Human Indluences On The Enviroment Flashcards
What do humans need from the environment
Food for population Materials to build homes schools industries Fuel to heat homes and power vehicles Space to build Space to dump waste
What is pollution
Releasing substances into the environment in AMOUNTS that cause harmful effects which biological processes cannot easily remove . Small amounts of carbon dioxide / sulfuro dioxide can easily be removed and over time made harmless but the large number of pollutants pose the problem
How do we pollute
Modern agriculture building other industries individual actions releases pollutants we pollute land air and water with lots of chemicals and heat
What are the main sources of air pollution
Carbon dioxide carbon monoxide sulfur dioxide nitrogen oxides methane and cfcs
What has caused CO2 increase
Increase in burning fossil fuels like petrol , made worse by removal of large forest areas as they absorb CO2 . Deforestation means less carbon is absorbed
What does CO2 do
Increased levels contribute to global warming as it’s a green house gas and firms a layer in the earths atmosphere it absorbs and re emits long wave radiation
What is the greenhouse affect
Short wave radiation from the sun strikes the planet , some is absorbed and some is re emitted as longer wave radiation . GG absorb and then re emit towards earth some of the long wave radiation that would ususalky escape , warming the atmosphere if there were no green house gases the earth would be same temperature as the moon
What are the greenhouse gases
Nitrogen oxides , water vapour , CFCs carbon dioxide methane
What is the effect of global warming
Polar ice caps melt , change in ocean currents warm water directed to cooler areas , change in rainfall more water in sea mor evaporation more rainfall , species extinction , sea level rise , more abundant pests
How can you reduce green hisue gas emisión
Reduce fossil fuel burning , stop de fire station , legislation
Deforestation consequence
Destruction of habitats , extinction , global warming , soil lacks protective canopy after trees are cut and is not held together by treee roots so storms cause large scale erosion . Trees no longer transpire water vapour leding to disruption of the water cycle changing rainfall pattern and drought .
How is carbon monoxide formed
When substances containing carbon are burnt in limited supply of oxygen like when petrol and diesel is burnt in vehicle engine, exhaust gases contain sig amount of co. Dangerous as it’s colourless oderkess and tasteless and can cause death by asphyxiation as haemoglobin bind more strongly with CO than oxygen so haemoglobin can’t bind with oxygen and person loses consciousness and dies due to lack of oxugen
What does sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides do
Important pollutant as major constituent of acid rain , fined when fossil fuels burn and carried in atmosphere until it combines with water vapour from clouds to make rain water to form acid rain. Lichens are an indicator species of sulfur dioxide pollution , orange crusty means high levels and grubby lichens on trees mean very low levels . Nitrogen oxides also constituents and are formed when petrol and diesel are burned in vehicle engines
What does acid rain lead to
Death of conifers , acidification or soil and lakes which kills fish and makes root hairs less effective at absorbing minerals , slowing tree growth
Acidification of lakes - death of bacteria and Algae , death of fish and amphibian eggs , change in ecosystem
What is methane
Organic gas , produced when microorganismos ferment larger organic molecules to release energy e.g decomposition if waste in landfill sites , fermentation by microorganismos in the rumen of cattle , fermentation by bacteria in rice paddy fields . It’s a greenhouse gas each molecule has a larger effect than CO2
