hass - environmental change and management

Question 1

soil degradation

Answer 1

Soil degradation describes what happens when the quality of soil declines and diminishes its capacity to support animals and plants

Question 2

soil erosion

Answer 2

Soil erosion is the displacement of the upper layer of soil. This natural process is caused by the activity of water, ice, snow, air, plants, animals, and humans.

Question 3

desertification

Answer 3

Desertification is a type of land degradation in drylands in which biological productivity is lost due to natural processes or induced by human activities where fertile areas then become increasingly arid.

Question 4

dam

Answer 4

A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption and industrial use.

Question 5

physical pollutants

Answer 5

Physical pollution is the introduction of discarded materials into the environment, what we refer to as trash.

Question 6

chemical pollutants

Answer 6

Chemical pollution is defined as the presence or increase in our environment of chemical pollutants that are not naturally present there or are found in amounts higher than their natural background values

Question 7

biological pollutants

Answer 7

Biological pollution is the impact of humanity’s actions on the quality of aquatic and terrestrial environment. Specifically, biological pollution is the introduction of non-indigenous and invasive species.

Question 8

climate change

Answer 8

Climate change refers to long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns. These shifts may be natural, but since the 1800s, human activities have been the main driver of climate change, primarily due to the burning of fossil fuels, which produces heat-trapping gases.

Question 9

salinity

Answer 9

Salinity is the saltiness or amount of salt dissolved in a body of water, called saline water.

Question 10

global warming

Answer 10

Global warming is the long-term heating of Earth’s climate system observed since the pre-industrial period (between 1850 and 1900) due to human activities, primarily fossil fuel burning, which increases heat-trapping greenhouse gas levels in Earth’s atmosphere.

Question 11

deforestation

Answer 11

Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use.

Question 12

drylands salinity

Answer 12

Dryland salinity is the build-up of salts in the soil and groundwater in non-irrigated areas

Question 13

greenhouse effect

Answer 13

The greenhouse effect is a natural process that warms the Earth’s surface. When the Sun’s energy reaches the Earth’s atmosphere, some of it is reflected back to space and some is absorbed and re-radiated by greenhouse gases. … The absorbed energy warms the atmosphere and the surface of the Earth

Question 14

greenhouse gas

Answer 14

A greenhouse gas is a gas that absorbs and emits radiant energy within the thermal infrared range, causing the greenhouse effect.

Question 15

insolation

Answer 15

the amount of solar radiation reaching a certain area

Question 16

enhanced greenhouse effect

Answer 16

The enhanced greenhouse effect, sometimes referred to as climate change or global warming, is the impact on the climate from the additional heat retained due to the increased amounts of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that humans have released into the earths atmosphere since the industrial revolution

Question 17

sustainability

Answer 17

meeting our own needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Question 18

3 sources of carbon dioxide causing air pollution

Answer 18

• fossil fuel combustion
• industrial processes
• natural gas processing

Question 19

how has land clearing effected Australian soil and what is the impact

Answer 19

Land clearing destroys plants and local ecosystems and removes the food and habitat on which other native species rely. Clearing allows weeds and invasive animals to spread, affects greenhouse gas emissions and can lead to soil degradation, such as erosion and salinity, which can affect water quality.

Question 20

key human activities that increase greenhouse gases and climate change

Answer 20

• burning fossil fuels
• cutting down forests
• farming livestock.

Question 21

description of enhanced greenhouse effect and how it occurs

Answer 21

half of the sun’s radiation that travels toward the earth never makes it to the earth’s surface. Clouds and the atmosphere reflect some radiation back toward the sun. The rest of the radiation reaches the earth, where it’s absorbed by oceans and land. This keeps the earth warm and sustains plant, animal, and human life. The earth also releases heat back toward space. Some of this heat passes through the atmosphere, but most of it is captured and retained by greenhouses gasses before it can escape.

Question 22

main causes of deforestation

Answer 22

he most common pressures causing deforestation and severe forest degradation are agriculture, unsustainable forest management, mining, infrastructure projects and increased fire incidence and intensity.

Question 23

why is the protection of rainforests important on a global scale

Answer 23

Rain forests act like the lungs of earth that provide us with clean air which we depend on for our survival. The absorption of carbon dioxide also helps to stabilize the Earth’s climate.
The preservation of our rainforests is the best, most cost-effective defence we have against the loss of biodiversity and the current climate crisis. When these tropical forests experience rapid deforestation, harmful greenhouse gases are released back into the atmosphere.

Question 24

2 sustainable strategies to manage deforestation

Answer 24

• Recycling paper and cardboard to reduce the need to harvest trees and other raw materials and allows products to be used to their full extent
• Stop buying products with palm oil in them. Palm oil production has become one of the main causes of tropical rainforest destruction around the world today. Finding alternatives to palm oil products will help our planet greatly.

Question 25

description of carbon cycle

Answer 25

1. Carbon moves from the atmosphere to plants.
2. Carbon moves from plants to animals.
3. Carbon moves from plants and animals to soils.
4. Carbon moves from living things to the atmosphere.
5. Carbon moves from fossil fuels to the atmosphere when fuels are burned.
6. Carbon moves from the atmosphere to the oceans.