Global change Flashcards
What is agriculture?
Geographic separation between where food is grown and where it is consumed
what is BNF?
Biological nitrogen fixation
mostly by microbes
Makes nitrogen available in plants
Importance of nutrient enrichment
- eutrophication in aquatic ecosystems
- biodiversity loss in terrestrial ecosystems
Biological magnification = ?
When toxins are not excreted
Pharmaceuticals
Feminisation of male fish due to chemicals with estrogenic properties
Plastic waste
Mechanical problems - animals ingest and starve
Leaching of chemicals
Increased CO2 leads to global warming through
the greenhouse effect
Impacts of the greenhouse effect:
- range shifts
- disrupted species interactions
- coral bleaching
Process of the greenhouse effect
- solar radiation passes through atmosphere
- some absorbed, warming earth’s surface
- some energy emitted as heat
- emitted heat trapped by greenhouse gases
Increased CO2 leads to…
Ocean acidification
Impacts of increased CO2:
Less calcium carbonate for building and maintaining calcified structures by organisms
Depletion of atmospheric ozone
Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) pollution thins layer of O3 in stratosphere that filters UV
Impacts of depletion of ozone:
- DNA damage
- Leads to cancers in humans
- Reduced growth in phytoplankton
Good news for CFC?
CFC production ceased so atmospheric chlorine stabilised and erosion of ozone layer has slowed