1. Environmental Science Review Ms. Sprang 2016

2. What is the difference between an Environmentalist and an Environmental Scientist?  An environmentalist CARES about the environment but does not study it. They read information and try to create laws and take actions that benefit the environment in some ways  Environmental Scientists study the earth and how different parts of the earth interact with living things on the earth

3. What are renewable and non-renewable resources?  Renewable resources come back after a short amount of time (formed quickly) or do not go away when used:  Solar Power, Wind Power, Wood, Water & Wave Energy  Nonrenewable resources do not come back for a long time after being used (formed slowly), or do not come back at all:  Coal, Oil, Gas, Metals (Copper, Gold, Iron)

4. What is Biodiversity?  Having many different species of animals and plants in a given area. Biodiversity helps us with farming & agriculture as well as medicine. The biggest way biodiversity provides us with a sources of income is ecotourism, where people explore new places.

5. How do we protect wildlife?  When a Species is threatened, we make a Species Survival Plan (SSP). Protected areas, like wildlife corridors are created.  Scientists map biodiversity hotspots to manage whole ecosystems and habitats. Places like coral reefs are hotspots and have the highest net primary production.

6. Biomes  Biomes are categorized by two factors, heat and moisture.  Deserts are warm and dry  Tundra is cold and dry  Rainforests are warm and wet  Boreal Forests are cold and wet  All other biomes are in between  In a temperature/precipitation graph, when the temperature line is above the moisture line, it’s dry, when it is below the moisture line, it is wet.

7. Aquatic Ecosystems  Approximately ¾ of the earth’s surface is water (close to 75%)  Most of the water on earth is salt water  Water ecosystems are divided up into 2 areas:  Where sunlight can reach- Photic Zone (most life is here)  Where sunlight cannot reach- Aphotic Zone  The benthic zone is specifically the bottom of whatever body of water, like the lake bottom and the ocean bottom.  It is photic in shallow areas and aphotic in deep areas

8. Freshwater ecosystems  Only 3 percent of the earth’s water is freshwater. 2% is in the polar ice caps (Artic and Antarctic), and 1% we can use.  Water cycle is evaporation (liquid into gas), condensation (gas into liquid in clouds), and precipitation (falling rain & snow)  There are two types of ecosystems, standing and moving  Standing water does not move, like lakes, wetlands and ponds  Moving water does move, like rivers and streams  Also includes estuaries, where the ocean meets a river (can be a bit salty)

9. Layers of the Earth  Environmental Scientists divide the earth into 4 parts, some that slightly overlap:  Geosphere- All the rock on the earth,  Hydrosphere- The area of earth that contains water  Biosphere- The area of the earth that living things exist on  Atmosphere- All the gases around the planet

10. Geologist’s Layers of the Earth  The Geosphere is divided up into more parts:  Crust-the outside layer of the earth  Mantle- Hot rock with the consistency of syrup, has 2 parts:  Top part: Lithosphere, firmer  Bottom part: Asthenosphere, softer  Core- Metal made of two parts, what makes the earth magnetic  Outer Core- Liquid Nickel and Iron  Inner Core- Solid Nickel and Iron

11. Plants and Growing  Plants need water, sunlight, carbon dioxide from the air and nutrients to grow  Plants can get nutrients from soil or from fertilizer  Too much fertilizer can cause too much plant growth in the ocean  Photosynthesis creates sugar (carbohydrates) and oxygen. The plant gets rid of the oxygen, which we breath

12. Hazards  There are 4 types of hazards:  Biological- Diseases, bacteria and other pathogens. Diseases that exist but are increasing rapidly are emerging. Widespread disease is a pandemic.  Chemical- Can occur outside (poison ivy and farming sprays) or inside (radon, carbon monoxide and asbestos)  Social- Choices we make, like smoking and driving cars  Physical or Natural- Disasters like wildfires, hurricanes, tornadoes and earthquakes. Man can trigger these.  We measure how likely these will harm us through risk assessment

13. Environmental Laws  Government makes the laws, and interacts with businesses, citizens and other organizations  In the US, in the early years (1780-1800) they though the resources were endless and made laws that reflected that.  We changed our laws to become more environmentally conscious starting in 1960  Before a law can be created, first the problem must be identified

14. Types of Animals  Herbivores- Eats only plants. Example is a rabbit or a cow.  Carnivore- Eats only meat. Example is a tiger or a wolf.  Omnivore- Eats both. Humans are omnivores

15. Sections of a forest:

16. Sections of a forest quick notes  Canopy- Top of the forest, where birds rest  Subcanopy- Middle of the top of trees, where nests are made  Understory- Bushes and other low plants  Forest floor- absolute bottom  Two other sections-  Emerging- When one tree sticks out over all the others  Snag- dead materials

17. Value of forests  Forests prevent erosion and regulate water flow  Economically, forests also provide wood and products such as paper, fruits and medicine  Sometimes forests are removed to make way for other things such as farms. This is called deforestation.

18. Weather  Global wind patterns are caused by the uneven heating of the Earth’s surface.  Air rises at the equator and moves towards the earth’s north and south pole. Cold air from those areas rush in to fill in the space from the rising air.  Global warming is Earth’s average surface temperature getting hotter.  It does not have to be hotter all the time, in fact in some areas it can be colder due to winds.  People living on the coast are most directly affected by global warming, as sea levels will rise as ice melts.

19. Population  The largest event to impact human population growth is the Industrial Revolution, where more things are made by factories  An age structure diagram compares age and gender in a country

20. Demographic Transition Model  Four stages:  Preindustrial (areas of the world that do not have a lot of technology; Parts of India, island nations)  Transitional (areas that are working on creating better farming, health and technology; Parts of India, areas of Africa)  Industrial (areas that have created factories and other health benefits, huge population; China)  Post-industrial (areas that have a steady population because people want to keep money; Europe and America)  China has the largest ecological footprint

21. Vocabulary  Population- A group of the same animal or plant in a given area  Community- Living things that interact in the same area  Ecosystem- The living and physical environment in the same area  Migration- Moving from one area to another, usually for food or mating purposes, as well as changing of the seasons

22. More Vocabulary  Sampling- Observing portions of the populations to make an estimate about the whole population  Carrying Capacity- The amount of a population a given area can sustain based on the habitat and resources available  Erosion- Removal of soil or other materials from an area due to water or other weather conditions  Organic- Not using chemical or man-made pesticides or other materials to grow plants or treat animals

23. Cities  Humans live in cities and farm in certain areas because the amount of usable (arable) land on earth is not increasing  Additionally cities allow for more human jobs and activities in a closer area  Cities are considered urban environments. Suburban areas surround cities and areas with few people are considered rural  Cities experience many interesting types of pollution like light pollution from all the buildings and sound pollution from all the activities and construction taking place

24. The Ph Scale