1.

01: Introduction to Ecosystems-

 Ecosystems are the result of biotic and abiotic interactions.

 In a predator-prey relationship, the predator is an organism that eats another organism (the
prey).
 Symbiosis is a close and long-term interaction between two species in an ecosystem. Types of
symbiosis include mutualism, commensalism, and parasitism.
 Competition can occur within or between species in an ecosystem where there are limited
resources. Resource partitioning— using the resources in different ways, places, or at different
times—can reduce the negative impact of competition on survival.
 Pyramid of Needs- developed by Abraham Maslow (founder of humanistic psychology)

 - Hierachy of Needs
 Self-Actualization is meaning, justice, truth, and wisdom
 Esteem Needs is accomplishment, attention, recognition, self-respect, and social status
 Social Needs is belonging, friendship, and love
 Safety Needs is financial resources, health care, and physical safety
 Physiological Needs is food, water, air, and sleep
 These needs are also parStt of the thriving in society instead of surviving
 Eight Living Thing Characteristics-
o Living things are composed of cells
o Living things use energy to survive
o Living things maintain homeostasis
o Living things grow by making new cells
o Living things have DNA, which allows them to pass genetic info to offspring
o Living things reproduce
o Populations of living things adapt over time in response to their environments
o Living things respond to stimuli such as light or heat
 Ecology focuses on relationships and predicts how living things impact one another and the
environment in which they live.
 Biology is made up of ecology, biochemistry, molecular biology, cellular biology, and physiology.
 Ecology involves geology, chemistry, and mathematics
 Biosphere includes all living things and the areas in which they live.
 Biome is a large geographical area classified by climate and the plant and animal life within it
o Climate- average weather of an area over an extended period of time. Depends on
temperature, precipitation, latitude, and altitude
 Ecosystem includes all living things functioning together with the physical factors of their
environment. Ecosystems allow ecologists to consider all living and nonliving aspects of an
organism’s environment during research.
 Habitat- Place in ecosystem where an organism normally lives. Includes living and nonliving
components that are essnetial to survival.
 Community- Area occupied by different groups of interacting organisms. Nonliving factors are
ignored to highlight relationships among organisms.
 Population- Unit of species living in same geographical area.
 Species- Group of like organisms that can reproduce with one another with no fault.
 Biotic components- Living parts of an ecosystem including producers and consumers
 Producers-
o Plants are photosynthesizers converting sunlight into their own food using
photosynthesis. Carbon dioxide + water + sunlight -> glucose + oxygen
o Some baceria are chemosynthesizers that make their own food at deep ocean vents by
converting carbon into organic matter using energy from inorganic compounds using
chemosynthesis. Carbon dioxide + oxygen + hydrogen sulfide -> formaldehyde + sulfur +
water
 Consumers-
o Herbivores – only eat plants, primary consumers
o Carnivores eat meat
o Omnivores eat both animals and plants, like most humans
o Detrivores, also called detritus feeders, eat dead matter
o Decomposers break down remains of organisms into simpler, inorganic substances
 Most detrivores are decomposers
 Abiotic components- Nonliving components
o Physical abiotic factors- temperature, sunlight, rainfall, soil, and air and water currents
o Chemical abiotic factors- carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus as they cycle through
ecosystem
o Degree to which individual abiotic factors affect an organism varies
 Biological communities can be so similar when they are geographically different, based on the
environment and biotic/abiotic factors.
 Niche- role of organism in environment
o Fundamental niche- Theoretical role of organism without limiting factors
o Realized niche- Actual niche of organism which varies based on limiting factors, such as
weather, tree cover, soil type, air, water currents, etc.
 Competitive exclusion principle- No two species can occupy same niche in same environment at
the same time
 Habitat is part of the niche
 Predation- relationship between the predator and the prey
 Trophic cascade- Relationship between populations of predators and resources consumed by
the prey
 Symbiotic relationships - Long-term interactions between species
o Parasitism: +/-
 o Commensalism: +/0
o Mutualism: +/+
o Competition: -/-
o Neutralism: 0/0
 With resource partionining, species are able to coexist long-term rather than become extinct.

1.02 Biomes:

 Biomes- Large geographical regions that have similar climate and ecosystems
 Climate, habitat, and the community of organisms define a biome
 Six major biomes- Marine, Freshwater, Desert, Grassland, Forests, Tundra
 A biome contains characteristic communities of plants and animals that result from, and are
adapted to, its climate.
 Major terrestrial biomes include taiga, temperate rainforests, temperate seasonal forests,
tropical rainforests, shrubland, temperate grassland, savanna, desert, and tundra.
 The global distribution of nonmineral terrestrial natural resources, such as water and trees for
lumber, varies because of some combination of climate, geography, latitude and altitude,
nutrient availability, and soil.
 The worldwide distribution of biomes is dynamic; the distribution has changed in the past and
may again shift as a result of global climate changes.
 Freshwater biomes include streams, rivers, ponds, and lakes. These freshwater biomes are a
vital resource for drinking water.
 Marine biomes include oceans, coral reefs, marshland, and estuaries. Algae in marine biomes
supply a large portion of the Earth’s oxygen, and also take in carbon dioxide from the
atmosphere.
 The global distribution of nonmineral marine natural resources, such as different types of fish,
varies because of some combination of salinity, depth, turbidity, nutrient availability, and
temperature.
 Terrestrial biomes are differentiated from one another by latitude, humidity, elevation, and
vegetation.
 Abiotic factors such as temperature, precipitation, and topography influence the variation and
distribution of species within each biome.
 Rainforests are found in Earth’s tropical and temperate zones and have high diversity.
 Two types of tundra-
o Arctic tundra- South of polar caps and subject to frigid temperatures. Most common
vegetation is mossens and lichens. Soil is known as permafrost.
o Alpine tundra- Located above tree lines of many mountains and rarely has permafrost.
 Temperate grasslands exist in flat inland areas of every continent. The soil of temperate
grasslands is rich and fertile due to the constant replenishing of nutrients from decomposing
grasses and the lack of rain that would normally leech away nutrients or erode soil.
 Tropical or subtropical grasslands- savannas. Savannas lie at lower elevations and have a sparse
amount of trees. Precipitation is low.
 Temperate deciduous forest is a biome of deciduous trees in a climate with cold winters and hot
summers. Many organisms have built adaptations for different seasons. Soil is naturally deep
and rich in nutrients but exploitation from human beings has ruined it.
 Deserts occupy significant parts of most continents. Soil quality is poor, with mostly sand and
rock. Predominant vegetation is succulents. Most animals are nocturnal so many lifeforms come
out at night.
 Taigas are located south of tundras, and are also called coniferous or boreal forest. Large trees
can thrive in taigas as the ground is not permanently frozen.
 In temperate rainforests, precipitation is mostly rain and snow, but also from fog. Abundant
natural resources and rich soil support high productivity. Largest biomass of all rainforests.
Temperate rainforests have low plant biodiversity due to the fact that it is mostly conifers.
 Temperate shrubalnds also known as chapparals. Temperate shrublands have hot summers and
cool winters.
 Climate determines the abundance and types of organisms in a terrestrial biome, but in aquatic
biomes, salinity, dissolved oxygen, and light determine abundance of organisms.
 Aquatic biomes seperated into freshwater environments/wetlands and marine environments
 Ponds are smaller than lakes and shallower which means sunlight can penetrate their entire
depth.
 Four Zones in a Lake
o Littoral zone- Photosynthetic zone near shore where sunlight and nutrients are
abundant
o Limnetic zone- Photosynthetic zone from surface to zone which light does not
penetrate. High oxygen and sunlight levels and relatively large numbers of plants. Much
of biomass in lake is produced here
o Profundal zone- above bottom of the lake,low oxygen levels and no sunlight or plants
but fish may swim here
o Benthic zone- bottom of lake with low oxygen levels and temperatures and home to
animals like insects, snails, etc.
 Thermocline- region where temperature changes significantly
 Epilimnion- Warm surface of a lake
 Hypolimnion- Cold section of lake below thermocline
 Thermal layering disappears in fall when surface winds churn the water in fall overturn and in
winter, ice will form on surface and species burrow into the mud at the bottom. Surface winds in
the spring cause mixing and the thermal layering develop in summer
 Human activites increase amount of organic matter, sediment, and nutrients entering the lake,
which increases the biomass as phytoplankton will thrive with increased nutrients. Eventually,
the increase in productivity decreases the overall health of the lake.
 Lakes based on productivity:
o Oligotrophic lakes- low nutrient levels and low productivity
o Eutrophic lakes- high nutrient levels and high productivity
o Mesotrophic lakes- between oligotrophic and eutrophic
 Cultural eutrophication- human-induced increase in nutrients and productivity from nitrate
and/or phosphate pollution
 70% of Earth is water but only 3% is freshwater which is usually frozen in polar ice caps and
glaciers or stored underground.
 Anthropogenic- human-induced
 Increase in turbidity, particle matter suspended in water, decreases the amount of light that can
penetrate the lake which decreases the amount of phytoplankton that can survive.
 Increase in water depth and velocity means it is a river, which is also narrower than a lake.
 Streams and rivers absorb oxygen from the atmosphere as they flow downhill and also pick up
nutrients from ecoysstems in the form of leaves and twigs, animal feces, and insects.
 Watershed- drainage basin for a stream or river
 As water flows downhill, it travels through 3 zones
o Source zone- Area that encompasses the headwaters of the river; Cold water and large
amounts of dissolved oxygen
o Transition zone- Wider, slower area of the river with less dissolved oxygen and more
producers
o Flood plain zone- Area of the river that is wider with meander bends and possible deltas,
low dissolved oxygen but high producers and consumers
 River’s climate determined by other biomes the river flows through. Rivers shape land.
 Running water wears away Earth through erosion.
 Eroded materials are transported elsewhere which forms a delta where the river flows into the
ocean
 Border between a river and the land – riparian habitat which provides a zone where plants and
animals thrive and an example of an ecotone, where two biomes intersect.
 Estuary- place influenced by river and ocean biomes and contains a mixture of freshwater and
saltwater
 Estuaries branch off into tidal marshes, where there is a tremendous change in water level and
temperature
 Phytoplankton are photosynthetic, microscopic plants that float in water.
 An estuary or tidal marsh is a transitional environment that occurs at the mouth of the river
where it meets the ocean. Waters are brackish and are nutrient-rich from incoming tides and
outgoing water at the river mouth.
 Dams across rivers can remove sediment and nutrients which damages the estuary.
 Types of wetlands other than estuaries and tidal marshes
o Marshes- wetlands with a continuous source of water and soft-stemmed vegetation
o Swamps- wetlands that are dominated by woody plants, including shrubs and/or
hardwood trees
o Bogs- wetlands that receive most of their water from precipitation and are
characterized by peat, acidic waters, and sphagnum moss
o Fens- wetlands that receive most of their water from groundwater and are
characterized by peat, but low-acidic water
 Wetlands provide benefits such as a habitat, high GPP, filters waters, recharge aquifers, provides
flood and erosion control
 Oceans cover 71% of Earth’s surface. Open ocean populated with phytoplankton, zooplankton,
fish, and mammals.
  Ocean zones
o Neritic zone- Over the continental shelf gradually sloping region of ocean floor receiving
lots of sunlight and oxygen
o Euphotic zone- Over the continental shelf steeply sloping region of ocean floor receiving
lots of sunlight and oxygen but low nutrients
o Bathyal zone- Over continental slope and receives little light and they rely on food from
euphotic zone
o Abyssal zone- Over abyssal plain flat expanses of ocean floor receiving no sunlight along
with cold water, high pressure, and little oxygen
o Continental shelf- Exists around perimeter of each continent where ocean depth
increases gradually
o Continental slope- Past the continental shelf where the ocean floor slopes dramatically
o Pelagic zone- In open ocean, consisting of all water not close to ocean floor
o Intertidal zone- In area exposed to atmosphere at low tide and covered by ocean at high
tide, also known as littoral zone
 Each biome has a different impact on the biosphere.
 Distribution of biomes are rapidly changing from global warming
 Global climate change and human impact leads to limited natural resources and biodiversity.

1.03 Cycles:

 Earth’s living organisms are composed of chemical elements – mostly carbon, hydrogen,
nitrogen, oxygen, and phosphorus.
 Water cycle also known as hydrologic cycle
 Most cycles are known as biogeochemical cycles, which move nutrients throughout the cycle.
 The hydrologic cycle, which is powered by the sun, is the movement of water in its various solid,
liquid, and gaseous phases between sources and sinks.
 The oceans are the primary reservoir of water at the Earth’s surface, with ice caps and
groundwater acting as much smaller reservoirs.
 The carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus cycles are the movement of atoms and molecules
containing those elements between sources and sinks.
 Some of the reservoirs in which carbon compounds occur in the carbon cycle hold those
compounds for long periods of time, while some hold them for relatively short periods of time.
 Carbon cycles between photosynthesis and cellular respiration in living things.
 Plant and animal decomposition has led to the storage of carbon over millions of years. The
burning of fossil fuels quickly moves that stored carbon into atmospheric carbon, in the form of
carbon dioxide.
 Most of the reservoirs in which nitrogen compounds occur in the nitrogen cycle hold those
compounds for relatively short periods of time.
 Nitrogen fixation is the process in which atmospheric nitrogen is converted into a form of
nitrogen (primarily ammonia) that is available for uptake by plants and that can be synthesized
into plant tissue.
 The atmosphere is the major reservoir of nitrogen.
 The major reservoirs of phosphorus in the phosphorus cycle are rock and sediments that contain
phosphorus-bearing minerals.
 There is no atmospheric component in the phosphorus cycle, and the limitations this imposes on
the return of phosphorus from the ocean to land make phosphorus naturally scarce in aquatic
and many terrestrial ecosystems. In undisturbed ecosystems, phosphorus is the limiting factor in
biological systems.
 The water cycle is an open system, the norm in environmental science.
 In the hydrologic cycle, the liquid water is transformed into a gas by evaporation. Evaporation
moves water from liquid water bodies—such as the goldfish pond—to the atmosphere. This is
one way that liquid water enters the atmosphere, but it is not the only way.
 Water also moves into the atmosphere through transpiration. These processes together are
called evapotranspiration.
 In addition, water moves from solid form (ice) on the surface to gaseous form in the atmosphere
through sublimation.
 Condensation occurs when water is in the atmosphere, which causes clouds to form. Some
clouds have water droplets that freeze which forms hailstones or snowflakes. Falling back to
Earth’s surface is known as precipitation.
 Runoff can occur through infiltration, when water penetrates the soil.
 Water is stored on Earth’s surface in many ways-
o Water that is frozen can be stored as ice or snow.
o Liquid water on the surface of the earth can be stored in lakes, rivers, and streams.
o Liquid water beneath the surface of the earth is stored in the pores in between
sediment as groundwater, which creates the second largest sink for water.
o Groundwater may stay underground for hundreds of years, but it eventually moves
through the pores to surface water or the ocean.
o And, of course, water is also stored in the oceans, which make up the largest sink for
water.
 Condensation is the opposite of vaporization.
 Large surface area -> More evaporation and precipitation
 Too little water -> droughts and increased salinity
 Too much water -> flooding, low salinity, accumulation of sediment/debris/toxins
 Imbalances can be dangerous to ocean animals
 About 99% of water on Earth is essentially unusuable or inaccessible to humans at this time
because its saltwater in the ocean or frozen in glaciers/ice caps.
 Carbon is found in all living things and can be recycled
 Sources of carbon:
o Atmosphere
o Fossil Fuels
o Rocks
o Shells
o Soil
o Surface Ocean
o Plants and trees
 o Ocean life
o Animals
 Two types of pathways: land-based and water-based
 Land-based
o Plants and trees absorb carbon out of the air and perform photosynthesis
o Plants store carbon as they grow, as some are eaten by animals or stored in their bodies
o Carbon is given off as a waste product from living things which puts it in the air
o Living things die -> broken down by decomposers, which leaves carbon that is stored in
the ground in rocks and soils. Decomposed organisms get subject to heat and pressure
which makes them fossil fuels.
o Fossil fuels are taken out of the ground and are burned which releases carbon dioxide to
the air
o Plants and trees get burned as deforestation which releases carbon stored in them to
the atmosphere
 Water-based
o Carbon is held in sea water and as air passes over the water, some carbon is released
into air and stored into it, called diffusion
o Carbon taken up by sea plants who use photosynthesis
o Carbon stored in the plants and all sea life that consumers the plants, with some carbon
being released back into sea water from living things through a process called
respiration. During respiration cells work and give off carbon as a waste product that is
released back into the water.
o Living things die -> broken down and fall to seafloor and become sediment. Carbon is
stored in sediment and becoems partially dissolved or left on Earth. Decomposed
organisms will become fossil fuels.
o Certain sea creatures can take carbon from water and use it to make shells, which falls
to sea floor when animal dies and becomes rock, which will eventually break down
carbon and release the carbon back into the water
o Carbon released deep in ocean makes deep waters high in carbon content, which is
brought to surface by ocean circulation, which brings cold deep water to surface.
Carbon-rich water releases carbon by diffusion
 Breathing is part of the carbon cycle.
 Carbon cycle two phases:
o Environmental phase: Parts of nutrient cycle when nutrients exist in soil, water, and air
o Organismic phase: Nutrients found in organisms
 Through volcanic melting, carbon dioxide may be released to the atmosphere.
 Through weathering and subsequent erosion, carbon is released to the atmosphere as carbon
dixodie and to the water as carbonate ion or bicarbonate ion
 Carbon becomes different types of sedimentary rocks
 Carbon is stored in plants for long periods of time in land but shorter periods in water plants
 Use of fossil fuels and deforestation have both increased the amount of carbon dioxide released
into the carbon cycle and decreased how carbon dioxide can be absorbed
 There is a small amount of the organic carbon in the dead biomass pool that is buried and fused
into ocean sediments before it can decompose into its integral elements. Over millions of years,
some of the fossilized organic matter may be transformed into fossil fuels. The amount of
carbon removed from the food web by this slow process is roughly equivalent to the amount of
carbon returned to the atmosphere by weathering of carbon-containing rocks, like limestone,
and by volcanic eruptions, so the carbon cycle is in steady state.


 78% atmosphere is N2 gas.
 Nitrogen is an essential element in DNA, RNA, and amino acids, but in its gaseous form, it is not
usable by most organisms.
 To make it into an usable form, you would need to do a process involving nitrogen fixation,
nitrifcation, assimilation, ammonification, and denitrification.
 Nitrogen fixation = nitrogen gas into a usable form, usually ammonia at the plant nodules of
legumes by bacteria or it can be convereted during lightning storms into nitric oxide and then
nitrites or nitrates
 Bacteria make life by producing nitrogen usable by all living things.
 With ammonia produced by nitrogen fixation, other bacteria in soil convert ammonia to nitrite
and them nitrates through nitrifcation. Terrestrial plants use nitrate as a source of oxygen
 Terrestrial and aquatic plants absorb nitrate or ammonium ions from the soil through
assimilaiton.
 Ammonification is when bacteria or fungi convert nitrogen within a dead plant or animal into
ammonium.
 Denitrification = nitrate ions -> nitrogen gas, must occur in absense of oxygen.
 
 Eutrophication- condition in which bodies of water contain excess nutrients, usually nitrates or
phosphates, as a result of sewage and/or fertilizers
 Smog may result from human impact as a result of combustion producing nitrogen oxides
 Acid deposition as a result of nitrogen oxides released to atmosphere
 Ammonium ions are not toxic to fish but ammonia is.
 Phosphorus- high reactive element found in sedimentary rocoks and is important component of
DNA, RNA, and ATP.
 Animals excrete phosphates through waste materials, and after death, through decomposition.
 Decomposition, phosphate -> inorganic phosphorous, and then its released through erosion,
decomposition, and wastes and will end in ocean, where it beocmes part of sediment.
 Phosphorous just switches from organic to inorganic and vice versa.
 Humans are reducing the available terrestrial phosphorus.
 Humans can decrease impact on phosphorus cycle by using non-phosphorus materials.

1.04 Primary Productivity:

 Primary productivity is the rate at which solar energy (sunlight) is converted into organic
compounds via photosynthesis over a unit of time.
 Gross primary productivity is the total rate of photosynthesis in a given area.
 Net primary productivity is the rate of energy storage by photosynthesizers in a given area, after
subtracting the energy lost to respiration.
 Productivity is measured in units of energy per unit area per unit time (e.g., kcal/m2/yr).
 Most red light is absorbed in the upper 1 m of water, and blue light only penetrates deeper than
100 m in the clearest water. This affects photosynthesis in aquatic ecosystems, whose
photosynthesizers have adapted mechanisms to address the lack of visible light.
 Productivity- amount of energy accessible to support organisms within the ecosystem
 Energy is measured by examining the amount of sunlight captured by producers through
photosynthesis
 Work- process of causing matter to move against an opposing force. Matter moves through
energy.
 Potential energy- energy an object has because of position or composition
o Stored Mechanical Energy- energy stored in objects by force
o Chemical Energy- stored in bonds of atoms and molecules
o Nuclear Energy- stored in nucleus of atom and holds atoms together and released by
fusion/fission
o Gravitational energy- potential energy of position
o Electric Potential energy- stored energy of electric charges due to their position and
interaction around other charges
 Kinetic energy- energy an object has due to its motion
o Mechanical energy- movement of objects
o Electrical energy- movement of electrical charge
o Radiant energy- electromagnetic energy travelling in waves
o Sound- movement of energy through substances in longitudinal waves
o Thermal energy- Heat; Internal energy in substance by vibration of atoms and molecules
 Energy is absorbed by living systems through their surroundings, and this energy is used to
power movement.
 First law of thermodynamics
o In ordinary chemical and physical processes, energy cannot be created or destroyed,
only transformed, and the total energy in the universe remains constant
 Second law of thermodynamics
o Every time energy is transformed, some energy becomes heat and becomes unusable.
Because usable energy is transformed into unusable energy, there are only few trophic
levels
o Implications for ecosystems
 Within an ecosystem, energy is not recycled; it flows through the ecosystem.
 High-quality energy, such as electricity or mechanical energy, is always
transformed into low–quality energy, such as heat, noise, or vibrations, during
an energy transformation .
 Because of the transformations from high-quality to low-quality energy, it is not
possible to have 100 percent energy efficiency within an ecosystem.
o Entropy keeps increase in the universe, which means randomness keeps increasing.
o The amount of energy in any system is always being degraded in transformations from
useful to not-so-useful energy, which means there is less energy for work.
o Sunlight is made of different wavelengths of light, and we see these wavelengths as
different colors when light is scattered.
o Most red light is absorbed within the first meter of bodies of water and the dark colors
reach the farthest such as 100 m.
o As a result of varied intensity and spectral quality of light, rate of photosynthesis is
affected.
o Plants/algae have adaptive mechanisms to utilize the little bit of light that penetrates
the water for photosynthesis.
o Productivity of ecosystem- Rate at which new biomass is produced and controlled by
climate and by nutrient availability.
 o Most productive areas are warm and wet
o Gross Primary Productivity in terrestrial biome is rate at which energy is transformed
and stored in organic substances by producers by photosynthesis. Some energy is used
for respiration so net primary productivity = GPP – respiration.
o NPP = energy at the base of the food chain
o Only the biomass represented by the NPP is available as nutrients for consumers.
o Planet’s NPP limits amount of consumers on planet
o GPP measured as kcal/m^2/yr
o Another awy of measuring productivity is the normalized difference vegetation index,
which is estimate of radiation absorbed by photosynthesis in plants

1.05 Trophic Levels And Energy Flow

 A significant fraction—in many cases, 90 percent—of the energy stored in the bodies of
organisms at one trophic level becomes heat when organisms at the next trophic level consume
them and use the organic matter in their bodies as a source of energy.
 Energy can changes forms in different stages
 Law of conservation of energy- Energy cannot be created or destroyed, only changed
 Water cycle energy systems
o Radiant energy- captured from sum and becomes thermal energy in water, plants, or
land
o Thermal energy- transfers to atmosphere during evaporation and transpiration
o Thermal energy- releases to atmosphere during condensation and precipitation
o Thermal energy- stores again in water, land, and plants
 Carbon cycle energy systems
o Chemical energy- Carbon dioxide in atmosphere
o Chemical energy- Photosynthesis in plants makes glucose
o Chemical energy- Cellular respiration in plants form ATP
o Mechanical energy- ATP used for movement and growth
o Thermal energy- Released from plants and animals from movement and transpiration
o Chemical energy- Decomposition of dead plants or animals returns organic carbon to
soil
 o Chemical energy- Dead organic material becomes fossil fuels
o Mechanical/Electrical energy- Fossil fuels burned for energy and carbon dioxide is
released
 Nitrogen cycle energy systems
o Chemical energy- Stored in ammonia through nitrogen fixation
o Chemical energy- Stored in nitrites through nitrification
o Chemical energy- Converted to nitrogen gas through denitrification
o Chemical energy- Stored in nitrogen gas
 Producers have the most biomass and energy
 10 percent rule- Only 10% of energy from one trophic level transfers to the next, with the
original 100% energy coming from the sun

1.06 Food Chains and Food Webs

 A food web is a model of an interlocking pattern of food chains that depicts the flow of energy
and nutrients in two or more food chains.
 Positive and negative feedback loops can each play a role in food webs. When one species is
removed from or added to a specific food web, the rest of the food web can be affected.
 Types of food chains:
o Grazer food chains- begin with producers
o Decomposer food chains- begin with something dead and dead material broken into
smaller pieces
 Ecosystems – transffer of energy begins with sun and same energy fuels every other trophic
level
 Food chains describe feeding relationships from one species to the next but don’t provide a
complete picture of all the relationships in an ecosystem. 
 Faults of food web
o Food chains describe feeding relationships from one species to the next but don’t
provide a complete picture of all the relationships in an ecosystem. 
o This representation cannot represent the complexity of each exchange between
organisms.
o This representation contains a bias in favor of big and easy-to-draw organisms. 
 A natural system can respond to changes in its inputs and outputs; therefore, most natural
systems are in a steady state. Adjustments in input and output rates caused by changes to a
system are called feedbacks.
 Feedback loop types
o Negative feedback loops- involves reaction to change in system by reverting to its
original state or decreasing rate at which change is occuring
o Positive feedback loops- increasing the rate at which change is occuring and increasing
effect.
 The intersecting food chains in a food web identify the interdependent relationships between all
organisms in a particular ecosystem. If one species disappears from an ecosystem, all species
connected to it will suffer the loss.

2.01 Biodiversity:
 Biodiversity in an ecosystem includes genetic, species, and habitat diversity.
 The more genetically diverse a population is, the better it can respond to environmental
stressors. Additionally, a population bottleneck can lead to a loss of genetic diversity.
 Ecosystems that have a larger number of species are more likely to recover from disruptions.
 Loss of habitat leads to a loss of specialist species, followed by a loss of generalist species. It also
leads to reduced numbers of species that have large territorial requirements.
 Species richness refers to the number of different species found in an ecosystem.
 There are four categories of ecosystem services: provisioning, regulating, cultural, and
supporting.
 Anthropogenic activities can disrupt ecosystem services, potentially resulting in economic and
ecological consequences.
 Biological Species Concept- members of same species if they can mate and produce fertile
offspring
 Gene pool- all alleles present within a population
 Determining if a population is evolving is dependent on the allele frequencies and changes of
these lead to evolution
 Introduction of outside alleles is gene flow which increases the variation within the gene pool
 Hybridization- breeding technique where two different, but closely related, species mate.
 When individuals with more beneficial traits are able to survive and produce more offspring
than others, the frequency of those genes will increase within the population.
 High genetic diversity -> better response to environmental change
 Speciation- formation of distinct species over time
 Genetic drift- change in allele frequency due to chance events
 When individuals with more beneficial traits are able to survive and produce more offspring
than others, the frequency of those genes will increase within the population.
 Genetic bottleneck- extreme reduction in genetic variation in population due to breeding of
closely related individuals
 Biodiversity hotspots- areas greatly affected by human activites that contain endemic species
(native species only found in one particular place). Hotspots have already lost 70% or more of its
original habitat
 Species richness- Number of species in an ecological area, which gets an idea of species diversity
 Conservation Biologist- Use scientific knowledge to protect and increase biodiversity and
ecosystem health
 Ecosystem services- positive benefits of ecosystems to people; four categories:
o Provisioning- Services directly provided by naturee and direct products of ecosystems
o Regulating- Services that ecosystems help moderate natural events and phenomena
o Cultural- Ecosystems guide our cultural, intellectual, and social development as we
interact with nature
o Supporting- Provide fundamental natural processes that allow Earth to sustain basic life
forms
 Ecosystems contain elements that pollinate plants, disperse seeds, move nutrients, preserve the
soil, decompose wastes, and control pests.
 Biodiversity takes not only species richness into account, but species evenness-
 o Species evenness- Relative abudance of each species
 The species we are most familiar with actually make up only a tiny fraction of Earth’s total
biodiversity. 
 Biologist Edward O. Wilson started efforts called the Encyclopedia of Life which tries to establish
a web page for every species of organism on Earth

2.02 Ecological Relationships:

 Island biogeography is the study of the ecological relationships and distribution of organisms on
islands, and of these organisms' community structures.
 Islands have been colonized in the past by new species arriving from elsewhere.
 Many island species have evolved to be specialists versus generalists because of the limited
resources, such as food and territory, on most islands. The long-term survival of specialists may
be jeopardized if and when invasive species, typically generalists, are introduced and
outcompete the specialists.
 Ecological tolerance refers to the range of conditions, such as temperature, salinity, flow rate,
and sunlight that an organism can endure before injury or death results.
 Ecological tolerance can apply to individuals and to species. Marine biomes include oceans, coral
reefs, marshland, and estuaries. Algae in marine biomes supply a large portion of the Earth’s
oxygen and also take in carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
 Biologists like Robert H. MacArthur and Edward Wilson developed the island biogeography
mode to explain composition/diversity of island species.
 Distance from mainland
o If one island was closer to the mainland than another with the same size, a larger
amount of colonists will immigrate to the closer one.
 Size of island
o Larger islands have higher immigration rates as they are bigger targets- target effect
 Species by Area
o Larger the island, more resources there are and the more species it can support and less
likely to become extinct- species-area effect
 Immigration and Extinction
o Immigration rate higher on closer islands- “rescue effect” which decreases rate of
extinction due to constant recolonization from mainland
 Latitude affects species richness, as latitudes closer to equator have higher species richness
 Time/stability hypothesis- longer a habitat exists, more chance for colonization and formation of
new/diverse species
 Number of diverse species found in region depends on:
o Immigration of new species
o Speciation within the region
o Loss of species due to emigration/extinction
 Organisms on same continent more closely related
 Adaptive evolution- period of change in which groups of organsims form new species whose
adaptations allow them to fill different ecological roles in their new communities
 Speciation in isolated environments
 o Island gigantism- Increased physical size, population size, and/or speciation of an
isolated species due to reduced predation and more resources
o Allopatric speciation- Species divided into two separate species because of a physical
barrier
o Variation in behavior- Isolated communities can exist between inland species and
coastal species. Difference in behavior -> evolutionary change
 Island communities have lower ecological tolerance to changes in resources or habitat

2.03 Natural Disruptions:

 Natural disruptions to ecosystems have environmental consequences that may, for a given
occurrence, be as great as, or greater than, many human-made disruptions.
 Earth system processes operate on a range of scales in terms of time. Processes can be periodic,
episodic, or random.
 Earth’s climate has changed over geological time for many reasons.
 Sea level has varied significantly as a result of changes in the amount of glacial ice on Earth over
geological time.
 Major environmental change or upheaval commonly results in large swathes of habitat changes.
 Wildlife engages in both short- and long-term migration for a variety of reasons, including
natural disruptions.
 The geologic time scale representation arranges traditional columns of the Precambrian era,
Paleozoic era, Mesozoic era, and Cenozoic era as a spiral. The two most recent periods in Earth's
geologic past (Mesozoic and Cenozoic) are further divided into epochs.
 During geologic time, disruption events occur at different scales. There are events that are
periodic, like the tides, that occur at repeated intervals. Then there are episodic events, such as
earthquakes, that occur occasionally or at irregular intervals. There also random events that
occur without warning or precedent, such as mass extinctions.
 Evolution increases diversity of life but then extinction decreases it
 99.9% of all species to ever lived are extinct
 Two types of extinction
o Background extinction- gradual extinction of individual species
o Mass extinction- rapid environmental changes that usually occur with one event that
cause lots of species going extinct
 After a mass extinction, large number of ecological niches open up and individuals with
adaptations exploit these niches which give them a survival edge, which leads to speciation
 Scientists have evidence for five mass extinctions and that we are urrently in the middle of our
sixth.
 Human activites have decreased the number of resources that many species need to survive.
 Adaptation/speciation cannot occur at high rate to keep pace with current extinction rates
 Empty niches -> collapsed ecosystem
 Earth’s climate flucutates a lot during geologic time and ice ages are long periods of time when
glacier ice covers large portion of land and ocean surface near the poles, which is caused by
changes in atmospheric carbon or changes in oceanic/atmospheric circulation
  Marked topography of receding glaciers and remnants of glaciers in places without cold climates
prove fluctuating climates
 Varied locations where fossil fuels can be found due to climate also proves fluctuating climates
 Three main reasons of sea level change
o Global warming increases ocean temperatures leading to thermal expansion of water
and rising sea levels
o Global warming melts glacier ice sheets by adding water to ocean and increasing sea
levels and vice versa for global cooling
o Coastal land subsitence – gradual settling of sand and rock near shorelines due to
movement of water which raises sea levels; tectonic plate movement- expands sea floor
and ocean volume which lowers sea levels
 Deforestation has destroyed 99% of original temperate forests
 Agriculture has replaced nearly all grasslands in NA
 The world’s 48,000 dams disrupt both aquatic and land ecosystems
 Migration and decrease in biodiversity occurs when habitats are no longer able to support
communities

2.04 Adaptation and Succession:

 Artificial selection- The breeders are able to modify species over many generations by selecting
individuals with the desired traits and intentionally mating those individuals together.
 Natural selection- modifying species over time non-artifically and due to nature
 Organisms adapt to their environment over time, both in short- and long-term scales, via
incremental changes at the genetic level.
 Environmental changes, either sudden or gradual, may threaten a species’ survival, requiring
individuals to alter behaviors, move, or perish.
 There are two main types of ecological succession: primary and secondary succession.
 A keystone species in an ecosystem is a species whose activities have a particularly significant
role in determining community structure.
 An indicator species is a plant or animal that, by its presence, abundance, scarcity, or chemical
composition, demonstrates that some distinctive aspect of the character or quality of an
ecosystem is present.
 Pioneer members of an early successional species commonly move into unoccupied habitat and
over time adapt to its particular conditions, which may result in the origin of new species.
 Succession in a disturbed ecosystem will affect the total biomass, species richness, and net
productivity over time.
 Evolution- change in allele frequencies over time; represents change from earliest forms to vast
diversity today; based primarly on interactions of organism populations and their environments
 Charles Darwin made important contributions to evolution with evidence
 Three patterns of biological diversity by Darwin
o Species vary globally- Darwin noticed comparable ecosystems in different parts of world
have some similar but unique organisms.
o Species varly locally- Beaks have different shapes depending on species’ diet. Habitats
can be close together but have unique ecosystems
 o Species vary over time- Evolutionary change
 Evolution results
o New species develop over time
o Existing species become modified to survive in a changing environment
 Best adaptations -> more likely to survive
 Evolution influences the production of niches for organisms
 Coevolution- changes in traits of one population lead to changes in traits of another species
 Natural selection principles
o Populations evolve, individuals do not
o Variations occur naturally within a population
o All species have capacity to overproduce
o Adaptations help individuals compete successfully for survival
o Beneficial adaptations will become more common in a population
o Species can evolve into new species over many generations of successful adaptations
 Natural selection does not move in a fixed direction
 If the conditions of the environment change, some traits that were once beneficial adaptations
may no longer be useful. When such changes occur, new traits may become the adaptations
that allow for survival in the new environmental conditions. If environmental changes occur
faster than a species can adapt to those changes, the species may become extinct.
 Successions- large scale ecological events involving the change in composition and development
of ecosystems
 Communities change from pioneer communities (the starting part of succession) to climax
communities (the end point of succession) w hen they reach their carrying capacity, to make
best use of available resources
o Carrying capacity- average of high and low of population
 Pioneer communities- little species diversity, biogeochemical cycles beginning, unstable
 Climax communities- high species diversity, biogeochemical cycles well established, stable
 Primary succession, which is changes in community involving a new or barren habitat, is more
rare compared to secondary succession, which is changes in community involving a disturbance
 Species richness/distribution impacted by interspecific relationship of community
 Keystone species can affect structure of community
 Keystone species are in smaller numbers and are dependent on the role of each species in an
environment, that maintain biodiversity
 Indicator species- infers conditions in particular habitat, distinctive due to characteristics such as
prescence, abundance, etc.
 An event caused by physical, chemical, or biological agents that results in changes in population
size or community composition is called a disturbance.
o Natural disturbances- from nature
o Anthropogenic disturbances- caused by humans

2.05 Population Species:

 Specialist species tend to be advantaged in habitats that remain constant, while generalist
species tend to be advantaged in habitats that are changing.
 K-selected species tend to be large, have few offspring per reproduction event, live in stable
environments, expend significant energy for each offspring, mature after many years of
extended youth and parental care, have long life spans/life expectancy, and reproduce more
than once in their lifetime. Competition for resources in K-selected species’ habitats is usually
relatively high.
 r-selected species tend to be small, have many offspring, expend or invest minimal energy for
each offspring, mature early, have short life spans, and may reproduce only once in their
lifetime. Competition for resources in r-selected species’ habitats is typically relatively low.
 Biotic potential refers to the maximum reproductive rate of a population in ideal conditions.
 Many species have reproductive strategies that are not uniquely r-selected or K-selected, or
they change in different conditions at different times.
 K-selected species are typically more adversely affected by invasive species than r-selected
species, which are minimally affected by invasive species. Most invasive species are r-selected
species.
 A survivorship curve is a line that displays the relative survival rates of a cohort—a group of
individuals of the same age—in a population, from birth to the maximum age reached by any
one cohort member. There are Type I, Type II, and Type III curves.
 Survivorship curves differ for K-selected and r-selected species, with K-selected species typically
following a Type I or Type II curve and r-selected species following a Type III curve.
 Population dynamics- allows us to describe how population changes over time and can be used
to understand how humans affect other populations and how populations of invasive species
can be controlled
 Population dispersion types
o Clumped- separate clusters of organisms in one area
o Uniform- clusters being positioned with uniformity
o Random- random positions of the organisms
 Population density- number of individuals in population per unit area
 Larger populations -> density measured in miles or kilometers
 Species are either:
o Generalists- Species that can survive across wide array of habitats or that can use wide
array of resources
o Specialists- Species that can survive across narrow arrary of habitats or that can use a
limited array of resources

 Generalist species- broad niches; can live in many different places; eat a variety of foods;
tolerate a wide range of environmental conditions; not likely impacted by changes in
environmental conditions
 Specialist species- narrow niches; live in only one type of habitat; eat only one type/limited
types of food; tolerate a narrow range of environmental conditions; vulnerable to extinction
when environmental conditions change
 R-selected- produce many offspring each having small change of surviving to maturity.
Successful in unstable environments
 K-selected- fewer offspring each having high chance of surviving to maturity. Inclludes humans.
Successful in stable environments


 Species compete with one another to secure resources

 Intraspecific competition- can occur within same species or organisms of different species
 Interspecific competition- members of different species
 Biotic potential- capacity of population of organisms to increase in numbers under optimum
environmental conditions
 Due to the ever-changing environment, biotic potential is not typically reached. 
 
 Life table- a data table arranged by the individual's current age that shows the probability of
survival until the next birthday
 Survivorship curves- a graphical representation of an organism's probability of surviving to a
particular age


 Type 1- young organisms have high probability of survival and almost all individuals reach
middle age, but after, death increases
 Type 3- Likelihood of death is high at young ages, so few that survive to adulthood have high
chance of surviving for some time
 Type 2- probability of death equal in all age groups

2.06 Population Growth:

 When a population exceeds its carrying capacity (carrying capacity can be denoted as K),
overshoot occurs. There are environmental impacts of population overshoot, including resource
depletion.
 A major ecological effect of population overshoot is dieback of the population (often severe to
catastrophic) because the lack of available resources leads to famine, disease, and/or conflict.
 Population growth is limited by environmental factors, especially by the available resources and
space.
 Resource availability and the total resource base are limited and finite over all scales of time.
 When the resources needed by a population for growth are abundant, population growth
usually accelerates.
 When the resource base of a population shrinks, the increased potential for unequal distribution
of resources will ultimately result in increased mortality, decreased fecundity, or both, resulting
in population growth declining to, or below, carrying capacity.
 Population size always shifting as ecosystems are open systems for energy and matter
 Sunlight – influx of energy, energy exits by migration
 Matter constantly shifting because of seasonal fluctuations, water levels, and changes to
habitat.
 Limiting factors- control population growth/decline
 Abiotic factors influencing pop growth
o Water, which can lead to migration if shortage
o Temperature, as species are adapted to certain temperatures
o Size, not enough habitat can affect species
 Biotic factors influencing pop growth
o Interactions between species
o Invasive species which disrupt food chians
 Biological surplus = organisms in ecosystem – carrying capacity of ecosystem is positive
 The organsims in the surplus may need to migrate to another ecosystem in search of food and
space or starvation is risked


 ^ Way to estimate carrying capacity
 Two ecosystem patterns
o Sigmoid pattern- reveals carrying capacity at stability point (climax community when all
populations in ecosystem reach point of little or no change)
o Peak phenomena- food resources guide pop growth but natural tendencies don’t
stabilize (boom and bust)
 The size of a population increases quickly while food and habitat are abundant, but growth will
slow as food becomes less available. The population stabilizes when the number of births equals
the number of deaths and the population growth slows to zero. 
 Factors affecting populaiton size
 o Migration leads to fluctuation in population growth (movement of populations from one
ecosystem to another). This can be beneficial or detrimnetal. Immigration- sudden influx
and emigration- mass departure. Immigration is detrimental for herbivores and
beneficial for producers and vice versa for emigration
o Birth rate impacted by organism’s natural rate of reproduction, ratio of males and
females in pop, and general health of reproducing species . Shorter gestation period ->
faster birth rate. Low male-to-female ratio slows mating.
o Endangered populations due to habitat loss do not grow leading to low population
growth.

2.07 Demographics:

 Population growth rates can be interpreted from age-structure diagrams by the shape of the
structure.
 A rapidly growing population will, as a rule, have a higher proportion of younger people
compared to stable or declining populations.
 Total fertility rate (TFR) is affected by the age at which females have their first child, educational
opportunities for females, access to family planning, and government acts and policies.
 If fertility rate is at replacement levels, a population is considered relatively stable.
 Factors associated with infant mortality rates include whether mothers have access to good
healthcare and nutrition. Changes in these factors can lead to changes in infant mortality rates
over time.
 Population categories:
o Pre-reproductive age (0-14 years old)
o Reproductive age (15-44 years old)
o Post-reproductive age (45+ years old)
 Comparative number of individuals of each age class within a population can be described by
population pyramid (age-structure diagram)
 Age-structure diagram divides each age division into cohorts, usually dependent on gender
 Sex ratio- Number of males per females
 Wide base- large proportion of people have not yet reached reproductive age and capable of
rapid growth near in future
 Population pyramids of countries
o US- slow growth and aging population
o Japan- negative growth rate and declining population
o Niger- fast growth rate
 Population policies that can be controversial are made to control human population
 International Conference on Population and Development convened by UN addressed public
policy decisions regarding population
o Make family planning global (access to info on birth control and reproduction which
decreases birth and fertility rates)
o Improving women staus
o Ending gender-based violence and female genital mutilation
o Improving medical care to control birth and fertility rates
  China had a one child policy, an antinatalist policy which only allowed one children per family
until 2016, when it became two children.
 India is focusing on raising the status of women which will help reduce fertility rates by itself.
 Kenya leaves up the size up to the families but highly encouraged smaller families, which has
been successful over the years.
 Total fertility rate- number of births per woman over her lifetime.
 Population size changes replacement-level fertility, the TFR needed to offset average number of
deaths in population so pop size is stable.
 Birth rates affected by:
o Contraception and medical care availability
o Cultural beliefs
o Conflict
o Infant mortality rates
o Government policies
o Status of Women
o Urbanization
 Death rates affected by:
o Age of population
o Health care
o Hygiene and sanitation
o Infectious diseases
o Nutrition and diet
o Water (quality and quantity)

2.08 Human Population:

 Birth rates, infant mortality rates, and overall death rates, access to family planning, access to
good nutrition, access to education, and postponement of marriage all affect whether a human
population is growing or declining.
 Factors limiting global human population include the Earth’s carrying capacity and the basic
factors that limit human population growth as set forth by Malthusian theory.
 Population growth can be affected by both density-independent factors, such as major storms,
fires, heat waves, or droughts, and density-dependent factors, such as access to clean water and
air, food availability, disease transmission, or territory size.
 The rule of 70 states that dividing the number 70 by the percentage population growth rate
approximates the population’s doubling time.
 The demographic transition refers to the transition from high to lower birth and death rates in a
country or region as development occurs and that country moves from a preindustrial to an
industrialized economic system. This transition is typically demonstrated through a four-stage
demographic transition model (DTM).
 Characteristics of developing countries include higher infant mortality rates and more children
in the workforce than developed countries.
 Demography- examines how human populations change and factors that lead to change.
Demographers interested in aggregate (the whole) rather than individual
 Malthus Hypothesis
o Hypothesized that human population grows in a boom and bust cycle in which periods
of population growth and decline alternate. Developed upon examining some historical
records of pop growth in Great Britain up to 1800
o Disproved because of other variables such as society and culture
o Malthusian thinking prevalent in much of demographics and public policy
o Neo-Malthusian- growing global human population detrimental to human welfare
o Humans control the environment.
o Thomas Malthus predicted that the human population would grow at greater rate than
food production resulting in famine
o Technology has disproved this theory
 Population projections
o Everyone is born at age zero and cannot start reproducing immediately
o All individuals will eventually die
o Closed system, no one coming from outer space
o If population grows and reaches it carrying capacity then this may occur:
 Scarcity of resources
 Increase in prevalence and spread of disease
 Degradation of land, air, and water with increased pollution
 Loss of habitat and biodiversity and consequent mass extinctions
 Climate change, increased drought, and devastating storms
 Population factors
o Density-independent factors- events of processes that have nothing to do with country’s
population and more related to abiotic factors and natural disruptions
 Storms, fires, heat waves, droughts, flood
o Density-dependent factors- usually influenced by biotic factors and interactions of
people in population
 Clean water, clean air, food and good nutrition, disease transmission, large
territory size, birth rates, infant mortality rates, death rates, access to family
planning, access to education, age at marriage, waste accumulation
 Most popolous countries include developed and developing countries but highest growth rates
is primarily developing countries.
 Linear growth modles- arithmetic growth, usually short term within nature
o Formula is Pt = (P0 x GR x T)
o Pt = population size at later date, P0 = initial population, GR = growth rate, t = amount of
elapsed time with equation

o
 Geometric growth models- geometric, rate of change increases at increasing rate, observed in
population with specific breeding seasons
o Formula is Pt = P0 x (1 + GR)^t
o Pt = population size at later date, P0 = initial population, GR = growth rate, t = amount of
elapsed time with equation

o
 Exponential growth models- exponential, observed in populations in which breeding occurs
nonstop or when generations overlap
o Formula is Pt = P0 x e^(GR x t)
o Pt = population size at later date, P0 = initial population, GR = growth rate, t = amount of
elapsed time with equation

o
 Logistic growth models- complicated and describes increases at different rates
o Formula is Pt = K/[(1 + b) x e^(-at)]
o Pt is the population size at a later date, K is the carrying capacity, b is a constant
representing length of time between P0 and point at which growth slows, e is the
exponential constant, a is the average rate of growth, and t is the amount of elapsed
time with the equation.

o
 Humans populations grow at exponential rate, which is J-shaped
 Logistic growth is a S-shaped curve, which increases initially very slowly during lag phase, then
beings to increase exponentially until population reaches carrying c apacity during stationary
phase when birth rates = death rates
 Demographic Transition Model- how countries can transition from high birth and death rates to
low birth and death rates through industrialization, based on European experience of transition
from pre-industrial to developed nations
 
 Stage 1- low population, high birth and death rates (Pre-Industrial)
 Stage 2- birth rates are high, death rates fall, population grows rapidly (Early Developing)
 Stage 3- birth rates drop rapidly, death rates drop steadily, population continues to increase
steadily (Late Developing)
 Stage 4- both birth and death rates are in balance in Stage 1, population growth remains high
and levels out (Developed)
 Higher stages means more development and lower fertility and infant mortality rates
 Rate of human population growth can be calculated using various rate formulas. Doubling Time
– 70/r where r is the annual growth rate, and that is derived from Rule of 70.
 The annual growth rate is in percentage form

3.01 Plate Tectonics:

 Convergent boundaries can result in the creation of mountains, island arcs, earthquakes, and
volcanoes.
 Divergent boundaries can result in seafloor spreading, rift valleys, volcanoes, and earthquakes.
 Transform boundaries can result in earthquakes.
 Maps that show the global distribution of plate boundaries can be used to determine the
location of volcanoes, island arcs, earthquakes, hot spots, and faults.
 An earthquake occurs when stress overcomes a locked fault, releasing stored energy.
 Earth is made up of a rigid crust, solid (but less rigid) mantle, and a core with liquid outer layer
and solid inner layer. As depth within Earth increases, temperature and pressure increases.
 Core- 54% of Earth’s total diameter
 Mantle- 45% of Earth’s diameter
 Crust- 0.2 – 1.1% of Earth’s total diameter
 Crust:
o Two types: Oceanic which has denser basaltic rocks and continental which has lighter
granitic rock
o Not in one soild piece, in large pieces called plates which move due to heat convection
in mantle
o 0-100 km thick
 Mantle
o Largest in size from all Earth layers
o Lithosphere- cool, solid top layer of mantle
o Asthenosphere- bottom, soft layer of mantle where temperatures can be very high close
to core
o Composed of iron, magnesium, and calcium
o 2900 km thick
 Core
o Source of Earth’s internal heat
o Inner core- 1250 km thick and solid because of high pressure surrounding it
o Outer core- 2200 km thick and is a liquid iron-nickel alloy
o Twice as dense as mantle


 It is believed that the lithosphere “floats” on top of the slowly flowing asthenosphere, which
helps explain the theory of plate tectonics.
 Alfred Wegener formulated the hypothesis of continental drift, which is the theory of all
continents being one continent called Pangea and moved over time to their current positions
 Evidence
o Size and Shape
o Matching Fossils
o Rocks and Mountains
o Glacier Movement
 Wegener was unable to identify a mechanism for how the continents moved or to explain how
continents made of rock could drift without shattering.
 Scientists mapped the sea floor with sonar and a magnetometer and were able to find that
magnetic reversals (reversals in magnetic field) had been recorded in the basalts of seafloor
showing that the seafloor was growing from particular areas. At these areas, magma rises
through oceanic crust and cools to create new oceanic crust as it shoves older crust away from
spreading center. The magnetic field was recorded in minerals in the crust at the time it was
created.
 Somewhere between 8,10,12 major plates and number of smaller plates called microplates
 Some of the major plates are the Eurasian Plate, the African Plate, the Indian-Australian Plate,
The North America Plate, the South American Plate, the Antarctic Plate, and the Pacific Plate.
 Earth’s tectonic plates move constantly by colliding, sliding past or pulling part from one
another.
 Oceanic crust is thinner but denser than continental crust.
 If two plates of different density collide, the denser plate descends beneath the less denser
plate.
 If two plates of same density collide, neither plate descends and litosphere crumples upward


 Faults are found in areas where plates come together.
 When tectonic plates move, they cause earthquakes, faults, ocean formation, island chains,
volcanoes, mountains, and/or seafloor spreading.
 Divergent boundary
o Tectonic plates move apart
o May cause earthquakes, volcanoes, and/or new land to form
o The space between the plates may be filled in my molten rock that seeped in.
o Accretion- new land is added to tectonic plate
o When divergent plates are under the sea, the creation of new land is seafloor spreading
 Convergent boundary
o Occur when tectonic plates move toward each other and slowly collide
o May cause earthquakes, mountain formation, island chains, and/or volcanic activity
o Subduction- when one plate moves over the other pushing it deep into the mantle
 Transform boundary
o Occur when tectonic plates slide past each other
o May result in faults, earthquakes, and/or changes in overlying lanndscape
o Rocks can twist and turn making the rocks’ magnetic orientation different than Magnetic
North and South of Earth
o This provides clues and evidence for the theory of continental drift
 Oceanic-continental convergent boundary- Peru-Chile trench
 Oceanic-oceanic convergent boundary- Marianas trench
 Continental-continental convergent boundary- Himalayan mountains
 Divergent boundary- Mid-Atlantic Riddge; Great Rift Valley
 Transform boundary- San Andreas Fault
 Nine different plate collision combinations for two types of crust and the plate boundary
o Oceanic + continental + convergent boundary = subduction
o Oceanic + oceanic + convergent boundary = subduction
o Continental + continental + convergent boundary = mountains
o Oceanic + continental + divergent boundary = Not much evidence of this happening but
probably similar to other divergent boundaries
o Oceanic + oceanic + divergent boundary = mid-ocean ridge
o Continental + continental + divergent boundary = rift valley
o Oceanic + continental + transform boundary= Not much evidence of this happening but
probably a transform fault
o Oceanic + oceanic + transform boundary = Transform Fault
o Continental + continental + transform boundary = Transform Fault
 Earth’s litospheric plates are in constant motion so this movement can make earthquakes and
volcanic eruptions
 Earthquakes- occur at all types of plate tectonic boundaries.
 When strain between two faults build up and when frictional resistance is overcome, an
earthquake occurs
 Earthquakes occurs at the focus or hypocenter. The epicenter is on the Earth’s crust directly
above the focus. Waves of energy radiated from focus can be measured by seismographs.
 Richter scale is used to measure earthquakes, so a whole number increase is equal to a tenfold
increase in amplitude.
 Volcanoes most often occur at divergent or convergent plate boundaries
 Formed when lava or ash builds up over time
 Volcanoes are a unique type of mountain because they have capability to erupt hot, molten lava
on surface through crack in crust
 Types of volcanoes
o Composite volcanoes- Formed by series of eruptions that form layers of ash and lava.
Generally are steep, high mountains.
o Cinder cone volcanoes- Formed when violent eurption contains great deal of ash and
cinders. Usually cone-shaped and small mountain. Located near other types of
volcanoes
o Shield volcanoes- Formed when several slow, gentle eruptions cool and form layers of
lava. Gentle sloping sides or mild hills.
 The Ring of Fire has frequent volcanic and earthquake activity and it is a path around the Pacific
Ocean where multiple tectonic plates meet.
 Volcanoes can occur at non-plate boundary locations, like earthquakes.
 Hot Spots- Exceptionally hot regions in the mantle.
 Hot spot hypothesis- Hawaii was created by Pacific Plate moving slowly over a hot spot in the
mantle which provided source of magma that erupted onto seafloor as lava at seamounts
(mountain created by volcano at seafloor), which eventually became tall enough to become
islands.
 Plate tectonic theory- as mantle circulates, the crust moves in response to swirling magma and
land is continously pulled apart, collides together, and reshaped
  Earthquake data can help scientists predict volcanic eruptions
 Folded mountains- created when tectonic plates move and segments of Earth’s crust are bent
and doubled over. Mainly occur at convergent boundaries where land is being gradually pushed
together. Pressure of plate motion causes land to fold. Folding patterns can appear as domes,
waves, twists, and turns. This could happen at divergent boundaries where part of adjacent land
moves causing surface layers to buckle or fold. Example is Appalachian Mountains
 Fault-block mountains- Form on fault lines. Occur at convergent or divergent boundaries where
one side of the fault drops or rises. Mountains from when stress causes pieces of the crust in a
fault zone to be thurst upward to higher elevations, which causes cracking and pushes jagged
pieces of land upwards. These mountains appear to have jagged, rough edges, and sharp cliffs.
Example is Sierra Nevada Mountains
 Oceanic Subduction Zone- Plates meet in deep ocean trenches in seafloor at convergent
boundary, and subduction occurs when one slides under another and the lower plate melts hot
molten rock of mantle, which is a subduction zone. Process of melting creates pressure. Newly
melted molten rock looks to escape and when pressure builds up, magma works its way through
cracks that form in ocean floor, and volcanism will occur.
 Hotspots- Thinner crust. Molten magma rises to just underneath the surface of Earth creating
volcanic activity or a bulge. Hotspots may not occur in a plate boundary. They may be located
beneath a volcano that is no longer acive. Hotspots change locations as plates shifts. Plate
movement can create island chains.
 Mid-ocean ridge- Divergent boundaries. As plates move away from each other, motion creates
opportunity for magma to reach surface and the magma hardens to create a new solid seafloor.
 Oceanic-Continental Subduction Zone- Lighter oceanic plate pushed beneath continental plate
(subduction). Oceanic plate melts when pushed down into hot liquid mantle. This melting results
in a magma chamber that has high pressure. Magma looks for a fault or crack to escape. It
reaches surface through existing passageway or a new one is created. The direct access for
magma and gases to escape is called chimney.
 Continental rift- Found in areas where plates are moving away from each other. When
continental rifts open, new areas for oceans or water are created but they can also create areas
where the continental crust is thin. Magma may move through cracks of thin crust. These areas
are usually under the sea. Crack between plates is slowly filled with molten rock which hardens
to create new land, which is accretion
 Mid-Atlantic ridge- example of mid-ocean ridge in the Atlantic Ocean (goes through Iceland)

3.02 Soil and Watersheds:

 Soils are formed when parent material is weathered, transported, and deposited.
 Soils are generally categorized by horizons based on their composition and organic material.
 Soils can be eroded by winds or water. Protecting soils can protect water quality, as soils
effectively filter and clean water that moves through them.
 Water holding capacity—the total amount of water soil can hold—varies with different soil
types. Water retention contributes to land productivity and fertility of soils.
 The particle size and composition of each soil horizon can affect the porosity, permeability, and
fertility of the soil.
 There are a variety of methods to test the chemical, physical, and biological properties of soil
that can aid in a variety of decisions, such as irrigation and fertilizer requirements.
 A soil texture triangle is a diagram that allows for the identification and comparison of soil types
based on their percentage of clay, silt, and sand.
 Characteristics of a given watershed include its area, length, slope, soil, vegetation types, and
divides with adjoining watersheds.
 Some soils appear rich, dark, and full of organic matter. Other soils appear thin, dry, and as if
nothing could grow in them.
 Soil- combination of water, air, minerals, and organic matter. 50% of soil is water and air, 45% is
minerals, and 5% is organic matter
 Rocks are constantly being formed, recycled, and reformed in the rock cycle. Rocks can also be
weathered into smaller particles, eventually becoming soil.
 Volcanic activity brings molten rock to Earth’s surface through cracks in Earth’s crust
 Igneous rock- formed when lava cools. Could happen rapidly from volcanic eruption or slowly
from seafloor spreading. Igneous rock layers can be pushed deep into Earth by tectonic activity
which will be subject to heat and pressure making it metamorphic. Some could be pushed to the
mantle and high temperatures makes it melted magma. Igneous rocks subject to weathering
make them sediment.
 Sediment- when erosion picks up sediment and transports it to new location, it is deposition.
May be pushed back to Earth due to tectonic activity and further broken down
 When layers of sediment subject to pressure, they become compacted and become sedimentary
rocks. They can be broken down down to sediment, form metamorphic rock, or pushed back
down to Earth by tectonic activity to get melted and become molten rock
 Metamorphic rocks formed when other rocks are subject to years of pressure and heat which
causes minerals and material to reorganize to make metamorphic. Can be broken down into
sediment or pushed deep into Earth through tectonic activity making it molten rock
 Magma- molten rock from mantle layer of Earth. Upper crustal layers are often pushed into
mantle layer during tectonic activity which makes the rock melt. The convection currents in the
mantle distribute heat, which means molten rock is in constant motion, which leads to tectonic
activity
 Soil activity formed by result of interactions of parent material, organisms, climate, and
topography over time
 Parent material- contributes raw products of soil. Soil can contain different ratios of minerals
depending on the parent material from which they are derived. If parent material is relatively
soft, it is made into soil at faster than when parent material is hard.
 Organisms- break down materials from rocks and process soil. Extremely important to health of
soil. Organisms also add organic matter through their feces and eventually through themselves
when they die and decompose. Lichen is a pioneer species in a pioneer community (first
community in succession) that produces carbonic acid to break down rocks and form soil.
 Temperature and precipitation control speed at which parent material weathers and organisms
work. Cold temperatures lead to freezing and thawing of rocks which would produce soil. Hot
temperatures can also contribute though by increasing number of bacteria that live in soil.
 Topography also controls speed at which soil forms. Soil has a tendency to be removed from a
hillside. Flat areas have thicker soil which is why its ideal for crops and development of homes.
 Soil horizons can influence soil, water, and plant interactions by influencing water and nutrient
movement and storage. Water moves components to settle in differnet horizons. These horizons
make up a soil profile. (Soil horizons are O, A, B, C, D)
 O Horizon- organic matter from animals, leaves, plant roots, dark colored
 A Horizon- topsoil, inorganic and organic material called humus, supports agricultures, thin A
horizons means deserts, tundra, and rainforests while thick A means grasslands
 B Horizon- subsoil or zone of accumulation where mineral and nutrients leach in from O and A
 C Horizon- area of transition between parent material below and soil above
 D Horizon- bedrock, parent material
 Soils are classified according to 12 soil orders by considering parent material, biological activity,
climate, topography, color and texture
 Mollisols: Mollisols are prevalent in the United States. They are found in grasslands and tend to
be in climates that are semi-humid to semi-arid. These are youngest of all the soil types and
have a dark surface horizon.
 Ultisols: Ultisols are important in the southeastern United States. They contain clay minerals,
most often kaolinite, and are known for their red color, but can also appear purple and orange.
 Alfisols: Alfisols are a soil order in semi-arid to humid regions, often in hardwood forests. They
are very fertile and important for food production. They typically have not been heavily leached,
unlike ultisols.
 Gelisols: Gelisols are a soil order that is limited geographically to the poles and to mountainous
regions where permafrost is close to the surface. At cold temperatures, decomposition occurs
very slowly. For this reason, gelisols have a high amount of organic matter.
 Entisols: Entisols are a soil order that forms on hillsides and deltas. These are new and poorly
developed. Many soils that do not fit well into other soil orders are classified as entisols.
 Oxisols: Oxisols are found in the subtropical and tropical rainforest. They have been heavily
weathered by water that leaches the minerals out of the soil and are not fertile. Deforestation
often exposes oxisols, which are mined for their aluminum and iron, the few minerals that
remain after leaching. Oxisols have nonexistent soil horizons.
 Areas of roughly the same latitude often have the same soil order.


 Three basic soil textures
o Sand- largest grains, gritty
o Silt- smooth feeling, consist of small grains that you can feel
 o Clay- extremely small grains, sticky
 Soils do not stay the same over time. They can move to new locations, continue to change, or
degrade, based on the conditions present.
 More organic material -> more like a loam (soil with equal proportions of sand, silt, and clay


 Loam holds water well and plenty of nutrients for growing vegetables and fruit
 Sandy loam -> growing crops with roots as they can easily grow without being hindered by soil
that doesn’t easily break apart
 Clay loam -> good nutrients but poor draining
 Silt loam -> allows water to infilitrate
 Erosion- soils are moved from one location to another by action of wind, water, and gravity.
Vulnerability to erosion is dependent on slope of land, severity of interactions in atmosphere,
cryosphere, and hydrosphere, and type of soil
 Wind will transport soils long distances from original source
 Soils will sometimes move down hills and mountains because of gravity
 Soils can be eroded by bodies of water, precipitation, and glaciers and erosion can create soils
below the mountain
 Watershed- area of land to which all precipittion that falls in that location drains into river or
stream. Important because water resources and land resources are connected.
 Drainage basins contain many types of wetland habitats
 Parts of watershed
o Divide: The divide is a high point in elevation that divides one watershed from another.
o Headwaters: The headwaters are the beginning of a river in the upper elevations of the
watershed, starting with the river’s source.
o Tributaries: The tributaries are smaller rivers that join together within the watershed.
o Mouth: The mouth is the end of a watershed at an ocean or a lake. An estuary forms
where ocean tides at the mouth move salt water upriver.
o Channel: The channel is the primary area that the river occupies.
o Floodplain: The floodplain is the area outside the channel that is occupied in times of
high flow and/or flood conditions.
o Precipitation: Precipitation can be rain, snow, hail, or other liquid or frozen water that
falls over a land surface. In the water cycle, some precipitation moves downstream as
runoff, and some precipitation soaks into the ground during infiltration.
 o Infiltration: Infiltration refers to the slow movement of water through soil and into the
rocks below Earth’s surface.
 Human activites can influence the quality and quantity of water available for use.

3.03 Atmosphere and Wind:

 Earth has a dramatic blue color with swirls of white clouds in the sky
 Blue color of sky caused by way sunlight interacts with gases in atmosphere
 Atmosphere- protective layer of gases surrounding Earth
 Atmosphere keeps Earth warm, we breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide, plants
use carbon dioxide and make more oxygen, affects regional climates, and the water cycle and
weather happens in troposphere
 The atmosphere is made up of major gases, each with its own relative abundance.
 The layers of the atmosphere are based on temperature gradients and include the troposphere,
stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere, and exosphere.
 Global wind patterns primarily result from the most intense solar radiation arriving at the
equator, resulting in density differences and the Coriolis effect.
 Earth’s atmosphere protects life on Earth from sun’s dangerous radiation and provides gases
that animals and plants in biosphere need to carry on cellular processes
 If Earth did not have an atmosphere, we would experience extreme temperature swings from
night to day
 Early in development of Earth, gases were continually released by volcanic activity and impact of
meteorites on Earth’s surface
 Earth’s composition

o
 Parts per million used to measure concentration or relative proportion of particular substance
(parts per hundred is percent)
 Parts per million is dimensionless as it is volume:volume
 Xenon, hydrogen, and kyrpton are some trace elements in the atmosphere
 Earth’s atmosphere is 5.5 quadrillion tons
 Effects of gravity, solar radiation, and properties of gases cause atmosphere to be layered
 Five layers of atmosphere
 o
 Air circulation controlled by cells but not the ones making the building blocks of life
 Sun’s rays hit the Earth’s equator directly but hit the Earth’s poles at an angle, which means air
at equator is consistently hotter than the poles.
 Hot air rises, creating areas of low pressure. As it rises, warm air cools down and eventually sinks
again, creating convection current.
 Convection is fow of energy that occurs in gas or liquid
 As water warms, it expands in the bottom of the pot and rises, which cools it and makes it
denser, so it sinks to the bottom
 As sun shines down on Earth, heat is reflected and warms the air above, which rises to the
atmosphere, cools, and sinks down back to Earth which is responsible for weather patterns and
wind
 Doldrums- small winds in the equator
 Cooler air is denser than warmer air, so cooler air sinks and moves back toward equator, and the
air warms again, and the cycle continues, forming the cell
 Hadley Cell- cell drives air around tropical regions. As cool air sinks around 30 degrees latitude,
some returns to equator as trade winds, other heads toward 60 degrees and poles as westerlies.
 Cell that moves air from 30 degrees to 60 degrees is a Ferrel Cell
 Around 60 degrees latitude, in westerlies, warmer air collides with cold polar air and warm air
continues to rise and cold air continues to sink, and then polar easterlies make a Polar Cell
 Because Earth is spinning, winds do not move north-south and are deflected.
 Due to rotation of sphere, air currents move in a curved line (Coriolis effect)
 Curved paths are created in each hemisphere based on high and low pressures within earth’s
latitude
 Warm air holds more moisture, but as it rises, it cools, reducing the moisture which prouces
rainy conditions. This proves why most rainforests are near equator
 Cooler air, now drier, descends, producing dry regions. Most deserts are found around 30
degrees north/south latitude.
 Weather is difficult to predict because of global processes
 Sun heats Earth unevenly due to our spherical Earth and the tilt on its axis.
 Constant movement of air between low and high pressure regions create global convection
cells.
 Pressure in atmospheric zones is determined from movement of air within troposphere, and we
feel this as wind
 Uneven heating of air by sun causes wind. When temperature rises, pressure drops and winds
blow from area of high pressure to low pressure.


 Various high and low pressure zones create wind patterns.
 Planetary scale winds move in one general direction
 Prevailing winds typically blow in one direction in a region and move big air masses around.
 Seasonal winds are affected by large-scale weather patterns.
 Jet streams – “rivers of air” that blow west to east along border of cool and warm air masses.
They can influence weather
 Polar jet streams at poles bring cool air
 Subtropical jet streams above and below equator bring warm air and sometimes severe storms
 Meteorologists observe and interpret many different factors that influence weather patterns.
  Temperature is measure of motion of molecules within a substance. Celsius and Fahrenheit are
two scales commonly used to measure temperature for weather. Collect temperatures at
ground level and heights in atmosphere
 Barometer- Air pressure is force of air pushing on Earth’s surface and mesaured with barometer.
Air pressure data is used to increase weather forecast accuracy
 Hygrometer- Humidity is amount of moisture in air and measured with hygrometer. Sling
psychrometer- type of hygrometer. Humidity is expressed as a percentage called relative
humidity (measure amount of water vapor in air compared to the amount of water vapor that
could be in the air at a specified temperature)
 Anemometer and Wind vane- Wind speed and direction help meteorologists determine what
type of weather may be moving into an area. In a typical anemometer, rotating cups or
propellers help scientists measure wind speed. Wind vanes are used to measure direction from
which wind is blowing.
 Cloud Type and Cover- Types of clouds and percentage of sky covered by clouds can indicate
change in weather patterns.
 Rain Gauge- measure amount of precipitation that reaches Earth’s surface in inches or
centimeters
 Air mass- large body of air with same temperature, humidity, and air pressure
 Air masses are cold and dry in Arctic and warm and moist over the ocean. They could move and
they change temperature and humidity as they move. Air masses meeting can lead to
interesting weather
 Air mass boundaries are called front which can make weather change drastically.
 Cold fronts- bodies of cold air. Move along ground and occur when cold air follows warm air.
Cold air is heavy so it slides under lighter warm air. Typically arrive quickly and can cause major
weather changes like thunderstorms. Cold front moving leads to drier and colder air
 Warm fronts- bodies of warm air, Rise above cold air. Warm air can be humid which causes rain
but if its dry, it causes scattered clouds. Warm fronts move slowly which leads to long periods of
rain and clouds. Warm front passes -> warm and humid weather.

3.04 Solar Radiation and Seasons:

 Incoming solar radiation (insolation) is the Earth’s main source of energy and is dependent on
season and latitude.
 The angle of the sun’s rays determines the intensity of the solar radiation. Due to the shape of
the Earth, the latitude that is directly horizontal to the solar radiation receives the most
intensity.
 The highest solar radiation per unit area is received at the equator and decreases toward the
poles.
 The solar radiation received at a location on the Earth’s surface varies seasonally, with the most
radiation received during the location’s longest summer day and the least on the shortest winter
day.
 The tilt of Earth’s axis of rotation causes the Earth’s seasons and the number of hours of daylight
in a particular location on Earth’s surface.
 By studying weather patterns over time, we can understand how this weather affects Earth's
overall climate.
 Precipitation and temperature are key components to weather
 Weather- atmospheric differences on daily basis
 Climate- average weather patterns track in an area for at least 30 years
 Most animals, including humans, try to escape the hottest part of the day, which usually occurs
between noon and 2 p.m. During this period, sunlight hits Earth with the most intensity.
However, the intensity of heat from the sun can change with location and time of year.
 Variations in sunlight due to shape and tilt and climate zones
 Amount of sunlight hitting Earth differs based on angle of sunlight that hits Earth’s curved
surface
 Areas near equator receive sunlight close to 90-degree angle while areas near the pole receive
at smaller angle, which makes sunlight less intense and cooler temperatures
 Earth rotates on an axis with an angle of 23.5 degrees which influences variations in
temperatures. Intensity for solar radiation of Northern and Southern are quite different and the
angle of sunlight is already smaller due to Earth’s shape. The tilt changes the angle of sunlight
throughout the year.
 Climate zones are created from the tilt based on latitude


 Tropical to Polar is from Large to Small in amount of heat and light
 Tropical to Polor is from Warm to Cool in temperature
 Seasons are determined by the tilt of the Earth and the movement of the Earth around the sun. 
 The seasons in the Northern Hemisphere are usually opposite of the seasons in Southern
Hemisphere
 Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter are not necessarily the seasons for some countries, such as
India having a monsoon season


 Vernal equinox- first day of summer on March 21
 Autumnal equinox- first day of fall on September 21
  Summer solstice- first day of summer on June 21
 Winter solstice- first day of winter on December 21
 When the Northern Hemisphere is tilted toward the sun, the season is summer. At the same
time, the Southern Hemisphere is tilted away from the sun, making the season winter.
 One orbit around the Sun- 365.25 days, every 4 th year has a leap year day with 366 (Feb 29)
 Without the leap year, the calendar system would gradually fall out of sync with the seasons
 Earth rotates on its axis every 24 hours.
 If Earth were perpindicular to the ecliptic plane, all locations on Earth will have same number of
hours of day and night but because of the tilt, they vary by latitude
 Northern hemisphere chart below:


3.05 Weather and Climate:

 Biomes can be identified based on climate patterns

 Climate change leads to biomes and climate patterns changing
 Weather and climate are affected not only by the sun’s energy but by geologic and geographic
factors, such as mountains and ocean temperature.
 A rain shadow is a region of land that has become drier because a higher elevation area blocks
precipitation from reaching the land.
 El Niño and La Niña are phenomena associated with changing ocean surface temperatures in the
Pacific Ocean. These phenomena can cause global changes to rainfall, wind, and ocean
circulation patterns.
 El Niño and La Niña are influenced by geological and geographic factors and can affect different
locations in different ways.
 Orographic effect- the result of air ascending one side of a mountain, cooling, condensing, and
bringing precipitation to the other side of the mountain as it descends
 Rainshadow- a dry region on the side of a mountain that is sheltered from the wind
 Rainshadow can act as the opposite of the orographic effect with regard to where precipitation
occurs
 Dry air creates rainshadows
 Ocean currents move warm and cold water around the ocean, which also affects temperature
and humidity of air.
 Warm ocean currents move warm water from equator towards poles and warm ocean water
warms the air above it.
 Cold ocean currents move cool water from poles to eqautor and cold ocean water cools the air
above it.
 Ocean temperatures affect weather patterns in all regions due to the exchange of heat between
ocean and atmosphere
 September is usually the most active month for hurricanes and ocean waters are usually
warmest in September (end of summer)
 Water remains warm for portion of winter and cold for portion of summer


 Temperature and precipitation are main factors of climate and biomes
 Climatographs represent temperature and precipitation of different biomes and illustrate
varying conditions over the course of a year, typically.
 Aquatic and coastal systems that resemble biomes are not influenced by air temperature and
precipitation, and affected by water tempereatures, salinity, depth, currents, substrate type,
and waves
 Salinity- proportion of salt in solution
 Ocean circulation driven by temperatures and salinity differences
 Deep ocean currents distribute heat and salts around world’s oceans
 Oceans have average salinity of 35 parts per thousand but vary greatly throughout ocean
waters.
 Salinity vs latitutde
o High latitudes- Cold masses of high-salinity water sink in deep convection and the
sinking of cold high-salinity water is critical to ocean circulation
o Mid-latitudes- Fisheries occur as masses of water with different salinities meet
o Equator- runoff from surface freshwaters and rainfall affect salinity of ocean waters
 Ocean water circulated on conveyor belt that moves warm, fresh, less dense, shallow water
toward the poles and cold, salty, dense, and deep water toward the equator, and this global
circulation pattern is called thermohaline circulation.
 Climate change could occur if thermohaline circulation did not take place


 Without water circulation, organisms would quickly use up all nutrients at surface of ocean but
nutrient supply is replenished when nutrients that sink deeper into ocean come backk to surface
(upwelling)
 Upwelling leads to cold, nutrient-rich water rising to surface and is caused when winds drive
surface waters away from area
 Upwelling water can change weather patterns in area as energy is transferred between ocean
and atmosphere in form of heat.
 Ocean water absorbs solar energy which warms the surface
 Water is a good insulator so it takes a long time for body of water as large as ocean to heat up
but it also loses heat slowly
 Weather patterns near ocean are different from weather patterns far from ocean
 Surface ocean currents, which are continous movements of water, are driven by winds
 Winds exert drag on water as wind blows across ocean’s surface
 Ocean currents similar to circulation patterns in atmosphere
 Ocean currents affected by land mass shapes, Coriolis effect, density and temperature of water,
and Earth’s rotation
 Cold currents flow toward equator on western coasts of continents while warm currents flow
toward poles
 Sailors need to understand ocean currents for navigation
 El Nino-Southern Oscillation is change in climate patterns in Pacific region every three to eight
years
 In El Nino, ocean surface waters are warmer than usual in December and January due to
changes in winds and this disrupts the typical cold-water upwellings carrying nutrients
supporting producers and other marine animals
 La Nina is when surface waters are colder than usual.
 When trade winds weaken, warm surface water moves eastward which reduces upwelling off
South America, which is El Nino.
 Warmer ocean -> intensification and southward shift of jet stream bringing flooding to southern
US and warmer, drier conditions in Pacific Northwest, northern US, and Canada.
  La Nina is the comeback after El Nino and leads to drought in southern US and cooler
temperatures, heavy rains, and flooding in Pacific Northwest.
 Southern Oscillation- variation in air pressure between tropical eastern and western Pacific
Ocean; measured by fluctuations in normal air pressure between Tahiti and Darwin, Australia.
 El Nino- pressure is low in Tahiti compared to Darwin
 El Nino has irregular periods so scientists have to look at factors such as rise in surface pressure
over Indian Ocean, Indonesia, and Australia, decrease in air pressure over central and eastern
Pacific, and weakened trade winds in south Pacific
 El Nino associated with:
o an increase in severe winter storms
o an increase in landslides
o a sea level rise
o an increase in crop failure
o an increase in number and severity of droughts
o a decrease in number of hurricanes in the Atlantic
 Organisms in ocean respond to changes in ocean, usually in terms of temperature
 Each species is ideally suited for a small temperature range that allows their metabolisms to
function and for their food to be available.
 Changes in temperature in ocean could lead to habitat loss
 El Nino replaces the Humboldt Current’s water.
 El Nino leads to decrease in phytoplankton, leading to decrease in zooplankton, and so on

4.01 Tragedy of The Commons:

 The tragedy of the commons suggests that individuals will use shared resources in their own
self-interest rather than in keeping with the common good, thereby depleting the resources.
 Clearcutting can be economically advantageous but leads to soil erosion, increased soil and
stream temperatures, and flooding.
 Forests contain trees that absorb pollutants and store carbon dioxide. The cutting and burning
of trees releases carbon dioxide and contributes to climate change.
 More than 40 years ago, an article called "Tragedy of the Commons" was published in the
journal Nature.
 Written by Hardin but borrowed an example from William Forster Lloyd
 Lloyd theorized that if a herder allowed more cows to graze on land than the rest of the herders,
w hole group of herders wouuld suffer as land is depleted. However, the individual herder
would benefit.
 Key points of Tragedy of the Commons
o Perceives world has problem with population that cannot be solved with only
engineering feeding the world
o Hardin wonders optimal size of population and suggests that Adam Smith’s The Wealth
of Nations led to belief that what is good for individuals is good for society. However,
Hardin thinks individuals generally act to benefit only themselves
 o Hardin uses Tragedy of Commons to illustrate that what is good for individual is often
bad for society (Herdsmen earns more money with more cows grazed on shared land
that is called for commons)
o Just as commons can be overused because individuals don’t pay the cost for overuse,
commons can be easily polluted because individuals don’t pay the cost of adding waste
to them
o Hardin says its pretty easy to pass legislation prohibiting pollution or abuse of commons
in that it is difficult to enforce it. He wonders how we can encourage smart use of
commons rather than prohibiting use entirely
o Hardin thinks policies leaving decisions about family size to family are dangerous. He
finds UN in particular to be misguided in its policies about family size left to family
o Hardin thinks that if people with a conscience choose not to breed and the people
without a conscience breed, we have potential for entirely conscience free population
o Hardin doesn’t find guilt useful to changing behavior
o Hardin suggests that ownership and private property are alternatives to commonly
owned land
o Hardin concludes that overuse and pollution of commons are linked to population
growth and that giving up the unlimited freedom to breed can lead to protection of
commons
 Critiques of Tragedy of Commons
o Hardin suggests to privatize commons but this assumes that private owner would act in
best interest of others, contradicting his statement about selfishness
o Hardin’s notion of ownership can be applied to land but more difficult to ocean or air
o Hardin suggests populations of human beings should be limited with government
controls but this leads to gender inequality
 Many areas of Earth fall into “the commons”. Two primary challenged that Hardin identified are
the overuse of space and pollution
 Overuse may lead to overfished oceans, overgrazed rangelands, and recreational opportunities
being overused.
 Pollution can be in the form of air, water, or noise
 Common area that is overused leads to loss in biodiversity.
 Conservation of common areas is difficult because of multiple users
 Laws regulating overuse
o Clean Water Act- provides surface water quality protection in US
o Clean Air Act- protects and provides way for improving air quality in US
o Wild and Scenic Rivers Act- protects parts of rivers in US from dams and development
o Coastal Zone Management Act- marine sanctuaries established in US to protect habitat
of marine animals and plants from pollution and development
o Public Rangelands Improvement Act- Requires United States Forest Service and Bureau
of Land Management to develop management guidelines for public lands
 Legislation can protect the commons, the global resources we all must share and conserve if we
hope to have enough resources to support life on Earth
 Policy Makers on Environmental Issues
 o Congress- policy in committees and subcommittees to address the needs of their
constituents
o Courts- Members of courts make policy by interpreting other courts’ decisions, usually
involving social justice
o Interest groups- Use access to members of Congress, president, and courts to influence
public policy
o President- crafting policies meeting political agenda. He can raise issues and create
executive orders
 Once you find a way to meet with a policy maker, the policy maker will establish a goal for the
policy. This is also the time when policy analysts will run cost-benefit analysis on your options
and choose one that is cost-effective and likely to meet the needs of constituents. Eventually,
your policy may be drafted as a piece of legislation, which will need approval from Congress, and
perhaps become a law.
 Kyoto Protocol- Binding contract among nations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
 Primary challenge- international public policy makers did not all share interest in being bound
legally
 Government corruption is major problem throughout the world because interest groups may
provide money to the government to not agree to a treaty
 Once a policy has been formulated and made into law, implementation is next step.
Government agency will need to be appointed to do the oversight and details of policy will need
to be worked out. During formulation, policies are vague and specific details are added during
implementation.
 National Environmental Policy Act- requires an environmental impact statement, complex
prediction of environmental changes, to be filed for any proposed federal action and for the EIS
to be passed among federal, state, and county agencies as well as presented to public
 NEPA has encountered significant implemnetation hurdles in litigation.
 Three primary questions in NEPA lawsuits around implementation
o Does an EIS need to be field for this project?
o What sort of deadlines should the EIS have?
 What should the EIS include?
 Endagered Species Act- protecting endangered species. Has great success
 Public lands in the United States include virtually all ecosystem types and range from developed
areas (such as national monuments or parks) to totally undeveloped areas (such as a wilderness
area).
 Public lands are managed for multiple use which provides clean water, fish and wildlife habitat,
and recreation.
 Public lands are used for its tumber and it was known as clearcutting, as lumber companies were
given permission to remove every tree, and this has led to environmental problems, but new
laws have tried to prevent clearcutting.
 Clearcutting can be economically advantageous for landowners and lumber companies but it
leads to environmental problems but laws have been made to prevent it
 Carbon drawdown. Due to increased carbon in atmosphere and rising global temperatures,
clearcutting large regions of trees.
 Conflicting Philosophies of Public Land Management: Big Fight
 o John Muir- Proposed national forest reservations, Fought for Yosemite, Strongly
opposed damming of Hetch Hetchy Valley (Preservationist)
o Gifford Pinchot- In favor of damming Hetch Hetchy Valley (Conservationist)
 Hetch Hetchy Valley- after San Francisco Fire.
 Conservation biology- seek to apply scientific knowledge to protect biodiversity. Also brings
social sciences into consideration
 Depending on sevetiy of ecological situation, biologists may have to make decisions beore
knowing all the facts
 Aldo Leopold tied nature to ethics and was first to write about phillosophy of conservation
 Without keystone species,, the ecological integrity of an ecosystem becomes compromised and
it does not function correctly.


 Public Land categories
o Multiple-Use lands- Mainly in Western US< managing the land for use of natural
resources, mining for energy and mineral resources and grazing of livestock is allowed
 National Forest System- Conservation of wildlife, watershed, and soil,
logging, mining, farming, etc. is allowed
o Moderately Restricted-Use Lands- protection of breeeding areas for species hunted for
sport and protection of endangered species, mining, logging, etc. is allowed
o Restricted-Use Lands- Protection of Natural Areas from human development, hiking,
camping, etc. is allowed
 National Wilderness Preservation System- protection of natural areas
from human development, hiking, sport fishing, camping, and boating
allowed

4.02 Agricultural Practices:

 The Green Revolution started a shift to new agricultural strategies and practices in order to
increase food production, with both positive and negative results. Some of these strategies and
methods are mechanization, genetically modified organisms (GMOs), fertilization, irrigation, and
the use of pesticides.
 Mechanization of farming can increase profits and efficiency for farms. It can also increase
reliance on fossil fuels.
 Agricultural practices that can cause environmental damage include tilling, slash and-burn
farming, and the use of fertilizers.
 The largest human use of freshwater is for irrigation (70%).
 Types of irrigation include drip irrigation, flood irrigation, furrow irrigation, and spray irrigation.
 Waterlogging occurs when too much water is left to sit in the soil, which raises the water table
of groundwater and inhibits plants’ ability to absorb oxygen through their roots.
 Furrow irrigation involves cutting furrows between crop rows and filling them with water. This
system is inexpensive, but about 1/3 of the water is lost to evaporation and runoff.
 Flood irrigation involves flooding an agricultural field with water. This system sees about 20% of
the water lost to evaporation and runoff. This can also lead to waterlogging of the soil.
 Spray irrigation involves pumping groundwater into spray nozzles across an agricultural field.
This system is more efficient than flood and furrow irrigation, with only 1/4 or less of the water
lost to evaporation or runoff. However, spray systems are more expensive than flood and furrow
irrigation and also require energy to run.
 Drip irrigation uses perforated hoses to release small amounts of water to plant roots. This
system is the most efficient, with only about 5% of water lost to evaporation and runoff.
However, this system is expensive and so is not often used.
 Salinization occurs when the salts in groundwater remain in the soil after the water evaporates.
Over time, salinization can make soil toxic to plants.
 Aquifers can be severely depleted if overused for agricultural irrigation, as has happened to the
Ogallala Aquifer in the central United States.
 Agriculture- practice of raising crops and livestock for human use and consumption
 12,000 years ago, majority of humans lived in small groups of hunter-gatherers.
 Plants were used for food, medicine, and cleaning
 Small game species gave food, clothing, etc.
 Hunter-gatherer societies moved a lot traveling wherever the season took them to gather plants
or follow game.
 Although requiring large amounts of land, hunter-gatherers had low impact on environment and
only used what they needed for immediate survival instead of depleting resources
 10,000 years ago, humans used pastoralism (herding of animals that have been at least partly
domesticated)
 Pastoralists were mobile with movement of herds to new pastures.
 Size of population was dependent on size of environment.
 More resources meant higher population.
 Pastoralism’s main difference from hunting-gathering is the notion of personal or group
owernship of animals because pastoralists own animals. Ownership could lead to violence or
trading/exchange
 When pastoral societies were developing, agricultural societies began to develop. (Agricultural
Revolution)
 Agricultural socities are sedentary (do not move around) and they significantly affect
environment as they plant and harvest crops and raise livestock
 Advantages of Agriculture over pastoralism or hunting-gathering
o Sense of Community- Creates a feeling of community as people work together because
it is labor-intensive
 o Financial Reasons- Cheaper to work as community as poorest villagers could also grow
and gets lots of money
o Development of Technology- More complex tools were made and technology improved
 Disadvantages of Agriculture
o Dependence on only few food sources- risky as these crops failing could lead to
starvation
o Increased vulnerability to weather variations- Rely on many different kinds of plants and
natural weather fluctuations could destroy an entire crop, leading to starvation
o Dependence on planting and harvesting times and protection of crops- Must plant crops
at specific times each year and miss of planting time could lead to insufficient harvests
o Intensity of labor- Labor-intensive activites
o Pollution of living areas- Nomadic socities move on before their wastes accumulate to
unsafe levels
o Population growth- Children provide needed labor so large familites are benefit which
leads to overpopulation
o Infectious disease- Any time large numbers of people live close together, inadequate
sanitation can lead to disease spread
o Environmental degradation- Growing same crops the same soil over many years can
lead to loss of nutrients and makes land unsuitable for crop growth
 Malnutrition connected to agriculture, soil, and environment
 Malnutrition includes undernutrition and overnutrition
o Undernutrition- little consumption; common in many parts of world
o Overnutrition- too much consumption; common in developed countries
 Undernutrition may result in kwashiorkor (lack of protein) which is accompanied by thin legs
and arms, a swollen abdomen, weak and passive demeanor, and marasmus (lack of protein and
calories), accompanied by thinness and gnawing hunger. Marasmus sufferers are active and
alert and often been seperated from mothers during breast-feeding because of maternal death.
Infant formula may also be diluted
 Undenutrition caused by poverty and one of leading causes of 1/3 of child deaths.
 Stunted growth- underaverage height and weight.
 Wasting- starvation from lack of calories; results from continued food shortages and illness
 WHO estimates 1 million deaths avoided if women were breast-feeding their children
exclusively for 6 months of age
 Breast milk is available from mother after birth and it is essentially free. Contains antibodies that
protect children from diarrhea and pneumonia, which contribute to infant deaths. It could also
decrease risks of ovarian and breast cancer for the mother.
 Types of agriculture chart
 o
 Green Revolution- developed high-yield strains of wheat and rice, nitrogen-based fertilizers, and
effective pesticides, which in turn increased ability to produce food dramatically. However, it
contributed to lack of species diversity and increased resistance of species to pesticides
 Modern agriculture lacks genetic diversity
 Varities of grains grown in industrial agriculture are chosen because they respond positively to
fertilizer and easy to harvest by machine, and the crop becomes vulnerable to pests, disease,
and inclement weather
 Only few varieties of potatoes were grown in Ireland at the time so a fungus spread quickly and
throughout the country and wiped out potatoes, leading to the famine.
 In US, large-scale farmers are given subsidies (financial aid from government) to plant certain
crops. Subsidies encourage farmers to plant only subsidized crops and use all available lands for
subsidized crop which is monoculture.
 Much of today’s agricultural process relies on machinery, tractors, harvesters, trucks, and even
airplanes
 Mechanization has led to increase of profits and efficiency of farming production.
 As equipment use increases, demand for fossil fuels increases.
 Most farms operate as factories with economies of scale that produce chicken, beef, and
vegetables that we eat. These are enormous farms that use antibiotics, pesticides, and
insecticides prodigiously and are unconcerned with welfare of workers or animals
 There is enough food to feed everyone but the food is not reaching those who need it
 65 percent of world’s hungry people live in India, China, DRC, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan,
and Ethiopia (young and growing countries)
 Five factors causing hunger
o Natural Disasters- Worsened by climate change and can destroy nations’s food supply
and prevent food donations from reaching the hungry
 o War- Food can be used as weapon as people are starved into submission, crops are
destroyed, and livestock are seized
o Poverty- traps the poor and do not have access to education and may not have land to
grow
o Lack of infrastructure- lack of technology which decreases agricultural yield and
prevents access to food
o Environmental destruction- Deforestation, overgrazing, poor techniques, depleting soil
 Petroleum-based fertilizer, pesticide, and herbicide dependency has increased since 1970s.
Fossil fuel burning contributes to most of climate change we are experiencing.
 Climate change affects hydrologic cycle, carbon dioxide concentrations, crop biodiversity, and
average temperatures which all impact agriculture.
 Adaptations such as new or improved land use and management practices can overturn effects
of climate change, such as organic farming.
 Organic farming has fertilizer in form of organic material.
 For most of agricultural history, farmers have had to rely on genetic mutations or chance
crossings between plants in order to improve their crops
 They mix together entires genomes from one point with entire genomes from another without
being able to predict accurately what the result might be
 Bringing out 1 desirable trait usually brings in lots of undesirable traits
 By 1970s, scientists were beginning to learn how to identify individual genes and determine
their function. Modern plant genetic engineering born in 1983
 GMO products allowed them to grow healthier, higher-yielding crops and use far fewer
chemicals however some say that there are potential health risks and not as natural as
unmodified crops
 60% of all soybeans in US are from GMO seeds and more than 100 million acres of GMO crops
are being grown in the world
 Types of GMO crops

o
 Scientists are trying to use genetic engineering to address a variety of agricultural problems
 Aluminum toxicity can reduce crop productivity by about 80% in poor areas
 Some researchers are find their work hindered by those opposted to GMO food
 If we slow down technological progress because of what well-fed activists are saying from their
comfortable homes in developed countries, it is the starving people who may pay the price.
  Farmers have practiced many different methods of preparing soil for crops. However, these
methods are not always best for the long-term health of the soil. 
 Tilling was used to loosen soil to provide a seed bed and remove weeds that competed with
crops for water and also helps to mix in fertilizers.
 Tilling is bad however as it allows for water to easily wash away the soil and fertilizers into rivers
and streams along with other pollutants, and the soil gets depleted.
 Cover crops (crops planted to cover soil) increase soil organic matter, increase soil fertility,
decrease erosion
 Slash and burn agriculture cuts down trees and habitats are lost, and this deforestation leads to
increased carbon dioxide levels, which contributes to climate change.
 Fertilizers can affect the environment as they can pollute local water sources (Fertilizers contain
nitrates and some pesticides contain carbamates which can be toxic)
 Rotating crops can help reduce effects of nutrient depletion, soil erosion, and accumulation of
both fertilizers and pesticides. Replenishes soil and different root systems to prevent soil erosion
 Cities restrict water irrigation (largest human use of freshwater is irrigation which uses 70
percent)
 Farming accounts for more than 90% of groundwater use.
 Aquifers such as Ogallala have been severely depleted by irrigation.
 Types of irrigation

o
 Waterlogging (saturation of soil with water) leads to plant roots to have too much water which
leads to stunted growth until waters drain from root zone and oxygen is absorbed once again by
roots
 Evaporation of water on irrigated land leads to salinization and makes soil unfertile

4.03 Food Production:

 Methods of meat production include concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), also
called feedlots, and free-range grazing.
 Meat production is less efficient than agriculture; it takes approximately 20 times more land to
produce the same amount of calories from meat as from plants.
 Concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFOs) are used as a way to quickly get livestock ready
for slaughter. They tend to be crowded, and animals are fed grains or feed that are not as
suitable as grass. Additionally, feedlots generate a large amount of organic waste, which can
contaminate ground and surface water. The use of feedlots are less expensive than other
methods, which can keep costs to consumers down.
 Free range grazing allows animals to graze on grass during their entire lifecycle. Meat from free
range animals tends to be free from antibiotics and other chemicals used in feed lots. Organic
waste from these animals acts as fertilizer. Free range grazing requires large areas of land, and
the meat produced is more expensive for consumers.
 Overgrazing occurs when too many animals feed on a particular area of land. Overgrazing causes
loss of vegetation, which leads to soil erosion.
 Overgrazing can cause desertification. Desertification is the degradation of low precipitation
regions toward being increasingly arid until they become deserts.
 Less consumption of meat could reduce CO2, methane, and N2O emissions; conserve water;
reduce the use of antibiotics and growth hormones; and improve topsoil.
 Overfishing has led to the extreme scarcity of some fish species, which can lessen biodiversity in
aquatic systems and harm people who depend on fishing for food and commerce.
 UN estimated that 70% of world’s fishing stock is close to or already below recovery levels,
which affects our food supply and ocean food webs. 90% of predator species were below
recovery levels from 40 years ago.
 Fishing techniques that have caused detrimental effects to ocean resources

o
 Many fishing practices result in substantial bycatch (organisms caught by fishing for something
else)
 These fishing practices are too effective which leads to severe overfishing
 Taking too many members of population affects future of population
 Commercial fishing fleets- example of tragedy of commons
 No one owns open ocean so the resources are “true commons”
 UNCLOS (1992) is an international agreement about ocean use, navigation rights, research, and
protection of marine environment
 Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act attempted to
address overfishing by setting aside 200 nautical miles of an EEZ of the US coast to be used
exclusively by US. Establishes quotas for fishing and compensation for sustainable fishing
practices.
 Experts have suggested a few solutions to overfishing:
o limiting the number of fish that can be caught per day at any given location
o restricting fishing boats to only a few days per month
o restricting access to zones of the ocean to allow for recovering of populations
o using nets with bigger mesh so juvenile fish can escape (and reproduce)
o monitoring fishing activities by satellite
o exploring alternative sources of income for fishermen
 Global demand for meat has quadrupuled over the past 50 years to more than 320 million tons
a year


 Methods of meat production:
o Free range grazing- allows animals to graze on grass during entire lifecycle. Meat tends
to be free of antibiotics and other chemicals used in feedlots. Organic waste from
animals is fertilizer. Requires large areas of land and meat produce is more expensive for
consumers
o Concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFOs)- quickly get livestock ready for
slaughter. Use of feedlots is less expensive than other methods and uses less lands
leading to lower costs for consumers. Tend to be crowded and animals are fed grains or
feed that are not as suitable as grass. Hormone and antibiotic use is also a factor in
 cattle industry as it keeps animals healthy and increase size or production of milk.
Effects of hormone and antibiotic use in food production has ongoing research. Some
results show correlation between hormone and antibotic use in meats to early onset of
puberty in young girls, rapid weight gain, and increased risk of prostate and breast
cancers
 Increase in production of meat has created large environmental impacts with less efficient gains
in nutrition. Takes approximately 20 times more land for animal grazing to produce the same
number of calories from meat as it does from plants.
 Animal grazing increases methane gas emissions from cattle waste
 Feedlots generate larg eamount of organic waste which can contaminate water
 Free-range grazing leads to overgrazing which depletes vegetation and freshwater resources
when animals are left to graze in the same fields repeatedly
 Overgrazing causes soil erosion and desertification (slow degradation of arable land until it
becomes desert)
 Finding protein alternatives in plant resources instead of meat leads to less consumption of
meat which leads to reduction of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrogen oxide emissions and it
conserves water, reduces use of antibiotics and growth hormones and improves topsoil

4.04 Mining and Urbanization:

 As the more accessible ores are mine to depletion, mining operations are forced to access lower
grade ores. Accessing these ores requires increased use of resources that can cause increased
waste and pollution.
 Surface mining is the removal of large portions of soil and rock, called overburden, in order to
access the ore underneath. An example is strip mining, which removes the vegetation from an
area, making the area more susceptible to erosions.
 Mining wastes include the soil and rocks that are moved to gain access to the ore and the waste,
called slag, and tailings that remain when the minerals have been removed from the ore. Mining
helps to provide low cost energy and material necessary to make products. The mining of coal
can destroy habitats, contaminate groundwater, and release dust particles and methane.
 As coal reserves get smaller, due to a lack of easily accessible reserves, it becomes necessary to
access coal through subsurface mining, which is very expensive.
 Urbanization can lead to depletion of resources and saltwater intrusion in the hydrologic cycle.
 Urbanization, through the burning of fossil fuels and landfills, affects the carbon cycle by
increasing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
 Impervious surfaces are human-made structures – such as roads, buildings, sidewalks, and
parking lots – that do not allow water to reach the soil, leading to flooding.
 Urban sprawl is the change in population distribution from high population density areas to low
density suburbs that spread into rural lands, leading to potential environmental problems.
 Methods to increase water infiltration include replacing traditional pavement with permeable
pavement, planting trees, increased use of public transportation, and building up, not out.
 Mineral- naturally occurring inorganic solid that has a specific crystalline structure
 Rocks are made up of variety of minerals (metallic and nonmetallic)
 Mining companies are interested in ores
 Fossil fuels are organic materials and not minerals
 Types of minerals chart

o
 Surface mining involves removing minerals near Earth surface (removes vegetation and soil and
could remove entire mountaintop), which makes it susceptible to erosion
 Types of mining
o Strip mining- Using heavy machinery to strip away soil and rock and then cut away
mineral resources
o Open-pit mining- Using heavy equipment to dig holes to remove ores as well as
materials
o Dredging- Using draglines and chain buckets to scrape underwater mineral deposits
 Minerals can be extracted by underground mining which removes minerals from deep in earth
and hard rock mining removes metals and uses blasting to separate the waste from the mineral
deposit by making sure the mine is stable and has ventilation which are eventually emptied of
minerals that are backfilled or abandoned.
 Once reserves of higher-grade ores are depleted of metals, it becomes necessary to access
lower grade ores which have high amounts of impurities and very little metal concentration, but
accessing these leads to environmental pollution from excessive amounts of water use and
waste from that extraction.
 Mining creates jobs at surface mines and subsurface mines and it creates popoulation of
workers to area who need services such as food, gasoline, and housing
 EPA estimates that 40 percent of watersheds in western US are polluted by mining activites
 The disregard for full-cost analysis has been supported at least in part by General Mining Act of
1872
 Surface mining removes habitat for organism, but rarely it can be backfilled and restored.
 Reclamation- returning mined land close to original topography and vegetation cover and is
expensive.
 Tailings- toxic material left after extracting materials. Disposal of mine tailings present concerns
as chemicals can be leached into waterways and soil
 Acid mine drainage- raises acidity of surface and ground water which often kills organisms
 Scientists are experimenting with remediating particular creeks that are victim to acid mine
drainage within polluted watersheds. Remediation involves adjusting pH of stream to make it
suitable habitat for organisms
 Slag (matter seperated during reduction of metal from ore) can neutralize acidic waste
 Other mining practices contributing to pollution
o Hydraulic mining- creates excess sediment that runs into streams
o Heap leaching- releases cyanide solution into surface water and groundwater
o Smelting- process of melting ore to remove desired substances which often produces air
pollution by emitting gases such as hydrogen fluoride, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen
oxides
 Health problems in humans from extracting and processing of minerals
o Exposure to air pollution from metal processing and smelting can lead to eye, nose, and
throat irritation
o Exposre to heavy metals involved in metal processing and smelting in surface water,
groundwater, and soil contribute to bioaccumulation which could lead to system
damage and birth problems
o Exposure to methane and dust from coal could lead to exposions if in contact with heat
source in unventilated area
 Federal Mine and Safety Act of 1977- consolidated health and safety regulations of mining
history and strengthened rights of miners and protected them from retaliation for exercising
their rights
 The Mine Safety and Health Administration is the US agency that protects miners and compiles
fatality date
 Living by a mine can carry with it substantial health risks, including exposure to heavy metals in
the surface water, groundwater, and soil
 Correlating exposure to heavy metals to specific illnesses is somewhat difficult
 As population grows, distinction between mineral resources and mineral reserves is critical
 Some mineral deposits cannot get mined as they are in isolated locations deep in Earth’s crust
 The rate at which mineral reserves are used also grows, and this rate grows faster than the
world population. 
 Urbanization- movement of humans into cities due to the amount of mineral resources from
mining
 Cities simply spread outward as they grow. (Urban sprawl)
 Economic expansion is a result of urban sprawl and this leads to environmental problems
 Cities have many unsustainable systems
 Results of land development in and around urban/suburban areas
o Deforestation which creates runoff
o Creation of heat islands (urban area warmer than non-urban surrounding areas)
o Creation of dust domes (dome-like structure of air around heat islands that traps
pollutants)
o Soil erosion
o Urban runoff
o Flooding
o Use of large wells lowers underground water table causing salinization
o Increased carbon dioxide levels
 These problems are not independent of each other.
  With the growth of cities, nature will always be affected, but we can take steps to lessen the
negative effects and decrease pollution. Because water is a crucial resource, pollution run-off
and factory run-off into rivers and streams is one of the most important factors. Using
sustainable building materials and having strong recycling programs are effective methods of
reducing pollution.
 Transportation has provided great benefits for human beings, including increased access to
employment, education, health care, but it has also provided substantial costs, including
fatalities incurred during building and using it; air, soil, water, and noise pollution; destruction of
habitat; and loss of biodiversity.
 Focus of transportation infrastructure
o Transitioning to more fuel-efficient cares to use less fossil fuels and to reduce pollution
o Transitioning to mass transportation and creating necessary infrastructure in all cities
 Sustainable land use policies
o Addressing human needs for urban land
o Minimizing and managing pollution
o Inclusive participation and partnerships among interested parties
o Monitoring environment
o Particular attention to endangered places

4.05 Ecological Footprints:

 Ecological footprints compare resource demands and waste production required for an
individual or a society.
 Sustainability refers to humans living on Earth and their use of resources without depletion of
the resources for future generations. Environmental indicators that can guide humans to
sustainability include biological diversity, food production, average global surface temperatures
and CO2 concentrations, human population, and resource depletion.
 Sustainable yield is the amount of a renewable resource that can be taken without reducing the
available supply.
 Ecological footprint compares resource demands and waste production required for individual
or society. Represents total area of land and water (measured in global hectares) needed to
dispose waste and provide needed resources for an individual, country, or entire world
 Industrialized countries tend to have higher ecological footprints due to high consumption of
goods and services
 Global hectares (gha) measure the amount of biocapacity in biologically productive land or
water (supports photosynthetic water and responsible for accumulation of biomass from
humans)
 Changes to amount of biocapacity can be affected by climate change, natural disasters, etc.
 Every year, each land or ocean type has different productivity and different biocapacity
 Global hectare of cropland will occupy smaller are and be more productive than same global
hectare of pasture used for grazing
 According to World Commission on Environment and Development, at least 12% of biocapacity
of land and ocean should be preserved to protect biodiversity of planet
 Ecological deficit- exceeding regenerative capacity and biocapacity of their land and ocean
resources (overshoot). Overshoot cannot be fixed by importing biocapacity through trade with
other countries or depositing wastest into a global common area because the global ecological
deficit stays the same
 Sustainability- ability to maintain a state of being (natural resources and processes on Earth)
 Aspects of sustainability
o Time Frame- World population has been increasing at exponential rate and interplay
between population, resource use, and pollution is greatest concern. Increase in
consumption of resources leads to scarcity and degradation which leads to pollution and
climate change. Current population is not sustainable
o Maintaining Systems- Biosphere (living things), lithosphere (land), atmosphere (air),
hydrosphere (water). Cryosphere (ice). We decrease biodiversity by depletion of
resources which is why we live in unsustainable ecosystems. Marine and polar
ecosystems are destroyed by warming of ocean and surface temperatures which melts
polar ice sheets
o Maintaining Processes- Most of fossil fuels are easily available to us and the use of this is
not sustainable but clean energy sources such as solar or wind are sustainable. Key
challenges to sustainability of our food supply process include Green Revolution
increasing pesticide use which decreases diversity of crops and increases resistance to
pesticides. It is important to switch to sustainable agricultural practices that restore soil
nutrients between crop cycles, reduce soil erosion, use less fresh water, and reduce
pollution to surface and ground water sources. It is also critical to reduce inefficiencies,
such as meat production, which uses more resources for fewer calories.
o Sustainable Society- Sustainability must occur on global scale if meant to protect
interacting Earth systems. The UN Conference on Human Environment (1972) was first
international agreement about environmental principles. This conference illuminated
consensus about anthropogenic effects on the environment, as well as the damage done
by "industrialized" nations, particularly in terms of degradation, acid rain, and CFCs.
Since then, both governments and non-governmental organizations have supported
drastic action in reducing pollution and consumption to protect the environment
 Sustainable yield- amount that can be removed or harvested of resource without comprimising
the ecosystem or initial natural capital.
 Sustainable yield model developed on idea that you can remove newest members of population
as surplus without harming initial population. Starting population of model is usually determined
using formula that incorporates carrying capacity
 Maximum sustainable yield changes each year depending on growth
 Sustainable yield conditions
o accurate data of population size and growth
o the population has an even age structure
o harvesting selects random individuals to catch
o population is not affected by natural disasters, disease, or drastic climate change
 Practices that are based on the sustainable yield are considered sustainable
 Sustainable practices also include evaluating our current systems in terms of their long-term
feasibility
 Sustainable food habits include eating food that is raised or grown close to where you live,
embodying the strategy "Eat local," as well as eating food that is organic or raised with few
pesticides, which contribute greatly to soil and water pollution.
 Price does not reflect cost of environment involved in production, distribution, and disposal.
 Internal costs- Natural resources include manufactured capital (tool and factory resources) and
human capital (labor). These are internal costs
 External costs- Usually related to pollution and degradation of environment. Includes pollution,
in the form of water, air, or noise, loss of natural resources, health problems, cost of recycling,
etc.
 True costs includes internal and external costs. Price of product ignores external costs
completely. Because external costs overlap geographic borders, external costs in markets are
hard to study.
 Full-cost pricing attempts to include external costs.
 External benefits- received by those not immediately involved in economic transaction. Creation
of mine provides great benefit of bringing money into region
 Economic goals of specific economic system
o To allocate goods and services equally?
o To encourage competition?
o To alleviate poverty?
o To make some people extraordinarily wealthy?
 Centrally Planned Economy- Relies on government or another central authority to determine
allocation of goods and services and set prices
 Market Economy- Relies on marketplace where buyers and sellers interact to determine
allocation of goods and services to set prices
 Mixed Economic System- Blend of centrally planned and market economy
 All economic models based on growth through resources but they are missing to take into
account the degree to which human beings alter earth’s systems
 Each model describes a system to produce, distribute, and consume that assumes that natural
resources will be available indefinetly and that pollution has no effect.
 Supply and demand- Buyers or consumers dictate the demand of an item and sellers or suppliers
dictate supply of item. Price is at equilibrium or balance point between supply and demand of
good
 Growing population leads to greater demand and more workers so greater supply
 In the long term, eventually natural resources for any particular good (and for the functioning of
the system to make the good) will run low. At that point in time, there will be a decrease in
supply with less goods available, an increase in demand, and an increase in the price for those
remaining goods.
 To measure economy, the GDP is traditionally used. GDP is sum of consumption, gross
investment, government spending, and exports-imports.
 Lots of factors such as pollution, resource use, public health, and welfare are left out of GDP
calculation and transactions are not included
 GNP is an older measurement and that includes value of everything produced by nation’s
residents
  GDP discounts externalities so another paradigm is sustainable development (concept that
sustainable methods for meeting human needs and wants are possible)
 Measurements includes a variety of different aspects of sustainability
o Human Development Index- measures human development
o Gini Coefficient- measures inequality of income
o Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare- adjusts GDP in terms of environmental damage
and resource use
o Genuine Progress Indicator- incorporates income distribution and subtracts crime and
pollution
o Happy Planet Index- rates countries according to well-being
 Greenwashing- term used in marketing for practices that suggest that a product is sustainable
when it is not

4.06 Sustainability:

 The goal of soil conservation is to prevent soil erosion. Different methods of soil conservation
include contour plowing, windbreaks, perennial crops, terracing, no-till agriculture, and strip
cropping.
 Strategies to improve soil fertility include crop rotation and the addition of green manure and
limestone.
 Rotational grazing is the regular rotation of livestock between different pastures in order to
avoid overgrazing in a particular area.
 Aquaculture has expanded because it is highly efficient, requires only small areas of water, and
requires little fuel.
 Aquaculture can contaminate wastewater, and fish that escape may compete or breed with wild
fish. The density of fish in aquaculture can lead to increases in disease incidences, which can be
transmitted to wild fish.
 Some of the methods for mitigating deforestation include reforestation, using and buying wood
harvested by ecologically sustainable forestry techniques, and reusing wood.
 Methods to protect forests from pathogens and insects include integrated pest management
(IPM) and the removal of affected trees.
 Prescribed burn is a method by which forests are set on fire under controlled conditions in order
to reduce the occurrence of natural fire.
 The main goal of sustainable agricultural practices is to prevent soil erosion. 
 Erosion occurs naturally through wave action (waves break on shore)
 Water and wind can remove soil and sediment quickly from land but soil is created very slowly
depending on climate, topography, parent material, and biological processes
 Eroded soil can transport chemicals attached to sediment which are deposited in bodies of
water where they may be consumed by organisms and enter food chains and they can clog
streams, which means they carry less water and flood more often, causing streams to carry less
oxygen to support life within them
 Soil degradation caused by human activites- desertification, deforestation, global warming,
salinization. Additional activities that contribute to soil degradation include overgrazing by
cattle, which leads to soil compaction and decreases the ability of soil to hold water.
Additionally, acid deposition can leave soil too acidic to support life. Land development results
 in the loss of arable land, and, if the ground is paved over, prevents water from infiltrating the
soil.
 Deforestation decreases water that soil can abosrb which increases run-off and makes drier land
and susceptible to desertificiation
 Salinization makes soils less arable and vulnerable to desertification
 UN Convention to Combat Desertification stated when people live in poverty, they have little
choice but to over-exploit the land leading to loss of soil fertility and people move to urban
areas to find work
 If erosion and loss of soil fertility continue unchecked, the valleys around the world will become
devoid of grasses, trees, and wildlife. 
 Terracing involved cutting steps into side of valley
 Arid zones make up more than 30 percent of Earth’s surface which means desertification affects
large number of people.
 Regeneration techniques can allow large amounts of barren land to be reclaimed
 Preserving quality of soil
o Add organic matter yearly to improve soil structure and water-carrying capacity
protecting it from erosion and allowing organisms in soil to thrive
o Avoid plowing or tilling soil excessively because this increases speed of eriosion and loss
of organic matter
o Test and monitor all soil for pests and only use organic or chemical pesticides if
necessary
o Avoid compacting soil by restricting traffic by human beings and vehicles on soil to
preserve soil structure. Rotation of livestock between different pastures will avoid
overgrazing, slow soil compaction, and preserve ability of soil to hold water
o Diversify planting within field by rotating crops. Alley cropping (alternating rows of
seasonal agricultrual crops) should be done
o Prevent erosion by wind by using buffer strips (permenant vegetation) around a field
and this increases diversity in planting
o Prevent erosion by water by using contour strips (planting in strips perpendicular to
slope of land) and strip cropping (alternating row crops and ground over crops) which
trap the soil and slow erosion
 Boreal and deciduous forests in US and Canada and tropical rainforests at equator are under
threat
 There has been significant increase in deforestation for timber and land for different reasons.
 Rainforests once covered 14% of land surface but now its just 2% (more than 93,000 square
miles of rainforest lost each year)
 Quantity and diversity of life in rainforests provide pharmaceutical resources, absorb carbon
dioxide, decrease global warming, homes for indigenous people
 Forests cover 30% of Earth and benefits:
 o
 Forest management plans currently attempt to negotiate the tension between the consumption
of forest lumber and the preservation of forests.
 The National Forest Management Act attempts to reconcile the desire of timber industry to
harvest more trees and the desire of environmentalists to protect existing trees by requiring
that each forest within national forests have separate mangement plan
 Even-aged forest- All trees are same age, occurs frequently at tree plantations where all are
planted at same time
 Uneven-aged forest- trees of different ages


 Uneven-aged forests can also be old-growth forests
 Concern that mortality rate of trees within forests is increasing by warming of atmosphere and
shortages of water
 Harvesting techniques

o
 Sustainable forest management (SFM) is a type of forest management that attempts to meet the
needs of today and anticipate the needs and availability of forest resources for tomorrow. 
 SFM policies components
o Reduce need for wood and reuse old wood
o Protect forests and soils including forbidding clear-cutting and protecting forests from
natural hazards
 o Create preserves for old-growth forests
 Sustainable Forestry Initiative vs Forest Stewardship Council

o
 Best forest management practices
o Pathogens and Pests- Integrated pest mangement and removal of affected trees to re-
establish biodiversity
o Fires- Prescribed burn- forests set on fire under controlled conditions to reduce
occurrence of natural fire
o Air pollution- Decrease air pollutants in atmosphere
o Climate change- Retain forests in current states, plant more native trees, prevent
deforestation
 Wilderness Act of 1964- national wilderness preservation system.
 Roadless Rule- established by Clinton administration and protected undeveloped national forest
land providing ecosystem services
 Aquaculture has expanded in recent years with innovations making process highly efficient for
fish farming. Requires less fuel than commerical farming and uses current and wave energy to
keep ocean clear of wastes
 Aquaculture can contaminate wastewater, so freshwater resources are not ideal for large fish
farms
 Aquaculture correlates to density of fish which could lead to fast spread of diseases.

4.07 Pest Management

 One consequence of using common pest-control methods such as pesticides, herbicides,

fungicides, rodenticides, and insecticides is that organisms can become resistant to them
through artificial selection. Pest control decreases crop damage by pest and increases crop
yields.
 Crops can be genetically engineered to increase their resistance to pests and diseases. However,
using genetically engineered crops in planting or other ways can lead to loss of genetic diversity
of that particular crop.
 Integrated pest management (IPM) is a combination of methods used to effectively control pest
species while minimizing the disruption to the environment. These methods include biological,
 physical, and limited chemical methods such as biocontrol, intercropping, crop rotation, and
natural predators of the pests.
 The use of integrated pest management (IPM) reduces the risk that pesticides post to wildlife,
water supplies, and human health.
 Integrated pest management (IPM) minimizes disruptions to the environment and threats to
human health but can be complex and expensive.
 Two common pests are rats and cockroaches
 Pest Chart

o
 Viral Hemorrhagic Fever- disease involving fever and bleeding caused by five families of viruses
(includes Ebola virus)
 Plague- virus carried by rodents and spread by fleas
 Q Fever- disease caused by infection by bacterium (most infectious disease in world)
 Leptospirosis- Rare bacterial spread by contact with water contaminated by animal urine
 To prevent infestation by mouse, it is appropiate to seal cracks in wall, caulk openings to
building, install screens on windows, and wash dishes
 To prevent infestation by ant, it is appropiate to seal cracks in wall, caulk openings to building,
wash dishes, and address moisture issues in building
 To prevent infestation by cockroach, it is appropiate to seal cracks in wall, caulk openings to
building, and wash dishes
 To prevent infestation by black widow, it is appropiate to seal cracks in wall, caulk openings to
building, and install screens on windows
 Pesticides- kill, repel, or control pests
o Herbicides- kill, repel, or control plants
o Fungicides- kill, repel, or control fungi
o Rodenticides- kill, repel, or control rodents
 Pesticides advantages and disadvantages

o
o Broad-spectrum pesticides kill variety of pests while narrow-spectrum pesticides kill
small range of pests
o Bioaccumulation- Accumulating in organism
o Biomagnification- Increase in strength of substance as it is absorbed by organisms
further up in food chain
 Pesticides divided based on makeup
o Chlorinated hydrocarbons- Broad-spectrum; Banned or restricted in many countries as
they cause cancer and birth defects; Does not break down easily in environment;
becomes biomagnified and bioaccumulated; can be stored in body fat
o Organic phosphates- Commonly sold; insecticides; break down easily in environment
because of water solubility making less likely to bioaccumulate; Causes headaches,
vomiting at low levels of exposure and paralysis and comas at higher levels
o Carbamates- Broad-spectrum; Widely used and less persistent than chlorinated
hydrocarbons but still can affect nervous system and cause birth defects
o Triazines- Widely used and less persistent in environment and can irritate skin and eyes;
Epidemiological connection between atrazine and low sperm counts and it is suspected
endocrine disrupter
o Pyrethroids- natural and synthetic insecticides; some are toxic to nervous system; some
are persistent
 Integrated pest management aims to reduce pest quantities while having smallest possible
negative impact on environment. Pests cannot be eliminated but can be controlled
 Least toxic pesticides- boric acid, diatomaceous Earth, and silica gel
 Other pest control options- mechanical trapping devices, natural predators, insect growth
regulators, pheromones, genetic modifications, crop rotation, biological control (control of pests
by interfering with ecological status)
 All pesticides regulated under Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act of 1972 and
1988
  Delaney Clause of Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act- Secretary of FDA shall not approve for use in
food any chemical additive found to induce cancer in man, or after tests, found to induce cancer
in animals
 In 1996, pesticide use was no longer part of Delaney Clause as it was moved by amendment to
Title IV of Food Quality Protection Act of 1996
 A crop can be engineered to resist herbicides, allowing for spraying of weeds without damaging
crops.
 Reduction of need for pesticides reduces genetic diversity of crops which leads to inability of
crops and organisms to adapt to changing environments
 Pesticides released into environment when used and widely agreed that pesticides are overused
with large-scale and small-scale application
 Many farmers do not wear appropiate protective gear required by regulations for pesticides
leading to health problems
 Pesticideskill beneficial bacteria that can make soil fertile and the pesticide can be washed from
crop by rainfall and enter streams and sewer systems. Pesticides can kill lots of organisms or
affect their reproductive capacity/health
 Pesticides create pests that resit pesticides due to mutations.
 Farmers face predicament with pesticide use called pesticide treadmill (As farmers apply
pesticides, resistant organisms evolve, and over time, farmer must apply more pesticide eor
switch to newer which becomes expensive but as the cost increases, effectiveness of pesticides
decrease)
 Pesticides could be endocrine disrupters that bioaccumulate and biomagnify. Pesticides affect
children more than adults such as intelligence and motor skills
 Exposure to chemical could occur through oral, respiratory or dermal (through mouth, through
our breathing system, or skin)
 Effects of pesticide could be local (near site of exposure) or systemic (occurs only if chemical
penetrates skin and abosrbed slowly by bloodstream causing inhibition of enzyme which causes
toxicity)
 Safer pest management practices for school kids and in general are important

5.01 Energy Resources:

 Nonrenewable energy sources are those that exist in a fixed amount and involve energy
transformation that cannot be easily replaced.
 Renewable energy sources are those that can be replenished naturally, at or near the rate of
consumption, and reused.
 The use of energy resources is not evenly distributed between developed and developing
countries.
 The mostly widely used sources of energy globally are fossil fuels.
 As developing countries become more developed, their reliance on fossil fuels for energy
increases.
 As the world becomes more industrialized, the demand for energy increases.
 Availability, price, and governmental regulations influence which energy sources people use and
how they use them.
 Wood is commonly used as fuel in the forms of firewood and charcoal. It is often used in
developing countries because it is easily accessible.
 Peat is partially decomposed organic material that can be burned for fuel.
 Three types of coal used for fuel are lignite, bituminous, and anthracite. Heat, pressure, and
depth of burial contribute to the development of various coal types and their qualities.
 Natural gas, the cleanest of the fossil fuels, is mostly methane.
 Crude oil can be recovered from tar sands, which are a combination of clay, sand, water, and
bitumen.
 Fossil fuels can be made into specific fuel types for specialized uses (e.g., in motor vehicles).
 Cogeneration occurs when a fuel source is used to generate both useful heat and electricity.
 The global distribution of natural energy resources, such as ores, coal, crude oil, and gas, is not
uniform and depends on regions’ geologic history.
 Most of electricity in US is produced in steam turbines powered by coal, nuclear power, or
natural gas
 Renewable energy sources- replenished naturally through sustainable practice (at or near the
rate of consumption) and reused.
o Sustainable practice- any action that reduces environmental pollution and protects
Earth’s biodiversity
 Nonrenewable energy sources- exist in fixed amount and involve energy transformation that
cannot be easily replaced and we are known for depleting these
 Benefits and Costs of Energies
o Biomass energy (renewable)
 Benefits- inexpensive, helps with garbage disposal, reduces need for landfills,
protects habitats
 Costs- not clean and releases greenhouse gases
o Hydropower (renewable)
 Benefits- inexpensive
 Costs- needs a dam which could change surrounding ecosystems by adding
water vapor to atmosphere.
 Turbines use flowing water to create electrical energy
o Geothermal (renewable)
 Benefits- clean
 Costs- Power stations only built in areas where heated groundwater is close to
surface and expensive to construct and maintain
 Heat energy from steam surfaces from circulating groundwater, moving turbines
and creating electrical energy
o Wind Power (renewable)
 Benefits- clean
 Costs- Many locations do not have space or available wind to make turbines cost
effective
 Wind turbines convert moving wind to electrical energy
o Solar Power (renewable)
 Benefits- clean
 Costs- expensive setup and maintenance and requires lots of space for paneling
  Special panels convert energy from sun to electrical energy
o Natural Gas (non-renewable)
 Benefits- directly in homes for heating and cooking
 Costs- burning of fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide and water vapor
 Gas is open found trapped in porous spaces of sedimentary rock along with
petroleum deposits and is used for running steam turbines for electricity
o Petroleum (non-renewable)
 Benefits- inexpensive
 Costs- burning of fossil releases carbon dioxide and water vapor. Oil is a
common water pollutant
 Crude oil is refined to produce industrial oils and oil-based products and powers
automobiles and provies heat for homes
o Coal (non-renewable)
 Benefits- efficient and inexpensive
 Costs- burning of fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide and water vapor and coal
miining can damage habitat of surrounding area
 Fossil fuel of soild carbon is mined from ground and the heat from burning coal
powers steam turbines that produce electricity
o Nuclear Power (non-renewable)
 Benefits- does not pollute atmosphere
 Costs- Power plants expensive to build and maintain. Produces radiation which
is harmful if leaked into environment
 Energy source is powered by nuclear ission or fusion
 Energy- capacity of system to do work
 Laws of thermodynamics (followed by energy transformations)
o First law- energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transformed
o Second law- every time energy is transformed, some energy becomes degraded and
unusable to do work


 Vast majority of energy consumption in US come from nonrenewable resources
 Less than 10% of total energy consumed in 2008 in US is renewable
 Imposisble to have 100% energy efficiency and humans generally need to transform energy from
another type into electrical energy to get electricity
 Coal to electricity
o Coal is burned, Chemical energy transformed to heat energy
o Heat energy transferred to source of water and this produces steam
o Steam rises and transfers energy to turbine causing turbine to spin
o Mechanical energy of turbine is transformed into electrical energy
 British thermal units (Btu) is commonly used as the units for heat energy


 Global energy use has increased exponentially as global population has also increased
exponentially
 In 1973, Arab members of OPEC decided to create an oil embargo because of Unitned States’
political relationship with Israel
 Cogeneration- production of two forms of energy from one source
 Types of fuels

o
 Fossil fuels can be made into specific fuel types and for specific purpose
 Crude oil is produced in US but most petroleum used or consumed in US is imported
  Several continents contain much of developing world have few countries with significant oil
reserves
 Severel continents have significant oil reserves
 Saudi Arabia has greatest oil reserves followed by Canada
 As amount demanded increases, amount supplied increases.
 Many scientists believe we already reached peak oil (global oil extraction is maximized)
 When price increases significantly, consumption decreases. Oil consumption has true negative
externalities
 Demand for oil is higher in winter months in Northern hemisphere as it can be used for heat in
many countries other than US and Canada (where it is used for transportation)


 Countries in OECD (organization for economic cooperation and development) tend to be in
developed world with mraket-driven economies and don’t have as large of coal usage rate than
countries not in OECD that are developing
 Top 20 countries in the world account for 90% of all natural gas reserves and 75% of natural gas
reserves are in Middle East and Eurasia
 Rate of consumption higher in non-OECD countries than OECD countries
 Developing nations have a very high rate of consumption of fossil fuels
 Fossil fuels are nonrenewable but naturally occurring fossil fuels are integral to our lives

5.02 Fossil Fuels

 The combustion of fossil fuels is a chemical reaction between the fuel and oxygen that yields
carbon dioxide and water and releases energy.
 Energy from fossil fuels is produced by burning those fuels to generate heat, which then turns
water into steam. The steam turns a turbine, which spins a generator, producing electricity.
 Humans use a variety of methods to extract fossil fuels from the earth for energy generation.
 Hydrologic fracturing (fracking) can cause groundwater contamination and the release of
volatile organic compounds.
 Fossil fuels are hydrocarboons (compounds of carbon and hydrogen atoms) which are arranged
in chains, branches, and rings

 Tar sands contain bitumen (combustible organic matter) which can be extracted at strip mines
and refined to form oil. After bitumen is mined, it is treated with hot water to remove clay and
sand
 Oil shale contains kerogen (combustible organic matter) which can be extracted to form shale oil
and this can be refined into jet fuel, diesel, kerosene, etc. but not gasoline.
 Surface retort- crushing and heating the shale generating solid and hazardous waste from
crushed shale and water that wash toxic organic compounds into soil
 Oil shale involves sstrip mining which destroys habitat and causes erosion
 Difficult to extract bitumen at open pit mines as it requires lots of water which becomes
hazardous waste and bitumen is very viscous (thick)


 Subsidence- sinking of land due to removal of subsurface material

 Natural gas often forms alongside petroleum. Forms in same process in which organic matter
dies, decays, and is compressed under great temperature and pressure by overlying sediment
until it turns to gas.
 Natural gas drilled after geologists study geologic maps of area and take measurements
 Hydrologic fracturing (fracking)- process using highly pressurized fluids like water to drive open
cracks existing in underground rocks which allows gas to escape and this leads to higher quantity
and less cost
 Chemicals are used in fracking and this can contaminate groundwater
 Natural gas can leak and methane can seep into atmosphere and it is flammable


 Criteria for oil or natural gas to form

o
o Reservoir- porous rock storing oil
o Cap rock- Barrier of impermeable rock to prevent oil from seeping out
 Oil has to be drilled by being forced into ground and then lubricated by drilling mud which forms
waste
 Oil purification three steps

o
 Taking emission samples to test for leaks reduces waste
 Refining requires lots of water with one barrel of water per barerel of oil and some water
becomes contaminated with oil leading to pollution
 Oil is transported for purification via pipelines, trucks, and ships, all of which are associated with
environmental damage. Pipelines can break and leak, particularly on permafrost, which shifts
seasonally, in the tundra. Trucks are associated with road-building, particularly into sensitive
and/or roadless ecosystems. Ships can run aground


 Surface mining
o 2/3 of coal that is mined in US comes from surface mines which is less expensive of two
types of mining and can be employed only If coal is less than 200 feet underground
o Can take place in strip mining of both contours along land and in area strip mines or in
mountaintop removal
o Most controversial method is mountaintop removal as land is deforested, topsoil is
removed and relocated, and overburden is blasted away
o Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977- most land mined for coal must be
returned to approximate original contour and regulates only coal mining, but retroactive
and will gradually restore lands mined prior to 1977 through tax on coal mining
companies
 Subsurface mining
o More expensive than surface mining
 o
 Once extracted, coal is shipped to electrical power plants via rail


 Acid mine drainage- acidic liquid flowing out of coal or metal mines
 Acid deposition- falling of acids from atmosphere to surface
 In US, 27% of petroleum is drilled at offshore locations within 200 miles of shore which is called
the Exclusive Economic Zone by the UNCLOS
 In US, area off the coast is rented by government to members of petroleum industry who pay
fees and royalties on petroleum that is extracted
 Texas has most oil reserves
 Tar sands are examined again to see if they provide a better economic alternative to crude oil
 In Utah, areas of oil shale potential and tar sands overlap one another and encompass areas
containing national monuments and wilderness areas
 Domestic coal provides 48% of total electricity used in US
 There are an estimated 489 bil short tons of coal in the US
 Synfuels- liquid fuel created from fossil fuels
 Most synfuels come from coal and natural gas, coal gasification (combustible gas made up of
coal), and coal liquefaction (coal refined to gasoline)
 They produce greenhouse gases but it is better than the environmental effects of fossil fuels
 

5.03 Nuclear Energy

 Nuclear power is generated through fission, where atoms of Uranium-235, which are stored in
fuel rods, are split into smaller parts after being struck by a neutron. Nuclear fission releases a
large amount of heat, which is used to generate steam, which powers a turbine, which spins a
generator, and which produces electricity.
 Radioactivity occurs when the nucleus of a radioactive isotope loses energy by emitting
radiation.
 Uranium-235 remains radioactive for a long time, which leads to the problems associated with
the disposal of nuclear waste.
 Nuclear power generation is a nonrenewable energy source. Nuclear power is considered a
cleaner energy source because it does not produce air pollutants, but it does release thermal
pollution and hazardous solid waste.
 Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima are three cases where accidents or natural
disasters led to the release of radiation. These releases have had short- and long-term impacts
on the environment.
 A radioactive element’s half-life can be used to calculate a variety of things, including the rate of
decay and the radioactivity level at specific points in time.
 Energy can be released through fission (splitting an atom) or fusion (joining nuclei of atoms
together)
 All nuclear energy is energy stored in nuclei of atoms
 Fusion occurs in sun to produce energy but humans have been unable to carry out fusion on
commerical scale to produce energy on Earth for electricity
 Fission is primary process used to produce electricity from nuclear energy
 Less than 1% of uraniam removed from Earth at mines is uranium-235 which is needed for
fission.
 Uranium is then processed into uranium-235 and other isotopes and enriched until
concentration of uranium-235 it is 3 to 5 percent
 Uranium-235 is then transported to nuclear reactor and housed in core in small pellets and the
pellets are put together as 12 foot rods which are bundled as fuel assembly
 In nuclear fission, fuel assemblies are bombarded with neutrons which splits the atoms of
uranium-235 and creates a series of reactions. It is split into lighter elements and neutrons and
to release energy in form of radiation.
 Radioactivity- nucleus of radioactive isotope loses energy
 Energy generated by bombaring uranium-235 with neutrons is heat energy which is used to boil
water and turn it into steam to power a turbine, which spins a generator and produces
electricity
 Core of nuclear reactor contains fuel assemblies and control rods
 A moderator, often water, absorbs energy from neutrons and water also serves as coolant to
remove heat from reaction
 A boiling water reactor produces heat in boiling water at core of nuclear reactor which produces
steam in steam-water mixture. The mixture leaves the nuclear reactor core and seperates into
steam and water, where steam enters a steam line causing a main turbine of generator to turn
which produces electricity, and the steam that is unused is condensed into water and reheated
and used again. Safety measures include emergency cooling water and containment cooling
system
 Pressurized light-water reactor uses two loops to transport heat, water, and steam. The nuclear
reactor produces heat and then in the primary coolant loop, pressurized heated water is carried
to the steam generator creating steam in a secondary loop. The steam moves toward a turbine
powering a turbine generator and generates electricity. Stem still exists after this process and
condensed into water to be reused. Safety systems include emergency cooling water for
nuclear reactors


 Half-life- time needed for half of radioactive atoms in a sample to decay
 Half-life of given isotope is constant and independent of external conditions or number of atoms
in sample
 Three Mile Island- Pumps that removed steam from nuclear reactors stopped working and the
nuclear reactor and turbine shut down and steam began to build up. An operator opened a
valve to release the pressure from the steam but the valve didn’t work. Operators did not
recognize that the valve remained open and the nuclear reactor was losing coolant. The nuclear
feal will overheat and the tubes that hold the fuel pellets will melt. Walls were not breached and
radiation was not released thankfully
 Chernobyl- Operators of a nuclear energy plant violated safety guidelines and turned off control
systems during an experimental test of the electrical system. A power surge tehn occurred
which caused a steam explosion. Steam and nuclear fuel destroyed the core of the reactor and
much of the building.
 Fukushima- A tsunami and earthquake occurred in Japan. Outer walls of Fukushima power
plant’s No. 1 reactor blew away in a hydrogen explosion and eventually another explotsion will
 occur in Reactor 2 as the inner containment vessel was damaged. Cooling systems and radiation
leaks kept on happening.
 Yucca Mountain- site for storing spent fuel rods at underground repository because of isolated
location in Nevada on federal land and high-level radioactive waste is here

5.04 Renewable Energy Resources I

 Burning of biomass produces heat for energy at a relatively low cost, but it also produces carbon
dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, particulates, and volatile organic compounds. The
overharvesting of trees for fuel also causes deforestation.
 Ethanol can be used as a substitute for gasoline. Burning ethanol does not introduce additional
carbon into the atmosphere via combustion, but the energy return on energy investment for
ethanol is low.
 Photovoltaic solar cells capture light energy from the sun and transform it directly into electrical
energy. Their use is limited by the availability of sunlight.
 Active solar energy systems use solar energy to heat a liquid through mechanical and electric
equipment to collect and store the energy captured from the sun.
 Passive solar energy systems absorb heat directly from the sun without the use of mechanical
and electric equipment, and energy cannot be collected or stored.
 Solar energy systems have low environmental impact and produce clean energy, but they can be
expensive. Large solar energy farms may negatively impact desert ecosystems.
 Geothermal energy is obtained by using the heat stored in the Earth's interior to heat up water,
which is brought back to the surface as steam. The steam spins a turbine, which spins a
generator, producing electricity.
 The cost of accessing geothermal energy can be prohibitively expensive, as is not easily
accessible in many parts of the world. In addition, it can cause the release of hydrogen sulfide.
 Hydrogen fuel cells are an alternate to nonrenewable fuel sources. They use hydrogen as fuel,
combining the hydrogen fuel and the oxygen in air to produce electricity and form water, which
is the product (emission) of a fuel cell.
 Hydrogen fuel cells have low environmental impact and produce no carbon dioxide when the
hydrogen is produced from water. However, the technology is expensive, and energy is still
needed to create the hydrogen gas used in the fuel cell.
 Sources of biomass energy- wood, crops, manure, food scraps (indirect sources of energy from
sun)
 Biomass can be burned at low cost which is the simplest way of releasing its energy where
chemical energy becomes heat energy
 Burning biomass advantages
o Biomass is almost always available worldwide
o Using biomass energy for heat reduces need for fossil fuels
o Burning biomasms reduces what ends up in landfills
 Burning biomass disadvantages
o Carbon dioxide released as well as particulate matter
o Land used for growing what is used as biomass energy may not be used for a primary
agricultural crop for food anymore
o Overharvesting of trees for fuel causes deforestation
 Much of the biomass in US ends up in the trash and is called municipal solid waste, which
contains biomass in form of food, grass clippings, and dead leaves.
 Combustion of MSW generates heat but also produces particulate matter, plentiful
indeterminante chemical entities, and ash
 It keeps trash out of landfills


 Biomass can also be converted into methane, ethanol, biodiesel, and other fuel types
 Rotting matterials release methane (biogas) and can be used for generating electricity or heat
 In a landfill, trash is contained with a cap on top and a leachate collection system (collects fluid
leaching from trash to treat the liquid at the bottom)
 The methane gas recovery system removes methane from decaying trash in a closed system
 Fermenting plant material produces ethanol
 Ethanol produces less carbon dioxide than fossil fuels but producse more ozone and nitrogen
oxides which could lead to smog
 Energy return is low for ethanol after high energy investment for producing ethanol
 Biodiesel fuel produces fewer sulfur oxides, particulates, and carbon monoxide than diesel from
petroleum but produces more nitrogen oxides and can be in its refined form or blended with
petroleum diesel
 Although oil resources are concentrated in a few countries, all countries have the ability to
produce their own biofuels. When crops grown for biofuel are used at the same rate that they
are replenished, they do not increase carbon dioxide emissions. Biodiesel and ethanol are
readily available in many countries now, and an infrastructure for their distribution exists. Only
minor changes are needed to make them practical for widespread adoption.
 US leads in ethanol production and EU leads in biodiesel production
 Biofuels raise food prices, increase soil degradation, and decrease biodiversity
 Radioactive elements in rocks and melted rocks decay and produce heat and this heat is
harnessed close to the surface at wells bringing hot air or steam up to surface (geothermal
energy)
 In the wells, steam spins a turbine which spins a generator producing electiricty and the steam
can also be pumped right back into the ground
 Location of geothermal energy sources can range in depth underground and most occur in Ring
of Fire and in hot spots
 Only 0.5 all electricity produces in US comes from geothermal resources
 Geothermal electrical power plants have low emissions because they do not burn coal or other
fossil fuels. Hydrogen sulfide, which is normally found in hydrothermal water, is removed from
 the steam and hot water with scrubbers and released into the environment. It is very poisonous,
corrosive, and flammable. 
 Geothermal energy cautions
o Geothermal sources or grids that could harness geothermal energy are not easily
accessible in many parts of world and makes this expensive which also includes
requiring electricity to operate the pumps
o Many geothermal sources in US are protected
 A new home can be constructed to include a geothermal heat pump, which can save 25 to 50
percent of the electricity used by a conventional heating and cooling system. The temperature
of Earth is relatively constant 3 to 6 meters below the surface. A geothermal heat pump
exchanges the heat in the house for heat in Earth through fluid-filled pipes similar to a radiator
or refrigerator coil. With few moving parts, and with the parts safely contained in Earth, a
geothermal heat pump system is long-lasting.
 Solar energy- broad range of technologies and approaches using energy from sunlight
 Solar energy usually used in homes and pools but also can be used for entire towns
 Solar energy helpful in developing countries
 Building grids in unevenly distributed villages is difficult
 Solar energy allows families to control their own individual power source
 A photovoltaic panel is used to generate enough energy to pump water and power lights and a
radio
 Solar cookers can also be used. They rely entirely on the energy of the sun and cost nothing
other than the initial investment in the cooker. Rather than chopping firewood, which
contributes to deforestation, desertification, and indoor air pollution, solar cookers use the
energy of the sun to heat food.
 Solar energy helpful in dark countries
 Solar energy converted in two ways
o Photovoltaic (PV) cells convert the energy from the sun directly into electricity. The PV
cell consists of an n-layer and a p-layer. When exposed to sunlight, electrons flow from
the p-layer to the n-layer and form an electrical current. Although photovoltaic energy is
still more expensive than coal-generated electricity, it can often be used when homes
are “off the grid” or away from electrical transmission lines.


o Concentrating solar power plants, also known as solar thermal systems, convert energy
from sunlight into heat energy to heat a liquid that produces steam to power a
generator. The map of the United States below shows the distribution of concentrating
solar power resources throughout the country.
  Concentrating solar plants
o Parabolic troughs- use shape of parabola to focus the sun 30 to 100 times its normal
intensity along the focus of the trough which heats water to power a steam turbine
o Solar dishes- track the sun pointing straight at it during the day sometimes receiving
more than 2000 times the times normal intensity of the sun
o Solar power tower- focuses solar energy on a receiver using sun-tracking mirrors, which
can concentrate solar energy as much as 1500 times the normal intensity of the sun
 The sun does not provide an unlimited supply of constant energy, and to harness enough solar
energy to meet the needs of a large population, many cells or towers covering a large area are
needed. Nevertheless, solar energy is becoming an important factor in the renewable energy
market.
 Passive solar home- uses south-facing position of house and angle of sun to heat it while active
solar home absorbs and collects energy from Sun with panels on rooftop that store and circulate
energy
 These are quick to install, easy to maintain, and free after first installation
 The sun does not provide an unlimited supply of constant energy, and to harness enough solar
energy to meet the needs of a large population, many cells or towers covering a large area are
needed. Nevertheless, solar energy is becoming an important factor in the renewable energy
market.
 Hydrogen must be separated through:
o Steam reforming- seperates hydrogen from carbon in methane; inexpensive; releases
greenhouse gases
o Electrolysis- seperates hydrogen from oxygen in water; expensive; does not release
greenhouse gases
 Fuel cells continue to produce electricity as long as they have fuel but do not function as well as
batteries in vehicles when exposed to extremely high or low temperatures. They get reactants
from external sources. Electric current produced as electrons flow from anode to cathode. Heat
can be produced
 Fuel cells are expensive due to the electrolyte membrane and catalyst (platinum)
 The ultimate goal for hydrogen energy is to produce it using renewable resources. Solar-
generated hydrogen is a possible solution, as well as combining solar power and hydrogen
power into household design.

5.05 Renewable Energy Resources II

 Hydroelectric power can be generated in several ways. Dams built across rivers collect water in
reservoirs. The moving water can be used to spin a turbine. The turbine spins a generator,
producing electricity. Turbines can also be placed in small rivers, where the flowing water spins
the turbine, which spins a generator and forms electricity.
 Tidal energy uses the energy produced by tidal flows to turn a turbine.
 Hydroelectric power does not generate air pollution or waste, but construction of the power
plants can be expensive, and there may be a loss of or change in habitats following the
construction of dams.
 Wind turbines use the kinetic energy of moving air to spin a turbine, which spins a generator,
producing electricity.
 Wind energy is a renewable, clean source of energy. However, birds and bats may be killed if
they fly into the spinning turbine blades.
 Hydropower can be produced when water falls through openings in a dam or when a river
current applies pressure to turbine blades installed within the river
 Cost of electricity production is low after installation of equipment
 This type of electricity production does not produce any carbon-based pollution or harmful
chemicals, but large hydropower dams do alter the natural flow of rivers and can interfere with
seasonal fish migration. Luckily, hydropower is not limited to dams across rivers.
 Water enters a penstock (pipe at hydroelectric dam that directs water to turbine) and flows
toward a turbine
 Run-of-the-river system and storage system both let water flow with natural amount of pressure
toward turbine or store water to accumulate pressure to power turbine
 Hydroelectricity is leading renewable energy source in capacity and number of generators in US
 Dams can prevent fish from migrating affecting populations. They can alter the natural path of
the river and change the temperature of it which leads to death of organisms with a small
temperature range. Floods areas that are habitats for many organisms.
 One partial solution to probems caused by dams is addition of fish ladders which can help guide
the fish
 Constantly moving tides provide large amounts of energy
 Not all geographic locations can support a tidal power plant
o There must be large range of tide and strong tidal flow with large volume of water
o Environmental impacts must be evaluated
 Normal dissipation of tidal energy is harnessed, and scientists believe this may also impact the
ecosystem and can affect tidal levels in surrounding areas
 Tidal power is clean and does not produce greenhouse gases or waste
 Tidal power plant could generate same amount of energy as major nuclear plant
 Tides are very predictable, making them a reliable source of power. The rotation of the Earth
and the gravitational pull of the moon and sun cause tides. Tides can vary up to 40 feet between
high and low tide in some places, but a 10-foot difference between high and low tide is
necessary to harness the water for tidal energy.
 Tidal energy is harnessed at dam called barrage allowing water to enter through sluice gates
which monitor water levels and rates of flow and leave by turning a turbine
 Barrages can change levels of water in ecosystem as well as creating turbidity in water which
affects the food web
 Tidal fences- vertical posts in fence with turbine powered by water. Less expensive than
barrages but can affect movement of large marine mammals as fences can block animals
 Tidal turbines- Sturdier than wind turbines but not used on large scale

 All of these three mechanisms are expensive to build, but inexpensive to maintain, and they
produce no wastes and no greenhouse gases, and they rely on predictable tides
 Wind-created waves carry energy. Wind is produced by sunlight energy so wave energy is
indirectly energy from sun
 Waves may be big or small but they can be increased in strength/height by channeling waves
into one area
 Wave energy can be used to spin turbines and some devices to harness wave energy are located
underwater, but some float on the water


 All renewable sources have geographical preferences
 Wave energy needs a coastline and it faces challenges both in the corrosive nature of salt water
and in addressing the potential for storm surge
 Temperature difference in warm surface tropical waters and cold deep tropical waters can also
be used to generate electricity (at least 20 degrees Celsius difference)
 Only stage with ocean thermal energy is in Hawaii, which has found it inefficient and water
difficult to pump
 Encourages geo-political stability
 
 While there is great potential in ocean thermal energy, the technology is not fully developed.
 It holds the promise of greater self-sufficiency for islands that are used to importing fossil fuel
resources
 Earth’s surface is heated unevenly by radiation from the sun which generates wind (currents of
air)
 Land heats up more quickly than water in the day. Air above land heats more quickly and rises
and then air above water moves in to replace air rising above land
 An electricity-generating turbine has blades that are lifted by the wind so they spin and turn a
drive shaft that turns an electric generator, producing electricity
 Wind farms, or groups of turbines, are most often privately owned by utility companies who sell
the electricity to local residents.
 Wind energy is clean but it can lead to visual pollution. The poor designs of wind farms lead to
migration of birds and newer turbines also use slower rotation speeds.

5.06 Energy Conservation

 Some of the methods for conserving energy around a home include adjusting the thermostat to
reduce the use of heat and air conditioning, conserving water, use of energy-efficient
appliances, and conservation landscaping.
 Methods for conserving energy on a large scale include improving fuel economy for vehicles,
using BEVs (battery electric vehicles) and hybrid vehicles, using public transportation, and
implementing green building design features.
 In US, energy used for heating anda cooling of homes is 49% of the total energy use in homes.
26% is used for lighting and running appliances

 Business use of energy reflects same trends as energy use in homes


 Energy conservation- practices involving less energy
 Enery efficiency- using technology to use less energy
 Energy intensity- how much energy it takes to produce one unit of economic activity
 Energy intensity measures the quantity of energy needed to produce one unit of GDP. Can be
calculated by total energy consumption/GDP.
 In the US, it is calculated as Btu per dollar instead of kWh per dollar
 High energy intensity -> High cost in converting energy to GDP and vice versa
 Green building is the practice of creating a building that is environmentally friendly and
resource-efficient from its design, construction, operation, and maintenance. This type of
construction employs many technologies to conserve water and energy and to reduce the
 carbon footprint of the building. Green building often focuses on energy efficiency of household
appliances and the heating and cooling of a home.
 Energy efficient appliances in green building
o Energy Star used for refrigerators using 10%-25% less energy
o Energy Guide used for dishwashers
 Conserving energy also reduces the amount of fossil fuels consumed, decreasing loss of habitat
and biodiversity that results from extracting fossil fuels and decreases contributions of
greenhouse gases to atmosphere
 The United States does not have a comprehensive energy policy at this date and has not had
one in the past. There is a collection of federal, state, county, and city laws that dictate some
elements of energy use, but there is nothing unifying and comprehensive to use as guidelines
for public policy.
 Three important legislative acts
o Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007- increasing fuel economy of cars,
encouraging development of biofuels, increasing energy efficiency in public spaces
o Energy Policy Act of 2005- guaranteeing loans, grants, and subsidies for technology that
avoids generating greenhouse gases
o Energy Policy Act of 1992- establishing commerical building codes for energy use,
efficiency standards
 In addition to addressing energy efficiency, we need to continue to develop technology to make
a plethora of sustainable energy sources available. As you have learned, these renewable
resources often depend on location (e.g., tidal energy needs a coastal location or a grid adjacent
to a coastal location). As we develop technology to make sustainable energy available and as
well as an infrastructure for its distribution, we need to minimize pollution and maximize safety.
It’s also important to make sure that the energy that we are exploring, extracting, and
transporting results in a positive net energy yield, meaning that it should not take more energy
to access, process, and employ the energy than it contains in itself.

6.01 Introduction to Air Pollution

 Coal combustion releases air pollutants, including carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, toxic metals,
and particulates.
 The combustion of fossil fuels releases nitrogen oxides into the atmosphere. They lead to the
production of ozone and the formation of photochemical smog, and convert to nitric acid in the
atmosphere, causing acid rain. Other pollutants produced by fossil fuel combustion include
carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, and particulate matter.
 Air quality can be affected through the release of sulfur dioxide during the burning of fossil fuels,
mainly diesel fuels.
 Through the Clean Air Act, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulated the use of lead,
particularly in fuels, which dramatically decreased the amount of lead in the atmosphere.
 Air pollutants can be primary or secondary pollutants.
 CO2 appears naturally in the atmosphere from sources such as respiration, decomposition, and
volcanic eruptions.
 There are a variety of natural sources of particulate matter.
 Air pollution- prescence of unwanted substances in air
 Carbon monoxide (CO) prevents oxygen from being transported in body
 Carbon dioxide (CO2) contributes to global climate change
 Nitrogen oxides (NOx) irritates the lungs
 Volatile organic compounds which include chlorofluorocarbons and hydrocarbons such as
methane (CH4) causes eye, nose and throat irritation and headaches
 Suspended pariculates and fine-sized particles irritate the lungs
 Sulfur oxides (Sox) can form harmful particulates
 Volcanoes release compounds into the atmosphere; wind storms stir up and carry particulate
matter; forest fires produce tons of ash
 Pollutants are usually natural and biogenic (influenced or caused by living organisms)
 Biogenic pollutants do not cause long-term effects
 Air pollution is usually anthropogenic (caused by humans)
 Primary pollutants- directly from source and in same form
 Secondary pollutants- begin as primary pollutants and change in chemical reaction in
atmosphere
 Mobile sources of pollutants are transportation
 Transportation account for more than half of air pollution in US
 Modern cars emit 75 to 90 percent less pollution than older cars due to advancements in
technoogy
 Stationary sources of pollutants are usually buildings such as factories, power plants, etc.




 Air pollutants are primarily formed from combustion along with evaporation and friction.
Combustion creates a reaction with carbon and oxygen to produce carbon dioxide and carbon
monoxide
 Combustion causes nitrogen to react with oxygen
 Secondary pollutants are result of reactions of primary pollutants in atmosphere.
 Volatile organic compounds originate from industrial and commerical processes (50%), motor
vehicles (45%), and consumer solvents (5%).
 Peroxyacyl nitrates are products of a reaction between peroxyacyl radicals and nitrogen dioxide
using UV light as a catalyst.
 Smokestack- large chimney through which gases are released into the atmosphere
 Particulate matter- a complex type of air pollution, consisting of small solid particles and liquid
droplets suspended in the atmosphere, with variable size generally measured in microns
 As gases leave a smokestack, they usually rise, since they are generally warmer than the
ambient air. The temperature conditions in the atmosphere will determine how high the
exhaust gases move vertically. Horizontal motion of the exhaust gases will depend on the wind
speed.
 High water vapor will react with exhaust gases causing instability in atmosphere and altering
expected pollutant dispersal patterns
 Ozone is important to have in stratosphere for protection against UV radiation from the Sun.
Some is created naturally by lightening. Also can be created in larger amounts in lower
atmosphere by various chemical outputs of human activities
 Ozone can harm vegetation by removing photosynthesis ability and bring illnesses in humans
 Ozone slogan from EPA: “Good up high, bad nearby”
 Living organisms take in oxygen and release carbon dioxide through respiration
 Decomposition of organisms and plant material release carbon dioxide into surroundings, along
with volcanic eruptions
 The Clean Air Act sets standards for the six main pollutants called the National Ambient Air
Quality Standards
 As a guiding framework for work in air quality, the Clean Air Act brings together federal, state,
and local agencies to control levels of these pollutants from cars, factories, and other sources.
Often state and local authorities enforce the federal limits on pollutants set by the Clean Air Act.
 Air quality measured in parts per million which is then translated into a standard air quality
index from 0 to 500 with 100 the national standard for the pollutant


 The first passage of the Clean Air Act occurred in 1963, and a significantly stronger act was
passed in 1970 followed by a large revision in 1990. Since the stronger Clean Air Act passage in
1970, which set emissions standards for automobiles and new industries and set air quality
standards, several positive changes have occurred: the six most common pollutants have
decreased by more than 50 percent; air pollution from large industrial sources has been reduced
almost 70 percent; and the ozone-depleting materials have almost ceased to be produced.
 Mobile sources of pollution can be technologically adapted to burn fossil fuels more cleanly.
Catalyic converters attached to the exhaust system produce water and carbon dioxide from
 carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons and reduce air pollution but increase carbon dioxide
emissions
 Bag filters can remove particulate matter emitted from smokestack but not the gases. Cyclones
can remove particulate matter but not gases, and they use centrifugal force in a cylinder
 Electrostatic precipitators can remove particulate matter but not gases as they pass the matter
through electric fields, charging the particles, then turning the field off to separate the particles
 In scrubbers, air passes through combination of water and lime removing 99% of particulate
matter and 80-95% of gases but creates a toxic byproduct but also removes air pollution
 Asthma can be caused by air pollutants
 Asthma can be correlated with urbanization as increase in urbanization leads to increase in
asthma

6.02 Smog

 Photochemical smog is formed when nitrogen oxides and volatile organic hydrocarbons react
with heat and sunlight to produce a variety of pollutants.
 Many environmental factors affect the formation of photochemical smog.
 Nitrogen oxide is produced early in the day. Ozone concentrations peak in the afternoon and are
higher in the summer because ozone is produced by chemical reactions between oxygen and
sunlight.
 Volatile organic compounds (VOCs), such as formaldehyde and gasoline, evaporate or sublimate
at room temperature. Trees are a natural source of VOCs.
 Photochemical smog often forms in urban areas because of the large number of motor vehicles
there.
 Photochemical smog can be reduced through the reduction of nitrogen oxide and VOCs.
 Photochemical smog can harm human health in several ways, including causing respiratory
problems and eye irritation.
 During a thermal inversion, the normal temperature gradient in the atmosphere is altered, as
the air temperature at the Earth's surface is cooler than the air at higher altitudes.
 Thermal inversion traps pollution close to the ground, especially smog and particulates.
 Two types of smog- photochemical and sulfurous
 Photochemical smog are usually in warm, sunny climates and newer in development, as long
with urban areas due to large number of motor vehicles
 Photochemical pollution created by reactions between unburned hydrocarbons and nitrogen
oxides from fossil fuel-burning automobiles reacting with heat and sunlight leading to secondary
pollutants
 Solar UV radiation, high temperatures, and winds affect photochemical smog formation
 Photochemical smog concentrations more noticeable in summer months when it is warmer due
to intense sunlight
 Wind speed and the height at which the nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons combine with
sunlight play a role in photochemical smog and where the smog is carried. Photochemical smog
concentrations are lower when wind speeds are higher.
 Another cause is interaction of nitrogen oxides and sunlightw ith VOCs to produce ozone and
other chemicals
 Sulfurous smog- cities that use coal for heat accompanied by cold, moist climates and usually
older in development. Cities suffering from this are called gray-air cities
 Cities suffering from photochemical pollution are brown-air cities.
 Asthma attacks can be triggered from exposure to photochemical smog as well as other painful
irritations of the respiratory system, and lung function can be reduced. The effects are
irreversible and make the human body defenseless
 Methods of combating health issues

o
 Some states require vehicle emission tests yearly to ensure that the vehicles being driven are
not contributing to photochemical smog. There are about 32 states that have some form of
testing for excessive emissions, but not the entire state, just more densely populated regions of
the state.
 In atmosphere, air adjacent to surface of Earth is normally warmer than air above it, and this is
because the atmosphere is heated by solar radiation which is absorbed by Earth and heats the
air above it.
 Near a warm front or ocean upwelling, a warm air mass can move over a cool air mass,
producing a thermal inversion, which disrupts normal air convection
 In regions away from ocean, land can retain more heat received by radiation, particulary
overnight creating an inversion of temperatures.
 Temperature inversion causes the air to stop moving in alarger pattern and pollution is not
dispersed
 Large cities are usually more affected by thermal inversion
 The smoke from a smokestack expands and cools and heat is transferred from the smoke to the
surrounding atmosphere, and the smoke almost becomes the same temperature as the
surrounding atmosphere and stops rising
 The dispersion of smoke affected by diffusion (smaller-scale random motions spreading out
smoke) and convection (larger-scale motions mixing the atmosphere and carries the smoke
higher or lower)
 Thermal inversion traps pollution close to ground
 Dense smoke are puffed close together while less dense smoke are widely seperated puffs
 Diffusion and convection controlled by atmospheric stability, which is impacted by vertical
movement of air and temperature
 Atmospheric stability- temperature lapse rate in Celsius per kilometer
  Tempearture inversion- atmosphere typically becomes cooler with increased height and
sometimes becomes warmer within a certain altitude range
 If air is warmer than surrounding atmosphere, it rises and it cools. If it cools more rapidly than
the temperature lapse rate, it will eventually reach same temperature as surrounding
atmosphere and stop rising. A high lapse rate means rising air will remain warmer than its
surroundings and continue to rise (unstable atmosphere)
 Stable atmosphere means slow vertical air movement
 Humid conditions leads to air cooling at lower rate as it rises leading to lower temperature lapse
rate.
 Instability increases diffusion and convection
 Wind leads to greater atmospheric mixing with height

6.03 Air Pollutants

 Carbon monoxide is an indoor air pollutant that is classified as an asphyxiant.

 Indoor air pollutants that are classified as particulates include asbestos, dust, and smoke.
 Indoor air pollutants can come from natural sources, human-made sources, and combustion.
 Common natural source indoor air pollutants include radon, mold, and dust.
 Common human-made indoor air pollutants include insulation, volatile organic compounds
(VOCs) from furniture, paneling and carpets; formaldehyde from building materials, furniture,
upholstery, and carpeting; and lead from paints.
 Common combustion air pollutants include carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide,
particulates, and tobacco smoke.
 Radon-222 is a naturally occurring radioactive gas that is produced by the decay of uranium
found in some rocks and soils.
 Radon gas can infiltrate homes as it moves up through the soil and enters homes via the
basement or cracks in the walls or foundation. It is also dissolved in groundwater that enters
homes through a well.
 Exposure to radon gas can lead to radon-induced lung cancer, which is the second leading cause
of lung cancer in America.
 Methods to reduce air pollutants include regulatory practices, conservation practices, and
alternative fuels.
 A vapor recovery nozzle is an air pollution control device on a gasoline pump that prevents
fumes from escaping into the atmosphere when fueling a motor vehicle.
 A catalytic converter is an air pollution control device for internal combustion engines that
converts pollutants (CO, NOx, and hydrocarbons) in exhaust into less harmful molecules (CO2,
N2, O2, and H2O).
 Wet and dry scrubbers are air pollution control devices that remove particulates and/or gases
from industrial exhaust streams.
 Methods to reduce air pollution from coal-burning power plants include scrubbers and
electrostatic precipitators.
 According to the EPA, most of us spend 90 percent of our time indoors, and research indicates
that many indoor locations are more polluted than even the most traffic-clogged urban
environments! Many sources of pollution do not have a smell, which makes them undetectable
 to most of us daily. The people with the highest risk for health effects of indoor air pollution are
the young, the old, and those with pre-existing conditions.
 More common natural source indoor air pollutants are radon, mold, and dust
 Human-made indoor air pollants include insulation, VOCs from furniture, panelinig and carpets;
formaldehyde from building materials, upholstery, and carpeting; and lead from paints



 Asphyxiants can cause serious problems by suffocation
 Radon-222 is a colorless, odorless, and tasteless naturally occurring radioactive gas. Rocks and
soils contain uranium that is broken down and can eventually dissolve into the groundwater
supply used by wells to supply water to a home. When the water is used for daily household
tasks like washing clothes, dishes, and bathing, radon gas is emitted into the air. Radon gas can
also infiltrate homes as it moves up through the soil and enters homes via the basement or
cracks in the walls or foundation. Exposure to radon gas can lead to radon-induced lung cancer,
which is the second leading cause of lung cancer in America.
 Biomass energy, such as burning wood, straw, or dung inside on open fires or on stoves can
create indoor air pollution
 Biomass energy air pollution can cause chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and cancer in
adults
 Air pollution is 2.7 percent of global burden of disease
 Many women use biomass energy in different ways and in societies that they cannot make
decisions, the family is not aware of the inefficiency and pollution of biomass energy.
 Improving air quality in developing nations
o Shifting to greener forms of energy
o Maintaining existing stoves so they ventilate properly
o Installing chimneys, smoke hoods, and larger windows to increase ventilation
 Sick building syndrome (becoming acutely sick because of building but no cause can be found)
and building-related illness (becoming acutely sick with illness due to indoor air pollutants) may
both be partial result of increase in insulation and air tightness in modern buildings
 Buildings may become “sick” when changes occur to them
  Symptoms of indoor air pollution are often similar to colds or the flu, such as headache, nose
and throat irritation, coughs, dizziness, and nausea. However, these symptoms often exist past
the life span of a cold or flu, and they often vanish when the sufferer leaves the building.
 Gasoline pumps have vapor recovery nozzles to prevent fumes from escaping into atmosphere
when fueling a motor vehicle.
 A catalytic converter can help control air pollutants by convering pollutants into less harmful
molecules
 Scrubbers are used for cleaning contaminated exhaust and flue gas streams from industrial
exhaust systems
 Wet scrubbers utilize water or other liquid chemicals to absorb contaminants as they pass
through the liquid
 Dry scrubbers use a substance called sorbent which captures molecules of contaminated gas
and these neutralize the acids in the gases.
 Electrostatic precipitators use charged energy to remove dust and other contaminates from
industrial exhaust. Charged plates run alongside the piping that the gas flows through and
remove the pollutants. The bonded particles then are pulled away from the electrostatic
precipitator to remove the contaminates.
 Radon gas is heavier than air and tends to collect in basements and lower parts of house
 Reducing radon if your home has a basement or slab on grade
o Subslab suction- Active subslab suction reduces radon by inserting suction pipes in the
floor slab to remove gas from under the house and put it in the outside air. Passive
subslab suction uses pressure differentials and air currents to remove radon from under
a house to vent to the outside. It is not as effective as active subslab suction.
o Drain tile suction- If a house has drain tiles, suction can be applied to these tiles to draw
radon-containing water away from the home.
o Sump hole suction- Sump hole suction removes water from a basement and caps the
sump pump so radon cannot enter the basement.
o Block wall suction- Block wall suction reduces radon by depressurizing the block wall.
 Other techniques include sealing cracks in foundation, pressurizing house, using a heat recovery
ventilator, and opening windows and doors on ground floors
 Products with asbestos were used for insulation in walls, textured paint and patching
compounds, fake ashes and embers, and stove top pads and walls and floors around wood
burning stoves
 Asbestos is best to leave in place if still functional and not broken down. You could seal the
asbestos with a material binding the fibers together or covering asbestos in a protective wrap
that prevents the fibers from being released

6.04 Acid Deposition

 Acid rain and deposition is due to nitrogen oxides and sulfur oxides from anthropogenic and
natural sources in the atmosphere.
 Nitric oxides that cause acid deposition come from motor vehicles and coal-burning power
plants. Sulfur dioxides that cause acid deposition come from coal-burning power plants.
 Acid deposition mainly affects communities that are downwind from coal-burning power plants.
 Acid rain and deposition can lead to the acidification of soils and bodies of water and corrosion
of human-made structures.
 Regional differences in soils and bedrock affect the impact that acid deposition has on the
region—such as limestone bedrock's ability to neutralize the effect of acid rain on lakes and
ponds.
 Acid deposition- wet deposition or dry deposition with a pH of less than 5. Acidity is often result
of emissions from combustion of fossil fuels undergoing series of chemical reactions in
atmosphere
 Environmental indicators of acid deposition:
o Decreased pH levels in bodies of water
o Increased concentrations of metals
o Increased levels of sulfates and nitrates
o Changes in development or population size of indicator organisms
 Episodic acidifcation- short period of time; significant effects on the community, including loss of
biodiversity. Could occur from rapid snow melt due to period of warm temperatures which
inundates an ecosystem with acidic melt water
 Chronic acidification- over long term and depletes ecosystem of calcium, potassium, and
magnesium
 Acids and bases are present in many natural forms.
 Anthropogenic sources emit nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide, which react with water, oxygen,
carbon dioxide, and sunlight to form acids.


 A pH of 7 is pure or distilled water, but pH of water can vary due to interaction with acids and
bases from environments
 Three ways water can become acidic
o Water and carbon dioxide in atmosphere react making carbonic acid
o Nitrogen dioxide is reactive in the atmosphere and reacts with water to produce nitric
acid and nitrogen oxide
o Sulfur dioxide and oxygen react to become sulfur trioxide, which reacts with water to
become sulfuric acid
 Acid deposition ecological effects
o Depletion of base levels of nutrients in an ecosystem- Makes ecosystem vulnerable to
additional acid deposition
o Release of aluminum into ecosystem- Toxic for many species
 o Nitrogen saturation and eutrophication- Addition of nitrogen initially stimulates growth
as levels of nitrogen saturation are reached but as more are added, degradation can
occur, along with eutrophication
 In terms of fish, acid deposition can kill individual fish and even eliminate an entire population
due to the increased aluminum level, increased levels of nitrogen that cause algal blooms, and
lowered pH. 


 Water cycle brings water from atmosphere to surface of Earth through precipitation and then
flows as surface water runoff and percolates into soil through infiltration, and the soil can
neutralize some of the acid depending on the chemical composition of the soil
 Direct precipitation or snow damages their leaves making photosynthesis disfunctional.
Aluminum is released into the soil which is toxic to the trees and nutrients wash away, making
the trees poisoned and malnourished.
 Forests at high altitudes suffer greater damage because they have greater exposure to acidic
clouds and acid fog.
 Acid deposition can affect vegetation other than trees, including crops. However, because
farmers regulate the nutrients in their soil, they may add a base to bring up the pH of the soil.
This prevents extensive damage to crops in some cases.
 Acid deposition has worn down a number of historic structures

6.05 Noise Pollution

 Noise pollution is sound at levels high enough to cause physiological stress and hearing loss.
 Sources of noise pollution in urban areas include transportation, construction, and domestic and
industrial activity.
 Some effects of noise pollution on animals in ecological systems include stress, the masking of
sounds used to communicate or hunt, damaged hearing, and changes to migratory routes.
 Air around us is part of “the commons” and we could pollute it with little repercussion
 Most of noise pollution comes from transportation but can also come from factories and
household items
 
 Noise pollution can cause short-term and long-term hearing loss. Little noise pollution can be
irritating and a lot can cause you to lose sleep. Loud noises raise stress hormones which are
used in fight-or-flight response.
 Long-term effects of noise pollution are significant: indigestion, ulcers, high blood pressure,
stroke, and heart disease
 Animals that have hearing loss may wander into territory of predator. May have trouble
communicating, finding a mate, reproducing, or taking care of young
 Females could not hear the males’ songs or the noise distorted the song
 Noise pollution can also affect marine life
 EPA still studies nooise pollution due to airports, Federal Highway Administration studies
highway noise, and Federal Railroad Administration studies railway and rail yard noise but most
control of noise was given to state and city authorities

7.01 Effects of Pollutants

 A point source refers to a single, identifiable source of a pollutant, such as a smokestack or

waste discharge pipe.
 Nonpoint sources of pollution are diffused and can, therefore, be difficult to identify, such as
pesticide spraying or urban runoff.
 Endocrine disruptors are chemicals that can interfere with the endocrine system of animals.
 Endocrine disruptors can lead to birth defects, developmental disorders, and gender imbalances
in fish and other species.
 Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) do not easily break down in the environment because they
are synthetic, carbon-based molecules (such as DDT and PCBs).
 Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) can be toxic to organisms because they are soluble in fat,
which allows them to accumulate in organisms' fatty tissues.
 Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) can travel over long distances via wind and water before
being redeposited.
 Some effects that can occur in an ecosystem when a persistent substance is biomagnified in a
food chain include eggshell thinning and developmental deformities in top carnivores of the
higher trophic levels.
 Humans also experience harmful effects from biomagnification, including issues with the
reproductive, nervous, and circulatory systems.
 DDT, mercury, and PCBs are substances that bioaccumulate and have significant environmental
impacts.
 Point source pollutants- come from known location
 Nonpoint source pollutants- come from variety of sources at once
 Water pollution can be traced to a specific source so it is point source pollution
 Water pollution caused by pollutants like pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, etc
 Water companies regularly test our domestic water supply for quality. If you get your drinking
water from the public supply, the treatment plant in your area regularly tests your water
against water quality standards.
 The pollutant limits are based on the amount of harm they can cause
 All pollutants have different ranges



 In 1972, the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement was signed between the United States and
Canada to reduce phosphate pollution. This was the beginning of the recovery of Lake Erie.
Phosphate-containing detergents have been eliminated from surrounding areas and native
species have returned, but the lake is still subjected to pollution, including sewage, which results
in beach closures, and invasive species, which drive out native species and change the biome.
 Clean Water Act also passed in 1972
 US government protects water resources with rules controlling pollutants that enter water
supplies. EPA is charged with enforcing these regulations.
 Toxins may be poisonous, carcinogenic (cancer-causing), or cause other harm to living things
 Preventing water pollution
o Avoid phosphate-based detergents.
o Plant native plants as landscaping so that pesticides, insecticides, and herbicides are not
necessary.
o Recycle used motor oil rather than dumping it.
o Dispose of hazardous pesticides, chemicals such as antifreeze, and prescription and non-
prescription medication at city and county-sponsored disposal events rather than
dumping them down the drain.
o Pick up waste from pets to dispose of it in trash, rather than letting it decay and wash
into sewers.
o Maintain your vehicle and regularly inspect it for leaks.
o Have a septic tank pumped regularly.
 Benthic Macroinvertebrates- Lack backbones, large enough to be seen unaided, live in or top on
substrate
 Benthic macroinvertebrates can be considerable help in determining water quality
 US EPA creates maximum contaminant level for these pollutants in surface water

 Endocrine disruptors- Substances that mimic or interfere with function of hormones in the body.
Proven to affect developmental, reproductive, neural, and immune functions. Affects human
health


 Bioaccumulation and biomagnification are ways that negative externalities catch up with human
beings (as well as other organisms). Bioaccumulation is the buildup of chemicals within the
bodies of organisms. Biomagnification occurs when toxic substances that are present in small
amounts in organisms low in the food chain are concentrated in larger amounts in organisms
higher up in the food chain. This means the further up the food chain that you examine (or eat),
the more toxic a substance can become.
 Substances that biomagnify are divided into heavy metals and chemicals dissolving in fats
 Persistent organic pollutants are toxic to organisms because they are soluble in fat, and they
accumulate in the fatty tissue of organisms.
 POPs do not easily break down in environment because they are synthetic and carbon-based
 Distribution of POPs throughout environment is affected by natural processes and can be found
in soil, water, or air
 DDT- type of POP; insecticide helping protect against insect-spread disease
 PCBs- Type of POPs which are industrial chemicals used in heat-exchange fluids. Burning of fossil
fuels contributes to large amount of mercury found in bodies of water through air-water
exchange, which is then washed by rainfall
 Oil spill causes acute exposure in organisms
 Secondary exposure comes from long-term problems like biomagnification
 Other effects that can occur in an ecosystem when a persistent substance is biomagnified in a
food chain include eggshell thinning and developmental deformities in top carnivores of the
 higher trophic levels. Humans also experience harmful effects from biomagnification, including
issues with the reproductive, nervous, and circulatory systems.

7.02 Impact on Aquatic Ecosystems

 Organisms have an optimum range of tolerance for various pollutants where they can maintain
homeostasis. Outside of this range, organisms may experience physiological stress, limited
growth, reduced reproduction, and in extreme cases, death.
 Due to human activities, marine ecosystems experience a variety of environmental factors and
pollutants that cause numerous detrimental effects to aquatic communities and human
populations.
 Wetlands provide a variety of ecological services, including water purification, flood protection,
water filtration, and habitat. They are threatened by commercial development, dam
construction, overfishing, and pollutants from agriculture and industrial waste.
 Eutrophication of aquatic environments can cause algal blooms that decrease dissolved oxygen,
which lead to large die-offs of fish and other aquatic organisms.
 Anthropogenic causes of eutrophication, such as agricultural runoff and wastewater release,
change oligotrophic waterways with stable algae populations into hypoxic waterways with low
dissolved oxygen.
 Thermal pollution increases the temperature of water, which decreases the amount of dissolved
oxygen available for organisms in that ecosystem.
 The physical area that organisms live in is referred to as their habitat. Abiotic factors like
temperature, salinity, water movement, sunlight, and substrate create significant differences in
ocean habitats. When a habitat is viewed together with the populations that live there, we see
several unique aquatic and coastal ecosystems.
 Organisms in aquatic ecosystems maintain homeostasis through temperature, sunlight, and
salinity, but outside this, physiological stress, limited growth, reduced reproduction, and even
death may occur.
 Intertidal zones- covered by water at high tide but exposed to air at low tide. On the coastline
near beaches which are usually sources of trash and plastics affecting marine life on beach and
in ocean
 Wetlands- areas where water covers soil either partly or fully
 Wetlands are highly productive because they receive nutrient-rich runoff from land
 Estuaries are partially enclosed bodies of water surrounded by coastal habitat where saltwater
from ocean mixes with freshwater from rivers/streams.
 Salt marshes exist near estuaries and along the coast
 Mangrove swamps are found in tropical areas and have mangrove trees
 Wetland ecosystems can be damaged due to commercial development or dam constructions.
Also susceptible to overfishing. Wetlands more sensitive to pollution as they are closer to the
shore. Eutrophication caused by waste bring excess nutrients from fertilizer and sewage
 Seagrasses are only true submergent plants living entirely underwater without need for
freshwater
 Runoff increases sediment in water which reduces light inflitration which negatively affects
seagrasses
 Kelp is not a plant but a type of fast-growing algae. Typically found in cold, nutrient-rich waters
 Kelp are primary producers and provide habitat for highly diverse ecosystems
 Kelp stores vast amounts of carbon dioxide in order to grow
 Increase in ocean temperatures are no longer optimal for kelp growth
 Only hard corals build reefs while soft corals cannot
 Coral species secrete an exoskeleton of calcium carbonate that becomes part of the rocky reef
when the coral polyp dies
 Coral reefs- “rainforests of the sea”
 Most corals grow in warm, shallow water where nutrient levels are low
 Many coral speices have symbiotic relationship with zooxanthellae (type of algae) which lives
within the actual coral polyp animals and can photosynthesize providing coral with food.
 Coral polyps have tentacles that they can extend to catch zooplankton in water
 Coral reefs have been suffering damage due to a variety of factors, including destructive fishing
practices, increasing ocean temperatures, and sediment runoff that leads to eutrophication and
a reduction of light infiltration to the reef.
 Neritic zone stretches from low tide mark out to the edge of continental shelf and is extremely
biologically active due to high sunlight and nutrients. Most commerically exploited for seafood
and minerals. Nutrients come from upwelling. Also susceptible to trash and plastic pollutants
 Inorganic mercury introduced into environment through anthropogenic sources. It is converted
to methylmercury by anaerobic bacteria. Methylmercury accumulates through food web in
bacteria and plankton and moves up the food chain. Concentration of methylmercury increases
through biomagnification
 Humans who eat fish and other marine organisms may be exposed to methylmercury. Studies of
the effects of methylmercury are ongoing, but some have found that children who were
exposed during fetal development show a loss of IQ and attention deficits. In adults, there may
be an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. High levels of exposure may result in a lack of
coordination and muscle weakness.
 Species high on food web and birds that eat this usually have high levels of mercury
 Long-dead organisms buried beneath sand and silt sometimes undergo a curious
transformation. Heat and pressure turn this dead organic matter into kerogen, which can then
turn into coal or hydrocarbons. Hydrocarbons are long chains of carbon and hydrogen atoms.
Methane and propane are examples of short hydrocarbons. Octane is an example of a longer
hydrocarbon that is part of petroleum (oil). Most of these deposits are several thousand feet
underground. Bringing them to the surface and transporting these deposits from one area to
another makes it likely that accidents will happen.
 Oil that washes up on the beach can have economic consequences on the fishing and tourism
industries. It is extremely difficult to clean up, and oil from spills that occurred decades ago can
still be found in the sand and soil. Secondary exposure is caused from long-term problems like
biomagnification in the food web as the oil gets ingested by various species, such as humans.
 Oil is poisonous and it floats on surface of water. Some components sink to ocean floor and it
coats sand and plants making habitats unlivable. Contaminates food web. It can destroy
breeding grounds in long-term impacting generations of animals
 Large chemical spills have cadmium, heavy metal found in paints, batteries, fossil fuel emissions,
smoking cigarettes, and burning waste. Usually near industrial zones. It can move into filter
 feeders and move up the food chain. Cadmium causes long term health problems and
irreversible damage to human populations
 Human exposure to cadmium occurs through ingestion or inhalation. If ingested, it irritates the
stomach and causes vomiting and diarrhea. Long-term exposure to cadmium can cause cancer,
lung disease, kidney disease, and convulsions. If an individual is exposed to low levels of
cadmium over a long period of time, it can cause osteomyelitis — fragile bones that break easily.
 Cadmium is a carcinogen and can cause higher incidences of tumors and organ failure in marine
mammals. It can remain at low levels in habitat for long time due to its ability to bond to
sedimnts and soils. There have become tolerant populations
 Earth’s ocean is important heat sink as the water has high specific heat capacity (absorbing heat
from many resources)
 Water environments can also absorb heat related to human activities- thermal pollution
 Thermal pollution can cause sudden change in temperature of acquatic environments
 Organisms killed by sudden change in temperature- thermal shock
 Causes of thermal pollution- water is used as coolant by power plants and returned to
environment at higher temperature and soil erosion elevates water above land and exposes it to
sunlight
 When temperatures rise due to thermal pollution or rising ocean temperatures, it can have
drastic effects on ecosystems. Temperature affects the concentration of dissolved oxygen
because cold water holds more oxygen than warm water. In bodies of water, lower oxygen
levels at the warm surface means that less oxygen will mix into water at the lower levels. Since
temperature and oxygen levels affect metabolism, reproductive behavior, and even the number
of male and female offspring in certain marine species like sea turtles, the survival of marine
species can be threatened.
 Temperature is not the only factor that causes low oxygen in aquatic ecosystems. Oceanic dead
zones or hypoxic waterways can be caused by nutrient pollution. Normally, oligotrophic (low
plant nutrients and more nutrients deeper in body) waterways have very low amounts of
nutrients, stable algae populations, and high dissolved oxygen. But various agricultural or
industrial sources can add extra nutrients to waterways in a process called eutrophication.
Nitrates and phosphates from these sources cause algae blooms. When an algal bloom dies,
microbes digest the algae, along with the oxygen in the water, leading to a decrease in the
dissolved oxygen levels in the water. The lack of dissolved oxygen can result in large die-offs of
fish and other aquatic organisms.
 

7.03 Solid Waste

 Solid waste is any discarded material that is not a liquid or gas. It is generated in domestic,
industrial, business, agricultural sectors, and most often disposed of in landfills. Landfills can
contaminate groundwater and release harmful gases.
 Electronic waste, or e-waste, is composed of discarded electronic devices including televisions,
cell phones, and computers.
 A sanitary municipal landfill consists of a bottom liner (plastic or clay), a storm water collection
system, a leachate collection system, a cap, and a methane collection system.
 Factors in landfill decomposition include the composition of the trash and conditions needed for
microbial decomposition of the waste. Solid waste can also be disposed of through incineration,
where waste is burned at high temperatures. This method significantly reduces the volume of
solid waste but releases air pollutants.
 Some items are not accepted in sanitary landfills and may be disposed of illegally, leading to
environmental problems. One example is used rubber tires, which when left in piles can become
breeding grounds for mosquitoes that can spread disease.
 Some countries dispose of their waste by dumping it in the ocean. This practice, along with
other sources of plastic, has led to large floating islands of trash in the oceans. Additionally,
wildlife can become entangled in the waste, as well as ingest it.
 Recycling is a process by which certain solid waste materials are processed and converted into
new products and is one way to reduce the current global demand on minerals, but this process
is energy-intensive and can be costly.
 Composting is the process of organic matter such as food scraps, paper, and yard waste
decomposing. The product of this decomposition can be used as fertilizer. Drawbacks to
composting include odor and rodents.
 E-waste can be reduced by recycling and reuse. E-wastes may contain hazardous chemicals,
including heavy metals such as lead and mercury, which can leach from landfills into
groundwater if they are not disposed of properly.
 Landfill mitigation strategies range from burning waste for energy to restoring habitat on former
landfills for use as parks. The combustion of gases produced from decomposition of organic
material in landfills can be used to turn turbines and generate electricity. This process reduces
landfill volume.
 Municipal Solid Waste- garbage generated by residences and businesses
 Landfills are used to dispose of soild waste but the land used could be scarce
 Incinerators create pollution
 When we throw away paper, additional trees must be cut down to make more paper. When we
throw away plastic, additional oil must be pumped to make more plastic. When we throw away
aluminum, additional bauxite must be mined to make more aluminum
 MSW Pie Chart

o
 Before the use of municipal solid waste landfills (receives household materials and
nonhazardous waste) and enactment in 1976 of Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
(governs disposal of soild waste), dumps were used both on land and sea to get rid of solid
waste. Land had holes in the ground into which waste were tossed and at sea, ocean became a
dumping area leading to severe habitat loss and water pollution.
 MSWLFs cannot have hazardous materials and they must be left off at drop-off locations where
disposal companies follow procedures
 MSWLF must be located suitably in terms of geology, must contain flexible membrane
overlaying two feet of clay, have a leachate collection and removal system, and
compacting/covering waste, monitoring groundwater for potential pollution, and plans for
closure and post-closure care of landfill should be followed
 In most U.S. landfills, compactor tractors drive over the trash each day to pack it down so that it
takes up as little space as possible. At the end of each day, workers cover the trash to keep rats
and other pests away and to prevent loose trash from being blown about. Common coverings
include mulch or recycled material made from the shredded interiors of junked cars. When a
landfill is permanently closed, it is usually covered with soil and seeded with grass so that
everything is held in place.
 Challenges of MSWLFs are land use, few people want to live near them, landfill requires energy
to transport, can pollute groundwater through leachate leaking, generating methane as organic
materials decompose
 Sanitary municipal landfills are more modern and are constructed to help minimize risks that
MSWLFs present. Systems are in place to remove leachates and dispose of them properly. Deep
test wells throughout the landfill allow workers to regularly test the groundwater for any
contamination. Other wells are drilled deep down into the trash to remove and collect the
methane gas.
 Additional regulatory concern is production of e-waste (waste from electronics) which can be
reduced by recycling and reusing. Most contain hazardous chemicals that can leach out of
materials in landfills and seep into groundwater if not disposed properly
 Cadmium used in batteries, lead used in glass in monitors, PCBs used in all types of electrical
equipment, mercury used in electric thermostats
 E-waste treated as part of RCRA law
 E-waste is created more due to high consumption as companies produce in electronics through
planned obsolescence so they do not last a long time
 Hazardous waste- substance dangerous to human health or environment
 Generator of hazardous waste must answer 4 questions
o Is material solid waste?
o Is waste excluded from RCRA?
o Is waste on one of the lists?
o Does waste exhibit characteristic of hazardous waste?
 Hazardous waste categories
o Listed wastes- Wastes that appear on the F-list (from manufacturing and industrial
processes), K-list (from specific industries), or P- and U-lists (from commercial chemical
products) are considered listed wastes.
o Universal wastes- Batteries, pesticides, mercury-containing thermostats and
thermometers, and fluorescent bulbs are all considered universal wastes.
o Mixed wastes- contains both hazardous and radioactive substances
o Characteristic wastes- Wastes that can ignite, corrode, react, or are toxic are considered
characteristic wastes. These are wastes that do not fit into other categories (and are not
on lists).
 Decomposition of waste may require microbes
 Incinerators burn waste to reduce its volume. They can convert water into steam to generate
electricity. May emit toxins into atmosphere particularly from combustion of plastics.
 Safeguards such as scrubbers and filters can keep harmful emissions ot a safe levels
 Refuse-derived fuel incinerator- recovers recyclables before shredding combustible components
into fluff
 Most common method of disposal is removal of hazardous waste by transport to landfill.
Double liners made of clay, monitoring wells, leachate collection and removal systems, and
groundwater monitors are used to help protect the groundwater from leachate from the
hazardous waste.
 Injection wells dispose hazardous waste but it can contaminate groundwater
 Incineration can be used if combustion converts hazardous to nonhazardous waste but it may
generate pollution
 Traditional remediation techniques functioned in one of two ways: material was excavated,
removed, and stored, or material was quarantined.
 Green remediation- Remediation techniques that are environmentally-friendly


 Waste that is not accepted at sanitary landfills may be illegally disposed, causing environmental
issues.
 There is no law in the United States governing import or export of nonhazardous waste.
Hazardous waste imports and exports are tracked (and allowed) by the EPA, but only according
to certain guidelines. Most hazardous waste trade occurs between the United States, Canada,
and Mexico, but significant amounts of nonhazardous waste is both imported to the United
States and exported, as well.
 Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act- also known as
Superfund; established billion-dollar fund paid for by government and by taxes on chemical and
oil companies for cleaning up hazardous waste dumps, landfills, and contaminated sites.
 Contaminated sites scored based on hazard ranking system and placed on Superfund National
Priorities List
 Reducing, reusing, recycling hierarchical manner
o First, reduce consumption of all goods, reducing use of resources and creation of
resulting pollution
o Then, reuse goods that you can
o Finally, recycle what is left
 Some theorists have suggested a fourth R-word, "re-think," as we may need to reconceptualize
the entire system of product production and consumption to truly reduce, reuse, and recycle.
 Reduce- Producing and buying fewer goods and services. Buying long-lasting products.
 Another part of reduce strategy is dematerialization (fewer materials are used in creation of
product)
 Reusing goods in the way they were intended to be used, as well as repurposing them, helps us
consume fewer materials, which contributes to less packaging, less waste, less resource use, and
less pollution.
 Reusing materials include reusable shopping bags, refillable water bottles, and garage/yard
sale/tag sale
 Source seperation- products are seperated into different bins and left on the street for pickup
from different agencies. Labor intensive and requires cooperation of general public
 Centralized resource recovery plant- Capital-intensive process in which seperation occurs at one
location reducing need for cooperation
 Open loop recycling- converts recycled material into a different product. Also called downcycling
or reprocessing. Properties may be degraded during process
 Closed loop recycling- waste of one product to make another, almost identical product. Little
degradation in properties of product


 Some types of plastic are coded with voluntary resin identification system which is used to
identify the type of plastic.
 Plastics are picked up then taken into material recovery factility where they are sorted or re-
sorted by type. They are compressed and then sent into reclaiming facility where cleaned and
ground into flakes. Contaminants are removed in flotation tank. Plastic flakes are melted and
formed into pellets then shipped into manufacturing facilities to be made into other goods


 Recycling is one way to reduce the overall global need for many minerals, but it can be costly
when compare to other methods. Recycling is not a perfect process, particularly with plastics
because there are so many types. There are a number of costs associated with recycling,
 including the collecting, transporting, sorting, and recycling process itself, which may often add
internal costs greater than the cost that the product can be sold for.
 There is high supply of recycled material but low demand
 Composting at home is another way of recylcing waste. It needs a balance of brown ingredients
with lots of carbon and green ingredients which is high in nitrogen. When they decay together,
they can be used as fertilizer
 Coal ash, colored paper, diseased plants, and animal products cannot be composted
 Composting reduces food scraps and yard waste in landfills and reduces need for chemical
fertilizers by enriching soil but it may include odors and rodents that it may attract
 Landfills can also be a great resource for finding items to recycle. Mining landfills is a practice
that involves looking for items in landfills to recycle by breaking down the waste and using it to
make a new product. Landfills itself can also be used and converted to new energy by burning
waste to reduce the landfill volume. When the waste is burned, combustion of gases produced
from decomposition of organic material can be used to activate turbines and generate
electricity. Landfills can also be restored and used as parks.
 Disposing of waste properly will not only reduce volume of landfills, but also prevent hazardous
chemicals from spreading. For example, e-waste should be disposed of properly to be recycled
or for parts to be reused. It is not safe to dispose of electronics in landfills due to the hazardous
chemicals and heavy metals, such as lead and mercury, that can leach into the groundwater. A
smart phone, for instance, contains about 75 elements alone.

7.04 Sewage Treatment

 Primary treatment of sewage is the physical removal of large objects, often through the use of
screens and grates, followed by the settling of solid waste in the bottom of a tank.
 Secondary treatment is a biological process in which bacteria break down organic matter into
carbon dioxide and inorganic sludge, which settles in the bottom of a tank. The tank is aerated
to increase the rate at which the bacteria break down the organic matter.
 Tertiary treatment is the use of ecological or chemical processes to remove any pollutants left in
the water after primary and secondary treatment.
 Prior to discharge, the treated water is exposed to one or more disinfectants (usually, chlorine,
ozone, or UV light) to kill bacteria.
 Water treatment systems in US different processes
o

o Hard water- Water with high concentration of dissolved materials

 Safe Drinking Water Act- protects drinking water and its sources. Does not regulate private wells
serving less than 25 individuals. Established protective standards for over 90 contaminants.
 States must evaluate their sources of drinking water to identify possible contaminants and
possible threats to health
 Three concerns when treating wastewater
o Addressing biochemical oxygen demand
o Addressing nutrient enrichment, including phosphate and nutrient compounds
o Prescence of pathogens
 Biochemical oxygen demand of wastewater- measure of amount of organic matter in water
 Wastewater must have low BOD that the wastewater can be discharged into the surface waters
 Pristine river < 1 mg/L (ppm)
 Municipal wastewawter ranges from 5 to 15 mg/L
 Wastewater with a high BOD has the potential for depleting oxygen in surface waters, resulting
in cultural eutrophication and death of organisms, including fish kills and dead zones.
 Wastewater sources
o black water- water containing human waste
o gray water- water from washing
o runoff from rainfall in urban areas
o drainage from highways, including water containing oil, rubber, salts, or rock debris
o storm drains
o industrial site drainage


 After primary and secondary treatment of wastewater, ecological or chemical processes are
used to remove any pollutants left in the water. This tertiary treatment is to remove metals,
organic chemicals, and nutrients. One process that may be used is Biological Nutrient Removal
(BNR), where bacteria are used to digest the contaminants in the water. In this process,
phosphorus is removed and ammonia is broken down. Tertiary treatment is the last stage before
the water is exposed to one or more disinfectant to kill bacteria.


 The Blue Plains Advanced Water Treatment Plant collects and treats water from the entire
region to protect water quality and public health. It is the largest advanced wastewater
treatment plant in the world.
 The processes not only treat the water to place it back into lakes and rivers but also produce
biosolids that are used as nutrients and fertilizers for farmers and energy for turbines. The entire
process of primary, secondary, and tertiary treatments ensure that water can safely be
discharged back into lakes and rivers.
 Stabilization ponds, wetlands, and land treatment also treat wastewater
 Series of stabilization ponds includes anaerobic pond, primary facultative pond, and maturation
pond. Require little energy and moderately effective in removing solids that can settle. Hoever,
they use large areas of land, attract mosquitoes, and require regular removal of sludge
 Free water wetland has most of water exposed to atmosphere. Water flows through free water
wetland from inlit to an outlet over surface with vegetation and water. Treated in passive
 manner, little energy, and all climates. They can also be created on undeveloped land or
conservated land but it will take up more land and it can attract mosquitoes
 A subsurface flow wetland has water beneath the surface of the ground and eliminates the
habitat for mosquitoes.
 Overland treatment of water distributes effluence over a slight grassy slope on fairly
impermeable soils. Effluent runs down the slope slowly to ditches which collect it. There are
periods of rest for land in which effluent is absorbed and grass is cut. Area is cut into sections so
certain sections can rest.
 Septic tanks are often used in rural areas to deal with the small amount of sewage created by a
single household. A septic tank is part of a septic system, which is an alternative treatment of
wastewater. In this system, waste flows from the home through sewer lines to a buried plastic
tank or concrete tank called the septic tank. The liquids are drained off the top into a
distribution box, and from there, they seep out into a drain field through underground
perforated pipes. The solids sink to the bottom of the septic tank, which needs to be pumped
every two to three years.



 

7.05 Lethal Dose Response

 Lethal dose 50% (LD50) is the dose of a chemical that is lethal to 50% of the population of a
particular species.
 A dose response curve describes the effect on an organism or mortality rate in a population
based on the dose of a particular toxin or drug.
 Toxicants can enter the body and bind to enzymes and arsenic functions in this capacity. Organs
can be seriously affected. Arsenic functions as carcinogen when inhaled.
 Carbon monoxide binds to hemoglobin to prevent it from carrying oxygen
 Other toxicants function as mutagens or teratogens and cause birth defects
 Timing of exposure to toxicant is extremely important
 Critical time for exposure to teratogens is when an embryo develops organs during organogensis
 One limitation of field of toxicology is that it is common practice to study one toxicant a time
 Toxicants have synergistic relationships (greater effect of two toxicants exposed together than
seperately) or antagonistic relationships (lesser effect of two toxicants exposed together than
seperately)
 Effects on children are not considered in studies
 Dose-response relationships are core of toxicology studies and help us determine under what
conditions a chemical mighth be harmful
 A dose-response curve shows the effect of different doses plotted on the x-axis and the
corresponding percentage of organisms in the population that exhibited a response plotted on
the y-axis. The response will vary, depending on the information we wish to obtain. The lethal
dose results in death. The dose that is lethal to 50 percent of the population is called the lethal
dose-50% or, more commonly, LD50. If the response is other than death, such as cancer, birth
defect, retardation, or nerve damage, the dose that affects 50 percent of the population is
known as the effective dose-50% or ED50. 

 Maximum dose with no effect- threshold level
 Union Carbide Factory, Bhopal, India
o Toxic cloud of methyl isocynate released from pesticide manufacturing facility
o Symptoms included death, respiratory irritation, bronchitis, miscarriages, and increase
in infant mortality
o In the US, Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act was developed
 Pine Street, Woburn, MA, US
o High rates of childhood leukemia near several wells in community resulted in lawsuit,
partial acquittal, and EPA investigation.
o Cancer cluster was suspected
o Volatile organic compounds like TCE and perc were revealed through water testing
o Wells were eventually closed
 Love Canal, Niagara Falls, NY, US
o William Love failed at building canal in Niagara Falls to generate electricity which left a
partial ditch
o Canal became an industrial dump by Hooker Chemical Company
o Toxins in the dump that were transported to the city caused birth defects and high
miscarriage rates
o Toxins included benzene and PCBs
o Community was relocated and as a result of activities at Love Canal and Times Beach,
the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act was
passed
 Times Beach, Missouri, US
o Company sprayed the roads with oil that contained dioxin to control dust in the town
o Town was eventually evacuated
o EPA found abnormally high concentrations of dioxin on the roads
o CERCLA was passed because of this and Love Canal
 Seveso, Italy
o Chemical manufacturing plant in Seveso released 3000 kg of chemicals including dioxin
in a cloud. The release of chemicals was not noticed
o Burn-like effects on children (chloracne causing acne in mouth), and elevated rates in
different cancers occurred
o Area was evacuated. Animals were slaughtered so as not to be eaten. People were told
not to eat the fruits and vegetables grown in the area
 Minamita, Japan
 o Wastewater containing mercury released into ocean by manufacturing facility (Chisso
Corporation)
o Residents and animals suffered from neurological disorders
o Lawsuits continue to get compensation and recognition
 The Toxic Substances Control Act allows the EPA to screen existing and new chemicals for
toxicity. The EPA requires manufacturers to conduct and report their results of tests. It has
specific provisions for asbestos, radon, and lead.

7.06 Human Health and Diseases

 It can be difficult to establish a cause and effect between pollutants and human health issues
because humans experience exposure to a variety of chemicals and pollutants.
 Dysentery is caused by untreated sewage in streams and rivers. Mesothelioma is a type of
cancer caused mainly by exposure to asbestos. Respiratory problems and overall lung function
can be impacted by elevated levels of tropospheric ozone.
 Pathogens adapt to take advantage of new opportunities to infect and spread through human
populations and can occur in many environments regardless of the appearance of sanitary
conditions.
 As equatorial-type climate zones spread north and south into what are currently subtropical and
temperate climate zones, pathogens, infectious diseases, and any associated vectors are
spreading into these areas where the disease has not previously been known to occur.
 Poverty-stricken, low-income areas often lack sanitary waste disposal and have contaminated
drinking water supplies, leading to havens and opportunities for the spread of infectious
diseases.
 Plague is a disease carried by organisms infected with the plague bacteria. It is transferred to
humans via the bite of an infected organism or through contact with contaminated fluids or
tissues.
 Tuberculosis is a bacterial infection that typically attacks the lungs. It is spread by breathing in
the bacteria from the bodily fluids of an infected person.
 Malaria is a parasitic disease caused by bites from infected mosquitoes. It is most often found in
sub-Saharan Africa.
 West Nile virus is transmitted to humans via bites from infected mosquitoes. Zika is a virus
caused by bites from infected mosquitoes. It can be transmitted through sexual contact. Cholera
is a bacterial disease that is contracted from infected water.
 Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a form of pneumonia. It is transferred by inhaling
or touching infected fluids. Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) is a viral respiratory
illness that is transferred from animals to humans.
 Hazard is something that causes harm whereas risk is the probability, odds, likelihood, or chance
that something will cause harm
 Hazards can simply be divided into anthropogenic and natural but some are both

 In risk assessment, scientists establish risks to human beings from pollutants and other factors
that affect health. They examine potential hazards and the dose-response relationships, and
they develop mathematical relationships to estimate risk for small and large groups.
 It is hard to test effects of toxic chemicals on human beings due to ethical concerns so we test
on animals and extent them to humans
 Scientific tests are perofmred on one hazardous substance at a time but interrelationships of
toxic chemicals are rarely measured
 Levels at which toxicity tests are performed are at high levels of exposure but most hazardous
chemicals have a threshold level


 Establishing cause and effect between pollutants and human health issues is difficult because
humans experience exposure to variety of chemicals and pollutants
 Water pollution can be a carrier of many diseases
 When sewage in streams and rivers is left untrated, people can be exposed to dysentry
(intestinal infection leading to diarrhea with blood and mucus)
 Land pollution can change soil composition, environmental impacts, and changes in climate
patterns
 Contaminated soil leads to contaminated crops leading to health problems like skin cancer and
respiratory issues
 Elevated levels of tropospheric ozone in the air can cause several respiratory effects
 It can be difficult to identify indoor air pollution as the source of symptoms
 Many diseases come from pathogens that cycle through environment.
 The Demographic Transition Model describes how countries shift from high birth/death rates to
low birth/death rates through industrialization as there is a higher prescence of preventative
health care to addresss diseases
 Epidemiological transition is a parallel sort of shift from transmissible diseases to non-
transmissible diseases
 Vertical Transmission- transfer between generations. Transmission of pathogen but not through
genetic material
 Horizontal Transmission- independent of a parental or generational relationship and can occur
among members of same generation
 Place where pathogen enters the body is the locus
 Five primary ways of transmitting diseases
o In droplet contact, also known as the respiratory route, the locus is the respiratory
system. An infected person coughs or sneezes and sheds the microscopic virus through
the air. It travels through the air as a droplet nucleus covered by a coating of mucus. The
mucus eventually evaporates depending on the temperature and humidity. With low
humidity, the mucus surrounding the virus evaporates quickly and the virus stays in the
air, often for long periods of time (in indoor spaces). An uninfected person breathes in
the droplet nucleus through the mouth or nose, and the virus enters the lungs. This is
the way that bacterial meningitis, the common cold, mumps, influenza, rubella, strep
throat, tuberculosis, and whooping cough are spread.
o In direct physical contact, including sexual contact, the locus is a cut in the skin or
through mucous membranes. Transmission involves bodily fluids, such as semen, that
can carry disease. HIV, chlamydia, genital warts, gonorrhea, hepatitis B, and syphilis can
be spread through sexual contact.
o In indirect contact, including touching a surface that is contaminated, the locus is also a
cut in the skin or through mucous membranes. Diseases can be spread indirectly
by fomites. Doctors and veterinarians can inadvertently contribute to indirect
transmission through iatrogenic transmission. In human beings, MRSA can be
contracted in a hospital setting, including nursing homes and long-term facilities.
o In fecal-oral contact, including indirectly through contaminated water and food, the
locus is the mouth. When people do not wash their hands after using the bathroom but
before preparing food, they can introduce diseases into the food and water. When
untreated sewage is released into the environment or drops, diseases can also be
introduced to food and water. Cholera, hepatitis A, polio, rotavirus, and salmonella are
spread in these ways.
o Equatorial-type climate zones are spreading north and south into regions that are
considered subtropical and temperate climate zones, resulting in the spread of
pathogens, infectious diseases, and associated vector. Vectors are organisms that
transmit disease but do not cause disease. In vector-borne transmission, including
insects, the locus is the bite of the vector. Fleas, mosquitoes, and ticks are all examples
of vectors. Fleas can transmit bubonic plague. Mosquitoes can transmit malaria. Ticks
can transmit Lyme disease. Diseases are reaching areas where they were previously not
known to occur.
 Minimizing risk of contracting a transmissible disease can be through immunizations, washing,
covering mouth with tissue when sneezing or coughing, avoid touching facial features, avoid
contact with sick people, using latex-based barriers for prevention of STD’s, and having regular
check-ups
 Cancers are caused by carcinogens
 Diseases transmitted genetically are still non-transmissible
 Diet can help reduce chance of developing non-transmissible diseases
 Fruits and vegetables contain carotenoids.
 Low-fat diets also lower disease risks
 Low-income areas often lack sanitary waste disposal and have contaminated drinking water
supplies leading to high spread of infectious diseases


 Risk management- limiting risk after risk has been assessed

 Political, economic, technical factors, and planning with mitigation (limiting impact of action) are
part of risk management
 Precautionary principle- Key component of risk management, and even with a reasonable link
between events even though cause-and-effect cannot be proved, measures should still be taken
 Interpretations of the precautionary principle vary widely and include many different
formulations and applications
 The UN World Charter for Nature suggests that new technology could not be used without fully
understanding effects
 Applying precautionary principle does not always mean banning a substance until studies
demonstrate safely
 Precautionary principle helps prevent external costs
 Risk communication- policy makers find ways to address the hazard and risk with the public.
May offer information and create opportunities for public feedback
 

8.01 Ozone Depletion

 The stratospheric ozone layer is important to the evolution of life on Earth and the continued
health and survival of life on Earth.
 Stratospheric ozone depletion is caused by anthropogenic factors, such as chlorofluorocarbons
(CFCs), and natural factors, such as the melting of ice crystals in the atmosphere at the
beginning of the Antarctic spring.
 A decrease in stratospheric ozone increases the UV rays that reach the Earth’s surface. Exposure
to UV rays can lead to skin cancer and cataracts in humans.
 Ozone depletion can be mitigated by replacing ozone-depleting chemicals with substitutes that
do not deplete the ozone layer.
 In troposphere, ozone is considered a pollutant with primary ingredient of smog.
 Tropospheric ozone is product of photochemical reactions between VOC’s and nitrogen oxides

 Steps of Ozone Formation in Troposphere
o Heat and sunlight influence nitrogen oxide to react with oxygen gas to form nitrogen
dioxide forming a brownish haze
o Nitrogen dioxide reacts with ultraviolet light to form nitrogen oxide and oxygen
o The free atom of oxygen bonds to oxygen gas to form ozone
 In stratosphere, ozone is destroyed by ozone-depleting substances like chlorofluorocarbons.
 With UV, CFCs break down to produce free chroline atoms which break down ozone


 One atom of chlorine can destroy 100,000 ozone molecules in stratosphere


 Scientists Mario Moline and F. Sherwood Rowland hypothesized that CFCs could react with
ozone in stratosphere and they eventually discovered that ozone layer was thinning
substantially over South Pole
 Scientists hypothesized that over long winter in Antarctica, conditions are created known as
polar vortex, a jet stream of extremely cold air which blocks warmer air from entering in
complete darkness. The vortex creates polar stratospheric clouds which are extremely cold and
become a location for CFCs to connect to ice crystals
 CFCs are released from clouds with abundant sunlight and ozone level decreases as CFCs
convert to depletion of ozone with 5 reactions. Depletion of ozone allows more UV to enter
Earth
 The ozone layer's average thickness around the world is three millimeters, which is roughly 300
Dobson units (DU), the unit of measure of ozone. One Dobson unit represents the number of
molecules of ozone required to create a layer of pure ozone 0.01 millimeters thick at zero
degrees Celsius and one atmosphere of pressure.
 There is still a thinning of the ozone layer around the South Pole to below 120 DU, although
thinning has decreased substantially with regulation of ozone-depleting substances.
 According to models, although thinning of the stratospheric ozone has leveled off, it has not yet
reliably started to improve. Models estimate that the concentration of ozone-depleting
substances in the stratosphere will not return to pre-1980 levels and the Antarctic ozone layer
will not recover until at least mid-century, around 2050. CFCs are extraordinarily stable
chemicals and will persist in the stratosphere for many decades, and possibly centuries, into the
future.
 Decrease in ozone depletion is due in large to Montreal Protocol was adopted by many
countries as governments seeked alternatives for ozone-depleting substances and are
cooperating to help the ozone layer.
 The primary provisions of the agreement phased out production and consumption of ozone-
depleting substances, including chlorofluorocarbons, halons, carbon tetrachloride, and methyl
chloroform, with the understanding that these compounds deplete the ozone in the
stratosphere, which protects the planet from ultraviolet radiation.
 Developing countries have allocated a slightlyl longer timeframe with which to reduce
consumption and production. Montreal Multilateral Fund provides financial help to countries to
phase out CFCs
 Clear Air Act- protection of stratospheric ozone by phasing out production and consumption of
all ozone-depleting substances withini US
 Ozone absorbs UV light and reacts chemically with many biological molecules and these affect
human health
 Stratospheric ozone depletion leads to UV light hitting Earth which leads to increase in burns,
cataracts (decrease in vision), cancer, and mutations. It also inhibits ability of organisms to
photsynthesize leading to destruction of food webs
 Ozone reacts chemically with many biological molecules in respiratory tract leading to several
respiratory illnesses.
 Too much ozone in troposphere can lead to lung and chest problems
 The Air Quality Index (AQI) is used for reporting and forecasting daily air quality. It includes five
of the most common ambient air pollutants, which includes ground level ozone.
 

8.02 Greenhouse Effect

 The principal greenhouse gases are carbon dioxide, methane, water vapor, nitrous oxide, and
chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).
 While water vapor is a greenhouse gas, it doesn’t contribute significantly to global climate
change because it has a short residence time in the atmosphere.
 The greenhouse effect results in the surface temperature necessary for life on Earth to exist.
 Carbon dioxide, which has a global warming potential (GWP) of 1, is used as a reference point
for the comparison of different greenhouse gases and their impacts on global climate change.
Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) have the highest GWP, followed by nitrous oxide, then methane.
 Global climate change, caused by excess greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, can lead to a
variety of environmental problems including rising sea levels resulting from melting ice sheets
and ocean water expansion, and disease vectors spreading from the tropics toward the poles.
These problems can lead to changes in population dynamics and population movements in
response.
 Atmosphere wraps around Earth and acts like a greenhouse which prevents Earth from getting
too hot or too cold so living things can survive
 Greenhouse effect is a cycle where the sun warms up Earth’s surface during a day. AT night,
Earth’s surface cools and release heat back into the air as infrared waves
 The greenhous eeffect allows life to exist on Earth as it maintains the surface temperatures.
 Greenhouse gases absorb infrared radiation emitted by Earth’s surface and in turn re-rediate
some of that infrared energy in all directions

 Carbon dioxide anthropogenic sources are combustion of fossil fuels and deforestation
 Methane anthropogenic sources are combustion of fossil fuels and livestock production
 Nitrous oxide anthropogenic sources are combustion of fossil fuels, fertilizer proudction, and
deforestation
 Even though greenhouse gases are necessary to trap heat in atmosphere, human activity is
adding too much and as extra gases trap more heat in atmosphere, global warming occurs
 Global warming potential measures how much energy the emissions of one ton of gas absorbs
over a period of time with carbon dioxide as reference point
 Carbon dioxide comes from the burning of fossil fuels to produce electricity and heat buildings,
burning gasoline and other fossil fuels to run vehicles, cutting down and burning trees or other
vegetation, and some industrial and manufacturing processes, like producing cement and
certain chemicals. Carbon dioxide stays in the atmosphere anywhere from 50 to thousands of
years.
 Methane comes from raising livestock. Certain animals – especially cows and sheep – produce
methane as they digest food. It is also released from manure as it decays. As trash in a landfill
breaks down over time, it releases methane.
 Natural gas is made mostly of methane, which is released if there are even small leaks in gas
pipes. Methane is often found underground with coal and can be released during mining.
Methane stays in the atmosphere for about 12 years and traps over 20 times more heat than
the same amount of carbon dioxide.
 Some natural processes, like the sun's incoming radiation and volcanic activity, contribute to
global warming. Now, humans can't control those natural occurrences. But humans can save
energy and reduce the amount of carbon dioxide they release into the atmosphere. Global
warming is one part of a larger set of changes to Earth's climate. Global temperature changes
affect different regions differently. 
 We are part of our environment and loss of biodiversity form any ecosystem is our loss to
  Climate warming increases wildfires and changes in geographic distribution for forest biomes
 Polar regions will experience warmer climates with glaciers thawing and ice sheets melting
 Sea levels are rising and ocean water expands as it warms
 Living things must adapt when climate changes
 Climate change leads to more heat-related deaths, infectious diseases, and change in range of
parasites
 Agricultural crops will see a decrease in yield reliability because of droughts and floods from
climate change but a potential increase in the beneficial effect of CO2 as fertilizer for some crops

8.03 Global Climate Change

 The Earth has undergone climate change throughout geologic time, with major shifts in global
temperatures causing periods of warming and cooling, as recorded with CO2 data and ice cores.
 Effects of climate change include rising temperatures, melting permafrost and sea ice, rising sea
levels, and displacement of coastal populations.
 Marine ecosystems are affected by changes in sea level.
 Climate change may change circulation patterns of winds and currents.
 Climate change can affect soil through changes in temperature and rainfall, which can impact
soil's viability and potentially increase erosion.
 As the Earth warms, ice and snow melts, meaning less solar energy is radiated back into space
and instead is absorbed by the Earth's surface. This in turn causes more warming of the polar
regions.
 One consequence of the loss of ice and snow in polar regions is the effect on species that
depend on the ice for habitat and food.
 Younger Dryas- period of global cooling occurred 12,000 years ago. Thousand year period of
global cooling
 Little Ice Age- existed after warmer medieval period. Mini ice age of 300 years.
 Eccentricity- change in shape of Earth’s orbit around sun from a roughly circular orbit to an oval
one. Milutin Milankovitch calculated how orbital variations had caused major climate changes
over the history of Earth. Changes began with subtle shift in Earth’s orbit producing cooler
summers and colder winters. Allowed glaciers to expand and ice sheets to grow until it changed
again, when it retreated
 Change in obliquity is change in angle between Earth’s axis and plane of Earth’s orbit. Occurs
every period of 40,00 years and angle shifts from 22.1 to 24.5 degrees. As tilt becomes more
dramatic, seasons are more intense
 Precession- Scientists estimate that Earth may have experienced as many as 17 ice ages over last
several milion years with giant sheets of ice covering as much as one third of the planet during
those times
 All of these contribute to Milankovitch Theory
 Two most important factors determining climate are temperature and precipitation
 Weather patterns all over globe are driven by wind and ocean currents
 Winds and surface ocean currents transfer tropical heat from equator to poles and cold water
from poles to tropics in predictable patterns
 These winds affected by
 o Coriolis effect- Because Earth rotates, circulating air, winds, and water get deflected
from a straight-line path as they travel across rotating Earth. Causes ocean currents in
NH to veer right and SH to veer left
o Gyres and boundary currents- Deflected currents move in curved path as do returning
cold-water currents forming circular currents called gyres. Five major ocean gyres.
Boundary currents are on coastlines
o Ekman spiral- When surface water moved by wind, it also drags deeper layers of water
below with it. Each layer of water moved by friction from shallower layer and each
deeper layer moves more slowly than the layer above it until movement stops at a
depth of about 100 m.
 Global conveyor belt regulates Earth’s climate, nutrient cycle, and carbon cycle
 Differences in water density cause ocean currents and density differences result from
temperature and salinity differences (thermohaline circulation).
 Near the North Pole, sea ice forms, leaving water with a higher salinity behind. This cold, dense
water sinks to the ocean bottom. Surface water flows in to replace the sinking water, which in
turn becomes cold and salty enough to sink. This creates a cold, deep water current that moves
south through the Atlantic, picking up more cold water from Antarctica. This current moves
much more slowly than tidal or surface currents, only a few centimeters per second.
 Jet streams- fast currents of air flowing west to east. Alter precipitation and temperature across
the Americas
 Hadley cells- low-altitude overturning air circulation with hot air rising at equator and cooler air
sinking at 30-degree latitude
 Climate changes cause melting ice creating larger layer of fresh water slowing normal
movement and mixing of current, slowed or stopped currents cause extremely cold
temperatures and crop failure in areas relying on warm currents, changes in offshore currents,
changes in upwelling currents, and changes in jet streams
 Crysophere- regins of snow or ice that are frozen at least part of the year. Includes continental
ice sheets
 Arctic and Antarctic both have nutrient-rich water and are highly productive. Ring of shallow
continental shelf with frozen sea ice habitat in North Pole and in South Pole there is a continent
and not a frozen sea with own continental shelf
 As glaciers and polar ice melt, rising sea levels will impact not only coastal cities and towns, but
marine ecosystems, as well:
o Coastal habitats can flood, disrupting turtle and bird nesting, but could also create new
intertidal habitats
o Mangrove ecosystems become unstable due to fluctuating salinity and tidal levels.
o Rising sea levels will alter the amount of light that can reach offshore plants and algae
(known as the photic zone), decreasing photosynthesis, and affecting the food web.
 Floods and storms can impact soil viability by introducing salts and harmful chemicals to the soil.
Increased rainfall can lead to erosion by washing away key nutrients and decreasing soil fertility.
Drought and fires can deplete moisture from the land.
 Kyoto Protocol and United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change both set targets
for greenhouse gas emissions. Protocol is legally binding and requires that emissions be
 monitored and recorded in an international log and places a more significant burden on
developed nations responsible for greenhouse gas emissions
 US has not agreed to Kyoto Protocol and entered Paris Agreement by Joe Biden
 Most difficult obstacle is overcoming personal habits that increase global warming
 You can also change your habits to combat climate change in three substantial ways: increase
recycling, increase energy efficiency in your use of energy, and engage in energy conservation.

8.04 Effects on Oceans

 Ocean warming is caused by the increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

 Ocean warming can affect marine species in a variety of ways, including loss of habitat, and
metabolic and reproductive changes.
 Ocean warming is causing coral bleaching, which occurs when the loss of algae within corals
cause the corals to bleach white. Some corals recover and some die.
 Ocean acidification is the decrease in pH of the oceans, primarily due to increased
CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere, and can be expressed as chemical equations.
 As more CO2 is released into the atmosphere, the oceans, which absorb a large part of that CO2,
become more acidic.
 Anthropogenic activities that contribute to ocean acidification are those that lead to increased
CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere: burning of fossil fuels, vehicle emissions, and
deforestation.
 Ocean acidification damages coral because acidification makes it difficult for them to form
shells, due to the loss of calcium carbonate.
 Water can absorb large amounts of heat without raising oen degree in temperature, can release
heat slowly, and take long time to cool down
 Amount of heat stored in ocean has increased as greenhouse gases trap more and more energy
from sun
 Some effects of warmer oceans on weather and climate include:
o Increasing sea surface temperatures promote development of stronger storms in the
tropics.
o Rising sea levels result in melting sea ice in the Arctic, altering ecosystems.
o Changes in currents can lead to altered climate patterns around the world.
 Dead zones- areas in large bodies of water that do not have enough oxygen to support marine
life when warmer waters and an increase in chemical nutrients in water lead to excessive
blooms of algae which deplete underwater oxygen levels
 There are many forms of marine life that use calcium carbonate to build their shells.
 Carbon that is not used by organisms can be stored for long periods of time in ocean sediments
and as fossil fuels beneath the seafloor.
 Carbon dioxide in atmosphere dissolves in ocean waters to form carbonic acid that splits apart
to produce bicarbonate ions that spits to produce carbonate ions and hydrogen ions. Too much
carbon acid decreases pH level of ocean
 Current increase in global atmospheric temperature per year of 0.7 degrees Celsius is disrupting
life in oceans
 Warmer ocean waters leads to zooxanthellae to leave coral which turns white or pale and
without part of its food sources which bleaches the ecosystem. Metabolic and reproductive
 changes can also occur due to warm waters. Increased metabolic rates associated with warmer
environments or lower metabolic rates associated with lower oxygen availability caused by
warmer waters.
 Thermocline- change in temperature of water with depth. As ocean warms, point becomes
deeper shifting entire environments and disrupting food webs
 Higher levels of carbon dioxide make ocean water more acidic.
 Acidic water can dissolve shells of marine organisms, limit coral growth, decrease survival levels
of oyster larvae, alter fish health and behavior, etc.
 Climate changes cause damaged and lost habitats
 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration states the acidity of surface ocean waters has
increased by about 30 percent since beginning of Industrial Revolution
 Increased carbon dioxide -> increased ocean acidity

8.05 Threats to Biodiversity

 Six major threats to biodiversity

o Habitat destruction
o Invasive species
o Population growth
o Pollution
o Climate Change
o Overexploitation
 Invasive species can sometimes be beneficial, but they are considered invasive when they
outcompete native species for resources.
 A variety of factors can lead to a species becoming threatened with extinction. Species that are
able to adapt to change are less likely to face extinction.
 Selective pressures are any factors that change the behaviors and fitness of organisms within an
environment.
 Species in a given ecosystem compete for resources like territory, food, mates, and habitat, and
this competition may lead to endangerment or extinction.
 Habitat fragmentation occurs when large habitats are broken into smaller, isolated areas. The
adverse effects of habitat fragmentation will vary from species to species within that ecosystem.
 Global climate change can cause habitat loss via changes in temperature, precipitation, and sea
level rise.
 Some organisms have been somewhat or completely domesticated and are now managed for
economic returns, which can have a negative impact on the biodiversity of that organism.
 There are multiple strategies that can help us mitigate the loss of biodiversity and prevent
animal extinction.
 Artifical ecosystems- habitats disturbed by human impact
 Natural ecosystems change due to natural disruptions
 Artifical ecosystems have less biomass, fewer component parts, and lower diversity
 Fragmented habitats- artificial ecosystems that occur when deforestation leaves small patches
of habitat while removing all the rest
 Species richness in fragmented habitats depends on factors
 o Habitat size
 Fragmented habitats are created with lower ecological tolerance making it
susceptible to disruption or changes in resources or habitat
 Size and shape of fragments affects biodiversity because of edge effects (border
between two different habitats)
 Species well adapted for conditions of forest might find survival more difficult
along edges of ecosystem
 Large fragments have fewer edge effects
o Distance from Main Habitat
 Isolated fragments can become like an island that few species reach
 Less isolated fragments more accessible and useful to species
o Migration
 Infrastructure and agriculture slice up ecosystems into fragments affecting
migration routes of many animals
 Disruption in migration of many smaller species prevents them from reaching
suitable habitat and suitable mates
 One solution to broken migration routes is reconnecting fragmented habitats
with bridges or tunnels
o Rate of Extinction
o Organisms adapted to selective pressures (factors changing behaviors and
fitness of organisms) and competition for resources in their new isolated
habitats are able to survive.
o Less fitness means higher rate of extinction
o Ecotones
o Transitional areas between ecosystem fragments- ecotones
o Environmental conditions differ between ecotones and main ecosystem
o Ecotones exist naturally but they have been produced through human activities
and it benefits some species and hurts others
 Invasive species- non-native species interfering with established niches of ecosystem that can
disrupt food chains, bring disease, or alter genetics of adapted organisms when they reproduce
with closely related species and make hybrids.
 Number of invasive species is threatening biodiversity with increase in globalization
 Invasive species are often generalist, r-selected species compared to the native species they
outcompete for resources. This means they produce large numbers of offspring (each with a
small change of survival), can fill a variety of community niches, can live in different habitats, eat
a variety of foods, and are resistant to environmental changes. In contrast, native species are
often specialists, k-selected species; they produce fewer offspring with higher chances of
survival but spend more time caring for them (and less time watching out for themselves.)
Specialists also live in narrow niches and specific habitats with a narrow range of environmental
conditions that make them more susceptible to change. Species that can adapt to changes in
their environment or that are able to move to a new environment are less likely to face
extinction from an invasive species.
 Manufacturing of all sorts of products contaminates air, water, and land
 Growth of population leads to expansion of habitat which leads to deforestation and other ways
of getting rid of animal habitat
 Pesticides, fertilizers, wastewater systems, septic tanks, and discharges from car exhausts all
disrupt ecosystems
 All these things have become necessities in our lives, but if our population continues to increase
and we keep taking from our environment without giving back, it will not sustain us.
 Environmental indicators suggest human activities are changing global climate.
 Scientists monitor numerous environmental indicators to determine the health of our
environment
 US EPA has gathered data for decades on environmental indicators
 The last decade was the warmest with increased drought conditions, steady increase of heat
waves, and heavier precipitation throughout US. There also have been more hurricanes
 In last century, ocean temperatures have incerased which have increased Earth’s surface
temperatures, raised sea levels, and changed ocean currents
 Marine species unable to adjust to warmer waters are vanishing from ecosystems
 Coral reefs susceptible to acidity
 Glaciers worldwide have lost more than 2000 cubic miles of water since 1960 which has
contributed to observed rise in sea level.
 Ice melt in spring is beginning earlier each year and migration patterns/reproductive cycles are
changing with reduced habitat
 Bird species have shifted their migration northward as rising temperatures change their
wintering grounds.
 Vegetation has also shifted northward and flowers bloom earlier in the season
 Overexploitation
o Over-modification- Genetically modifying, altering, or domesticating organisms for
economic returns but biodiversity is lost
o Over-fishing- Large fish living a long time and are slow to reproduce are vulnerable to
overfishing as they cannot repopulate faster than amount removed by fishing
o Over-hunting and illegal poaching of animals for their resources leads to decrease in
genetic variation. Cycles of birth and death in a species influence pop size. Mating is
more unlikely
 Goal of sustainability is to restore to future generations those things we take from Earth now
 Sustainable practices- reduce environmental pollution and protect Earth’s biodiversity
 When wildlife managers enforce hunting and fishing laws, they ensure that the number of
animals removed from an ecosystem does not disrupt the carrying capacity of any one
population. They are sustaining the populations they oversee. Creating protected wildlife
sanctuaries, building habitat corridors to connect fragmented habitat, promoting sustainable
land use practices, and restoring habitats by removing invasive species are additional methods
used to achieve true sustainability.
 Greenbelts protect beaches from erosion.
 Seawells and leeves provide addiitional protection for beaches
 State and national level sustainable practices include protection of parks and consv. Areas,
regulations for logging, and guidelines for best ranching and farming practices
 Conserving biodiversity
 o Preserving habitats
o Captive breeding
o Zoos and Botanical Gardnes
o Banking Genetic Material
o Creating and Enforcing Legislation
 Legislation Names (some were previously explained and/or self-explanatory by name)
o Endangered Species Act
o Marine Mammal Protection Act
o Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora
o Kyoto Protocol
o National Environmental Policy Act
 Government considers environment before implementing features
o Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp Act
o Wild and Scenic Rivers Act
o Antarctic Treaty and Madrid Protocol
 Madrid Protocol provides environmental protection in Antarctica