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64 Cards in this Set

  • Front
  • Back

What Is Environmental Science?

Environmental science is a multidisciplinary academic field thatintegrates physical, biological and information sciences to the study of the environment, and the solutionof environmental problems.

How are we transforming our resources to meet our NEEDS?

Transforming resources to meet our needs – erosion, deforestation, habitat loss...

How are we transforming our resources in terms of our NEEDS?

Consuming resources - food, water, energy, wood... – over exploitation.

How are we transforming our resources in terms of our NATURAL PROCESSES?

Altering natural processes – cycles - higher temperatures – Sea level rise, coral bleaching

How are we transforming our resources in a bad way?

Eradicating – Endangered Species - habitat loss, pollution, invasive species

How are we transforming our resources in terms of our waste?

Producing Waste - pollution, impacting wildlife

Renewable Resources (define)

Resources that are replaced by natural processes and that can be used forever,provided they are not over exploited in the short term.

Examples of Renewable resources

Animals, Energy, Crops, Trees for air/furniture

Non-Renewable resources (Define)

Natural Resources that are present in limited supplies and are depletedas they are used.

Non-Renewable resources (examples)

Oil/fossil fuels(coal, oil, natural gas), nuclear fuel (uranium ore), metal ore,




any resource that takes a very long time to create vs the time it takes to use causing a depletion of it as a resource.





Ecological Footprint

a method of tracking one's DEMAND on the biosphere VS the earth's SUPPLY.




It calculates the area required to producethe resources people consume, the area occupied by infrastructure, and the area of forest required forsequestering CO2 by the ocean

Ecological footprint

Since the 1970s, humanity as a whole passed the point at which the annual Ecological Footprintmatched the Earth’s annual biocapacity

Approach to Address Environmental Problems. Risk Analysis:

Potential Effects of various Interventions, including doing nothing. Develop ahypothesis to explain problem

Approach to Address Environmental Problems. Public Engagement:

Changing public attitudes: explaining problem, presenting Availablealternatives, revealing probable risks, results, and cost of each choice Analyze and interpret datato reach conclusions

Approach to Address Environmental Problems. Political Considerations:

legislations to protect the public and the environment

Approach to Address Environmental Problems. Long-Term Environmental Management:

Monitor actions taken to document results, modifysolutions, actions

Approach to Address Environmental Problems

risk analysis


public engagement


political considerations


long term envir. management

Intrinsic value

Something is said to have intrinsic value if it is good “in and of itself” i.e., not merely as a means foracquiring something else.

instrumental value

Something is said to have instrumental value if it is good because it provides the means foracquiring something else of value.

Sustainability Levels:

Individual, Family/Network, Local Community (or Regional), National, Global

Green Roof

growing stuff on your roof

benefits of green roof

Some of the benefits of green roof are: Conserve/reduce energy/roof isolation, Extending the life ofroofing materials, Control/reduce storm water runoff, Filter pollutants out of rainwater, Reduceoutdoor sounds, Reduce city heat effects, Create a urban wildlife habitat, Could be used to growvegetables and fruits, Provide an outdoor space for people.

Population Growth

1960 – 3 billion,


1975 – 4 billion,


1987 – 5 billion,


2011 – 7 billion,


2050 – 9.6 billion (estimated),


18% highly developed countries,


82% moderately or less developed countries.

Population Rate equation

R = b – d + (i – e)


R = growth rate, b = birth rate, d = death rate, i = immigration rate, e = emigration

Population Rate (definition)

A maximum rate at which a population could increase under ideal conditions: Age reproductionsbegins, Reproduction life span, # of reproductive periods, # of offspring per period.

Other Factors that help Predict Future Population are:

Age Structure, Fertility Rates, Social andEconomic Status, Health care, Education, Jobs, Standard of living, Family Planning Services, TheDemographic Transition Stage, Diseases, War/political status, Climate Change.

Study the different Population Pyramids.

Be able to identify population growth base on the shape of the pyramid.

Understand the different stages of the Demographic Transition diagram.

Be able to identify how the curve for birth rate, death rate, and population growth change in each stage.

Know the impact of high develop countries on our environment,

e.g. Consumes 50% of worlds resources, produce 75% of the worlds pollution and waste, represents 18% of the world’s population, 1 child impact more than 20 children in developing countries.

Environmental Problems of Urban Areas:

affect land use patterns, destroys or fragments wildlife habitats, brownfields – contaminated areas, Increased air pollution – transportation, factories, and commercial enterprises, affect water flow

Compact Development

Design of cities in which tall, multiple-unit residential buildings are closeto shopping and jobs, and all are connected by public transportation

Miami Design District the first ___ Certified Development in Miami-Dade. Additionally theGarden Building is the first rooftop garden which received ____ ____ certification for Core &Shell.

leed, leed gold

South Florida Population Growth:

Massive population growth between 2010 and 2013. The 4.4%population increase can be largely attributed to international and domestic migration, with naturalbirth-to-death rate discrepancy totaling less than one-third of the growth.

What are the top two personal energy use categories?

Cars and Energy IN STUFF

Don't Panic

Pop growth

Population

1. Population - a group of organisms of the same species that live in the same place at the same time.

Landscape

2. Landscape - is a region that includes several interacting ecosystems.

Communities

all the populations of different species that live and interact together within an area atthe same time; note the tidal pool community.

Ecosystems

community and physical environment

Landscape Ecology

studies the connections among ecosystems in a given region

Thermodynamics

the study of energy and its transformations. “Energy changes from on form toanother"

First Law of Thermodynamics

Law of Conservation of Matter. Matter/energy cannot be creatednor can it be destroyed. The quantity of matter/energy remains the same. It can change from solid toliquid to gas to plasma and back again, but the total amount of matter/energy in the universe remainsconstant.

Entropy

measure of disorder or randomness of energy, usable energy – low entropy, disorganizedenergy – high entropy

Second Law of Thermodynamics

Law of Increased of Entropy. While quantity remains the same(First Law), the quality of matter/energy deteriorates gradually over time

Three Categories of Organisms PCD

PCD




Producers, Consumers, and Decomposers (know examples of eachcategory




in a forest


producer (plants)


consumer (deer)


decomposer (mushroom)



Trophic Level

each level in a food chain

Pyramid of Energy:

Pyramid of Energy:illustrate how energy dissipates into the environment as it moves from one trophic level to the next.

Pyramid of Numbers

shows the numbers of organisms at each stage of the food chain.

Interactions among organisms:

Symbiosis: Work together (birds that sit on alligator)


Mutualism: Both Benefit (bird on an animal)


Commensalism: (birds eating insects in the ground after a herd of cattle eat all the grass)

Ecosystems processes which 5 things?

Water


Carbon


Nitrogen


Sulfur


Phosphorous

The Carbon Cycle

0.04% of the atmosphere.


Photosynthesis fixes carbon from CO2 into carbohydrates.


Fossil fuels, coal, oil and natural gas are deposits of carbon compounds.




Atmosphere/ocean, photosynthesis, cellular respiration/combustion/decomposition,

Federal Lands are managed by

U.S. Department of Interior (The Bureau of Land Management(BLM) and The Fish and Wildlife Services (FWS)) and National Park Services (NPS)) and The US Department of Agriculture (US Forest Services (USFS))

Problems our National Parks are facing:

Water pollution, Air Pollution, Overcrowding, InvasiveSpecies, Clear cutting right up to the park boundaries, Off-road vehicles, Boundaries established are not ecological boundaries, Mining, Resource extraction, Industrial development on vicinities, Lack of species/resources identification, under funding.

Funding priorities for national parks:

Wildlife protection, Habitat restoration, Conservation research, and EducationalInitiatives.

What can we do to help national parks?

take direct actions, volunteering, adopting a park, pulling everyone togetherto protect the parks, Being mindful when we visit a park, Education at school levels, and Public environmental awareness.

Know the four forest harvesting methods.

1. Selective Cutting, 2.Shelterred Wood Cutting, 3. SeedTree Cutting, 4. Clear Cutting

Know the mission and purpose of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and the Bird FriendlyCertifications.

FSC sets standards for responsible forest management and protect forest for futuregenerations. Bird Friendly: to ensure that farms produce coffee beans that are 100% organic and shade-grown, in order to preserve tropical “agroforests” and migratory birds.

Biodiversity Hotspots

Relatively small areas of land that contain an exceptional number of endemicspecies and are at high risk from human activities.

Human causes of species endangerment

- Loss of habitat is greatest threat, pollution, spread ofinvasive species, overexploitation, and climate change.

Invasive Species

alter native plant communities, out-compete and kill native species, affect naturalecosystems.

Solutions for conserving biodiversity

Protecting habitats, restoring damaged or destroyed habitats,conserving species, promote biodiversity and species richness.

Study the PowerPoint Presentations from Week 6 – Online Work

Part 1 Biodiversity andConservation

Study the Biome Presentation

Week 4 and 5 –Online Work – Part 1: Ecosystems and EvolutionMain Cycles. Refer to Biome Summary Table.

Study the presentation for Solid Waste Management

Week 6 – 2/17. What are the differentdisposal solid waste management methods? What percentage of the waste is MSW out of the total solid waste produced in the US?