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Earth a global check up

Earth a global check up. Michael Reed Associate Professor of Geography Glendale Community College. Source: NASA, MODIS. Patient Medical History. How long has she had complex life? 500 million years. When did mammals start to increase on her surface? 60 million years ago.

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Earth a global check up

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  1. Earth a global check up Michael Reed Associate Professor of Geography Glendale Community College Source: NASA, MODIS

  2. Patient Medical History How long has she had complex life? 500 million years When did mammals start to increase on her surface?60 million years ago When did her destructive chain-smoking habit begin?175 years ago When did she first contract homo sapiens?200,000 years When did she have dinosaurs? 265-65 million years ago Age of patient? 4.6 billion years When did her humans first start to form hives?In just the last 10,000 years How long has she had birds?130 million years

  3. “What seems to be the problem?” The Earth is showing signs of feeling a bit sick lately.

  4. Human Impact on the Environment, 1700 Human Impact on the Environment, 2032 Human Impact on the Environment, 2002 First, she’s got an infection of humans that is growing like a cancer and is highly resistant to all known treatments. Source: Hugo Ahlenius. 2003. UNEP/GRID-Arendal. Global Environmental Outlook 3, 2002.

  5. Humanity has wandered the earth for a very long time. The first hominids roamed eastern Africa 5-7 million years ago.

  6. The first modern humans walked out of Africa as hunter-gatherers only 70,000 years ago.

  7. At that time there were probably about 1 million humans on Earth Graph Source: www.census.gov & www.wikipedia.org

  8. When Darwin published On the Origin of Species there were 1billion humans Graph Source: www.census.gov & www.wikipedia.org

  9. When I was born there were3.6billion humans Graph Source: www.census.gov & www.wikipedia.org

  10. 6,914,504,604humans today The U.S. Census Bureau estimates the world population at: …and counting!

  11. Las Vegas, Nevada LANDSAT Images 1973 - 2006 The infection is growing.

  12. It also seems to be getting stronger at the moment. Source: A. Maddison. 2003. World Population, GDP and Per Capita GDP, 1-2003 AD. http://www.ggdc.net/MADDISON/oriindex.htm

  13. But humanity grows by eating away at its host. It uses 30% of all trapped photosynthetic energy, leaving little for other species. Source: United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). 2005. Millennium Ecosystem Assessment

  14. Human demands on renewable resources now exceed nature’s supply by about 30%. Source: World Wildlife Fund. 2010. Living Planet Report. http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/all_publications/living_planet_report/2010_lpr/

  15. California Utah California And the non-renewable resources are never coming back. We are depleting them rapidly as fuel, fertilizer, and plastics. Photo Credits: Ed Burtynsky. Manufactured Landscapes. 2003.

  16. The 1000+ scientists involved in the United Nations Millenium Ecosystem Assessment (2005) concluded that 15 of 24 ecosystem services are in serious decline and five are in a precarious condition. The reality is that Earth’s ecosystems, our only store of long term wealth, are generally in decline. Source: United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). 2005. Millennium Ecosystem Assessment

  17. Over the last 500 million years, more new species evolved than went extinct. It’s only during rare cataclysmic events that large numbers of species were extincted. Today this pattern is rapidly reversing due to human interference. Source: Withgott and Brennan. 2009. The Essential Environment. Pearson. Data from Raup, D.M. et al. 1982. Mass extinctions in the fossil record. Science 215.

  18. We are entering the 6th mass extinction event. The current species extinction rate is between 100 and 1,000 times higher than the natural or ‘background’ rate and is accelerating. In the last 500 years, human activity extincted at least 869 species. One in three amphibians and almost half of all tortoises and fresh water turtles are threatened. The number of species known to be threatened with extinction has topped 16,928! One in four mammals and one in eight birds face a high risk of extinction in the near future. Sources: International Union for Conservation of Nature. www.iucn.org; National Geographic Society. www.ngs.org

  19. The world’s forests are half gone and are still disappearing Brazil

  20. The World’s ForestsRemaining and Lost Source: World Resources Institute / South Dakota State University, 2009 Pristine Forest Landscapes Formerly forest, now croplands Formerly forest, now pasture Degraded Forest Landscapes Original forest cover Current forest cover Tropical deforestation 2000-2005

  21. Iguazu Falls, Argentina / Paraguay LANDSAT Images 1973 - 2004 Source: UNEP. 2005. One Planet, Many People.http://na.unep.net/atlas/onePlanetManyPeople/book.php

  22. Santa Cruz, Bolivia LANDSAT Images 1975 - 2003 Source: UNEP. 2005. One Planet, Many People.http://na.unep.net/atlas/onePlanetManyPeople/book.php

  23. Mexico-Guatemala Border Region LANDSAT Images 1974 - 2000 Source: UNEP. 2005. One Planet, Many People.http://na.unep.net/atlas/onePlanetManyPeople/book.php

  24. The world’s wetlands are half gone and are still disappearing. Roughly 90% of California’s wetlands are gone!

  25. Gulf of Fonseca, HondurasLANDSAT Images 1987 - 1999 About 35% of mangroves have been destroyed over just the last 25 years. Source: United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). 2005. Millennium Ecosystem Assessment

  26. Agribusiness and feedlot near Bakersfield, California The world’s grasslands are half gone, lost to agriculture, pasture land, and urbanization.

  27. 20% of coral reefs were lost and an additional 20% were degraded in just the last several decades of the twentieth century. Source: United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). 2005. Millennium Ecosystem Assessment

  28. More than 50% of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef had collapsed by 1950. Source: ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at the University of Queensland , 2012.

  29. Her lungs are fouled by pollution from smoking. In the United States alone about 3 million tons of toxic chemicals are released into the environment each year - contributing to cancer, birth defects, immune system defects and many other serious health problems. Air pollution from smoke and various chemicals kills 3 million people a year worldwide. Source: D. Pimentel, et al. Cornell University.Human Ecology. 2007. Vol. 39, Dec. Ecology of Increasing Diseases: Population Growth and Environmental Degradation.

  30. Three Gorges Dam, China Her arteries are clogged with dams and polluted with toxic chemicals.

  31. Lake Powell, Arizona

  32. 40% of U.S. rivers, lakes, and streams are not fit for swimming, fishing, or drinking. Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 1994. Nonpoint Source Pollution: The Nation's Largest Water Quality Problem. Data from National Water Quality Inventory. http://water.epa.gov 

  33. 80% of China’s rivers are unfit for human contact. Aquatic life in these rivers is in decline. Dongxiang, China  Source: State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA), 2002. Report on the State of the Environment in China 2002. Environmental Information Centre (SEPA), Beijing.

  34. There are hundreds of hypoxic dead zones in the world’s oceans today, a massive increase in my life. Sources: Diaz, R. J., & Rosenberg, R. (2008). Spreading Dead Zones and Consequences for Marine Ecosystems. Science, 321.NASA Earth Observatory.http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/imagerecords/44000/44677/dead_zones_lrg.jpg

  35. Source: Recreation Fishing Alliance. 1998.Rebuilding North Atlantic Swordfish: A Report to Congress and the Administration. 75% of all fisheries are at their limits, are declining, or have collapsed. Large predatory fish are already largely gone. Source: Ransom A Myers, B. Worm. 2003. Rapid worldwide depletion of predatory fish communities. Nature: London.

  36. North Atlantic Cod Catch, 1850-2004 Atlantic Cod Annual Catch, 1850-2004

  37. Even with the newest technologies we are not catching any more wild fish. Source: UNEP/GRID-Arendal Maps and Graphics Library. Retrieved 04:59, April 26, 2011

  38. Increasingly our patient is dehydrated and thirsty. About 1.8 billion people currently live in areas experiencing severe water stress. Source: UNESCO-WWAP. 2006. 2nd UN World Water Development Report.

  39. Flow of the Colorado River

  40. Colorado River Delta, Mexico

  41. The Aral Sea LANDSAT Images 1973 - 2004 Photo: David Harvey. www.mongliza.com Source: UNEP. 2005. One Planet, Many People.http://na.unep.net/atlas/onePlanetManyPeople/book.php

  42. Jordan Ancient aquifers are overpumped in many countries. 175 million Indians and 130 million Chinese are fed with grain irrigated by overpumping wells.   Source: Lester Brown. 2010. Plan B 4.0 Mobilizing to Save Civilization. http://www.earth-policy.org/index.php?/books/pb4/pb4_table_of_contents

  43. Pivot Irrigation Wells, Kansas

  44. Now to the most ominous symptom of all: a fever that’s rising fast. The 10 hottest years on record in order: 2010 2005 1998 2003 2002 2009 2006 2007 2004 2001 Source: National Climate Data Center (NOAA). 2011. Global Surface Temperature Anomalies. http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/

  45. The yellow arrow indicates when the first agricultural towns were built. The Earth’s temperature was remarkably stable over the 10,000 years. Source: Intergovermental Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (ACIA). 2004. http://www.acia.uaf.edu/pages/scientific.html

  46. Yet she continues to smoke. Carbon dioxide levels are still rising in her lungs. Source: Worldwatch Institute. 2007. Vital Signs 2007-2008. Source: U.S. Global Change Research Program. 2009. Global Climate Change Impacts in the U.S. www.globalchange.gov.

  47. The resulting temperature increases will exacerbate all of her other health problems. Source: U.S. Global Change Research Program. 2009. Global Climate Change Impacts in the U.S. www.globalchange.gov.

  48. She is already suffering frequent hot flashes, dehydration, sweats, and chills. Hurricane Katrina, 2005

  49. Her glaciers are melting much faster than predicted.

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