Ans: Clwk 1.1 Understanding Our Environment
Obj 1.1.1: Define environmental science, and compare
environmental science with ecology. (pg 5-6)
1 Environmental Science:
a] The study of the air, water, and land surrounding an organism or a community,
which ranges from a small area to Earth’s entire biosphere; it includes the
study of the impact of humans on the environment.
b] An interdisciplinary science that studies the interactions among physical,
chemical, and biological components of the environment. The text lists 14
sciences that make up Environmental Science that are divided up into 5 fields of
study: Biology, Earth science, Physics, Chemistry, and Social sciences. (pg
7). Ecology is the keystone of the 14 sciences.
2 Ecology:
a] The study of the interactions of living organisms with one another and with
their environment.
b] A subcategory of Environmental Science.
The study of any and all aspects of how organisms interact with each other
and/or their environment.
The study of the distribution and abundance of living organisms and how the
distribution and abundance are affected by interactions between the organisms
and their environment.
Obj 1.1.2: List the five
major fields of study that contribute to environmental science. (pg 7)
3 Biology, Earth science, Physics, Chemistry, and Social
Sciences.
Obj 1.1.3: Describe the
major environmental effects of hunter-gatherers, the Agricultural Revolution,
and the Industrial Revolution.
4 Major environmental effects of hunter-gatherers:
a] Plains Indians burned prairie, keeping them tree free for hunting.
b] Over hunting plus climate change lead to the extinction of the giant sloths,
giant bison, mastodons, cave bears, and saber tooth tigers.
5 Major environmental effects of the Agricultural
Revolution:
a] Human populations grew exponentially after 5000 BC.
That is, went from stable to doubling every 61 years.
The total amount consumed in one doubling period equals the total
amount consumed in all previous periods.
b] The same area of land can support up to 500 times as many people by farming
as it can by hunting and gathering.
c] Human populations concentrated in smaller areas creating pollution problems.
d] The food consumed changed.
e] Grasslands, forests, and wetlands were destroyed to create farmland.
Resulting in soil loss, floods, and water shortages.
f] Farmland destruction by poor farming practices caused civilization collapse
by salt contamination.
Arable land: Land that can be used for growing
crops.
Of the earth's 57.5 million square miles of land, approximately
7.65 million square miles are arable (13%). However, arable land is currently
being lost at the rate of over 38,610 square miles per year. At this rate it
will last 200 years.
A major element of arable land loss comes from deforestation (starting in the
Middle Ages in Europe as well as Asia). Such deforestation continues to the
present day primarily in tropical countries by commercial over-exploitation of
tropical forest.
At times, deforestation can be so extreme that it leads to desertification as
has occurred in Madagascar following extensive slash-and-burn activity.
6 Major environmental effects of the Industrial
Revolution:
a] Fossil fuel use increased air pollution
b] Machinery reduced the need for farmers and increased city populations
creating water pollution.
c] Factory and city garbage disposal created land pollution.
(Love Canal, Superfund Sights)
d] We produced waste more quickly than we can dispose of them.
| Hunter-Gatherers |
Agricultural | Industrial
| | Revolution | Revolution
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Characteristics | Over hunting | Domesticated |Fossil fuel use
| Set prairie fires | Animal Labor | Machine Labor
| Nomadic lifestyle | Villages grow | Cities grow
| Low birth rate | Increased | Increased
| Children 4 y apart| disease rate | disease rate
| | Exponential | Exponential
| | Pop growth | Pop growth
| | Specialized | Specialized
| | food production| labor.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Effects on | Large mammal | Forest | Air
Environment | extinctions | Destruction |
| Tree prevention | Salinization |
----------------------------------------------------------------------
7 Identify three ways that the Industrial Revolution
changed society.
a] More goods were produced in factories causing a migration from farms to
cities and suburbs, creating habitat destruction.
b] Sanitation, nutrition, and medical care improved.
c] Modern societies plastics and other artificial materials which presented
pollution problems (pesticides).
Obj 1.1.4: Distinguish
between renewable and non renewable resources.
8 Nonrenewable Resource: a resource that cannot be
replaced.
Ex: Copper, natural gas, oil, coal.
Ex: No more copper will be formed after all of the copper ore has been removed
from mines. Copper might run out within 25 years based on a reasonable
extrapolation of 2% growth per year.
Natural gas production peak production estimated at 2018
Oil production is expected to peak in 2020
9 Renewable Resource: Resources that are continually
being replaced, even as they are being used.
Ex: Solar energy, trees, fish
10 What resources are found in Pennsylvania?
(2006 Ed pg 633-635; 2008 Ed: 669-671)
a] Fossil Fuels: Oil, Natural Gas, Coal
b] Nuclear power plants
c] Forests & Farmland
Obj 1.1.5: Classify
environmental problems into three major categories.
11 The environmental problems are:
a] Resource Depletion
b] Pollution: contaminating our air, water, and food supplies.
c] Loss of Biodiversity:
Economic loss--fish & whales, flooding from forest destruction,
Ecological--disruption of food chain,
Scientific--loss of medicinal plants in rainforests.
Aesthetic & recreational value--loss of Bald Eagle, Condor, Trout
14 Biodiversity Loss causes:
Economic loss: Examples: Dust bowl, flooding from forest destruction, flooding
from levee building
Ecological
Every species is part of a food chain connecting it to every other species.
Removing of one can have a chain reaction damaging other species.
Ex #1: killing mountain lions in Pa caused an explosion of deer.
Ex #2: introduction of sparrows from England almost extinguished the insect
eating blue bird.
Scientific Loss: Medicinal plants in rainforests.
Aesthetic--loss of bird populations: Bald Eagle & Osprey are threatened, 15 out
of 18 PA endangered species are birds. Passenger Pigeon is extinct.
http://www.pgc.state.pa.us/pgc/cwp/view.asp?a=458&q=150321
Sandhill Cranes (http://albums.phanfare.com/slideshow.aspx?u=1487167&a_id=2226803)
Recreational value--loss of trout.
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| Measurement | US | Japan |
Mexico | Indonesia
Health | Life expectancy | 77 | 81 | 71.5 | 68
Population | % per year | 0.8 | 0.2 | 1.7 | 1.8
Growth |
Wealth | GNP/person |$29,240 |$32,350| $3,840 | $640
Living Space| People/sq mile | 78 | 829 | 133 | 319
Energy Use | BTU/person | 351 | 168 | 59 | 18
Pollution | CO2/person | 20.4 | 9.3 | 3.5 | 2.2
Waste | Garbage/person/yr| 720 | 400 | 300 | 43
1 “The Tragedy of the Commons” describes how people
and nations resolve the conflict between the short-term interests of
individuals and the long-term welfare of society. For
example, commons may be an area of land that belongs to a whole village for
grazing sheep. The short-term interest of individuals is to put as many
sheep in the commons as possible. The
long-term problem is too many sheep will overgraze or kill the grass and
no one will be able to raise animals on the commons. To resolve this conflict
someone has to take responsibility for
maintaining the resource or it will become depleted.
2 The law of supply and demand states that the
greater the demand for a limited supply of something, the more that thing is
worth. For example, as the production of crude oil increases the price of
gasoline decreases.
3 If the supply of oil decreases we have three
choices:
a] pay the higher price,
b] use less oil which will bring down the price, or
c] find new sources of energy which will also bring down the price.
4 Developing and Developed Nation Population
Differences:
Show the following calculations.
a] Developed country populations have stabilized or are growing slowly.
b] Doubling Time ~ 70/%Growth
c] U.S. doubling time = 70/0.8% = 87.5 yr
d] Mexico’s doubling time = 70/1.7% = 41 yr
e] Compare U.S. with Mexico numerically:
Mexico/US = 1.7%/0.8% = 2.125
f] Translate the comparison into sentences--speed & time:
i] Mexico’s population grows more than twice as fast as the U.S.
ii] The U.S. takes more than twice the time to double as does Mexico
5 Developed nations use about 75% of the Earth’s
resources, even though they make up only 20% of the world’s population.
Show how you made the following calculations.
a] Developed nations use 3.75 (=75%/20%) resources/person
b] Developing nations use 0.3125 (=25%/80%) resources/person
c] Developed nations use 12 (=3.75/0.3125) times the resources per person
as the developing nations use.
6 Developing countries have lower average incomes,
simple and agriculture-based economies,
and rapid population growth.
7 Environmental problems in developed countries are
related to consumption. People are using up, wasting, or
polluting many natural resources faster than they can be replaced or
cleaned up.
8 Environmental problems in developing countries are
related to population growth.
The human population is growing too quickly for the local environment to
support it. Forests are stripped bare, topsoil is exhausted, and
animals are driven to extinction.
Malnutrition, starvation and disease can be constant
threats.
9 Sustainability is the condition in which
human needs are met in such a way that a human population can survive
indefinitely.
10 Environmental issues require we balance the rights
of
individuals and property owners with the needs of society as a
whole. People on any side of an issue can mislead people about the
issues. Thinking critically about what you see in newspapers, on TV, and on the
Internet will help you make informed decisions.
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Agriculture Law of Supply & Demand
Biodegradable Natural Resource
Biodiversity Non-degradable
Commons Nonrenewable
Contour farming Pollution
Depleted Renewable
Ecological footprint Salinization
Ecology Sustainability
Environment Terracing
Environmental Science
Agriculture: The practice of growing, breeding, and caring
for plants and animals used for food, clothing, housing, transportation.
Biodegradable: Can be broken down by natural processes.
Biodiversity:
a] The variety of organisms in a given area.
b] The genetic variation within a population.
c] The variety of species in a community.
d] The variety of communities in an ecosystem.
Commons: Areas of land that belong to a whole village or
are shared by many nations.
Contour Farming: a method of reducing soil erosion by
plowing perpendicular to the slope.
Depleted: occurs when a large fraction of resource has
been used up.
Ecological Footprint: A calculation that shows the
productive area of Earth needed to support one person in a particular country.
Ecology:
a] The study of the interactions of living organisms with one another and
with their environment.
b] A subcategory of Environmental Science.
The study of any and all aspects of how organisms interact with each other
and/or their environment.
The study of the distribution and abundance of living organisms and how the
distribution and abundance are affected by interactions between the organisms
and their environment.
Environment:
a] Everything that surrounds us.
b] The combination of all things and factors external to the individual or
population of organisms in question.
Environmental Science:
a] The study of the air, water, and land surrounding an organism or a
community, which ranges from a small area to Earth’s entire biosphere; it
includes the study of the impact of humans on the environment.
b] An interdisciplinary science that studies the interactions among physical,
chemical, and biological components of the environment.
Law of Supply & Demand: As the demand for a good or
service increases, the value of the good or service also increases.
Food flows in the direction of economic demand. If there are hungry cats
and hungry children the food will go to the cats if the cat owners
have money and the children’s parents don’t. The cash economy provides
the opportunity to purchase food but not the food itself.
Natural Resource:
Any natural substance that use by humans.
Ex: Sunlight, air, water, soil, minerals, plants, animals, forests, and fossil
fuels.
Non-degradable
a] Cannot be broken down by natural processes.
b] Mercury, lead, plastics.
c] Pollutants that can build up to dangerous levels in the environment.
Nonrenewable Resource: a resource that cannot be replaced.
Once a supply of a nonrenewable resource is used up it will take millions of
years to replenish it.
Ex: Metals (Copper, iron, aluminum).
Nonmetals (salt, sand, clay).
Fossil Fuels (natural gas, oil, coal).
Pollution: An undesirable change in the natural
environment that is caused by the introduction of substances that are harmful
too living organisms or by excessive wastes, heat, noise, or radiation.
Renewable Resource:
a] Resources that are continually being replaced, even as they are being used.
b] A resource that can be replaced relatively quickly by natural processes.
c] Ex: Fresh water, air, soil, trees, crops, solar energy, fish
d] It is replenished by natural processes at a rate comparable or faster than
its rate of consumption by humans or other users.
Salinization: The accumulation of salt in soil due to
capillary action and evaporation.
Sustainability: The condition in which human needs are met
in such a way that a human population can survive indefinitely.
Terracing: A method of farming rough terrain by building
walls to create flat surfaces.
Nonrenewable Resource: a resource that cannot be replaced.
Ex: Copper, natural gas, oil, coal.
Ex: No more copper will be formed after all of the copper ore has been removed
from mines. Copper might run out within 25 years based on a reasonable
extrapolation of 2% growth per year.
Natural gas production peak production estimated at 2018
Oil production is expected to peak in 2020
Renewable Resource: Resources that are continually being
replaced, even as they are being used.
Ex: Solar energy, trees, fish
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