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esrm 200 - society and environments > quiz 2 lecture vocab > Flashcards

quiz 2 lecture vocab Flashcards

1
Q

soil formation due to… (2)

A
  1. break-up/weathering of rocks -> minerals
  2. decay of organic matter

the earth is alive w/ detritivores and microbes

98% of human food comes from land

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2
Q

land distribution percentages

A
  • crop cultivation: 12%
  • livestock grazing: 24%
  • forest: 31%
  • desert/mtns/tundra/unsuitable: remaining 33%
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3
Q

natural soil cycle (3)

A
  • degredation: solution and leaching of nutrients by water
  • erosion: removal of topsoil by wind/water
  • balance: degredation + erosion = soil formation
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4
Q

anthropogenic soil problems

A
  • human activities
    • agriculture
    • impervious surfaces
    • landscape -> wind pattern & hydrologic alterations
  • consequences
    • 2.5x erosion & degredation
    • declining crop & livestock yields
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5
Q

probs w/ industrialized agriculture

A
  • expansion of land ended in 1950s -> intensive ag:
    • high productivity
    • monocultures
    • high energy & chemical inputs
    • cultivation of marginal & hilly lands
  • little to no crop rotation or fallowing (allowing soil to reform)
  • overgrazing
  • 1/3rd of soil lost by 1996
  • declining yields despite chem applications
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6
Q

dustbowl of 1930s led to the…

A
  • Conservation Reserves Program, which was sort of started in 1956 but not truly implemented until the 1985 farm bill
    • encouraged conversion of erodible lands to grass/woodlands
    • penalties for non-participant farmers
    • reduced soil loss by 65%
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7
Q

top soil is lost 16x faster than it forms and Great Plains States have lost 50% of their top soils since ag began because…

A

People! All the science and technology won’t help if people’s behavior doesn’t change

social norms influence behavior more than environment (recall the hotel room and the re-use message: “people who stay in this room re-use their towels”)

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8
Q

practices that reduce soil losses (5), which increase nutrient recycling and soil formation

A
  1. Terracing
  2. Contour planting
  3. Multiple cropping
  4. conservation / low tillage
  5. organic fertilizers / composting
    • (ex: Shanghai self-sufficient in veg since ’80s)
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9
Q

small vs. big farming

A

smaller, privately owned farms:

  • more labor instensive, but also more productive
  • small scale farmers more likely to care for land than large corporations

large scale mgmt:

  • encourages application of technology
  • price reforms encourage profitability
  • changes in land tenure / ownership rules
  • increased food prices: political dynamite
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10
Q

human uses for water (7)

A
  1. drinking / cooking / cleaning
  2. habitat
  3. recreation
  4. transportation
  5. industry
  6. source of energy
  7. agriculture (~70%)
    • 1.1M Gal to grow 2.4 acres of corn
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11
Q

problems w/ human uses of water (5)

A
  1. uneven distribution
    • source of political conflict
  2. slow recharge rate (~1%)
  3. Up to 80% of irrigation lost to evap. and seepage
  4. withdrawals > recharge
    • depleting aquifers -> cone of depression
  5. water pollution
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12
Q

water probs: climate change might…

A

shift the playing field and re-orient conflict

  • San Joaquin Valley, CA (salad bowl)
  • L.A. & San Diego draw water from Colorado river -> Cadillac desert
  • Nile River Basin: Sudan & Ethiopia vs. Egypt
  • Kasmir River Basin: India (dam) vs. Pakistan
  • Ganges River Basin: India (dam) vs. Bangladesh
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13
Q

addressing water problems means improving efficiency and conservation. Current water tech could… but…

A

save up to 50% of ag use, 90% of industrial use

  • ex: drip irrigation: targeted (less weeds), & slow (less evap.)
  • raise water prices certain uses (water parks, maybe?)

… but isn’t being used because of culture

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14
Q

4 dimensions of social systems

A
  1. culture
  2. community
  3. economics
  4. politics
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15
Q

diverse ecosystems…

A
  1. are more Productive: due to complementary resource use
  2. are more Sustainable: they conserve & more effectively use water & nutrients
  3. fill more Functional Roles: seed dispersal, pollination, etc.
  4. are more Adaptive to change/stress
  5. Provide a variety of food, medicine, & other commercially important materials
    • Pacific Yew Tree bark -> taxol
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16
Q

Benefits of Forests; they… (10)

A
  1. clean up urban pollution
  2. cool the air
    • shade & carbon sequestration
  3. provide habitat
  4. minimize soil erosion
  5. participate in nutrient storage & cycling
  6. provide lumber
  7. aid psychological health
  8. regulate water quality & quantity
  9. aid in landscape stablization
  10. moderate floods & downstream drought water storage
17
Q

IUCN

A

International Union for Conservation of Nature

  • 1/8 plant species in danger of extinction
  • 90% of at risk species are endemic
  • so far lost 2/3 of historic world forests
  • stable secondary forests, but declining growth rates, soil nutrients, & wood quality
18
Q

tropical forests are considered “non-renewable” because…

deforestation caused by… (6)

A
  1. they depend so heavily on internal nutrient cycling & high decomposition rates
    • tropical rains erode and leach clear-cut top soil
    • projected extinction: 2010-2090
  2. caused by
    1. multinational lumber/logging corporations
    2. farming
    3. ranching
    4. poverty
    5. pop. growth
    6. poor gov’t policies
19
Q

human causes of BioD decline (4)

A
  1. habitat frag / loss
  2. urbanization / development
  3. agriculture
    • from 7,000 spp to 20 (wheat, rice, rye, corn, millet)
  4. Greenhouse effect / climate change?
    • species migration / adaptation
20
Q

US is greatest consumer of paper products, but…

A

only recycles 29% (Japan: 50%)

50% wood consumption could be saved by:

  • more efficient sawmills / plywood mills
  • double recyc rate
  • reduce disposable paper product use
21
Q

Programs to address BioD & Forest declines (7)

A
  1. Promoting sustainable use
    • local/indig. use > commercial exploitation
    • political obstacles
  2. Debt for Nature swaps
    • preservation of forests in exchange for debt relief
  3. Preserving Nature in Place
    • parks/nature reserves ~8% of earth’s area
  4. Gene Banks / Conservatories
    • move spp from natural habitats to zoos, botanical gardens, nurseries, etc
  5. Bio-prospecting
    • pay to search for pharma; gov’t gets % of royalties
  6. int’l treaties
    • Convention on Int’l Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna & Flora (CITES) (1973)
  7. CBD: Convention on Biological Diversity (1992)
22
Q

CITES

A

1973: Convention on Int’l Trade in Endangered Species

of Wild Fauna & Flora

23
Q

Waste/Pollution: US EPA & Bureau of Mines estimates…

A
  • 75% of solid waste is mining, gas, oil production
  • 13% agriculture
  • 9.5% industrial
  • 1.5% municipal
  • 1% sewage
24
Q

cultural eutrophication

A
  • +nutrients ->
  • +algae ->
  • dead algae ->
  • decomposers -O2 / +CO2 ->
  • dead zones

ex: Hypoxia in Gulf of Mexico

** Average lawn has 10x more pesticides than 1ha cropland

25
leachate
* liquid waste from solid waste degredation * tree roots perforate barriers and tap leachate from dumps sidenote: only 2% of e-waste is recycled in US
26
solid waste "solutions"
1. incineration: reduces ovlume by 90% & is a source of energy, but * fixed capital cost is high * produces toxic gasses * does nothing to discourage waste production 2. recyc: switz & Japan recyc 50% of solid waste (US: 30%) * increase economic incentives from "save the env" to industry motivation 3. Reuse is even more effective: * extends resource supplies, reduces energy use & pollution more than recyc & incineration * Denmark banned all non-refillable bottles
27
Municipal pollution / solutions
1. Water/air pollution in cities from * industrial activities / autos / homes * waste/sewage * CO, CO2, SO2, NOx, VOC * SO2, NOx, VOCs, and Ozone react to form smog 2. LDCs: untreated sewage -\> dysentary, typhoid, cholera * lack of capital resources for sewage treatment 1. Clean Water Act (1974): decreased organic wastes water from sewage / industrial * industry still tries to weaken 2. 95% of ppl in MDCs have clean drinking water * 74% in LDCs
28
culture & community \> economy & politics
& social norms influence behavior more than the environment
29
Dynamics of Population Change (4)
1. Malthusianism 2. Demographic Transition Model 3. Demographic Divide b/t MDCs & LDCs 4. Population Redistribution
30
Malthusianism
* pop. growth causes poverty & human misery, not limited resources (even though a "fixed land base" is part of the argument) * positive checks on pop. growth: war, disease, poverty * contraception/abortion: morally unacceptable * welfare perpetuates misery
31
Demographic Transition Model (PTM)
* 3 stages of pop. dynamics: * **Primitive** Social Org: +mortality, +fertility * **Transitional** Social Org: -mortality, +fertility * -\> inc. pop. * **Modern** Social Org: -mortality, -fertility * -\> stable pop. * children as assets -\> children as economic burden * medical advances * more opps for women / less income inequality * **Critique**: LDCs aren't in same dev channel as MDCs
32
Demographic Divide
* Demog trans model works well for MDCs til 1930s * European/American pops grew fastest * most now closer to stable * US growth almost entirely due to immigration * LDCs are diff * rapid transtional growth w/o territorial gains * low rates of modernization/industrialization * few opps for women * few small fam incentives (& powerful cultural/religious norms favoring large fams) 90% of newborns are in LDCs
33
Population Redistribution
net spatial changes due to mobility MDCs: * push: * rural overpop. * ag. industrialization (-labor market, +land consol.) * poverty * pull: economic opps LDCs: * push: same * pull: none; skipped transitional ind. and manuf. stages that would have built economic opportunities; went straight to service economies
34
Population Redist: Conseq for LDCs
* service economies: employ fewer ppl than ind./manuf; and lower wages * conseq's of push w/o pull: * environ. refugees in urban areas * collapsing city services due to overpop. * unmanageable pollution & human health threats * exp. production of solid waste * urban water = open sewer = biologically dead * unprecedented human misery
35
Population Redist.: migration
* urbanization is a form of migration * Forced Migration (push) vs. Voluntary (pull) * british prisoners -\> Georgia/Australia * slavery/slave trade * vs. * Europeans -\> America * Hippies -\> Seattle
36
Population Redist: impacts
* req's substantive adjustments * labor availability * provision of health & other services * diff. "kinds" of ppl to be served, w/ diff languages, customs, etc

esrm 200 - society and environments (3 decks)

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