Enviro Exam #1

Weeks 1-4 Homework and Slides

What is the IPCC and what do they do?

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

the physical science basis of climate change, including advances that allow scientists to decipher the fingerprint of climate change

What is the IRA and what is its relation to climate change?

Inflation Reduction Act

$369 billion over 10 years to support electricity from renewable sources and nuclear power

What is the Loss and Damage climate fund?

provide financial assistance to developing countries that are vulnerable to and suffering from the adverse effects of climate change

7 key provisions of the IRA

Tax credits for zero-carbon power plants, Incentives for electric vehicles, Help for people to lower energy costs, Investments in domestic manufacturing, Cracking down on methane, Investments in low-income communities, focus on Agriculture and forests

IRA impact on wildlife

Clean Energy, building drought resilience, restoring forests

What are the interconnections between red knots, horseshoe crabs and the biomedical industry?

drawn to the Delaware Bay for two or three weeks each May because of its traditional abundance of horseshoe crab eggs — essential fuel for the completion of their long-distance migrations; Demand for the crabs also comes from the biomedical industry, which uses blood from an unknown number of crabs in testing for bacterial contamination in pharmaceuticals.

What is the status of monarch butterfly populations, and name some of the issues impacting them

declines have been attributed to a variety of factors, including climate change and logging near the overwintering sites_, herbicide known as glyphosate

Environment

where an organism lives, it is comprised of both biotic (living) and abiotic
(non-living) components

Ecology

the study of the relationships of living things to one another and the Populationenvironment

Ecosystem

the resident biological community plus the abiotic components (rock, air, water, soil, etc) and the fluxes of matter and energy between them

Population

a group of similar organisms in the same place at the same time

Community

a group of interacting populations in the same place at the same time

Factors that influence population size

Resource availability (food, H2O, etc.), competition (among members of a pop usually for a limited resource), Interspecific interactions (predation, parasitism, etc.), conditions of the environment (weather, fire)

Density-dependent fluctuation

when a population size fluctuates in response to the density of another population; example: predator/prey relationships

Density-independent fluctuation

when a population size fluctuates in response to something in the environment like climate or fire

carrying capacity (k)

the point at which there is a stable population (births = deaths). The resources in the environment can only support a certain number of individuals. Also known as density-dependent equilibrium

R-selected species

evote a lot of time to reproduction and little to growth. They

typically live in harsh environments where large pop sizes are an advantage.

Characteristics are: rapid development, early maturity, small body size, short life, early

birth, large number of offspring, minimal parental care. (American toad)

K-selected species

devote a lot of time to growth and little to reproduction. They typically live in stable environments where survival is largely determined by competition for resources. Characteristics are slow development, delayed reproduction, large body size, long life, repeated reproduction, few offspring, good parental care (animals care, plants produce seed with stored food). (Bear)

Ecosystems include the

resident biological community + the abiotic components of the environment

and the fluxes of matter and energy between them.

Interacting and interdependent!

energy flow

the flow of energy (calories) through an ecosystem begins with photosynthesis (PS)

Photosynthesis

Green plants capture solar energy and convert it to chemical energy

Photosynthesis formula

6CO2 + 6H2O → C6H12O6 + 6O2

Cellular respiration

C6H12O6 + 6O2 → 6CO2 + 6H2O + ATP

Gross Primary Production (GPP)

the total PS in the system

Net Primary Production (NPP)

PS-Respiration (units are typically g of carbon/m²/year)

autotroph (primary producer)

the photosythesizers (the plants!)

heterotroph

consumer

herbivores (primary consumers)

plant eaters

carnivores

parasites of animals (secondary consumers)

decomposers

break down organic matter

food web

all the interconected

trophic level

the level occupied in the food web

Most primary production in ocean is done by…

microscopic algae (phytoplankton)

Biogeochemical cycles

the cycling of chemical elements required by life between the living and non-living parts of the environment.

Source in context of nutrient cycling

part of the cycle that produces the element

Sink in context of nutrient cycling

part of the cycle that removes it from the cycle

Flux in context of nutrient cycling

movement between sources and sinks

Carbon cycle

The three main reservoirs of carbon storage are:

atmosphere, land (biosphere and lithosphere), oceans. Carbon cycles between these

three reservoirs. Fossil fuels are considered a 4th reservoir, but, here carbon is only

extracted, not cycled back.

Net sink

more carbon dioxide enters the ocean than leaves the ocean

Simplified Nitrogen Cycle

the goal is to get usable nitrogen from the air into the soil

so it can be absorbed by plants and enter the food chain.

Denitrification

another species of bacteria converts nitrate (NO3) to atmospheric nitrogen (N2).

Predation

+ / -

Parasitism

+/ -

Competition

- / -

Commensalism

+ / o

mutualism

+ / +

Does the sun or the moon have the more significant influence on tides?

Sun and moon are in line with each other, what happens to tide

What happens to the tide when the sun and moon are perpendicular?

Stratification in the hudson river

What are 4 ecosystem services provided by oysers?

Estuaries

bodies of water and their surrounding coastal

habitats - where rivers meet the sea. Estuaries are tidal because of the connection to

the sea. Estuaries have unique plant and animal communities because their waters are

brackish—a mixture of fresh water draining from the land and salty seawater

Factors affecting climate

- Elevation (lower pressure at higher altitudes causes lower temperature)

- Latitude (warmer at equator because solar energy is more intense at the equator and

diminishes toward the poles)

-Proximity to ocean (less diurnal and seasonal temp variation due to moist air;

and increased precip due to more moisture avail from nearby ocean = maritime)

Land near water has a more moderate climate because…

Moist air gains and loses heat more slowly than dry air

Specific heat capactiy

amount of heat per unit mass required to raise the temperature by one degree Celsiu

Specific heat formula

Molarity (M) = moles of solute / liters of solution

Specific heat formula: q = mcΔT

Flood

ocean water flows up the river (N)

Ebb

ocean water flows back out to sea

Slack

the point when the current is switching between flood and ebb

Knot

unit used to measure the speed of the current

High tides

when a location is lined up with the moon

Low tides

when a location is perpendicular to the moon

Spring tides

Sun pulls parallel w/moon; higher than normal tides during full and new

moons

Neap tides

Sun pulls @ 90° to moon; lower than normal tides during quarter moons

Salinity

the Hudson’s salinity varies from about 2 to 20 g/L.

Stratification

Density of water varies with salinity and temperature which causes salt strat or salt wedge

thermal stratification

If cold water meets warm water, the cold water would be the bottom layer

Salt front

when the tide comes in and floods up the river, the leading edge of the salt water is called the “salt front”

DO

controlled by photosynthesis and respiration, AND exchange with the atmosphere

Suspended sediment in the Hudson River

DIM DOM PIM POM

Dissolved Organic Matter DOM

Comes from: watershed soils, decomposition in the river, pollution

Roles: food for bacteria, can support food chain, can carry/transport non-water soluble pollutants.

Water quality in lower hudson watershed

municipal wastewater, combined sewer overflows (CSOs), urban/stormwater runoff, industrial & agricultural activities, lawn pesticide and herbicide runoff

Clean Water Act of 1972

unlawful to discharge any pollutant from a point source* into

navigable waters, unless a permit was obtained. One example is sewage

Ecological significance of estuaries

regionally significant as a productive estuary

regionally significant fish populations

wintering and migratory birds

primary nursery and overwintering area for striped bass

home to several federally and state-listed species

Food web in the Hudson

phytoplankton, shellfish, crustaceans, oysters

Oysters are keystone species in the HR estuary

Filter-feeders and only bivalves that build a reef, shoreline protection

Anadromous fish

reproduces in fresh water but spends most of life in the sea. Ex: shad, striped bass, sturgeon, winter flounder, bay anchovy, hogchoker

Catadromous fish

reproduces in salt water but lives in fresh water. Ex: American eel, weak fish, blue fish, pipe fish and others

NY weather when jet stream trough over the east versus a bulge over the east

Southplunge of jet stream is trough, bulge leads to higher temps and less rain

Briefly explain how hurricanes happen

forms over warm ocean waters when low-pressure systems develop and gain energy from the evaporation of water. As warm air rises into cool air above, it creates a rotating storm system, known as a hurricane, with a calm center called the eye.

What is the fate of the absorbed heat? How is it used?

1 heat the Earth’s surface

2 evaporation of water

3 energy for photosynthesis

What is a greenhouse gas?

Gases that capture/trap long-wave radiation (heat) at the Earth’s surface

Examples of greehouse gases

water vapor (H20)

nitrous oxide (N20)

methane (CH4)

ozone (03)

carbon dioxide (CO2)

What is the greenhouse effect?

Energy capture by gases in the atmosphere

ozone

03

Ozone in the _______ is good

stratosphere

Water evaporation

Much of the incoming solar radiation is used to evaporate water. Solar energy is converted to latent heat during evaporation. The heat is stored in water vapor.

Convection current:

refers to the movement of air based on this principle: warm air rises and cool air sinks!

Weather

local conditions at a given time (humidity, temperature, precipitation, winds, cloud cover); occurs in the troposphere

Climate

average conditions expected for a given place at a given time

Coriolis Effect

the deflection of a body of air to the right in the Northern Hemisphere and to the left in the Southern Hemisphere, caused by the rotation of the earth.

The climate of an area is influenced by:

latitudinal distribution of sunlight (most important), proximity to ocean, elevation, presence of mountains

Insolation

Incoming solar radiation

Climate of the tropics and subtropics is largely determined by

Circulation cells

Hadley cell

the circulation of air that rises at the equator, spins poleward,

sinks at subtropical latitudes, and returns to the equator

Climate of temperate and polar latitudes is largely determined

Air masses

Airmass

A large body of air that has characteristic properties of temperature and humidity

Continental polar/Arctic

N. Canada and the Arctic; can pour cold/dry air down the continent

Maritime polar

brings cold/wet air from North Pacific and Labrador.

Maritime tropical

brings warm/wet air from Pacific or Gulf of Mexico.