Transcript What is going on in the cartoon?

What is going on in the cartoon?
This is an example of Deforestation. As the human population grows,
so does the demand for Earth’s resources
•Earth’s human carrying
capacity is unknown
•Technology has helped to
increase Earth’s carrying capacity.
– gas-powered farm
equipment
– medical advancements
– clean water
– public assistance
• Over 6.6 billion people
• Many natural resources are
nonrenewable
– Fossil fuels take millions of
years to form
• More people means:
– 1) More forests removed
– 2) More resources consumed
– 3) More CO2 released
• Nonrenewable resources •
are used faster than they
can form or be replenished:
– Coal
– Oil
– Natural Gas
Renewable resources cannot
be used up or can replenish
themselves over time :
– Wind
– Solar
– Water
• An ecological footprint is the amount of land
needed to support a person.
The land must produce
and maintain enough
–food and water
–shelter
–energy
–Waste
–Several factors effect
size:
–Amount/efficiency
of resource used
–Amount/toxicity of
waste produced
Ozone Layer Depletion
• Ozone Function:
Block UV radiation
from sun
• Problems:
– CFCs thinning the
ozone layer
– More UV radiation
reaches the surface
• Effects: Crop damage,
skin cancers, Eye
damage
• Solution: Reduce
CFCs, regrow trees
UV
UV
Ozone
Ozone layer
layer
CFCs
The Smog and Ground-Level Ozone
• Reason:
– Burning of fossil fuels &
industry
• Problems:
– Respiratory illness
– Ozone gas is poisonous
• Causes:
– Particulates rise into air and
react with sunlight to make
air pollution
• Solutions:
– Reduce use of fossil fuels
– alternative energy sources
– Plant trees
The Greenhouse Effect
• G.H.E. is naturally good (it
warms Earth)
• Problem: Excess heat
trapped near the earth’s
surface
• Fear: Climate patterns
change, ice caps melt
• Main Cause: CO2 from
burning of fossil fuels
(coal, oil, natural gas)
• Solutions: Reduce use of
fossil fuels, regrow trees,
alternative energy sources
What’s in a name?
The purpose of a
greenhouse is to
trap heat year
round
Some heat
escapes into
space
Some heat naturally
trapped by Earth’s
atmosphere
heat
Earth
Earth
Less heat escapes
into space
More heat trapped
near Earth’s surface
Excess CO2 in
atmosphere
Earth
The Greenhouse Effect is naturally GOOD!
Mars: No Greenhouse
Effect
Earth: Balanced
Greenhouse Effect
Little heat is trapped
by the thin CO2
atmosphere. High
temperatures can be
around 20⁰F.
Average global
temperature is 57⁰F.
Venus: The Extreme
Greenhouse Effect
Heat is trapped by
the thick CO2
atmosphere.
Temperatures reach
750⁰F.
• Defined: Precipitation with a
below normal pH
• Cause:
– Fossil fuel pollution rises into
the air & then falls as rain
• Effect:
– Waterways more acidic
– Kills plant and animal life
• Solutions:
– Reduce fossil fuel usage
– Add buffer (base) to
waterways
• Defined: pollution in water supplies
• Reasons:
– Waste
– Medicines
– Agricultural Runoff
– fertilizers
– pesticides
• Problems:
– Species lost
– Ecosystems harmed
• Indicator species
give sign of ecosystems health
ex: amphibians
• Solutions:
– Manage waste
Biomagnification = accumulation of toxins
in the food chain.
• Pollutants that are fat
soluble can move up the
food chain.
– These pollutants stay in the
body fat of an organism
– predators eat contaminated
prey
• Top consumers, including
humans, are most
affected.
Deforestation
• Defined: Clearing of
forested areas
• Reasons:
– High demand for wood
products
– Create farmland
• Problems:
– Species lost
– Excess CO2 released
• Solutions:
– Recycle
– Improved farming
techniques
Introduced (& Invasive) Species
• Defined: Foreign organisms are
introduced to a new habitat
– Invasive- harms native species
• Reason:
– Pet industry, “free ride”
organisms, pest control
• Effects:
– Foreign species outcompete
native species
– Food webs unbalanced
– Economic damage
• Solutions:
– Laws preventing foreign goods
into new countries
– Introduce predators
•The Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA)
created in 1970
Works to protect species
•Clean Water Act
•Clean Air Act
•Endangered Species Act (this recovered
the bald eagle)
Those listed are called
“Umbrella Species”
oEntire habitats protected