Environmental Science: Key Concepts and Issues

Economic benefits for farmers

Fertilizers can lead to higher crop yields, resulting in increased profits.

Eutrophication

Runoff from fertilizers can lead to nutrient overload in water bodies, causing excessive growth of algae.

Pesticide treadmill

A scenario where pests adapt to pesticides, leading farmers to increase pesticide strength and dosage continuously.

Respiratory problems

Pollutants (except lead) can cause issues like asthma.

Hypothesis

A statement predicting the effect of one variable on another, incorporating the terms increasing or decreasing.

Independent Variable

The variable that is manipulated by researchers and is not kept constant.

Dependent Variable

The variable that responds to changes in the independent variable.

Controlled variables

Variables other than the independent variable that are kept constant to ensure a fair test.

Control group

The group in an experiment that receives no treatment or change.

Replication

Repeating tests to increase confidence in results and reduce the impact of natural variability.

Sample Size

The number of times an experiment is replicated or the number of copies of the dependent variable tested.

Population of the world

Approximately 8 billion.

Population of the U.S.

Approximately 330 million.

Subsidies

Financial incentives provided by the government to encourage companies to adopt sustainable practices.

Carbon Cycle

The series of processes by which carbon compounds are interconverted in the environment.

Range of tolerance

The amount of stress an organism can endure before experiencing illness or death.

10% rule

Only 10% of the energy held by an organism is available to the organism that consumes it in the food chain.

Clean Water Act

Regulates the discharge of pollutants into U.S. waters and restores the quality of the nation's rivers, lakes, and wetlands.

CITES

An international trade agreement to ensure that the trade of animals and plants does not introduce invasive species or risk endangered species.

CERCLA

Gives the Environmental Protection Agency authority to oversee the cleanup of hazardous waste sites.

Montreal Protocol

An international treaty that requires countries to phase out ozone-depleting chemicals.

Kyoto Protocol

An international treaty demanding developed nations reduce greenhouse gas emissions to meet binding targets.

Endangered Species Act

Protects endangered species from harassment and habitat invasion, and includes species recovery efforts.

Safe Drinking Water Act

Federal law that allows the Environmental Protection Agency to set the standard for national water quality. Bans over 90 different pollutants.

Delaney Clause

Bans the approval of any food or drug found to cause cancer in humans regardless of exposure level.

RCRA

Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. Manages hazardous waste from 'cradle to grave.'

List the "go - to" FRQ answers

Habitat destruction leads to a decrease in biodiversity, respiratory illness such as asthma, Ecosystem services, economic impact (jobs, money, tourism), condition causes organism to be outside of It's range of tolerance

DRY MIX

D dependent variable, R responding variable, Y - axis; M manipulated variable, I independent variable, X - axis.

Off-limits words in FRQ

'Changes' and 'is affected' use INCREASES or DECREASES instead.

Units in FRQs are used when

When units are not listed explicitly in the stem of the question.

Rule of 70

# of years to double population = 70/Annual % growth rate.

Population Growth Rate

Growth rate = (birth rate + people coming) - (death rate + people leaving)/total population x 100.

Crude Growth Rate

CGR = (CBR - CDR) / 10.

Percent change

PC = NEW - OLD / OLD x 100.

Total Energy Used

kW x hours = kWh.

Net Primary Productivity Equation

NPP = GPP - Respiration (energy lost to respiration).

Electricity production

Energy source (coal, biomass, fossil fuel, natural gas etc.) spins a turbine, which turns a generator. this causes a magnet to spin around wires = electrons move = electricity

Wetlands importance

Offer many important services such as: Flood control, Water filtration, Commercial fisheries.

Threats to wetlands

Threatened by drainage and development by the government or businesses.

Specialist vs Generalist

A specialist is highly adapted to a small set of conditions, and a generalist is able to thrive in many kinds of environments.

Invasive species

Invasive species are just extreme generalists.

What kind of species has a better chance at survival after disruption?

Generalists are more likely to survive an environmental disruption or displacement.

Air pollution sources

Can come from power plants, factories, motor vehicles, wildfires, and volcanic eruptions.

Air pollution solutions

Include catalytic converters, reduced use of motor vehicles, and wind and hydroelectric power (dams), as well as electrostatic precipitators and scrubbers.

Primary pollutant

Released directly from a source.

Secondary pollutant

Formed by chemical reactions in the atmosphere.

Dams/hydroelectric power pros

Flood control, Water storage, irrigation use, hydroelectric power (low GHG emission).

Dams/hydroelectric power cons

Habitat fragmentation, Downstream flow alteration (sedimentation, water temperature).

Eutrophication

Develops when bodies of water become over enriched with nutrients like phosphorus or nitrogen accelerating plant or algae growth.

Hypoxia

When dissolved oxygen levels drop below the threshold needed to sustain most animals.

Sewage effluent

Liquid waste that is released from municipal treatment plants or sewers.

Soil Horizon

Each layer of soil.

Soil Profile

Cross section of soil as a whole.

Topsoil

Most nutritive soil for plants.

Leaching

Dissolved particles move down through the soil.

O horizon

Organic matter decomposing, Topmost

A horizon

Topsoil, nutrient rich (second below O)

B horizon

Subsoil that accumulates metals and nutrients

C horizon

Least weathered, most similar to parent material

Sandy soil

Coarse, largest pore spaces, low water/nutrient holding capacity

Silty soil

Medium size particles and pores

Clay soil

High water and nutrient holding capacity

Loamy soil

Equal mixture of silt, clay and sand (Best for plant growth and agricultural)

Water issues in agriculture

Groundwater depletion from irrigation, pollution from fertilizer and pesticide runoff, sedimentation from erosion, manure lagoon contamination, eutrophication

Air Pollution from agriculture

GHG from farm equipment and meat production, soil particles from wind erosion

Land Degradation in agriculture

Soil erosion, loss of soil fertility (solved by crop rotation)

Biodiversity issues in agriculture

Habitat fragmentation, monocultures, pesticides killing non-targets

how do greenhouse gases come from landfills?

Anaerobic respiration of the organic matter decomposing in the landfill releases - landfills account for 14% of U.S. methane emissions

Greenhouse effect

The earth has certain gases designed to trap heat and keep earth warm enough to inhabit, but when we have too many of those gases being produced the earth gets too hot.

Impacts of increases in greenhouse gases

Melting of polar ice caps, increases in storm intensity, rising sea levels, ocean warming

Coral bleaching

Coral bleaches due to increased ocean temperatures, the symbiotic algae living in the coral leave, causing the coral to lose its main source of nutrients.

Ocean acidification

CO2 goes into the ocean because it is a carbon sink and it reacts with the water to form carbonic acid, the acid threatens to dissolve coral, shells and snail shells.

Dissolved oxygen stays better in _________________water.

Cold water holds dissolved oxygen better.

Carbon sink

anything that absorbs more carbon from the atmosphere than it releases. Examples include forests, soil, and the ocean.

Species richness

How many species there are in a given area.

Evenness

How evenly the numbers of each species is.

Renewable energy source

Renewable resources naturally replenish themselves.

Non-renewable energy source

Non-renewable resources exist in finite quantities on earth without being able to renew themselves.

Global footprint

Global/ecological footprint is the total amount of land required to provide the resources needed to produce the materials needed to support a given lifestyle.

Energy conservation tactics

Cogeneration, use of public transport and carpool, electric vehicles, switching to LED lights.

Most used energy source globally

Fossil fuels.

Energy use habits of developing nations

Developing nations use biomass and coal significantly more due to a lack of access to reliable sources of energy.

Examples of Fossil Fuels

Coal, petroleum, crude oil, and natural gas.

Fracking

Fracking injects high pressure fluid into rock creating a fissure in order to extract oil or natural gas.

Pros of Fracking

Unlocking vast new energy sources, reducing reliance on oil

Cons of Fracking

Groundwater contamination, large water consumption, and methane leaks

Pros of Landfill Use

Keeps urban and rural areas clean, Methane can be used as a source of energy if captured, can become solar farms once at capacity

Cons of Landfill Use

Significant source of methane via decomposition and anaerobic respiration, groundwater contamination, habitat destruction, release of VOC's

Pros of Waste Incineration

Reduces waste volume, less methane than landfills

Cons of Waste Incineration

Releases Particulate Matter

Pros of Mining

You get the stuff

Cons of Mining

Deforestation, soil erosion, loss of biodiversity, acid mine drainage, water contamination, particulate matter

Environmental Impacts of Urbanization

Habitat loss, Increased Vehicular emissions, Concrete creates more heat and allows for more runoff, Resource depletion

Solutions to Urbanization Impacts

Green Infrastructure, public transportation, and renewable energy use

Coriolis Effect

Coriolis effect asserts that because the earth is spinning, things on earth like the ocean and wind appear to move in a curved path. This happens because earth spins from east to west and the equator moves faster than the poles. In the Northern Hemisphere, objects move to the right. In the southern hemisphere, objects move to the left.

Biome for Thriving Plant Life

Warm, Humid places with high annual precipitation such as the tropical rainforest have the highest primary productivity.

Clear-Cutting

Cutting down all the trees in an area to make land for agriculture, or to acquire lumber. Problems include soil erosion, habitat displacement, flooding and landslides.

Ecosystem Services

Ecosystem services are things the environment provides TO HUMANS. Not to itself.

Provisioning Services

Provides human with provisions EX: Lumber

Regulating Services

Directly regulates humans environment EX: Pollination, erosion and flood control