Waste Management (AQA GCSE Biology: Combined Science)

• Human population growth globally has been increasing exponentially for the last 150 years

The human population is growing exponentially

• There are many reasons for this exponential growth, including:
  • Improved technology leading to an abundance of food = rapid increase in birth rate
  • Improved medicine, hygiene and health care = decrease in death rate

• Rapid growth in the human population and an increase in the standard of living mean our negative effect on the environment is also increasing
• As increasingly more resources are used to sustain the growing human population, more waste is produced and more pollution is created
• Unless waste and chemical materials are properly handled, pollution will continue to be created

Water pollution 

Sources of water pollution and their effects

Biomagnification and bioaccumulation of a pesticide in an aquatic ecosystem

Sequence of events causing eutrophication in lakes and rivers

Land pollution 

Sources of land pollution and their effects

Air pollution 

Sources of air pollution and their effects

How air pollution leads to acid rain