Environment And Responsibility Flashcards
Test
1
Q
What is an Ecosystem?
A
A natural place where living things interact with each other and the non-living things which surround them.
2
Q
Why are equatorial rainforest ecosystems so important?
A
they contain the greatest variety of plants and animals in the ecosystems of the World.
3
Q
What % of world does the rainforest cover?
A
2%
4
Q
What percentage of animals do rainforests have?
A
50%
5
Q
Name 5 reasons why humans need rainforests.
A
- Absorb 2.2 billion tonnes of CO2 per year. Leads to Climate change
- Oxygen Provision
- living areas for tribal clans
- Plant based Medicines (eg. Rosy periwinkle to treat cancer)
- material (eg. Hemp, pigments, latex)
6
Q
Name 6 types of environmental damage.
A
- deforestation
- Ozone depletion
- ocean pollution
- Air pollution
- Desertification
- global warming
7
Q
Why is it so hot at the equator?
A
The equator is the widest part of the Earth and the earth’s tilt on the axis makes sunlIght more direct and concentrated.
8
Q
Does the location affect the growth and structure of the equatorial rainforests?
A
Yes
9
Q
What shape is the Earth?
A
Spheroid
10
Q
A
11
Q
Do seasons change at the equator?
A
No . It is always summer but there are monsoon seasons.
12
Q
Do the arctic and antarctic experience seasons?
A
Yes but they are both extremely cold.
13
Q
Is there such thing as 24 hour daylight?
A
Yes when the antarctic and arctic areas are tilted towards the sun.
14
Q
Describe the stages of precipitation at the equator.
A
The sun’s rays heat the earth’s surface
Once heated, the surface will warm the air above.
The gases in air start to heat and the air will expand, become lighter and rise.
The warm air meets cold air and condenses.
The droplets then join and form clouds.
When the clouds become too heavy, gravity will pull the droplets down.
15
Q
What is the average temperature of equatorial rainforests?
A
27-29 degree celcius
16
Q
How many mm of rainfall do equatorial rainforests recieve?
A
2000mm
17
Q
Name the layers of the rainforests in order.
A
Emergents - 65m
Canopy - 45m
Understorey - 25m
Shrub Layer - 10m
18
Q
What are rainforest soils made up of?
A
Dead plants and animals that fall to the ground.
19
Q
What breaks down the dead plants and animals?
A
Bacteria and soil animals
20
Q
What happens to the soil when the rainforest is cut down?
A
The soil becomes less and less fertile and will eventually become infertile.
21
Q
Why does soil leaching happen?
A
Because the leaves of the trees used to protect the soil but they got cut down.
22
Q
Why are rainforests being cut down?
A
- Palm oil demands and plantations
- Gold Mining
- Damming
- Cattle Farming
- Material (paper, hemp, wood etc)
22
Q
How many people rely on seafood for food and income in the world?
A
3 billion
43%
22
Q
In what countries do they usually rely on seafood for protein?
A
Developing countries
22
How much of our oxygen come from the oceans?
Over Half
22
Name the levels of the ocean in order.
Sunlight Zone 0m - 200m
Twilight Zone 200m - 1000m
Midnight Zone 1000m - 4000m
Abyssal Zone 4000m - 6000m
Trenches and Canyons 6000m - the bottom
22
Where is the Mariana Trench?
Off the East coast of Japan
22
What problems are we making in our oceans and seas?
Plastic
Oil
Sewage disposal
Coral Bleaching
Mudslide due to building
22
What makes up sewage?
Water, detergents and food scraps and waste which come from our washing machine, dryer, sink and toilet.
23
What can nitrogen based fertilisers make happen?
Algal blooms which reduce oxygen for marine animals and creates layers on the surface.
23
When did it become illegal to pump untreated sewage into the sea in the EU?
Late 1990s
24
What % of sewage which flows into the Mediterranean sea is untreated?
80%
25
What can we do about our sewage waste?
Reduce washing machine and dryer use
Scrape food waste off plates thoroughly
Buy organic produce
26
How is crude oil formed?
The remains of plankton drift to the seabed and over time is covered in sand and mud. Between these particles, gas and crude oil will start to form. A Cap of rock sits above of the oil which will sometimes move, letting the oil above.
27
Is crude oil toxic?
Yes, it’s fumes can kill and cause cancer
28
Where is majority of the crude oil extracted?
Below the sea
29
How long does it take for crude oil to form?
Around 150 million years
30
What happens when the crude oil is extracted?
Some of the oil escapes into the ocean and affect marine animals.
31
What is an oil slick?
When oil floats to the surface and creates a layer of oil.
32
Who will often get caught in an oil slick?
Sea birds
33
What will the seabirds try to do?
They with try to clean the oil off their feathers with their beak
34
What happens when the seabirds clean off the oil?
They ingest the oil
35
What does the oil do to the bird’s feathers?
It destroys the insulation = hypothermia
It can reduce the bird’s ability to fly or swim = drowning
36
When did the Deepwater Horizons incident occur?
20th May, 2010
37
Where did the Deepwater Horizons incident occur?
Oil Rig in the Gulf of Mexico
38
What happened in the deepwater horizons incident?
There was a huge oil spill because of a series of explosions on the oil rig which caused the rig to capsize and leak.
39
How many barrels of oil leaked into the sea?
Estimated total of 1000 - 60,000 barrels of oil
40
How many litres of oil did one barrel contain?
159 litres
41
What was done to reduce the oil and its damage?
Chemical dispersants (which caused just as much damage)
Booms (to contain and later let the oil be burned)
42
How many marine animals were injured or killed 6 months later?
8000
43
How many marine animals were injured or killed by 2010?
100,000 endangered turtles
800,000 seabirds
44
What other factors were affected by the oil spill?
The fertility and health of dolphins.
Reduction of offspring (due to the accident happening during breeding seasons of fish and seabirds)
45
How many whales and dolphins had been stranded by 2015?
14,000
46
Is there still evidence of the oil today?
Yes
Seafloor of the gulf
Washed up on shores and beaches
47
What animal often mistakes plastic bags for squid (it’s fav food)?
Sea Turtles
48
What do the plastic bags do to the turtles?
Suffocation
Tangled so cannot go to surface for air and drown
49
What other animals suffer from drowning due to plastic?
Seals, sea lions, dolphins and whales
50
What seabird often ingests plastic as they skim the surface water for food?
The Laysan Albatross
51
Do fish ingest plastic? What does that do?
They ingest micro-plastics which can block their gills and can even affect humans who consume these fish.
52
What and Where is the Maldives?
A group of islands to the South-West of India
53
What is the Maldives known for?
It’s white sand beaches and pristine turquoise waters.
54
What does the Maldives attract?
Tourists
55
What is Thilafushi island?
A man made island in the Maldives
56
When was Thilafushi island built?
1992
57
What is the purpose of Thilafushi Island?
An island to dump all of the tourists’ waste.
58
What item is causing the most pollution on the island of Adhangau and Thilafushi
Plastic bottles
59
Why are plastic bottles a common polluter in the Maldives?
The tap water is undrinkable
60
What other items have been found in the Maldivian Oceans?
Electronics which contain toxic chemicals
61
What happens on these “waste” islands as the tide goes out?
The water takes all the rubbish with it and brings it into the sea.
62
What can you do to reduce plastic pollution?
Use reusable bags, bottles, cutlery,etc
Stop buying plastic bottled water if you can
Cook your food instead of buying from restaurants
Purchase second hand anything where possible
Avoid fast fashion produced clothes
Recycle
Pressure companies and governments to use less or even ban plastics
Buy loose fruits and vegetables
63
What is Greenhouse Effect?
when greenhouse gases in th atmosphere trap heat, raising its surface temperature.
64
Is natural Greenhouse effect positive or Negative?
Positive. Without it Earth would be 30 degrees cooler and uninhabitable.
65
Is Manmade greenhouse effect positive or Negative.
Negative. It is heating our planet up leading to bad consequences.
66
Describe the process of the greenhouse effect, both man made and natural.
Heat is radiated by the sun to the Earth.
The Heat is radiated back to space from the Earth’s surface.
Some heat is trapped in the atmosphere if it’s natural but a lot more heat is trapped if it’s man-made gases.
67
What causes global warming?
Fossil Fuel burning - CO2
Food rotting - Methane
Raising cattle - Methane
68
What happens due to global warming?
The sea level rises
69
Why does the sea level rise?
The liquid particles expand.
The ice on land melts and flows into the water.
70
What might happen if the temperature rises 3 more degrees?
275 million people would be in flooded areas.
71
What 3 cities would be the worst affected by this flood?
Osaka, Japan - 5.2 million people
Shanghai, China - 17.5 million people
Alexandria, Egypt - 3 million people
72
How much of Antarctica is covered in ice?
98%
73
Why are penguins affected by the loss of sea-ice?
Ice — plankton — krill — squid — penguin
Emperor - Nurturing ground loss = drowning chicks
Adele - Breeding ground (bare rock) - less time = abandoned chicks
74
How does the melting affect Walruses in the Arctic?
Breeding and resting areas are overcrowded due to loss of ice flows
75
How does the melting affect Polar bears in the Arctic?
They are drowning or starving to death due to loss of ice flows.
76
How does the melting affect the Inuit in the Arctic?
Less seal and walruses = less source of income
and food
Forced to buy from expensive shops for necessities
Many having to move to cities as they cannot support themselves
77
What has begun appearing in the poles?
Invasive plant species due to the rise in temperature.
78
What is another name for the coral reefs?
The Rainforests of the sea
79
How much of the ocean do coral reefs cover ?
1%
80
How much of the ocean’s animals do coral reefs contain?
Over 25%
81
What are corals?
Animals
82
What is each individual coral called?
A polyp
83
What happen when polyps die?
They leave a hard skeleton for younger polyps to attach to.
84
How do corals feed?
Attract zooxanthellae which live in the polyp and synthesise food. The coral protect the zooxanthellae from predators.
Some have stinging tentacles which stun small prey
85
What temperatures do coral reefs rely on?
Around 27 degrees.
86
What type of relationship do the coral and zooxanthellae have?
Symbiotic relationship
87
What is Coral Bleaching?
When the corals turn white.
88
How does coral bleaching happen?
When the ocean warms, the zooxanthellae leave the coral for better conditions. If temperatures don’t decrease fast, the coral will go completely white.
89
What causes coral bleaching?
Warming oceans and rising sea levels (zooxanthellae need shallow clear waters for sunlight to photosynthesise)
90
How many people worldwide rely on coral reefs?
Over 1 billion people for a source of income and food (fishing).
91
Where do most of the people who rely on fishing come from?
Poorer countries
92
What else do coral reefs serve as?
Barriers against strong waves during hurricanes
93
When do hurricanes happen?
When sea temperatures reach 27 degrees or above (the temperatures the reef needs to live)
94
How do Hurricanes form?
Warm surface waters evaporates and rises.
As it continues up the atmosphere the vapour condenses and forms large storm clouds.
The Earth’s rotation on it’s axis makes those clouds start spinning to form a hurricane.
95
Why are hurricanes becoming more frequent and violent?
Because of rising temperatures.
96
What do hurricanes do to humans?
Great no. of deaths
Expensive repair costs = billions
97
Where did typhoon Haiyan occur?
The Phillippines
98
When did typhoon Haiyan occur?
November 2013
99
How many deaths did typhoon Haiyan cause?
Over 6000
100
What is Carbon Footprint?
The amount of carbon that you generate in your lifetime
101
What can you do to reduce your CO2 footprint?
Use less energy - switching lights off, turning off the tv etc
Walk, cycle or use public transport where possible
Buy locally produced products
Try a staycation
Reuse your things
Recycle and upcycle items
102
What do oceans do?
Serve as habitat
circulate heat
store carbon
103
How does the ocean circulate heat?
Currents move to opposite areas to either warm or cool down places.
104
Name 2 countries which contain equatorial rainforests.
Indonesia and The Philippines
105
What would happen without greenhouse gases?
The Earth would be 30 degrees cooler than it is now and Earth would not be able to support life.
