Yr 10 Environmental Change and Management Flashcards
What factors determine environments
A mix of biophysical features (biosphere, etc.)
What is the source function?
The source function of environments relates to the raw materials and natural resources it produces for us to utilise.
Raw materials such as: air, water, coal, iron and timber.
Natural resources relate to animal and plant life and ecosystems we use.
What is the sink function?
The ecosystem’s ability to absorb and process pollution and waste. This waste can be natural or produced by people.
Examples include: plants converting carbon dioxide into oxygen through respiration.
What is the service function?
Service functions support life on earth by creating and maintaining an environment that we can survive in. The atmosphere regulates our planet’s temperature, provides us with weather and protects us from harmful solar radiation. Other services maintain biodiversity.
What is the spiritual function?
Encompasses psychological, recreational and aesthetical values placed on environments by different people.
Aboriginals have strong spiritual connection to the land, landforms and wildlife, believing that they are one with the landscape.
Non-Aboriginals tend to look at how they could make money from an environment.
How do the spheres interact with one another?
For example, the biosphere controls/mediates the other spheres, so if any biospherical damage occurs such as deforestation, the others are severely impacted.
Biosphere to atmosphere = photosynthesis
Biosphere to hydrosphere = roots absorbing water
biosphere to lithosphere = draws out and replenishes nutrients in the earth.
Examples in lithosphere
- mountains
- boulders
Examples in biosphere
- trees
- animals
Examples in atmosphere
- nitrogen
- Oxygen
Examples in hydrosphere
- lakes
- oceans
What is the biosphere?
the regions of the surface and atmosphere of the earth or another planet occupied by living organisms
What is the lithosphere?
the rigid outer part of the earth, consisting of the crust and upper mantle.
What is the hydrosphere?
all the waters on the earth’s surface, such as lakes and seas
What is the atmosphere?
An atmosphere is a layer of gas or layers of gases that envelope a planet, and is held in place by the gravity of the planetary body
What is biodiversity?
The variety of life on Earth.
Why is biodiversity important?
It boosts ecosystem productivity where each species, no matter how small, all have an important role to play.
Such as
- greater variety of crops
- natural sustainability of life forms
- ecosystems can better withstand and recover from a variety of disasters.
What is sustainability?
meeting the needs of today without limiting future generations from meeting their needs.
Human impacts on the biosphere
- species extinction
- rainforest clearing
- agriculture and livestock
Human impacts on the lithosphere
- salination
- desertification
- industrial contamination
Human impacts on the Hydrosphere
- industrial contamination
- overfishing
- dams
- microplastics in the ocean
Human impacts on the atmosphere
- climate change
- air pollution
Different scales of environmental change
Local effects can have a cumulative effect and impact at a global level. This can be measured as:
- local (erosion from land clearing)
- regional (coal mining)
- national (deforestation)
- global (urbanisation)
What is an aquifer?
A pocket of underground storage for water.
Have humans caused species extinction?
Yes, such as the Tasmanian tiger and Dodo bird.
What is the goal of modern sustainability?
To support the capacity of the Earth to support people as well as the 4 functions of ecosystems.
How have Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples managed the environment?
They used fire to stimulate new growth and regenerate new plant life and wildlife. By burning the natives, it reduced their fuel load for natural fires.
Natural processes in coastal environments
- erosion
- waves
- deposition
- longshore drift
How long have humans lived on the coast
65,000 years, however it is only in recent times that this human habitation has significantly altered the natural processes.
How long is Australia’s coastline?
Australia’s coastline is over 59000km including offshore islands like Tasmania and smaller ones.
What are some features coastlines include?
rocky headlands, rainforests, beaches, tropical reefs, lagoons, bays and inlets.
Are coasts dynamic?
Coast environments are dynamic ecosystems, as they are constantly undergoing change due to the actions of wind and waves.
Constructive vs destructive waves
Constructive: deposit sediments to form beaches and sand dunes and are associated with calm weather.
Destructive: cause erosion of coastal landforms and are often associated with storm conditions.
How does longshore drift move?
It occurs when waves move sideways along a coastline, depositing and eroding sand with each wave.
Erosion
wearing away of rock and sediment (sand) by the action of waves and wind
Deposition
laying down of sediment onto the surface of the earth including underwater.
Erosion landforms
- headlands
- rock platforms
- bays
Deposition landforms
- beach
- sand dunes
- sand banks
What is the coastal zone?
The coastal zone includes any part of the coast that is affected by natural processes including the actions of waves and wind-blown sediment.
