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II. The Living Planet
A. The Earth System
A. The Earth System
INPUTS
BOUNDARY
OUTPUTS
MATTER
ENERGY
First and second laws????
ENERGY
WHAT PHILOSOPHICAL APPROACH
MIGHT WE USE TO FIGURE OUT HOW
THIS SYSTEM WORKS???
...reductionism... define, describe, and understand the subsystems
INPUTS
BOUNDARY
OUTPUTS
MATTER
ATMOSPHERE
LITHOSPHERE
ENERGY
ENERGY
HYDROSPHERE
A. The Earth System
1. Lithosphere
crust - dynamic mobile tectonic plates; vulcanism
upper mantle
A. The Earth System
1. Lithosphere
Why and how is the lithosphere important to life?
A. The Earth System
1. Lithosphere
Why and how is the lithosphere important to life?
1)
Source of inorganic nutrients (P, K, Na, Ca)
2) Movements of plates explain the distribution of life forms.
Marsupials evolved in the
southern hemisphere and
radiated across the
supercontinent before
separation of the land masses.
A. The Earth System
2. Atmosphere
78% Nitrogen Gas (N2)
21% Oxygen Gas (O2)
1% traces of:
Noble Gases
Carbon Dioxide (CO2)
Hydrogen Gas (H2)
Methane (CH4)
water vapor (H2O)
A. The Earth System
2. Atmosphere
How is this important to life?
A. The Earth System
2. Atmosphere
How is this important to life?
1) Source of inorganic nutrients (N, O2)
A. The Earth System
3. Hydrosphere - 98% liquid water
- Ocean: 97% (1.35 billion km3)
3.5% dissolved salts by volume
- Freshwater: 3% (48 million km3)
Ice: 2/3 (33 million km3)
Groundwater: 1/3 (15.3 km3)
Soil: trace (122,000 km3)
Rivers/Lakes: trace (40,000 km3)
Air: trace (13,000 km3)
A. The Earth System
3. Hydrosphere - 98% liquid water
How is this important to life?
A. The Earth System
3. Hydrosphere - 98% liquid water
How is this important to life?
1) It is the environment of life – reactions between soluble compounds occur
readily in liquid water… and more in a moment.
WHAT OTHER PHILOSOPHICAL
APPROACH COULD WE USE TO
DETERMINE WHETHER THE EARTH
SYSTEM IS "TYPICAL"?
II. The Living Planet
B. Comparing Earth, Venus, and Mars
Atmospheric Composition
Earth Venus
CO2 0.035%
96%
N2
77%
3.5%
H2O
Ar
O2
Venus and Mars are fairly similar.
But where did all Earth's CO2 go?
And where did all the O2 come from????
Mars
95%
2.7%
1% 0.01% 0.007%
0.93% 0.007%
1.6%
21% trace
trace
II. The Living Planet
B. Comparing Earth, Venus, and Mars
1. Liquid water has changed our planet:
- takes CO2 out of atmosphere (dissolution)
- erodes lithosphere
the two things put carbon and mineral nutrients into solution, where they
can react with one another, and be taken up by....
Carbon-Based Life
Forms!!
II. The Living Planet
B. Comparing Earth, Venus, and Mars
2. LIFE CHANGES OUR PLANET
- increases rates of flux between other subsystems
(evapotranspiration, nutrient uptake, respiration)
- Changes the composition of subsystems
- Life transports CO2 from the atmosphere to living
tissues or its products (Calcium Carbonate shells), which settle in sedimentary
strata of carbonaceous rocks (limestone and derivatives) and fossil deposits (oil,
gas).
White cliffs of Dover
Coccolith - a phytoplankton
II. The Living Planet
B. Comparing Earth, Venus, and Mars
2. LIFE CHANGES OUR PLANET
- increases rates of flux between other subsystems
(evapotranspiration, nutrient uptake, respiration)
- Changes the composition of subsystems
- Life transports CO2 from the atmosphere to living
tissue or its products (shells), which settles in sedimentary strata of carbonaceous
rocks (limestone and derivatives) and fossil deposits (oil, gas).
- Photosynthesis releases O2. That is where ALL of
the Earth's oxygen gas has come from.
A. The Earth System
3. Interactions (fluxes)
Evaporation
ATMOSPHERE
Volcanic gases,
Particulates
Precipitation
Sedimentation
LITHOSPHERE
HYDROSPHERE
Erosion
A. The Earth System
3. Interactions (fluxes)
Evaporation
ATMOSPHERE
Volcanic gases,
Particulates
Precipitation
BIOSPHERE
Sedimentation
LITHOSPHERE
HYDROSPHERE
Erosion
I. WHAT IS LIFE?
II. The Living Planet
A. The Earth System
B. Conclusions
- The current conditions on the Earth that support human life and culture
are produced by the dynamic interplay of the earth subsystems - the
BIOSPHERE IS CRITICAL HERE.
- Change the subsystems and alter the dynamics.
- Will future conditions support human life.....?
III. What is Ecology?
A. Definitions:
III. What is Ecology?
A. Definitions:
Ricklefs - “The study of the interactions of organisms
with one another and with their environment”
III. What is Ecology?
A. Definitions:
B. Biological Scales
III. What is Ecology?
A. Definitions:
B. Biological Scales
C. Ecological Roles
Primary Producers fix energy
in sunlight and build/absorb
organic molecules….some
bacteria, some protists, and
plants.
Consumers eat primary
producers, decomposers, and
other consumers as herbivores,
detritivores, predators, and
parasites… some bacteria, some
protists, and animals.
Decomposers eat dead
material and release
nutrients to the soil.
Bacteria and fungi.
III. What is Ecology?
A. Definitions:
B. Biological Scales
C. Ecological Roles
D. Effect: Distribution
and abundance
Distribution and abundance across space
Distribution and abundance through time
IV. Why is it Important?
IV. Why is it Important?
A. Pragmatic Reasons
IV. Why is it Important?
A. Pragmatic Reasons
Human Ecology:
- distribution...
Human Ecology:
- distribution...
Human Ecology:
- distribution...
Human Ecology:
- distribution...
Human Ecology:
- distribution...
Human Ecology:
- distribution... and abundance...
Human Ecology:
- distribution... and abundance...
Born 1928 (3.5x)
Born 1960 (2.1x)
Born 1987 (1.5x)
Humans affect 83% of the land surface area on the planet
Industrialization has allowed us to become a geological force,
acting at rates millions of times faster than natural processes
The Earth has become a human-dominated system…
2012: 391
IV. Why is it Important?
A. Pragmatic Reasons
B. Sustainability
IV. Why is it Important?
A. Pragmatic Reasons
B. Sustainability
Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the
present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their
own needs.
IV. Why is it Important?
A. Pragmatic Reasons
B. Sustainability
Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the
present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their
own needs.
How?
IV. Why is it Important?
A. Pragmatic Reasons
B. Sustainability
C. Biodiversity
And that’s why all FU students
must take a Humans and the
Natural Environment class…