SIMILARITIES AND DIVERSITIES BETWEEN PLANT AND

ANIMAL KINGDOM

Given below points will present the main features on which plants and animals vary:

1. The ability of the plants of preparing their food with the help of sunlight, water and the
air is what makes them unique, the green colour pigment called as chlorophyll, and the
capacity of providing oxygen, food to the living beings are the characteristics of the
plants. The exclusive characters present in animals are different types of organs and
organ systems, like nervous, reproductive, digestive, etc. They are sensitive and show
the quick response to the stimuli. They entirely depend on plants, directly or indirectly
for their food.

2. Animals show movement, which can be on the ground through legs, underwater through
fins or in air through wings, on the contrary plants cannot move from one place to
another, as plants are rooted into the ground, an exception is Volvox and
Chlamydomonas. Animals have exceptions like Sponges and Corals.

3. Plants have chlorophyll, due to which they can prepare their food in the presence of air,
water and sunlight, and due to this feature, they are termed as autotrophs. On other
hands, animals are termed as heterotrophs, as they depend on plants for their food,
either directly or indirectly for their nutrition.

4. Storage of food (carbohydrate) is in the form of starch in plants, while in animals the

food is stored in the form of glycogen, the animals have the proper digestive system
which supports in digesting the food materials.

5. In plants exchange of gases occurs through stomata where the plants take in carbon

dioxide and release oxygen into the atmosphere, whereas in case of animals it is just
opposite as animals take in oxygen and release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, this
process occurs through lungs, gills, skin, etc.
 6. As plants and animals are eukaryotic, so they have almost similar cellular structure, but
few organelles like chloroplast, plasmodesmata, cell wall, plastids, etc. are only found
in the plant cell, while in there is no cell wall in the animal cell; instead they have cilia,
the tight junction for other functionality.

7. The growth of the plants is not restricted and takes place through life in their
meristematic regions like roots, stems, the tip of leaves, etc. Animals are confined to
grow up to the certain period, and their organs and organ system support the growth.

8. Reproduction of plants takes place asexually like by budding, vegetative methods,

spores, wind, or through insects, whereas some lower animals like algae reproduce
asexually while higher animals reproduce sexually and give birth to the young ones.

9. Plants response to stimuli like touch, light, though are less sensitive due to the absence
of the sense organs, animals have the proper nervous system and the sense organs too
due to which they respond to any stimuli in a fraction of seconds.

Similarities

 They respond to stimuli.

 They breathe, reproduce, grow.
 They try to adapt according to changes in the environment.
 The basic unit of their structure is the eukaryotic cell.
 They both require air and water to survive.
 They proper grow and develop.

Conclusion

In this content, we studied the ground points on which the plants differ from the animal. We can
say that, after having a few characters similar, both plants and animals show a lot of variations.
Another thing is that they both have a mutual relationship to maintain the ecosystem. So they are
equally important and play a significant role in the environment.
 ENERGY, SOURCES & TYPES
Energy

Energy lights our cities, powers our vehicles, and runs machinery in factories. It warms and cools
our homes, cooks our food, plays our music, and gives us pictures on television.

Energy is defined as the ability or the capacity to do work.

We use energy to do work and make all movements. When we eat, our bodies transform the food
into energy to do work. When we run or walk or do some work, we ‘burn’ energy in our bodies.
Cars, planes, trolleys, boats, and machinery also transform energy into work. Work means
moving or lifting something, warming or lighting something. There are many sources of energy
that help to run the various machines invented by man.

The discovery of fire by man led to the possibility of burning wood for cooking and heating
thereby using energy. For several thousand years human energy demands were met only by
renewable energy sources—sun, biomass (wood, leaves, twigs), hydel (water) and wind power.

As early as 4000–3500 BC, the first sailing ships and windmills were developed harnessing wind
energy. With the use of hydropower through water mills or irrigation systems, things began to
move faster. Fuelwood and dung cakes are even today a major source of energy in rural
India. Solar energy is used for drying and heating.

With the advent of the Industrial Revolution, the use of energy in the form of fossil fuels began
growing as more and more industries were set up. This occurred in stages, from the exploitation
of coal deposits to the exploitation of oil and natural gas fields. It has been only half a century
since nuclear power began being used as an energy source. In the past century, it became
evident that the consumption of non-renewable sources of energy had caused more
environmental damage than any other human activity. Electricity generated from fossil fuels
such as coal and crude oil has led to high concentrations of harmful gases in the atmosphere.
This has in turn led to problems such as ozone depletion and global warming. Vehicular
pollution is also a grave problem.

Types of Energy

Kinetic energy
When an object is in motion, there is energy associated with that object. Why should that be the
case? Moving objects are capable of causing a change, or, put differently, of doing work. For
example, think of a wrecking ball. Even a slow-moving wrecking ball can do a lot of damage to
another object, such as an empty house. However, a wrecking ball that is not moving does not do
any work (does not knock in any buildings).

The energy associated with an object’s motion is called kinetic energy. A speeding bullet, a
walking person, and electromagnetic radiation like light all have kinetic energy. Another
example of kinetic energy is the energy associated with the constant, random bouncing of atoms
or molecules. This is also called thermal energy – the greater the thermal energy, the greater the
kinetic energy of atomic motion, and vice versa. The average thermal energy of a group of
molecules is what we call temperature, and when thermal energy is being transferred between
two objects, it’s known as heat.

Potential energy

Let’s return to our wrecking ball example. The motionless wrecking ball doesn’t have any
kinetic energy. But what would happen if it were lifted two stories up with a crane and
suspended above a car? In this case, the wrecking ball isn't moving, but there is, in fact, still
energy associated with it. The energy of the suspended wrecking ball reflects its potential to do
work (in this case, damage). If the wrecking ball were released, it would do work by making a
pancake of someone’s poor car. And if the ball is heavier, the energy associated with it will be
greater.

This type of energy is known as potential energy, and it is the energy associated with an object
because of its position or structure. For instance, the energy in the chemical bonds of a molecule
 is related to the structure of the molecule and the positions of its atoms relative to one
another. Chemical energy, the energy stored in chemical bonds, is thus considered a form of
potential energy. Some everyday examples of potential energy include the energy of water held
behind a dam, or of a person about to skydive out of an airplane.

Energy conversions

An object's energy can be converted from one form to another. For instance, let’s consider our
favorite example, the wrecking ball. As the wrecking ball hangs motionless several stories up, it
has no kinetic energy, but a lot of potential energy. Once it is released, its kinetic energy begins
to increase because it builds speed due to gravity, while its potential energy begins to decrease,
because it is no longer as far from the ground. Just before it hits the ground, the ball has almost
no potential energy and a lot of kinetic energy.

Energy Sources

 Clean Energy. Learn more about energy from solar, wind, water, geothermal, biomass and
nuclear. ...

 Fossil. Learn more about our fossil energy sources: coal, oil and natural gas. ...

 Electric Power. Learn more about how we use electricity as an energy source. ...

 Energy Storage. ...

 Hydrogen & Fuel Cells.

 DISASTER RISK MANAGEMENT

When a hazard event (such as a drought, flood, cyclone, earthquake or tsunami) occurs,

triggering a loss of life and damage to infrastructure, it highlights the reality that society and its
assets are vulnerable to such events. When discussing disaster risk management, a disaster can
highlight the following in a community:
 The geographical area where the community is settled is exposed to such a hazard.
 The society (including individuals) and its infrastructure, assets and other processes - as
well as services which may have experienced damage or destruction - are vulnerable.

Disaster Risk

According to the terminology of UNDRR, disaster risk is defined as “the potential loss of life,

injury, or destroyed or damaged assets which could occur to a system, society or a community in
a specific period of time, determined probabilistically as a function of hazard, exposure, and
capacity”. In the technical sense, it is defined through the combination of three terms: hazard,
exposure and vulnerability.
For example, when a settlement is established on the shores of a river, hydrologists can identify
and characterise flood hazard by carrying out a hydraulic analysis. According to
the UNDRR definition, a hazard is characterised by its "location, intensity or
magnitude, frequency and probability”. In some countries, such hazard areas outline the
geographic extent of floods that have a 100 year period of possible return. Any people, assets,
infrastructure, and ecosystems located inside the area are all exposed to potential damage from
floods. The degree of potential damage is then characterised by the area's vulnerability. For
example, this can be defined by the physical structure of a building, as well as by the social and
economic characteristics of a system. Additionally, hazard vulnerability can be characterised by
the capacities of a society to cope with a hazard.

  Definitions and Terminology

Hazard is defined as “a process, phenomenon or human activity that may cause loss of life,
injury or other health impacts, property damage, social and economic disruption or
environmental degradation”. Hazards may be single, sequential or combined in their origin and
effects. Each hazard is characterized by its "location, intensity or magnitude, frequency, and
probability".
Exposure is defined as “the situation of people, infrastructure, housing, production capacities
and other tangible human assets located in hazard-prone areas”. As stated in the UNIDRR
glossary, “measures of exposure can include the number of people or types of assets in an area.
These can be combined with the specific vulnerability and capacity of the exposed elements to
any particular hazard to estimate the quantitative risks associated with that hazard in the area of
interest”.
Vulnerability is defined as “the conditions determined by physical, social, economic and
environmental factors or processes which increase the susceptibility of an individual, a
community, assets or systems to the impacts of hazards”. Vulnerability is multi-dimensional in
its nature, and next to the four dimensions above, some authors also include cultural and
institutional factors. Examples include, but are not limited to; poor design and construction of
buildings, inadequate protection of assets, lack of public information and awareness, high levels
of poverty and education, limited official recognition of risks and preparedness measures,
disregard for wise environmental management or weak institutions, and governance (e.g.
including corruption etc.).
Disaster Risk Reduction "is aimed at preventing new and reducing existing disaster risk and
managing residual risk, all of which contribute to strengthening resilience and therefore to the
achievement of sustainable development".  The UNDRR definition further annotates that
“disaster risk reduction is the policy objective of disaster risk management, and its goals and
objectives are defined in disaster risk reduction strategies and plans".

Disaster Risk Reduction strategies and policies define goals and objectives across different
timescales, with concrete targets, indicators and time frames. 

Disaster Risk Management is the application of disaster risk reduction policies and strategies,
to prevent new disaster risks, reduce existing disaster risks, and manage residual risks,
contributing to the strengthening of resilience and reduction of losses. Disaster risk management
actions can be categorized into; prospective disaster risk management, corrective disaster risk
management and compensatory disaster risk management (also referred to as residual risk
management).
Information management in Disaster Risk Reduction

In recent years, researchers and experts have been developing methods to conduct the assessment
of hazards, vulnerability, and coping capacities; as well as techniques to combine such
assessments in order to present them in risk map format. Such maps are essential in developing
strategies to reduce the level of existing risks, and as a way to avoid a generation of new risks
due to underlying social and economic risk drivers. Read more about it.

The UN and Disaster Risk Reduction

Since the beginning of the 1990s, the United Nations has been promoting efforts to change the
paradigm of disasters, advocating for the incorporation of disaster risk reduction efforts
worldwide as a way to reduce the effects of natural hazards on vulnerable communities. In 2015,
UNDRR facilitated the negotiations amongst Member States, experts and collaborating
organizations; which led to the adoption of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk
Reduction 2015-2030. Between 2015 and 2030, Member States around the world will conduct a
variety of efforts within the context of the four Priority Areas contained in the Sendai
Framework, as a way to reduce risks with the goal of minimizing losses due to the manifestation
of hazards of natural origin. The four Priority Areas are:

Priority 1: Understanding disaster risk

Priority 2: Strengthening disaster risk governance to manage disaster risk

Priority 3: Investing in disaster risk reduction for resilience

Priority 4: Enhancing disaster preparedness for effective response and to “Build Back Better” 

in recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction