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ENVR101 Exam 3 Study Flashcards

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1
Q

Who was Davy Crocket?

A

Wilderness pioneer in the 1830s that was elected to congress in 1834 and tried to kill bears. Timothy Tradwell set out to save them.

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2
Q

What is the cause of 2.4 billion birds in the US each year?

A

Cats

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3
Q

Define: Biodiversity

A

The variety of life across all levels of biological organization or the diversity of genes and species, and ecosystems in a region

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4
Q

Who wrote a book on biodiversity?

A

E.O. Wilson

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5
Q

Define: Species Richness

A

Number of species represented in ecological community

Species richness is simply a count of species - does not take into account the abundances of the species or their relative abundance distributions

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6
Q

Define: Species Diversity

A

Number of different species and their respective sizes relative to others

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7
Q

Define: Alpha Diversity

A

species diversity WITHIN a community

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8
Q

Define: Beta Diversity

A

species diversity BETWEEN communities

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9
Q

Define: Gamme Diveresity

A

Species diversity across landscape

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10
Q

Why is Costa Rica unique in biodiversity?

A

It holds .01% of Earth’s surface, 5-6% of all known species, 500,000 total species

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11
Q

What is Latitudinal Diversity Gradient?

A

Reduction of diversity with latitude - lots of species at the equator and dwindling off increasing distance from equator. Tropical areas have greater biodiversity than temperate areas

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12
Q

What is an example of biodiversity?

A

There are 500 species of trees in 2.5 square miles in the Amazon, and 700 species of trees in all of US and Canada.

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13
Q

What are some unique Amazon species?

A
  • Short-eared dog

- nocturnal currasaw

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14
Q

What is extinction?

A

The death of a species; elimination of all the individuals of a particular kind

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15
Q

What is the background rate of extinction?

A

The constant loss of species due to climate change, evolution of better competitors and other factors

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16
Q

What are mass extinction events?

A

Major events where many species when extinct

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17
Q

Biologically extinct

A

gone from earth (Carribean monk seal, last seen 1952)

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18
Q

Locally extinct

A

Gone from an area - Florida panther will have a higher rate of becoming extinct than a raccoon because they have a specialized niche (raccoons have a generalized niche and can live anywhere)

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19
Q

Biodiversity “Hotspot”

A

region in the world with a high risk of extinction (central American forest, Indonesia, Madagascar)

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20
Q

What is habitat loss and forest fragmentation?

A

Breaking up an environment so that species can no longer live and relate to one another

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21
Q

What is an example of habitat loss or forest fragmentation?

A

The Ivory-Billed Woodpecker: one of the largest woodpeckers in the world. The populations were devastated by logging damming, and hunting in the late 19th century

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22
Q

Which biome region is impacted most by forest fragmentation??

A

Temperate

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23
Q

What is the country with the highest rate of deforestation?

A

Indonesia. The massive production of palm oil (found in dozens of food and household items) result in chopping down palm trees

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24
Q

What are Synanthropes?

A

animals that live with us but are not domesticated (rats, seagulls)

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25
What are Domesticates?
Domesticated plants and animals (40 animal and 100 plant species)
26
What are introduced species?
species are brought into a new area which is different from their own
27
What animals are both domesticated and introduced species?
Pigs [feral/wild hog distribution of pigs - very adaptable in the wild]
28
Approximately how many rats in NYC?
15+ million
29
What is "Slash and Burn" agriculture?
type of agriculture where you cut down an area of tree growth and burn it to release the nutrients of the canopy of the forest into the soil
30
Where is the nutrients located in the Amazonian tropical rain forests?
the canopy
31
What is the most sustainable form of agriculture? Why?
Slash and Burn. It is efficient, you are not wasting a lot of energy, and it is on a small scale - it is NOT the primary driver of tropical deforestation
32
Why should we worry about world population?
Effects on availability of environmental resources
33
What is the "formula" for impact of the world population on the environment?
``` I = P x A x T I = Environment impact of a population P = Population size A = Affluence (consumption per person) T = Technological impact ```
34
What is Metallurgy?
making of metals; turning timber into charcoal
35
Describe the process of formation of coal
During the carboniferous period, conditions were conducive to formation of large deposits of coal; energy from the sun was transformed and concentrated into coal
36
How much of the world energy usage comes from coal?
30%
37
What changed the demand for crude oil?
Automobiles in the US - shift in usage of cars changed the production of space. The effects have been monumental; demand for oil with more cars, roads, manufacturing, commuting distances, goods. All dependent on cheap oil.
38
Private automobiles in North American consume how much of world gasoline production?
40%
39
DIscuss the 1973 Oil Crisis and the Rise of OPEC
In response to US support of Israel, Middle Eastern countries (OPEC) decided to significantly reduce the export of oil to the US and this increased the price of gasoline - OIL EMBARGO
40
What event initiated the conversation around the global question of oil?
1973 Oil Crisis
41
Who first articulated the anxiety of needing to be smarter with energy?
Jimmy Carter
42
What did Hubbert do regarding oil?
He looked at rates of oil consumption and production, and what was known about existing petroleum resources. He put together the Hubbert Peak Oil Curve (rates of production of oil)
43
When did the US reach its max of drilling oil?
1973
44
What percentage of US consumption of oil comes from the Middle East?
15%
45
Where does oil come from?
Marine phytoplankton and sediment. Small organisms died. Over time, they were covered by layers of rock and sediment. Over millions of years, the remains were buried deeper and deeper. The enormous heat and pressure turned them into oil and gas. Today, we drill down through layers of sedimentary rock to reach the rock formations that contain oil and gas.
46
What is the drilling process for oil?
In the earth, oil rises above water and natural gas rises above oil. We drill down, tap into the oil, and the oil shoots out into an oil gusher because it is under large amounts of pressure. We get 30-40% of oil based on pressure, and inject water through a well to keep the pressure going.
47
What incident happened with a large oil vessel?
The Exxon Valdez was a super tanker and crashed with a massive oil spill.
48
What is oil fractionation?
When you heat up the crude oil, it will dissipate at various levels of a fractionation tower. The separation of diesel oil and heating oil from gasoline, aviation fuel, etc.
49
What is a Resource?
Naturally occurring substance of use to humans that can potentially be extracted using current technology
50
What is a reserve?
A known deposit that can be economically extracted using current technology, under certain economic conditions. ECONOMIC CLASSIFICATION OF NATURAL RESOURCE.
51
What is bigger: resource or reserve?
Resource.
52
How does the amount of a reserve change?
It changes as it is used AND as technology advances.
53
What is the R/P ratio?
Reserves to Production ratio: estimated by dividing proven reserves by production in previous years
54
What is "Peak Oil"?
the point at which production begins to decline - we wont know we hit this until after the fact
55
What is Unconventional Oil?
Canada's Tar Sands (too heavy for conventional oil drilling)
56
What is Hydraulic Fracturing?
An expensive way to break over rock material and extract gas - natural gas that is bound up in various rock formations
57
What are the issues with Hydraulic Fracturing?
- Related to injection of chemicals necessary to break open this rock (companies do not disclose what chemicals exist in the injection wells] - The Marcellus Shale Area - increased production
58
What is nuclear fission?
The fission of U-235 releases an enormous amount of heat that is used to convert water into steam, the steam then drives a turbine and generates electricity
59
What element are you breaking the bonds to create nuclear energy?
Uranium
60
What are the Control Rods in the Nuclear Reactor?
They help begin the reaction by moving up and down to start or slow the reaction
61
What are the Fuel Rods in the Nuclear Reactor?
long metal tubes loaded with a small amount of enriched Uranium pellets
62
What happens in a nuclear meltdown?
The casing in which the nuclear reaction is taking place becomes so hot that it starts to melt and radiates nuclear energy
63
What took place in Three Mile Island?
1979 - Instrument and human errors resulted in the core being uncovered for a time and partial meltdown occurred, releasing a small amount of radiation. The cleanup costed $1 billion.
64
What took place at Chernobyl?
In 1986, nuclear reaction meltdown with death of 35 [initial accident], 3,576 deaths total with 32,000 unofficial.
65
What happened at Fukushima?
2011 - The tsunami caused a partial meltdown of 3 massive nuclear units and the discussion of nuclear came to a halt after this incident
66
What is safer: living next to a nuclear power plant or a coal plant?
Nuclear power plant.
67
What is the primary source of energy in the world?
Biomass [50%] - burning wood, plants, bushes
68
What is ethanol?
Fuel produced from sugarcane, corn, wheat, and other biomass containing sugars
69
How is ethanol created?
Sugars are extracted by crushing and mixing the material with water and yeast, and that ferments. The yeast converts the sugar to ethanol and CO2. It is then distilled.
70
What is Passive Solar Energy?
precise ventilation that allows hot air to escape in the summer, and south facing windows where we can increase the amount of light to enter the room and reduce heat loss on cold nights
71
What is Active Solar Energy?
pass water through solar collector that heats water and puts in hot water tank
72
How is Hyrdo Power created?
Taking kinetic energy of rivers and turning it into potential energy making electricity
73
What is Urban Sprawl?
pattern of unplanned, low-density housing and commercial development outside of cities.
74
How has zoning contributed to Urban Sprawl?
ordinances that isolate employment and shopping services away from housing locations
75
How has low-density planning contributed to Urban Sprawl?
aimed at creating automobile access to increasing expanses of land
76
What are major issues with Urban Sprawl?
Transportation, Pollution [carbon, roadways], Land-Use [loss of agricultural and forested land], Health [drive more, walk less], Infrastructure
77
What is the Fall Line?
that place at which coastal rivers are no longer navigable – nexus between upland populations and point at which lowland rivers in which you can navigate with boats
78
What are Impervious Surfaces?
water does not soak into soil [parking lots, roads, etc.] – when it rains, water rushes quickly down [does not drain slowly into soil]
79
What's so special about Portland Oregon and the Urban Sprawl?
made plan in the 80s to address urban sprawl [drew imaginary line around city] → an Urban Growth Boundary - Metro and the three Portland-area counties are designating urban and rural reserves, land that will be developed or preserved for farms or forests for the next 40-50 years
80
Is dreaming of suburbia new? How so?
No - it came about in the 1850s, plans for thinking about "Urban Getaways" at suburban cottages
81
What were Streetcar Suburbs?
suburban developments made possible by the development of street cars that allowed people to live outside of central urban districts
82
What was involved in Post WWII Suburban Growth?
o Mass large-scale urban development: William Levitt and his two sons (Levittown, NY and Levittown, PA) • Built large tracts, almost exclusively white families
83
What is the largest single irrigated crop in the US?
Turf Grass [i.e. Lawns]

Environmental Science (2 decks)

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