ENSP Final Exam

Wet Deposition

Wet Deposition

Process where pollutants are removed from the atmosphere through precipitation; can cause damage through acid rain

Dry Deposition

Airborne particles and gases settle out of the atmosphere and accumulate on surfaces without the aid of precipitation

Anthropocene

Human activity has reached primary activity on Earth

Ecological Footprint Accounting

Ecological footprint should equal biocapacity

Geosphere

Contains nonliving Earth systems

Atmosphere

Air

Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ)

Merging air in the atmosphere at the point of maximum uplift and precipitation

Coriolis Effect

Air flows from high to low pressure and bends

Greenhouse Effect

Process by which certain gases in the atmosphere trap heat from the sun and prevent it from escaping

Natural sources of material to atmosphere

Water Vapor, Ash, Smoke

Human sources of material to atmosphere

Fossil fuels being burned

Ways to remove carbon from atmosphere

Dry deposition, wet deposition, photosynthesis

Cryosphere

Frozen water

Lithosphere

Crust and upper mantle

Hydrosphere

Water

Biosphere

Contains all life on Earth

Inflation Reduction Act

Subsidies for environmental protection measures

5.5 trillion

How much do we need to spend each year to meet the SDGs?

Intrinsic Value

Nature has value in and of itself

Instrumental Value

Nature has value because it’s important to humans

Productive and Consumptive Value

Value of natural resources that are consumed or harvested for human needs

Non-consumptive Value

Value of functions or services of natural systems

Common-pool resources

Valued human or natural resources that are non-excludable and rival.

Non-excludable

Difficult or costly to exclude others from using

Rival

Use by one person makes less of the resource available for others

Constitutional Law

Rights from Constitution (Commerce Clause, Property Clause, Equal Protection Clause)

Statutory Law

Legislation passed by Congress (Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act)

Administrative Regulation

How federal agencies define and uphold laws

Common or case law

How a law or regulation is upheld in court

Social norms

Collective rules that govern common pool resources

Indigenous Ecological Knowledge (IEK)

Body of observations, oral and written knowledge, innovations, practices, and beliefs developed by tribes and indigenous people through interaction and experience with the environment

Indigenous Traditional Knowledge (TEK)

Knowledge passed from generation to generation that is informed by cultural memories, sensitivity to change, and reciprocity

Conservation (according to Gifford Pinchot)

The greatest good for the greatest number for the longest time

Principles of Conservation

1. Prevention of Waste

2. Development

3. Improvement of Nature

Principles of Environmentalism

1. Postwar affluence and education

2. Advances in science and science communication

3. New and broader concerns

4. Power of the mass media

5. Increasing political appeal and clout

Soils

Foundation for life on Earth; upper portion of Earth’s surface that is naturally formed from chemical and physical weathering; contains living and non-living matter.

Mollisols

Organic-rich soils (grows roots like potatoes)

Afisols

Lower clay layers (grows corn)

Spodosols

Leached acidic soils (grows certain forests)

Composition of Soils

1. Organic (O Horizon)

2. Topsoil (A Horizon)

3. Subsoil (B Horizon)

4. Regolith (C Horizon)

Organic soil layer

Plant debris

Topsoil

Humus; decayed organic matter

Subsoil

Materials leached from A Horizon including clay and silt

Regolith

Unconsolidated, inorganic parent material

Pedogenesis

Soil formation

• Freeze-thaw cycles

• Erosion

• Abrasion

• Chemical dissolution

Processes of soil formation

• Parent material

• Climate

• Topography

• Organisms

• Time

Soil forming factors

Soil Conservation Act of 1935

Established Soil Conservation Service, now called Natural Resources Conservation Service

Homestead Act of 1862

Any current citizen or eligible person for citizenship could claim a 160 acre homestead after paying $10 entrance fee if they improved the land by building a house and farming for at least 5 years

Forest Organic Act of 1897

Set up permit system to regulate public grazing allotments with preference for local private landowners

Dust Bowl

Natural disaster caused by drought and poor soil conservation practices in 1931

Okies

Climate Refugees and became symbols of the Depression. Segregated against almost as badly as African Americans at the time

Civilian Conservation Corps

Plan to provide jobs and get public works done.

Taylor Grazing Act of 1934

Stop injury to the public grazing lands by preventing overgrazing and soil deterioration. Taken over by Bureau of Land Management (Merger of General Land Office and Grazing Service)

Population trends

Rapid increase in population in recent years

Federal Meat Inspection Act of 1906

Banned adulterated or misbranded meat and meat products from being sold as food and ensured that meat and meat products are processed in a sanitary manner

Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906

Prevented the manufacture, sale, or transportation of adulterated or misbranded, etc, food, drugs, liquors, etc.

Agricultural Marketing Act of 1929

Allowed government to purchase agricultural surpluses

Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933

Controlled supply of basic crops and livestock by offering to pay farmers to not plant crops

Soil Conservation Act of 1935

Sought to prevent erosion of soils as a response to the dust bowl

Farm Security Administration (1935)

Improve the lives of poor farmers by purchasing submarginal lands and relocating farmers to collective farms

Rural Electrification Administration (1935)

Assisted rural electric organizations in obtaining financing to produce and deliver electricity to farmers and rural homes

Subsidies

Insure reliability of food supply and insure agriculture producers from factors out of their control

Green Revolution

Increase in agricultural output due to technological advances

The Farm Bill

Should be renewed every 4-5 years; most goes to nutrition programs

Biological Species Concept

A species is a group of organisms that can interbreed and produce fertile offspring

Phylogenetic Species Concept

A species as the smallest group of organisms that share a unique evolutionary history and can be distinguished from other groups

Population

Group of interbreeding organisms in the same area at the same time

Community

Collection of species that can be found in a particular place

Biodiversity

All biota in a given area or region in terms of taxonomic and genetic diversity, the variety of lifeforms present, the community structure created and the ecological roles performed; creates more options, increases ecosystem resilience,

Species composition

Accounts for the identity of the species present in a given area

Species richness

Number of species present irrespective of identity

Species evenness

Measure of how evenly distributed species are within a community

Diversity Index

Combine species richness and evenness as to be a more robust indicator of diversity

Mass extinction

When at least half of all species die out in a relatively short time (only happened 5 times so far in history)

Causes of modern extinction

• Habitat destruction

• Invasive species

• Pollution

• Population

• Climate change

• Overexploitation

• Disease

Traits that promote vulnerability to extinction

• Low reproductive rate

• Specialized feeding habits

• Feeding at high trophic levels

• Large size

• Specialized habitat

• Endemism

• Fixed migratory patterns

• Predation on human commodities

• Behavior patterns

• Unfortunate phenotype

Endangered Species Act of 1973

Most progressive piece of environmental legislation to make it through Congress in US history; protects most vulnerable plants and animals

Threatened Species

Any species likely to be endangered soon

Critical habitat

Specific areas occupied by species at the time it is listed which are then considered essential to that species’ conservation

Sustainable agriculture

Integrated system of production practices that will satisfy human food and fiber needs, enhance environmental quality and resources, make efficient use of non-renewable resources and on-farm resources, sustain economic viability, enhance quality of life for all people

Climate tipping

Sudden transition in the environment caused by global warming. Best prevented through stabilization temperature of pre-industrial levels

Hypoxia

Depleted oxygen levels; creates dead zones

Eutrophication

When a body of water acquires a high concentration of nutrients promoting excessive algae growth

Sources of excess nutrients

Agricultural runoff, urban rainwater runoff, soil erosion, animal waste, sewage

Algae blooms

Come about due to too many nutrients, especially nitrogen and phosphorus

Sedimentation

Shallowing water bodies occurs as sediment gets in the waterways. This causes the temperature to greatly increase, leading to more algae blooms. Additionally, sediment can carry excess nutrients.

Troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere, exosphere (from innermost to outermost)

Layers of the Atmosphere

Troposphere

Layer of the atmosphere closest to Earth’s surface. Air is densest here and it contains 75% of the total atmospheric mass

Microscopic organisms of the Earth produced Oxygen

How did the atmosphere come to exist?

Scale Trees

Trees so efficient at photosynthesis that they actually caused the Earth to cool enough that an Ice Age occurred

Industrialization, cattle farming, trading goods globally, war, movie making, etc.

Human sources of change to the atmosphere of the Earth

Bioaccumulation

Accumulation of Mercury in general

Biomagnification

Accumulation of Mercury as it continues up the food chain

Heavy metals

Pushed to the surface by natural processes such as volcanic eruptions

Acids

Move between the Earth and the atmosphere through wet and dry deposition. Can damage and kill plant life and buildings when deposition occurs through precipitation

Sulfur Scrubbers

Capture sulfur before it leaves a smokestack by mixing it with a limestone slurry to form a solid that can be removed, calcium sulfate

Forever Chemicals

Chemicals that humans have created that are resistant to heat, grease, water, and oil

The Clean Air Act

A comprehensive federal law aimed at regulating air emissions from stationary and mobile sources, establishing air quality standards to protect public health and the environment

1. Reduce outdoor or ambient concentrations of air pollutants that cause smog, haze, acid rain, and other problems

2. Reduce emissions of toxic air pollutants that are known or suspected to cause cancer or have other serious health effects

3. Phase out the production and use of chemicals that destroy the stratospheric ozone layer

Goals of The Clean Air Act