GLST 201: Week 3 Climate Crisis

Deforestation

Purposeful cutting, clearing, and removal of large forested areas for other uses, creating new less biodiverse ecosystems

Examples of Deforestation

Commercial Logging, Land clearing, Crop Cultivation, Grazing Land, & Ethnic Cleansing

Impacts of Deforestation

Releases Carbon, Destruction of habitat, Soil Erosion, & Aridification

Why are they Deforesting Amazon Rainforest

Cattle Ranching, Industrial Agriculture (Soy Beans), and Poor people seeking opportunities

Impacts of Deforesting Amazon Rainforest

Displacement of Indigenous Peoples, Destruction of Biodiversity, Soil Erosion, Aridification, & Release of Carbon

Afforestation

Establishment of a forest or stand of trees in an area where there was no recent tree cover

Example of Afforestation

Shandong China

Desertification

Process of large areas of land degrading into less biologically productive and diverse areas, as well as more arid due to natural processes or human influence

Impacts of Desertification

Dust storms, Loss of soil moisture, Erosion, Flash flooding, Reduced water quality, & Decreased food production

The Shelter Belt

Barrier of vegetation, typically consisting of lines of trees and shrubs (The Great Plains Shelter Belt response to Dust Bowl)

Aral Sea

The Great Plains Shelter Belt due to USSR rerouting river for their cotton fields

The Great Plan for the Transformation of Nature

Stalin's plan for the transformation of nature, for agricultural practices and water projects to improve agriculture in the nation

The Great Green Wall

Initiative to increase the amount of arable land in the Sahel, the region bordering Africa's Sahara Desert

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

Collection of marine debris in the North Pacific

Microplastics

Tiny plastic particles that result from both commercial product development and the breakdown of larger plastics

Pm2.5

(Fine Particulate Matter) refers to particles in the air that measure less than 2.5 micrometers (μm) in diameter

Airmageddon

Dense smog engulfing Beijing

Heavy Metals

Lead, Mercury, Zinc, Cadmium, & Arsenic

Carbon Leakage

Exportation of the negative environmental implications in the production of particular goods

Global Tipping Points

When a climatic system, with just a small amount of additional heat energy, is pushed from one stable state to another state suddenly and dramatically

Energy Storage

Capture of energy produced at one time for use at a later time to reduce imbalances between energy demand and energy production

Peak Demand

Amount of capacity required during the single moment when the grid as a whole experiences the highest demand for power