Transcript Global Warming, Pollution and Invasive Species…

Global Warming, Pollution
and Invasive Species… oh
my!
Don’t write anything in this color!!
4 Types of Diversity
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Biodiversity
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Species Diversity
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variety of different types of species
Genetic Diversity
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variety of all life and living systems
variety of genetic material (genes/DNA) in
different organisms
Ecosystem Diversity
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variety of habitats, communities ecosystems
Global Warming
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Used to describe the increase in the average
temperature of the biosphere
Temperatures between 1980 and 2000 rose at a
faster rate than during the past 100 years!!
The 1990’s were the hottest decade ever
recorded….This decade will probably be even
hotter!
Each year of the 90’s was among the top 15
hottest years since 1880
Global Warming
Affects on Earth’s
ice caps are the
most obvious…
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What Causes Global Warming?
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Humans have caused global warming by
adding carbon dioxide and other greenhouse
gases to the atmosphere
What are greenhouse gases?
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heat gets retained in the Earth’s atmosphere by
carbon dioxide, methane, water vapor and other
gases
Acts like the glass in a greenhouse!
How greenhouse gases work
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Allow solar energy to penetrate the atmosphere
Sunlight gets converted to heat energy is
radiated back to the atmosphere
Gases causes some heat to become trapped
If these gases weren’t present, the earth would
be 30°C cooler than it is today
Carbon Dioxide gets added to the
atmosphere by…
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Cutting down trees
(Deforestation)
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Burning fossil fuels
Current Predictions
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By the year 2050, temperature will increase by
1-2 degrees Celsius
What could 1-2 degrees do?
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Low-lying costal regions could flood
Storms could become more frequent and severe
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Last year was the first hurricane season they ran out of
letters in the alphabet to name hurricanes!!!
More droughts during the summer season in North
America
Pollution
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What is pollution?
DDT example
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Used as pesticide in farms to kill of harmful pests
When it was sprayed it went into rivers and
streams at seemingly harmless levels
But later found out DDT:
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Is nonbiodegradable (cannot break down)
Animals do not lose it from their bodies, it stays in there
Problems that occurred from DDT
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Concentrations increase as you move up the
food chain or web
By the time you the top of the food chain or
web, DDT reached concentration had
magnified by 10,000,000!!
Called Biological Magnification – when a
toxic substance increases in concentration as it
moves up the food chain
Invasive Species…
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Are species that are “introduced” to areas
where they are not usually found
These plants and animals seem harmless but
they have a large effect on the population the
invade or are introduced to…
Invasive Species
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Invasive species cause a lot of problems
because:
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generally lack any natural predators
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can reproduce rapidly
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taking away resources from the “natural” species
Invasive Species
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Examples:
Cane Toads
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Mussels
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Georgia – Kudzu
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Why do they put them there in the first place?
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O-Zone Depletion
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O-zone protects us from UV radiation and
meteors
Called O-Zone because it is made up of O3
(tri-oxygen)
There are now holes in the o-zone layer
UV radiation over-exposure can cause
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Sunburns
Cancer
Damage to eyes
O-zone Depletion
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Problem caused by chlorofluorocarbons
(CFC’s)
CFC’s cause the holes in the O-zone to get
bigger
CFC’s are found in
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Aerosol cans
Producing plastic foams
Collants in refrigerators, air conditioners and
freezers
What can we do?
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Conservation Biology – wise management of
natural resources
Avoid – “Tragedy of the Commons”
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When resources are shared they are often used and
abused
This is because no one in particular has to take
care of them so no one worries about the
consequences
Odds and Ends
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Pollution that contributes to Acid Rain is:
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Nitric Oxides and Sulfur Dioxides
Habitat Fragmentation – breaking habitats into
smaller pieces, usually caused by human
development
Final Message
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http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=845
3442377878175440&q=bluemangroup+global
+warming&hl=en