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Environmental Systems and Societies IB > topic 4: water > Flashcards

topic 4: water Flashcards

1
Q

effects of humans altering the natural flow of water on ecological systems

A
  • extracting water from rivers and streams, reduces water level and flow rates, changes environment for aquatic species
  • draining wetland areas to increase agricultural land, replacing wetland habitats with monoculture, loss of biodiversity
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2
Q

human impact on water quality

A
  • discharge of industrial waste (toxic chemicals) into rivers, lakes and oceans
  • deforestation leads to soil erosion, siltation of lakes and rivers
  • surface runoff leaching pesticides and fertilizers
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3
Q

siltation

A
  • water pollution of sediments, soil erosion
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4
Q

hydrological cycle definition

A

describes the movement of water on the planet

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5
Q

hydrological cycle storages

A
  • Oceans
  • Surface waters, such as streams, rivers and lakes
  • Ice caps and glaciers
  • Soil moisture
  • Water vapour and clouds within the atmosphere
  • Groundwater within aquifers
  • Organisms, such as plants and animals.
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6
Q

flows definition (hydrological cycle)

A
  • process of water moving to different storages = a flow
  • flow is either transformation or transfer
  • transformation = change in state
  • transfer = change in location
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7
Q

hydrological cycles flow transfer

A
  • advection
  • stream flow
  • flooding
  • groundwater flow
  • percolation
  • absorption
  • infiltration
  • surface run-off
  • precipitation
  • advection
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8
Q

hydrological cycles flow transformation

A
  • evaporation
  • transpiration
  • evapotranspiration
  • sublimation
  • condensation
  • melting
  • freezing
  • deposition
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9
Q

water flow into the atmosphere

A
  • liquid water turns to water vapour from the sun
  • evapotranspiration (plants) and sublimation (snow and glaciers)
  • water vapour rises, cools and condenses into clouds
  • clouds transported within the atmosphere by advection (wind)
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10
Q

water flow out of the atmosphere

A
  • clouds grow and become heavy
  • fall as precipitation returning to earth
  • temperatures are low
  • 80% of precipitation falls on the ocean
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11
Q

water flow on land

A
  • impacted by topography, geology, soil and vegetation cover
  • flow of water on land called surface runoff
  • if precipitation is snow/ turns to ice movement of water is reduced
  • vegetation slows the movement of water, leaves catch raindrops, infiltrate into soil
  • decayed plant matter can absorb water
  • filtration rates > sandy soils than on fine grain soils
  • fine grain soils have smaller pore spaces for the water to seep through
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12
Q

water flow into groundwater

A
  • permeable surfaces the water can flow further underneath the soil, percolation
  • water moves into aquifers and contributes to groundwater storage
  • vegetation encourages infiltration which can increase the amount of stored groundwater
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13
Q

water flow out of groundwater

A
  • groundwater can flow directly into the sea, streams or rivers
  • during droughts, reduction in groundwater flow can impact river levels and therefore river ecology
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14
Q

water flow into surface waters

A
  • precipitation contributing to surface runoff can go into streams, rivers and lakes
  • flow of water is increased
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15
Q

runoff into surface waters

A
  • can flow from streams, rivers and lakes into the ocean

- cause flooding due to capacity of rivers, streams and lakes exceeded

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16
Q

global conveyor belt definition

A
  • movement of ocean water

- distributes heat energy, impacts regional weather around the world

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17
Q

water density temperature

A
  • colder = more dense
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18
Q

water density salinity

A
  • greater salinity = more dense
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19
Q

how global conveyor belt works

A
  • warm water moves towards the poles, water cools releasing heat increasing temp
  • cold water moves towards the equator, water absorbs heat from surroundings lowering the temp
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20
Q

forest vegetation impact on hydrological cycle

A
  • trees are stores absorbing water, reducing flow
  • more runoff due to no root system to anchor soil
  • reducing infiltration and percolation as runoff will flow faster, increased risk of flooding, lots of sediment reduce carrying capacity and water quality
  • intercepting rainfall protecting soil
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21
Q

agriculture impact on hydrological cycle

A
  • largest user of water, expected increase due to population and more meat based diets
  • agricultural activity requires excessive amounts of water, decreasing fresh water availability
  • excessive irrigation with poor drainage increases soil salinity, unsuitable to grow crops
  • water can become polluted with pesticides and fertilizers
  • toxic for aquatic organisms, eutrophication of ecosystems
  • increase of nitrates in groundwater which is linked to diseases when drank
  • pathogenic livestock waste washed by runoff into streams and rivers, lowering oxygen content in aquatic ecosystems.
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22
Q

urbanization impact on hydrological cycle

A
  • flow of water becomes contaminated with waste, oil and toxic metals
  • runoff diverted into drainage systems into rivers and streams
  • increased risk of flooding
  • aquatic habitats can become degraded from polluted runoff
  • reduced evapotranspiration
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23
Q

urbanization definition

A
  • movement of people from rural areas to towns and cities

- large areas of concrete and tarmac, impermeable

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24
Q

eutrophication

A
  • nutrients entering body of water causing anoxia
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25
Q

eutrophication steps

A
  • increased nutrients entering body of water causing algae to bloom
  • no sunlight reaching due to algae cover
  • causes algae under the water to die
  • bacteria decomposing the algae uses up oxygen making the body of water anoxic
  • all living organisms in the lake die
26
Q

fix urbanization hydrological cycle issues

A
  • creating roads made of porous material so water can infiltrate and percolate to groundwater
  • diverting water from roofs and roads into infiltration trenches or soak away, creates green spaces and areas for wildlife within urban environments
27
Q

fix agriculture hydrological cycle issues

A
  • crops that need less water
  • efficient watering methods, drip irrigation
  • don’t use fertilizers, pesticides or manure near water sources, prior or during rainfall
  • limit use of nitrogen fertilizers
  • collect and manage animal waste
  • introduce natural predators for pest control
28
Q

case study

unequal distribution of rainwater

A
  • atacama desert average 1mm per year
  • cherrapunji average 11.7m per year
  • water needs to be managed and stored to have a continual supply
29
Q

issues accessing water

A
  • lack of knowledge and skills, finances, political leaders making water a priority
  • urban areas, wealthy, unmarginalized social groups more likely to have access
  • people with less money pay more as water infrastructure takes lots of resources
30
Q

water stress definition

A
  • insufficient amount of available water to meet demand

- includes unuseable water due to water quality

31
Q

issues that contribute to water stress

A
  • freshwater sources being overused
  • pollution of freshwater sources
  • inefficient water use by individuals or industries, leaks, poor irrigation
  • climate change altered rainfall
32
Q

rivers without borders

A
  • many rivers systems are shared within countries
  • water sources that originate outside of their borders, that country can control their water
  • can cause conflict between the countries
  • usually formal agreements written to resolve conflict
33
Q

case study

ethiopian grand renaissance dam

A
  • biggest dam in africa
  • ethiopia can control the flow of the nile which egypt relies on
  • egypt threatened militaries
  • came to an agreement, ethiopia filling the dam gradually
34
Q

benefits of a reservoir

A
  • generate hydropower
  • flood control
  • navigation, transport routes along site shores
  • fisheries
  • recreational, aesthetic and scenic values
  • control of water quality filtering sediment
35
Q

impacts of a reservoir

A
  • change of habitat, terrestrial to aquatic
  • relocation of people
  • change of flow to the water, diverted for other use
  • loss of fish and mammal migration routes, blocking with dam walls
  • sediment behind the dam wall reduces holding capacity of reservoir
36
Q

increasing water resources

artificial recharge

A
  • building a ditch above an aquifer zone to intercept runoff giving it more time to percolate
  • water can be pumped directly from rivers or reservoirs
37
Q

increasing water resources

rainfall harvesting

A
  • collection of precipitation falling on roofs or buildings
  • cheap and easy
  • able to be filtered and disinfected for drinking
38
Q

increasing water resources

desalination

A
  • producing freshwater from sea water
  • used in regions with access to cheap energy
  • reverse osmosis used through a semipermeable membrane to remove the salt
39
Q

increasing water resources

greywater

A
  • reusing water that is clean enough to be used again, baths, showers and washing machines
  • cost effective
40
Q

increasing water resources

redistribution

A
  • moving water from areas of low demand to high demand
41
Q

reducing water demand

A
  • increasing water efficiency
  • public awareness campaigns
  • education in schools
  • economic incentives, increasing cost of water, fines for wasting water
  • government policies
  • reducing meat intake
42
Q

importance of phytoplankton and algae

A
  • supporting trophic levels
  • absorbing carbon dioxide
  • producing oxygen through photosynthesis
43
Q

aquatic food chain

A
  • primary producers eaten by primary consumers (zooplankton, microscopic animals)
  • primary producers dependent on amount of sunlight, suitable temperature, available nutrients
  • primary consumers eaten by secondary consumers (shellfish, fish)
  • secondary consumers eaten by tertiary consumers
    (predatory fish, mammals, seabirds
  • if large numbers of secondary consumers are removed it will impact the whole food chain
44
Q

aquatic food chain simple

A
  • primary producers
  • primary consumers
  • secondary consumers
  • tertiary consumers
  • quaternary consumers
45
Q

aquaculture (fish farming)

A
  • providing a food source
  • livelihood bringing people out of poverty
  • invasive species can escape
  • nutrient buildup
  • transfer of disease and parasites to migrating fish
46
Q

why increasing demand of fish

A
  • population growth
  • health benefits of eating fish
  • more people that can afford fish
47
Q

case study

canada seal hunting

A
  • traditional from the inuit people in canada
  • integral part of culture and traditions
  • inuit only 3% of seals hunted globally
  • commercial exploitation = threat to seal population
  • inhumane methods of killing
  • most of the meat is wasted
  • seals incorrectly blamed for cod fishery collapse (overfishing not seals)
  • less seal habitats due to melting ice
  • canada regulates seal hunting through government policies however not enforced
  • economic value from seal hunting
48
Q

capture fisheries

A
  • increased due to popularity of fish
  • small scale to commercial fishing
  • improvements in fishing technology and number of ships
  • increased efficiency of fishing
49
Q

fish yield

A
  • only renewable if the rate of removal does not exceed growth rate
  • maximum sustainable yield should be taken into consideration otherwise risk of overfishing and extinction
50
Q

why is overfishing common

A
  • nobody has property rights to fish as they travel and migrate
  • need to sacrifice short term gain for future gain
51
Q

Marine Protected Areas (MPAS)

A
  • areas where fishing is banned

- usually areas of high biodiversity or habitats of threatened species

52
Q

case study

newfoundland cod fisheries

A
  • largest cod sticks in the world
  • 1950s modern technology able to catch more
  • 1968 caught 800,000 tons of cod
  • warnings to reduce catch ignored
  • loss of jobs due to no more fish
  • 2011 fish stocks beginning to recover but still low
53
Q

tragedy of the commons

A
  • neglecting future needs and societal needs for current gain
54
Q

case study

iceland cod fisheries

A
  • decline in fish stocks, government took action
  • protecting waters from other countries
  • restrictions on fishing gear and fleet sizes
  • strict quotas
  • banning disposal of bycatch, food not wasted
  • catching a variety of fish reducing pressure on cod
  • use of MPAs
  • rules are enforced
55
Q

aquaculture definition

A
  • farming of aquatic organisms
  • aquaculture expected to keep growing
  • 62% of all fish consumption by 2030
56
Q

environmental impacts of aquaculture

A
  • loss of habitat as land is cleared, such as mangroves
  • loss of aquatic habitats
  • increase in organic sediments: fish waste, fish food, medicine
  • sediments can cause eutrophication or algal blooms which can kill fish
  • medicine and hormones can impact other aquatic life
  • spread of disease to fish outside of cages or all fish in cage
  • escaped fish can dominate environment and become invasive
57
Q

environmental impacts of aquaculture

A
  • loss of habitat as land is cleared, such as mangroves
  • loss of aquatic habitats
  • increase in organic sediments: fish waste, fish food, medicine
  • sediments can cause eutrophication or algal blooms which can kill fish
  • medicine and hormones can impact other aquatic life
  • spread of disease to fish outside of cages or all fish in cage
  • escaped fish can dominate environment and become invasive
  • predators can get caught in the fish cages
58
Q

case study

shrimp aquaculture in thailand

A
  • food security
  • over 1 million people employed
  • more income than previous rice farming
  • loss of mangroves
  • rapid transmission of diseases
  • eutrophication
  • 1990s international pressure for sustainable shrimp aquaculture leading to new legislation and management of wastewater
59
Q

purpose of mangroves

A
  • breeding areas for fish
  • habitat for species
  • protection from coastal erosion, flooding, storm damage
60
Q

sources of water pollution

A
  • sewage
  • industrial waste
  • agricultural runoff
  • urban runoff
  • land development, forest clearance, soil erosion, sediments into water
  • landfill sites
  • atmospheric input, acid rain
  • materials dumped into sea
  • hot water, lowers oxygen content
  • oil, lowers oxygen content, death of animals in the area
    plastic
61
Q

issues with eutrophication

A
  • water unsuitable for drinking
  • reduced recreational use water, swimming, fishing
  • reduced commercial value, not able to fish, navigation routes
  • increased water diseases

Environmental Systems and Societies IB (8 decks)

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