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LCIA > Arbeidskrav (ferdig) > Flashcards

Arbeidskrav (ferdig) Flashcards

1
Q

How do decrease in carbonate ions (CO^2-_3) affect the marine biodiversity?

A

less carbonate is available for example for calcifying organisms and that the ocean gets more acid

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2
Q

Name the five main drivers of global biodiversity change and provide driver mechanism

A
  1. Habitat change:
    a. Agricultural land use > habitat loss > species extinction
  2. Climate change:
    a. GHG emissions from coal-fired power plant > climate change > species range shift > species extinction
  3. Invasive species
    a. Trade per container ship > transportation of species > invasive species outcompetes native species > species extinction
  4. Overexploitation
    a. Overfishing > species extinction
  5. Pollution
    a. Application of pesticides > harming insect species > species extinction
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3
Q

What is the difference between species abundance and species richness? Could they co-exist?

A

I) Species abundance refers to the number of individuals within or among several species groups. Species richness refers to the number of distinct species, ignoring the number of individuals in each species group.

II) It is possible to have an increase in species abundance and a decrease in species richness at the same time. If an invasive species outcompetes a native species, the native species might go extinct, thereby reducing species richness. If, at the same time, the invasive species is so successful that the number of individuals exceeds the original sum of the individuals of the native and invasive species groups together, the species abundance increases.

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4
Q

Name three toxicants

A

Pesticides

Herbicides

Heavy metals

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5
Q

How does sea level rise affect freswater?

A

sea level rise may lead to an increase in saltwater intrusion, leading to a change in the thickness of the fresh groundwater

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6
Q

Name some important environmental stressors

A
  • Climate change
  • Changes in Biodiversity
  • Pollution
  • Toxicants
  • Resource depletion
  • Waste
  • Land use/ land use change
  • Water depletion
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7
Q

What is the five achi targets?

A

Strategic Goal A: Address the underlying causes of biodiversity loss by mainstreaming biodiversity across government and society

Strategic Goal B: Reduce the direct pressures on biodiversity and promote sustainable use

Strategic Goal C: To improve the status of biodiversity by safeguarding ecosystems, species and genetic diversity

Strategic Goal D: Enhance the benefits to all from biodiversity and ecosystem services

Strategic Goal E: Enhance implementation through participatory planning, knowledge management and capacity building

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8
Q

How many species is extinct each year and how has the rate of extinction changed?

A

1,4 species each year

current extinction rates are 1000 times higher than natural background rates of extinction

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9
Q

What is the antropocene?

A

The age of humans. As the population grows, so have emissions, tropical forest loss, ocean acidification etc.

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10
Q

Name a few types of polution

A
  • Air: Particulate Matter, Sulfur dioxide, CO, NOx, …, Light, Noise
  • Soil: Waste, Acidification, Salinity
  • Water: N and P emissions → Eutrophication, Solid waste, Thermal
  • Point sources
  • Non-point sources
  • Indoor pollution
  • Outdoor pollution
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11
Q

What is the formula for PDF using classic SAR?

A

PDF = 1 - (A_new/A_old) ^ z

PDF = potentially disappeared fraction
A = area
z = species-area curve
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12
Q

What is the formula for PDF using countryside SAR?

A

PDF = 1 - (sum(A_newh)/sum(A_oldh)) ^z

PDF = potentially disappeared fraction
A = area
z = species-area curve
h = affinity to human-modified land cover
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13
Q

Why might the PDF for birds and mammals differ for the same area?

A

Bird species have higher affinities to human-modified habitats than mammals, meaning that in this case birds are better adapted to human land covers. Consequently, birds are not as much affected by the land use expansion as mammals, indicated by the lower PDF value.

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14
Q

What is the formula for absolut number of species lost ?

A

delta(S) = S_org * PDF

s= species

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15
Q

What is regional land transformation characterisation factors and what is the formula ? (CFtrans,g,i) [PDF⋅years/km2]

A

Regional characterisation factors indicate potentially disappeared fraction of species in one region. Part of the species that become extinct regionally may become globally extinct too.

CF_trans,reg,g,i [PDF*years/km2]=0.5t_g * CF_occ,reg,g,I

t= regeneration time 
CF_occ,reg,g,I = the land use occupation characterisation factor (PDF/km2)
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16
Q

What does SSD mean?

A

Species sensitivity distrubution

17
Q

Whats the difference between PDF and PAF?

A

PDF – Potentially disappeared fraction of species
PAF – Potentially affected fraction of species.
To calculate PDF, the PAF can be divided by 2 PDF= PAF*0,5
There are also studies assuming that PDF=PAF
Another approach would be to use LC50 (lethal concentration) instead of EC50.

18
Q

What data/information would be needed to calculate a regionalized EF?

A

More local data or specific data to the region

19
Q

What are the differences between ReCiPe2016 and LC-Impact, e.g. regarding regionalization?

A

we have a regionalized approach in LC-impact up to ecoregion-level while ReCiPe’s CFs are only given at global level. The focus of LC-impact is actually on regionalization, highlighting the need to account for spatial differences of impacts. However, ReCiPe also offers the choice of more regionalized approaches.

LC-impact only provides CFs at endpoint level, whereas ReCiPe provides both, midpoint and endpoint. There are no differences in the impact categories that are covered between both methods at the moment

20
Q

Explain what “core” and “extended” in LC-impact stands for?

A

Core and extended can be seen as equivalent to ReCiPe’s cultural perspectives and define how necessary value choices have been approached for generating the CF’s (Core: short-term and certain effects, Extended: short to long-term with extended number of effects)

21
Q

Explain the different cultural perspectives in ReCiPe?

A

The different cultural perspective indicate how necessary value choices are approached in the proved CFs (Individualist: short-term interest, impact types that are undisputed, technological optimism with regard to human adaptation; Egalitarian: Long time horizon, precautionary perspective, all impact pathways for which data is available included; Hierarchist: In between “Individualistic” and “Egalitarian”, based on scientific consensus with regard to the time frame and plausibility of impact mechanisms, Economic activity within boundaries).

22
Q

LC-Impact provides CFs for global PDF. How would you calculate regional PDF?

A

For getting to regional values we need to divide the global value by the vulnerability score (VS).

23
Q

How do you calculate daily dose in mg/(kg⋅day)?

A

Dose = inntake / weight

Intake = Consentration * Intake

Consentration = mass/volume

24
Q

C) What is the fate factor (FF) ?

A

FF = M/e = (V*C/e)

M = mass of substance in lake
V = volume of lake 
C = concentration of substance in lake 
e = is the emission of tubstance in to lake
25
Q

What is the formula for daily exposure factor for ingestion?

A

XP = IR * pop / V

IR = intake
pop=population
V= volume

26
Q

What is inntake fraction ?

A

iF=FF * XP

FF = fate factor 
XP = exposure factor
27
Q

What is biomagnification and bioaccumulation?

A
  • Bioaccumulation refers to the accumulation of substances, such as pesticides, or other chemicals in an organism. Bioaccumulation occurs when an organism absorbs a toxic substance at a rate faster than that at which the substance is lost. (4 points)
  • Biomagnification is referring to the increasing concentration of a substance, such as a toxic chemical, in the tissues of organisms at successively higher levels in a food chain. As a result of biomagnification, organisms at the top of the food chain generally suffer greater harm from a persistent toxin or pollutant than those at lower levels. (4 points)
28
Q

Name and shortly explain three essential methodological differences between risk assessment and life cycle impact assessment.

A
  • Risk assessment aims at avoiding unacceptable risks to humans and ecosystems. LCIA (toxicity) aims at comparing the environmental performance of products/processes. So the goal of the two is different.
  • RA models realistic worst cases for certain emission patterns. In LCA everything is related to the functional unit, assessing the impact or the toxicity because of the average emissions per functional unit. Average emissions, because LCA is a tool that makes use of large sets of background information that are average values and are not specific to the exact case that we look at.
  • For the quantification of the impact, LCA uses mostly EC50s. EC50 means that it is the effective concentration at which 50% of the species show an impact or die. There is no safety factor included. Risk assessment works with PNECs and NOECS. PNEC= predicted no effect concentration and NOEC= no observed effect concentration. Because data and experiments contain uncertainty a safety factor is included, in order to follow a precautionary approach. This safety factor depends on the quality of the data involved but can be for example a factor of 10 for each unknown step.
  • RA calculates a risk quotient (RQ=PEC/PNEC). That number should be below 1, in order to exclude that harmful effects may occur. This can be done for a single chemical and can be stated as an absolute result. In LCA comparison is relative between the scenarios and products, so we can say «A is better than B», but we cannot say this in absolute terms.
29
Q

What does PEC mean?

A

predicted environmental concentrations

30
Q

What does PNEC mean?

A

Predicted no-effect concentration

Den forutsagte konsentrasjonen uten effekt er konsentrasjonen av et kjemikalie som markerer grensen for hvor under ingen negative effekter av eksponering i et økosystem måles.

31
Q

What does an LC50-value indicate?

A

The LC50 value is the concentration of a substance in the environment where 50% of the test organisms (i.e. fish, daphnia or algae) are killed. LC stands for lethal concentration

32
Q

Calculate the PNEC based on the LC50s

A

PNEC = LC50 / safety factor

33
Q

Calculate the risk quotient (RQ) based on the calculated concentration in the lake (PEC) and the PNEC

A

RQ = PEC / PNEC

LCIA (3 decks)

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