Quiz 3 Study Guide Flashcards

Question

What is Clear-cutting as a method of harvest?

Answer 1

Most timber has been harvested by clear cutting in which all trees in an area are cut at once. Clear cutting is cost efficient and to some extent it can mimic natural disturbance events such as fires, tornadoes, or windstorms. There are ways to harvest forests that are not clear cutting: Seed tree or shelter system Selection system

Answer 2

Aims to minimize impact on the ecological processes that provide the resource. Many certified sustainable forestry plans protect certain forested areas, restore ecologically important habitats, and consider patterns at the landscape level, allowing timber harvesting while preserving the ecological processes and functional integrity of the forest ecosystem.

Answer 3

Erosion - Causes silt in streams which hurts water quality, pollution, and ﬁsh losses (like salmon who cannot reproduce in silty water) Habitat loss / species loss Nutrient depletion Not as much carbon gets stored Loss of intangible values Specialists species or species that are most endangered are from old growth forests. Clear cut forests have higher diversity, but only because they are harboring plentiful species.

Answer 4

North America’s timber industry focuses on production from plantations of fast-growing tree species planted in single species monocultures. Because all trees in a given stand are planted at the same time, the stands are even-aged, with all trees the same age. Stands are cut after a certain number of years (called the rotation time), and the land is replanted with seedlings. Plantation forestry is growing worldwide, and today fully 7% of the world’s forests are plantations. One quarter of these feature non-native species. When a plantation replaces a natural forest, the community undergoes simplification. Indeed, ecologists and foresters view plantations more as a crop agriculture than as ecologically functional forests. Because there are few tree species and little variation in tree age, plantations do not offer many forest organisms the habitat they need. Plantations lack the structural complexity that characterizes a natural forest. Plantations are also vulnerable to outbreaks of pest species.

Answer 5

Affords the ability to sell wood for a higher price which allows higher proﬁtability because the logging company has internalized the externalities of traditional logging Green certiﬁcation for wood has not taken off like organic food. Likely to fail because perception of value, missing the personal perception of health connection. Land set-asides - “land trusts” A private organization, generally local or regional, that preserves lands valued by its members. In most cases, land trusts purchase land outright with the aim of preserving it in its natural condition.

Answer 6

Tropical deforestation accounted for more than 32% of total global forest loss, nearly half of which occurred in South American tropical rainforests. Deforestation of tropical dry forests of South America had the highest rate of tropical forest loss, due to deforestation dynamics in the Chaco woodlands of Argentina, Paraguay, and Bolivia - NOT in BRAZIL! - mostly related to agrobusinesses.

Answer 7

``` Tropical deforestation occurs in tropical latitudes Linked to environmental change at a global scale Debate centers around the rate of forest cover change and the causes of this change Single factor causation (shifting cultivation, population growth, agriculture expansion) Irreducible complexity (multiple cultivation, population growth, agricultural expansion) factors that interact with each other in such a complex way that no traceable pattern emerges) ```

Answer 8

``` Food Timber Photosynthesis / oxygen Paper Medicines Nutrient cycling Water cycling Climate moderation Hazard mitigations (Mangrove forests) Carbon storage (I.e. Climate change) ```

Answer 9

Indigenous footprint - long term residents living in ancestral territories Patchy deforestation pattern, relatively small patches, somewhat dispersed around the village center, intermittent or cyclic pattern of deforestation and regrowth Colonist footprint - colonists from other places Fish-bone deforestation pattern, usually following road infrastructure, more intense when closer to a road, highly fragmented landscape Agribusiness footprint - most concerned about this type of commercial deforestation Regular deforestation patterns, regular shapes, somewhat radial to center of production, highly fragmented landscape

Answer 10

Environmental justice involves the fair and equitable treatment of all people with respect to environmental policy and practice, regardless of their income, race, or ethnicity.

Answer 11

Studies across North America repeatedly document that poor and nonwhite communities each bear heavier burdens of air pollution, lead poisoning, pesticide exposure, toxic waste exposure, and workplace hazards. This is thought to occur because lower income and minority communities often have less access to information on environmental health risks, less political power with which to protect their interests, and less money to spend on avoiding or alleviating risks. Environmental justice proponents also sometimes blame institutionalized racism and inadequate government policies.

Answer 12

(can point to it) - sewer line pollution, factory smoke stack

Answer 13

(can't directly point to it - e.g. Cannot say one car is the fault of all pollution) - farms with fertilizer pollution, cars

Answer 14

Sulfur dioxide which is a primary pollutant produced by coal and oil burning

Answer 15

Nitrogen dioxide which is a primary pollutant produced by vehicles, powerplants (fossil fuels)

Answer 16

Clean Air Act (1963, major strengthening amendments in 1970 and later) Regulates air pollution in the US. Federal EPA sets standards for concentrations of air pollutants. States do the implementation if states are not properly enforcing then the EPA will override the state. US federal legislation to control air pollution that funds research into pollution control, sets standards for air quality, imposes limits on emissions from new stationary and mobile sources, enables citizens to sue parties violating the standards, and introduces an emissions trading program for sulfur dioxide. First enacted in 1963 and amended multiple times, particularly in 1970 and 1990. Standards are set to protect all people from harm even vulnerable populations (I.e. Babies, asthmatics, elderly) - all about human health

Answer 17

1. Carbon monoxide which is a primary pollutant produced by fossil fuel burning by vehicles, engines, etc. (down 70%, but bonds with hemoglobin in the blood more effectively than oxygen and is fatal) 2. Sulfur dioxide which is a primary pollutant produced by coal and oil burning (causes industrial smog and acid rain) 3. Nitrogen dioxide which is a primary pollutant produced by vehicles, powerplants (fossil fuels) (causes photochemical smog - sunlight blocking) 4. Ozone (low altitude) different than the ozone layer (secondary pollutant, usually a result of oxides of nitrogen and volatile organic compounds VOCs) 5. Particulate matter is from fossil fuel burning 6. Lead is from fossil fuel burning, a neurotoxin, biomagniﬁes (as you go up the food chain lead levels increase)

Answer 18

Emissions trading (“cap-and-trade”) is the policy approach for some pollutants - A permit trading system in which government determines an acceptable level of pollution and then issues polluting parties permits to pollute. A polluting party receives credit for amounts it does not emit and can then sell this credit to other parties. A type of emissions trading system.

Answer 19

Market based approaches: factories that pollute less outcompete polluting factories through permit trading, avoiding green taxes, collecting subsidies, or selling ecolabeled products. Polluting factory must find ways to cut emissions to survive in marketplace.

Answer 20

Acid rain causes acidification of lakes and streams and contributes to the damage of trees at high elevations (for example, red spruce trees above 2,000 feet) and many sensitive forest soils. In addition, acid rain accelerates the decay of building materials and paints, including irreplaceable buildings, statues, and sculptures that are part of our nation's cultural heritage. Prior to falling to the earth, sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxide (NOx) gases and their particulate matter derivatives—sulfates and nitrates—contribute to visibility degradation and harm public health.

Answer 21

Sulfur dioxide which is a primary pollutant produced by coal and oil burning (causes industrial smog and acid rain)

Answer 22

As emissions of sulfur dioxide have decreased, we have noticed some improvement in the atmosphere in recent years. Lakes and streams have been slower to respond, but we have begun to see improvement.

Answer 23

The ozone layer is a portion of the stratosphere, roughly 17-30 km (10-19 mi) above sea level, that contains most of the ozone in the atmosphere. Term popularly used to describe the thinning of the stratospheric ozone layer that occurs over Antarctica each year, as a result of ozone-depleting substances.

Answer 24

Hole in the ozone was really a thinning of the ozone, caused mainly by CFCs by millions of metric tons of these. Airborne chemicals, such as halocarbons, that destroy ozone molecules and thin the ozone layer in the stratosphere.

Answer 25

International treaty ratified in 1987 in which 180 signatory nations agreed to restrict production of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in order to forestall stratospheric ozone depletion.

Answer 26

180+ nations signed including the US to reduce the production of ozone depleting chemicals.

Answer 27

Production of CFCs has fallen more than 95%. Ozone will likely recover sometime mid century to its pre-CFC damage state.

Answer 28

International issues with the disparities between countries deciding what is air quality levels

Answer 29

Increased air pollution is located around areas with a lower socioeconomic status.

Answer 30

Many synthetic chemicals ~100,000 Novel to our bodies, we were never exposed to these things before. Often concentrated and designed to be biologically active. Pesticides are designed to kill pests. Perfumes are designed to be noticed by the olfactory senses. Medicines are designed to address health ailments.

Answer 31

Because so many substances are carried by the wind, synthetic chemicals are ubiquitous worldwide, even in seemingly pristine areas. Earth’s polar regions are particularly contaminated because natural patterns of global atmospheric circulation tend to move airborne chemicals toward the poles. Thus, although we manufacture and apply synthetic substances mainly in temperate and tropical regions, contaminants are strikingly concentrated in the tissues of Arctic polar bears, Antarctic penguins, and people living in Greenland. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) which are byproducts of chemicals used in transformers and other electrical equipment, are one such example. Effects can also occur over relatively shorter distances. Pesticides can be carried by air currents to sites far away from agricultural fields in a process called pesticide drift. Frogs in the mountains of the Sierra Nevada, for example, have experienced population declines associated with pesticide drift from agriculture in California’s nearby Central Valley region.

Answer 32

- Although many toxicologists focus on synthetic chemicals, toxic substances also exist naturally in the environment around us and in the foods we eat. Thus, it would be a mistake to assume that all artificial substances are unhealthy and that all natural substances are unhealthy and that all natural substances are healthy. In fact, the plants and animals we eat contain many chemicals that can cause us harm. Recall that plants produce toxins to ward off animals that eat them. in domesticating crop plants, we have selected for strains with reduced toxin content, but we have not eliminated these dangers. Furthermore, when we consume animal meat, we ingest toxins the animals obtained from plants or animals they ate. Scientists are actively debating just how much risk natural toxicants pose, and it is clear that more research is required on these questions.

Answer 33

A chemical or type of radiation that causes cancer.

Answer 34

A toxicant that causes mutations in DNA of organisms.

Answer 35

A toxicant that causes harm to the unborn, resulting in birth defects.

Answer 36

A toxicant that assaults the nervous system. Neurotoxins include heavy metals, pesticides, and some chemical weapons developed for use in war.

Answer 37

A toxicant that interferes with the endocrine (hormone) system.

Answer 38

A curve that plots the response of test animals to different doses of a toxicant, as a result of dose-response analysis.

Answer 39

The amount of a toxicant it takes to kill 50% of a population of test animals.

Answer 40

Sometimes a response may decrease as a dose increases. Toxicologists are finding that some dose-response curves are U-shaped, J-shaped, or shaped like an inverted U. Such counter-intuitive curves contradict toxicology’s traditional assumption that “the dose makes the poison.” These unconventional dose-response curves often occur with endocrine disruptors, likely because the hormone system is geared to respond to minute concentrations of substances (normally, hormones in the bloodstream). Because the endocrine system responds to minuscule amounts of chemicals, it may be vulnerable to disruption by contaminants that reach our bodies in very low concentrations. In research with bisphenol A, a number of studies with lab animals have found unconventional dose-response curves.

Answer 41

Wealthy nations ship much of their e-waste to developing countries, where low-income workers disassemble the devices and handle toxic materials with minimal safety regulations. These environmental justice concerns need to be resolved if electronics recycling is to be conducted safely and responsibly.

Answer 42

Discarded electronic products such as computers, monitors, printers, DVD players, cell phones, and other devices. Heavy metals in these products mean that this waste may be judged hazardous.

Answer 43

Recent research suggests that e-waste should be instead treated as hazardous waste, so the EPA and a number of states are taking steps to do so now.

Answer 44

Manufacturers need to find a way to design products to last, biodegrade, and be non-toxic.

Answer 45

Manufacturers have monetary incentive to get us to buy new (toxic) products often, but no incentive to better design products for recycling or the environment. As customers/buyers/users of electronics, we’re all perpetuating a flawed system that is based on: – Short term gains for manufacturers, and – Long term impacts for the planet and life on the planet

Answer 46

Of the electronic items we discard, roughly four of five go to conventional sanitary landfills and incinerators. However, most electronic porducts contain heavy metals and toxic flame retardants. About 70% of the heavy metals (including lead, mercury and cadmium) found in US landfills comes from e-waste.

Answer 47

Currently, 180 nations have ratified BC (most countries). US is the only developed country that has not ratified the UN’s Basel Convention… …and developing countries cannot legally trade in haz waste with US

Answer 48

Adopted in 1989 in response to dumping scandals. Went into legal force 1992. Original intent was to prevent developed countries from shipping hazardous waste to developing countries, but this was blocked at last minute by US & a few other countries. Now requires a Prior Informed Consent protocol between Basel countries.

Answer 49

New solutions are being proposed to address deforestation in developing nations. Some conservation organizations are buying concessions and using them to preserve forest rather than cut it down. Others are pursuing community-based conservation. Carbon offsets are central to emerging international plans to curb deforestation and climate change together. Forest loss accounts for 12-25% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions - as much as all the world’s vehicles emit. Thus, at recent international climate conferences, negotiators have outlined a program called Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD), whereby wealthy industrialized nations would pay poorer developing nations to conserve forest. Under this plan, poor nations would gain income while rich nations would receive carbon credits to offset their emissions.

Answer 50

Today’s advanced technology allows these countries to exploit their resources and push back their frontiers even faster than occurred in North America. As a result, deforestation is rapid in places such as Brazil, Indonesia, and West Africa. Tropical forests in these areas are home to far more biodiversity than the temperate forests of North America. Of all the services forests provide, their storage of carbon has elicited great interest as nations debate how to control global climate change. Because trees absorb carbon dioxide from the air during photosynthesis and then store carbon in their tissues, forests serve as a major reservoir for carbon. In fact, scientists estimate that the plants and soil of the world’s forests store more carbon than the entire atmosphere contains. When plant matter is burned or when it decomposes, carbon dioxide is released and thereafter less vegetation remains to soak it up. Therefore, when we cut forests, we release CO2 to the atmosphere and we worsen global climate change. The more forests we preserve or restore, the better we can address climate change.

Answer 51

Developing nations are often desperate enough for economic development and foreign capital that they impose few or no restrictions on logging. Often they allow their timber to be extracted by foreign multinational corporations, which pay fees to the developing nation’s government for a concession, or right to extract the resource. Once a concession is granted, the corporation has little incentive to manage forest resources sustainably. Most economic benefits are short term, reaped not by local residents but by the foreign corporations. Local people may receive temporary employment, but once the timber is gone they no longer have the forest and the ecosystem services it had provided. Moreover, much of the wood extracted in developing nations is exported to Europe and North America. In this way, our consumption of high-end furniture and other wood products in developed nations can fuel forest destruction in poorer nations.

Answer 52

Laboratory and epidemiological studies demonstrate that UVB causes nonmelanoma skin cancer and plays a major role in malignant melanoma development. In addition, UVB has been linked to cataracts -- a clouding of the eye’s lens. All sunlight contains some UVB, even with normal stratospheric ozone levels. It is always important to protect your skin and eyes from the sun. Ozone layer depletion increases the amount of UVB and the risk of health effects.

Answer 53

As long as there is a cultural or functional incentive for us to buy new products often, but no incentive to purchase longer lasting products, the solution to e-waste will remain illusive. Also, the manufacturers have no incentive to stop producing new products.

Answer 54

To prevent the globalization of the environ- mental health crisis: ● Prevent toxic trade – the externalization of risks & costs to poor communities in developing countries ● Promote a toxics-free future -- through green design and minimizing consumption ● Promote the principle of global environmental justice – everybody has a right to a pollution-free environment

Answer 55

Use globally responsible e-Stewards Recyclers • Standard written by Basel Action Network, based on: - Basel Convention & Amendment to BC - Worker health & safety - Keep toxics out of solid waste facilities - No prisoners recycling hazardous e-waste • Accredited 3rd certification program party

Answer 56

Life cycle engineering Extended Producer Responsibility – Manufacturers of new equipment required to take back their products FREE – Manufacturers had to stop using 6 toxins (with some exceptions) in July 2006 – EU passed law (BC Amendment) not to export haz waste to developing countries