How humans affect the environment: Waste/Deforestation Flashcards
What is ecology?
the scientific study of the relationships between living organisms and their environment
Why are humans affecting ecology?
human population is increasing
What are the implications of an increasing population?
- demand better standard of living
- more waste, pollution and loss of raw materials (non-renewable)
Name four ways humans reduce land for plants and animals
- building
- quarrying
- waste
- farming
Name three types of pollution that human activities have caused
- water
- air
- land
How is water being polluted?
- sewage - can cause high level of nitrates
- fertiliser
- toxic chemicals - landfills - killing organisms - fish
How is air being polluted?
- smoke
- gases e.g. carbon/sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide leading to acid rain
How is land being polluted?
- toxic chemicals/sewage need to remove gut parasites
- pesticides/herbicides - washed away from land into water
- fertilisers
- farming methods
What are used as indicators of air pollution?
lichens (algae/fungus) - bushier, cleaner air
What are used as indicators of water pollution?
presence or absence of invertebrate animals
freshwater shrimps only live on unpolluted water
How is sulpur and nitric oxides formed?
- burning of fossil fuels
- high temp of car engines
How do they form acids?
- dissolve in rainwater react with oxygen
Effects of acid rain
- lakes- kills fish
- trees - leaves/soil
- breathing
- corrodes limestone
How to control acid rain
- catalytic converters
- low sulfur petrol/diesel
- chimney clean flue gases in power stations
What is deforestation?
removal/destuction of areas of woodland/forests
what does deforestation provide/
more land - for crops/farming - biogases/cattle
more timber
How has deforestation increases level of carbon dioxide?
- burning trees from combustion
- respiration of micro-organisms
- dead trees - reduced removal of carbon dioxide in air
Effect of biodiversity
loss of biodiversity- means destroying sources ofnew medicines and food
methane
- cattle: digestive processes
- paddy fields: rice growing in swampy conditions
peat bogs
acts as carbon store due to acidic conditions - but wehn burned releases carbon dioxide
Control peat by
using peat free composts
What is the greenhouse effect?
- energy from sun reaches earth
- radiated back to space
- greenhouse gases absorb energy - do not escape
- provides warm atmosphere: vital for life on earth
Effect of Global Warming
- rise in sea levels as a result of polar ice caps
- high winds
- change in distribution
- change in migration patterns
- reduced biodiversity
What is global dimming?
- increase in solid particles
- reflect sunlight so less light hits surface of earth
- hence a dimming effect
- leads to cooling of Earth
