Case Study – Neuse River Pg. 1

1. Case Study – Neuse RiverPg. 1 • The Mysterious Neuse River Fish Killer pg.1 • What was the observation? • What was the cause? • What factors promoted the deaths? • What is meant by unintended consequences? • Why is environmental science controversial?

2. Case Study – Easter Islandpg.12 • What was the major resource? • What were the services provided by the trees? • What caused the trees to become depleted? • How did the population deal with the loss of this resource? • What were the unintended consequences of the loss of crops? • Why did the people not just leave the island when the resource was gone? • What happened to the people as the resource was depleted?

3. Overview • Environment. • Environmental science. • Environmental studies.

4. Organization of the Biosphere • Atoms – Molecules • Cells • Tissues • Organs • Systems • Organisms

5. Species/Populations • Communities • Ecosystem • Biotic factors • Abiotic factors • Biosphere

6. Anthropogenic Effects • We, humans, manipulate the environment more than any species. • Organisms have three choices:

7. It is impossible for millions of people to inhabit an area without altering it. Los Angeles 6,000 people 4 million people

8. Ecosystem Services and Sustainability • Ecosystem services. • Examples: • Environmental indicators. • Definition • 5 Indicators

9. #1 Biological DiversityEnvironmental Indicator • Biodiversity • Differences in life forms in the environment. • Types • Genetic – Species – Ecosystem • Genetic diversity

10. Species Diversity • Species Richness • Number of different species in an area. • Species Evenness • Number of each species in an area • 2 million identified and catalogued. • 5 – 100 million estimated species. • Most common estimate of 10 million.

11. Speciation • Species arise and become extinct. • Habitat destruction and degradation are the most common causes of extinction. • Background extinction rate. • 2 species per year

12. Ecosystem Diversity • Measure of the diversity or habitats in an area.

13. Do The Math • Measure is given in terms of land area. • Hectare – (ha) • Do the Math • 2.47 acres = 1 ha Notebook: Facts and formulas • 1 acre = __________ ha • 50,000 acres = _________ha • 75,000 acres = _________ ha • 150,000 acres = ________ ha

14. Do The Math • A Web search of environmental organizations yielded a range of estimates of the amount of forest clearing that is occurring worldwide. • Estimate 1: 1 acre per second • Estimate 2: 80,000 acres per day • Estimate 3: 32,000 ha per day • Convert all three estimates into hectares per year and compare them.

15. #2 Food ProductionEnvironmental Indicator • Our ability to grow food to nourish the human population. • World grains • Examples: • ½ calories and proteins. • Amount of food produced on a given area: • Increased since the 1950s. • Due to:

16. Food Production • Per capita grain production: • Interpret the graph from 1950-2010 • Compare areas with most population to areas of food production. • Food shortages produce:

17. Factors Affecting Food Production • Explain how each factor affects food production: • Climate • Land • Soil • Population • Livestock • Ethanol, biodiesel

18. #3 Average Global Temperatures and CO2 Concentrations Environmental Indicator • Earth’s climate was very stable up until the last 2 centuries. • Temperature necessary for the presence of liquid water. • CO2 is a greenhouse gas. • Maintains the temperature.

19. Layers of Atmosphere • Layers of Atmosphere • Troposphere • Stratosphere • Mesosphere • Thermosphere • Exosphere • Notebook – facts and formulas

20. Stratosphere • Ozone layer • Ozone is good up high bad nearby. • Greenhouse gases • CO2 • H2O (water vapor) • CH4 • N2O • CFCs

21. CO2 and Temperature • CO2 is the most important greenhouse gas. • Increase is anthropogenic • Combustion of fossil fuels. • Loss of carbon sinks. • Associated with rise in temperatures.

22. #4 Human PopulationEnvironmental Indicator • 7 billion and growing • One million additional people every 5 days. • Population growth has been slowing down since the 1960s. • World population will continue to increase for the next 50 – 100 years. • Why?

23. #5 Resource DepletionEnvironmental Indicator • Depletion of non-renewable resources. • Environmental concerns over the extraction of the resources. • Resources • Non-renewable – finite and cannot be recycled or reused. • Non-renewable – finite and can be recycled and reused. • Renewable but must be used sustainably

24. Resource Use • Development – improvement in human well-being through economic advancement. • Developed countries/Developing countries

25. Sustainable Living • Living on earth in such a way that allows humans to use its resources without depriving future generations of those resources.

26. Ecological Footprint • The measure of how much that a person consumes expressed in an area of land. • Output from the total amount of land required to support a person’s lifestyle

27. Your Ecological Footprint • http://myfootprint.org/en/ • Access this site. • Answer the questions. • Determine your footprint. • Print your results. • Identify 5 ways you could reduce your footprint.