Semester Exam Flashcards

1
Q

What are the 4 spheres

A

Biosphere
Geosphere/ lithosphere
Atmosphere
Hydrosphere

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

Atmosphere

A
  • gasses

- 5 layers

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

Hydrosphere

A
  • all water on earth
  • lakes, rivers, glaciers
  • rain, snow, hail
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

Biosphere

A
  • biomes
  • plants, animals, terrains, climates
  • Desert Forests
  • living organisms
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

Geosphere / lithosphere

A
  • rocks and minerals
  • landforms from rocks
  • skeleton of planet
  • non - living organisms
  • volcanoes, beaches, canyons
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

What are ecological services

A

What nature provides

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

What is the ecological footprint

A
  • one way of measuring human demand for ecological services
  • takes into account regenerative capacities of biomes and ecosystems (bio capacity)
  • no, in hectares of productive land and sea
  • 6 factors: ~ carbon. ~ forest. ~ fishing ground. ~ crop land. ~ grazing land. ~ built up land
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

What ecological services do we get

A

Supporting —> Provising
Supporting —> Regulating
Supporting —> Cultural

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

What is supporting

A
  • foundation for all services
  • breakdown of organic waste, water purification, soil formation, nutrient cycling
  • all forms of primary production
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

What is provising

A
  • goods people use or harvest from nature

- water, edible food, timber, medicine

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

What a regulating

A
  • control of natural processes
  • eg. flood and drought
  • ability to regulate climate, soil, water purification and moderate disease
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

What is cultural

A
  • benefits people obtain from nature

- EG. religious, spiritual, aesthetic, educational, recreational, tourism

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

What 6 factors contribute to the ecological footprint

A
  • carbon
  • forest
  • crop land
  • grazing land
  • fishing ground
  • built-up land
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

How ,Amy planets does it take to sustain our life now

A

1.6 planets

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

How long does it take to regenerate what we take each year

A

19 months

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

How has biocapacity been able to increase over the past 50 years

A
  • more intensive agriculture (yields)

- GMO

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

How do countries cause an increase in their ecological deficit

A
  • use more resources than they have
  • more exports and imports
  • emit more CO2 than their environment can absorb
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

What is an ecosystem

A
  • a biological community of interacting living and non-living organisms and their physical environment
  • biotic and abiotic factors interacting with one another
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

What are the two types of ecosystem

A

Land (terrestrial)

Water (aquatic)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

What is environmental change

A

Changes to the environment that are either natural or human induced.
- eg. Deforestation (human induced), Earthquake (natural)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

The environment is constantly changing over time. These changes can occur:

A
  • instantly (hours, days)
  • over a short period of time (months, years)
  • over a long period of time (decades, centuries)
  • over a long period of geological time (thousands of years plus)
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

Changes can occur at different :

A

Scales.

  • localised on a small scale
  • globalised
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

What are some human induced changes

A
  • deforestation
  • dams
  • agriculture
  • greenhouse gas emissions
  • mining
  • urbanisation
  • industry
  • overfishing / overgrazing
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
24
Q

Homocentric worldview

A
  • human centred

- environment is only valued because of its usefulness to us, economies or services provided

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
25
Q

Ecocentric worldview

A
  • earth centred

- environment is valued regardless whether it is useful to us or not

26
Q

What is utilitarianism

A
  • describes when things are valued based on their usefulness (utility)
27
Q

Social impacts of Gulf of Mexico oil spill

A
  • mental health issues and stress from financial situation
  • loss of livelihood
  • health problems
  • breathing problems
  • 11 People died
28
Q

Economic impacts of Gulf of Mexico oil spill

A
  • fishing, tourism and hospitality industries significantly impacted
  • fishing and tourism $3.5-4.5 bill per year lost
  • $4 bill t clean up and $4-5 bill in penalties
  • $23 bill in tourism lost
29
Q

Environmental impacts of Gulf of Mexico oil spill

A
  • biodiversity decreased
  • oil seeped into environment and remained for decades
  • plants and animals died and got injured
  • salinity and pH levels impacted
  • 40% méthane in oil released in atmosphere
  • 82,000 (102 species) birds killed
  • 6,165 turtles killed
  • 25,900 Marine mammals killed/injured
30
Q

Air pollution is….

A
  • considered to be 9ne of worlds greatest health risks
  • leads to inc rates asthma, lung and heart disease
  • 4.3 mill deaths per annum indoor pollution
  • 3.5 mill darts per annum - outdoor pollution
31
Q

Troposphere

A
  • 80% air on planet and weather
  • up to 10 km above sea level
    -1st layer
  • cumulonimbus clouds
  • stratocumulus clouds
  • mt Everest
    Commercial jets
32
Q

Stratosphere

A
  • absorbs harmful sun rays (ozone layer)
  • ozone found within
  • 2nd layer
  • 10km to50 km above sea level
  • weather balloons
  • commercial jet
  • spy plane
  • cirrus clouds
33
Q

Mesosphere

A
  • coldest
  • no breathable air
  • 3rd layer
  • 50-approx 85km
  • meteors
  • sprites
  • noctilucent clouds
  • sounding rockets
34
Q

Thermosphere

A
  • satellites

- 4 Th layer

35
Q

Exosphere

A

Still earth’s atmosphere but beyond is space

- 5th layer

36
Q

Ozone layer

A
  • absorbs suns harmful rays that increase skin cancer and other diseases risks
  • protects from uv rays
  • made up of 3 oxygen atoms
  • 3-5mm thick
  • protects life on earth
  • deteriorates from cfc’s and N02 (nitrogen oxides)
37
Q

Ozone hole

A
  • thinner area
  • not actual hole
  • sudden, marked depletion of ozone
  • loss of 50% or more total column ozone
38
Q

Causes of ozone depletion

A
  • emissions of set of chemicals:
  • CFCs
  • HCFCs
  • Halons
  • methyl bromide
  • carbon tetrachloride
  • methyl chloroform
39
Q

Impacts of ozone depletion

A
  • skin cance (melanoma and non melanoma)
  • premature aging of the skin
  • skin problems
  • cataracts
  • eye damage
  • immune system suppression
  • genetic disorders
40
Q

Levels of carbon,……

A

Need to be balanced

41
Q

How much carb9n in atmosphere

A

180-280 parts per mill = good

  • levels increased by 40% since indust revolution to 400 parts
  • more than 90% heat trapped in atmosphere absorbed by oceans leading to 30% more acidic oceans
  • more intense weather systems and changing climate - rapid next 50 ears
42
Q

Deforestation

A

The permanent removal of trees to make room for something besides forest. This includes the clearing of land for agriculture or grazing or using the timber for fuel, construction or manufacturing

42
Q

Ozone layer

A

Region/layer of earth’s atmosphere that absorbs most of the suns ultraviolet radiation

  • protects the earth from those harmful uv rays
  • made up of 3 oxygen atoms
  • 3-5mm thick
  • protects all life on earth
42
Q

Social factors

A

Factors that effect and influence people, individuals and the community.

  • people affecting factors
  • effects on people
42
Q

Economic factors

A

Factors that affect the economy and money

- interest rates, tax, rates, Laws, policies, wages,

42
Q

Environmental factors

A
  • factors that impact land, ocean, plants, animals and any other aspects of the environment
42
Q

Atmosphere

A

The gasses surrounding the earth

42
Q

Habitat

A

The natural home or environmental of an animal, plant or organism

42
Q

Gyres

A

In oceanography are large systems of rotating ocean current

42
Q

Climate change

A

Induced and naturally occurring processes including the warming of the planet and impacts of this warming. Eg. Melting glaciers, changing weather patterns

42
Q

Global warming

A

Specifically the increase in earth’s average surface temperature. Can cause extreme high or low temps

42
Q

Degradation

A

The processs of becoming damaged and of poorer quality due to the effects of pollution, industry and modern agricultural methods

42
Q

Corilolos effect

A

The curvature of wind and ocean currents causing the nothern hemisphere current to be clockwise and the southern hemishoere , anticlockwise

43
Q

Communities could use micro grids (solar)

-

A
buy and selling of energy remains local
- money stays in kicks ecinomy 
- increased hygenin 
- makes local happy 
- great for environment
- makes locals proud
- not controlled by gov
- more local jobs 
- less need for kerosine which is harmful
- can study in light at night
- better education 
- reduced climate change and air pollution
-
44
Q

Traffic

A
  • electric cars and shared vehicles
  • reduced air pollution
  • safer - driverless vehicles
  • less room needed for cars - more space for green areas in cities
  • extra space in cities for
  • remanufacing factories to convert old cars (more jobs)
  • extra space to build low cost sustainable housing
  • urban food farms in old car parks
  • no frustration and road rage - increased happiness
  • cleaner air
  • less fossil fuel use
  • cheaper
  • old oil areas transformed and re habilitated (oil not needed petrol—> electric)
  • increase animal diversity again in cities
45
Q

Agricultural changes

- agriculture - leading cause of environmental change

A

Use plants to fix soil and draw carbon out of atmoshoere

  • use grazing animals to eat and fertilise unwanted plants that are used only to fix soil
  • better soil - less run off, more water retained when rains, less runoff or chemicals into water ways
  • reduced need for chemicals (natural feriloser)
  • regenerative farming
46
Q

Marine permaculture

A
  • restore seaweed
  • restore fish pop
  • seaweed draws carbon out
  • can be used as food, fertiliser, animal feel, biofuel, fish habitat
  • water qualitly x better, less acidic
  • fastest growing plant
47
Q

Exxon valdez oil spill

A
Social
 -fishermen lost livelihood 
-Increased stress and mental illness from financial troubles
-increased domestic violence and alcoholism 
-health problems - oil toxicity
- 4 people died in the cleanup efforts
- long term health effects like cancer 
Economic 
-  collapse of salmon and herring fisheries
-fishermen - bankrupt
-economies of shoreline towns suffered
-economic loss of $2.8 billion 
-fish stocks never recovered, causing loss of industry for decades 
Environmental
- killed 250, 000 seabirds 
-killed 3,000 otters
-Killed 300 seals 
-killed 22 killer whales
-killed 250 bald eagles 
-oil still remains in area
-killed 40% otters in area and didn’t recover for 25 years
48
Q

What is source

A

The source function is how the earth provides natural resources that can be used for people eg. Water, soil, minerals, fossil fuels
- these resources are unevenly distributed due to deaths systems

49
Q

What is sink

A

The sink function is how the earth absorbs waste and pollution eg. Absorption of carbon dioxide by vegetation

50
Q

What is service

A

The service function is how the earth provides the services that support life. Eg purifying air

51
Q

What is spirituality

A

The spirituality function is how the earth provides the recreational, aesthetic and spiritual value we get from it eg. Ablility to climb a mountain, admire a sunset or view and bathe in the sacred waters of a river