APES | Ch 1- Studying the State of Our Earth

Based on Friedland & Relyea's "Environmental Science"

environment

the sum of all conditions around us which influence life.

ecosystem

a particular place on earth with interacting abiotic and biotic components.

environmental indicator

an indicator that signals the state of an environmental system.

What are the five key Global Environmental Indicators?

1. Biological Diversity

2. Food Production

3. Avg. Global Surface Temperature and CO₂ emissions

4. Human Population

5. Resource Depletion

What is biodiversity?

the diversity of life forms in the environment.

What are the three types of biodiversity?

ecosystem diversity, species diversity, genetic diversity

ecosystem diversity

a measure of the diversity of ecosystems or habitats that exist in a given region.

species diversity

number of species in a region

genetic diversity

variety of genes among individuals of a species. Populations with high genetic diversity are better able to respond to environmental change than populations with low genetic diversity.

speciation

evolution of a new species.

What is a greenhouse gas? What is the most significant greenhouse gas?

gases in Earth’s atmosphere that trap heat near the Earth’s surface. CO₂ is the most significant greenhouse gas.

What are renewable resources? Give some examples.

resources produced in the environment and that are naturally replenished. Examples include sunlight, water, copper.

What are nonrenewable resources?

resources that cannot be replenished in a short amount of time and are finite. (only a certain amount)

Give some examples of nonrenewable resources.

oil, coal, methane/natural gas.

sustainability

living on Earth in a way that allows humans to use its resources without depriving future generations of those resources.

sustainable development

development that balances economic advancement with resource management for the benefit of future generations.

ecological footprint

a measure of how much an individual consumes, expressed in area of land.

null hypothesis

a prediction that there is no difference between groups or conditions.

ex: Fish deaths have no relationship to toxins in the water.

Accuracy vs. Precison

Accuracy is how closed the measured value is to the actual value. Precision is how close repeated measurements of a sample are to each other.

If an experiment cannot be done due to ethical concerns, what may they look to instead?

a natural experiment, in which a natural event acts as an experiment.

What are some of the unique challenges that environmental science presents?

1. There is no control planet which we can use to compare Earth.

2. When people are unable to meet their basic needs, they are less likely to protect the environment.

Case Study: Fracking
What is fracking?

Fracking is a method of extracting natural gas (methane).

What are the advantages of fracking?

• Methane is cleaner

• Reduces usage of coal

• Produces less CO₂ (greenhouse gas)

What are the disadvantages of fracking?

• Natural gas is still a fossil fuel and traps more heat than CO_2.

• Contamination of local water sources + using local water sources to power its extraction.

• Chemicals in fracking fluid are unknown.