Human Impact on the Environment

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Human Impact onthe Environment
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• Term used to refer to a species that has died out

extinct
If a pesticide was passing through this food
chain, which organism would have the greatest
concentration of pesticide?
Bird at the top trophic level
3

• A necessity of life (resource) which can NOT be
  replenished by natural means
• Ex fossil fuels

Non-renewable resource
Wearing away of the surface soil by water and
wind
erosion
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• Farming strategy in which large fields are
  planted with a single crop variety year after year

monoculture
a necessity of life (resource) which can
regenerate quickly and that is replaceable
Ex trees, water
Renewable resource
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• Increasing concentration a harmfulsubstance
  in organisms at higher trophic levels in a food
  chain or web
• Name the pesticide that
• concentrated in fish-eating
• birds like eagles and
• caused them to lay eggs
• with fragile shells

Biological magnification
DDT
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• Program in which endangered species are allowed
  to breed in zoos until numbers increase and then
  are returned to their natural habitats

Captive breeding
Forests that have never been cut that provide
unique habitats for wildlife
Old growth forests OR virgin forests
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• Uppermost layer of soil that contains most of the
  nutrients and is susceptible to erosion

topsoil
Wavelength of sunlight that causes sunburn, skin
cancer, and cataracts whichthe ozone layer
protects us from
Ultra violet (UV)
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• The development of highly productive crop
  strains and the use of modern agriculture
  techniques to increase yields of food crops

Green revolution
Way of using natural resources without depleting
them and of providing for human needs without
causing long term harm to the environment
Sustainable development
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• A process caused by a combination of poor farming
  practices, overgrazing, and drought that turns
  productive land in areas with dry climates into
  deserts

desertification
A mixture of chemicals (smoke fog) that
occurs as a gray-brown haze in the atmosphere
smog
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• Harmful material that can enter the biosphere
  through land, water, or air

pollutant
the sum total of the variety of organisms in the
biosphere It is a measure of the health of an
ecosystem
biodiversity
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• term used to refer to a species that is at risk
  of becoming endangered

threatened
Splitting of ecosystems into small areas
Habitat fragmentation
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• a species whose population size is rapidly
  declining and will become extinct if the trend
  continues without intervention

endangered
increasing concentration a harmful substance in
organisms at higher trophic levels in a food
chain or web
Biological magnification
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• Plants or animals that have migrated or been
  introduced into places where they are not native
  and for which there are no natural predators or
  parasites to control their population

Invasive species
The wise management of natural resources,
including the preservation of habitats and
wildlife
conservation
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• Areas containing endangered ecosystems that could
  benefit most from efforts and to preserve them

Hot spots
Atmospheric layer in which ozone (03) gas is
relatively concentrated which protects us from
the suns ultra-violet radiation
Ozone layer
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• Rain containing nitric and sulfuric acids caused
  by burning fossil fuels

Acid rain
Increase in the average temperatures of the Earth
Global warming
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• Fuels such as oil, coal, or natural gas produced
  by the decay of dead organic matter that cause
  many environmental problems such as global
  warming and acid rain

Fossil fuels
Illegal hunting of animals
poaching
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• Zebra mussels and leafy spurge in South Dakota
  and rabbits in Australia are examples of what
  environmental problem

Invasive species
Tell two modern agricultural methods that are
helping to preserve the environment
Satellite/GPS imaging, no-till, crop rotation,
contour plowing, controlled grazing, cover crops,
biological pest control
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• Governmental body whose job it is to monitor and
  enforce environmental regulations, provide
  education on environmental issues, conduct
  environmental research, and provide funding for
  environmental programs

Environmental Protection Agency(EPA)
Agreement signed by almost 200 countries,
including the United States, which agreed to
reduce (and eventually stop) the use of ozone
depleting chemicals.
Montreal Protocol
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• The giant aquifer that supplies water for
  drinking and agricultural irrigation to much of
  the farming midwest

Ogallala
Act passed to protect endangered species
that prevents importation into the United States
of anything that comes from an endangered animal
Convention on International Trade inEndangered
Species (CITES) Act
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• Agreement, aimed at reducing global warming,
  which has been ratified by 104 nations that asks
  participants to reduce by 2012 their greenhouse
  gas emissions to a percentage of their 1990
  emission levels. (The President Bush has
  questioned some of the details of the treaty and
  the US has not ratified it)

Kyoto Accord
Chemicals containing chlorofluorocarbonsused in
aerosol cans and refrigerants that cause a
depletion of the ozone layer
CFCs
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• Area in which the addition of an abundance of
  limiting nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus
  cause an algal bloom, blocking sunlight, and
  causing the death of organisms below

Dead zone
Tell where we could see this problem in the
United States
Gulf of Mexico where Mississippi River
empties
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• Natural process in which atmospheric gases trap
  energy from sunlight as heat

Greenhouse effect
the scientific study of interactions among
organisms and between organisms and their
environment
ecology
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• All the organisms that live in a place together
  with their nonliving or physical environment

ecosystem
an immediate increase in the amount of algae and
other producers that results from the addition
of a large amount of limiting nutrient
Algal bloom
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• Name an environmental problem caused by burning
  fossil fuels

Acid rain Global warming Air pollution/smogHabita
t destruction
Tell the cause of dead zones
Agricultural runoff
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• Name an invasive species that is causing problems
  in South Dakota

Zebra mussels Leafy spurge
Name the author whose book Silent Spring
described the dangers of DDT and started the
environmental movement
Rachel Carson
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• Healthy ecosystems have a
• ________ level of biodiversity.
• low high

high
Tell something humans do that endangers species
and reduces biodiversity
Over hunting, poaching, habitat destruction,
habitat fragmentation, industrial growth, ag
runoff, burning fossil fuels (leads to global
warming acid rain) CFCs, deforestation, air
water pollution. . . .
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• During the late 1950s-early 1960s people living
• near Minamata Bay, Japan became ill with a
• crippling neurological disease, later discovered
• to be caused by mercury being dumped into the
• ecosystem there. The toxin passed along the
• food chain and people became ill from eating fish
• caught in the bay.
• This is an example of which concept you learned
• about?

Biological magnification Pollutant
s concentrate in the highest trophic levels (in
this case humans)
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• Name one of the greenhouse gases

CO2 Methane CFCs Water vapor
Name an effect of too much UV light
Sunburn/skin cancer Premature aging Cataracts/blin
dness Reduced crop yield Food chain disruptions
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• Name the environmental problem addressed by the
  Kyoto Accord

Global warming(helps acid rain too)
Tell 3 goods and services ecosystems provide
for humans
Solar energy, food production, oxygen production,
nutrient storage recycling, climate regulation,
habitats for wildlife, waste detoxification,
natural pest/disease control, air/water
purification, source of new medicines, soil
erosion/runoff management
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• Name the environmental problemaddressed by the
  Montreal Protocol

Ozone depletion
Tell one effect of acid rain on an ecosystem
Kills fish, reduces biodiversity, damages
forests, human illness/death (asthma/bronchitis)
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• Tell something we can do to help reduce global
  warming

Reduce use of fossil fuels (anything that uses
less electricity or less water would help) Drive
less increase fuel efficiency on
cars National energy policy that emphasizes
and encourages use of alternative
energy Recycle Reduce deforestation
there are more. . .
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• How does deforestation impact global warming?

Trees remove CO2 from atmosphereduring
photosynthesis fewer trees means less CO2 is
removed more global warming
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• Name 3 goods and services provided to humans by
  the biosphere

Solar energy Oxygen productionNutrient
storage/cycling Climate regulationfood
productionHuman/industrial waste
detoxificationNatural pest/disease
control Source of new medicines Source of raw
materials for building stuffAir/water
purificationerosion/runoff management . . . .
there are more
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• What does EPA stand for?

Environmental Protection Agency
Which of the following are caused byburning
fossil fuels? acid rain global warming
ozone depletion smog
All EXCEPT ozone depletion are caused by
burning fossil fuels
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• Name 2 harmful effects of Ultra-violet light.

Sunburn, skin cancer, cataracts/blindness, Prematu
re aging (wrinkles), decreased crop production,
harm food chains
Which atom makes ozone?
Oxygen O3