Survey
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
APES review #2 Global Warming (aka a Chinese conspiracy) Consequences Decrease your contribution • Rising Sea level • Biomes shift to higher latitudes • Melting ice caps and glaciers • Change in precipitation patterns • Hotter weather • More extreme weather • Coral bleaching • Consume less • Eat more veggies less meat • Carpool • Conserve energy at home • Shorter showers / less hot water • Use energy efficient appliances 5 greenhouse gasses • CO2, CH4, N2O, CFCs, H20 • Only H2O is not human produced except in some steam emissions from cooling towers Revolutionary changes • Earth 4.5 billion years old • Life 3.5 billion years on this planet • Dinosaurs extinct 65 million years ago • Homo sapiens 200,000 years ago • Homo sapiens sapiens (us) on the scene 50,000 years ago • Agricultural revolution 10,000 years ago • Industrial revolution 200 years ago • Green revolution 50-60 years ago Ozone depleting gases • CFCs and methyl bromide • Montreal Protocol works to ban ODC – ozone depleting chemicals • HCFC - hydrocholoroflourocarbons – used to replace CFC after they were banned but these are a potent greenhouse gas so they are now being phased out at well In a scrub ecosystem (trails on campus • Biotic – oak trees, gopher tortoise (keystone species), pine trees, lichens • Abiotic – sandy soil, high sun exposure, low water availability, nutrient poor soils Energy Processes • Photosynthesis (Green Plants) sunlight +water + carbon dioxide oxygen + sugars • Respiration (All living things) oxygen + sugars ATP +water + carbon dioxide • ATP is molecular energy storage Biodiversity – the variety of life composed of richness (# of different species & evenness – relative # of individuals in each species • Generalist – broad niche, many diet options • Specialist – very specific niche, narrow range of conditions for survival • Invasive species – introduced to an area they don’t belong and outcompetes / over grows others • Keystone species – more important than numbers dictate, supports the whole habitat by their activity • Indicator species – their health / numbers tell us the condition of the environment • Endemic species – found one place and nowhere else in the world Biomes • Large land areas characterized by similar climatic conditions (temp and precipitation) and vegetation type Biomes Biome Location Tropical Rainforest Climate High temp, high precip Temperate deciduous forest North America, Europe Seasonal temp, moderate precip Taiga Canada, Russia Colder winters, lower precip Tropical Grassland High temp, low rainfall but wet season Temperate Grassland Seasonal temp, semi arid Tundra North Canada, North Russia Low precip, arid & cold Desert 30˚ north – sahara, Gobi, Australia Lowest precip, arid & extreme temps plants animals Eutrophication is • The natural or artificial enhancement of a body of water, particularly with respect to nitrates and phosphates, that results in depletion of the oxygen content of the water • It is accelerated by human activities that add detergents, sewage or agricultural fertilizers to bodies of water Eutrophication Process overview 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Increase in nitrates and phosphates Rapid growth of algae Accumulation of dead organic material High rate of decomposition Decrease in oxygen Ocean acidification • Increase CO2 in the atmosphere • Increase CO2 dissolution in the ocean surface • H2O + CO2 H2CO3 (carbonic acid) • Ocean pH drops (becomes more acidic) • Effects CaCO3 using organisms making it hard for shell formation, skeleton formation – loss of reefs among other threats from this