Unit 1 - Introduction to Environmental Management

What’s an LIC?

Gross Nat’l Income per capita < $1086

• e.g.) Chad, Uganda, & Ethiopia

• Africa has the most

What’s an HIC?

GNI per capita > $13,205

• e.g) Canada, Sweden, U.S.A.

• Biggest impact on global climate

What is sustainability?

the ability to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs

• Must take into account environmental, social, and economic factors

Why are we living unsustainably?

population growth and a finite # of resources

What is interception?

precipitation is stopped from reaching the ground by the presence of trees and other plants

What is surface run-off?

precipitation that runs over the ground into streams/rivers

What is through flow?

infiltrated water flows through the soil

What is groundwater flow?

infiltrated water flows through rocks

What are the main components of Earth’s atmosphere?

• Nitrogen

• Oxygen

• Carbon Dioxide

• Argon

• Water vapor

What is the troposphere?

Where we live

• Temp. decreases w/height; wind speeds increase w/height

• Where global warming occurs

• Tropopause = top layer

What is the stratosphere?

Contains the ozone layer

• Temp. increases w/height

• Stratopause = top layer

What is the ozone?

Absorbs harmful UV radiation

• 10-50km above the surface

• Protects from skin cancer, a weakened immune system, & damage to vision/cataracts

What is the mesosphere?

no dust, ozone, or water vapor

• Coldest layer → temp. decreases with height

• Mesopause = top layer

What is the thermosphere?

• Temp. rises rapidly with height → absorbs UV rays

• Thermopause = top layer

Outline the greenhouse effect:

• UV radiation passes through the Earth’s atmosphere and is absorbed the Earth’s surface

  • Some energy is re-emitted back into the atmosphere as infrared radiation

  • GHGs absorb some of this infrared radiation, preventing it from leaving the atmosphere

What is a biome?

a form of ecosystems that are smaller than the biosphere; a geographical region w/specific climate, vegetation, and animal life

What is an ecosystem?

all living things (biotic) together with all non-living things (abiotic) in an area

What are some biotic factors?

producers, consumers, and decomposers

What are some abiotic factors?

temperature, humidity, water, oxygen, light, pH

What is a population?

a group of individuals belonging to the same species living in a defined area

What is a community?

a group of populations of different species that live together in an area and interact with each other

What is a habitat?

the place within an ecosystem where an organism lives

What is a niche?

the role of a species/organism within the ecosystem

What is competition?

when both organisms require the same resource

• Intraspecific: 2 members of the same species

• Interspecific: 2 different species

What is grazing?

when species move from one victim to another w/o fully killing its victim

What is predation?

one organism consumes another in a dominant relationship

What is photosynthesis?

the process by which plants synthesise glucose using carbon dioxide, water, and energy from the sun

What’s the chemical formula for photosynthesis?

6CO2 + 6H2O → C6H12O6 + 6O2

What are limiting factors of photosynthesis?

availability of water, concentration of carbon dioxide & the availability of light

How does photosynthesis contribute to the carbon cycle?

• Carbon reservoir in the atmosphere → fixation by photosynthesis → in living things

• Forms carbon stores

What are producers?

organisms within an ecosystem that can carry out photosynthesis

What are primary consumers?

organisms within an ecosystem that derive their food from producers

What are secondary consumers?

organisms within an ecosystem that derive their food from primary consumers

What are tertiary consumers?

organisms within an ecosystem that derive their food from secondary consumers

What are decomposers?

organisms within an ecosystem that derive their food from the bodies of dead organisms

What are trophic levels?

feeding levels within food chains

Energy is ___ in a food chain

transferred between organisms

• starts with a producer

How is energy lost in food chains?

as respiration and waste products

What is aerobic respiration?

the chemical reactions in cells that break down glucose molecules and release energy, carbon dioxide and water

What is the chemical formula for aerobic respiration?

C6H12O6 + 6O2 → 6CO2 + 6H2O

The carbon cycle: