APES Important People, Events, Laws and Review

Rachel Carson

Published Silent Spring in 1962; documented environmental damages by DDT and other pesticides. This book increased public awareness at the start of the modern environmental movement.

Sherwood Rowland and Mario Molina

In 1974, determined that CFCs destroy stratospheric (good) ozone.

Paul Ehrlich

Biologist who published The Population Bomb in 1968; discussed overpopulation and food production issues for future generations.

Thomas Malthus

British Economist who said, "human population cannot continue to increase. Consequences will be war, famine and pestilence (disease)."

Garrett Hardin

Published "The Tragedy of the Commons" in the journal Science in 1968; argued that rational people will exploit shared resources (commons).

Aldo Leopold

Wrote A Sound County Almanac, published a year after his death in 1948; promoted a "Land Ethic" in which humans are ethically responsible for serving as the protectors of nature.

Wangari Maathai

Won the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize for "Green Belt" movement - planting trees in Kenya that provided food and fuel, and improved soil erosion and desertification.

John Muir

Founded Sierra Club in 1892; fought unsuccessfully to prevent damming of the Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National Park.

Gifford Pinchot

First chief of the United States Forest Service; used principles of sustainable yield by advocating management of resources for multiple use.

Theodore Roosevelt

President of the U.S. from 1901 to 1909. Established the first National Wildlife Refuge at Pelican Island.

E.O. Wilson

Biologist who co-coined, with Robert MacArthur, the theory of island biogeography, which identifies factors that regulate species richness on islands.

Resource Conservation and Recovery Act

Controls hazardous waste with cradle-to-grave system requirements

Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA)

identifies Superfund sights - designed to identify and clean up abandoned hazardous waste dump sites

Nuclear Waste Policy Act

Encourages development of a US high-level nuclear waste repository site by 2014 (original proposed site was Yucca Mountain, NV)

Low-Level Radioactive Policy Act

requires all states to have facilities to handle low-level radioactive wastes

Basel Convention

(international treaty not signed by the US) Treaty drafted as a result of hazardous waste from developed nations being shipped overseas to developing countries. It requires that developing countries must give full permission to accept the hazardous waste

Clean Air Act

sets emission standards for cars, adresses requirements for reducing ozone depletion and acid deposition

Koyoto Protocol

(international treaty not signed by the US) Controls global warming by setting greenhouse gas emissions targets for developed countries

Montreal Protocol

(international treaty not signed by the US) phase out of ozone deleting substances such as chlorofluorocarbons and hydrocloroflurocarbons

Safe Drinking Water Act

sets maximum contaminant levels for pollutants that may have adverse effects on health

Clean Water Act

sets maximum permissible amounts of water pollutants that cna be discharged into waterways. Main goals are to reduce surface water pollution into lakes, rivers and streams

Water Quality Act

Amended the Clean Water Act by addressing storm water pollution issues - requires industrial storm water discharges and municipal sewage discharge facilities to acquire permits

Ocean Dumping Ban Act

bans dumping of sewage sludge and industrial waste in the ocean

Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act

regulates coal mining activities in the US and requires reclaiming of land after use

Federal Mine Safety and Health Act

sets forth federal health and safety regulations for all coal and non-coal mining operations in the US

Energy Policy Act

this US law provides incentives, typically in the form of government subsidies, for various energy resources including fossil fuels, and nuclear and alternative energy sources

Endangered Species Act

identifies threatened and endangered species in the US and puts their protection ahead of economic considerations

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES)

(international treaty) lists species that cannot be commercially traded as live specimens or wildlife products

Marine Mammal Protection Act

Protects all marine mammals by prohibiting, with certain exceptions, the taking of marine mammals in US waters and by US citizens on the high seas, and the importation of marine mammals and marine mammals products into the US

Lacey Act

Prohibits interstate transport of wild animals - dead or alive - without federal permit

Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, Rodenticide Act

regulates the effectiveness of pesticides

Food Quality Protection Act

sets pesticide limits in food, and all active and inactive ingredients must be screened for estrogenic/endocrine effects

Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) Treaty

(international treaty not ratified by the US as of 2009) this treaty originated at the Stockholm convention. It's an international agreement to phase out 12 organic persistent pollutants, also known as the dirty dozen such as DDT and PCBs

Arel Sea, Uzbeckistan/Kazakhstan and Mono Lake, California

a large inland sea that is drying up; its salinity is rising as a result of water diversion for irrigating crops

Ogallala Aquifer

the world's largest aquifer under parts of Wyoming, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Texas. It holds enough water to cover the US with 1.5 feed of water. It's being depleted for agricultural and urban use

Minamata, Japan

mental impairments, birth defects, and deaths caused by mercury dumped in Minamata Bay by a factory. The mercury was converted to methyl-mercury, bio-accumulated in fish and bio-magnified through food chains. Mercury entered humans who ate a traditional fish based diet

Aswan High Dam, Egypt

the silt that made the tile region fills the reservoir. Lack of irrigation controls causes waterlogging and salinization. The parasitic disease schistosomiasis thrives in the stagnant water of the reservoir

Chesapeake Bay, Maryland/Virginia

the largest estuary in the United States; lies off the Atlantic Ocean between Maryland and Virginia, and was declared a dead zone in the 1970s due to hypoxic conditions created from nutrient loading by fertilizers, which caused cultural eutrophication

Love Canal Housing Development, Niagara Falls, New York

hazardous chemicals buried in an old canal leaked into homes and school yards. Led to the passage of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, and Liability Act, also known as the Superfund Act

Three Mile Island, Pensylvania

on March 29, 1979, the emergency cooling system of a nuclear reactor was shut down erroneously by an operator. This led to a partial core meltdown. The continent structure worked well to retain all radioactive materials, but eventually some radioactive gas was purposely released to reduce pressure in the containment structure and avoid a more serious accident

Bhopal, India

on December 2, 1984, poisonous methyl isocyanate gas was released accidentally by a Union Carbide pesticide plant killing about 5,000 people and causing serious health effects for up to 60,000 people

Chernobyl, Ukraine

on April 26, 1986 an unauthorized safety test led to a fire and explosion at a nuclear power plant - as a result, millions of people in Europe are exposed to unsafe levels of radiation

Valdez, Alaska

on March 24, 1989, the oil tanker Exxon Valdez hit a reef in Prince Williams Sound spilling 260,000 barrels of oil. It was the largest oil spill ever in US waters

Yucca Mountain, Nevada

the proposed site for permanent storage of high-level nuclear waste, 70 miles northwest of Las Vegas. Critics are concerned about the safety of transporting high level radioactive waste to the site and the proximity of the site to a volcano and earthquake fault

Three Gorges Dam, China

the world's largest dam on the Yangtze River submerged ecosystems, cities, archaeological sites, displaced two million people, and fragmented the river habitat

Clinch River, Tennessee

The TVA's power plant near Knoxville had a well breached in a retention pond holding sludge from the coal burning power plant. This released up to 1 billion gallons of mercury - and arsenic containing sludge into the nearby Clinch River watershed

Ionizing radiation

enough energy to knowck electrons from atoms forming ions, capable causing caner

High quality energy

organized & concentrated, can perform useful work

low quality energy

disorganized, dispersed

first law of thermodynamics

energy is neither created nor destroyed, but may be converted from one form to another

second law of thermodynamics

when energy is changed from one form to another, some useful energy is always degraded into lower quality energy

natural radio active decay

unstable radioisotopes decay releasing gamma rays, alpha & bets particles energy is always degraded into lower quality energy

half life

the time it takes for 1/2 the mass of a radio isotope to decay

nuclear fission

nuclei of isotopes split apart when struck by neutrons

nuclear fusion

2 isotopes of light elements forced together at high temperatures till they fuse to form a heavier nucleaus

ore

a rock that contains a large enough concentration of a mineral making it profitable to mine

organic fertilizer

slow acting and long lasting because the organic remains need time to be decomposed

surface mining

cheaper and can remove more mineral, less hazardous

humus

organic, dark material remaining after decomposition by microorganisms

leaching

removal of dissolved materials from soil by water moving downwards

illuviation

deposit of leached material in lower soil layers

loam

perfect agricultural soil with equal portions of sand, silt, clay

conservation

allows the use of resources in a responsible manner

preservation

setting aside areas and protecting them from human activities

aquifer

any water bearing layer in the ground

cone of depression

lowering the water table around a pumping well

salt water intrusion

near the coast, overpumping of groundwater causes saltwater to move into the aquifer

ENSO

el nino southern oscillation, sea-sewing of air pressure over the S.Pacific

ammonificiation

decomposers convert organic waste into ammonia

nitrification

ammonia is converted into nitrate ion

assimilation

inorganic N is converted into organic molecules such as DNA

denitrification

bacteria convert ammonia back into N

sustainibility

the ability to meet humanities current needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs

photosynthesis

plants convert atmospheric C into complex carbohydrates

aerobic respiration

oxygen consuming producers, consumers, and decomposers break down complex organic compounds and convert C back into CO2

biotic

living components of an ecosystem

abiotic

nonliving components of an ecosystem

producer

photosynthetic life

fecal coliform

indicator of sewage contamination

chlorine

good >disinfection of water bad> forms of trihalomethanes

primary succession

development of communities in a lifeles area not previously inhabited by life

secondary succession

life progresses where soil remains

congeneration

using waste heat to make electricity

mutualism

symbiotic relationship where both partners benefit

commensalism

symbiotic relationship where one partner benefits and the other isnt affected

parasitism

symbiotic relationship where one partner benefits and the other is harmed

biome

large distinct terrestrial region having similar climate, soil, plants and animals

carrying capacity

the number of individuals that can be sustained in an area

R strategist

reproduce early, many small unprotected offspring

k strategist

reproduce late, few, cared for offspring

positive feedback

when a change in some condition triggers a response that intensifies the changing conditon

natural selection

organisms that possess favorable adaptions pass them onto the next generation

malthus

said human population cannot continue to increase..consequences will be war

doubling time

rule of 70 70 divided by the % of growth rate

replacement level fertility

the # of children a couple must have to replace themselves

woirld population

7 billion

US pop

300 mill

preindustrial stage

birth & death raters high, population grows slowly, infant mortality high

transitional stage

death rate death rate lower, better health care, population grows fast

industrial stage

decline in birth rate, population grows slow