Week 18

Question 1

What is ecology?

Answer 1

Ecology refers to the interactions between living organisms and their habitats

Question 2

What is biodiversity?

Answer 2

Biodiversity – the variety of plant and animal life, their distribution and number; affected by environmental degradation (e.g., blue whales, whitetailed deer, white pine trees, sunflowers, and microscopic bacteria).

Question 3

What is environmental degradation?

Answer 3

Environmental degradation is caused mainly by human activity, associated with industrialization, which originated in today’s developed
economies

Question 4

What is rapidly growing developing economies?

Answer 4

Rapidly growing developing economies (e.g., India and China) have prioritised economic development but now face environmental pressures –
from their own populations and from the international community.

Question 5

What is climate change?

Answer 5

Climate change can result from natural
causes or human activity
Global warming currently caused by buildup of greenhouse gases (GHG) in the earth’s
atmosphere.
Carbon dioxide emissions (CO2) are
particularly to blame, caused by:
Burning of fossil fuels, especially coalfired power stations
Factory production
Transport
Emissions are growing the quickest in the
world’s large emerging economies (e.g., India & China).

Question 6

What are Impacts of climate change

Answer 6

All continents experience shifts in climate due to
climate change
Heatwaves, drought, desertification, floods and
hurricanes are some of the phenomena
Insecurity of supplies of food and water
Rising sea levels affect islands and low-lying
regions
Threats are worse for poor developing countries and vulnerable to floods, droughts and storms; risks