Unit 6: Earth & Human Impact Flashcards
What are Earth’s 4 spheres?
Lithosphere - rock of the planet’s crust (surface)
Hydrosphere - contains planet’s solid, liquid and gaseous water.
Biosphere - living organisms
Atmosphere - planet’s air.
How are the spheres connected?
An event that is natural or manmade can occur changes to one sphere, affecting all the other spheres.
Should clouds be classified as part of the atmosphere or part of the hydrosphere?
Hydrosphere because..
- water is a major component of clouds.
- they provide hydrological transportation
- water travels between different areas of Earth
When are we industrialists and environmentalists?
We tend to be environmentalist when the economy is good.
What is an Earth Resource?
a material source of wealth that occurs in a natural state and has economic value.
3 Benefits to recycling…
- Maintains resource availability.
- Uses less landfill space
- Uses less energy
How are the current pandemic and habitat destruction (e.g. deforestation) connected?
Forces animals to coexist with humans, allowing viruses to cross the species barrier between animals and humans.
Why is it a good practice to plant trees around farmland? (2)
- Reduces wind erosion on top soil
2. Roots keep soil on farm.
List three ways that people who live in a coastal region might use the ocean as a natural resource.
food source (fishing), travel (boating), recreation
List three ways that people who live in a forested region might use the forest as a natural resource
wood, hunting, water (there are many streams)
Land Resource
can be taken to mean the resources available from the land.
can also mean land itself available for building
Desertification can occur when…
-too many grazing animals are kept on arid lands -when soil is compacted by large herds of heavy animals or heavy farm equipment.
Water Resources
sources of water that are useful or potentially useful to humans.
How is air a natural resource? (2)
- Need clean air to survive
2. Wind can drive windmills
Is clean air renewable?
No because much of our pollution will be there for many years.
Fill in the chart
DO IT!!!
What is meant by “consumption sustains economic growth and our standard of living”?
We need cheaper energy to run our factories.
More factories allow for higher wages and more jobs.
Therefore, more money for people, which raises our stands.
Why are oceans salty while our lakes and rivers are not?
Water collects salt from the dirt.
Water evaporates from oceans, and leaves behind salt.
Over millions of years more and more salt accumulate in the ocean.
What purpose do wetlands serve?
Ask someone
What is an aquifer?
an underground source of water.
Why can’t we use saltwater for a lot of these processes? (3)
Can contaminate your product.
Corrosive to the equipment used.
Salt will build up and clog up pipes.
What happens when you dam water? (Pro/Con)
Pros: get electricity from the movement of water.
Cons: Higher levels of water in one side of dam, lower levels on the other side.
How does the overdevelopment of houses affect rainwater collection?
Less water is absorbed in the ground because newly cemented ground allows water to be runoff into river.
What’s wrong with desalination?
Requires a lot of energy.
What’s the purpose of a Slapp Suit?
It forces protestors to drop the fight.
What is meant by virtual water?
Water that is used in the process that is not seen.
Ex: Raising cattle → grain used to feed cattle..
Why is it difficult for third world countries to become rich?
Forced to sell resources at below market price in order to pay off debt.
What are five of the ten reasons to oppose water privatization?
1) Privatization Leads to Rate Increases
2) Privatization Undermines Water Quality
3) Companies are Accountable to Shareholders, not Consumers
4) Privatization Fosters Corruption
5) Privatization Reduces Local Control and Public Rights
6) Private Financing Costs More Than Government Financing
7) Privatization Leads to Job Losses
8) Privatization is Difficult to Reverse
9) Privatization Can Leave the Poor With No Access to Clean Water
10) Privatization Would Open the Door to Bulk Water Exports
Agricultural activity such as tilling, harvesting, heating and ventilation are direct consumes of:
The sun
Production, transformation and use of energy are the major problems of:
Industrial activity
Carrying capacity
The maximum number of individuals that can be supported by a given environment.
The problems for criticism about large dams are that they (3)
A. Displace large number of peasants without proper rehabilitation
B. Swallow up huge amounts of public money without the generation of proportionate benefits
C. Contribute enormously to deforestation and the loss of biological diversity
Primary source of water is
Rainwater
The main disadvantage of most renewable energy sources?
Unreliable Supply
The one thing that is common to all fossil fuels is that they:
Contain carbon
Lignite, bituminous and anthracite are different ranks of:
Coal
BTU is the measurement of:
Heat content
What is the most abundant greenhouse gas in the atmosphere?
Water Vapor
Soil degradation is an increasing global problem. Two main reasons for this are
Agriculture and deforestation
3 nations that consume the most oil?
The United States, China, and Japan
In the United States, the largest component of the municipal solid waste stream is:
Paper
A resource manager attempts to harvest as many trees as possible without depleting the overall supply. This is applying the concept of
Maximum sustainable yield
In terms of matter, Earth is considered to be
A closed system
How does soil compaction affect the use of the land?
Compaction reduces space between soil particles, obstructing the flow of gases, nutrients, and water through the soil.
% of the sun’s energy is absorbed by the Earth.
50%
Careful management of water catchment areas results in…
less waste of water
What percentage of the Earth’s surface is covered by water?
71%
About what percentage of the Earth’s water is freshwater?
3%
About what percentage of the Earth’s water is contained in glaciers and ice caps?
70%
Sediment amount is increased in water due to
over development
The percentage of freshwater stored on Earth’s surface in form of groundwater is
30%
Reservoir
a water catchment area
Considering agriculture, the percentage of water used for agriculture is
69%
Percentage of freshwater stored on Earth’s surface in form of streams, rivers and lakes is
1%
The Earth is covered by ____% of forests.
30%
Deforestation happens in developing countries because
they use the trees as source of income
number one cause of pollution in a forest
littering
. What type of energy is derived from heated groundwater?
geothermal
Energy we use to heat our homes, drive our cars and run our computers comes from
Nonrenewable Resources
Most of nonrenewable energy comes from
fossil fuels
Review Questions 3,7,8,54
DO IT!!!
Plate Techtonics
study of the lithiosphere
Who proposed the idea of moving continents
Alfred Wegener, 1912
Continental drift
the theory which proposes that earth’s continents were once a single landmass.
Wegener’s three evidences for moving continents:
- Evidence from Rock formation –> there are similar rock types on opp sides of the Atlantic ocean.
- Evidence from Fossils –> fossils that were found on separate continents had layers that matched each other
- Evidence of Climate Data –> places with harsh polar climates had fossils of plants found in tropical environments.
Plate Boundary
Place where two plates meet
Convergent Boundaries
places where plates crash or crunch together
Three Types of Convergent Boundaries;
- Oceanic-Oceanic:
- Two oceanic plates converge, one is subducted under the other, a trench is formed.
- also result in undersea volcano. - Oceanic-Continental:
- Oceanic subducted under continental (continental is lighter and less dense)
- magma breaks through the earth’s surface and builds up volcanic mountain ranges. - Continential-Continential:
- on collision, crust buckles and is pushed upwards.
- very little volcanism.
Ring of Fire
arc of intense earthquake and volcanic activity.
-comprises of 75% of the world’s active and dormant volcanos
Why is the oceanic plate denser than the continental plate?
because the weight of water.
Why is there no volcanoes near continent-continent collisions?
Because there’s very little subduction, there is no volcanism.
Divergent Boundary and what occurs
when two plates move away from each other
- magma rises up to the surface, cools and then solidifies.
- new crust forms.
Oceanic Ridge
long chain of mountains on the ocean floor
Mid-Atlantic Ridge
a submerged mountain range on the atlantic ocean.
What will happen to Iceland in the future?
Iceland will break into two separate landmasses at some point in the future as they diverge.
What is the difference between an ocean ridge and a trench?
Ocean Ridge: -Divergent Plates -Underwater mountain range -Plates being created Trench: -Convergent Plates -Groves in crust -Plates being destroyed
Slapp Suit
another lawsuit a company does against the protestor.
The theory of plate tectonics was widely accepted by __________ .
about 1970
New oceanic lithosphere forms at __________ .
divergent boundaries
I once saw a bumper sticker that said “Reunite Gondwanaland”. Which of the following would not be part of this reconstruction?
North America
. Volcanic island arcs are associated with __________ .
Ocean-Ocean Convergent
Three mountains that formed as a result of a collision between two continents
Appalachians, Urals, and Himalayas
What is the epicenter of an earthquake?
the point on Earth’s surface directly above the earthquake’s focus
Gondwanaland
The southern supercontinent.
The age of the seafloor is relatively young because:
it is continuously generated at mid-ocean ridges
Three things that are NOT associated with a transform plate boundary
Mid-Ocean Ridge, deep sea trench, and Volcanic activity
Slip
amount of ground displacement in an earthquake
The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami was generated by a magnitude 9.2 earthquake along __________ off the shore of Sumatra.
a subduction zone
Are hurricanes associated w/ tsunamis
NO
Most of the really large earthquakes in the world are due to _______________.
strike slip motion between plate boundaries
Most tsunamis are formed because of…
strike-slip faults
Atmospheric pressure is caused by __________.
the weight of the air
What is the driving force for the movement of the lithospheric plates?
unequal distribution of heat within Earth
What was the main reason Wegener’s continental drift hypothesis was rejected?
He could not provide a mechanism for the movement of the continents.
Passive continental margins are created at:
transform plate boundaries
Transform Boundary
- Places where plates slide past each other.
- lack spectacular features.
- marked by stream beds
- movement is not smooth –> friction –> get stuck and lock together –> buildup pressure and form earthquake.
How are earthquakes measured?
Measured on the Richter scale using a seismograph. Vibrations from earthquakes cause a cylinder to move side to side. A pen records those movements and creates a zig-zag. The bigger the zig-zag, the bigger the earthquakes.
Difference between Seismograph and seismogram.
Graph is the tool itself, gram is the zigzag lines that measure the intensity.
Tsunami
series of ocean waves that sends surges of water.
Tsunamis are caused by…
- large undersea earthquakes at techtonic plate boundaries .
- also be caused by landslides or volcanic eruptions in the water.
Tsunamis are how high in deep ocean
About a metre.
Wave Train
series of waves in a tsunami
