APES Unit 9: Global Change

stratospheric ozone depletion

caused by anthropogenic factors, such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), and natural factors, such as the melting of ice crystals in the atmosphere at the beginning of the Antarctic spring

ways humans can mitigate the impact of loss of biodiversity

include creating protected areas, use of habitat corridors, promoting sustainable land use practices, and restoring lost habitats

Climate change

a change in global or regional climate patterns

Greenhouse effect

warming that results when solar radiation is trapped by the atmosphere

Greenhouse gas

Gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, water vapor, and ozone in the atmosphere which are involved in the greenhouse effect.

Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)

Banned refrigerant and aerosols that destroyed ozone

Industrial Revolution

Historical beginning of rapid increase in energy usage by civilizations resulting in exponential greenhouse gas release

UVC

the most powerful and dangerous form of UV radiation but is blocked by ozone layer

polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs).

thin clouds composed of tiny ice crystals formed from the small amount of water vapor and nitrogen

Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs)

Chemicals that replaced CFC's role in society, that actually is a greenhouse gas.

Permafrost

permanently frozen layer of soil beneath the surface of the ground

Glacier

A large mass of moving ice and snow on land

Iceberg

A huge block of floating ice broken from a glacier, found in the most northerly and southerly areas of the world's oceans

Sea Ice

ice formed by the freezing of the surface of the sea

Albedo

Ability of a surface to reflect light

ice-albedo feedback

a positive feedback climate process where a change in the area of snow-covered land, ice caps, glaciers or sea ice alters the albedo.

Rising Sea Levels

Increase in ocean levels due to melting ice.

Ocean Currents

Global patterns created from the movement of the oceans; such as the Gulf Stream

Ocean Warming

Gradual increase of average global ocean temperatures.

Ocean Acidification

decreasing pH of ocean waters due to absorption of excess atmospheric CO2 from the burning of fossil fuels

Carbonic acid

a very weak acid formed in solution when carbon dioxide dissolves in water.

Calcium carbonate

CaCO3 that composes skeletons and shells. Can be dissolved by acids

Bicarbonate

HCO3- buffer molecule that neutralizes acid

Wind Pattern Changes

Circum-Antarctic winds have increased 15-20% over the last 30 years.

Hadley Cells

a large-scale atmospheric convection cell in which air rises at the equator and sinks at medium latitudes, typically about 30° north or south.

Jet Streams

narrow bands of high-speed winds that circle the earth, blowing from west to east

Habitat Fragmentation

Splitting of ecosystems into small fragments typically displaced by humans

Habitat islands

Intact habitat surrounded by an unprotected areas of inhospitable terrain

Habitat Corridors

protected strips of land that allow the migration of organisms from one wilderness area to another

Domestication

the process of taming wild plants or animals to make them more useful to humans

Selective breeding

The process of selecting a few organisms with desired traits to serve as parents of the next generation

International Union for Conservation of Nature (ICUN)

Organization that has created the standard of categorizing species endangerment of becoming extinct

Endangered species

A species whose numbers are so small that the species is at risk of extinction

Threatened species

Species that is likely to become endangered.

Poaching

Illegal hunting of protected animals

HIPPCO

Acronym used by conservation biologists for the six most important secondary causes of premature extinction: Habitat destruction, degradation, and fragmentation; Invasive (nonnative) species; Population growth (too many people consuming too many resources); Pollution; Climate change; and Overexploitation.