Transcript Ecology Essays - Hudson City School District

Ecology Essays
#1 CFC’s
• Why were they banned?
chlorofluorocarbon (CFC)
• Widely used in refrigerants, aerosol
propellants, and solvents.
Ozone protects the earth from
harmful UV rays; if broken to just
oxygen, then we are not
protected.
• The manufacture of such compounds is
being phased out by(2005) the
Montreal Protocol (1987)because they
contribute to ozone depletion.
Ozone = O3
#2 Biological Magnification
• A substance
appears in
higher
concentrations in
organisms higher
in a given food
chain than in
organisms lower
in a food chain.
• Food Chain
Concentration of
DDT in a Long
Island Marsh
sprayed for
Mosquito Control
(1967)
ppm
Water
.00005
Plankton
.04
Silverside Minnow
.23
Sheephed Minnow
.94
Pickerel
1.23
Needlefish
2.07
Heron
3.57
Tern
3.91
Osprey
13.8
Merganser
22.6
Cormorant
26.4
DDT BIOMAGNIFICATION
EXAMPLE
• DDT biomag in Eagles
• DDT builds up in the fatty tissues of
organisms.
Acid Rain
• form of precipitation that is
unusually acidic (pH of 5.5 or
lower)
• SO2 and
NO2
combine
with H2O to
form acids
• Almost all of the electricity that powers
modern life comes from burning fossil
fuels like coal, natural gas, and oil. acid
deposition is caused by two pollutants that
are released into the atmosphere, or
emitted, when these fuels are burned:
sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides
(NOx).
Fossil Fuel Factories Common
Around the Great Lakes
• Note the acidic pH’s around the Great
Lakes
Acid Rain Effect on Plants
• Damages leaves
• Stunts roots
• Inhibits seed germination
Acid Rain Effect on Aquatic Life
• pH reaches 5.5, plankton, certain insects
and crustaceans begin to die.
• At a pH of around 5.0, the fish population
begin to die.
• When the pH drops below 5.0, all the fish
have died,
Acid Rain Effect on Animals
• Lose habitats
• Eventually animals up the food chain will
die
Effect on Human Beings
• entire fish stocks in certain lakes have
been wiped out
• asthmatic people and children are directly
affected.
FUEL: COAL OR WOOD
COAL
• Price is acceptable
• Burns higher amount
of heat
• Polluted smoke
• Not a renewable
source
• Pollutes water as acid
rain
WOOD
• Not real expensive
• Can replant as a
renewable source
• Puts carbon dioxide in
the air
• Does not pollute the
water
• Can get local wood
COAL
WOOD