UNIT 3: Human Impact On The Environment STUDY SHEET

Environmental Issue
Global Warming / Climate Change

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Solutions
Reduce burning of fossil fuels (non-renewable energy sources), by switching to renewable energy sources (like solar, wind, hydroelectric and biofuels). Reduce, reuse & recycle to save energy & reduce factory pollution. The use of these ozone depleting substances is now regulated by law in most countries.

Description
Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, like carbon dioxide (CO2), trap heat and raise the temperature of the planet. Increases in levels of these gases have resulted in an increase in the Earths temperature.

Human Causes
Power plants, factories and transportation (cars, trucks, buses, planes) burn fossil fuels (petroleum / oil, natural gas, coal) which adds large amounts of CO2 into Earths atmosphere.

Negative Effects
Extreme weather events: flooding, storms, droughts, fires. Melting of glaciers (polar ice) are predicted to cause a rise in ocean water levels, and flooding.

Things that make it worse

Deforestation (cutting down trees that absorb CO2) Increases in human population result in increased need for power plants, factories, transportation, making things worse. Increases in human population resulted in more use of the refrigerators and spray cans that released the ozone depleting substances, like CFCs. Increases in human population result in increased need for power plants, factories, transportation, which means more acid rain. If an invading species has no natural enemies (no predators or consumers eating it) in the new habitat, its population may grow out of control and end up destroying resources that other organisms in the ecosystem need. Increased inernational travel of humans make this problem worse.

Ozone Depletion

Ozone is a gas in the atmosphere. The ozone layer absorbs a lot of the ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun. Humans have caused a depletion (thinning) of the ozone layer. Polluting the atmosphere with chemicals like sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides makes rainwater more acidic (lowers the pH of rainwater).

Certain chemicals in refrigerators and spray cans deplete the ozone layer. These chemicals are called ozone depleting substances (ODS), for example: CFCs. When power plants, factories and cars burn fossil fuels, they release sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides into the air.

Acid Rain

Invasive Species

Humans sometimes move species (plants & animals) from their natural (native) habitat to a new (non-native) place. (Sometimes on purpose, and sometimes by accident.) If the species grows well in its new home, it can become invasive. It may take over a niche, or its population may grow large and put the whole ecosystem out of balance.

Some reasons why humans might bring a new species into an area: - They like it (its pretty, or cute, or reminds them of their native country) - to control a pest or weed - as a new food source for livestock (farm animals) - to try to fix a problem like soil erosion - by accident

A thinner ozone layer means more UV rays reach the Earth, causing an increase in skin cancer in humans and damage to other living organisms, like plankton populations. Acid rain can damage forests by washing minerals out of the soil that trees need. It can also pollute lakes and rivers causing fish to die, and damage buildings. Invasive species often outcompete local species. Since the invading species may not fill the exact same role as the species they replace, they can cause negative impacts to other populations in the ecosystem.

Reduce burning of fossil fuels by switching to renewable energy sources. Reduce, reuse & recycle to save energy and reduce factory pollution. Laws now prevent people from transporting live plants and animals across international borders without a special permit.

UNIT 3: Human Impact On The Environment STUDY SHEET

Environmental Issue
Loss of Biodiversity / Ecosystem Damage /

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Solutions
Humans need to be aware of how their actions impact the environment, and keep these things in mind when making choices that could have negative impacts. Humans need to find ways to harvest, hunt, fish and farm sustainably to avoid irreversible damage to communities and whole ecosystems, and slow down the trend of mass extinction.

Description
An ecosystem is stable if it has high biodiversity (meaning many different species). In an ecosystem, species are connected - they depend on each other and the abiotic factors around them. Loss of biodiversity / damage to ecosystems has many negative effects.

Human Causes

Negative Effects
Loss of biodiversity results in a decrease in the stability a whole ecosystem. If an ecosystem becomes too unstable, it may not be able to return to normal, and some species and habitats may be lost forever. The loss of biodiversity equals a loss in the variety of natural resources we use (especially for food & medicine).

Things that make it worse

Deforestation in rain forests is especially bad because rainforests have the highest biodiversity of all biomes. An increase in human population causes an increase in human activities that can damage ecosystems and biodiversity. Some people break the law and kill animals that are protected by law (called poaching). Poor countries and poor populations dont have a lot of choices when it comes to what resources they use. They may use and overuse resources just to survive, even when doing so may damage the ecosystem or lead to the loss of the resource. For example: continuing to cut down trees in the rainforest to sell or make farmland, continuing to fish for an endangered fish species, continuing to kill endangered elephants for their ivory tusks.

These issues are closely related!

Depletion (Loss) of Resources

- Deforestation / industrialization. - Farming replaces areas of high biodiversity with just one species of plant. - Overharvesting, over-fishing, overhunting - Farm pollution: pesticides, weed killer, & fertilizers wash into water ecosystems - Other types of pollution: oil Humans are causing changes to spills, chemical spills, acid rain, ecosystems faster than etc. organisms can adapt, Species - Global warming are going extinct at a faster rate - Introducing invasive species than ever before in the history (on purpose & by accident). of our planet. Any time we (humans) seriously Overharvesting, overfishing & damage an ecosystem, this overhunting. damage can also result in the loss of resources that we Use of non-renewable resources depend on. (like fossil fuels) has increased with human population growth Some resources we currently and industrialization. use are non-renewable, like fossil fuels. We are using some renewable resources faster than they can Even the renewable resources be replaced. we use need to be protected so they can stay usable. For Unsustainable farming practices example, only a small percent of cause depletion of soil (removal the worlds water is fresh water of nutrients without replacing (not salty). Though water seems nutrients) and erosion (loss) of like a renewable resource, it soil. Fertile soil is a resource! wont stay renewable if we use more of it than is replaced by Industrial pollution & other nature. damage to ecosystems and their natural resources.

Overharvesting, over-fishing & overhunting can cause a serious decrease in organism populations possibly even leading to extinction and harm the balance of entire ecosystems. As the resources we depend on become more scarce (harder to find) like clean water, land with rich soil for farming, fossil fuels they also become more expensive, often hurting poor countries and their populations the most.

Reduce, reuse, recycle! Support farmers and companies that use resources responsibly and sustainably, and dont pollute our soil, air and water. Cut down energy and water use in factories, businesses, and at home. Keep researching and developing better ways of using renewable energy sources (solar, wind, hydroelectric, etc.) Reduce the use of fossil fuels.