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biological sciences year 1 > global environmental change > Flashcards

global environmental change Flashcards

1
Q

What does global change mean?

A

planetary scale changes in the Earth system

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2
Q

What causes global environmental change?

A

solar variation, plate tectonics, volcanism, proliferation, meteorite impact, resource depletion

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3
Q

What is the main driver of global change?

A

growing human population and demand for food and energy etc

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4
Q

What is pollution?

A

introduction of contaminants into natural environment that cause adverse change

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5
Q

What can pollution be?

A

chemical or energy such as noise, heat, light

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6
Q

How many people did pollution kill globally in 2015?

A

9 million

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7
Q

How do we measure how toxic pollution is?

A

effect of a chemical will depend on the amount or concentration in the plant or animal, or in certain sensitive parts of it

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8
Q

What is lethal concentration (LC)50 ?

A

concentration of the chemical in the air or water that will kill 50% of the test animals with a single exposure

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9
Q

What is lethal dose (LD)50?

A

the single dose of chemical that, when fed to a group of test animals or applied dermally, will kill 50 5 of the animals

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10
Q

What does additive mean?

A

effects of each may simply be added together to indicate overall effect

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11
Q

What does antagonistic mean?

A

one pollutant may cancel out or reduce the impact of another

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12
Q

What does synergistic mean?

A

pollutants combine in such a way that the environmental effects are greater than would be expected additively

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13
Q

What is an example of a point source pollution?

A

a sewage outlet

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14
Q

What is an example of multi-source pollution?

A

chimney stacks

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15
Q

What is seeping?

A

fertiliser runoff

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16
Q

What is spreading?

A

volatiles in air-flows

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17
Q

What are the characteristics of acute pollution?

A

occurs when a large amount of waste matter enters the environment - usually from a point source

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18
Q

What is crude oil made of?

A

aliphatic hydrocarbons, aromatic hydrocarbons, polar compounds, sulphur compounds

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19
Q

What are the biotic effects of crude oil?

A

around 90% of sunlight in intercepted, division of algal cells in inhibited at oil levels of as low as 0.01 ppm, food chains are modified

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20
Q

What are the characteristics of chronic pollution?

A

low-level input into the environment - occurs either more or less continuously or as frequent pulses

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21
Q

What are pesticides?

A

highly toxic chemical substances deliberately introduced into an ecosystem to kill or reduce population size or growth of particular pests or weeds

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22
Q

What is DDT?

A

dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane

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23
Q

What was the effect of DDT on certain animals?

A

peregrine falcons were consuming it and dying

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24
Q

What are broad spectrum toxins?

A

they remain in the environment for a long time - DDT, aldrin, dieldrin, heptachlor

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25
Q

What are characteristics of chlorophenoxy?

A

chemistry resembles that of plant auxins, broken down in the soil in a matter of days

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26
Q

What are characteristics of organophosphates?

A

highly toxic to humans, biodegradable and non-persistant (readily broken down)

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27
Q

What is biomagnification?

A

occurs when an element or chemical compound moves from one compartment to another and occurs at higher concentrations in the second

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28
Q

What is a concentration factor (CF)?

A

concentration of the pollutant in the consumer/concentration of the pollutant in the diet

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29
Q

When does biomagnification occur?

A

when CF > 1

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30
Q

How can plastic pollution affect humans?

A

disruption of thyroid hormone levels

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31
Q

How many tonnes of plastic is consumed annually in the UK?

A

> 5 million tonnes - only 24% recycled

32
Q

What is the size of microplastics?

A

< 5 mm

33
Q

What are primary microplastics?

A

manufactured - direct result of human material and product use

34
Q

What are primary microplastics?

A

manufactured - direct result of human material and product use

35
Q

What are secondary microplastics?

A

fragments derived from the breakdown of larger plastic debris

36
Q

What are the main causes of extinction?

A

habitat fragmentation, agriculture, human overpopulation, deforestation, poaching and hunting

37
Q

What is genetic diversity?

A

the total number of genetic characteristics in the genetic makeup of a species

38
Q

What is species diversity?

A

the number of different species + abundance of them

39
Q

What is species richness?

A

the count of species

40
Q

What is species evenness?

A

quantifies how equal the abundances of the species are

41
Q

What is ecological diversity?

A

variation in ecosystems found in a region or variation in ecosystems over the whole planet

42
Q

What is gamma diversity?

A

total species diversity in a landscape

43
Q

What is total species diversity in a landscape determined by?

A

the mean species diversity in habitats at a local scale (alpha diversity) and the differentiation among those habitats (beta diversity)

44
Q

What is an endemism?

A

the limited geographic distribution of a taxonomic group, usually at family, genus or species level

45
Q

How many areas are considered to be diversity hotspots around the world?

A

36

46
Q

What is a biodiversity hotspot?

A

areas with high species richness and a high level of endemism

47
Q

What is a direct use value for biodiversity?

A

derived from direct role of biological resources in consumption and production

48
Q

What is an indirect use value for biodiversity?

A

derives from the many functions biodiversity performs in providing services critical to human well-being

49
Q

How many plants is 80% of the food supply of the human population obtained from?

A

20

50
Q

How many pure chemical substances are extracted from plant species?

A

119

51
Q

What is biocontrol?

A

use of natural enemies to control species regarded as pests

52
Q

What percent of weed and insect control programmes are based on biocontrol?

A

30% weed control, 40% insect control

53
Q

What was total global fish harvest in 2015?

A

140 million tonnes

54
Q

What is the percentage of the world’s fish stocks that are at or beyond their level of maximum productivity?

A

66%

55
Q

What is ecotourism?

A

tourism directed towards exotic natural environments, intended to support conservation efforts and observe wildlife

56
Q

What are ecosystem preferences?

A

decomposition, primary productivity, nutrient cycling and fluxes of nutrients and energy

57
Q

What are the four categories of ecosystem services?

A

provisioning, regulating, supporting, cultural

58
Q

What is non use value of biodiversity?

A

a value associated that does not concern our use, either direct or indirect, of the environment, its resources or services

59
Q

What is climate change?

A

a large-scale, long-term shift in the planet’s weather patterns or average temperatures

60
Q

What are natural causes of climate change?

A

solar activity, earth’s orbit, continental drift

61
Q

What are recent causes of climate change?

A

el nino event, volcanic eruptions, greenhouse effect

62
Q

Who first recognised existence of the greenhouse effect?

A

1827 - Jean-Bapiste-Joseph Fourier

63
Q

Who measured absorption of infrared radiation by carbon dioxide?

A

1860 - John Tyndall

64
Q

Who calculated the effect of increasing concentration of greenhouse gases?

A

1896 - Svante Arrhenius

65
Q

Who was the first to calculate the warming due to increasing carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels?

A

1940 - G S Callender

66
Q

Who was first to express concern about climate change?

A

1957 - Roger Revelle and Hans Suess

67
Q

What were the carbon dioxide levels in December 2022?

A

417 ppm

68
Q

What are the greenhouse gases?

A

CO2, CH4, H2O, CFCs

69
Q

How many more times effective is methane than CO2?

A

25

70
Q

What are the IPCC predictions about sea level rise?

A

average seas level rise of 12 cm by 2030 and 50 cm by 2100

71
Q

What plants respond positively to increased CO2 levels by increasing photosynthesis?

A

C3

72
Q

What does high CO2 cause in plants?

A

partial closing of the stomata, reducing transpiration and making plants more efficient in water usage

73
Q

What are some examples of C3 plants?

A

barley, oats, wheat, sugar beets, bentgrass

74
Q

What are indirect effects on plants due to high CO2?

A

leaves may be thicker and have more starch, insects that eat plants usually limited by nitrogen supply so may have to eat more

75
Q

What are factors that impact health?

A

pollution, inadequate water supplies, poor soil

biological sciences year 1 (16 decks)

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