LE 17: Human Impact, Climate Change, Environmental (in)Justice Flashcards
What factors lead to an increase in CO2 and average temperatures on Earth?
loss of forests + wetlands and an increase in emissions
How does climate change affect the ocean?
It absorbs a lot of the heat an buffers it but the temperature change albeit small, affects aquatic organisms
- ex. coral bleaching
How does deforestation contribute to climate change? How does it impact us?
dryer local climate is produced
- less carbon sequestration = more CO2 = global temperatures increase
Desertification occurs = less food is able to be grown
- food security issues (def: having physical, social, and economic to sufficient, safe, and nutritions foods that meets their food preferences and dietary needs for a healthy life)
-lowest in Africa, S. America, SE Asia
How do. trophic efficiencies affect human population in terms of food?
higher food security if we eat more plants and less meat
- feeding livestock = more fuel and resources used to grow, package, and ship the grain
How is fragmentation caused and linked to climate change? How does it affect organisms?
Caused by:
- deforestation
- agricultural endeavors that ≠ part of natural habitat
- city building + residential areas
Results in less interior and more edge
- organisms can live in either, closed, open, or edge habitats
- change in balance = affects relative abundance of species that live there
What is anthropogenic noise and how does it affect organisms?
Noise caused by humans that affects organisms
- studied mostly in birds and frogs because they use calls to find mates
Effects:
1. isolation of populations = lower genetic diversity
2. increase of predation
- animals ≠ hear calls = weaker responses to alarm call
- affects animals that rely on their sensory systems
What is environmental injustice? How does climate change contribute to this injustice?
When rich people benefit from activities that harms environment disproportionately near poor people.
Climate change causes more inequity
1. wealthier countries affected by climate change take resources away from other countries
- areas that rely on farming = desertification
2. countries with high exposure to climate extremes = more undernourished population
How does bottling water contribute to environmental injustice?
water is pumped and bottled from freshwater areas that ≠ have enough water to sustain their populations
- people have to drink unsafe water = become ill
- more plastic waste = affects wildlife
- water rates increase = harder to afford water in households
How does outdoor recreation and tourism contribute to environmental injustice?
Economic benefit when people sightseeing/ outdoor recreation BUT people who built those areas ≠ benefit from it
- Japanese internment caps built the Catalina Highway in Arizona and ≠ benefit from it
- National parks are built on indigenous lands = force indigenous people out of the land and they ≠ benefit from the tourism
How does mining contribute to environmental injustice?
Uranium mines were abandoned after they were used for nuclear power and weren’t capped properly
- people who live in the area are exposed to the radioactive material
What can we do?
Buy clothes that are more sustainable.
Buy less bottled water unless needed.
Know where you are traveling to and its history.
