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How do humans impact the environment?

Humans impact the environment through population growth, pollution, limited resources, acid rain, global warming, and more. Activities like burning fossil fuels, deforestation, and pesticide use worsen global warming and biodiversity loss. Invasive species also disrupt ecosystems. To combat these issues, reducing pollution, using renewable energy sources, and protecting biodiversity are crucial.

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How do humans impact the environment?

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  1. How do humans impact the environment? 1. Population growth • More people means more resources are used and more pollution & garbage 2. Pollution • Industrialization: factories • Burning of fossil fuels (gas/oil) for factories and cars • Increased carbon dioxide levels in atmosphere

  2. Limited/Finite Resources (have a certain amount of them) • Renewable Resources- can be replaced with time • Examples: food supply, solar energy, wind energy • Nonrenewable Resources- cannot be replaced once they are used • Examples: fossil fuels (gas, oil, coal), minerals

  3. Acid Rain • Result of air pollution • Burning of fossil fuels releases pollutants into the air • Pollutants mix with rain water and then collect in ponds/streams/lakes/ground • Decreases biodiversity because some organisms can no longer live in the water • Changes/affects food chains/webs

  4. Acid Rain

  5. Global Warming • Caused by the Greenhouse Effect: increase in carbon dioxide in atmosphere, causes temperature of Earth to rise. • Main greenhouse gas: carbon dioxide • Effects: melting of polar ice caps, increase in extreme weather • Why would deforestation make this worse?

  6. Global Warming

  7. Global Warming

  8. What activities produce greenhouse gases? • Agriculture: (releases methane) • Transportation (cars, trucks, buses…): burns fossil fuels • Burning fossil fuels: factories, cars • NOT BREATHING!!!!!!

  9. Global Warming

  10. Global Warming

  11. Ways to reduce pollution and production of greenhouse gases? • Car pool • Electric cars • Public transportation • Plant new trees • Recycle • Wind/solar power Reduce buring of fossil fuel/ gas, and less carbon dioxide released into environment

  12. Use of Herbicides/Pesticides • Can kill other organisms than the ones intended • Can cause pesticide/herbicide resistance • Mutations allow some organisms to survive spraying • They reproduce and produce offspring that are also resistant • Have to find other ways to kill pest… sometimes a natural predator

  13. Why would deforestation make global warming worse? • Trees/plants remove carbon dioxide from the environment to use for photosynthesis • If forests are cut down, then less trees/plants to remove carbon dioxide from the environment • Cutting down trees/forests • Use materials, build/farm on the land • Decreases biodiversity (number of living species in an area like a forest)

  14. Biomagnification • Increasein the concentrationof a substance (toxic/poison) in living organisms as you move up the food chain. • (Toxins dumped in water, get eaten or absorbed by organisms)

  15. One more thing: invasive species • Organisms that are brought to an area, not native to that area originally • Why is this bad? • Invasive or non-native(exotic) species compete with native organisms for resources • Prey (kill/eat) native organisms = decrease biodiversity • Change food webs/chains

  16. Examples of Invasive/non-native/exotic Species • purple loosestrife plants: out-compete other plants for food, decreases biodiversity of area • zebra mussels in Lake Erie: out-compete other organisms for food, clog pipes, cling to ships • stink bugs: invade homes, no natural predator • Dutch elm disease: brought over by beetles, has killed half the elm trees in the US = decrease biodiversity.

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