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Case Study – Neuse River Pg. 1

Case Study – Neuse River Pg. 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?. Case Study – Easter Island pg.12.

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Case Study – Neuse River Pg. 1

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  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.

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