Environment/Nature II Flashcards
What are the 2 different equinox points?
March 21 - spring equinox or vernal equinox (first day of Spring)
September 22 - autumnal equinox (first day of Fall. Harvest)
Equinox
The time when the sun crosses the plane of the earth’s equator, making night and day of equal length all over the earth.
The Fall
Theology: Man’s descent into a state of sinfulness through the sins of Adam and Eve.
How are greenhouse gasses created?
From the burning of fossil fuels.
What is geothermal energy?
A renewable energy source that uses heat and steam from underground hot springs and wells to generate electric power.
Countries like the Philippines and Indonesia use it.
What are fuel cells?
Carbonate power supplies that run on ethanol or hydrogen.
Large raptors
Hawks, eagles, buzzards, vultures.
Birds and wind turbines
Spinning wind turbines blades kill large birds, especially raptors which prey on rats and mice that carry diseases (so the birds are vital to the Eco-system).
Death of birds from wind turbines
A peer-reviewed estimate in the march 2013 wildlife society bulletin stated that the wind industry killed approx. 80,000 raptors in 2014.
Future danger of wind turbines to birds?
With Obama calling for a three-fold increase in wind energy by 2030, raptor deaths could eventually exceed 200,000 annually.
Solar energy potential?
73,000 Tera watts of solar energy shine down on the earth’s surface everyday.
On a sunny day the sun shines approx 1,000 watts of energy per square yard.
Solar panels can collect it and turn it into electricity.
What are the problems with solar energy?
Large scale solar systems require 8 to 15 acres of space.
The materials used are the same ones used in electronics and disposal, upgrade, and repair of such a massive amount of material is hazardous and expensive.
Tehachapi wind farm
Constructed by the L.A. Dept of water and power at a cost $400 million.
The wind farm is rated at 120 megawatts per hour, but an analysis by the LADWP (dept of water and power) revealed it generated only a quarter of that.
It will provide only .40% of the energy required by L.A.
How much oil is in one barrel?
42 gallons
What is the center of the world’s oil supply?
The Middle East.
It’s estimated the region holds more than 700 billion barrels of oil - which is 56% of all the world’s natural resources.
Where is most US oil refined?
At refineries on the gulf coast (which is why oil prices rise during typhoon season).
Which country uses the most oil in the world?
The US
Where does the US get most of its oil?
Domestically. Also, Canada and Saudi Arabia.
Poultry
Domesticated fowl, especially the kind prized for its eggs and meat:
- chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese.
Fowl
Domesticated bird. One that lives in a barnyard: chicken.
Avian flu
Respiratory virus that attacks poultry and can lead to human death.
First outbreaks were in Hong Kong.
Worst outbreaks were around 2005 in Asia.
Dynamic equilibrium
A state of balance due to the equal action of opposing forces.
When is dynamic equilibrium achieved?
When the earth achieves homeostasis.
Biology
The study of life or living matter
Homeostasis
- a self-regulating process where a biological system maintains stability in a state of dynamic equilibrium.
- continuos change occurs yet relatively uniform conditions prevail.
Gaia hypothesis
(Named for the Greek Earth goddess)
- Model of the earth
- Earth’s living and non living parts are viewed as a complex interacting system that can be thought of as a single organism.
Ecosphere
In Gaia hypothesis, the ecosphere is the interaction between the biosphere and all the world’s elements (abiotic world - atmosphere, hydrosphere, geosphere).
Gaia theory says that whenever an abiotic condition gets out of control, life responds in some way that pulls the condition under control (feedback loops).
Feedback loop
In Gaia hypothesis, a living system receives information about the ecosphere and reacts to it.
This reaction produces a change. (which produces another change)
Ex:
too much oxygen > more animals are created.
Which can lead to:
Not enough oxygen > the death of animals.
How many naturally occurring chemical elements are there on earth?
118
How many of the chemical elements on earth are required by living organisms?
40
Chemical Elements can combine to form what?
Compounds.
There are an infinite amount
Chemical element
Any substance that cannot be decomposed into a simpler substance by ordinary chemical processes.
They are the fundamental materials by which all matter is composed.
What are the two world’s in Gaia hypothesis?
The Abiotic world (non living world) Consists of: - the geosphere (rock) - the hydrosphere (water) - atmosphere (gas)
AND
The Biosphere (the living world)
What does the Gaia hypothesis propose regarding the two worlds?
That the biosphere regulates the abiotic world.
