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Minamata Disease

Methyl Mercury Poisoning

Bioaccumulation

selective absorption and concentration of elements or compounds by cells in a living organism

Biomagnification

increase in concentration of substances per unit of body tissue that occurs in successively higher trophic levels of a food chain or in a food web.

DDT

DDT, mercury, and PCBs are substances that bioaccumulate and have significant environmental impacts.

Silent Spring

Effects of DDT

Rachel Carson’s book

Torrey Canyon

1st really large documented oil spill

Poorly addressed

Love Canal

People were unknowingly living on a chemical landfill, and the effects didn’t stop when they moved out

Birth defects & pregnancy issues, cancer risk, mental health impact

Chernobyl

Reactor exploded during a late-night safety test.

Operators disabled safety systems and ran the reactor at dangerously low power — a design flaw + human error combo.

Natural Pollution

Pollution created by nature

unavoidable

Anthropogenic pollution

Man-made pollution

preventable

Ecosystem services

environments provide life supporting services such as clean water, timber, fisheries, crops.

Environmental indicators

describe the current state of the environment.

Sustainability

living on the Earth in a way that allows us to use its resources without depriving future generations of those resources.

Ecosystem services

environments provide life supporting services such as clean water, timber, fisheries, crops.

Provisioning services

food , fuel, fiber, genetic resources, fresh water

Example : a river supplying drinking water to a city

Supporting services

Primary production,povision of habitats, nutrient and water cycling, solid formation and retention

example : plants using photosynthesis to make food that supports the entire

Cultural services

Spiritual and religious values, education and inspiration, recreation and aesthetic values

Example: people hiking and sightseeing in a national park

Regulation services

Invasion resistance, pollination, pest and disease regulation, climate regulation, water purification

Ecological footprint

A measure of how much a person consumes, expressed in area of land.

Biocapacity

how much food, water, and resources Earth can make and how much waste it can absorb without breaking

Ecological Overshoot

Using more resources than the environment is able to regenerate, assimilate, or recycle

Less production or assimilation for the future

Need to import from other nations

Geographically displaced damage

CERCLA

the law that lets the government clean up toxic waste sites and force the polluters to pay.

Deregulation

Reagan-era belief that government regulation slowed the economy.