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49 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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What is carbon sequestration?
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Capturing and storing carbon dioxide (CO2) (ie, trees are effective natural sequesters)
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What are to issues of going organic and not?
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Being less organic means usage of more insecticides and toxins, while going organic can possibly lead to starvation in the long run.
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What is a keystone specie?
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Certain organisms that are essential for the survival of its particular environment.
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What are the effects of the restoration of the Cheonggyecheon river?
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Becomes a spiritual location for the people.
Traffic congestion is actually indifferent. Ecosystem is restored. Expensive to maintain the river. Sewage redirected to another river. Some people are evicted from that area. |
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How has Portland made itself a sustainable city?
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Promotes public transportation (less pollution and traffic congestion)
Urban growth boundaries to protect rural areas. |
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How is bottled water bad for the environment?
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Disposal of bottled water increases carbon footprint.
Animals sometimes eat bottle and are poisoned. Water is taken from their natural source and the local people lose clean water. |
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What are some reasons that our Earth's climate is changing?
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Global warming. (from greenhouse gas emitted by humans)
Low solar activities. (less warm air) |
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What is NIMBY?
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"Not In My Back Yard", usually talking about countries not wanting to be a dumping ground for trash.
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Why do some people defend the use of plastic bags?
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Plastic bags are very convenient for stores and jobs are made in plastic companies. They also suggest recycling.
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From paper cups, ceramic cups and plastic cups, which one is more sustainable for the environment.
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Paper cups.
Plastic cups take too long to degrade. Ceramic cups need to be frequently washed with lots of water. |
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What are some factors to the disappearance of bees?
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Invaders like varroa destructors feed on bees and infect them from a virus.
Pesticides are also a factor, likely from the use of neonicotinoids. Modern farming techniques also affect the bees, as more farmland means less for the bees to forage. |
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What are some solutions to help the bees?
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Flower strips (to pollinate flowers while helping the production of food).
GMO crops that do not need pesticides (however, they might end up being the cause of their disappearance as well). Hand pollination (creative but ineffective) |
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What is fracking?
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Fracking is a cheap method of getting energy by using hydraulic fracturing to get shale gas. The drill is drilled horizontally and pressuring water, fracturing the rocks and collects the gas.
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Why do people find fracking a good idea?
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Energy security (all countries need energy)
Eliminating political insecurities (why import gas when we can produce our own) More jobs Land owners can lease land for royalties. |
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How can fracking affect the environment?
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Gas and contaminated water can leak out of wells (though not much evidence)
Drinking water may have methane that comes from underground as a result of poorly constructed wells (again, not solid evidence). |
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What is colony collapse disorder (CCD)?
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Colony (especially bees) population collapsing and declining, usually when bees fail to return to the hive.
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Why are neonicotinoids used and what are the issues?
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Neonicotinoids are used instead of pesticides because they don't affect humans (insects are broken off from our evolutionary lineage).
They can affect pollinators like bees, and that becomes an issue. However, neonicotinoids are money efficient and so many defend that there is little evidence. |
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How are the negative effects of nuclear power not that significant?
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Nuclear power is reliable and cheap.
Fukushima had a small condensation chamber that could not cope with the steam, so more of the fault of nuclear station management. Many people are diagnosed of thyroid cancer from radiation, but there is a high survival rate. |
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What possible changes can make nuclear power more safer and efficient?
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Thorium can be an alternative to uranium (burns more efficiently, completely and abundant)
Nuclear waste can be accelerated to turn heavy elements into lighter elements, reducing the amount of time they stay radioactive. |
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What is albedo?
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The capacity of a surface to reflect or absorb solar radiation.
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How does the positive feedback loop relate to the albedo effect?
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The ice caps reflects the light which reduces global warming. With more global warming, the ice caps are melting, making melt water. Melt water is darker, absorbing more light, melting more of the ice cap. As this continues it results in a positive feedback loop.
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What is bitumen?
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Oil mixed with sand.
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Why are people opposing the Keystone XL pipeline?
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Crude oil is dirty and speeds up climate change.
Extraction is destructive to the environment. Potential pipe leaks. Taking private property to build the pipeline. Aquifers might be polluted if built over. |
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What are the problems in China related to pollution?
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Carbon emissions produce much greenhouse gas.
A lot of farmland are being contaminated with heavy metals. 40% of mammals are threatened. The water in China is being polluted, affecting agriculture. The air has a lot of particles and affects health. |
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How is China trying to reduce its pollution?
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Aiming for green energy (solar, wind, hydro)
Setting carbon prices. |
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What is the Carbon Trading System?
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By cap and trade, people can only produce a certain amount of carbon, and trade it with someone who wants it (for sequestering).
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What are MEDCs and LEDCs?
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MEDC = more economically developed countries
LEDC = less economically developed countries |
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How are the MEDCs and LEDCs imbalanced in terms of food?
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LEDCs have more people with malnutrition and are inadequately fed.
MEDC impose tariffs that makes food expensive. Export subsidies provided by MEDCs to their farmers make farmers in LEDC uncompetitive. Climate change has a large impact on LEDC, as it leads to increase drought and a shortage of food. Farming is more small scale in LEDCs than the monoculture MEDCs. |
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Why are the LEDCs pressured to produce more?
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Increased come lead to more meat and milk consumption and increases grain prices.
Not enough land to produce meat. MEDCs must halve their meat and dairy intake for LEDCs to enjoy the same meal. |
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What is wrong with eating meat compared to vegetables or grain?
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Meat is higher up the trophic level, which uses more energy but gives less.
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What are agribusinesses and why do people do it?
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They are usually monoculture and intensively farmed with fertilizers and pesticides, as well as being mechanized. They do it to sell food for exports rather than feeding it to the people.
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Why do most national political economies support agribusinesses despite their danger to the environment and the biodiversity?
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Agribusinesses help support gross national income (GNP).
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How much of the world's fish stocks are overfished?
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2/3 of the world's fish stocks are overfished.
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How much of the sea is being protected?
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Less than 1%.
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What are some modern fishing practices that might not be good for the environment?
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Dredging the sea bed, making it a desert.
Disposing of fish that could be eaten. Dynamiting fish, which kills a lot of the fish in the area but can destroy the coral. Sonar, finding more fish to be fished |
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What are ways to help sustain coral reefs and fish populations?
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Replanting coral after they are dredged.
Turn an area into a reserve. Scaring fish into nets instead of dynamiting for subsistence farming. |
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Out of the freshwater in the world, where are they stored?
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70% in ice caps and glaciers, while only 0.3% are in lakes and rivers that are renewable.
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How many people are living without clean water?
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1 billion people.
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How many people are lacking sanitation?
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2.6 billion people.
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Why do LEDC's need more water? Why do MEDC's need more water?
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LEDCs=agriculture, expanding populations, industry.
MEDCs=frequent use of water |
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What is going on with the cod in Newfoundland?
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They are extremely overfished until a ban was put on them. Unfortunately, the cod is so overfished that they can almost never recover again.
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What are the concerns about the politics and fishing conservation?
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Politicians need to satisfy people whose job is related to fishing.
Some government give fishing rights to foreign nations for quick cash. Many politicians deny scientific suggestions, saying that the issues do not have enough evidence. |
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What are the problems related to long line fishing. What are some solutions?
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They can attract albatross, which can get stuck on the lines and die. Streamers can be used to scare them, and the bait can be thawed so that the line sinks out of sight.
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What are the advantages of having marine reserves?
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They are not fished and therefore fish population can recover.
Mature and big fish will eventually leave the reserve and get caught, still helping the fishermen. Coral reefs are protected, ensuring biodiversity. |
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Why are fishing with nets disadvantageous?
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Too much fish can be caught, significantly reducing the population. Fish can also suffer, which reduces meat quality. They might also capture unwanted species like turtles.
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What was the reason for the cerrado to be infertile?
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The soil was very acidic and so nothing could grow there.
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What are some ways that helped fertilize the cerrado?
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Using lime and phosphorus to make the soil more neutral/
Use brachiaria, a grass from Africa. Turn soyabeans into a tropical crop (instead of temperate). Use no-till agriculture (soil is not ploughed or harvested at ground level.) |
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Why is Brazil described as an agricultural giant?
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Brazilian crops increased by 365% in ten years (1996-2006)
Largest exporter of beef, poultry, sugar cane, ethanol, and 1/4 of the world's soybean with just 6% of arable land. 8000 billion cubic kilometers of renewable water each year. |
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What is Round Up Ready?
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Putting fertilizers and pesticides in the genome of the crop.
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