unit 5 Flashcards
After intensive logging, most of the trees along a stream have been removed. Which of the following water quality changes would most likely occur downstream after logging?
Increased water temperature
Increased erosion would occur when the soil is no longer held in place by the tree roots. This will increase the turbidity (clarity, so the water will be more cloudy) of the stream and cause the temperature to increase. Additionally, the lack of trees around the stream would most likely increase the amount of solar insolation on the stream, leading to higher temperatures.
Which of the following is a direct economic consequence that would likely occur if an area of forest was clear-cut so that a housing development can be built?
A decrease in the number of game hunting licenses purchased
- Hunting licenses represent a financial gain by the state and county in forested areas, so if a forest is clear-cut, this would eliminate a viable area to hunt. Fewer hunting licenses purchased would be a negative economic consequence.
Which of the following best describes environmental damage caused by slash-and-burn farming in tropical rain forests?
The soil loses fertility after a short period of time and will be ineffective for farming use.
-Slash-and-burn farming results in temporary fertility of soils that dissipates after about two years.
Conventional till farming results in the soil drying out and the loss of beneficial bacteria. This is much less common with slash-and-burn farming.
graph about varying levels of enviornmental impact growing beef has (looking for factor with greatest number)
Although rangelands have the highest impact from greenhouse gas emissions, they have a much lower impact in the other measures. High levels of pesticide contamination come from feedlots, not from rangelands, based on the data in the graph.
Feedlots have high levels of pesticide use and energy consumption as a result high demands for grain production.Feedlots have highly concentrated animal populations and require grain production to provide animal feed. The production of animal feed requires high levels of pesticides and energy; the data support this claim.
An urban planner is designing a new urban housing development in a currently rural area near an existing city. The urban development will have five 10-story apartment buildings, two basketball courts, a playground with permeable foam pavers, a 10-acre green space with a small man-made pond, one 5-story parking deck, and direct access to the mass transit train line.
Which of the following aspects in the design for this new urban development would most likely have the greatest negative environmental impact?
The five apartment buildings, because they reduce permeable ground coverage for water inflitration, which increases chances of flooding, they would also contribute to air pollution because ventilation/heating & cooling
An environmental agency wants to evaluate the effectiveness of rain gardens in reducing the impact of urban runoff from an impervious parking lot and from the roof of the building. The parking lot is slightly sloped so the rainwater flows toward the gardens. The runoff from the roof is collected by various downspouts and directed toward the gardens. Scientists at the agency plan to monitor the effectiveness by measuring the water quality of the storm water as it moves through the gardens during and after storm events.
Which of the following would be the best measure to use to determine the effectiveness of the rain gardens in reducing the impact of urban runoff?
The speed and volume of the water exiting the gardens (??)
why:
-not intensity/duration of the storm event: The intensity and duration of the storm event would affect how much water is running off of the parking lot and the roof, but these are not measures to use to determine the effectiveness (!!!) of the garden in reducing the impact of the runoff.
- One impact of urban runoff is the amount and velocity of water running off of impervious surfaces. An effective rain garden would reduce the amount and speed of the water moving through the garden as storm water infiltrates the vegetation and soil.
graph, number of earths used by global population
the human population FIRST exceeding earth’s biocapacity is the second it touches the line, even if it’s at the end of the year in the graph
Which of the following statements correctly describes the trend of ecological footprint compared to biocapacity from 1961 to 2014 ?
The world’s ecological footprint has risen above its capacity to sustainably provide for the human population.
Which of the following statements best describes an unintended environmental consequence of aquaculture fish-farm enclosures located in estuaries?
Aquaculture enclosures can harbor parasites that can negatively affect wild populations that breed in estuaries.
ex. Parasites such as fish lice can escape into estuaries, negatively affecting young wild fish in breeding areas.
incorrect answer: Fish farms do produce waste, but water in estuaries is salt water and is unlikely to be a drinking-water resource for coastal communities. (Fish farms create waste that contaminates potential drinking-water resources for coastal communities.)
- clearcutting leads to soil erosion, increased soil & stream temperatures, & flooding
- trees absorb the pollutants from the air & soil, taking in more co2, and the burning/cutting of thre trees releases more c02
- loss of stabilizing root structure removes soil organic matter & nutrients from the forest
- deposits sediment in local streams, warming it and making it more turbid
- increased soil temp
- loss of tree shade and erosion into sediment into water
- increased sunlight dries out soil
- soil is compacted from machinery
- increasd chance of flooding and landslides
- less species diversity, less resilience
ore- commercially valuable deposits of concentrated minerals that can be harvested & used as raw materials
metal- elements that conduct electricity, heat, & have structural properties for building (found within ore)
reserve- the known amount of a resource left that can be mined and is usually measured
overburden: soil, vegetation, and rocks that are removed to get an ore deposit below
- tailings & slag: leftover waste material separated form valuable metal and ore
surface mining:
- removal of overburden
- different types: open pit, strip, mountaintop removal, placer
mountain top removal- especially damaging to landscape & habitats, streams nearby
- removal of vegitation and soil
- top soil erosion, habitat loss, increased stream turbidity
- very expensive because as ore is harder to find they hav to dig deeper into the mountain and it’s more dangerous
subsurface mining:
- more expensive due to higher insurance & health care costs for workers
- risks of inhaling toxic gas because of poor ventilation, mine collapse, injury from fallen rock
- vertical shaft drilled down into the ground and workers must be carried down there, often used for coal
- increasingly used as surface coal deposits are depleted
- acid mine drainage: rainwater leaks into abandoned mine tunnels and mixes with pyrite, forming sulfiric acid which infiltrates groundwater
- water becomes more acidic and toxic
- soot and other particulars released which irritate the lungs of humans and other animals
- methane release
- habitat loss, topsoil erosion,
enviornmental impacts of mining
- process of restoring land to its original state
- filling of empty mine holes/shafts
- returning topsoil in the same condition it was before (acid, metal, and tailings removed)
- replanting of native plants
mine reclamation
