Transcript The Global Environment

The Global Environment
Hurricane Mitch
Flooding from Hurricane Mitch
Climographs
Armenian earthquake, 1988
Global wind sytems
Horse latitudes
Little Ice Age, appx. 1300-1850
Little Ice Age
“Hunters in the Snow” – Pieter Brueghel
the Elder, 1565
Increase in greenhouse gases
Global Warming
US EPA estimates of impacts of global
warming: temperature rise, sea level rise,
disease
Model predictions indicate that a 3° C global temperature rise by 2100 could increase the number of annual
malaria cases by 50-80 million (not considering factors such as local control measures or health services)
(Martens et al., 1995). The largest changes will occur in areas adjacent to current risk areas, at both higher
altitudes and latitudes. In these regions, a temperature increase can convert areas that are malaria-free into
areas that experience seasonal epidemics. In many cases, the affected populations will have little or no
immunity, so that epidemics could be characterized by high levels of sickness and death. – from Union of
Concerned Scientists, http://www.ucsusa.org/global_warming/science/early-warning-signs-of-global-warming-spreading-disease.html
Fossil fuels
deforestation
Biomes
Biomes
Tropical rain forest
mangroves
Shrimp farm at mangrove forest
Savanna
Sahara Desert
Temperate forests
Evergreen – northwest
US, western Canada
Deciduous – eastern
US, Europe and Asia
Boreal forest
tundra
Tree line
Green Revolution: 1944-
Genetically engineered corn has become very popular among
American farmers. About 20 percent of last year's crop was of the
modified variety, which exudes a toxin in the leaves and pollen that
kills caterpillars and other pests that attack the plant above ground
Green Revolution pro and cons:
•More food, but:
•Less biodiversity/varieties of crop plants
•High pesticide and fertilizer use: costly and
harmful to the environment
•Increased corporate dependence (for hyv
seeds and other inputs), expense for farmers
•Encourages large-scale, industrial farming at
expense of small-scale subsistence