ENVIRON 243 EXAM 1

Extractive use value

coal

Nonextractive use value

forests

Indirect use value

mangroves

Existence value

waterfalls and animals

Option value

Rare earth minerals

Bequest value

clean groundwater

Arguments for valuing ecosystem services

"The destruction of unprotected forests, loss of soils, depletion of aquifers, extinction of animals and plants and plunder of the oceans has continued apace. It seems that the moral argument has gained insufficient traction, and that in the absence of new frames continuing population and economic growth will cause more damage" (Juniper).

Arguments against valuing ecosystem services

Humans are the driving force against ES and they are unpredictable, so putting a monetary value on something has its limits and is not a long-term or sustainable solution. Adding a value does not necessarily make ES safe.

Effective path forward for environmental organizations

Get society to have a mutual interest first using monetary value and balancing it long-term with reaching humanity's cultural and spiritual connection to nature. An important caveat is the battle between people's identities and political regulation laws, as well as the inequalities that are created when monetization is involved.

Nature monetized based on markets

Crop production per partum is a stated preference which gives the commercial value of the soil fertility for farmers to buy land.

Replacement valuation method example

If nature didn't provide timber, we would have a hard time finding wood. Because of this, we would need to replace all wood with plastic or metal products, which makes wood very valuable as it is more environmentally friendly and accessible. We would use stated preference to find the replacement value for timber.

Ecosystem disservices: Poisonous plants/mushrooms

Poisonous plants and mushrooms can be a disservice to people, as they harm humans when consumed.

Ecosystem disservices: Natural disasters

Hurricanes and other natural disasters destroy homes and livelihoods of people.

Ecosystem disservices: Animal migration

Animal migration, as they can be aggressive and spread invasive species.

Nature based solutions

address societal challenges through actions to protect, sustainably manage, and restore natural and modified ecosystems, benefiting people and nature at the same time

Natural climate solutions

Deliberate human actions, interventions by people that use natural or working ecosystems to mitigate climate change. There is always the explicit goal of reducing GHGs in the atmosphere, usually CO2 and increasing carbon sequestration.

Improved forest management

Managing existing forests to maintain and increase carbon storage by extending harvest cycles, improving forest growth and productivity, protecting portions of logged areas, and using logging practices that minimize soil erosion and damage to surrounding ecosystems.

Marginal Abatement Cost

Describes the cost of an intervention that will reduce GHG emissions by one tonne

Carbon sequestration potential

How much carbon a forest (or ecosystem in general) is likely able to store without anthropogenic degradation, using estimates of root mass fraction, soil carbon potential, and deadwood and litter.

avoided emissions

Greenhouse gases that are prevented from entering the atmosphere by using more sustainable practices or technologies, compared to what would have been emitted under normal conditions. For example, sustainable farming can reduce methane emissions from livestock and rice cultivation.

deforestation

Deforestation is the purposeful clearing of trees from large expanses of forest to convert it to non-forested usage like agriculture or urban development.

sensible heat

The "dry" heat in the air that you can feel. It is the heat that changes the temperature of an object or substance without changing its physical state due to the thermal energy that is transferred .

Hadley cell

A giant loop of air circulation in Earth's atmosphere where warm air rises near the equator, moves toward the poles, cools, and sinks back down around 30 degrees latitude

coriolis force

The apparent deflection of a moving object, like air or water masses, across the Earth's surface as a result of the planet's rotation. In the Northern Hemisphere the deflection is to the right, and in the Southern Hemisphere the deflection is to the left

dipolar

A Dipolar molecule has a partial positive charge on one side and a partial negative charge on the other due to unequal electron sharing. In water, this leads to the positive hydrogen end of one water molecule acttracting the negative oxygen end of a neighboring molecule, creating hydrogen bonds, and give water it's high heat capacity.

jet stream

Fast, narrow bands of strong wind high in Earth's atmosphere that flow from west to east. Formed due to when warm air from the equator meets cold air from the poles, and the Earth spins.They steer global weather systems, move storms, and help airplanes fly faster when traveling east

Desert

A desert is a dry area of land which gets very little water and is typically hot, but can be cold

Tundra

A dry dessert. A flat biome without trees where the ground beneath the surface is permanently frozen.

Taiga (Boreal Forest)

Boreal forests grow in high latitudes under freezing temperatures for 6-8 months. Mainly coniferous trees grow in the taiga biome. The taiga biome is found in Canada, China, Finland, Japan, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the US.

Doldrums

Equatorial low-pressure regions with zero to calm surface winds. Chracterized by the stagnant horses thrown overbpard as ships passed through at sea.

Ferrel Cell

An atmospheric circulation cell operating between 30 and 60 latitudes in both the Northen and Southern hemispheres.

Convection

Convection is the process by which heat is transferred by the movement of a heated fluid such as air or water.

Troposphere

Atmospheric zone that extends form the surface to ~15 km. 80% of atmospheric mass is within in the lowest 10 km. The zone contains most of water vapor and most weather, including clouds. Troposhere has rapid vertical mixing due to moist convection. Bounded on top by tropopause.

Tropical Grasslands

Grasslands are generally open and continuous, fairly flat areas of grass. They are often located between temperate forests at high latitudes and deserts at subtropical latitudes. The grass in grasslands are short in height. This correlates to the little amount of rainfall grasslands recieve. Tropical grasslands have dry and wet seasons that remain warm year round.

Rain shadow effect

A rain shadow is a patch of land that has become a desert because mountain ranges block much of the rainfall necessary for plant growth. As an air mass moves from a low elevation to a high elevation, it expands and cools decreasing its abiity to hold moisture. This creates clouds and percipitation until the air mass crosses over the peak of the mountain and starts down the other side, where the air warms up and the clouds dissipate.

Dissolution of CO2

When carbon dioxide dissolves into a body of water. Dissolution in sea water can create Carbon acid (~1%), Bicarbonate ions (98%), and Carbonate ions (10%). The ocean can mitigate the GHG effect, but also causes ocean acidification. Solutbility of CO2 in water varies with temeprature (increases when cold) and with pressure (higher with depth).

Ecosystem Services

The benefits that humans receive from nature, sometimes called natural capital. Ex. clean air and water, flood control, shade, pollination, raw materials, etc. These can be valued using standard methods developed by economists that can be in monetary or indirect non-monetary terms.

Tropical Dry Forest

Open woodland in tropical areas wih a long dry season followed by a heavy rainfall season

Shrublands/mediterranean

Steep, rocky slopes that are fairly open, where there is usually not enough rain to support tall trees. Grasses and other short plants grow between the shrubs, characterized by noticeable dry and wet seasons.

Afforestation

Planting trees in areas that havent recently had tree cover.

Keeling Curve

The change of CO2 concetration over time with the yearly pattern of an increase until May and a decrease until October, where CO2 begins to increase again.

Water's heat capacity

4.186 J/g K at 15 degree C, the ratio between the heat added to (or subtracted from) a substance and its consequent temperature increase (or decrease). The heat capacity is larger than most common substances leading to its ability to absorb a relatively large amount of heat with little change in temperature.

Pycnocline

A stable density gradient in the ocean that separates the upper mixed layer from the deeper water masses, often influenced by temperature and salinity changes. It can be affected by various forces, including wind and storms, which can generate currents along its depth.

lapse rate

describes the rate of temperature decrease in the troposphere with altitude

Net primary productivity (NPP)

the difference between all the carbon that’s fixed by the primary producers of the ecosystem and the part of that fixed carbon that the primary producer utilizes for its own cellular respiration needs

Fundemental Niche

The full range of physical environmental conditions that a species can occupy and use, without any other limiting factors present which could constrain the population - the potential niche that the species could occupy if there were no limiting factors

Disturbance

Any relatively discrete event in time that disrupts ecosystem, community, or population structure and changes resources, substrate availability, or the physical environment

Albedo

Albedo is a measure of the percentage of sunlight that a surface reflects

Shortwave Radiation

Shortwave radiation is radiant energy emitted by the sun in the visible and near-ultraviolet wavelengths. Some reflects off of the top of our atmosphere as it enters, but most passes through GHGs and is absorbed.

Eddy covariance

The CO2 and other gases that are exchanged between soil, vegetation, and the air in an ecosystem, which helps scientists forecast trends in CO2 and GHGs (how we measure an ecosystem's breathing)

Permanence

How long carbon can be stored in trees and the risk of it being put back into the atmosphere. Reversal is usually caused by fire, drought, biotic agents, and other disturbances, which are all sensitive to climate

Realized niche

actual space occupied by a species under real world conditions, such as presence of competition, nutrient availability, and environmental stressors

Biogeochemical cycles

the factors that influence cycles of elements (ie C, N, P) and the impacts of the elements as they flow through the reservoirs in the Earth system, which are the atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, and lithosphere

Boreal forest

Grow at high latitudes with freezing temperatures 6-8 months per year. Mainly coniferous trees on the taiga, with important exceptions (aspen, willow). Taiga biomes are found in Canada, China, Finland, Japan, Norway, Russia, Sweden, and the US (Alaska).

Flux

Flux is the rate at which energy or matter moves through a system. It describes the exchanges between the atmosphere, hydrosphere, geoshpere and biosphere

Forest Transition

a reversal of forest cover change trends: from long-term deforestation to stable or increasing forest cover.

GPP (gross primary productivity)

the total fixation of energy by photosynthesis. A portion of GPP is lost via respiration by plants

Permanence

the idea that the quality of carbon removal is best measured by the duration of storage of removed carbon out of the atmosphere.

Nationaly determined contributions

countries self-defined national climate pledges under the Paris Agreement detailing what they will do to help meet the global goal to pursue 1.5 degrees C adapt to climate impacts and ensure sufficient finance to support these efforts

Forest Degration

The process of thinning a forest canopy/ lower density of the trees in the area, without changing the use of land. This is a temporary change, and forests usually regrow. It can be through shifting agriculture, forest production or wildfires

Layers of the atmosphere

Structure as defined by temperature (top to bottom): Exosphere, Thermosphere, Mesosphere, Stratosphere, Troposphere

Carbon Debt

Much like a bank overdraft, it measures the gap between our actual emissions and the trajectories consistent with international climate goals, particularly those of the Paris Agreement. It thus reveals not only how far behind we’ve fallen, but also the level of effort required to get back on track toward a world limited to +1.5 °C.

Assited Range Migration

Planting seeds at the ends of their current range to speed up their natural movement across a landscape

El Niño

Characterized by unuasally warm ocean surface temperatures in the Equatorial Pacific, where the easterly trade winds become weaker. This results in areas in the northern U.S. and Canada bring dryer and warmer than usual, while in the U.S. Gulf Coast and Southeast, these periods are wetter than usual and have increased flooding, and upwelling weakens or stops all together in the oceans, slowing the influx of nutrients.

La Niña

Characterized by unusally cool ocean surface temperatures in the Equatorial Pacific, where the easterly trade winds become stronger/intensified. This results in drought in the southern U.S. and heavy rains and flooding in the Pacific Northwest and Canada, warmer winter temperatures in the South and cooler than normal in the North, and on the west coast of the Americas there is an increase of upwelling which brings cold, nutrient-rich water to the surface.

Use Value

Economic value derived from direct or indirect consumption/use of natural resources[cite: 6]

Non-Use Value (Passive-Use Value)

Economic value placed on a resource independent of any direct or indirect current use[cite: 6]

Extractive Use Value

Value derived from "consuming" or harvesting natural resources (e.g., timber, coal)[cite: 6]

Non-Extractive Use Value

Non-consumptive value derived from enjoying natural resources without depleting them (e.g., ecotourism, recreation)[cite: 6]

Indirect Use Value

Value derived from the functional benefits and services provided by ecosystems (e.g., flood protection, water filtration)[cite: 6]

Existence Value

Value derived simply from knowing a natural resource or species exists, even if never visited or used[cite: 6]

Option Value

Value derived from preserving a natural resource for potential future use[cite: 6]

Bequest Value

Value derived from preserving natural resources for future generations[cite: 6]

Paris Agreement Goal

To hold global warming to well below 2°C (or 1.5°C) above pre-industrial levels[cite: 7]

Natural Climate Solutions (NCS) max potential

23.8 PgCO2e per year of maximum global mitigation potential across forests, wetlands, grasslands, and agricultural lands[cite: 7]

Cost-effective NCS mitigation contribution

NCS can provide 37% of the cost-effective CO2 mitigation needed through 2030 to keep warming below 2°C[cite: 7]

Nature-based Solutions (NbS)

Actions to protect, conserve, restore, sustainably use, and manage natural or modified ecosystems to address societal challenges while providing human well-being and biodiversity benefits[cite: 7]

Marginal Abatement Cost (MAC)

The cost of an intervention that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by one tonne[cite: 8]

Global forest carbon deficit

Global forest carbon storage has a total deficit of 226 Gt C below its natural potential in low human footprint areas[cite: 8]

Forest carbon potential distribution

61% of potential lies in existing forests (protection/recovery) and 39% in removed or fragmented forests[cite: 8]

Unintended consequences of tree planting

Poorly planned projects can cause net forest loss (e.g., cutting existing forests to plant new paid seedlings)[cite: 8, 9]

Ecosystem carbon potential

The capacity of an ecosystem to absorb and store carbon in biomass (roots, leaves, trunks) and soil[cite: 9]

Weather vs. Climate

Weather is the short-term atmospheric state; climate is the average weather for a region over an extended period[cite: 9]

Troposphere key features

Extends to ~15 km, holds ~80% of atmospheric mass, contains most water vapor/weather, and experiences rapid vertical mixing via moist convection[cite: 12]

Stratosphere key features

Extends from tropopause to 50 km, contains ~90% of atmospheric ozone (O3), and temperature increases with altitude due to UV absorption[cite: 12, 15]

Coriolis Effect

Deflects moving air/water to the right in the Northern Hemisphere and to the left in the Southern Hemisphere due to Earth's rotation[cite: 13, 14]

Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ)

An equatorial belt of low atmospheric pressure, high convection, heavy rainfall, and calm/variable winds (doldrums)[cite: 14, 15]

Ekman Transport

Movement of surface water at an angle to the wind direction driven by Coriolis forces, driving coastal upwelling of nutrient-rich waters[cite: 17, 18]

Thermohaline Circulation

Global density-driven ocean circulation controlled by temperature (thermo) and salinity (haline) variations[cite: 18, 25]

El Niño (ENSO)

Pacific phenomenon marked by weakened trade winds, warmer eastern equatorial sea surface temps, reduced upwelling, and global precipitation shifts[cite: 18, 21]

La Niña (ENSO)

Pacific phenomenon marked by intensified trade winds, cooler eastern equatorial sea surface temps, and increased coastal upwelling[cite: 18, 21]

Permanence Risk

The risk that carbon stored in vegetation/soils for climate mitigation will be released back to the atmosphere by disturbances like fire, drought, or pests[cite: 22]

Eddy Covariance

A meteorological technique measuring gas exchange (CO2/water vapor) between soil, vegetation, and atmosphere to quantify ecosystem carbon flux[cite: 22, 23]

Short-Term Carbon Cycle

The fast movement of carbon between atmosphere, biosphere, soil, and surface ocean driven primarily by photosynthesis and respiration[cite: 23, 24]

Long-Term Carbon Cycle

The movement of carbon between surface reservoirs and the rock reservoir over millions of years via silicate weathering, sedimentation, and volcanism[cite: 24]

Ocean Acidification Mechanism

CO2 dissolves in seawater forming carbonic acid (H2CO3), releasing H+ ions which reduce ocean pH and consume carbonate ions (CO3 2-) needed by calcifying organisms[cite: 24, 25]

Gross Primary Productivity (GPP)

The total rate at which organic matter/energy is fixed by autotrophs via photosynthesis[cite: 28]

Net Primary Productivity (NPP)

GPP minus autotrophic respiration; the net biomass accumulated and available to heterotrophs over time[cite: 28]

Net Ecosystem Exchange (NEE)

Net exchange of CO2 between an entire ecosystem and the atmosphere (Photosynthesis vs total respiration/decomposition)[cite: 27]

Organic vs. Inorganic Carbon

Organic carbon contains C-H covalent bonds formed by living organisms; inorganic carbon lacks C-H bonds (e.g., CO2, carbonates)[cite: 28]