Environ. Kahoot Notes 4

Presentation Notes

History of the Environment

Modern Environmental Movement - 1880s-onwards

Progressive Era - partially a response to the Industrial Revolution, which included health problems from raw sewage and industrial runoff in waterways, as well as, soot in the air

Conservation Groups - protect wilderness, and regulate logging, mining, and dams

National Audubon Society - saved plume birds from ladies’ hats

Boone & Crockett Club - manly sport with rifles

Sierra Club - defended Yosemite National Park

Save the Redwoods League - bought last old-growth redwoods

Teddy Roosevelt - conservation president and sportsman/hunter who wrote about the loss of species/habitats

1905 US Forest Service - created by Teddy and protects 230 million acres of public land

Dr. Alice Hamilton - campaigned against lead poisoning by accusing General Motors of willful murder (gasoline) and was appointed by Gov. of Illinois (lead gasoline wasn’t banned until 50 years later)

John Muir - Preservation Ethic - environment should be protected for its inherent value

Gifford Pinchot - Conservation Ethic - environment is for prudent, efficient, and sustainable use

Aldo Leopold - Land Ethic - humans are part of the environment; land is a community

Hetch Hetchy Valley - city developed in Yosemite National Park, home to many Indigenous peoples, San Fran placed a dam, clear cut and flooded

Hetch Hetchy Dam - conflict between John Muir & Gifford Pinchot

Natural Rivals - Muir & Pinchots conflict which was the defining struggle of the conservation movement and resulted in the National Park Service Act

Sand County Almanac - book by Aldo Leopold and his Land Ethic

Donora Disaster - manufacturing of Zinc and Steel caused thermal inversion that stayed for 5 days; rain (20 died, 5,900 were affected)

Thermal Inversion - stable air masses with cooler air near Earth’s surface and warm air on top, occurs in late afternoon, lingers into morning, since warm air rises, air under the inversion cannot escape (traps smoke & pollution)

London Killer Fog - pollution & thermal inversion that caused British Parliament to pass the first Clean Air Act (4,000 people died)

Clean Air Act - major shift in federal government's role in air pollution where federal and state regulations were put in place to limit air pollution (stationary and mobile sources)

Silent Spring - best seller by Rachel Carson that discusses the warms of devastation of pesticides (DDT) on birds, criticized chemical industry (received backlash)

Endangered Species Act - provides framework to conserve 7 protect endangered and threatened species and habitats (ex. American Alligator, Timber Wolf, Florida Manatee)

CEQ Toxic Substances Report - reviewed risks of toxic chemicals, concluded existing regulations are fragmented and inadequate

Toxic Substances Report Need:

Requiring testing of chemicals
Restrict use/distribution
Provide data on chemical substances

Ban of DDT - US Dept of Agriculture began restricting DDT in 1950s & 1960s, EPA banned DDT in 1972

Toxic Substances Control Act - grants EPA authority to require:

Reporting, record-keeping, and testing requirements/restrictions for chemicals
Maintain inventory of commercially available chemicals
Companies notify EPA about new chemicals
Testing of chemicals

3 Environ. Disasters:

Santa Barbara Channel Blowout - oil slick
Lake Erie Pollution - massive fish kill
Cuyahoga River Burns - again

Blue Dot - went to the moon in 1969, photo of Earth, Earth is small precious and isolated

1970s - Decade of Activism which included Anti-Vietnam war protests, college campuses, teach-ins and demonstrations (set the stage for environ. activism)

1970 First Earth Day - Senator Nelson said students should advocate or environ.

National Environ. Policy Act - requires environ. Impact review before development, citizens/groups can file lawsuits against polluters, created Council of Environ. Quality, required environ. impact statements for major federal actions with a significant impact

Environ. Protection Agency - created by Pres Nixon and allows research on pollutants, monitoring condition of environ., establishes environ. Baselines, sets and enforces standards for air + water standards (sets standards)

Clean Water Act - establishes surface water quality standards, need a permit to pollute (in response to polluted rivers, Silent Spring, Earth Day, and Santa Barbara Oil Spill)

Ozone Layer Depletion - confirmed hole in the ozone layer from CFCs in aerosols, refrigerants, etc. (Natural Sun shield has been breached)

Montreal Protocol - adopted by 100+ countries bc of the reduction of emissions of ozone-depleting chemicals by 2,000 and complete phase out of CFCs (Chlorofluorocarbons)

Exxon Valdez - spills 10.8 million gallons of crude oil into Prince William Sound (Alaska Coast), and as a result the US passed new regulations on shipping industry

Oil Protection Act - increases penalties for oil spills, sets requirements for vessel construction, and USA oil tankers must be double hulled

1988 - hottest year on record

Dr. James Hansen - NASA climatologist who said “the greenhouse effect has been detected and is changing our climate now”, and as a result the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was established

Kyoto Protocol - agreement countries reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate the effects of climate change (192 countries signed), claimed to be fatally flawed and shortly after USA emphasizes oil exploration, coal, and nuclear

Al Gore - gave a powerpoint on the dangers of global warming, inspiring renewed conversation on climate change

Deepwater Horizon - oil rig exploded and sank, killing 11 people, which led to new regulations on drilling

Aliso Canyon Gas Leak - massive methane leak in LA, worst natural gas leak in US history, headaches, nausea, skin rashes, nosebleeds

Paris Agreement - international treaty on climate change, most significant treaty on climate change

Inflation Reduction Act - tax incentives and provided funds for clean energy

Environ. Legislation (rarely just emerges, typically reason for change):

Clean Air Act
Clean Water Act
Clean Drinking Water Act
Endangered Species Act
Toxic Substances Control Act

Reasons for Change:

Fear factor
Emotions
Increased political will
Can see specifically what is wrong

Big Report:

New discovery or presentation
Understanding the scale of the problem\
People have access to info
Fear factor
Increased political will

Activism:

Citizens, legislators, organizations
Encourage decision-makers to make positive change (gov and businesses)
Petitions, marches, phone calls, publicity stunts, reports
Making change can take years or even decades

Recycling

Average american throws away 4.5l bs of trash every day
Global trash average - 1.6 lbs
Waste amounts are increasing
⅓ of food produced for human consumption every year is wasted (1.3 billions = $1 trillion)

Why so much food waste? -

Confusing labels (best by)
Oversized servings (too large of portions they can’t be eaten before they go bad)
“Perfect” produce (weird appearance)
Overstocked stores (never run out of food)

Landfills - facilities to isolate municipal solid waste from the environment (not hazardous waste)

Landfill Layers - waste deposited in layers (3 feet), compacted, severals layers on top of each other

Leachate - water percolated through waste

Plastic Liner - protects groundwater and surface water

Methane - CH4 - organic waste, decomposing

Methane Capture - tubes used to produce electricity

Landfill Issues:

Doesn’t capture enough methane and CO2
Can contaminate soil and water (leachate)
Hard to screen for unsafe waste (ends up just accepting it)
Reduces values of surrounding area

Incineration - burning waste at high temperatures through a furnace (waste combusts and produces organic materials and ENERGY)

Incineration Issues:

Air pollution (SO2, CO2, NO2)
Toxic waste ash

Industrial Composting - large-scale processing of organic waste into soil additive (temp, humidity, airflow, microorganisms)

Optimal Conditions for decomp - CH4 vs CO2

Industrial Composting Materials:

Food (meat/dairy, pits, bones, + shells)
Paper and Cardboard
Animal Manure
Bioplastic
Yard Waste

Recycling - waste product turned into feedstock for another material through mechanical processes

1930s-40s - World War II

1960s - Environmental Movement

1970s - Landfill Shortage

1990s - PA Act 101(Minnesota, CA)

Modern Recycling Facility - waste collector collects materials, Materials Recovery Facility sorts materials, Materials Recovery Facility sells materials, manufacturer creates new materials

Drop Off Sites - consumer brings waste to centralized site, consumer often sorts

Multi Stream recycling - consumer sorts waste by type

Dual Stream Recycling - consumer sorts waste into paper + cardboard and jugs, jars, + cans

Single Stream Recycling - all recycling in one bin

Physical Sorting - “first pass” - break down big items and pick out obvious garbage (jobs that requires humans, is loud, and is physically demanding)

Star Screens - separate 2D and 3D items with gravity (goal is paper and cardboard)

Magnetic Sorting - magnets (goal is metals) and reverse magnets/Eddy Currents (goal is aluminum)

Optical Sorting - laser and air jets (goal is plastics)

Baling - squishing and ready to ship

Recycling Benefits:

Reduced environmental impact (less energy and water, fewer materials used and wasted)
Reduced costs
Public relations

Recycling Disadvantages:

Energy intensive
Waste
False positives

Why does recycling exist? - MONEY

Single Stream Pros:

Easier for customer
Easier to collect
More materials

Single Stream Cons:

Contamination

Obstacles:

Collect enough of a certain materials
Do enough clients have this?
Isolatable?
Sort for desired material
Is it different enough from other materials?
Buyer for the material
Turn anything else?
Useful?
Enough?

Current Local Issues:

Low price of oil (ethane cracker plant is a local issue)
New materials
Domestic buyers

Current International Issues:

Single stream increase contamination by 5%
Too contaminated for domestic buyers
Sending abroad
China accepted 5-10% contamination (needed raw materials and had access to cheap labor)
Difficulty of importing and exporting shipping containers

Green Fence (2013) and National Sword (2017) Impacts:

No contamination allowed (fines/fees passed along)
More materials to landfill
Market has still not recovered

What can we do?

Recycle right
Recycle clean and dry

Plastics - bottles, jugs, jars, tubs (no wrappers, bags, films, coffee cups/lids)

Paper - DRY AND CLEAN office paper, magazines, newspaper (no paper cups, paper plates, napkins)

Metal - steel + aluminum food and beverage cans, aerosol cans (loose cans, cookware, aluminum pans/foil, scrap)

Cardboard - cardboard, paperboard, flat, pizza boxes

Recycling at DUQ - single-ish stream, different bins with signs around campus, ongoing contamination

Waste Hierarchy from Most Preferred to Least Preferred:

Source Reduction & Reuse
Recycling/Composting
Energy Recovery
Treatment & Disposal

Agriculture

Agriculture - art and science of cultivating the soil, growing crops, and raising livestock

Where is agriculture? - every state, but most concentrated in California Central Valley and Great Plains

Agroecosystems:

Farming creates unique ecological conditions (takes up 876.6 million acres and 39% of USA)
Early Ecological Succession - crops are early succession species, grow and mature quickly (ex. wheat, corn, soybeans)
Plowing/harvesting stops succession which leads to secondary succession
Simplified diversity

Monocultures - areas planted with one species (susceptible to disease or change, depletes soil, increased competition)

Nice and neat rows (susceptible to pests, soil compaction, competition)
Easy for machines
Requires plowing (unlike anything in “nature”, erosion and soil damage, release carbon dioxide)

Globalization of Agriculture:

What we eat comes from ecological transplants - plants that originate from other places
Increase in global trade
(ex. Pineapple, bananas, guava, tropical fruits, quinoa, coffee, cocoa, out of season produce)
200 species grown as crops vs. 14:
Wheat
Rice
Maize
Potatoes
Sweet Potatoes
Manioc
Sugarcane
Sugar Beet
Common Beans
Soybeans
Barley
Sorghum
Bananas

Livestock Farming:

Practice of raising animals for their products (flesh, bone, skin, milk, eggs, honey, fiber)
Largest use of land in the USA

Rangeland - area for grazing, no plowing or planting

Pasture - area for harvesting food for livestock, yes plowing and planting

Soil needs to provide nutrients, store water, allow flow of air
Crops need 20 chemical elements

Macronutrient - required in large amounts (sulfur, phosphorous, potassium, nitrogen, oxygen, carbon, hydrogen)

Micronutrient - required in small amounts (molybdenum, copper, zinc, manganese, iron)

Ideal Soil:

All macro and micronutrients
Good physical structure (air/water can move and retains water)
Combo of soil sizes (loam)

Limiting Factor - requirement for growth that is most limited in comparison to the need of an organism (least available, what will run out first?) (ex. Bread is limiting factor in making grilled cheese)

Liebig’s Law of the Minimum - growth of plant affected by one limiting factor at a time (one shortage will stop process) (ex. Barrel of water)

Traditional Harming of Agriculture and Soil:

Monoculture (use all the same nutrients)
Plowing (loss to erosion
Rows (compaction)

Chemical Fertilizers - N-P-K Ratio - Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium

Fertilizers - combat decline in soil fertility by adding in excess nutrients (can be organic/animal manure or chemical)

Issues with Fertilizers:

Can be washed into waterways
Pollution
Eutrophication
Harms soil microorganisms

Eutrophication - increased nutrients in waterways, explosion of growth of microorganism, large amounts of algae in waterways, blocks sunlight (kills aquatic plants), dead plants and algae decompose, uses up oxygen in water (releases CO2), dead zones in water (lack of oxygen and hypoxia)

Eutrophication can be at large scales (great lakes, chesapeake bay, gulf of mexico) and small scales
Most crops are early succession species

What causes eutrophication? - Fertilizer Runoff

Which of these is not one of the main 14 crops? - Corn, Sweet Potato, Pineapple, Rice

Pests - undesirable competitors, parasites, and predators, modern agriculture is PERFECT for them (monoculture)

Herbicides - kill unwanted plants

Insecticides - kill unwanted insects

Fungicides - kill unwanted fungi

Rodenticides - kill unwanted rodents

Broad Spectrum Pesticides - kill wide variety of organisms and targets common characteristics

Narrow Spectrum Pesticides - kill select group of organisms and targets particular characteristic

Integrated Pest Management - understanding of the pests and combination of practices (pesticides, practices like crop rotation and timing, pheromones, predatory insects)

Selective Breeding - reproduce organisms with favorable characteristics offspring with those characteristics (breeding for bigger, tastier, brighter color, quicker, more efficient)

Genetically Modified Organisms - change DNA, genetic engineering, not slective breeding, passed safety assessments

Withstand pesticides
Produce their own pesticides
Terminator gene
Sterile after first harvest

Improved Irrigation - efficient irrigation systems, computer monitoring, proper amount

System prioritizes efficiency, consistency, reliability

Great Depression - gov paid farmers to stop producing crops, eliminate surplus of certain crops, increased prices

Farm Bill - purchases food, price and revenue supports, subsidized loans, crop insurance

Subsidies look diff - gov will pay farmer to fill gap (if market says corn is $20 but only gives $10)

Subsidies - not uniform across crops

Big Five:

Corn
Soybeans
Wheat
Cotton
Rice

Big One:

Corn (versatile, ethanol, animal feed, high fructose corn syrup) (biofuels, exported)

Indirect Process - Animal feed to livestock to human food

CAFOs - Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations - facility with live animals (1000+ per unit) confined to 45+ days/year

CAFO Benefits:

Lower production costs
Lower prices of animal products

CAFO Cons:

Animal waste (335 million tons/year)
Waste lagoon (animal sewage, pollutes waterways, air and soils, ammonia, heavy metals, cleaning agents)
Noise pollution (very loud, stressful to humans and critters)
Animal welfare ( exempt from most animal cruelty laws, short lives, highly stressful, loud and cramped)
Individuals harm themselves and each other
Practices like beak trimming, teeth grinding, dehorning, tail docking

Antibiotics - make individuals grow bigger and faster, prevent illness, 80% of antibiotics are used in animal agriculture

Antibiotic Resistance - antibiotics kill most bacteria, surviving bacteria reproduce, but soon all bacteria will be those who can survive antibiotics

Selective breeding for more dangerous bacteria, superbugs (MRSA)

Integrated Pest Management - using a combination of practices (and knowledge) to control pests

What is corn used for? - animal feed, high fructose syrup, ethanol biofuel), and export the rest

Problem with CAFOS? - large amounts of waste, noise pollution, animal welfare issues, antibiotic resistance

Regenerative Agriculture

USDA Organic - grown/made to federal guidelines (animal raising practices, pest control practices, crop cultivation practices, third party certification

1990 National Organic Food Act - public fear, US Department of Agriculture to establish “organic” label, standards, certification program

Secretary Agriculture - marketing tool not about food safety, nutrition, quality

Prohibited Substances - synthetic fertilizers, synthetic pesticides (some are allowed)

Organic Produce:

Use organic seeds
Manage pests through physical and biological controls (Manual removal, integrated pest management)
If not sufficient, chemicals may be used (naturally occurring, synthetic)

Organic Growing Practices - 3 years w/o prohibited substances, manage soil with tillage, crop rotation, and manure

Organic Animal Farming - animals can practice natural behavior (grazing, 100% organic feed, no antibiotics or hormones)

Organic Processed Food - no artificial preservatives, colors, flavors, majority ingredients are organic (some exceptions are baking soda, enzymes)

Organic vs Conventional:

Tastier - No

More Nutritious - Unclear

Improved Soil Health - Yes

Reduced risk of human disease - Need more data

More Yield - No

Best of Both Worlds:

Crop Rotation
Limited use of pesticides
Reduced use of antibiotics

National Organic Food Production Act - 1990

Chemical Pesticides are never permitted in organic farming - FALSE

Organic Food Purchases are - INCREASING

Regenerative Agriculture - philosophy of land management, web of connectivity (not linear)

Regenerative Agriculture Goal - nourish Earth and people

Regenerative Agriculture Work to:

Restore soil health
Restore biodiversity
Improve water health
Capture carbon
Address inequity
Not new concept/since beginning of agriculture (humus farming)

Nurture Relationships Between:

People
Land
Water Bodies
Livestock
Wildlife
Microbial Life
Decrease in soil disturbance (tilling)
Protect biological structures (insects, bacteria, fungi, other microorganisms)

Integrated Pest Management - diversify crops and livestock strategically (reduces needs for pesticides and fertilizers)

Ex. Three Sisters Planting - corn, bean, squash
Treat all people with respect, fair wages, share power

Environmental Benefits:

Improved soil health, biodiversity, and soil water retention
Reduced erosion and pollution

Climate Change - soil can draw down carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases (microbes)

Economic Benefits - reduced money on chemical inputs (pesticides, fertilizers, and antibiotics) and diversified revenue streams

Crop Rotation - planting different crops on same plot of land

Improves soil health and combats pests

Cover Cropping - plant crops on “unused” soil (no cash crop, often cheap, ex. clover)

Reduces erosion, retains water, increases biodiversity

No Till Farming - leaves soil intact when planting, no plowing, maintains soil structure

Composting - transforming waste into fertilizer (animal waste and yard waste) natural process including bacteria, heat, and water

Rotational Grazing - mimics large animals moving across lands which helps to aerate the soil, fertilize the soil, and spread seeds

Agroforestry - mimics forest systems by integrating trees/shrubs into agriculture, increase biodiversity and soil retention

Prairie Strips - small amounts of prairie strategically placed in fields, which helps to reduce erosion and nutrient runoff

Riparian Buffers - vegetated zones near streams that helps with habitats, improving water quality, capturing pollution, and reducing flooding

Regenerative Agriculture looks at the linear sequence in the agricultural process - FALSE

Cover Crops - planting crops on unused soil to preserve soil health

Rotational Grazing - technique that mimics large animals moving across land

Kahoot Notes

Conservation President - Theodore Roosevelt

Crop that receives most government support - Corn

Can you recycle starbucks cups at Duquesne - NO

Large Scale Example of Eutrophication - Gulf of Mexico

Industrial Composting CAN convert organic waste into a soil additive/fertilizer

Major Chemical Focused on by Silent Spring - DDT

Narrow Spectrum Pesticide - kills a select group of organisms by targeting a particular characteristic

The Farm Bill - passed by Congress each year to support farmers and ranchers

Soil - needs to provide nutrients, store water, and allow for the flow of air

Rachel Carson - author of Silent Spring

Hetch Hetchy - John Muir and Gifford Pinchot’s environmental debate

Donora - location of major thermal inversion environmental disaster

Clean Air Act - marked a major shift in the federal government’s role in pollution

1969 - year we went to the moon

National Environmental Policy Act - requires an environmental impact review before development and allows citizen lawsuits against polluters

President Nixon - created the Environmental Protection Agency

Increased nutrients in water - starts eutrophication process

Crops need approximately how many chemical elements - 20

CFCs - primary chemical responsible or the hole in the ozone layer

Regenerative Agriculture does NOT look at the linear sequence in the agricultural process

Exxon Valdez - major oil spill into Prince William Sound (Alaska Coast), and as a result the US passed new regulations on shipping industry

NOT ALL crops are subsidized by USA national gov

1988 - NASA scientists testify to Congress that the greenhouse effect is occurring majorly

Pests - undesirable competitors, parasites, and predators (not just insects)

Recyclable materials need to be sorted by either the customer or at the MRF
Traditional landfills hold solid waste NOT hazardous waste

Which is not in the top 3 items of municipal solid waste? Glass, Food, Paper, Plastic

USA is NOT a firm signer of the Kyoto Protocol, a major climate change treaty
Regenerative agriculture DOES involve humans
Many things we eat today originated from other locations and are ecological transplants
Big reports, big catastrophes, and activism, can lead to policy and societal changes

Prairie Strips - the practice of integrating small amounts of prairie strategically in a farm

Sales of organic food has been - increasing

Regenerative Agriculture - a philosophy of land management that looks at the web of connectivity in farming

Organic livestock should NOT have any hormones or antibiotics

Loam - the ideal combo of soil particle sizes

The modern environmental movement began partly in response to the Industrial Revolution
Organic farming NEVER permits farmers to use non-organic seeds

Landfill - a facility meant to hold municipal solid waste forever

Antibiotic resistant bacteria are associated with CAFOs

Corn - primarily used for biofuels and animal feed

Most industrial farms DON’T diversify the number of crops they grow
Confusing food labels can lead to food waste
Most crops are early succession species

Leachate - water percolated through waste

Waste incineration produces - air pollution

The US gov is involved in the agricultural system

Rotational Grazing - the practice of moving animals around different grazing areas that mimics large animals moving across lands

Corn - receives the most gov support

Americans throw away MORE than the global average person

Agriculture - the art/science of cultivating soil, crops, and/or livestock

Humans - conduct the “first pass” at the MRF

Crop Yield - amount of crops grown per acre (increasing)

Farmers have been selective breeding for DECADES

Integrated Pest Management - using research and a combo of practices (ex. pheromones and predatory insects)

Lasers - used to sort plastics at the MRF

Cover Cropping - the practice of planting crops on “unused” soil

Organic Food - containing no artificial preservatives, colors, flavors

Broad Spectrum Pesticides - kills a wide variety of organisms by targeting common characteristics

China - no longer accepting contaminated recycling bales from the USA

People started caring about the environment a long time ago
The amount of waste generated is increasing
Organic farming allows farmers to use chemical pesticides in certain cases

Landfills produce - methane

Herbicides - kill unwanted plants

CAFOS - have ethical, environmental, and human health concerns

Too much fertilizer - initiates eutrophication

Silent Spring - book that led to long term environmental change/actions

Insecticides - kill unwanted insects

Central Plains - agriculture in USA is most concentrated here

Limiting Factor - requirement for crop growth that is most limited in comparison to crop need

Fungicides - kills unwanted fungi

The Industrial Agriculture system DOES NOT prioritize nutrition and flavor/taste

Agroecosystems - the unique ecosystem created by farming

Dead Zones - result of eutrophication

Synthetic Chemicals - main topic in Silent Spring

Agriculture takes place in every US state

Rodenticides - kill unwanted rodents

Most corn is used for animal feed biofuels (not food for the public)

Hetch Hetchy Valley - clear cut and flooding

No Till Farming - the practice of leaving the soil intact when planting (no plowing)

Landfills ARE NOT able to screen out all unsafe waste
Recycling WILL solve most environmental issues/problems
Organic agriculture doesn’t perform better than industrial agriculture in every category
Traditional magnets DO NOT retrieve all metals in the MRF

Composting - the practice of transforming organic waste into a soil additive/fertilizer