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Environment: Journeys > Setting out from home > Flashcards

Setting out from home Flashcards

1
Q

Why am I studying environmental science?

A
  • to learn about the world from a variety of scientific perspectives
  • to learn about the problems we’re facing as a species and what we can do about it
  • to become an independent thinker
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2
Q

What is environment?

A

It is an interconnected and interdependent system that supports all living things on the planet and is affected by them in return

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3
Q

Pollution

A

The process of introduction into the environment of substances or energy that is liable to cause damage to living things, structures, ecosystems

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4
Q

Renewable energy

A

Energy that is natural, replenishable and does not cause pollution

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5
Q

Define environmental issue

A
  • are harmful effects on the biological environment
  • range from global to local
  • are complex
  • have social and political dimensions
  • should be viewed from as many sides as possible: scientific, technological, political, social
  • every issue may have a number of causes and a number of solutions, all with different consequences globally and locally; this is why the multi-sided view is important
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6
Q

IUCN

A
  • the International Union for Conservation of Nature
  • supports scientific research
  • brings together various global and local agencies to develop and implement policy, laws an practice
  • each year IUCN produces a Red List of Threatened species
  • provides fact sheets for assessed species, describing their conservation status and distribution, main threats to their survival
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7
Q

Endemics

A

Species that are found in a particular spot and nowhere else in the world

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8
Q

Keeling Curve

A

A graph showing steady increase of CO2 in the atmosphere since 1958 to present day
It is named after Charles Keeling who established the observations in Mauna Loa observatory in Hawaii

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9
Q

Greenhouse gas (GFG’s)

A

Is a substance in the atmosphere that intercepts and interacts with infrared radiation and promotes warming of the global climate

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10
Q

Most potent greenhouse gases

A

CO2, H2O, CH4, N2O

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11
Q

Climate

A

A summary of the average weather (temperature, rainfall) for a particular region over a period of time

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12
Q

Why was Mauna Loa selected as a site for the measurements of amounts of CO2?

A
  • Hawaii are a remote area with little interference from local pollution sources
  • the figures were proven to be representative for CO2 concentrations all around the world after similar measurements were taken in other parts of the Globe and compared
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13
Q

Biodiversity

A

Generally - a variety of life on Earth; specifically - the sum of species and ecosystems in a particular environment

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14
Q

Paleontology

A

The study of past life from fossil records

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15
Q

Human effects on land:

A
  • introduction of new species (crops or animals)
  • agriculture (clearing of forests)
  • irrigation channels
  • hunting and fishing (resource depletion)
  • tourism
  • pollution
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16
Q

Species

A

A group of organisms with similar characteristics who can produce viable offspring

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17
Q

Habitat

A

A physical and biological environment where an organism lives and what it interacts with

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18
Q

Causes for loss of biodiversity are:

A
  • loss of habitat due to fragmentation, degradation of physical destruction
  • introduction of new species to the area
  • overexploitation of resources
  • pollution and disease
  • climate change
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19
Q

Taxonomy

A

The science of classification of organisms

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20
Q

A hierarchy of classification

A 
Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Order
Family
Genus
Species
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21
Q

How is Latin used in classification?

A
  • it is internationally accepted convention for describing living things
  • usually the genus and species names are used and italicised and the genus name is also capitalicised
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22
Q

Name the Kingdoms of living things

A 
Animalia
Plantae
Fungi
Protista or Protoctista
Bacteria
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23
Q

Evolution

A

Change in a population over many generations resulting from mutation, natural selection, genetic drift

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24
Q

What criteria defines the status of species according to IUCN?

A

It is a combination of factors such as rate of decline, population size, distribution, geographical range

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25
Q

Mass extinction

A

An event during which a large proportion of animals and plants become extinct over a short geological time period

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26
Q

Food miles

A

The distance the products travels from a place of production to the place of consumption

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27
Q

Food chain

A
  • in nature: plants, herbivores, carnivores

- human: growth, production, transportation, sale, consumption

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28
Q

How does food change contribute to the greenhouse gases emissions?

A
  • production processes in agriculture and fisheries
  • synthesis of fertilizers and pesticides
  • energy required for cold storage, food processing, packaging
  • food waste deposits release CH4 (UK households bin 7 million tonnes of food and drink per year)
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29
Q

Life-cycle analysis

A

Studies environmental impacts of a product from extraction and production stages; to manufacturing and delivery; to the end - is it recycled, reused, disposed of.

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30
Q

Developed vs. Developing

A

Roughly equivalent to rich and poor; is based on Western values

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31
Q

Industrialized

A

Describes economies that are based on industrial manufacture and services as opposed to agriculture and crafts

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32
Q

Low income and High income countries

A

Is a good way to distinguish between countries, but the disadvantage is - it looks on a narrow set of definitions and ignores natural variation within a country

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33
Q

Majority vs. Minority world

A

Poor vs. rich

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34
Q

The 3rd World countries

A

Comes from the Cold war era when the 1st world referred to the West; the 2nd world referred to USSR and China (communist countries); the 3rd world - included everyone else

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35
Q

Ecology

A

The study of relationships between organisms and their environment

36
Q

Emotion

A

A very powerful weapon for recruiting people to an environmental cause

37
Q

Compound

A

A molecule consisting of atoms of different elements

38
Q

CFC’s

A

Are substances that contain carbon, fluorine and chlorine atoms; were widely used in refrigeration; are very damaging to the ozone layer and are banned

39
Q

Gaia theory

A

The view of the planet as a self-regulating complex system. Developed by James Lovelock

40
Q

Geological time periods

A

Eons, eras, periods; do not have defined boundaries, but are instead are defined based on fossil record, rock formations, major cataclysms and events

41
Q

Deep time

A

A term used to describe an unimaginably long geological age of the Earth

42
Q

The main Eons and their timespans are

A

Hadean - 4600 Ma - 3600 Ma ago
Archaean - 3600 Ma - 2500 Ma
Proterozoic - 2500 Ma - 545 Ma
Phanerozoic - 545 Ma to present day

43
Q

Hadean eon is characterised by:

A
  • 4600 Ma - 3600 Ma
  • early Earth forms
  • very hot conditions
  • no ozone layer
  • no life
44
Q

Archaean eon is characterised by:

A
  • 3600 Ma - 2500 Ma
  • first bacterial life appears
  • it is preserved in a rock formation known as chert
  • first oceans form; then firs continents; tectonics
  • cyanobacteria - green-blue algae
  • photosynthesis starts
  • but the atmosphere is still mostly CO2 and CH4
  • stromatolites are formed by colonies of cyanobacteria
45
Q

Proterozoic eon is characterised by:

A
  • 2500 Ma - 545 Ma
  • “time of early life”
  • cyanobacteria have increased the amounts of O2 and it is being absorbed by iron- and sulphur-bearing rocks at the surface, resulting in a boundary where the banded iron stops and the red, O2 rich iron starts
  • increased levels of O2 lead to the first ice-age (proven by deposits of tillites - jumbles of broken boulders, sand and mud)
  • increased amounts of O2 also seem to favor more complex life-forms: protista, fungi, plants, animals appear in oceans
46
Q

Phanerozoic eon is characterised by:

A
  • 545 Ma - to now
  • “time of visible life”
  • consists of 3 eras: Paleozoic (545 - 250 Ma), Mesozoic (250 - 65 Ma), Cenozoic (65 - now)
47
Q

Paleozoic era

A
  • 545 - 250 Ma
  • Cambrian / Ordovician period, marine animals with hard skeletal parts appear
  • Silurian / Devonian period, 2nd Ice age, first mass extinction; invasion of land by plants and animals
  • Carboniferous / Permian period, 3rd Ice age, 2nd mass extinction; fossil fuel formation process buries carbon = 4th Ice age
48
Q

Mesozoic era

A
  • 250 - 65 Ma
  • Triassic period, 3rd, most dramatic extinction, Pangaea forms
  • Jurassic / Cretaceous period, 4th mass extinction, dinosaurs appear, Pangaea breaks up
49
Q

Cenozoic era

A
  • 65 Ma - to now
  • 5th mass extinction, associated with a meteor impact
  • the last ice age begins
  • 200,000 years ago - first humans appear
  • 11,000 years ago - Holocene period, interglacial, stable climate, rise of the human race, agriculture
  • 200 years ago - Anthropocene period, Industrial production, global warming, 6th mass extinction
50
Q

Difference between weather and climate is:

A

Weather is a local condition experienced at a particular time; climate is the average of conditions over a long period over particular area. Climate is what you expect, weather is what you get

51
Q

Difference between Global warming and the Climate change is:

A

Climate change refers to the variation in climatic conditions over periods of time (colder or warmer) in this sense, Global warming is a subset of Climate change, referring to the rising average temperature

52
Q

GMST

A
  • global mean surface temperature
  • air temperature measured close to the surface by standard instruments over land and sea and averaged over the whole planet
53
Q

What makes the Earth a support life?

A
  • the presence of liquid water

- the right temperature (thank you Greenhouse gases!)

54
Q

What influences the mean temperature on Earth?

A
  • it’s distance from the Sun

- the quality of planet’s atmosphere (greenhouse gases!)

55
Q

Infrared radiation

A

Part of radiation given off by all bodies, most often it is referred to as heat

56
Q

Greenhouse effect

A

A complex multifaceted process in which greenhouse gases in the atmosphere trap IR and cause warming (from planet surface average of -18 C without the GW to +15 C with GW)

57
Q

What makes up the Earth’s atmosphere?

A

Nitrogen, oxygen, argon, water vapour, carbon dioxide, trace amounts of methane, nitrous oxide, aerosols

58
Q

Where does methane come from?

A
  • rotting organic matter in landfill sites
  • livestock emissions
  • wet rice cultivation
59
Q

Where does N2O come from?

A
  • nitrous oxide comes from vehicle emissions
  • intensive agricultural processes
  • use of fertilisers
60
Q

The biological carbon cycle

A
  • photosynthesis (CO2 + H2O = carbohydrates + O2
  • respiration by plants and animals (carbohydrates + O2 = H2O + CO2)
  • plants and animals produce waste (leaf litter, excreta) that are decomposed by micro-organisms, converting carbon compounds into organic matter; releasing carbon and incorporating some into the soil
  • the situation is similar in oceans with phytoplankton and zooplankton
61
Q

The geochemical carbon cycle

A
  • is a long-term carbon storage
  • includes rock formation, sediment deposition in oceans (from skeletons)
  • burning fossil fuels returns carbons (via process of respiration, basically) to the biological cycle at a very fast rate; as does the spread of urban areas and deforestation (change of land use)
62
Q

Ozone

A
  • form of O with 3 atoms (O3)
  • has a positive effect in stratosphere, giving protection from UV
  • is a pollutant in troposhere
63
Q

Aerosols

A

Tiny particles in the atmosphere mostly from coal burning that cause cooling or warming

64
Q

Greenhouse gases contributions:

A

CH4, N2O, CFC’s, aerosols add 22% and CO2 adds 78% to the greenhouse effect

65
Q

What is water vapour role in Greenhouse effect/

A

H2O vapour amplifies whatever effect other gases are having

66
Q

Sustainability

A

The quality of not being harmful to the environment; supporting the ecological balance

67
Q

Sustainable development

A

Development that “meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”

68
Q

Carbon footprint

A

The annual amount of GHG’s emissions that result from activities of an individual/group (or from an event or providing a service), especially their use of energy, transport, consumption of goods and services. It is measured as a mass, in kg or tonnes / year, of CO2 or equivalents. Direct, indirect and embedded emissions must be taken into the account

69
Q

Fossil fuel

A

A combustible organic material formed Ma ago from dead organisms that were buried in conditions lacking in oxigen

70
Q

Goods and services

A
  • a general term for items purchased by households
  • capital goods - items belonging to businesses
  • benefits provided by other people or businesses
71
Q

Resources

A
  • generally what Earth can provide that humans consider useful
  • natural resources: fossil fuels, mineral deposits, land, water, plants, animals
  • human resources: knowledge and labour
72
Q

Climate contrarians

A

An individual or group who questions or denies the scientific consensus that the main cause of climate change are certain human activities

73
Q

Consensus

A

The majority of opinion, general agreement

74
Q

Carbon dioxide equivalent

A

There are 6 main GHG’s that contribute to the climate change, each with a different potential; for simplicity, their emitted masses are converted to CO2 equivalent so that the data can be summed in one figure

75
Q

Environmental indicator

A

A measure of the pressures on / the state of the biological / physical environment. A way of measuring impacts on the environment

76
Q

Ecological footprint

A

Is an environmental indicator that calculates the area of land/sea that would theoretically be required to provide resources (for a definite population/product) and support it’s lifestyle indefinitely (including waste recycling and CO2 absorption) at a given technological level.
- availability of land and sea to support a population

77
Q

Examples of environmental indicators:

A
  • carbon footprint
  • ecological footprint
  • air and water pollution levels
  • loss of landscapes and biodiversity
  • depletion of mineral and water resources
  • wildlife populations
  • recycling rates
78
Q

What makes up the carbon footprint measure?

A
  • CO2 emissions from fossil fuels burning, deforestation and cement making
  • CH4 from cattle belching, manure spreading and decomposition, wet rice growing and waste decomposition
  • N2O from nitrogen fertilizers, industrial processes
  • CH4 is 20 times more potent and N2O is 310 times more potent than CO2
  • CH4 and N2O combined contribute 25% of GHG’s emissions every year globally
79
Q

Household

A

A dwelling occupied by an individual or group; a unit that is supplied by services (water, gas) and which may share goods (cars)

80
Q

Production perspective

A

The consideration of GHG’s emissions arising from production of goods and services within the country; a view that producers are the main contributors to emissions no matter where the goods are consumed (you make it - you emit)

81
Q

Consumption perspective

A

Considers the consumer the main “emitter” of GHG’s, as the consumer selects and uses goods and services (you consume it - you emit)

82
Q

Convention

A
  • an agreement, contract
  • a rule, method, practice or custom
  • general agreement, accepted usage
  • a meeting of formal type, usually to discuss concerns
83
Q

How household emissions are broken down?

A

Emissions are broken down into direct and indirect emissions categories
Direct emissions are driving and heating; indirect - electricity use, car maintenance, manufacture, public transport, flights
The “consumer viewpoint” can be: all home energy use and all travel is their direct emissions; goods and services production - indirect

84
Q

What is the cause of about 1/2 of UK’s carbon footprint?

A

It is the result of GHG emissions embedded in imports of electronic products, clothing, motor vehicles from EU and Asia

85
Q

Values

A

Relative worth and importance a person assigns to an item or issue. It is personal and cannot be described in terms of “good or bad”

86
Q

Carbon footprint variability…

A

…arises from location, income, values, within any country and between countries

Environment: Journeys (1 decks)

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