Transcript Week Four
The Earth Alive and Well? Jimmy Carter “It is good to realize that if love and peace can prevail on earth, and if we can teach our children to honor nature's gifts, the joys and beauties of the outdoors will be here forever.” Chief Seattle’s Thoughts 1854 How can you buy or sell the sky, the warmth of the land? The idea is strange to us. If we do not own the freshness of the air and the sparkle of the water, how can you buy them? Every part of this earth is sacred to my people. Every shining pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods, every clearing and humming insect is holy in the memory and experience of my people. The sap which courses through the trees carries the memories of the red man. Earth Dynamics The Myth of Solid Ground Earth Cross Section www.geol.lsu.edu/.../EarthSection.jpg The Ring of Fire Earthquakes in the Pacific Northwest PNSN earthquake map Latest Earthquakes in the World - Past 7 days Worldwide earthquakes with M4.0+ located by USGS and Contributing Agencies. http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter /recenteqsww/index.php?old=world. html Mt. St. Helens 7/25/07 Mt. St. Helens 10/7/2004 Mt. St. Helens 5/18/1980 Mt. St. Helens Before/After http://www.discoverourearth.org/student/volcanoes/images/st_helens_mosaic3.gif First Law of Thermodynamics Energy is not created or destroyed Energy only changes form Can’t get something for nothing Energy output input = Energy Second Law of Thermodynamics In every transformation, some energy quality is lost You can’t break even in terms of energy quality Second life Law greatly affects Cycles of the Earth The Carbon Cycle (Marine) Diffusion between atmosphere and ocean Carbon dioxide dissolved in ocean water photosynthesis Combustion of fossil fuels aerobic respiration Marine food webs Producers, consumers, decomposers, detritivores incorporation death, into sediments sedimentation uplifting over geologic time sedimentation Marine sediments, including formations with fossil fuels The Carbon Cycle (Terrestrial) Atmosphere (most carbon is in carbon dioxide) Combustion of fossil fuels volcanic action Terrestrial rocks weathering photosynthesis aerobic respiration Land food webs Producers, consumers, decomposers, detritivores combustion of wood (for clearing land; or fuel) deforestaion Soil water (dissolved carbon) death, burial, compaction over geologic time leaching, runoff Peat, fossil fuels The Nitrogen Cycle Gaseous Nitrogen (N2) in Atmosphere Nitrogen Fixation by industry for agriculture Food Webs on Land Fertilizers uptake by autotroph s excretion, death, decomposition uptake by autotroph s Nitrogen Fixation bacteria convert N2 to ammonia (NH3); this dissolves to form ammonium (NH4+) NH3, NH4+ in Soil loss by leaching Nitrogenous Wastes, Remains in Soil Ammonification NO3– in Soil by bacteria 2. Nitrification bacteria, fungi convert the residues to NH3; this dissolves to form NH4+ bacteria convert NO2– to nitrate (NO3–) 1. Nitrification NO2– in Soil bacteria convert NH4+ to nitrite (NO2–) Denitrification loss by leaching The Phosphorus Cycle mining Fertilizer Guano excretion agriculture uptake by autotrophs Marine Food Webs uptake by autotrophs Dissolved in Ocean Water leaching, runoff Dissolved in Soil Water, Lakes, Rivers death, decomposition sedimentation weathering weathering settling out uplifting over geologic time Marine Sediments Rocks Land Food Webs The Sulfur Cycle Water Sulfur trioxide Ammonia Ammonium sulfate Oxygen Sulfur dioxide Acidic fog and precipitation Sulfuric acid Hydrogen sulfide Plants Volcano Dimethyl sulfide Animals Industries Ocean Sulfate salts Metallic Sulfide deposits Decaying matter Sulfur Hydrogen sulfide Weather and Climate Differences and climate between weather Major factors determining climate – Uneven heating of Earth’s surface – Earth’s rotation – Properties of air, water, and land Earth’s Climatic Zones Miller 11th edition Natural Greenhouse Effect (a) Rays of sunlight penetrate the lower atmosphere and warm the earth's surface. (b) The earth's surface absorbs much of the incoming solar radiation and degrades it to longer-wavelength infrared (IR) radiation, which rises into the lower atmosphere. Some of this IR radiation escapes into space as heat and some is absorbed by molecules of greenhouse gases and emitted as even longer wave-length IR radiation, which warms the lower atmosphere. (c) As concentrations of green-house gases rise, their molecules absorb and emit more infrared radiation, which adds more heat to the lower atmosphere. Miller 11th edition Biomes Climate effects on biomes 12 major biomes Biomes are not uniform (“mosaic of patches”) Effects of latitude and longitude Earth’s Major Biomes Tropic of Cancer Equator Tropic of Capricorn Arctic tundra (polar grasslands) Boreal forest (taiga), evergreen conif forest (e.g., montane coniferous forest) Temperate deciduous forest Desert Tropical rain forest, tropical evergreen forest Tropical deciduous forest Temperate grassland Tropical scrub forest Dry woodlands and shrublands (chaparral) Tropical savanna, thorn forest Semidesert, arid grassland Mountains (complex zonation) Ice Miller 11th edition Effects of Altitude and Latitude on Climate and Biomes Altitude Mountain Ice and snow Tundra (herbs, lichens, mosses) Coniferous Forest Deciduous Forest Latitude Tropical Forest Tropical Forest Deciduous Forest Coniferous Forest Tundra (herbs, lichens, mosses) Polar ice and snow Miller 11th edition Biodiversity http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/about/environment/faqs/biodiversity.jpg Living Planet Report 2008 Living Planet Report 2008 Path to Change LPR 2006 The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 The purposes of this Act are: To declare a national policy which will encourage productive and enjoyable harmony between man and his environment; to promote efforts which will prevent or eliminate damage to the environment and biosphere and stimulate the health and welfare of man; to enrich the understanding of the ecological systems and natural resources important to the Nation; and to establish a Council on Environmental Quality. U.S. May Expand Access To Endangered Species The Bush administration is proposing far-reaching changes to conservation policies that would allow hunters, circuses and the pet industry to kill, capture and import animals on the brink of extinction in other countries. Giving Americans access to endangered animals, officials said, would feed the gigantic U.S. demand for live animals, skins, parts and trophies, and generate profits that would allow poor nations to pay for conservation of the remaining animals and their habitat. By Shankar Vedantam Washington Post Staff Writer Saturday, October 11, 2003 Endangered Species Listed by President President and Species Listed Government agrees to list Puget Sound orcas as endangered species Tuesday, November 15, 2005 SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER After years of legal challenges, Puget Sound orcas have been granted federal protection as an endangered species, officials announced this morning. Citing new information and analysis, NOAA Fisheries Service officials acknowledged that the local killer whales were at risk of extinction and reversed an earlier decision not to give the iconic orcas protection under the Endangered Species Act. Building, Farm Groups Challenge Orca Endangered Species Listing March 22, 2006 SEATTLE - The Washington state Farm Bureau and the Building Industry Association of Washington filed suit in federal court this week, seeking to invalidate the listing of Puget Sound's killer whales as an endangered species. October 21, 2005 Salmon versus Agricultural and Commercial Interests Uncle Sam is getting hammered in federal courts for failing to protect endangered salmon... The US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Tuesday rejected the Bush administration's water diversion plan for the Klamath River in California and Oregon because it does not protect the river's coho salmon, listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Just a few days earlier, a federal judge in Portland, Ore., said he has had it with failed attempts to recover wild salmon (not to be confused with the hatchery fish) White House Blocking Whale Protection Rule (5/13/08) A third memo shows interference by the office of Vice President Cheney. According to the memo, Cheney's staff "contends that we have no evidence (i.e., hard data) that lowering the speeds of 'large ships' will actually make a difference." In response, NOAA staff cited records of collisions in which right whales were killed or seriously injured and again argued in favor of ship speed limits. State will sue over polar bear listing, Palin says SPECIES STATUS: Unreliable data, threat to energy development cited. By DAN JOLING The Associated Press Published: May 22nd, 2008 01:26 AM Last Modified: May 22nd, 2008 10:10 AM The State of Alaska will sue to challenge the recent listing of polar bears as a threatened species, Gov. Sarah Palin said Wednesday. She and other Alaska elected officials fear a listing will cripple oil and gas development in prime polar bear habitat off the state's northern and northwestern coasts. Palin argued there is not enough evidence to support a listing. Polar bears are well-managed and their population has dramatically increased over 30 years as a result of conservation, she said. DDT Problems of the Past DDT Big spraying wipes out fish hatchery Yellow Taxi http://archives.cbc.ca/IDCC-1-75-12547076/science_technology/tree_pests/ DDT Continuing Problems Lake Chelan DDT and PCBs in Fish Total Maximum Daily Load Study Washington State Department of Ecology June 2005 Mackinaw from the Wapato basin require a 97% reduction in total DDT, a 63% reduction in total PCBs, and a 90% reduction in dioxin toxic equivalent quotients. Rainbow trout from Roses Lake require a 67% reduction in total DDT. Tributaries and drains to the lakes require reductions in total DDT loads from up to 97% for Lake Chelan and 95% for the orchard drain to Roses Lake. Lake Chelan Fish Consumption Washington State Department of Health Publication # 334-082