Eesc 101 term test 1

earth and environmental sciences topics 1 - 3.5 ubco EESC 101 THIS PROF MAKES ME WISH FOR DEATH but he is also sillyyy :P - please ignore all spelling mistakes its 2 am

environmental science

the systematic study of our environment and our place in it

environment

the circumstance and conditions that surrounds a group of organisms

why is the environment changing

• resource use

• production of byproducts from resource use

resource

anything that an organism uses/ consumes that comes from the environment

degridation

environmental change

• the more resource consumption the more degradation

LDC’s

Least Developed Countries

• 85% of total population

• have 12% of the worlds wealth

• located in the southern hemisphere

• can be more effected by climate change

population on earth

8 billion expected increase to 9/10 billion by 2050

• by 2025 5 billion people will live in cities

people living on $1.9 per day

735 million

why have growth rates in LDC’s decreased

• women’s suffrage

• more things probably this is all i got rn

factors effect the current state of the planet

• population

• atmosphere and climate

• agriculture fisheries and food production

• fresh water

• biodiversity and land change

• rich vs poor population

carbon dioxide gasses in the atmosphere

425 ppm as of june 2023

• 600 ppm by 2050

ozone holes

developed over the poles by CFC emissions

• banned since 1994

sulfur dioxide and nitrous oxide

cause acid precipitation and decomposition

air pollution

major problem in major countries especially in urban areas

• 3 million people die early because air pollution

why is is agriculture cropland decreasing

• population growth

• soil degradation

malnutrition

• 800 million people are malnourished

• 40 million people die from malnutrition

exploitation of fish

• 75% of major (big fish)

Aquaculture

• 50%

• may supply 2/3 of all fish by 2030

water consumption

• increased by over 600% globally from 19000

• LDC’s use only 1-2% of the average Canadians drinking water

safe drinking water

• 1.1 billion people don’t have safe drinking water

• 15 billion people die from polluted water

polluted aquifers

• pesticides

• fertilizers

• hazardous chemicals

causes of water degradation

• irrigation

• agriculture

land surface used for human activity

• 40%

agricultural conversion has caused

Forest coverage to decreased by 24% over the last 3 centuries

deforestation causes

• climate change

• habitat loss

• species extinction

• water damage

• invasive species

rate of extinction

1,000 to 10,000 times greater then natural rate of extinction

overgrazing

degraded 700 million structures hectares since 1950

MDC’s

Most Developed Countries

• have resources to deal with climate change

• 1/5 of population lives with $25,000 per capita

2,668 billionaires

have a combined wealth of $12.7 trillion

• more total wealth then poorest 4 billion of worlds population

Paul Ehrlich

• PAT model

• American biologist known for research on human population

• human overpopulation would lead to envies disasters

• wrote the population bomb

  impact = population x Affluence x Technology

nonrenewable resources

available in a fixed amount

renewable resources

can renew themselves after use

• can be exhausted

sustained yield

highest rate of renewal resources consumption that can occur without decreasing potential for renewal

perpetual Resource

resources that is virtually inexhaustible

cultural beliefs

can determine what is classified as a resource

• iPhone, cars, alcohol

• consumption of these resources is not biased on survival

carrying capacity

the maximum size of a population of a single species that a certain habitat can support

limiting factor

controls population size

• disease

• lack of resources

Joel Cohen

• 1195

• what is the carrying capacity compared to humans - 2.5 billion humans

issues for the future

• joel cohen

  1. develop technology

  2. fewer people

  3. better manners

1 - develop technology

good for people and has a limited impact on the environment

• abandon technology with a negative effect

  • fossil fuels, plastics ex

2 - fewer people

reduce fertility rates in where population growth is high

4 better manners

create serious policies in relation to protecting the environment

• rich countries help poor countries develop sustainability

stages in history where humans influence the environment

1. tool making revolution

2. agricultural revolution

3. industrial revolution

4. informational revolution

tool making revolution

200,000 ago human began using tools

• extracted resources and where made from resources

agricultural revolution

• 800 BC

• humans began domesticating plants and animals

• tools for agriculture

• lead to urbanization

industrial revolution

• 1700 AD

• machines: production of goods in large quantities

• provided more food and goods = more environmental degradation

• doubled life expectancy

informational revolution

• beginning of the 1970’s

• informational age: large scale use of computers, software and networks

• gave people unlimited access to information

George Perkins Marsh

• stage 1

• man and nature

• made a reaction to the Industrial and Agricultural Revolution

• influences Roosevelt and Gifford Pinchot

• created USFS

four stages in changing attitudes towards the environment

1. pragmatic resource conservation

2. moral and aesthetic Nature preservation

3. health and ecological damage concerns

4. global environmental citizen ship

Roosevelt STAGE 1

• save forests to provide resources for the future

Gifford Pinchot (stage 1)

• first chief of the forest Service

• utilitarian approach to resource management

National forest park and wildlife refuge systems

• stage 1

• john muir

• roosevelt

• pinchot

john Muir (stage 2)

• president of the Sierra club

• opposed pinchot’s utilitarian policies

• biocentric preservation

biocentric preservation

nature deserves to exist for its own sake regardless of its degree of usefulness to humans

Rachel Carson

• stage 3

• wrote silent spring (1962)

  • wrote about concerns after WW11

Environmental concerns expanded

• 1960’s - 1970’s

• atomic weapons testing

• fossil fuel issues

• air and water pollution

• wilderness protection

global environmental citizenship

• stage 4

• information and technology used to monitor and talk about the environmental state of the planet

the internet (stage 4)

• expanded international communications about environmental problems

conservation movement

seeks to manage and protect natural resources

• came to place because of environmental degradation

John evelyn

earliest recorded concern for natural resources '

• presented a paper to the Royal Society of London in 1662

• concern for englands forests

National Audubon society

• established 1905

• focuesed on birds and their habitats

Environmental Protection Agency

• EPA

• December 2 1970 by Richard Nixon ‘

• US

Clean water act

• 1970

• canada

Department of the Environment

• was created because of the clean water act

• 1970

• now called environmental and climate change canada

Sir francis Bacon

• 1620’s

• science involved inductive logical thinking

Karl popper

• 1930’s

• proper way of science is using deductive logic

two processes of science

1. explanation

2. confirmation

Explanation

relating observed laws to concepts, theories, and laws

• idealization

• unification

idealization

condensing fact into a simple statement

unification

relating unconnected phenomena to the same idea

confirmation

• observation, hypothesis testing, prediction and experimentation

scientists

• strive to be logical, methodical and unbiased

• reproducibility

• must have consensus

Signs of hope - population

MDC’s - population has stabilized

LDC’s - population growth rates are falling quickly

• average life expectancy has doubled

Deforestation - signs of hope

13.5% of worlds land area is protected areas

aquiculture

used to meet needs of billions of people

Energy - signs of hope

• sustainable energy is increasing reducing the use of fossil fuels

• cost of solar and wind power has dropped making it more accessible then coal and nuclear power

sustainable development

development that meets the needs of the present without compromising future generations

• improving our relationship with the environment

Brundtland Report

• 1987

• first mentioned sustainable development

UNEP

• united Nations Environment Programme

• 1972

• the gobal body for initiatives dealing with climate, biodiversity, energy, water ec

• Maurice strong was elected first head

system theory

a method used to study and understand natural things

system

a group of parts that work together

• elements

• attributes

• relationships

system element

parts making up a system

system attribute

characteristic of an element that can be measured

system relationship

cause and effect relationships that exist among elements and their attributes

model

• type of system

• illustrations, scaled down representation, or mathematical equation

isolated system

a system that is isolated

closed system

matter cannot cross its boundary

• energy can

open system

matter and energy can cross boundary

emergent properties

when the characteristic of a whole system is greater then the sum of its parts

system state

current condition of an element, attribute or relationship in a system

static equilibrium

when average state of the measured system property does not change at all over time

stable equilibrium

the system property experiences a disturbance causing the measured state to change.

• after time it returns back to the original level

unstable equilibrium

the system property experiences a disterbance causing the measured state to change

• does not return to origonal level

steady state equilibrium

when the average state of the measured system property remains unchanged over a period of time

dynamic equilibrium

there is no average state and the measured system property continually changes over time

thermodynamic equilibrium

occurs when the averages states of the measured system property declines over time as it moves to maximum entropy

gain kinetic energy

solid → liquid → gas

loss of kinetic energy

gas → liquid → solid

properties of matter

1. mass : amount of material in an object (g)

2. volume: amount of space occupied by an object (m³)

3. density: quantity of mass found in a given volume (m-³)

atoms

• protons (+)

• neutrons

• electrons (-)

• # electrons = # protons