Lecture 7 Flashcards

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1
Q

What are anthropogenic changes in ecosystems?

A

Changes that occur as a result of human activity.

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2
Q

What are human activities that adversely affect ecological resilience?

A
  1. Reduction of biodiversity
  2. Exploitation
  3. Pollution
  4. Land use/habitat loss
  5. Anthropogenic climate change
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3
Q

What is biodiversity?

A

The variety of life on earth at all its levels from genes to ecosystems, and can encompass the evolutionary, ecological, and cultural processes that sustain life.

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4
Q

What are 3 types of biodiversity?

A
  1. Genes - variety of genetic makeup within species
  2. Species - variety of species in a given area
  3. Ecosystem - variety of habitats, ecosystems and communities
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5
Q

How many species are estimated to be on the earth?

A

Range from 8 - 100 million.

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6
Q

How many species have been identified on the earth?

A

1.9 million.

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7
Q

What makes up most of the species?

A

Insects.

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8
Q

Why is biodiversity important?

A
  1. Humans are dependent on the services the ecosystems provide such as water, pollination, soil, food, and medicine
  2. Natural resources are woven into every aspect of our lives
  3. Humans are dependent on the earth’s resources
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9
Q

What is the result of loss of biodiversity in ecosystems?

A

Ecosystems are less likely to provide the resources that humans are reliant on, which causes issues.

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10
Q

What is the result of extinction?

A

It may result in other species becoming extinct, as all living things are connected.

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11
Q

What are two types of natural resources?

A
  1. Renewable
  2. Non-renewable
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12
Q

What are renewable resources?

A

Resources that are inexhaustible or for which the renewal is relatively rapid.

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13
Q

What are non-renewable resources?

A

Resources that are limited or regeneration involves the passage of many years.

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14
Q

What are examples of natural resources that are exploited?

A

Penicillin, morphine, cancer chemotherapeutics.

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15
Q

What percentage of the world’s population rely on animal or plant base materials?

A

80%

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16
Q

How many essential chemicals have been identified?

A

252.

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17
Q

What percentage of essential chemicals come from plants and from animals?

A

11.1% from plants and 8.7% from animals

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18
Q

What is the result of a poor understanding biology and ecology?

A

Dramatic changes in the ecosystem.

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19
Q

When does over-exploitation occur?

A

When the harvest rate of any given population exceeds its natural replacement rate, which can threaten essential resources for future generations.

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20
Q

What are examples of industries that receive the most backlash for their impacts on the environment?

A
  1. Fossil fuels - energy and fuel for warmth and transportation
  2. Timber/wood - building materials for shelter
  3. Fish - food for ourselves and our animals
  4. Agriculture - food, clothing, textiles raw materials
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21
Q

What might happen if we reach carrying capacity of earth for our species?

A

Food shortages, energy wars, civil conflict, etc.

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22
Q

What percent of earth’s surface shows some form of human modification?

A

95%

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23
Q

What percentage of earth’s surface bears multiple forms on human impact?

A

85%

24
Q

What are examples of land use?

A
  1. Human settlement
  2. Agriculture
  3. Transportation
  4. Mining and energy production
  5. Electrical infrastructure
25
Q

What is most land use used for?

A

Agricultural purposes.

26
Q

What percentage of food produced is not eaten?

A

40%

27
Q

What is the global annual food waste?

A

1.6 billion tons

28
Q

What are 2 types of food waste?

A
  1. Pre-consumer
  2. Post-consumer
29
Q

What percentage of food waste is from post consumer?

A

50-60%

30
Q

What are countries have the highest food loss per capita?

A

The U.S. and Europe.

31
Q

In 2016 how many people went hungry?

A

690 million.

32
Q

What restaurant chain was discussed in class?

A

McDonalds.

33
Q

How many tons of waste and green house gas result from McDonalds?

A

1.5 million tons and 54 million metric tons of green house gas.

34
Q

What was the first restaurant to address green house gas?

A

McDonalds.

35
Q

What percentage of freshwater is lost?

A

25%

36
Q

How many barrels of oil are used to produce food that is wasted?

A

300 million barrels.

37
Q

How much money is lost as a result of food waste?

A

$250-940 billion.

38
Q

How much land is devoted to food waste?

A

5.4 million sq miles.

39
Q

How big would the country made out of land devoted to food waste be?

A

The second largest behind Russia.

40
Q

What is the largest component of American landfills and green house gas?

A

Food waste.

41
Q

What percentage of green house gas in the world comes from America?

A

6.7%, the 3rd largest emitter.

42
Q

What are good things about fossil fuels?

A
  1. It is efficient
  2. It is coinvent
  3. It is well established (logistics/practicality)
43
Q

How are fossil fuels efficient?

A

Organic material from ancient plants and microbes are compressed and heated into dense deposits of carbon. (It reuses materials)

44
Q

How are fossil fuels convinient?

A

It is easy to collect and store.

45
Q

How are fossil fuels good logistically?

A

They have been used for the past 2 centuries and our entire lives depend on and are intertwined with energy produced by fossil fuels.

46
Q

What is bad about fossil fuels?

A
  1. Produces greenhouse gas - Carbon dioxide is the most dominant greenhouse gas and the destruction of carbon sinks
  2. global consumption of energy has increased
  3. It is difficult to find an alternative
47
Q

What is global warming?

A

The long-term warming of the planet, which is one aspect of climate change.

48
Q

What is climate change?

A

A broad range of changes that includes shrinking glaciers, accelerating ice melt in the poles, shifts in flower/bloom times, precipitation, and wind.

49
Q

What do skeptics of climate change say?

A
  1. That it’s a hoax
  2. That it is a very small change and is irrelevant
  3. There is contradicting information
  4. Mars undergoes climate change too, so it’s not because of us
  5. There was a warming pause in 1998
50
Q

What do supporters of climate change say?

A
  1. Climate change rate is faster than in the past
  2. Scientific information supports it
  3. It causes extreme heat, hurricanes, etc.
51
Q

Is it a scientific fact or misleading information that “2020 was a record year for hurricanes caused by warmer oceans”

A
  1. Advances in technology allow us to identify more storms
  2. Global cooling in the late 1900 caused the second strongest cyclone
  3. The strongest storm occurred after the cooling period and the deadliest occurred after the cooling period
52
Q

What percentage of Americans believe climate change is caused by human activity?

A

61%

53
Q

What percentage of Americans believe that climate change is caused by natural patterns?

A

28%

54
Q

What percentage of Americans believe that there is no solid evidence that climate change is occurring?

A

10%

55
Q

What faith figures have spoken about environmental awareness?

A
  1. Pope Francis
  2. National Council of Churches
  3. Major leaders in Jewish, Muslim, and Hindu
56
Q
A