Case studies / examples of things

Question 1

A historical event that has been influential in shaping the current environmental movement (Rachel Carson)

Answer 1

Rachel Carson wrote the book “silver spring” which highlighted impact of pesticides on environments. As a result, more attention has been paid to the way that pollutants can move and magnify through the food chain

Question 2

A historical event that has been influential in shaping the current environmental movement (Greenpeace)

Answer 2

Greenpeace and similar NGOs have shown that through the Power of The People……. it’s possible to influece change. E.g., 1990s Greenpeace ‘Save the Whales’ campaign

Question 2

A historical event that has been influential in shaping the current environmental movement (Chisso factory)

Answer 2

The Chisso factory in Minamata, Japan, presented the first major record of biomagnification and bioaccumulation. Methyl mercury

Question 3

A historical event that led to current understanding of bioaccumulation and biomagnification (Minamata)

Answer 3

Methyl mercury was released from the Chisso factory into Minamata bay. Cats showed the symptoms first, then humans, which came from eating the fish and subsequent mercury bioaccumulation

Question 4

A historical event that led to current understanding of bioaccumulation and biomagnification (DDT)

Answer 4

Pesticide developed to help eradicate malaria. In the countryside, songbirds were reduced (why Rachel Carson’s book is called Silent Spring). Shells of eggs in raptors were thinner so breeding was unsuccessful as biomagnification enhanced the impacts. Therefore, the predators were the worst affected.

Question 5

r strategist examples

Answer 5

bacteria, mice, salmon

Question 6

k strategist examples

Answer 6

humans, elephants

Question 7

Succession

Answer 7

Primary succession occurs when new land is formed or rock is exposed; for example, following the eruption of volcanoes, such as those on the Big Island of Hawaii.

Question 8

Montreal Protocol

Answer 8

• international environmental treaty aimed at protecting the Earth’s ozone layer by phasing out the production and consumption of substances responsible for ozone depletion.
• It was negotiated and adopted in Montreal, Canada, in 1987.
• Some 197 countries ratified the agreement that is all countries in the world at the time, so it was the first universally ratified UN agreement.
• Most countries followed the rules of the Montreal Protocol and made national laws and regulations accordingly
• It froze production and consumption of CFC’s with goal of zero production by year 2000.

China and India have not met their quotas under the MP because of their rapid economic growth and high demand for refrigeration & AC’s

Question 9

Examples of changes to hydrological cycle caused by humans: Ganges Basin

Answer 9

deforestation increases flooding
because precipitation is not absorbed by vegetation

Question 10

Yemen water scarcity conflict

Answer 10

• rainfall has decreased by 9% on average per decade since 1990
• increasing population
• sheikhs and political elite abused their customary legal rights and influential positions to monopolise water rights
• > 50% Yemeni population work in agriculture
• civil unrest, distrust of government, food scarcity, food/water scarcity exacerbated by socioeconomic imbalance

Question 11

IUCN red list

Answer 11

• catagorising species based on the level of threat they face
• informs conservation efforts, policy makers, etc

Question 12

Intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) - Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)

Answer 12

Established in 1992, the CBD is a significant international treaty aiming to conserve biodiversity, ensure sustainable use of its components, and promote the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from genetic resources. The CBD has various protocols, including the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits. (196 Countries Signed)

Question 13

Governmental organizations (GOs) - Japan’s Ministry of the Environment (MOE)

Answer 13

The MOE is involved in various conservation initiatives in Japan, including the protection of endangered species and their habitats, as well as the establishment and management of protected areas.

Question 14

NGOs - Earth Liberation Front (ELF)

Answer 14

ELF is a decentralized, extremist environmental group that advocates direct action and uses sabotage as a means to halt activities they believe are detrimental to the environment and biodiversity.

Question 15

water purification

Answer 15

in the Lea Valley, London, wastewater is cleaned and used to recharge aquifers.

Question 16

Pearl River in China

Answer 16

• highly polluted due to rapid urbanisation in the Delta (accounts for 10% of china’s gdp)
• Polluted water is killing crops in the Pearl River Delta
• Cities are rich enough to treat the water but they do not allow farmers to use the treated water, so people are forced to drink the polluted water. Those who do fall sick
• tens of thousands of tonnes of heavy metals, nitrates, ammonia, and petrol are deposited into the sea every year by the river.
• Guangzhou has built 30 water treatment plants which aim to cut sewage by 85%.

Question 17

enforcement success in preventing exploitation of aquatic systems (NPAFC)

Answer 17

• North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission (NPAFC)
• Member nations are Canada, Japan, South Korea, Russia, and the United States
• exists primarily to preserve salmon stocks
• The commission prohibits catching salmon on the high seas
• ^ mostly done through drift nets, which result in a lot of bycatch - which is bad

Question 18

dead zone

Answer 18

• gulf of mexico
• has a seasonal hypoxic zone that forms every year in late summer.
• heavy rains wash nitrogen and phosphorus along mississippi river into gulf
• hence algae blooms

Question 19

Economic losses caused by urban air pollution

Answer 19

In Germany about US$4.7 billion a year in agricultural production is lost to high levels of sulphur, nitrogen oxides, and ozone.

In Jakarta, 14,000 deaths, about 2 per cent of annual deaths, in the cities could be avoided every year if particulate could be kept at the level recommended by the WHO

Question 20

adaptation to climate change - botswana

Answer 20

Drought
- National government programs to re-create employment options after drought;
- assistance to small subsistence farmers to increase crop production.

Question 21

adaptation to climate change - bangladesh

Answer 21

Sea-level rise; salt-water intrusion -

• Consideration of climate change in the National Water Management Plan;
• building of flow regulators in coastal embankments;
• use of alternative crops and low-technology water filters.

Question 22

Kyoto Protocol

Answer 22

• international and intergovernmental meeting in 1997
• called for the stabilization of greenhouse gas emissions by 5%
• countries allocated certain amounts of carbon dioxide to emit
• resulted in the idea of carbon trading
• use of alternative energy sources
• essential that LEDCs are brought into the agreement

Question 23

KLEAC

Answer 23

Knowledge
Link
Examples/evidence
Analysis
Conclusion