Important figures Flashcards
Amount of nitrogen in earths atmosphere
78 percent
How much did fossil fuel combustion contributed to an increase of NOx
6 to 7 fold increase
How much oxygen is in air?
20.9 percent
How much do green algea and cyanobacteria produce of total amount of oxgygen
70 percent
Chemical formula for aerobic respiration
basically a reverse photosynthesis C6H12O6 + 6O2 –> 6 CO2 + 6H2O + 2880 kJ mol-1
Formula for photosynthesis
6CO2 + 6 H20 + hv –> C6H12O6 (glucose) + 6O2
How much of the contained energy is passed on to its predator?
10 percent
How much of the primary production is done by forests?
half of the primary production
How many species are contained in the IUCN Red list
16.000 threatened species
How many species exist?
- 000 plants
1. 2 million animals (including 1 million insects)
When is rain considered to be acid?
pH smaller than 5
How many chemical compounds are produced regularly?
100,000
What is the maximum residue limit of pesticides in water?
For ground and drinking water it is typically 0,1 microgram per liter.
Which factor of bioaccumulation of persistent organic pollutants in the food chain can be reached?
10,000,000
Since 1970, how many pieces of EU legislation have been passed in the environmental sector?
250 pieces, including 7 environmental action programmes
What are, according to the Lisbon Agenda 2005, the three pillars of sustainable development?
Economic growth, social equilibrium and environmental quality
How much of the total GHG is produced by transport?
30 percent of the energy consumption and GHG emissions
How many European surface water bodies are seriously threatened by pollution through nitrates and pesticides
20 percent
How much did the usage of nitrogen fertilizers increase in the EU during the last 50 years?
10-fold
Soil usage by sector in the EU
36% forests, 47% agriculture and 17% other use
How much of the Earth’s land area is covered by forests
1/3
What is the carbon uptake of forests in the EU?
10%
How much of rainforests have been destroyed?
1/5 of the worlds tropical rainforests between 1960 and 1990.
How much of the total land surface do rain forests account for?
5 percent, but they host 50% of vegetal and animal species
How much of the forests and woodlands have been lost in Africa between 1975 and 2000?
Around 16%
When did the Neolithic revolution occurr? (Introduction of agriculture)
10,000 years ago
How much spare land needed a person to survive in the hunter and gathering era?
1000ha
How much land needed a person with the introduction of agriculture in order to survive?
100ha
How much did person needed to survive with the introduction with industrialized agriculture?
10ha
How much land is needed per person today?
Less than 1ha
By how much did the world population increase in the last 50 years
it doubled (100% increase)
Area needed for 1kg of vegetables
1sqm
Areas needed for 1 kg of beef
250sqm
How many percent of global food production is meat and which ratio of land is used for it?
5% of global food production is meat but 2/3 of the land is used for that.
how many resources are needed for the production of 1kg of beef (water and feed)
15.000 litre of water and 40kg of feed
How many tons of cereals and vegetables are produced globally per year?
3.000 million tons
how much meat and fish is produced annually?
400 million tons
How much land is globally useable for agriculture?
12% of land surface but only 2,5% are of high value
How much of the global freshwater is used for agriculture?
around 70%
How many people will be affected by severe water shortages by 2030?
2 billion people
How large the fishing zone for coastal states with exclusive fishing rights?
200 miles
How many tons are produced by aquacultures and by fish catching?
60,000,000 tons by aquaculture and 90,000,000 by “conventional” fishing
How much of the global fish production is predicted to be produced by aquacultures in 30 years?
80%
By what factor global food production has to increase when there are 10 billion people? How much agricultural land per capita will that be?
We need to double the production but available land per capita is now 0,25ha and will decrease to 0,15ha
what are the recycling goals of the EU?
50 to 85%
by what factor the global energy production will increase by 2050?
By 100%
What is energy use (tons of oil equivalent per capita) of the USA
6,8 toe
What is energy use (tons of oil equivalent per capita) of the EU27
3,3toe
What is energy use (tons of oil equivalent per capita) of China
2,2 toe
What is energy use (tons of oil equivalent per capita) of India
0,7toe
Global share of oil production
32%
Global share of coal production
27%
Global share of gas production
21%
Global share of biomass and waste production
10%
Global share of nuclear energy production
6%
Global share of hydropower production
2,5%
Global share of geothermal, wind and solar production
1,5%
how much of the global energy production is based on fossil fuels?
80%
How much of global energy production is coming from renewables?
16%
How much of globally known conventional of crude oil have been consumed?
around 50%
How much of globally known conventional of natural gas have been consumed?
around 30%
The concentration of GHG (CO2 N2O (Nitrous oxide) and CH4) has increased from what to what?
It increased from 280ppm to 430 ppm CO2eq (weighted sum of all GHGs)
How much did the temperature increase?
0,9 degree celsius
What were the total GHG emissions (2011)? What is the equivalent in CO2?
34GT/year CO2, 50GT/year CO2eq
how much did the average person in the USA, EU, China and India emit (CO2) in 2011
USA: 17,2t
EU: 7,5t
China: 7,2t
India: 1,6t
By what percentage does the emission rate increase every year?
3 to 5%.
Under the baseline scenario RCP 8,5 IPCC annual emission are predicted to be … GT in 2100?
90GT
RCP 8.5 (BAU) temperature increase in 2100 by … degrees?
3.7 degree celsius (2,6-4,8 range)
RCP 2.6 (Optimal scenario) in 2100 by … degrees?
1.0 degrees (0,3 - 1,7 range)
European Climate change programmes I and II:What is the aim? (Degree celsius and ppm)
2 degree celsius, corresponding to 450ppm CO2
Since when is the kyoto protocol in force
2005
In order to stabilise the climate at 450 ppm CO2equ by 2050, how much do INDUSTRIALIZED countries have to reduce their emissions? (2020, 2050) Global reduction?
Relative to 1990 - 30% by 2020 and -85% by 2050.
Global emission of 50% (rel. to 1990) by 2050 is required
What is the current growth rate of the world population
1.1% (about 75 million per year)
What was the global population in 1750?
0,7 billion
What was the global population in 2012?
7 billion
What will be the global population in 2050
10 billion
What was the global population in 1960?
3 billion
Evolution of population till 2050: Africa, Latin America, Asia, North America, Europe
Africa +100% Latin America + 50% Asia +30% North America + 30% Europe minus 5-10%
What is current urban population percentage in industrialised and non industrialised countries?
80% in industrialised and 50% in developing countries
What is the GDP of the EU
12.000 billion Euro (20% of the global GDP)
How much of the global production and financial services is covered by the WTO?
95% (WTO treaty of 1995 created a virtually borderless world for goods and financial services
Global income distribution: Upper 20% own how much?
83%
Global income distribution: Bottom 20% own how much of global wealth?
2%
How many people live on less than 1$ a day?
1 billion
How many people don’t have proper sanitation services
2,6 billion
How many people don’t have safe access to drinking water
1,1 billion (Will increase to 2 billion by 2030)
How many people are undernourished
400 million
How many people don’t have energy services (e.g. access to electricity)?
2,5 billion people
How much of the total energy consumption of the EU is imported?
85% of the oil and 62% of the Gas
How big is the EU’s bill for energy imports?
350 billion euro per year
What is the share of electricity consumption in energy production?
30%
How much would the global energy shift cost?
500 billion per year, 1% of the global GDP (NB - as much as are global subsidies for fossil fuel production)
Fertilizers typically provide the plant nutrients, which ones?
Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium
Eutrophic lakes usually are
oversupplied with Nitrogen, reduced amount of O2, subject of frequent algae blooms every year
What may contaminate soil?
rupture of underground storage tanks, application of pesticides, percolation of contaminated surface water to subsurface strata, leaching of wastes from landfills or direct discharge of industrial wastes to the soil
Genetic modification of seed material allows to produce plants with new properties:
- Enhanced resistance against insects
- Enhanced resistance against efficient broad band pesticides
- Improved nutrient content.
- Higher drought resistance.
- Higher salt resistance.
Per capita CO2 emissions in the EU were 5, 8, 10 or 17 tons in 2011
8
According to the IPCC and the RCP2.6 Scenario an increase of the temperature by 0, 1, 2 or 4 degree celsius is the optimal scenario?
1 degree by 2100
What is the average salt content in the ocean?
3.5%
To stabilise the climate at 450ppm global emission have to be reduced (relative to 1990) by 25, 40, 50, or 75% by 2050
50%
Modernisation of agriculture has allowed to grow the world population by 20, 50, 100 or 200 percent in the last 50 years
100 % (i.e. it doubled)
Electricity consumption is expected to increase till 2050 by 25, 50, 100 or 200%
100% (to double)
When did first prokaryotes develop on Earth?
3.5 billion years ago
When did the biosphere is said to evolve?
at least 3.5 billion years ago
What what temperature does water have its max. density?
at 4ºC
pH formula
ph = - log [H+]
How much of the Earth’s surface is covered by water? Landmass?
Water 70.8%, land only 29.2%
What is the share of sea water on Earth?
97% seawater, 3% fresh water
When did the most recent withdrawal of ice sheets happen?
10,000 years ago (marking the beginning of the Holocene)
How many of the world’s workers are employed in agriculture today? How much of the gross world product does agricultural production account for?
36% workers with agriculture accounting for only
How much of fresh water is consumed for agriculture globally?
70%
How much waste per does each person in a developed country produce each year?
about 500 kg!
How much will global energy consumption change till 2050?
will more than double
What is the main commitment of the Kyoto Protocol?
to limit global warming to 2ºC corresponding to a maximum of 450ppm CO2equ
What is the share of the euro in the global currency volume?
25% (the euro has become a major currency)
GDP growth of China (and other SE-Asian states?)? GDP growth of the EU?
China & Co. 5-10%, EU 1-3%
What is life expectancy in Africa and Europe?
50 years in Africa, 75 years in Europe
