NRES/FNR 125 Final

greenhouse effect

the trapping of the sun's warmth in a planet's lower atmosphere due to the greater transparency of the atmosphere to visible radiation from the sun than to infrared radiation emitted from the planet's surface.

global warming

An increase in the average temperature of the earth's atmosphere (especially a sustained increase that causes climatic changes)

climate change

a change in global or regional climate patterns, in particular a change apparent from the mid to late 20th century onwards and attributed largely to the increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide produced by the use of fossil fuels.

Kaya Identity

CO2 emission= P x G x I x E

P: Total population

G: GDP per person

I: Energy Intensity of GDP

E: Carbon efficiency of energy production

Paris Agreement

an agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) dealing with greenhouse gas emissions mitigation, adaptation, and finance starting in the year 2020.

cap and trade

a method for managing pollution in which a limit is placed on emissions and businesses or countries can buy and sell emissions allowances

what is driving recent climate changes?

-Human activities are the primary drivers of recent global temperature rise

-GHGs warm while the aerosols cool

-Sun does very little

greenhouse gas

-a gas that contributes to the greenhouse effect by absorbing infrared radiation

-absorbs and emits radiant energy within the thermal infrared range.

primary greenhouse gases

water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and ozone

stay in the atmosphere for a long time

Carbon dioxide (cannot be destroyed, moves from ocean to forest to sky), fluorinated gases (few weeks to thousands of years), and nitrous oxides (121 years).

carbon dioxide

-Emitted primarily through the burning of fossil fuels (oil, natural gas, and coal), solid waste, and trees and wood products.

-Changes in land use also play a role.

-Deforestation and soil degradation add carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, while forest regrowth takes it out of the atmosphere

Methane

-Emitted during the production and transport of oil and natural gas as well as coal.

-Emissions also result from livestock and agricultural practices and from the anaerobic decay of organic waste in municipal solid waste landfills

Nitrous Oxide

Emitted during agricultural and industrial activities, as well as during combustion of fossil fuels and solid waste

Fluorinated Gases

-A group of gases that contain fluorine, including hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, and sulfur hexafluoride, among other chemicals.

-These gases are emitted from a variety of industrial processes and commercial and household uses and do not occur naturally.

-Sometimes used as substitutes for ozone-depleting substances such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)

where does rest go?

If not into the atmosphere, it goes into the oceans or the forests (CO2)

what kind of light/radiation involved in greenhouse gases?

Infrared light/radiation is absorbed and prevented from re-entering space

RGGI

Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. First mandatory market based program in the United States to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

How much oil imported into US?

As of 2013, 33%. A dramatic decrease over the years.

biofuels produced

-E10 (10% ethanol) and E85 (85% ethanol) (corn based ethanol)

-E10 is more commonly used

cellulostic ethanol

Uses wood, grass, etc. break down complex sugars such as cellulose into simple sugars

advantages/disadvantages of using biofuels

-Using biofuels to replace all fossil fuels would require >⅓ of plant growth on earth.

-Cellulosic ethanol has better yield and produces less greenhouse gases, but technology isn't there yet, and doesn't help corn growers.

-E10 produced more VOCs = more ozone & smog. -E85 produces less.

flex-fuel vehicles

Can run on either gas or E-85 (85% ethanol, 15% gas) fuel.

hybrid cars

vehicles that run on a gasoline / electric motor; often increasing fuel efficiency

why hybrids get better gas mileage?

have computerized controls that will switch the car from electric to gas depending on which is more efficient. ex) stop and go city traffic often uses electric power while highway traffic uses gas typically.

CAFE standards

CAFE = Corporate Average Fuel Economy

Established in US to improve the average fuel economy of cars and light trucks produced for sale

wind energy

-clean energy, income to farmers

-Interrupt view in remote places, destroy sense of isolation (faint jet-like sound), potentially kills bats & birds

solar energy

-Energy is free, delivery system is free

-Energy is variable- depends on weather

how efficient is solar energy?

-Efficiency is growing- gone from < 1% to almost 20% in the field and up to 75% in the lab

-Growing fastly in the SW & east coast USA.

-Climate determines growth. Getting cheaper to have panels year after year.

nuclear energy

Nuclear energy is generated from nuclear reactors which produces and controls the release of energy from splitting the atoms of uranium (fission).

challenges to nuclear energy

1. Tailings left over after mining operations are dangerous

2. Famous accidents

3. Expensive

4. Nuclear waste

5. Uranium supply to last less than 5 years

how has climate changed since Industrial Revolution?

emissions have dramatically increased and lead to global warming.

Albedo

Ability of a surface to reflect light

ozone

A form of oxygen that has three oxygen atoms in each molecule instead of the usual two.

latent heat

heat absorbed or radiated during a change of phase at a constant temperature and pressure

580 calories of energy per gram of water vapor

population of the world

7.5 billion

USA population

328 million

# of ppl added anually to the world

83 million

# known species

1.8 million

# unknown species

5-10 million known/unknown

annual worldwide extinctions

17,500

which one is not a scientist?

environmentalist (they study the social/political arena to reduce negative human enviro impacts)

tragedy of the commons

where each individual tries to reap the greatest benefit from the given source

ecological hierarchy largest to smallest

biosphere, biome, landscape, ecosystem, community, population and individual

terrestrial biomes

tropical rainforest/seasonal forest/thorn scrub and woodland, temperate rainforest/forest (deciduous/coniferous), savanna, boreal forest (spruce/pine/fir), grassland, desert, tundra (alpine)

relationship between climax and biome names

a biome is a group of ecosystems with the same climax communities wihin it

catastrophe

rare, irregular events that affect large proportion of population (hurricanes, tsunamis)

T/F: Nonrenewable resources can be used "sustainably" in an economic sense, but not ECOLOGICALLY

TRUE

US Forest Service

lead agency, 77 million hectares, 204,000 km streams/rivers

Indiana

88% land ownership is private, 1.8 million hectares

National "rangelands"

1-8 million hectares

clearcutting

cutting all the trees in an area down at once

shelterwood cutting

cut dead trees first, then less desirable trees, and cut mature trees last

selection cutting

method of forest harvesting in which only selected individual trees of high commercial value are removed from the forest stand

what is the current fire policy of agencies like the Forest Service?

let fires in natural areas burn unless they threaten human life and property, use prescribed burning as a tool, spends 1/2 annual budget to fight fires

first national park?

Yellowstone EST 1872

what are dual mandates

protect natural resources, provide access to the public

grand staircase escalante

locals tried to prevent addition to wilderness system, proposed for reduction

physical edge effects

creation of sharp boundary, hard vs soft edges

biological edge effects

more predation along/near edges

affects smaller patches more because they have more 'edge' and no 'core' habitat

estimate of distance from edge where most edge effects occur

100 meters

heterozygosity

measure of how many genes are in "Aa" condition

Endangered Species Act

first one in 1966 authorized creation of list without strong protection. 1973 act made all fed agencies and departments do al methods/procedures to bring endangered species to the point it's no longer necessary

# of listed species

1661 species native to US and 683 foreign species

atmosphere structure from the ground up

troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere

which is the layer that we live in? and which layer houses the ozone?

troposphere, stratosphere

atmospheric circulation

caused by the sun heating the earth more at the equator than the poles

urban heat island

city temps often 3 to 5 degrees warmer than surroundings. tall buildings create updrafts that sweep pollutants up

1963 Clean Air Act

authorized research into monitoring and controlling air pollution

1970 Amendments to Clean Air Act

EPA can establish national air quality standards, state plans, national emissions standards for hazardous pollutants

6 criteria pollutants

SO2, NOx, CO, Ozone, lead and particulates

water use in the USA

39.6% irrigation, 39.3% thermoelectric power

hydrologic cycle

evaporation, condensation, precipitation, collection

tributary and trunk streams

tributary: river or stream flowing in a bigger river/lake, trunk streams: main sources of a river

aquifer

body of permeable rock that can contain or transmit groundwater

porosity vs permeability

porosity is the measure of pore spaces and permeability is the state of a material that allows liquid/gas to pass through

subsidence and groundwater pumping

subsidence is the sinking or settling of the ground surface. ground subsidence can result from settlement of native low density soils, or caving of natural/man-made underground voids

eutrophication

excessive nutrients in a body of water due to runoff, causes dense plant growth and death of animal life bc of lack of oxygen

3 types of minerals

SAND, GRAVEL AND ROCK

process of sedimentary, metamorphic and igneous rocks

sedimentary: lithification - compaction and cementation

metamorphic: deformation and metamorphism- high pressure and temp

igneous: melting and solidification

what drives all of the plates to move?

escaping heat

divergent boundary

move apart

convergent boundary

move toward each other

transform boundary

move horizontally past one another

mass movements

downslope movement of superficial rock/soil material under force of gravity

3 types of mass movements

debris slide, earth flow and rock/debris avalanche

mineral deposit

contains something valuable

ore

can be mined at a profit

subsurface mining

dig passageways into earth to reach body of ore, drill blast then remove

surface mining

remove overburden and expose ore to surface, safer and less expensive than subsurface, high level of environmental damage

environmental impacts

acid drainage, mine waste and ground subsidence (collapse of overburden into mine shaft)

Malthusian theory

hypothesized that human pops are only limited to disease, famine or social constraints

Marx

hypothesized that to pop growth resulted from poverty, resource depletion, pollution and other social ills

Environmental Impact Equation

Impact = Population x Affluence x Technology

factors that slow down/speed up human pop growth

birth, death, immigration and emigration rates

4 pillars of food security

availability, access, utilization, stability

guiding principles to conservation agriculture

minimum soil disturbance, retention of crop residues or other soil surface cover, use crop rotations

two most abundant GMO seeds

94% soybeans, 84% corn

most common pesticides in US?

glyphosate and atrazine

land use

total agricultural area (cropland and grazing land) in hectares over time

what is soil

sand and gravel, silts and clays, dead organic material, soil fauna/flora water and air