Presentation Transcript

1. Biomes, Ecosystems, and You

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2. ECOSYSTEMS where living and nonliving things live together and interact By Laura Brown
3. POPULATION The number of one type of plant or animal living in an ecosystem

4. community

   All the animal and plant populations living in the ecosystem

5. Habitat

   Where a plant or animal lives in the community and gets what they need to live

6. Environment

   Everything in an area (plants and animals) including air and energy
7. Let’s Review Everything in an area (plants and animals) including air and energy Where living and nonliving thing live together and interact. The number of one type of plant or animal living in an ecosystem All the plant and animal populations living in the ecosystem Where a plant or animal lives in the community and gets what it needs to live
8. Oceans
9. Beechey Island (Photograph by Emory Kristoff)An icy expanse of Arctic Ocean surrounds the snow-flecked bluffs of Beechey Island in the Northwest Territories of Canada. The Arctic is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five oceans.
10. Deep Sea ecosystems "Deep-sea ecosystems hold the promise of huge potential contributions to future human well-being, provide our planet with vital climate-related and other ecological services, and have much to teach us about life processes."
11. What do we know about our oceans? Shining Sea Few of us realize that the US possesses huge expanses of underwater real estate. At 4.4 million square miles, the ocean floor under US jurisdiction is 25% larger than the US landmass. America's ocean realm is a rich mosaic of places, from icy fjords to tropical coral reefs, from sunlit shallows to lightless depths. Explore the underwater mountains, canyons, and wildlife that make US waters so wonderful and amazing.
12. Why should we care about the ocean? The oceans make the Earth habitable. Life started in the ocean and the earliest evidence of life is found in ancient ocean sediments. The accumulation of oxygen in Earth’s atmosphere through photosynthesis was necessary for life to develop and be sustained on land. Multi-cellular life (that would be us) requires high oxygen levels. (developed about 1 billion years ago) 550 million years ago, free oxygen and ozone levels were high enough to allow the development of terrestrial organisms.
13. Ocean Facts   Climate change is a real and serious problem to the future of our Earth as we know it. Greenhouse gas emissions are having a myriad of adverse effects that not only affect the atmosphere, but are also harmful to the ocean environment. In polar regions such as the Arctic, a degree can mean the difference between ice and water. Polar bears may be one of the first victims of global warming as they risk drowning while swimming between ice floes to hunt for seals. As the icebergs melt they must swim ever further to hunt their prey. The melting of the ice itself also contributes to global warming as white ice, which reflects heat (albedo) back into space, is replaced by darker ocean, which absorbs heat. This makes the ocean, and in turn the Earth, even warmer.
14. Ocean currents As the ocean warms, the circulation patterns of ocean currents will change, affecting marine life and humans alike. These currents are a major influence on our climate. As more ice melts and less is created, large-scale currents begin to weaken. Warm-water currents such as the Gulf Stream are what keep places like Western Europe relatively warm when they would otherwise feel like Canada, which is located at the same latitude. Increases in ocean temperature may also lead to stronger hurricanes, as hurricane strength generally increases with the temperature of the ocean water below it. The Gulf Stream in NOT in the Gulf of Mexico.. Where is it located?
15. CO2 The ocean is also a very good sink for carbon dioxide (CO2), and as more CO2 is produced by humans driving cars and heating homes, more is released into the atmosphere, and more is absorbed by the oceans. Our ocean is actually becoming more acidic due to the large amounts of CO2 it absorbs. This change in ocean chemistry weakens corals and other skeleton-building organisms, similar to how osteoporosis weakens bones in humans.