Enviro Unit 1 Exam

Where did Endangered Planet take place?

Minamata Bay - 1959

What happened in Minamata Bay?

Corporation dumped their waste contaminated with Hg which caused phytoalgae and plankton to absorb it and move the toxin up the food chain

Whats DDT?

DDT = chlorinated hydrocarbon, long half-life, non biodegradable, concentrates in fatty tissue (not water

soluble), broad spectrum, endocrine disruptor. ( A pesticide)

What happened in 2022?

Inflation Reduction Act - $370 billion toward combating climate change

What happened in 2015?

Paris Climate Accords

What happened in 2012?

Federal appeals court upheld the rule that the EPA can set standards for CO2 Emmisions

What happened in 2007?

Supreme Court rules that the EPA can classify CO2

as an air pollutant

What happened in 1987?

Montreal Protocol signed (to eventually ban freons to stop the destruction of the ozone (O3) Layer

What happened in 1986?

Fire at the Sandoz factory in Basel, Switzerland

Many toxins contaminated the Rhine River

What happened in 1978?

Love Canal

Biomagnification

Moving up the food chain as a group

Neurotoxin

A toxin that affects your nervous system

Flint Michigan

Children were more affected because although exposed they had a lower body mass

LD-50

A test where 50% of the population dies because of the toxin

Fracking

The pumping of water at high pressure to break apart rocks in order to release natural gas

Endocrine System

hormones, estrogen, enzymes

1979

Nuclear accident in Pennsylvania

Whats the importance of KI tablets?

Your thyroid liked Iodine which means in the case of a nuclear accident, taking these tablets will prevent your thyroid from absorbing the radioactive Iodine and be full of the safe kind.

Biome

Plants and animals that are found in a particular region of the world

Terrestrial Biome

A geographic region categorized by a particular combination of average annual temperature, annual precipitation, and distinctive plant growth forms on land

Habitat

an area where a particular species lives in nature

Tundra

A cold and treeless biome with low-growing vegetation. Has permafrost

Taiga

A forest biome made up primarily of coniferous evergeen trees that can tolerate cold winters and short growing seasons. (Boreal Forest)

Temperate Rainforest

a coastal biome typified by moderate temperatures and high precipitation

temperate seasonal forest

A biome with warmer summers and colder winters than temperate rainforests and dominated by deciduous trees.

Shrubland

a biome characterized by hot, dry summers and mild, rainy winters. ( Woodland )

Tempereate Grassland

A biome characterized by cold, harsh winters, and hot, dry, summers. Cold dessert. Plant growth constrained by precipitation.

Tropical Rainforest

a warm and wet biome with little seasonal temperature variation and high precipitation. Lowest nutrient levels

Savanna

a biome marked by warm temperatures and distinct wet and dry seasons. Tropical seasonal forest.

Hot Desert

A biome characterized by hot temperatures, extremely dry conditions and sparse vegetation

Aquatic Biome

an aquatic region characterized by a particular combination of salinity, depth, and water flow

Freshwater Biome

Aquatic biomes that include lakes, streams, rivers and ponds. Salt concentration of less than 1%. A vital source of drinking water. Mostly found in Ice caps and glaciers

Littoral Zone

the shallow zone of soil and water in lakes and ponds where most algae and emergent plants grow

limnetic zone

a zone of open water in lakes and ponds

profundal zone

a region of water where sunlight does not reach, below the limnetic zone in very deep lakes

Benthic Zone

the muddy bottom of a lake, pond, or ocean

Oligatrophic

a lake with low levels of phytoplankton due to low amounts of nutrients in the water

mesotrophic zone

Lake with a moderate supply of plant nutrients or fertility.

Eutrophic zone

A lake with high levels of fertility

Freshwater Wetland

An aquatic biome that is submerged or saturated by water for at least part of each year, but shallow enough to support emergent vegetation.

Estuary

the area where a freshwater stream or river merges with the ocean

Salt Marsh

found along the coast in temperate climates and contain non woody emergent vegetation.

mongrove swamps

A swamp that occurs along tropical and subtropical coasts, and contains salt-tolerant trees with roots submerged in water

intertidal zone

the narrow band of coastline between the levels of high tide and low tide

Marine Biomes

biome, include estuaries (where ocean meets river), intertidal zone (where oceans meet land), continental shelves (the relatively shallow oceans that border continents), coral reefs, and the pelagic ocean (the deep oceans)

Coral Reef

represents Earths most diverse marine biome, and found in warm, shallow waters beyond the shoreline in tropical regions

Coral Bleaching

Algae inside corals will die. This will cause the coral to die. The reef will then turn white.

Open Ocean

deep ocean water, located away from the shoreline where sunlight can no longer reach the ocean bottom

Photic Zone

The upper layer of ocean water in the ocean that receives enough sunlight for photosynthesis

aphotic zone

The deeper layer of ocean water that lacks sufficient sunlight for photosynthesis

Chemosynthesis

Process by which some organisms, such as certain bacteria, use chemical energy to produce carbohydrates

natural resources

anything that humans obtain from nature that is useful or economically valuable

renewable resources

Any natural resource that can replenish itself in a relatively short period of time, usually no longer than the length of a human life.

nonrenewable resource

Something produced in nature more slowly than it is consumed by humans

Sustainability

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

A "common"

a resource that is free and available to everyone in a population

Tragedy of the Commons

situation in which people acting individually and in their own interest use up commonly available but limited resources, creating disaster for the entire community

Poverty

the state of being poor ( people prioritize their survival needs over sustainability )

Ecological Footprint

The amount of biologically productive land and water needed to support a person or population.

Affluence

the rapid unsustainable consumption of resources that is associated with the lifestyles of citizens in developed countries

ecosystem services

The process by which natural environments provide life-supporting resources

regulating services

the service provided by natural systems that helps regulate environmental conditions. ( Flood control, pest control )

cultural services

ecosystems provide cultural or aesthetic benefits to many people ( ecotourism )

support services

factors necessary for producing ecosystem services ( water cycle, seed dispersal )

Aldo Leopold

land ethic, humans are only one part of a complex community and should not abuse nature . One part of nature affects all other parts.

Pollution

the contamination of water, air, or land through the actions of people in an industrialized society

point source pollution

Pollutants discharged from a single identifiable location (e.g., pipes, ditches, channels, sewers, tunnels, containers of various types).

non-point source pollution

water pollution that does not have a specific point of origin

controlled experiment

An experiment in which only one variable is manipulated at a time.

Dependant variable

the variable that relies on the independant variable

independent variable

The experimental factor that is manipulated; the variable whose effect is being studied.

controlled variable

Factor in an experiment that a scientist purposely keeps the same

Anthropogenic

derived from human activities

Carbon

backbone of all organic molecules

Nitrogen

Most abundant gas in the atmosphere (78%)

Oxygen

the second most abundant element in the atmosphere at 21%

Phosphorus

a component of nucleic acids and phospholids. phosphorus in runoff contributes to nutrient pollution

Sulfur

A component of some amino acids and proteins. Major constituent of volcanic eruptions and contaminant of coal in acid rain

pH

a logarithmic scale in a range of 0-14.

radioactive elements

decay at a characteristics rate that is typically measured by the half-life

Half-life

length of time required for half of the radioactive atoms in a sample to decay

Forms of energy

chemical, electrical, mechanical, radiant

Heat

a special form of energy measured in joules

Power

the rate at which work is done

first law of thermodynamics

Energy can be transferred and transformed, but it cannot be created or destroyed.

second law of thermodynamics

when energy is changed from one form to another, some useful energy is always degraded into lower quality energy (usually heat)

open system

systems that exchange both energy and matter across their boundaries. Most environmental systems are open systems.

Closed system

systems that exchange energy but not matter across their boundaries. The water cycle is an example

Input

The energy and matter that enter a system

Output

The energy and matter that leave the system

positive feedback loop

Causes a system to change further in the same direction.

negative feedback loop

A feedback loop that causes a system to change in the opposite direction from which it is moving

Ecology

The study of how living things interact with each other and their environment

Abiotic

Non-living things

biotic

living things

biosphere

part of Earth in which life exists including land, water, and air or atmosphere

Population

A group of individuals that belong to the same species and live in the same area

Community

All the different populations that live together in an area

Ecosystem

A community of organisms and their abiotic environment

cycling of nutrients

elements continually recycled; move between ecosystems