ENSC 002 Midterm 2

Who owns most of the land in the USA?

55% privately owned

What is land degradation and desertification?

Land degradation: natural or human induced process that decreases future ability of land to support crops or livestock

Desertification: degradation of once fertile land into nonproductive desert

Distinguish the differences between wilderness, national park, and wildlife refuge.

National Parks: land set aside for recreation, preservation, limited development

Wildlife Refuge:

Wilderness:

How much (%) of the continental US land area is designated as wilderness?

Less than 2%

Half of all U.S. wilderness is in Alaska

Where is the boreal forest located? What is the importance of this forest with respect to global climate change?

-Alaska, Canada, Scandinavia, & Russia

-Harvested primarily to clear-cut logging & primary source of world's timber "lungs of planet"

- natural carbon sink but more carbon dioxide produced than forest can sequester

-comprise the world's largest biome.

are comprised of evergreen trees, such as spruce, fir, cedar, and hemloc

What is monoculture and what are the negative consequences of monoculture in forest management?

Cultivation of a single type of crop in a given area

low diversity

subject to disease/ soil erosion

What are the main ecosystem services that forests provide?

They have an influence on climate

They are very important in biogeochemical cycles; Carbon dioxide is converted to wood.

They stabilize soil and retain water

They house many species

What are the consequences of deforestation?

Soil fertility goes down

Erosion

Dams

Increase in sedimentation of waterways

Desert formation

Extinction

Climate change

Forests and the hydrologic cycle

deforestation contributes to regional climate changes. Trees release substantial amounts of moisture into the air , about 97% of the water that roots absorb from the soil is evaporated directly into the atmosphere. This moisture falls back to Earth in the hydrologic cycle. When a large portion of forest is removed, rainfall may decline & droughts may become more common in that region.

What are the ecosystem services provided by wetlands?

Habitat for migratory waterfowl and wildlife

-Recharge groundwater

-Reduce damage from flooding

-Improve water quality

-Produce many commercially important products

What are the main threats to protection of agricultural land in the US?

Suburban sprawl - farmland converted to non-farm use (like parking lots and housing developments

Overgrazing

Land degradation

-Under funded, infrastructure repair

-Wildlife imbalances

-Invasive species

-Pollution

-Mining (i.e. 11,000 new uranium mining site applications at Grand Canyon)

-Climate change

What is subsistence agriculture?

Traditional agricultural methods which are dependent on labor and large amounts of land

The production of enough food to feed was oneself and one's family, with little left over to sell or reserve for hard times

Low yields

Real natural farming...for the homies tho since it is difficult to produce a lot with this system

What are the main causes of undernutrition and malnutrition?

Misallocation misallocation

poverty

Undernutrition Not enough food

Malnutrition, enough food but only one type of food and not enough vitamin

How many different plant species do we depend on for most of our food supply? What are the three main food crops (grains) that are consumed by humans?

Just 15 species of plant provide the bulk of food for humans

What are the three main food crops (grains) that are consumed by humans?

The main crops are rice, wheat, and corn.

Is modern agriculture considered to be sustainable? Why or why not?

Only no but with traditional farming method is sustainable

(aka industrialized agriculture) No because only 10% of the energy put into agriculture in this method gets to us as food. (large capital input)

What does transgenic refer to?

extra genes from another animal

Ex: enviropig, self-healing catfish, spider silk goats, featherless chickens

Why are antibiotics used for animal production and what are some adverse consequences?

Faster growth

Prevent spread of disease in close quarters

What are some adverse consequences?

Increased bacteria resistance

Development of superbugs (drug resistant bacteria)

Which country produces the most genetically modified crops?

US

What is bycatch?

Marine organisms captured in commercial fisheries which are unintentionally caught (undesirable) and returned to water dead

Bycatch is 25% of all fishes caught.

What is aquaculture? What types of fish are produced? What are the negative environmental effects of aquaculture?

Aquaculture: Growing of aquatic organisms for human consumption (fish farming)

Great potential to supply food

Carnivorous fish such as salmon, shellfish, seaweeds and stripped bass are produced

Negative consequences

Locations of fisheries may hurt natural habitats

Produce waste that pollutes adjacent water

Decreased biodiversity and imbalanced ecosystem

What is the gas composition of the atmosphere (main gases plus carbon dioxide)?

Nitrogen (78%)

Oxygen(20.95%)

Argon (0.93%)

Carbon Dioxide CO2 (0.04%)

What are the two components in atmosphere that are most important to humans and other organisms?

Carbon dioxide and oxygen

What is meant by good and bad ozone?

In the stratosphere, it protects us from UV radiation.

In the troposphere, it is an air pollutant, act as a greenhouse gas -> respiratory illnesses

What are the major types of air pollution that occur outdoors? Pay particular attention to primary and secondary pollutants. What is the difference between carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide?

Transportation and Industrial (particulate matter and nitrogen oxide)--->primary NO2

Pay particular attention to primary and secondary pollutants.

Primary air pollutants -are emitted from a source directly into the atmosphere

Secondary air pollutants- produced in the atmosphere from chemicals reactions involving primary pollutants

What is the difference between carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide?

Carbon monoxide is poisonous and interferes with the blood's ability to transport oxygen

Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas, is associated with global climate change

What is smog? What are the major components of smog? Understand photochemical smog.

Air pollution-particulate matter

Fog and smoke

What are the major components of smog?

Sulfur oxides and particulate matter

Understand photochemical smog.

Brownish-orange haze formed by chemicals reactions involving sunlight

Nitrogen oxide and hydrocarbons

Primary vs. secondary air pollutants

Primary: Harmful substances emitted directly into the atmosphere

sulfur dioxide (SO2), carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NOX), and particulate matter

Secondary: Derives from primary. Primary reacting with something that produces a secondary

Photochemical smog is made up of various secondary pollutants like ozone, peroxyacetyl nitrates (PANs), and nitric acid

When and how does smog form in Los Angeles?

First noted in LA in the 1940s is surrounded by mountains. Pollutants cannot move through

Bothe nitrogen oxide and hydrocarbons are involved in its formation

Thermal inversion keeps smog trapped

Describe the major sources of air pollution, and their relative amounts?

Transportation- 57%

Industry- 12%

Fuel combustion 21%

Miscellaneous 10%

What are the main health problems of air pollution?

It can irritate eyes

Emphysema

Respiratory tract

Chronic bronchitis

Which components of air pollution have gotten better through air quality regulation?

Clean air amendment 1970

Lead concentration dropped 97% by eliminating leaded gasoline

Sulfur dioxide emissions declined 64%

Car catalytic converter

What is particulate air pollution?

Consists of thousands of different of liquid and solid particles suspended in the atmosphere

What is a thermal inversion and how does this affect air pollution over urban areas?

Air pollution becomes trap

Typically, air near the ground warms, then rises, and cools as it rises. With inversion, cool coastal air pushes in beneath the warm layer, causing air pollution to become trapped.

What are the technologies used to reduce emissions from power plants?

Electrostatic precipitator(smoke stacks)- negative charge on pollutants. Positive charge walls, clean gas leaves and toxic matter is collected and disposed of as toxic dust material.

scrubbers(smoke stacks) water captures pollutant material that passes through. Clean gas leaves and water with pollutants is disposed of as toxic waste.

Know the effects of major pollutants on human health

Low level pressure

Irritation eyes

Causes inflammation of respiratory tract

Can develop into chronic respiratory diseases

emphysema

Indoor air pollution—can it be worse than outdoor pollution?

More dangerous than outdoor pollution.

More concentrated since it is trapped indoors

5-100x greater than outdoor

What pollutants are responsible for acid rain? What sectors are responsible for this problem? Are these gases secondary or primary pollutants? What are the major environmental consequences of acid rain and what is acid rain?

Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide

What sectors are responsible for this problem?

Motor vehicles (NO2)

Coal-burning power plants (SO2)

Are these gases secondary or primary pollutants?

Primary pollutants

What are the major environmental consequences of acid rain and what is acid rain?

Slower growth, injury, or death of forests

Acid rain is a mixture of wet and dry deposition

What is the ozone hole and when does it occur? What chemicals caused this problem? What conditions are required to deplete the ozone layer?

Ozone thinning/ hole layer over Antarctica and degradation of ozone caused by chlorofluorocarbon

(there is also a small hole over the Arctic, but not as big as the Antarctic)

and when does it occur?

Annually between September and November

What chemicals caused this problem?

Bromine and chlorine (CFC-12)

What conditions are required to deplete the ozone layer?

Requires two conditions

1: sunlight just returning to polar region

2: Circumpolar vortex- A mass of cold air that circulates around the southern polar region

What policies have been passed to reduce the ozone hole?

Montreal Protocol 1987

Reduction of CFCs

Started using HCFCs

What is Radon?

Serious indoor pollutant in highly developed countries.

Seeps through ground and enters building

These Radioactive particles cause harm when ingested or inhaled

Increases risk of lung cancer

Describe the consequences of the ozone hole to human and ecosystem health. How long will it take for this problem to go away?

Higher levels of UV radiation reaching earth.

Humans- causes cataracts and skin cancer , decreases immunity

Ecosystem Health- disrupts ecosystems

Will be recovered by 2050

What does the "Greenhouse Effect" refer to?

Carbon dioxide and methane heating the atmosphere

Amount of co2 is increasing so instead of allowing that to radiate to space, it is trapped and it is being converted to heat

What are the main gases driving the increase in global warming?

Carbon dioxide c02 =1

Methane ch4= 23

Nitrous oxide n2o = 296

What are atmospheric aerosols

Tiny particles (or sulfur) that remain in the troposphere for days or months

Has cooling effect since it decreases amount of sunlight coming in

Makes it difficult to make an accurate model of climate change since it is so unpredictable .

Do both carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide have similar effects on global warming?

Carbon monoxide harm humans

Carbon dioxide cause global climate change

What are the main lines of evidence that have been used to determine proof of global warming?

Melting of glaciers

Rising sea levels and temperature

Ocean temperature have increased

Sea level have increased in 230mm in the last century and 3.3mm every year

What contributes the most to CO2 emission?

The burning of fossil fuels

What air pollutants tend to cool the atmosphere?

Atmospheric Aerosols

Understand positive feedbacks in the context of climate change

A situation in which a change in some condition triggers a response that intensifies the changed condition. CO2 changing the whole condition

Melting ice creates water (which has less albedo) this will warm the water hence melting more ice _ (remember:positive feedback means it continues cycle)

9. Where do you find permafrost?

Where do you find permafrost?

Tundras and boreal forest (Alaska, Canada, Russia, Mongolia and China)

What is Kyoto Protocol?

International treaty to reduce the amount of greenhouse gasses emitted by developed countries by 5.2% from 2008-2012.

U.S. withdrawal because they thought it was economically unfair

What are the expected consequences of global warming if action is delayed in responding to this problem?

Rising sea levels

Sea water infiltration into freshwater

Extinction of many species

Agricultural pests will proliferate and reduce yields

Coral reef bleaching

How would global warming affect agriculture? Precipitation patterns?

Agricultural productivity in Canada and Russia will increase

Tropical and subtropical (where many poor people live) will be hardest hit by declining agricultural productivity

greatest decline in agriculture predicted for Central American and Southeast Asia

Precipitation patterns?

We need more ice than rain

Cause some areas to have more frequent droughts

Likely to affect the availability and quality of freshwater in many locations

What are the expected effects of greater absorption of carbon dioxide by the Earth's oceans? How will this affect the ocean food web and life that is dependent on the ocean plankton?

Ocean become more Acidic

Ocean absorb half of CO2 released into the atmosphere by human activities

Ocean level rising (heat expands water molecules) correct me if I'm wrong

How will this affect the ocean food web and life that is dependent on the ocean plankton?

Decreases population of plankton

Describe the processes that lead to accelerated movement of land ice toward the sea.

Melting ice and rise sea and will flood coastal areas

Sea level rise due to retreat of (land-based) glaciers

Water absorbs more heat than ice

Warmer water more ice melts

What is meant by coral bleaching?

The ocean comes more acid because when CO2 goes to the Atmosphere and half of the CO2 comes in to the ocean and causes Coral becomes bleach

When corals are stressed by changes in condition, such as warm water temperatures, they expel symbiotic algae living in tissue causing them to turn white

How will global warming affect freshwater scarcity and stress? Is this true in all parts of the world, or where will this problem be most severe?

Saltwater intrusion in coastal areas

Permanent melting-less snowpack

Is this true in all parts of the world, or where will this problem be most severe? YES

Because tropical and subtropical region would be more affected

Some areas will actually become colder - more severe storms

What causes sea levels to rise?

Due to thermal expansion

Due to retreat of glaciers and thawing of ice at the South Pole (water absorbs more heat, which causes more ice to melt)

The glaciers that are over water displace the same amount of water as the volume of the melted ice, so those glaciers melting will not directly cause a rise. It is the glaciers over land (greenland and the antarctic) that will **** us when they melt.

What are the major actions required to reduce global warming?

Mitigation and adaptation (inverse relationship)

Develop alternatives to fossil fuels for energy

Reduce or trap emissions-> improve fuel economy, reduce reliance on cars, have more efficient buildings (power plants), sub coal with natural gas

Halt deforestation and plant trees to sequester carbon

Pump carbon dioxide from power plants into old oil wells for geologic storage

Store carbon dioxide in deep ocean

Smaller human carbon footprint!!