Science, Technology, and Social Perspectives Flashcards
Pollution and pollution mitigation
- -harmful or poisonous substances
- -some is natural (volcanic eruptions, fire)
human caused
- -fossil fuels (coal and oil)
- -gas byproducts of fossil fuels: carbon monoxide, sulfur oxide, and nitrogen oxide
- -contrib to smog and rain
- -impact animal and plant health
pesticides: insecticides, herbicides enter waterways from soil as runoff
- -accumulate in plants and animals that consume this water
- -birth defects and disease
pollution mitigation: reduce negative impacts of pollution
- -green building: energy and water efficient, uses sustainable wood, concrete, insulation
- -environmental cleanup: physically remove contaminants from water, soil, and air using incineration, chemical treatment, and air stripping
Resource Management
- -goal is to use Earths natural resources in a sustainable efficient manner
- -natural resource use MUST result in minimal waste or pollution
- -will always be waste produced
- -therefore waste management used
- -recycling: recover waste and convert to new products
- -reduce overall waste and consumption of natural resources while reducing harmful byproducts
Conservation
- -protecting natural resources, environments, and ecological communities
- -done thru habitat conservation (preserve natural habitats) and habitat restoration (return habitat back to former state)
- -must alter soil content, use controlled fire, remove silt
- -species protection for sp in danger of extinction
- -place restrictions
- -protect habitats
For proper protection species protection plans rely on scientific understandings of:
- –species biology
- –niche
- –relationship w/environment
Non-point sources of pollution
- -harder to link to specific output
- -these pollutants enter environment over wide area, thru runoff into waterways
this includes: lawn fertilizers, pesticides, urban storm drain water, sediment from erosion prone environments
Point source pollution
- -directly linked to place water is discharged
- -drains and pipes
- -easily identified and managed
Consequences
–hamper economic growth and societal needs
Disaster Management
- -minimize disasters: prepare, respond, recovery
- -disasters lead to human, environmental, and economic losses
- -weather forecasts, radars, surveillance aircraft, satellite data for potential natural hazards
- -post disaster clean up dangerous
- -due to mold, bacteria, chemicals
hurricane cleanup: water pumps, dehumidifiers
oil spill cleanup: physical barriers (booms)
–contain oil and prevent spreads of dispersants
Global Warming, Sea Levels, Flooding
- -global warming due to rapid inc in greenhouse gases
- -climate change: long term shift in Earths climate so precip, wind, temp
- —led to more storms, droughts, floods
- -rising sea levels due to thermal expansion (water expands as warmed up)
- —-damage to life, property, natural habitats
- —glaciers melting, ice sheets moved at poles, they melt and break off
- —less snowfall
Epidemiology
- -study of causes, effects, control of diseases
- -how disease affects large pops
- -determine source of epidemics
- -informs policy decisions regarding public health
malaria, influenza (respiratory, viral), Ebola (viral infection)
–public health: practice of protecting health of ppl in their communities
Agriculture and soil erosion
Erosion: land, rock, or soil being worn away by wind and water
- -natural
- -humans influence by tillage and overgrazing
- -both of these reduce vegetation cover
- -vegetation protects soil form erosion
Ensures vegetation will be present to reduce erosion
- -crop rotation (diff crops in diff seasons on same field)
- -conservation tillage (leaves residue of previous crops for next growing season)
Accelerated Erosion
- -first layer stripped away forces topsoil (rich layer) to be closest to surface
- -loss of topsoil is bad bc it has nutrients and org matter
- -water exists land with little vegetation it carriers off eroded soil particles as sediment
- -drains back into ground/ runoff carrying sediment into streams and lakes
- –degrades water quality by introducing:
- —silt, excess nutrients, pesticides, waste
Estuary and wetland degradation
- -wetlands: marshes, bogs, swamps, any land mas covered with water
- -wetlands found on edges of estuaries
- -estuaries: where rivers empty out into sea
Wetlands:
- -productive, fertile soil
- -constant moving water
- -biological diversity
- -good habitat
- -buffer zones: protect from erosion
- -natural filters: soil traps pollution and sediment
- -flood protection
Wetland Degradation:
- -wetland draining
- -construction of levees
- -stream diversion
- —alters water flow
- —inc sediment
- —dec soil fertility
- —loss of biological diversity
- —dec water quality/ flood protection
Water Management
- -planning for water storage/use, distrib water, conserve water
- -water resources; surface water
- -70% for agriculture
- -planning and allocating water resources
- -water treatment techniques:
- –enhance water quality
- –make it usable
- –chlorination, filtration, disinfection
wastewater: used for agriculture, industrial, domestic
- -sewage: water not lost as runoff or evaporation, treated at wastewater treatment plant to be reused
Production, use, and disposal of consumer products
–every material undergoes similar product life cycle
raw materials: production and manufacturing stage
- -unprocessed state (crude oil, lumber)
- -processed into usable material (plastics)
- -brought to stores and bought by consumers
- -disposed in landfills
- -each stage of this cycle is accompanied by environmental impact
- -obtaining raw materials means moving resources from environment
- -processing stage: use of water, energy, chemicals, and release of byproducts
- -product distribution: use of fossil fuels
- -recycling: requires energy
- -disposal: groundwater contamination, methane production, litter, impact on wildife and environment
Habitat Preservation
- -distinct from habitat conservation
- -goal to promote sustainable use and management of natural resources and habitats for cont. human use and maintain habitats in their natural unaltered state without further human influence
- -public policy
- -restrict or eliminating human development
- -establish lands such as natural forests, wildlife refugees and national parks
- -Endangered Species Act of 1973: land to federal govt to protect critical habitat areas
- -National Environmental Policy Act: agencies must undertake environmental impact studies prior to new project to ensure habitat preservation and conservation
Extraction of mineral and energy resources
- -include iron, aluminum, and copper
- -extracted from mineral deposits in ground
–energy sources such as coal and oil found in reserves below Earths surface
Technologies used for extraction of mineral and energy resources
- -mining: mines created by drilling holes in rocks and explosives in holes to break apart and extract minerals
- —exposes dust particles and carcinogens in atmosphere, displaces wildlife, runoff
- -drilling: for oil or gas, from deep within earths surface, hole bored into resource reserve and extracted thru series of pipes
- —incr erosion, wildlife habitat at surface, inc air and noise pollution, soil and water contamination
- -fracking: extract resources deeper from Earths surface, called hydraulic fracking, done by injecting high pressure liquid deep within Earths surface to break apart rock and extract oil or gas
- —inc water contamination, air pollution, exposure to toxic chemicals and carcinogens, alters seismic activity and induces earthquakes
Agriculture, forestry, wildlife, and fisheries practices
–agricultural management: control invasive plant and animal pests, eliminate disease, inc soil quality
–forestry: replacing harvested trees with seedlings
–fisheries management: overfishing and unsustainable fishing led to declines in number and diversity of fish, therefore establishing protecting area, cycling bw diff sp of fish, curbing illegal fishing practices
- -wildlife management: protect ecosystem while accomodating human use of lands and wildlife
- –management of game and hunting
- —control of invasive sp
- —preserve and restore habitats
