these solid wastes do not decay easily, they lie on landfill sites for thousands of years and
keep polluting the soil and the environment continuously. In addition to the soil, humans and animals
living around these landfill sites are greatly harmed.
Industrial sources – It includes fly ash, chemical residues, metallic and nuclear wastes. Large number
of industrial chemicals, dyes, acids, etc. find their way into the soil and are known to create many
health hazards including cancer.

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Agricultural sources – Agricultural chemicals especially fertilizers and pesticides pollute the soil.
Fertilizers in the runoff water from these fields can cause eutrophication in water bodies. Pesticides are
highly toxic chemicals which affect humans and other animals adversely causing respiratory problems,
cancer and death.

6.1.5.2. Control of soil pollution

 Indiscriminate disposal of solid waste should be avoided.
 To control soil pollution, it is essential to stop the use of plastic bags and instead use bags of
degradable materials like paper and cloth.
 Sewage should be treated properly before using as fertilizer and as landfills.
 The organic matter from domestic, agricultural and other waste should be segregated and
subjected to vermicomposting which generates useful manure as a byproduct.
 The industrial wastes prior to disposal should be properly treated for removing hazardous
materials.
 Biomedical waste should be separately collected and incinerated in proper incinerators.

Questions

1. Define soil
2. Mentions and discuss the soil forming factors.
3. How soil is polluted?
4. State and briefly explain the source of soil pollutions.

5. What is soil degradation? Discuss the cause of soil degradations.

6. What are the two major agents of soil erosion?
7. How can we prevent the soil erosion?

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CHAPTER SEVEN: MEGACITIES AND SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT

General Overview
This chapter deals about the solid wastes that can be generated from different type of source and have a
potential environmental harm unless properly managed. Thus, the chapter mainly explains about the
solid waste, the different categories of source of solid waste, megacities and various development
challenges and solid waste management in cities or towns.

Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this chapter, the students will be able to:

 Have Understanding about the solid waste, source of solid waste and its impacts on the
environment;

 Describe the components of solid waste managements; and

 Know the main challenge of solid waste management in cities of Ethiopia.

7.1. Introduction
Solid waste can be defined as non-liquid material that no longer has any value to the person who is
responsible for it. The words rubbish, garbage, trash, or refuse are often used as synonyms when talking
about solid waste.
In urban areas, solid waste is generated by domestic households, commercial and industrial enterprises,
and health care and institutional activities, as well as on the streets. Street refuse contains a mixture of
refuse from many sources, because streets are used as dumping grounds by all generators of waste.
Where sanitation facilities are lacking and a large animal population roams the streets, street refuse
contains a lot of human fecal matter and manure. Streets are also often used for extensive dumping of
construction and demolition debris—attracting further dumping of solid waste.

7.2. Classification and Types of Waste

Waste arises in many different forms and its characterization can be expressed in several forms. Some
common characteristics used in the classification of waste includes the physical states, physical
properties, reusable potentials, biodegradable potentials, source of production and the degree of
environmental impact (Demirbas, 2011; Dixon & Jones, 2005; White et al., 1995). White et al. (1995)
stated that waste can be classified broadly into three main types according to their physical states; these

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are liquid, solid and gaseous waste. Although it is clear that several classifications exists in different
countries, the most commonly used classifications are illustrated below.

 Physical state
 Solid waste
 Liquid waste
 Gaseous waste
 Source
 Household/Domestic waste
 Industrial waste
 Agricultural waste
 Commercial waste
 Demolition and construction waste
 Mining waste
 Environmental impact
 Hazardous waste
 Non-hazardous waste

Due to the limited scope of the research study, liquid wastes, which can be disposed of via sewer
networks or lost to ground water, and hazardous wastes, which require tighter environmental controls,
because of their potential to cause environmental harm, are excluded. Only solid waste will be
discussed in detail.

Different categories of solid waste includes:-

Municipal solid waste (MSW) is generated from households, offices, hotels, shops, schools and other
institutions. The major components are food waste, paper, plastic, rags, metal and glass, although
demolition and construction debris is often included in collected waste, as are small quantities of
hazardous waste, such as electric light bulbs, batteries, automotive parts and discarded medicines and
chemicals.
Industrial solid waste It occurs as waste produced as a result of the processing of raw materials for the
production of new products. Typically this range would include paper, packaging materials, waste from
food processing, oils, solvents, resins, paints and sludge, glass, ceramics, stones, metals, plastics,

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rubber, leather, wood, cloth, straw, abrasives, etc. As with municipal solid waste, the absence of a
regularly up-dated and systematic database on industrial solid waste ensures that the exact rates of
generation are largely unknown.
Agricultural Waste and Residues
Expanding agricultural production has naturally resulted in increased quantities of livestock waste,
agricultural crop residues and agro-industrial by-products.
Commercial solid wastes are solid or semi-solid wastes produced as a result of activities in stores,
restaurants, markets, offices, hotels, motels, print shops, service stations, auto repair shops among
others.
Hazardous Waste
With rapid development in agriculture, industry, commerce, hospital and health-care facilities, the
Asian and Pacific Region is consuming significant quantities of toxic chemicals and producing a large
amount of hazardous waste.

Most hazardous waste is the by-product of a broad spectrum of industrial, agricultural and
manufacturing processes, nuclear establishments, hospitals and health-care facilities. Primarily, high-
volume generators of industrial hazardous waste are the chemical, petrochemical, petroleum, metals,
wood treatment, pulp and paper, leather, textiles and energy production plants (coal-fired and nuclear
power plants and petroleum production plants). Small- and medium-sized industries that generate
hazardous waste include auto and equipment repair shops, electroplating and metal finishing shops,
textile factories, hospital and health-care centers, dry cleaners and pesticide users.

7.3. Solid waste Management

Solid waste management is a problem in urban and rural areas. Many areas, particularly in developing
countries, still have inadequate waste management; poorly controlled open dumps and illegal roadside
dumping remain a problem. Such dumping spoils scenic resources, pollutes soil and water resources,
and is a potential health hazard to plants, animals and people.

According to the United Nation’s Centre for Human Settlements, only between 25 and 55 per cent of
all waste generated in large cities is collected by municipal authorities, At least 60 per cent of the
countries that submitted national reports to the United Nations in advance of the 1992. Earth Summit
said that solid waste disposal was among their biggest environmental concerns. Waste minimization is
a methodology used to achieve waste reduction, primarily not only through reduction at source, but also

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including recycling and re-use of materials. The benefits of waste minimization are both environmental
and financial and wide in their coverage. Management of solid waste may be defined as that discipline
associated with the control of generation, storage, collection, transfer and transport, processing, and
disposal of solid wastes in a manner that it is accordance with the best principles of public health,
economics, engineering, conservation, aesthetic, and other environmental considerations. Solid waste
management includes all administrative, financial, legal, planning, and engineering functions involved
in the whole spectrum of solutions to problems of solid wastes (Tchobanaglous et al., 1997). To
implement proper waste management, various aspects have to be considered such as:

 Source reduction
 Onsite storage
 Collection and transfer
 Processing techniques
 Disposal

Waste Disposal options

Final destination of solid waste is disposal. Most urban solid waste is landfilled and dumped. A wide
range of disposal options in many developing countries is available and some of them are listed below:

Non-engineered disposal
This is the most common method of disposal in low-income countries, which have no control, or with
only slight or moderate controls. They tend to remain for longer time and environmental degradation
could be high, include mosquito, rodent and fly breeding, air, and water pollution, and degrading of the
land. In many Indian cities, open, uncontrolled and poorly managed dumping is commonly practiced,
giving rise to serious environmental degradation. More than 90% of Solid waste in cities and towns are
directly disposed off on land in an unsatisfactory manner (Sharholy et al., 2008).

Sanitary Land filling

Sanitary landfill is a fully engineered disposal option, which avoids harmful effects of uncontrolled
dumping by spreading, compacting and covering the wasteland that has been carefully engineered
before use. Through proper site selection, preparation and management, operators can minimize the
effects of leachates (polluted water which flows from a landfill) and gas production both in the present
and in the future. In this process the waste is disposed and is covered with a layer of soil. The compact

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layer of soil restricts continued access to the waste by insects, rodents and other animals. It also isolates
the refuse, minimizing the amount of surface water entering into and gas escaping from the waste
(Turk, 1970). Sanitary
Landfilling is a necessary component of solid waste management, since all other options produce some
residue that must be disposed of through landfilling. However, it appears that landfilling would
continue to be the most widely adopted practice in India in the coming few years, during which certain
improvements will have to be made to ensure the Sanitary landfilling (Kansal, 2002; Das et. al., 1998).

Composting
Composting is a biological process of decomposition carried out under controlled conditions of
ventilation, temperature, moisture and organisms in the waste themselves that convert waste into
humus-like material by acting on the organic portion of the solid waste. If carried out effectively, the
final product is stable, odour free, does not attract flies and is a good soil conditioner. Composting is
considered when biodegradable waste is available in considerable fraction in the waste stream and there
is use or market for compost. This is a popular technique in Europe and Asia, where intense farming
creates a demand for the compost (Schneider, 1970). Centralized composting plant for sector may only
be undertaken if adequate skilled manpower and equipment are available, hence at household level and
small level composting practices could be effective which needs the people's awareness.

Many large-scale compost plants with capacities of ranging from 150 to 300 tones/day were setup in
the cities of Bangalore, Baroda, Mumbai, Calcutta, Delhi, Jaipur and Kanpur during 1975-1980
(Sharholy et al., 2008). Now, about 9% of solid waste is treated by composting (Gupta et al., 2007;
Srivastava et al., 2005). After composting the final product obtained is called compost, which has very
high agricultural value. It is used as fertilizer, and it is non-odorous and free of pathogens (Ahsan,
1999; Khan, 1994).

Incineration
In Incineration combustible waste is burned at temperatures high enough (900-1000 0C) to consume all
combustible material, leaving only ash and noncombustible to dispose off in a landfill. Under ideal
conditions, incineration may reduce the volume of waste by 75% to 95% (Schneider, 1970).
Incineration may be used as a disposal option, only when land filling is not possible and the waste
composition is of high combustible (i.e. self-sustaining combustible matter which saves the energy

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needed to maintain the combustion) paper or plastics. It requires an appropriate technology,

infrastructure, and skilled manpower to operate and maintain the plant. In Indian cities, incineration is
generally limited to hospital and other biological wastes. This may be due to the high organic material
(40-60%), high moisture contact (40-60%) and low calorific value content (800-1100Kcal/Kg) in solid
waste (Kansal, 2002; Joardar, 2000; Bhide & Shekdar,1998).

Re-use and Recycling of waste materials

Recycling is the reprocessing of discarded materials into new useful product. The process of reusing of
cans can save money. Recycling of paper will reduce of cutting of tress. Re-use of metals will reduce
the mining activities. In India, about 40-80% of plastic waste is recycled compared to 10-15% in the
developed nations of the world. However the recovery rate of paper was 14% of the total paper
consumption in 1991, while the global recovery rate was higher at 37% (Pappu et al., 2007; CPCB,
2004).

To minimize the solid waste generation adopt the policy of 4R’s. (R.Rajput, et al, 2009).
Refuse
Instead of buying new containers from the market, use the ones that are in the house.
Refuse to buy new items though you may think they are prettier than the ones you already have.
Re-use
Do not throw away the soft drink cans or the bottles; cover them with homemade paper or paint on
them and use them as pencil stands or small vases.
Recycle
Use shopping bags made of cloth or jute, which can be used over and over again. Segregate waste to
make sure that it is collected and taken for recycling.
Reduce
Reduce the generation of unnecessary waste, e.g. carry your own shopping bag when you go to the
market and put all your purchases directly into it.

7.4. Megacities & Various Development Challenges

Post-consumer waste is a small contributor to global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (<5%) with total
emissions of approximately 1300 Mt CO2-eq in 2005. The largest source is landfill methane (CH4),

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followed by wastewater CH4 and nitrous oxide (N2O); in addition, minor emissions of carbon dioxide
(CO2) result from incineration of waste containing fossil carbon (C) (plastics; synthetic textiles).

There are large uncertainties with respect to direct emissions, indirect emissions and mitigation
potentials for the waste sector. These uncertainties could be reduced by consistent national definitions,
coordinated local and international data collection, standardized data analysis and field validation of
models.

Some of the development challenges include:

 Waste management
 Food, water and energy insecurity
 Traffic management
 Freshwater scarcity
 High Urban density, informal development
 Unsustainable land use and inefficient land administration systems
 Creations of slums and criminality
 Water, soil and air pollution
 Inefficient and bad governance
 Lack of green areas and buildings reflecting local culture

7.5. Solid Waste Management in cities

Waste generation is closely linked to population, urbanization and affluence. Archaeological
excavations have yielded thicker cultural layers from periods of prosperity; correspondingly, modern
waste-generation rates can be correlated to various indicators of affluence, including gross domestic
product (GDP)/cap, energy consumption/cap, and private final consumption/cap. In developed
countries seeking to reduce waste generation, a current goal is to decouple waste generation from
economic driving forces such as GDP.

In most developed and developing countries with increasing population, prosperity and urbanization, it
remains a major challenge for municipalities to collect, recycle, treat and dispose of increasing
quantities of solid waste and wastewater. In the Third Assessment Report (TAR), GHG mitigation
strategies for waste were discussed primarily within the industrial sector. It must also be stressed that

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there are high uncertainties regarding global GHG emissions from waste which result from national and
regional differences in definitions, data collection and statistical analysis.

 GHG mitigation aspects;

 Landfill CH4 recovery and utilization;
 Optimizing Methanol - Trophic CH4 oxidation in landfill cover soils;
 Alternative strategies to land filling for GHG avoidance (composting; incineration
and other thermal processes;
 Mechanical and biological treatment (MBT);
 Waste reduction through recycling, and expanded wastewater management to
minimize GHG generation and emissions.

7.6. Waste Management challenges in cities/town of Ethiopia

Solid waste, which is a consequence of day-to-day activity of human kind, needs to be managed
properly. Addis Ababa, like other cities in developing countries, faces problems associated with poorly
managed solid waste operation (Negatu Regassa, et el, 2017).

According to Negatu Regassa, et el, (2017), study the reasons for low performance of Solid waste
management in the city includes: inaccessibility of the city due to the geographical and urban structure,
lack of properly designed collection route system and time schedule, inadequate and malfunctioning
operation equipment, open burning of garbage, poor condition of the final dump site, littering of the
corner around the skips which encouraged illegal dumping are the technical problem identified.
Insufficient funds as well as lack of promotion on-waste reduction: recycling, absence of cost recovery,
practice of energy option, waste separation and composting are among the financial challenge. Social
problems encountered include: lack of public awareness, illegal dumping, poor condition of waste
workers, lack of private sector and community involvement. Incompetence of organizations in terms of
equipment required for operation and man power/staff qualifications, training and human resource
developments/and unreliable service are the institutional challenge that the city encountered in the
sector.

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Lack of adequate knowledge about solid waste management and not having access to door to door solid
waste collection could have contributed to the reported improper solid waste practice (Gorfnesh Lema,
et el, 2019).

The main challenge of solid waste management in cities of Ethiopia is disposal of solid waste. The
major problems associated with the disposal site are:

 Limited waste holding capacity of the site

 Surrounded by settlements and institutions
 Nuisance and health hazard for people living nearby
 Waste pickers per day, interfering with the work
 No leachate containment or treatment
 No enough rainwater drain off
 No odor or vector control, etc.

Questions

1. What is solid waste?

2. Mention and discuss the source of solid wastes.
3. Describe the solid waste management challenges in development cities.
4. What are the integrated solid waste management technics? Discuss briefly.

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