NUTRITION & FOOD SUPPLIES
~ although enough food is being produced to feed everyone, it is unevenly distributed
~undernourished: consuming less than enough calories needed for an active, healthy life
~over nutrition: too many calories, a problem in wealthy countries, greatest risk in the US
affects 20% of the world, increases blood pressure, heart attacks, strokes, diabetes
~sub-Saharan Africa: food is becoming scarce (war, poor governments, drought, etc)
~800 million undernourished ~obese:30 lbs over (morbidly- 100 lbs over (5 million Americans)
~60% of Americans are obese (we consume 3500 calories/day)

Chronic Hunger and Food Security
~Undernourishment as a child can lead to stunted growth, mental development, and other disorders. Infectious diseases like diarrhea that are usually to no concern can become lethal.
~Food Security: ability to obtain sufficient food on a day-to­day basis, threatened by poverty, women are usually more effected than men
Other Essential Nutrients
~It is possible to have plenty of calories but still suffer from malnutrition (having a nutritional imbalance, or by lacking a dietary component)
~Kwashiorkor: a protein deficiency in children, mainly in West Africa, victims have reddish hair, puffy, discolored skin, and a bloated stomach
~Marasmus: caused by a diet low in calories and protein, the child is thin and shriveled
~Both diseases can cause anemia, lower one's resistance to infections, or cause stunted growth and mental retardation
~Vitamin A deficiencies can cause blindness, while lack of folic acid causes neurological problems in babies, such as small heads or no brains
~Anemia: most common dietary deficiency in the world (not enough iron), is a lack of hemoglobin in the blood
~A deficiency of iodine can cause goiter (a swollen thyroid gland) or cause brain damage
Eating a Balanced Diet
~Eating a balanced diet full of grains, fruits, and vegetables, with moderate meat, dairy, and fats will give you all the nutrients you need
Famines
~Large-scale food shortages, massive starvation, social disruption, economic chaos
~Even if condition improve, it will be hard to recover (they have ruined their resources in order to survive)
~Causes: politics, government failure, adverse weather, insects, war, natural disasters, poverty, political boundaries, democracies seldom have famines

MAJOR FOOD SOURCES
~Our diet: a dozen grains, 3 root crops, 20 fruits/veggies, 6 mammals, two fowl,
Major Crops
~Mainly wheat, rice, and maize, wheat and rice make up 60% of calories consumed
~Fruits and veggies: have lots of vitamins, minerals, fiber, and complex carbs
Milk, Meat, & Seafood
~N. America, Japan, 7 Europe (20% world population) consume 80% of animal products
~Average American eats 260 lbs/meat/year (Bangladesh-6.5 lbs)
~90% of grain grown is used to feed animals (for slaughter)
~over harvesting, habitat destruction are endangering fisheries: 13/17 gone, with new technology, we can exhaust entire populations, 70% of fish are declining
1/4 animals are unwanted "by-catch", includes birds and mammals (by lines, drift nets)
~trawl nets can destroy habitats, spawning areas, impossible to rebuild populations

SOIL: A RENEWABLE RESOURCE
~mixture of weathered minerals from rocks, decaying organic material, and living organisms
~with good husbandry, soil can be replenished and renewed
~1/2 of cropland is being destroyed quicker than replaced
Soil Composition
~1/2 mineral (from bedrock/sediments), plant & animal residue, air, water, organisms
~sandy soil: light soil, good drainage, dries quickly vs. clay (tiny particles), heavy, impermeable, holds water longer
~Humus: a sticky, brown residue from decaying plants & animals, gives structure to soil and helps drainage
Soil Organisms
~Topsoil contains millions of organisms, most microscopic (bacteria, algae), worms insects, animals, plant roots draw up minerals and release acids that decompose particles
~leaf litter creates new organic material
Soil Profiles
~soil horizons: layers of soil, reveal the history, classified by color, texture, composition,
~Horizons make up soil profiles
~Topsoil: A horizon, covered by O horizon (newly deposited material), minerals mixed w/ organic matter, where most plants spread their roots to absorb nutrients
~subsoil: B horizon, dense with clay and nutrients (soluble)
~C horizon: parent material, weathered rock, weathering allows soil to extend downward
Soil Types
~classified into soil orders by their structure and composition

WAYS WE USE AND ABUSE SOIL
~11% of Earth is used for agriculture
Land Resources
~the average land area available to each individual is decreasing
~ways to improve usage of land: variety, better fertilizers, irrigation, pesticides, labor, water- 95% of agricultural growth
~forests, plains being converted to farmland, will eventually have to increase output/acre
~some land shouldn't be farmed (more valuable in natural state)- nutrients in the plants, not soil, would result in loss of biodiversity

Land Degradation
~land destroyed by: 1) humans (buildings, etc) 2) desertification 3) erosion
~in some places, the degradation is so bad that no crops can be supported
~effects: less species, crops, biomass, diversity, vegetation, soil eroded, water runs off
~Causes: 1) water (55%) 2) wind (29%) 3) chemical (12%) 4) physical (4%)

Erosion: The Nature of the Problem
~Importance: redistributed sediments, part of soil formation and loss, sculpts landscapes, creates silt for farming
~However, erosion can destroy topsoil, (exposing the subsoil) reduce land fertility, load rivers with sediments, smother wetlands, clog water intakes, coat reservoirs with silt
~Erosion equals a 1% loss in cropland/year

Other Agricultural Resources:
water- 73% of all freshwater used for irrigation (15% crops are irrigated world wide)
-80% water irrigated never reach destination (because of evaporation and seepage)
water logging- water-saturated soil causing plants roots to die from lack of oxygen
salinization- when mineral salts accumulate in the soil (particularly occurs when soil in dry climates are irrigated with saline water)
-when water evaporates, leaves behind lethal salt accumulation for plants
-irrigation problems: 150 million acres worldwide crop land damaged by water logging and salinization.
Water Conservation: greatly reduced problems from excess water use
-makes water available for other uses
Fertilizer- inorganic nutrients
-plants need: nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus, calcium, magnesium and sulfur
-calcium and magnesium limited in areas w/ high rainfall: must be supplied in form of lime (fertilizer)
-lack of nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus also limits plants growth and these elements are added in fertilizers to enable plant growth
-crop production up since 1950: Nitrate levels in ground water have increased from fertilizers and young children are sensitive to this and it can be fatal
Alternatives for fertilizer:
-manure and green manure
-nitrogen-fixing bacteria in root nodules of legumes
-interplanting or rotating beans (or other leguminous crop) with other crops (corn, wheat)
Energy: Direct- Fossil fuels supply almost all energy for farming
Indirect-energy synthetic fertilizers, pesticides (agricultural chemicals)- increase in this energy
-food system in U.S.: 16% of total energy use
-more energy put to produce, process and transport than actual farming
-present energy usages unsustainable (need alternatives for future because going to run out)!
New Crops and Genetic Engineering:
-3,000 species of plants have been used for food
-most food only comes from 16 widely grown crops!
-new varieties of crops valuable for humans and good for areas that are limited by climate, soil, pests, etc (harsh environments)
-ex: winged beans, perennial plants (hot climates), tricale: drought resistant; grows in light, sandy, infertile soil
Green Revolution:
-50 years ago: agricultural research for tropical wheat and rice varieties (for developing countries)
-"miracle" variety- dwarf (Warmon Varlaug) in Mexico
-International Rice Institute in Philippines est. dwarf rice- dramatic increases with these varieties
-green rev. Breeds: "high responders": yield more than other varieties in optimal condition and produce less when under optimal conditions
Genetic Engineering-
-genetically modified organisms (GMO's) or Frankinsteinian foods!
-have DNA containing genes borrowed from unrelated species.
Ex: "golden rice": gene from daffodil- makes rice produce beta carotene (artificial nutrient in many poor countries).
-genetic engineering also creating new animals
-developed in 1980s
-2000 U.S. Dept of Agriculture reported more than 70 million acres of GM corn, soybeans and other crops planted.
-more than half of all soybeans and cotton and more than 1/4 of corn in the U.S. were GM varieties in the year of 2000
-most of these crops are in the U.S. - Canada and Argentina hold most of these crops outside the U.S.
Positives and Negatives: crops would require less chemicals, be nutrient rich and could withstand harsh conditions
-however, most are resistant to herbicides and can tolerate more chemical use
-some fear that traits will transfer to wild plants creating super, out-of-control weeds
-expensive
Pest Resistance:
-plants created with genes for insecticides
-Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt): bacterium makes toxins lethal to butterfly family and beetle family-
when transformed to crops, protects against these pests
-reduces insecticide spraying
-most Bt crops in North America
-concerns: plants used to perfect conditions and not immune to pests (this natural pesticide is likely to be useless in the near future, so plants could be in danger in the future)
-effects on non-target species: can kill other species because susceptible and pesticides can travel long distances
-ex: can contaminate milkweeds that monarchs feed on
Weed Control- most popular transgenic crops: tolerates high doses of herbicides
-occupy 3/4 of all genetically engineered acreage
-2 main products: Monsanto's "Round up Ready" (resists glyphosate) and AgrEvo's "Liberty Link" crops (resists glufosinate).
-exterminates weeds but forces greater amounts of herbicides
-if widespread could create herbicide resistant "super weeds" (genes jump to wild relatives mostly in high biodiversity regions)
Public Opposition-
public shows concerns for safeness and making rich farmers richer and poor farmers bankrupt
-1999: protestors in India burnt crops suspected of genetic engineering
-objections strong in Europe (esp. Italy)
-2001 European Parliament passed rules requiring strict testing, monitoring and labeling of genetically engineered food products and seeds. Also banned genes for antibiotic resistance in plants: fear bacteria would become immune to it.
-potential risks to human health
-2000: StarLink corn only for livestock mixed into corn used in variety of human foods.
Sustainable Agriculture: (regenerative farming)
-aim to produce food and fiber on a sustainable basis and repair the damage caused by destructive practices.
Alternative Methods:
Soil conservation- soil is renewable resource
-most important elements in soil conservation: land management, ground cover, climate, soil type and tillage system
Managing Topography- water runoff downhill causes erosion: contour plowing- leave grass strips in waterways (plowing across hills, rather than up and down).
-like this is Strip Farming- planting of different kinds of crops in alternating strips along the land contours
-ridges created by cultivation make little dams that trap water to seep into the soil rather than runoff
terracing- shaping the land to create level shelves of earth to hold water and soil: edges of terraces planted with soil, anchoring plant species
-this is expensive and requires much hand labor (or expensive machines), but makes farming on steep hills possible
perennial species: plants that grow for more than two years- necessary for some crops to protect certain unstable soils on sloping gradients or watercourses (low areas w/ water runoff)
Ground Cover: protect soil
-cover crops (crop residues)
-interplanting of two different crops (or more) in same field (not only protects but produces double harvest) ex: beans or pumpkins planted in between corn rows- beans provide nitrogen for corn, pumpkin crowded out weeds and both crops provided balance of nutrients for corn
-Mulch: manure, wood chips, straw, seaweed, leaves, and other natural products
Reduced tillage: machines just cover seeds so do not disrupt ecosystem

Weather is the day to day fluctuations in the atmosphere while Climate describes temperature and humidity changes over long periods of time. Climates are not static- they cycle through yearly, centurial (is that a word?) and millennial patterns.

Initially the climate on Earth was a deadly mixture of Hydrogen, Helium and Methane from the outgassing of molten rock. 3 billion years ago oxygen was added to our atmosphere with the evolution of photosynthetic organisms.

Air pressure at sea level 14.5 lbs per square inch known as one Atm. Air pressure decreases with altitude. The surface of the Earth also experiences low pressure when warm air masses rises due to low density.

Air composition of the Troposphere today:
Nitrogen- 78%
Oxygen- 21%
Traces of Water Vapor, Argon and Carbon dioxide

The Atmosphere has four distinct layers.
Troposphere (roughly 10 km up)
The layer closest to earth. Holds 75% air mass.
Gets colder with altitude
Weather happens here, also only layer with water
Stratosphere
The top of the stratosphere contains ozone- O3
Ozone absorbs high level UV radiation from the sun.
Temperature increases with altitude because of UV absorption
Ozone molecules are broken down by CFC (now outlawed ingredient in aerosol sprays, refrigerator coolants and electrical cleaning solvents)
Excessive UV light on the Earth causes skin cancer, cataracts and mutates and kills plankton (the ocean's bread basket).
Mesosphere
Temperature decreases with height
Thermosphere
Highly ionized gas interacts with magnetosphere to create Aurora borealis (Northern Lights)!

Global Energy Transfer- before man (and woman) global energy was in balance.
Most of the energy from the sun is in the high energy wavelengths- UV and visible light.
50% of this energy is absorbed at the surface.
Energy reflected from the surface is infrared (longer wavelengths)

Convection- the transfer of energy of a warm fluid (like gas or water) upwards into a cooler zone. The cycle of air upwards around and down is called Convection Currents.

Why it rains in a rain forest: The sun's energy is concentrated near the Equator. Rising hot air expands and cools (called Adiabatic cooling). Colder air can't hold as much moisture so after a certain altitude, the air dumps out its water vapor in the form of water droplets- the stuff of clouds. Rising air creates low pressure and lots of nasty weather, unless you are a tropical plant in which case you are very happy. As the water vapor condenses it gives up latent heat energy- this helps large cloud formations rise higher, cool more and build energy to form large storm systems like hurricanes.

Why it is dry in a desert: At 30 degrees North and South latitude the air is cooling, becoming more dense and sinking. Sinking air creates high pressure. High pressure days are cloudless great tanning weather kind of days, unless you are thirsty.

Global winds are caused by the constant balancing act going on in our atmosphere as moist, warm air travels upward from the Equator and then cools and sinks at the 30 degree latitude belt. The air rises again at the 60 latitude and sinks at the poles. When the air moves laterally across the Earth's surface from belt to belt (High to Low pressure) it creates winds- we live in the Westerly wind belt which is why all of our weather comes from West to East. Below us are the trade winds which blow towards the Equator.

All wind belts are curved to the rotation of the Earth knows as the Coriolis Effect. In the Northern hemisphere the air curves to the right. In the south it curves to the left. These curving winds are also partially responsible for the direction of the major ocean currents of the world.

The Coriolis effect is also what spins tornadoes and cyclones. Cyclones are low pressure centers with winds that blow inwards in a counterclockwise direction. Weather conditions are very stormy.

Anticyclones are high pressure centers with cooler, sinking air that then spin clockwise outwards. Clear skies are created.

Jet Streams- 200 km/hr currents of air 10 km up. Responsible for guiding weather systems. Generated by temperature differences in upper atmosphere and the shear from Earth's rotation.

Types of Fronts
Cold Front
Cold air mass moves into warm. Sudden rise in air.
Creates large cumulonimbus rain clouds, lightening and hail
Powerful, but brief rainstorms
Warm Front
Warm air mass moves into cold
Creates cirrus clouds and later stratus clouds.
Sleet or long, light, cold rain created.
Occluded Front
Cold Fronts take over warm fronts by sandwiching and then pushing the warm air off the ground. The system begins to spin (cyclone) and rain like crazy.

Hurricanes (or Typhoon in the Pacific Ocean) are a hundred mile wide cyclones that last several weeks. Despite their relatively puny wind speeds (75- 200 mph) hurricanes are much more deadly than tornadoes. Between the heavy rain fall, mud slides and storm surges, people lose their lives by drowning.

Tornadoes- a mini cyclone that begin when the jet streams shear off the top of an especially large cumulonimbus cloud (cool, huh?). The cloud tightens as it sinks downward and spins faster due to angular momentum. The fastest tornado winds have been clocked at 318 mph. Most lives are lost in a tornado due to being struck by something that has no business flying.

Monsoons- seasonal rains and droughts caused by the differential temperatures of land and oceans. In the summer, the land heats up faster than the sea, so a low pressure center develops on land. Moist air from the ocean rush in to "fill" in the pressure void and monsoon rains last for four months or more. Then, during the winter, the ocean, which has a higher heat capacity, is now warmer than the land and winds tend to move towards the sea. A long term drought ensues.

Milankovitch cycles-
Periodic shifts in earth's orbit (100,000 year cycle), tilt (40,000 year cycle) and axis wobble (a 26,000 year cycle). The timing of all three of these phenomenon are such that every 100,000 years or so the Earth finds itself very far from the sun- enough to trigger an ice age.

La Nina
The "normal" state of affairs with relatively cool ocean temperatures on the Equatorial Pacific Ocean. Trade winds blow warm water in the South Pacific towards the Western Pacific Ocean. This causes a low pressure system off of Australia and Indonesia which leads to lots of rain. Nutrient rich water upwells off the coast of South America feeding a burgeoning anchovie population.
Back in the states we experience warm winters in the SE and cold winters in NE and the Middle Atlantic. Southern California is sunny (the brats!) and Washington is rainy (poor Kurt).

El Nino- occur every 3-5 years. Used to last 2 weeks to a month, now lasts one month to over a year!!!
Unusually warm ocean temperatures on Equator (made worse by global warming) cause the Trade winds to weaken. Warm water is sloshed back to South America
No upwelling of nutrient rich water occurs off of Peru and the anchovie population falls. Food chain disturbed
The jet stream splits over America causing lots of weird weather.
New Paltz gets mild winters while the South West US and Peru gets RAIN!!
Seattle goes dry as does the West Pacific causing large bush fires in Australia and Borneo-8 million acres burned just recently :(

Global Warming (now officially called Climate Change by our government)
The burning of fossil fuels creates greenhouse gases- especially carbon dioxide. Since 1800 we've gone from 280 ppm to 370 ppm of CO2. Other gases implicated in global warming are water vapor, methane- mooo! (CH4), N20 (laughing gas) and sulfur hexafluoride. The massive deforestation around the planet also adds to the greenhouse effect because our natural carbon dioxide sinks are compromised... ok, dead. Seasonal fluxations of CO2 are natural due to the increased photosynthesis in the summer which aborbs CO2 and the dormant plant life in the winter.

These greenhouse gases trap infrared heat energy trying to exit the planet and the Earth is heated up- already we've noticed a 1.4 degree F (.8 degrees C) change. That doesn't sound like much but it only took 5 degrees F to trigger an ice age!

Effects of Global Warming include:
Glaciers melting and huge icebergs calving off ice sheets. The Arctic sea is now 40% thinner. Many alpine glaciers are shrinking quickly or melting altogether. Decreased snow pack on land also results in more sunlight energy being absorbed by the Earth's surface. Snow caused light to be reflected from the Earth's surface (albedo).
Creates sea level rise (6 inches projected in next 100 years). If all of the glaciers/ice sheets melted the sea would rise 300 feet. Sea level would also rise due to thermal expansion.
Drought/ fires due to changes in weather patterns. Already the seas have risen 15 cm in the last 100 years.
Crop failure- US bread basket is now moving to Canada- only problem is that the soil is thin and not particularly fertile.
More tropical disease will spread due to more tropical areas- malaria is coming- agghhh!
Extreme weather- contrary to popular misconception- winters get more ferocious and of course summers get hotter.
Coral reefs are being "bleached" by the hotter temperatures. That means that the algae that lives commensually on the coral is dying. It is projected that the reefs have 50 years left... poor Nemo!
Extinctions- animals and plants can't migrate fast enough to out pace environmental changes especially if you are trapped on a mountain or if you've reached the limit of your park land.

Kyoto Protocol
In 1997, 162 countries gathered together in Japan to figure out how to slow global warming. EVERY COUNTRY agreed to limit their carbon dioxide production and signed a treaty to that effect, except for the US and Australia. It really shocked and disturbed the world, especially when George Bush senior said, "We are going to put the interests of our own country first and foremost" and "The American lifestyle is not up for negotiation." We tried really hard to create a "CO2 credit" in exchange for the fair amount of land we have still forested, but the countries won't go for it. The US produces 24% of the world CO2, and yet have less than 5% of the world's population. Presently the government has responded to environmentalists' pressure by pledging lots of money to investigate the NATURAL causes of global warming (okay volcanoes do make CO2... ). Many people argue that historically we've seen massive fluctuations in temperature on the Earth, but the point is that the present RATE of temperature change is unprecedented, and inconveniently coincides with human-caused increases in CO2 levels... The plot thickens.

compounds.
-air pollution is the most widespread environmental damage.
-147 million metric tons of air pollution released each year by the US.
-the world releases about 2 billion metric tons a year.
-air quality has improved over the past 20 years in developed countries.
- developing countries however have higher air pollution sometimes ten times higher than the pollution levels considered safe for human health.

Natural Air pollution:
-natural fires-smoke
-Volcanoes- ash, acid mists, hydrogen sulfide and toxic gases.
-sea spray and decaying organics ­ reactive sulfur compounds
-Trees and bushes- emit volatile organic compounds
-pollen, spores, viruses, bacteria also are air pollution
- the effects of natural contamination and human contamination can be the same

Human caused air pollution
-Primary pollutants- released directly from the source into the air in a harmful form.
-Secondary pollutants- changed into hazardous form after released into air by chemical reactions.
-Fugitive emissions- do not go through a smoke stack (most commonly dust from soil erosion, strip mining, rock crushing, and building construction)

-US clean Air Act of 1970- seven major pollutants for which maximum ambient air (air around us) levels are mandated - sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, particulates, hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides, photochemical oxidants and lead
-Sulfur Compounds: about 114 million metric tons a year released from all sources. Humans release about 90% of the sulfur in the air in urban areas.
Natural sources: sea spray, erosion of sulfate containing dust, fumes from volcanoes.
Most sulfur released because of humans- burning fuel (coal and oil) containing sulfur­ China and US release the most sulfur because of their great amount of coal and oil burning
Sulfur dioxide- directly damaging to plants and animals. Once in the air it can turn into sulfur trioxide and react to water vapor contributing to acid rain.
Sulfate particles reduce visibility in US 80%. Reduction of SOX can be achieved with scrubbers and by burning coal low in sulfur.

Nitrogen compounds:
Nitrogen oxides- formed when nitrogen in fuel or combustion in air is heated to above 650 degrees C.
Total emissions about 230 million tons a year. About 60% is because of humans. Natural sources: lightening, fires and bacteria in soil. Anthropogenic sources: formed from auto exhaust and electrical power generation. NOX irritates the lungs, makes smog, is a potent greenhouse gas and makes acid rain. Reduction of NOX can be achieved with a catalytic converter.

Carbon Oxides:
Carbon Dioxide is causing global warming : about 3 billion tons accumulate in the atmosphere a year. The level of CO2 is increasing .5%/year. 90% of C02 in air is consumed by photochemical reactions that produce ozone.
Carbon Monoxide: colorless, highly toxic gas. Produced by incomplete combustion of fuel. 1 billon metric tons released into atmosphere each year, half of that by humans (internal combustion engines). CO binds to hemoglobin reducing the oxygen in the blood. Can be deadly. It also is a respiratory irritatant and strong oxidant. Reduction of CO can be achieved with a catalytic converter, emission testing/laws, oxygenated fuel and mass transit!

Metals and Halogens:
Lead emissions are about 2 millions tons a year, 2/3 of all metallic air pollution. Most of the lead is from leaded gasoline. About 20% of inner city children suffer from some kind of mental retardation because of lead poisoning. Radon is a radioactive gas found naturally in the bedrock that contains radioactively decaying Uranium. It can cause lung cancer.

Mercury: sources: coal burning power plants and waste incinerators.
-Biomagnification in aquatic ecosystems and birds. It is dangerous to eat higher trophic level fish. Mercury is a neurotoxin. Reduction can be achieved with an electrostatic precipitator (a charge is given to the particulate as it tries to leave a smokestack. A charged plate inside the chimney attracts the pollutant.)
More toxic metals: nickel, beryllium, cadium, thallium, uranium, cesium, plutonium, arsenic.

Particulate Matter:
Aerosol- any system of solid particles or liquid droplets suspended in a gaseous medium.
Particulate material: dust, ash, soot, pollen, leaf mildew.
Can be natural: dust, volcanic ash can also be suspended in the air. Anthropogenic sources are from burning fossil fuels, car exhaust, asbestos, and cigarettes. Particulates irritate the lungs, diffuse into the blood and react with tissues. Sometimes it can cause cancer.
These seem to be the most apparent pollution because they reduce visibility. Reduction can be achieved by filtering, electrostatic precipitators and alternative energy.

Volatile Organic Compounds: (VOC's)
-Organic chemicals that exist as gases in air. 2/3 of the air toxins regulated by the Clean Air Act are VOCs.
-Plants are the largest source
- Benzene, toluene, formaldehyde, vinyl chloride and other chemicals are released into the air by human activities through mainly unburned or partially burned hydrocarbons from transportation. They are also caused by power plants, chemical plants, oil refineries, oil based paint, cheap 70's carpets and furniture and dry cleaning solvents. They can cause asthma and respiratory disease also some are carcinogenic and neurotoxins.

Photochemical oxidents- from secondary atmospheric reactions driven by the sun. Creates smog and ozone which damages buildings, vegetation, eyes and lungs.

INDOOR AIR POLLUTION:
- It has been found that indoor concentration of toxic pollutants are often higher than outdoors.
- Smoking is the most severe air pollutant. 400,000 people die each year from Emphysema, heart attacks, lung cancer, strokes, and other diseases caused by smoking. (20% of all mortality in US)
- Leading cause of death for women because of advertising in the '50's
- These deaths cause us $100 billion a year; eliminating smoking would save more lives than any other pollution control.

Concentration of benzene, carbon tetrachloride, formaldehyde, and strene has been found to be 70 times higher in indoor air than outdoor air. Yikes!
- Less developed countries burn for cooking and heat- because of poor ventilation and cooking fires there is a large amount of indoor air pollution especially particulates. ­ women and children are most effected.
- Levels of carbon monoxide, particulates, aldehydes and toxic chemicals can be 100 times greater than the safe outdoor concentrations in US

Sick Building: a building in which a number of people adverse health effects related to the time spent in the building. These symptoms disappear when they go outside.

Climate:
Temperature inversions: occur when a stable layer of warmer air overlays cooler air, reversing the normal temperature decline with increasing height and preventing convection currents from dispersing pollutants. This is really bad if the pollutants then build up.
Can occur when:

-a cold air mass slides under an adjacent warmer air mass -or-
-Cool air subsides down a mountain slope to displace warmer air in the valley below.

Long range transport:
Many pollutants can be carried long distances by the wind currents.
-some of the most toxic and corrosive materials brought by long range transport are secondary pollutants.
-areas considered the cleanest in the world still have pollutants in the air.

Stratospheric Ozone:
- it was discovered in 1985 that the ozone levels in the stratosphere over the South Pole were dropping during September and October as the sun comes out after the polar winter ­ has been happening since the 1960s.
- this hole was the largest ever found and is now spreading to other parts of the world. About 10% of ozone disappears during the spring.
- This is dangerous because ozone filters out UV light and without it organisms would be exposed to life threatening radiation. Skin cancers increase.
- CFC's (Chlorofluorocarbons) are suspected to be the major cause of ozone loss. ­ known as Freon. When discovered they were regarded as nontoxic, nonflammable and cheaply produced. But because they are so stable they remain in atmosphere for decades. When they are diffused into the stratosphere they release chlorine atoms which destroy the ozone.
- CFC's have been banned and minimized

Effects of air pollution:
-50,000 Americans die prematurely because of illnesses related to air pollution. (5-10 year decrease in life span)
Bronchitis: persistent inflammation of bronchi and bronchioles that causes mucus build up, painful cough, and involuntary muscle spasms that constrict airways.
- Bronchitis can lead to emphysema- an irreversible obstructive lung disease in which airways become permanently constricted and alveoli are damaged or even destroyed.
- Smoking is the leading cause of both these diseases.
Plants:
-Pollutants can be directly toxic damaging to the sensitive cell membranes of plants. Within a few days of exposure mottling can occur and plant eventually dies.
-damage because of pollutants can be hard to distinguish from insect damage.
-environmental factors can have synergistic effects: injury caused by exposure to each factor individually is less than together at the same together.

Acid Rain- normal pH of rain is about 5.6. Most acid rain in NPZ is due to coal- burning plants upwind. The pH scale is logarithmic.
Aquatic effects: acid in water effects fish- to protect their gills fish produce a mucus lining over their gills and eventually suffocate themselves. Acid shock is especially bad in the spring run off from melting snow.
Kills life in lakes and other aquatic ecosystems- usually the small fry and older fish die first.

-Forest damage:- seedling production, tree density, and viability of spruce-fir trees at high elevations have declined about 50% because of air pollution. Plants waxing coating is distroyed, they have an increased vulnerability to insects, and they take up heavy metals in the soil that were previously inert at a higher pH.

Visibility ­ has been reduced greatly. Even National Parks are effected by air pollution. Acid rain can be reduced by limiting fossil fuel use and alternative energy. Lime is added to acidic lakes but that is a temporary solution. Just increasing the size of smoke stacks is a bad idea!

Biodiversity preserves three ecological systems -Genetic Diversity: the measure of the variety of different versions of the same genes with individual species -Species diversity: the number of different kinds of organisms (richness) -Ecological diversity: the richness and complexity of a biological community

Only 1.4 million species are known- a fraction of the total. 70% known species are invertebrates, only 10-15% species live in North America and Europe Hot Spots of the World: The centers of greatest biodiversity tend to be in the tropics, especially tropical rain forests and coral reefs.

How do we benefit from Biodiversity? -Food- 80,000 plants are edible to humans -Drugs and Medicines- more than half of prescription drugs come from natural products. ex. Madagascar periwinkle inhibits cancer growth! -Ecological Benefits-soil formation, waste disposal, air and water purification, nutrient cycling, etc. 95% of pests are controlled by other species that prey on them- better than chemicals! -Aesthetic and Cultural Benefits- nature as "church". Provides psychological and emotional rejuvenation. Ecotourism is big.
Loss of Biodiversity: -Extinction: the elimination of a species 99% of all species that have ever existed are now extinct! -Natural Causes of Extinction: in an undisturbed ecosystem. Mass extinctions (that wiped out dinosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous period and two thirds of all marine life at the end of the Permian period) were caused by climate changes, perhaps triggered when large asteroids struck the earth. Now we are losing species at thousands of times the natural background rate of extinction. 1/3 to 2/3 of all current species could go extinct by the MIDDLE of this century. :( -Habitat Destruction: The biggest reason for the current increase in extinction is habitat loss. Habitat Fragmentation: Habitat fragmentation divides populations into isolated groups that are vulnerable to catastrophic events. -Over harvesting (hunting and fishing) is responsible for depletion or extinction of many species. Ex. Passenger pigeon: 3 to 5 BILLION birds lived 200 years ago. In addition to over harvesting wild species for food, we also obtain a variety of valuable commercial products from nature. ex. Rhino horns. -Predator and Pest Control- some animals are killed off because they are deemed as dangerous. ex. coyotes
Exotic Species Introduction -Exotic organisms are aliens introduced into habitats where they are not native and they are one of the greatest threats to native biodiversity. Exotics can be thought of as biological pollution. There are now more than 4,500 alien species in the United States. ex. Kudzu vine, purple loosestrife, asian longhorn beetles. They have no natural predators in their new home and can often out compete native plants for food and space. -Diseases- pathogens (disease organisms) can become predators when natural checks and balances are lost.
Endangered Species Management -Hunting and Fishing Laws- 1890's most states authorized laws. ex. white tailed deer -The Endangered Species Act- ESA of 1973 prohibits the killing of a endangered species. The act has now expired. Endangered: considered in imminent danger of extinction Threatened: those that are likely to become endangered Vulnerable species: naturally rare or have become so because of human activities. Problems arose with lawsuits. What about saving Mrs. Furbisher's lousewort??? Area in US with most endangered species is Southwest. Characteristics of endangered species: large body size, large or very small territory requirement, long-lived, specialist species, low reproduction rate. Successful Comebacks: American alligator, Bald Eagle and California condor Some people want the economic cost of recovery to be included in the decision making process. ex. Snail darter and Northern Spotted Owl. 80% of the habitat for more than half of endangered species live on nonpublic property. Land owners are resistant. Over the past decade, growing numbers of scientists, land managers, policy makers, and developers have been making that case that it is time to focus on a rational, continent-wide preservation of ecosystems that support maximum biological diversity rather than a species-by-species battle for the rarest or most popular organisms.
-Minimum Viable Populations: small numbers of surviving species are more vulnerable to extinction. Island Biogeography. The smaller and farther away an "island" is from a continent, the faster the extinction rate. -International Wildlife Treaties Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). Prohibits the trade of endangered species internationally. ex. Elephants -Captive Breeding and Species Survival Plans: zoo breeding can reintroduce endangered species back into the wild

Land Use: Forests and Range lands
Land Use Distribution of World: -32% Forest and wetlands, -31% Tundra, desert, wetlands, and urban areas, -26% Range and pasture, -11% Cropland Forests regulate climate, control water runoff, provide shelter and food and purify the air. Plus they are pretty to look at! 50 to 60% of the world depends upon wood or charcoal for heating and/or cooking. Forests in NE USA (Temperate) are rejuvenating! Tropical Forests are critically threatened. Jungles contain 2/3 of all plants and 1/2 of all animal life. There needs to be laws preventing deforestation in developing countries.
Forest management: Monoculture forestry is the most profitable but the most destructive to the health of the forest. -Temperate Forests: In the United States and Canada, the two main issues in timber management are (1) cutting the last remains of old-growth forest and (2) methods used in timber harvest. Clear cutting is when every tree in a given area is cut regardless of size. The concentration of nitrates in the runoff increases. Strip cutting entails harvesting all tress in a narrow corridor. Sustainable Forestry: In both temperate and tropical regions, scores and certification programs are being developed to identify sustainably produced wood products. Selective cutting is when only a small percentage of the mature tress are taken in each 10- or 20- year rotation. Increasingly, non-timber forest products are seen as an alternative to timber production. Range lands: Pasture (generally enclosed domestic meadows or managed grasslands) and open range (unfenced, natural prairie and open woodlands) occupy about 26% of the world's land surface. Overgrazing and Protection: About one-third of the world's range is severely degraded by overgrazing, making this the largest cause of soil degradation. The process of denuding and degrading a once-fertile land initiates a desert-producing cycle that feeds on itself and is called desertification. Rotational grazing; confining animals to a small area for a short time (often only for a day or two) before shifting them to a new location; stimulates the effects of wild herds. This allows the animals to trample and fertilize the ground without damaging it.

       Evolution

                  Tolerance Limits and Species Abundance
tolerance limits- the maximum and minimum levels beyond which a particular species cannot survive or is unable to reproduce, ex. temperatures, moisture levels, nutrient supply, soil and water chemistry, and living space. 
-different for each species
-later discovered that rather than a single factor that limited growth, it was several factors working together, that determined biogeographical distribution
-for some species there may be a critical factor that determines their abundance and distribution in an area
-ex. saguaro cactus, sensitive to low temperatures, will begin to die in 12 hours of freezing temps. -young saguaros are more susceptible to cold than adults
-young animals also have more critical tolerance limits than the adults, ex. pupfish
-requirements and tolerances of species often are helpful in understanding the environmental characteristics of an area. the presence of a species can say something about the community and ecosystem
environmental indicators- species with specific tolerance limits that tell us something about the area where they are present ex. locoweeds grow in areas with a high soil concentration of selenium

                  Natural Selection and Adaptations
-term adapt used in two ways
1. limited range of physiological modifications, called acclimations, available to individual organisms. ex. house plants inside all winter
2. inheritance of specific genetic traits that allow a species to live in a particular environment
evolution- species change gradually through competition for scarce resources and natural selection
natural selection-a process in which those members of a population that are best suited for a particular set of environmental conditions will survive and produce offspring more successfully than their ill-suited competitors
-natural selection acts of preexisting genetic diversity created by small random mutations and occur spontaneously in every population
-mutations alight, but in the long run, create amazing diversity
-theory developed by Charles Darwin
environmental factors that cause selective pressure and influence fertility or survivorship-
1. physiological stresses due to inappropriate levels of some critical environmental factor ex. moisture, light, temp. pH, specific nutrients
2. predation, including parasitism and disease
3. competition
4. luck, sometimes they're just lucky rather than better fir to survive
-selection affects individuals, but evolution and adaptation work at the population level, species evolve not individuals
-isolation can also drive evolution, and cause for variations in species
convergent evolution- when through time when unrelated organisms evolve to look and act very much alike

                  Niche Specialization
habitat- the place or set of environmental conditions in which a particular organism lives
ecological niche- description of either the role played by a species in a biological community or the total set or environmental factors that determine species distribution
-biophysical definition proposed by G.E. Hutchinson, he said every species has a range of physical and chemical conditions (temp. acidity, humidity etc) as well as biological interactions (predators, prey present, defenses, nutrition available) within which is can exist
-niches can evolve over time
-law of competitive exclusion states that no two species will occupy the same niche and compete for exactly the same resources in the same habitat for very long
resource partitioning- when competition forces one species to either migrate to a new area, become extinct, or change its behavior or physiology in ways that minimize competition
-niche specialization can cause subpopulations of a single species to diverge into separate species, but resources can only be partitioned so far

         Species Interactions

                  Predation
-all organisms need food to live
predator- an organism that feeds directly upon another living organism
-in this broad sense parasites and pathogens may be considered predators
parasites- organisms that feed on a host organism or steal resources from it without killing it
pathogens-disease-causing organisms
-predation is a potent and complex influence on population balance of communities, it involves
1. all stages of the life cycles of predator prey species
2. specialized food obtaining mechanisms
3. specific prey-predator adaptations that either resist or encourage predation
-predation important factor in evolution because predators prey most successfully on the slowest, weakest, least fit members of their target population, causing the prey species to evolve with protective or defensive adaptations to avoid predation
coevolution- the process when predators evolve mechanisms to overcome the evolved defenses of their prey

                   Keystone Species
keystone species- a species of group of species whose impact on its community or ecosystem is much larger and more influential than would be expected from mere abundance
-many unexpected species can be a keystone species, ex. tropical figs, microorganisms

                  Competition
-organisms within a community much compete for all the survival necessities: energy and matter in usable forms, space, and specific sites for life activites
intraspecific competition- competition among members of the same species
interspecific competition- competition between members of different species
--competition more of a race than a fight, animals don’t want to risk getting injured
-intraspecific competition intense because organisms are fighting directly for the exact same resources
territoriality- intense form of intraspecific competition in which organisms define an area surrounding their home site or nesting site and defend it, primarily against other members of their own species
-territorilaity helps to allocate resources by spacing members of a species

                  Symbiosis-intimate living together of members or two or more species

                           Mutualism- a type of symbiosis in which both members of the partnership benefit. 
ex. lichens being a combination of fungus and a photosynthetic partner, alga or cyanobacterium
-mutualistic relationship may be important in evolution
                           Commensalism- a type of symbiosis in which one member clearly benefits and the other apparently is neither benefited nor harmed
ex. cattle and cattle egrets

                           Parasitism-a form of symbiosis in which one species benefits and the other is harmed.
ex. Ms. Law and tropical round worms  
                 
                           Defensive Mechanisms-the way that different prey adapt to either hide from or discourage predators
ex. toxic chemicals, body armor
-some organisms produce noxious odors or poisonous secretions
-plants too produce chemical compounds that make them unpalapable or dangerous to disturb
ex. poison ivy, stinging nettles
Batesian mimicry- harmless species that evolve colors, patterns, or body shapes that mimic species that are unpalpable or poisonous
Mullerian Mimicry- when two dangerous species evolve to look alike
-others use camouflage

                  Community Properties
-productivity, diversity, complexity, resilience, stability, and structure

Productivity-
primary productivity- rate of biomass production
-higher productivity in areas of high temperature moisture and nutrient availability

Abundance and Diversity-
abundance-expression of the total number of organisms in a biological community
diversity- measure of the number of different species, ecological niches, or genetic variation present
-as you go from the equator towards the poles, generally diversity decreases but abundance increases
-productivity is related to abundance and diversity

Complexity and Connectedness
complexity-refers to the number of species at each trophic level and the number of trophic levels in a community
-you can have an abundant community that isn't very complex

         Ecological Succession-
-the process by which organisms occupy a site and gradually change environmental conditions b creating soil, shade, shelter, or increasing humidity
                  Primary Succession-occurs when a community begins to develop on a site previously unoccupied by living organisms
ex. island, new volcanic flow
pioneer species- in primary succession, the species that fist colonizes the new area
-often microbes, mosses and lichens
ecological development- process or environmental modification by organisms     

                  Secondary Succession-occurs when an existing community is disrupted and a new one subsequently develops at the site
-disruption may be caused by natural catastrophe, human activity
climax community- in either primary or secondary succession, when a community develops that resists further change
equilibrium communities/disclimax communities- when landscapes never reach a stable climax in the traditional sense because they are characterized by periodic disruption
                  Aquatic Succession-process or succession taking place in a body or water

BIOME : a broad, regional type of ecosystem characterized by distinctive climate and soil
conditions and a distinctive kind of biological community adapted to those conditions.
~Deserts: characterized by low moisture levels and infrequent, unpredictable precipitation
-plant adaptations to conserve water and protect from predation
-seasonal leaf production, water storage tissues, thick epidermal layers
-spines and thorns
-warm, dry, descending air creates desert bands at 30 degrees N and S
-deserts at high latitudes are cool
-sand dunes are rare away from the coast
-2-2" of rain per year
-sparse but species-rich community dominated by shrubs and small trees
-animals- structural and behavioral adaptations
-hide in burrows or rocky shelters to escape daytime heat
-mice and rats obtain moisture from the seeds and grains they eat
-highly concentrated urine and dry feces to conserve water
-easily disturbed by humans
-slow to recover because of harsh climate
-EX. tracks still visible from army trucks in WWII, overgrazing, and use for farmland
~Grasslands/Savannas: rich biological communities of grasses, seasonal herbaceous flowering plants, and open savannas.
-seasonal cycles for temperature and precipitation">vegetative growth">enriches soil->
good farmland
-10-60" rain per year
-few trees b/c of inadequate rainfall, daily and seasonal temperature ranges, and
frequent grass fires
-some are artificially created and maintained by native people using fire (balance
ecosystem)
-large grazing animals EX. bison, deer, elk
-human disturbances
-fire suppression
-conversion into farmland
-overgrazing">soil erosion
-hunting, fencing, wetland drainage, introduction of alien species">diminished
wildlife population
~Tundra: characterized by a short growing season, cold, harsh winters, and the potential for frost
at any time
-far N and S, and high elevations
-less than 10" rainfall per year
-no trees
-arctic-low productivity, low diversity, and low resilience
-long, dark winters
-in summer-only top few centimeters are unfrozen, the rest is permafrost
-surface soil waterlogged b/c of permafrost
-no deep root growth b/c of permafrost">not many plants
-alpine- thin mountain air">permits intense solar bombardment">plants w/dark
pigment that shields inner cells
-hot daytime ground temps, freezing nighttime temps
-gravelly, rocky soil
-slope causes quick moisture drainage
-ALL this adds up to a drought problem
-dominant plants- dwarf shrubs, sedges, grasses, mosses, and lichens
-animals must be adapted to harsh climate and sparse food supply
-EX. arctic musk ox and caribou, alpine mountain goats and mountain sheep
-migration and hibernation
-birds nest in the tundra during the summer
-human disturbances
-slow to heal
-oil and natural gas wells in the arctic
-mineral excavation in mountain regions
-truck ruts and tracks

~Conifer Forest: regulated by fires
-20-40" of rain per year
-conifer trees can survive harsh winters or extended droughts
-boreal forest- northern coniferous forest
-mixture of coniferous and deciduous trees
-b/w 45 and 50 degrees N latitude
-dominant conifers- pine, hemlock, spruce, cedar, and fir
-dominant deciduous trees- birches, aspens, and maples
-many lakes, potholes, bogs, and fens
-mosquitoes and biting flies are abundant
-taiga- northernmost edge of the boreal forest.
-harsh climate">limited productivity and resilience of community
-cold temps, wet soil, and acids produced by fallen conifer needles"> full decay of
organic matter">peat (semi-decayed organic material)
-peat mining could be severe and long-lasting
-southern pine forest-characterized by a warm, moist climate and sandy soil
-managed for timber, turpentine, and rosin
-temperate coniferous forests of the pacific coast- mild temps and abundant precipitation
-up to 100" of rain per year
-luxuriant plant growth and huge trees
-EX. California redwood- largest tree in the world, largest organism EVER
-in its wettest parts, the coniferous forest becomes a temperate rain forest
~Broad-Leaved Deciduous Forest: lush summer plant growth when rain is plentiful
-requires adaptations for the frozen season
-30-100" rain per year
-four seasons
-deciduous trees- produce summer leaves and then shed them at the end of the growing
season
-EX. oak, maple, birch, beech, elm, ash
-form canopy over smaller shrubs, trees, and herbaceous plants
-human disturbances- most hard hit by man (NE cleared 100 years ago)
-trees harvested for timber
~Tropical Rain Forest: one of the most complex and biologically rich biomes
-ample rainfall
-uniform temperatures (about 80 degrees)
-cloud forests- high in the mountains
-fog and mist keep vegetation wet
-tropical rain forest- rainfall abundant ( 90-180" per year)
-warm to hot temps year round
-thin, acidic, and nutrient-poor soil
-1/2 to 2/3 of all species of terrestrial plants and insects live in tropical forests
-90% of nutrients in the nutrient cycle are in the bodies of living organisms
-growth depends on the decomposition and recycling of dead organic material
-human disturbance
-deforestation">loss of soil fertility b/c the thin soil cannot support crops or resist
Erosion
-forest doesn't recover from clear cutting
AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS
~Estuaries- bays of brackish water (mix of salt and fresh water) from where river enters ocean
-contain rich sediments carried downstream
-forming mud flats that nurture aquatic life
-sheltered from most ocean action other than tides
-high species diversity and productivity
~Wetlands: land surface is covered with standing water at least part of the year
-vegetation is adapted for growth under these conditions
-swamps- wetlands with trees
-marshes- wetlands w/out trees
-bogs and fens- wetlands w/ or w/out trees that have waterlogged soils that accumulate
peat
-low productivity
-swamps and marshes- flowing water and high productivity
-fens- fed by ground water and surface runoff
-bogs- fed by precipitation
-5% of world's landmass and one of the most devastated
-high biomass production
**40% net primary productivity interfered by humans.**
**Benthic- bottom-dwelling organisms**
**Abyssal plain- flat ocean bottom**
RESTORATION ECOLOGY
-to repair or reconstruct ecosystems damaged by humans or natural forces.
-Restoring the Earth conference in Berkeley, California brought 800 scientists, policy-
makers and activists to share ideas and experiences
~Restoration: bring something back to a former condition
-re-create species composition and ecosystem processes as close to the original state as
possible
~Rehabilitation: rebuild elements of structure or function in an ecosystem without achieving
complete restoration to its original condition
-bring an area back to a useful state for human purposes
~Remediation: cleaning chemical contaminants from a polluted area by physical or biological
methods
-a first step toward protecting human and ecosystem health
~Recreation: attempts to construct a new biological community on a severely disturbed site.
-may be modeled on what we think was there before human interruption
-may be something that never existed on the site, but we think it fits well with
conditions there
~Mitigation: take steps to lessen risk by lowering probability of damaging events
The areas most severely underrepresented in protected areas are grasslands, aquatic ecosystems and islands. The least disturbed biomes are temperate conifer forests and arctic tundra.
Parks and Nature Preserves
History and Park Origins
- Most biologically productive land in private hands.
- Early parks were for higher classes to hunt and for royal recreation.
- Natural landscaping- (Lancelot Brown) A way of making nature look natural, rejecting strait lines, using rolling hills and all natural looking features.
- Used by modern zoos.
- Olmstead designed central park then left and became commissioner of Yosemite. (1864)
- Lincoln authorized Yosemite to save it from the exploitation of the settlers.
- Grant made first National parks, Yellowstone and Yosemite. After this, many other places designated National parks to save wild nature and places with scenic beauty and cultural importance.

North American Parks
- Mexico's Parks smaller than neighbors but encompass more diversity.
- US National Parks encompass 280000 + km2 w/ 376 different parks.
- Most visited parks are recreational; the best are the unspoiled ones.
- Alaska lands act double the area of the park system.
- Canada has 150000 km2 w/1471 parks
- Some Canadian parks allow hunting, logging, mining and environmental manipulation.
- Problems -
- Parks are being clear-cut right up to their boundaries.
- Mines contaminate water shed
- Tourist traps are at the entrances taking away from the beauty.
- Parks need money, traffic to parks increase by 1/3 in the last decade while funding went down _.
- Some have proposed to sponsor the parks, but most rejected.
- In Yosemite, people over crowd and destroy the valley floor, plans have been made to remove all buildings, and make inaccessible to cars to help preserve what is left.
- Other parks such as the ones in the Canadian Rockies, Jasper, California Desert, and the Everglades, are facing over commercialism and pollution.
- Smog is destroying beautiful vistas and reducing visibility.
- Conservation groups want to use federal money to buy private land in parks so that miners can’t go in parks to private land.
- Wildlife -
- Bad animals were killed in the beginning of the parks to increase the amount of good animals.
- Favoring species creates an unbalanced eco system. Good species take over and deplete food sources so smaller species have no food.
- IUNC (International Union for the Conservation of nature and natural resources.) divides protection into five levels.
- 1. Ecological reserves and wilderness areas- little human impact
- 2 .National Parks- Low to little impact
- 3. Natural Monuments and Archeological sites- low/medium
- 4. Habitat and wildlife management areas/ National Wildlife Refuge- medium. hunting okay.
- 5. Cultural or scenic landscapes, recreational areas, National Forests- medium/high.
- Parks need more than just a large boundary to protect an ecosystem, it needs to protect watershed, air shed. Unfortunately, most parks are designed based on political not ecological considerations. A biogeographical area refers to the entire ecosystem.
- Grand Staircase-Escalante National monument made by presidential decree, locals outraged because it stopped them from using rich resources.
- Lesson, it’s not easy to make a new park.
- Clinton made an 84,000,000 acre underwater preserve. This saved from tourism and fishing. He also made a combined 1.1 million ha of protection.
- Bush moved to revoke much of this once he took office.
- Canada's green plan called to double reserves, including an entire watershed.
- World parks and preserves -
- 530 million ha, reserves, nearly 4 % of earths surface.
- Most protected biomes, Tropical dry forests, Savannahs, Temperate deciduous forests, tundra. (many to small to protect ecosystem, excluding tundra.)
- Least protected areas: Islands, Lakes, Wetlands.
- IUNC Made the most significant areas of the world Biosphere Reserves.
- Best countries for reserves, Costa Rica, Tanzania, Rwanda.
- Protecting Natural Heritage -
- In many parks, there is political and economic priorities that come before preservation.
- IUNC made a world conservation strategy, maintain earth so humans can survive, preserve genetic biodiversity, and to ensure that any utilization of species and ecosystems is sustainable.
- SIZE AND DESIGN-
*Optimum size and shape for a preserve is large enough to support populations, keep ecosystems intact and isolate critical core areas from human disturbance
*Corridors between natural habitats allow for movement of animals between preserves and protect them from being wiped out in case of a calamity.
*Satisfy conflicting needs and desires of humans manage them this way:
(1) recreation areas- human entertainment
(2) historic areas- preserve a landscape from previous time
(3) conservation reserves- set aside to maintain ecological functions
(4) pristine research areas- baseline of nature for research
(5) inviolable preserves- for sensitive species human interference not allowed
*The smaller the reserve the faster species disappear. The exposed edge of the preserve is more vulnerable to destruction. The preserve with the least edge exposure make the best parks.
-Conservation and Economic Development-
*Tropics has a lot of threatened species and ecosystems
*Basic needs for humans take precedence over the environmental goals
*Tropics are suffering the greatest destruction and species loss in the world
*Ecotourism can benefit the environment more than logging or mining etc.
* Tourism can be utilized as a source of income for the people but also save the wildlife
-Indigenous Communities and Biosphere Reserves-
*UNESCO initiated Man and Biosphere (MAB) program that encourages division of protected areas into multi-use areas. The inner area, or core, is preserved while a buffer zone protects it. Multiple use areas make up the outside of the park.
*Passeo Pantera- a plan to create a thousand mile long series of preservations with corridors linking them along the coast of Central America
-Wilderness Areas-
*indigenous people were significantly hurt by the European diseases
*wilderness: "an area of undeveloped land affected primarily by the forces of nature, where man is a visitor who does not remain; it contains ecological, geological, or other features of scientific or historic value; it possesses outstanding opportunities for solitude or a primitive and unconfined type of recreation; and it is an area large enough so that continued use will not change its unspoiled natural conditions."
*Arguments pro-wilderness:
(1) refuge for endangered wildlife
(2) chance for solitude and recreation
(3) baseline for research
(4) area where it is simply in its natural state and left that way
*people in developing countries don't regard environmental problems as very important matters
*Saving culture, landscapes and history are good reasons to protect an area
-Wildlife Refuges-
*1901 Teddy Roosevelt established 51 wildlife refuges. There are now 511 in nearly 40 million hectares of land
*Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harold Ickes impacted refuges as did Jimmy Carter who signed the Alaska National Interest Land Act which added 22 million ha to the already existing land
-Refuge Management-
*intended to be sanctuaries but by passing of a compromise in 1948 allowed hunting for duck etc on the land.
*Refuges face threats from external activities such as water pollution
*biggest battle currently is about drilling in Alaska
-International Wildlife Preserves-
*The ecosystems in Kenya and Tanzania are very diverse and can hold many species from elephants to hyenas and vultures
*poachers are the major threat in Africa they pursue elephants and rhinos even in the park. Wildlife is worth more alive as an ecotourism lure than dead as a one time commodity.
*makes the supposedly peaceful areas like war zones and the rangers try to stop it, but the poachers have a lot of gun power
-Wetlands, Floodplains and Coastal Regions-
*extremely important sources of biodiversity and a key component of natural freshwater storage and purification systems
-Wetland Values-
*wetlands occupy less than 5 % of land in the US
*they improve water quality and act as a natural water purification system removing silt and absorb nutrients and toxins
*coastal and inland wetlands also provide recreational activities
-Wetland Destruction-
*US Swamp Lands Act of 1850 allowed individuals to buy swamps and marshes for as little as 10 cents per acre. Most wetlands have been converted to farmlands.
*66% of wetlands were destroyed as a result of such acts
*1972 Clean Water Act began protecting wetlands because they requested permits for discharging waste into the waters.
-Floods and Flood Control-
*floodplains: low lands along riverbanks, lakes, coastlines subjected to periodic inundation of water
*The fertile soil in areas prone to floods gives the land it is on a lot of value
*$25 billion elaborate Mississippi river flooding plan works well, except for the fact that it does not allow the water to go anywhere but forces it down the river quickly with no place to go and levees break
*Federal Emergency Management Agency has National Flood Insurance Program that aids people who can't buy insurance and allows them to collect on damage to their house by floods only if they rebuild on the same sight
-Wetlands and Floodplain Conservation-
*Many different organizations work hard to preserve the floodplains and wetlands, such as Ducks Unlimited and The Department of Agriculture's Wetland Reserve Program
*Globally wetland losses are monitored by Ramsar Convention
-Beaches, Barrier Islands, and Estuaries-
*Estuaries- where salt water mixes with fresh water
*Construction directly on the beaches can cause a lot of damage to the ecosystem
*Damaging vegetation, breaching dune systems to create roads and sand dredging, building artificial barriers.
*Government policies tend to encourage building where there shouldn't be any
*Tactics employed such as "wise use" movement and dozens of "taking" bills, to repeal coastal and floodplain zoning and park and green belt establishment etc.

History of Energy Use in United States- in order of supremacy.

Wood, slaves, coal, steam engine, and oil. Undeveloped countries still use biomass as 90% of their energy source. Amercians and Canadians (at 5% of the world population) use over one quarter of the WORLD's available energy. Hummer=Dummer. If we stopped driving gas hogs and living in sieves we could drastically reduce the amount of oil we use. Each person in the US uses an average of 60 barrels of oil/year- most of which is imported.

The 20 richest countries (1/5 the world's population) use 80% of the world's gas, 65% of the world's oil and 50% of the coal produced each year.

Calorically:

Hunter-gatherers required 2500 cal/day

World consumption is 31,000 cal/day

US consumption is 108,000 ca/day (including oil)

Fossil Fuels- provide 64% of the worlds electricity. Made from fossilized remains of once living organisms buried for years under intense heat and pressure.

 

 

Oil (liquid form of petroleum)- our primary source of energy.

Oil is formed when microorganisms accumulate at the bottom of the sea where oxygen is limited. There it is chemically transformed anaerobically into oil and gas by a process called maturation. The longer the hydrocarbon molecule, the more solid it is. Less than 5 carbon atoms is gas. Huge numbers of carbon atoms turn into crude oil. Geologists drill exploratory wells to find a "proven" reserve, a known large quantity of oil. Measured in barrels which are equal to 42 gallons of oil. We have a very vague idea of how much oil is left, but most estimates place our world reserves at 50 more years and US reserves at 25 years. The Hubbert peak theory predicts that the oil production will soon reach a peak and then decline rapidly. We reached peak world oil production in the mid-90's most likely. Iran and Saudia Arabia are a little touchy about informing us of EXACTLY how much oil they have. The US peaked in the 70's.

Petrochemicals are chemicals refined from oil. They include plastic, synthetic fibers, medicine, wax, synthetic rubber, insecticides, fertilizers, detergents, shampoos!!!

Extraction from a reserve is done by pumping (first 25%), then another 50-60% is done by pressure extraction- whereby steam, salt water is pumped into the oil field and pushes out the oil. As oil prices rise it will be more cost effective to remove more of the oil from the field. Right now removing oil from tar sands and oil shale is cost prohibitive.

Oil prices in the US are heavily subsidized by the government. Europeans pay at least twice as much for oil. The US imports more than half of its oil.

Coal

Most coal orginally formed from a dense swampy mat of decaying plants during the Carboniferous period- 300 million years ago. As plant material becomes buried it turns to peat (5% carbon). Further compaction and burial create lignite coal which is 60% carbon. Coal has various grades depending on purity and degree of metamorphism. The least favorable is lignite, then bituminous (sedimentary, 75% carbon) then anthracite (metamorphic, over 90% carbon).

We have roughly 200 years left of coal supplies. It is the most abundant fossil fuel and creates over one half of our electricity in US. Most of the coal supplies are in US, Russia and China.

Coal mining occurs through strip mining and underground mining. Underground mining requires shafts to be sunk to reach deposits. Networks of tunnels are created to reach the deposits and can be very unstable and dangerous. Stip mining is horrible for the environment. The earth is removed all the way to the coal seam. Hazardous slag heaps are created containing sulfur which can leach out and damage the water table.

Coal fired electric plants are only 30% efficient AND they emit tons of sulfur and mercury into the air.. floating on the wind currents.... straight to NPZ! Scrubbers should be mandatory to remove S from coal's combustion gases.

Natural Gas

Its convenient, cheap and cleaner burning the the previous two fossil fuels. It emits considerably less CO2 when combusted. Only 10% of energy lost during conversion. (As opposed to 95% energy lost in a light bulb!) Difficult to transport as it has a tendancy to blow up if hit. If transporting must keep under pressure to keep in liquid form or put into pipelines.

2/3 of natural gas is burned off when activating a oil well. Maybe they should rethink that.

Nuclear Fusion

2 isotopes of light elements are forced together at high temperatures till they fuse to form a heavier nucleus. 15 million degrees C to fuse H into He. Forgetaboutit. Too unstable. Cars running on nuclear fusion keep on blowing up. Very annoying trait. Takes

 

Nuclear Power

India and China create the most nuclear power

-Designs and Disasters

Nuclear reactors have fuel rods of uranium and some kind of control rod (cadmium, boron, graphite) to absorb neutrons and slow the chain reaction in the core inside a containment building, a heat exchanging material, steam generator, cooling system and a turbine. The greatest danger is a cooling system failure.

Types of reactors include- Boiling reactors, pressurized water reactors, heavy water reactors and graphite reactors.

After the Three Mile Island partial meltdown in Penn in 1979 and Chernobyl disaster in Russia in 1986 all new nuclear power plant construction projects in the US have been on hold.

-Radioactive Waste Management

-"Too cheap to meter?"
"Technology and engineering would tame the evil genie of atomic energy and use its enormous power to do useful work."
-nuclear power was supposed to be a cheap and safe solution for the projected natural oil and gas deposits being depleted.
-a lot of the future projections for the use of nuclear power were made under the assumption that future advancements in technology would figure out a way to get rid of the waste.
-1970-1974, 140 new reactors for power plants were ordered. Only forty of which were actually built.
-Nuclear energy supplies 20% of power in the US, 8% world wide.
-Nuclear power first developed in the 1950's after WWII, and the invention of the atomic bomb.
-Scientists thought this would be a safe and renewable energy source, but it was proven dangerous to work around, and even minor accidents could have long lasting, and long ranging affects.
-Technology did not catch up with the expectations of the scientists for disposing of the hazardous wastes.
-Another major problem is that because the reactor can not be allowed to melt down, all the systems had to be redundant, making an extremely complex and delicate system that causes more accidents than it prevents.
-Nuclear power plants need to be located next to an abundant source of water to provide the power plant with water. This harms the natural environment of the waterway, and poses great risk if the power plant were to leak nuclear waste. The Hudson river has thermal pollution from Indian Point.

"How does our misunderstood friend work"
-the thing that makes something radioactive is the fact that it is an unstable isotope. All isotopes long to be stable. That is their goal in life. Most plants use 97% U-238 and 3% U-235.
The way they attain this goal is by releasing charged particles. These particles can alter animal DNA
by mutating it in undesirable ways. Exposure to high levels of radiation creates bizarre types of cancer.
This very same process is what gives us power.
-when radioactive isotopes like U238 come in contact with neutrons, they break up into more stable
isotopes releasing massive amounts of energy such as heat and light. This is called nuclear fission. It also releases other neutrons, 2 or 3,making a chain reaction. The way this reaction is controlled is by the use of neutron absorbing materials like graphite. When the operators want to slow down the reaction, they put neutron absorbing material between the fuel rods. This material is removed if the reaction is to speed up. The way the energy is harnessed is
through the use of steam. The nuclear rods sit in a pool of water causing the water to become super heated. This heat is then transferred to another water pool that boils which then spins a turbine that spins a generator that creates electricity.
... And there is no harmful air pollution- no NOx or SOx. Environmentalists are pessimists. Air pollution will kill us slowly, nuclear power will kill us within a few short days! The half-life of uranium (the amount of time it takes for one half of uranium to decay is 4.5 billion years! It would take 10 half lives for uranium to decay to a safe level.

Waste disposal aka just put it where no one will find it.
- There are many ways to dispose of the waste that is generated by nuclear power.
-Waste is generated when the isotopes are first mined, and again when the isotopes are refined, and later when the isotopes are used. All the equipment that comes in contact with the isotopes also becomes waste.
-Countries that use nuclear power have devised many interesting ways to get rid of the waste.
Some countries, ahh, like America, have chosen to store the waste on the nuclear reactor site for many years,
and then beginning in 2010 move it to Yucca Mountain, Nevada. This long term storage facility is between two active fault lines, above a major aquifer! Other countries, like Russia took the NIMBY approach, and decided to transport the waste to unprotected cites that are easily accessible by hostile peoples. They even dumped a bunch of nuclear waste on the bottom of the Arctic Ocean!

 

Ecological Economics

Natural Resource
-anything with potential use in creating wealth or giving satisfaction.

Renewable vs. Nonrenewable Resources

Nonrenewable resource
-resources that cannot be replaced (in a human time scale) because they take long periods of time to generate by earth's geological development or they are finite: the minerals, fossil fuels and metals.

-present supplies are becoming exhausted by human standards and will be gone.. soon. Yikes!

Renewable Resources
-things that can be replenished or replaced (usually refers to energy resources) such as sunlight, biological organisms, fresh water, fresh air, wind, and used cooking oil!!!

-but if we rip apart habitats we disrupt self renewing biological cycles. Yikes!

*Tragedy of the Commons*

-Article written in 1968 by biologist Garret Hardin.

-resources are being destroyed or degraded because people care more about the interest of
themselves than they do about public interests. People who use or destroy more than their fair share
of common property.

-Hardin described an open access system- no rules to manage resource use. (ex. Native American
management of rice beds and hunting grounds, Maine lobster fisheries)

-communal resource management systems- resources managed by a community for long-term sustainability- can work IF collectively enforced and community anticipates continually living on the land which will be then be passed onto their children.

 

Classical Economics

The theory is built on the idea that a free capitalistic market is the best method to govern our financial well-being... maybe.

Law of Supply and Demand. As supply (how much product is available) increases its demand (the amount of product the consumers will buy) decreases and the price of the good also decreases. As supply decreases, the demand increases and its price increases. Kind of like a school dance when too many students of the same sex show up.

Market equilibrium is when the demand for a good equals its supply. Supply and demand are inversely proportionate.

GNP- Gross National Product. A nations' wealth is measured by the sum total of all the goods and services it provides.

GDP- Gross Domestic Product. The amount of goods and services produced only within its national boundaries within a year.

 

Natural Resource Management

Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA)
-This concept is used to evaluate the pollution prevention with the costs and social benefits of a
project. It assigns values to resources and evaluates whether the pollution cost of a project is "worth" the social benefits. Legislators use this process to determine whether a given undertaking is a "good idea"
by how cost efficient it is and what benefits it will create as well as how much pollution there
will be. This can be looked at as a way for businesses to assign values to natural resources and hopefully a way to mitigate the extent of environmental damage done by any project before it is undertaken.

Often the true cost of using environmental resources are "externalized" meaning the price of permanently distroying nature and polluting our air, water and soils are not taken into consideration when goods are valued on the market. Note with neither of the above calculations are the natural resources (biodiversity, fresh air), human capital (fair wages) or social capital (indigenous societies) taken into consideration.

 

Marginal Costs

Fixed costs- the costs paid to make a product or provide a service that does not change as production increases. For instance, the mortagage on a property.

Variable costs- costs that increase as the number of products produced increases, such as for raw materials to manufacture a product.

Marginal costs- the cost of making one additional unit of product or service. The total cost per item when one more item is produced. The marginal cost increases as more units are produced, but as more products are made the cost goes down for the consumer.

Margin of diminishing returns- additional benefits gained by the buyer by procuring one more unit of product or service. ex. eating TWO bowls of ice cream or having two oil changes back to back. What is the added value of having that second helping or service?

Internal Costs- immediate costs that are experienced to manufacture a product.

External Costs- costs to people or society that are not experienced by the company and are NOT passed down on to the consumer directly. External costs are felt by someone but NOT those that turn the resources into a profit or those that establish the price of the product. Ligitation is one way to INTERNALIZE the external costs. ex. Erin Brockovich. So are laws and taxes. ex. Surface mining control and reclamation act (SMCRA) and cigarette taxes.

To internalize external costs means that the consumer is paying for the full cost of the product or the TRUE Cost. Also called the full-cost analysis or true-cost pricing.

Technological Developments

Pollution Tax
-This is used to ensure more environmental protection concerns in national or local economies. Taxes
are paid per unit of effluent.
Businesses are taxed which creates an incentive for these industries to find more ecological ways to
deal with their pollution.

Green Business
-businesses are starting to realize that businesses cannot be sustainable over a long time period.

-new approach to business to how we can achieve both environmental protection and social welfare.

-promotes eco-efficiency, clean production pollution prevention, industrial ecology, natural
capitalism, restorative technology, and environmentally preferable products.

Green Consumers
-includes: the Body Shop, Patagonia, Aveda, Malden Mills, Johnson and Johnson and Interface, Inc.

 

- Forces inside the earth cause continents to drift, split and crash into each other (very slowly).

A Layered Sphere
-core: interior of the earth, composed of hot metal (mostly iron), solid center, semi fluid outer, 2,900-5,000 km in diameter.
-Mantel: surrounds core, much less dense, high concentration of light elements (O2, Si, and Mg), 2,900 km in depth.
-Crust: cool, lightweight brittle rock that floats on the mantle (oceanic crust is like the mantle but has more Si while the continents are thicker, lighter regions of crust rich in Ca, Na, K, and Al).
Tectonic Processes and Shifting Continents
-Tectonic Plates: large pieces of land broken and moved by huge convection currents on the upper layer of the mantle.
-Magma: molten rock that gets pushed up from the mantle through cracks in the oceanic crust and piles underwater to create ocean ridges. Huge mountains and trenches are formed, greater than anything on the continents.
-Earthquakes are caused by grinding and jerking as plates slide past each other.
-When plates collide mountain ranges are pushed up.
-When an oceanic plate collides with a continental landmass, the ocean plate will be subducted and move into the magma where it is melted and the continent will be pushed up (deep ocean trenches form where the ocean plates submerge and volcanoes form where magma erupts though vents and fissures in the crust usually due to this process).
-"Ring of Fire" is the place where oceanic plates are subducted under the continental plates. More earthquakes and volcanoes occur here than any other place on the planet.
-The continents are known to have been connected at least once (Pangea). The moving plates and changing climates may have something to do with the mass extinctions that have occurred.

ROCKS AND MINERALS:

-Mineral: a naturally occurring, inorganic solid element or compound with a defiant chemical composition and a regular internal crystal structure (must be solid therefore ice is a mineral but liquid water is not) (when an element is purified and in a solid noncrystaline structure, it is no longer a mineral but the ore it was extracted from is).
-Rock: a solid, cohesive, aggregate of one or more minerals.
-Each rock is made of grains of different minerals and the size of the grains will depend on how the rock was formed.
Rock Types and How They Were Formed
-Rock Cycle: creation, distraction and metamorphosis of rocks. Knowing this cycle can explain the origin and characteristics of rocks and how they are shaped, worn away, transported, deposited, and altered by geologic forces.
-Igneous Rocks: solidified from magma from the earth's interior. Magma that reaches the earth's surface cools quickly into basalt, rhyolite, andesite. These rocks have fine grains. Magma that is cooled in subsurface chambers has coarser grains and forms granite, gabbro etc.
-Weathering: exposure to air, changing temps and chemical reactions cause the breakdown of even durable rocks. (Mechanical weathering -physical breakup of rocks into smaller particles w/o a change in chemical composition. Chemical weathering- selective removal or alteration of specific components that leads to the weakening and disintegration of rocks ex. oxidation and hydrolysis. The products of chemical weathering are very susceptible to mechanical weathering and dissolving in water).
-Sedimentation: deposition of particles of weathered rock
-Sedimentary Rock: when deposited material remains in one place long enough or covered with enough material to compact it will become this type of rock. These rocks usually have layers.
-Relatively soft sedimentary rocks can be formed into unique shapes by the wind.
-Geomorphology- study of the processes that shape the earth's surface and the structures they create.
-Metamorphic rocks: preexisting rocks that have been modified by heat, pressure (sediments pile on top and tectonic buckling) and chemical agents. These rocks often hold the most economically important minerals such as talc, graphite and gemstones.

ECONOMIC GEOLOGY AND MINERALOGY:
-Economic Mineralogy: the study of minerals that are valuable for manufacturing and are important parts of domestic and international commerce. Metal bearing ores are the most economic minerals.
-The most valuable crystal resources are everywhere but concentrated and in places of easy access is what is needed.
Metals
-The metals consumed in greatest quantity by world industry include iron, aluminum, manganese, copper, chromium and nickel.
Nonmetal Mineral Resources
-Include gemstones, mica, talc, asbestos, sand, gravel, salts, limestone, and soils.
-Sand and gravel have the highest economic value of nonmetals and metals.
-Evaporites: are materials deposited by evaporation of chemical solutions. They are mined for halite, gypsum, and potash. Often found at 97% purity. Halite is used for water softeners and as road salt and refined as table salt.
Strategic Metals and Minerals
-World industry depends on about 80 minerals and metals, some of which exist in plentiful supplies
others do not like gold, silver and lead.
-Strategic metals and minerals: resources a country uses but cannot produce itself. A government usually will consider these materials as capable of crippling its economy or military strength if unstable global economics or politics were cut off to supplies.
-Usually less developed countries sacrifice the environment to mine and become producers of resources other countries need. This emphasis on a single export is not a stable foundation for an entire economy to be built since steady international markets are not a reality.
Environmental Effect on Research Extraction:
-Physical processes of mining and physical or chemical properties of separating minerals, metals, and other geological resources from ores or other materials.
-Ore: A rock in which valuable or useful metal occurs at a concentration high enough to make mining it economically attractive.
-Copper: concentration is close to 1 percent.
-Gold and other precious metals: concentration is close to 0.0001 percent.
Methods of Mining:
-Placer Mining: process in which native metals deposited in the gravel of streambeds are washed out hydraulically. Streambeds and aquatic life are destroyed.
-Strip mining and open-pit mining: Materials are removed from large, deep ores by big equipment.
-nearly a million acres of US land have been destroyed by strip mining
-50 percent of US coal is strip mined
-Underground tunnels- used to reach the deepest deposits.
-Mountaintop removal mining: mountain is removed from coal which devastates ecosystems.
Mining Hazards:
-tunnels collapse
-natural gas in coal mines can cause explosion
-fires produce smoke and gases
-acidic and toxic waste runoff is caused by surface waste deposits called tailings
-tailings from uranium can caused wind scattering of radioactive dust
-water dissolves metals and toxic materials which causes pollution
- Long ridges called spoil banks are susceptible to erosion and chemical weathering.
-19,000 km or rivers and streams in US are contaminated by mine drainage
-soil is destroyed which prevents vegetation
Controlling Mining:
-1977 federal Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act requires better restoration of strip-mined lands, especially farmlands
-expense of reclamation is high, approximately $1,000 per acre
Processing:
-Metals are released from ores by heating or treatment with chemical solvents
-Smelting: roasting ore to release metals is a major source of air pollution
-Ducktown Tennessee: mid-1800s mining companies extracted copper with huge open-air wood fires which acidified soil and poisoned vegetation
-1907: sulfur emissions from Ducktown were reduced when Supreme Court ruled to stop interstate transport of air pollution
-1930s: Tennessee Valley Authority began treating soil and replanting trees
- two-thirds are areas is now considered adequately covered
-heap-leach extraction: technique used to separate gold from low-grade ores. It has a high potential for water pollution.
-Cyanide spills have occurred in Summitville mine near Almosa, Colorado and in a gold operating mind near Baia Mare in Romania.

 

Conserving Geological Resources:
Recycling:
-advantages of recycling: less waste, less land lost to mining, less consumption of money, energy and water resources
-recycling aluminum consumes one-twentieth of the energy of extracting new aluminum
-1/2 of aluminum cans will be made into another can in 1 to 2 months
-platinum is recycled for used cars
commonly recycled metals are gold, silver, copper, lead, iron, and steel.
-recycled metals are used for copper pipes, lead batteries, and steel and iron auto parts.
Steel and Iron Recycling:Minimills:
-Minimills: remelt and reshape scrap iron and steel
-produce half of US steel production
-use less energy than integrated mills
-Minimills produce steel at between $225 and $480 per metric tons
-Integrated mills produce steel at $1,425 to $2250 per metric tons
Substituting New Materials for Old:
-plastic pipes have decreased our consumption of copper, lead and steel pipes
-in automobile industry, steel is being replaced by polymers (long-chain organic molecules similar to plastics) , aluminum, ceramics, and high-technology alloys
-new materials reduce vehicle weight and cost, and increase fuel efficiency
-Electronics and communication technology use glass cables to transmit light pulses instead of copper and aluminum wires
Geological Hazards:
Earthquakes:
-sudden movements in the earth's crust that occur along faults where one rock mass slides under another.
-Kobe, Japan and Mexico cities are built on soft landfills and they suffer the greatest damage from earthquakes
-contractors plan to build heavily reinforced structures, strategically placed on weak spots in buildings, to absorb vibrations from earthquakes.
-tsunami: giant seismic sea swells that can move at 1,000 km/hr or faster from the center of and earthquake
-1883 Indonesian volcano Krakatoa created a tsunami that killed 30,000 people.
Volcanoes:
-source of most of the earth's crust
-fertile soils are weathered volcanic materials
Nuees ardentes (glowing clouds) are denser-than-air mixtures of hot gases that move faster than 100 km/hour and destroys towns such as St. Pierre on the Caribbean island of Martinique
-Mudslide associated with volcanoes have devastated Armero and Chinchina in Columbia
-volcanic eruptions release large volumes of ash and dust into air which blocks sunlight
-1991:Mt Pinatubo in Philipines emitted 20 million tons of sulfur dioxide producing sulfuric acid
Landslides:
-rapid downslope movement of soil or rock
-In US, $ 1 billion in property damage is done every year by landslides and related mass wasting
-threats: road construction, forest clearing, agricultural cultivation, and building on steep slopes

- Forces inside the earth cause continents to drift, split and crash into each other (very slowly).

A Layered Sphere
-core: interior of the earth, composed of hot metal (mostly iron), solid center, semi fluid outer, 2,900-5,000 km in diameter.
-Mantel: surrounds core, much less dense, high concentration of light elements (O2, Si, and Mg), 2,900 km in depth.
-Crust: cool, lightweight brittle rock that floats on the mantle (oceanic crust is like the mantle but has more Si while the continents are thicker, lighter regions of crust rich in Ca, Na, K, and Al).
Tectonic Processes and Shifting Continents
-Tectonic Plates: large pieces of land broken and moved by huge convection currents on the upper layer of the mantle.
-Magma: molten rock that gets pushed up from the mantle through cracks in the oceanic crust and piles underwater to create ocean ridges. Huge mountains and trenches are formed, greater than anything on the continents.
-Earthquakes are caused by grinding and jerking as plates slide past each other.
-When plates collide mountain ranges are pushed up.
-When an oceanic plate collides with a continental landmass, the ocean plate will be subducted and move into the magma where it is melted and the continent will be pushed up (deep ocean trenches form where the ocean plates submerge and volcanoes form where magma erupts though vents and fissures in the crust usually due to this process).
-"Ring of Fire" is the place where oceanic plates are subducted under the continental plates. More earthquakes and volcanoes occur here than any other place on the planet.
-The continents are known to have been connected at least once (Pangea). The moving plates and changing climates may have something to do with the mass extinctions that have occurred.

ROCKS AND MINERALS:

-Mineral: a naturally occurring, inorganic solid element or compound with a defiant chemical composition and a regular internal crystal structure (must be solid therefore ice is a mineral but liquid water is not) (when an element is purified and in a solid noncrystaline structure, it is no longer a mineral but the ore it was extracted from is).
-Rock: a solid, cohesive, aggregate of one or more minerals.
-Each rock is made of grains of different minerals and the size of the grains will depend on how the rock was formed.
Rock Types and How They Were Formed
-Rock Cycle: creation, distraction and metamorphosis of rocks. Knowing this cycle can explain the origin and characteristics of rocks and how they are shaped, worn away, transported, deposited, and altered by geologic forces.
-Igneous Rocks: solidified from magma from the earth's interior. Magma that reaches the earth's surface cools quickly into basalt, rhyolite, andesite. These rocks have fine grains. Magma that is cooled in subsurface chambers has coarser grains and forms granite, gabbro etc.
-Weathering: exposure to air, changing temps and chemical reactions cause the breakdown of even durable rocks. (Mechanical weathering -physical breakup of rocks into smaller particles w/o a change in chemical composition. Chemical weathering- selective removal or alteration of specific components that leads to the weakening and disintegration of rocks ex. oxidation and hydrolysis. The products of chemical weathering are very susceptible to mechanical weathering and dissolving in water).
-Sedimentation: deposition of particles of weathered rock
-Sedimentary Rock: when deposited material remains in one place long enough or covered with enough material to compact it will become this type of rock. These rocks usually have layers.
-Relatively soft sedimentary rocks can be formed into unique shapes by the wind.
-Geomorphology- study of the processes that shape the earth's surface and the structures they create.
-Metamorphic rocks: preexisting rocks that have been modified by heat, pressure (sediments pile on top and tectonic buckling) and chemical agents. These rocks often hold the most economically important minerals such as talc, graphite and gemstones.

ECONOMIC GEOLOGY AND MINERALOGY:
-Economic Mineralogy: the study of minerals that are valuable for manufacturing and are important parts of domestic and international commerce. Metal bearing ores are the most economic minerals.
-The most valuable crystal resources are everywhere but concentrated and in places of easy access is what is needed.
Metals
-The metals consumed in greatest quantity by world industry include iron, aluminum, manganese, copper, chromium and nickel.
Nonmetal Mineral Resources
-Include gemstones, mica, talc, asbestos, sand, gravel, salts, limestone, and soils.
-Sand and gravel have the highest economic value of nonmetals and metals.
-Evaporites: are materials deposited by evaporation of chemical solutions. They are mined for halite, gypsum, and potash. Often found at 97% purity. Halite is used for water softeners and as road salt and refined as table salt.
Strategic Metals and Minerals
-World industry depends on about 80 minerals and metals, some of which exist in plentiful supplies
others do not like gold, silver and lead.
-Strategic metals and minerals: resources a country uses but cannot produce itself. A government usually will consider these materials as capable of crippling its economy or military strength if unstable global economics or politics were cut off to supplies.
-Usually less developed countries sacrifice the environment to mine and become producers of resources other countries need. This emphasis on a single export is not a stable foundation for an entire economy to be built since steady international markets are not a reality.
Environmental Effect on Research Extraction:
-Physical processes of mining and physical or chemical properties of separating minerals, metals, and other geological resources from ores or other materials.
-Ore: A rock in which valuable or useful metal occurs at a concentration high enough to make mining it economically attractive.
-Copper: concentration is close to 1 percent.
-Gold and other precious metals: concentration is close to 0.0001 percent.
Methods of Mining:
-Placer Mining: process in which native metals deposited in the gravel of streambeds are washed out hydraulically. Streambeds and aquatic life are destroyed.
-Strip mining and open-pit mining: Materials are removed from large, deep ores by big equipment.
-nearly a million acres of US land have been destroyed by strip mining
-50 percent of US coal is strip mined
-Underground tunnels- used to reach the deepest deposits.
-Mountaintop removal mining: mountain is removed from coal which devastates ecosystems.
Mining Hazards:
-tunnels collapse
-natural gas in coal mines can cause explosion
-fires produce smoke and gases
-acidic and toxic waste runoff is caused by surface waste deposits called tailings
-tailings from uranium can caused wind scattering of radioactive dust
-water dissolves metals and toxic materials which causes pollution
- Long ridges called spoil banks are susceptible to erosion and chemical weathering.
-19,000 km or rivers and streams in US are contaminated by mine drainage
-soil is destroyed which prevents vegetation
Controlling Mining:
-1977 federal Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act requires better restoration of strip-mined lands, especially farmlands
-expense of reclamation is high, approximately $1,000 per acre
Processing:
-Metals are released from ores by heating or treatment with chemical solvents
-Smelting: roasting ore to release metals is a major source of air pollution
-Ducktown Tennessee: mid-1800s mining companies extracted copper with huge open-air wood fires which acidified soil and poisoned vegetation
-1907: sulfur emissions from Ducktown were reduced when Supreme Court ruled to stop interstate transport of air pollution
-1930s: Tennessee Valley Authority began treating soil and replanting trees
- two-thirds are areas is now considered adequately covered
-heap-leach extraction: technique used to separate gold from low-grade ores. It has a high potential for water pollution.
-Cyanide spills have occurred in Summitville mine near Almosa, Colorado and in a gold operating mind near Baia Mare in Romania.

 

Conserving Geological Resources:
Recycling:
-advantages of recycling: less waste, less land lost to mining, less consumption of money, energy and water resources
-recycling aluminum consumes one-twentieth of the energy of extracting new aluminum
-1/2 of aluminum cans will be made into another can in 1 to 2 months
-platinum is recycled for used cars
commonly recycled metals are gold, silver, copper, lead, iron, and steel.
-recycled metals are used for copper pipes, lead batteries, and steel and iron auto parts.
Steel and Iron Recycling:Minimills:
-Minimills: remelt and reshape scrap iron and steel
-produce half of US steel production
-use less energy than integrated mills
-Minimills produce steel at between $225 and $480 per metric tons
-Integrated mills produce steel at $1,425 to $2250 per metric tons
Substituting New Materials for Old:
-plastic pipes have decreased our consumption of copper, lead and steel pipes
-in automobile industry, steel is being replaced by polymers (long-chain organic molecules similar to plastics) , aluminum, ceramics, and high-technology alloys
-new materials reduce vehicle weight and cost, and increase fuel efficiency
-Electronics and communication technology use glass cables to transmit light pulses instead of copper and aluminum wires
Geological Hazards:
Earthquakes:
-sudden movements in the earth's crust that occur along faults where one rock mass slides under another.
-Kobe, Japan and Mexico cities are built on soft landfills and they suffer the greatest damage from earthquakes
-contractors plan to build heavily reinforced structures, strategically placed on weak spots in buildings, to absorb vibrations from earthquakes.
-tsunami: giant seismic sea swells that can move at 1,000 km/hr or faster from the center of and earthquake
-1883 Indonesian volcano Krakatoa created a tsunami that killed 30,000 people.
Volcanoes:
-source of most of the earth's crust
-fertile soils are weathered volcanic materials
Nuees ardentes (glowing clouds) are denser-than-air mixtures of hot gases that move faster than 100 km/hour and destroys towns such as St. Pierre on the Caribbean island of Martinique
-Mudslide associated with volcanoes have devastated Armero and Chinchina in Columbia
-volcanic eruptions release large volumes of ash and dust into air which blocks sunlight
-1991:Mt Pinatubo in Philipines emitted 20 million tons of sulfur dioxide producing sulfuric acid
Landslides:
-rapid downslope movement of soil or rock
-In US, $ 1 billion in property damage is done every year by landslides and related mass wasting
-threats: road construction, forest clearing, agricultural cultivation, and building on steep slopes

Disease
      Pathogens- Disease causing organisms, such as bacteria, viruses and parasites
      Morbidity- illness
      Mortality- death
    * Illness Factors include diet and nutrition, infectious agents, toxic chemicals, physical factors and psychological stress.
    * Antibodies are introduced to prevent disease, by introducing a foreign particle
    * The Top Three Leading killers
        1. Cardiovascular Disease
        2. Cancers and Tumors
        3. Acute Respiratory Disease
    * Higher Death Rates occur in less fortunate counties where conditions are not ideal for human health and survival
    * Pesticides- used to eliminate insect vectors.  Problem: Insects tend to become very resistant to the pesticides being used to destroy them, therefore allowing the insect population to come back and infect others
    - Currently, death rate is decreasing and life expectancy is increasing

**AIDS**- the largest cause of deaths in the world...killing 3 MILLION people in YEAR 2000!!!
    * Over 36 million people are currently living with HIV.
    * Largest occurrence in Africa
    * Drug Addictions and Unprotected Sex are the two main causes, Heterosexuality
    * Places such as Botswana, Zimbabwe and Zambia tend to have survival only of the very young and very old, as the middle ages of those living in these communities have died due to AIDS

**Other Diseases**
    *Viruses*
      - Ebola- 90% Mortality
      - AIDS- 40 Million People now affected
    *Bacteria*
      - Tuberculosis- 256 cases resistant to drugs
      - Anthrax-
      - Botulism- most recognized in Botox injections (beauty purposes)
    *Malaria*- One million die a year
  - More people are being able to afford vaccines, as they are being made faster and cheaper
  - U.S. spends $75 Million a year on infectious disease research
*DALY or The Disability-Adjusted Life Years measure the total burden of disease on productivity and quality of life.
*DALY measures are very high in poor countries such as Africa due to lack of sanitation, bad water and polluted drinking water
    - Malnutrition creates many diseases
*Approximately 2 billion people suffer from worms, flukes, protozoa and other internal parasites...affects the immune system greatly!
* 30 new diseases have been introduced in the past two decades
*Emergent diseases are those never known before or that has been absent for at least 20 years
* Flu Epidemic of 1918 was LARGEST loss of life from an individual disease in a single year...(between 30 and 40 million)
*Most flu strains are transmitted by air, or by pigs, birds, monkeys and rodents
 - As population grows, the faster a disease will spread
* Outbreaks can occur among livestock as well
* Strep is the most common form of hospital-acquired conditions

Toxicology (Toxic and Hazardous Materials)
    - Hazardous = dangerous, including flammables, explosives, irritants, sensitizers, acids and caustics
    - Toxins = poisons so they react with cellular components that kill cells
    - Allergens = substances that activate the immune system, can act directly as antigens
       * Antigens *- foreign white blood cells

****Four Main Categories of TOXINS****
1. Neurotoxins- kill neurons in the nervous system...example/ Mercury and Lead
2. Mutagens- cause mutations by altering DNA
3. Carcinogens- cause cancer
- The Delaney Clause to the US Food and Drug Act states that no known carcinogen causing "reasonable harm" may be added to food and drugs.
4. Teratogens- toxins that cause abnormal embryonic cell division and result in birth defects...example/ Alcohol and Thalidomide

* LD50- measures toxicity of a chemical, LD50 is the dose lethal to 50% of a test population; the lower the LD50, the more toxic the chemical
  - The established dose curve will determine the dose below which none of the test subjects were harmed...creating the threshold level, or guide for setting human tolerance levels
  -  The Dose/Response Curves are not always symmetrical, making it difficult to compare toxicity of unlike chemicals
**Bioaccumulation of a toxin occurs when an organism absorbs and stores the toxin in its tissues
**Biomagnification, and the best-known example is with the insecticide DDT

1. Effects of DDT were explained in Rachel Carson’s book "Silent Spring"
2.  

***Famous Cases***
  - "Silent Spring" mentioned the persistence of pesticides in the environment, Bioaccumulation and biomagnification and effect on non-target species
  - Love Canal- Mentions Social Justice, Persistence of toxic wastes and Superfund Site.  Canal was dug beginning in 1892.  When canal failed to be completed, it was used as an industrial dump for several toxic chemicals.  The property was sold in order to build several homes and a community school.  Many people became ill and when tests were conducted high toxic levels of chemicals were found and the company who originally sold the property was forced to pay for the removal of the waste found.  Today, the people are allowed to move back to their old homes, the site is clean.
  - Other cases include the Bhopal Crisis, Ebola and the Hot Zone, Agent Orange and the Vietnam Conflict and the Flu Vaccine

*Acute Toxicity occurs when a large dose inflicts immediate harm on an organism
*Chronic Toxicity occurs when a smaller dose is expressed over a long period of time, harder to detect because it may not be seen for years
*Chemical Synergism- when two toxins together have a greater effect than the SUM of the effects of the two toxins separately...example/ small amount of alcohol with small amount of barbiturates can have a severe effect on the central nervous system...or smoking and asbestos can expose a person to cancer ten times greater than if they were exposed to just one of the factors.
*Best way to destroy these chemicals and toxins-through neutralization or oxidation... Incineration, Air Stripping, Carbon Absorption or Flocculation
* Waste Disposal...Landfills and Dumps, Incineration or a huge problem creator, Selling the Waste to Poor Counties, by doing this the people of the country absorb these toxic wastes into their bodies, all so they get more money.

*HAZMAT Alternatives- You can replace your everyday cleaner with the right combination of harmless substances...things such as Lemon Juice, Vinegar, Water, Club Soda and so much more can replace more hazardous chemicals to make the result safer
*How to Help- Conserve, Recycle and Reduce!

Understanding our Environment and Environmental Ethics and Philosophy

"The more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe about us,
the less taste we shall have for destruction."
-- Rachel Carson

Environmental History of the World
1 BIBLE-nature: dark + evil (viewed by Western Civilization)
2.UTILITARIAN CONSERVATION- Nature is for man's use.
~Gifford Pinchot- 1st head of Forest Service
~anthropocentric- what's in it for man?
3. BIOCENTRIC PRESERVATION- nature for nature's sake.
~ John Muir -started Sierra Club. ex. Mineral King Valley court case
4. MODERN ENVIRONMENTAL MOVEMENT-
~Rachel Carson- wrote Silent Spring (DDT softens egg shells)
~ David Brower-saved the Grand Canyon

 

*Population Explosion
-6.4 billion & averaging 85 million more each year. Most populated countries: China and India
-Most growth & occurring in poor countries
- Theories vary on long-term population standing (up or down?)
Are there enough resources to provide for this population let alone an increase (drinkable water, food?

*Deforestation= "destruction of tropical forest, wetland, coral reefs"
-extreme lose of species abundance and diversity
If continued, how will this impact the earth's future?

 

*Pollution
-50% toxic waste produced by U.S.
-26% toxic air emissions by U.S.
-Growing problem in industrialized nations
- Hundreds of millions of toxic waste is produced annually
-"No one wants it in their backyard"= exporting to other countries
When there is no room left, where will waste go and at what cost?
~Combination of toxic waste & other environmental ills cause more destruction than infectious diseases

*Global Warming
- Fossil Fuels (FF)=80% of energy used in industrialized nations (non-renewable....yikes!)
-Burning Fossil Fuels creates CO2 & heat absorbing gases= *GLOBAL WARMING!!!!!!!!
- effects: sea level rises, drastic climate changes, & massive extinctions

Signs of Hope:
-some cities are cleaner and less polluted than in the past
-population stabilized in industrialized countries
-# of children/women decreased from 6.1 to 3.4
-Infectious diseases have been reduced, life expectancy nearly doubled

-the relative gap between the rich and poor has increased but the percentage of those living in poverty has decreased slightly.

Still Need to have:
-Clean renewable energy sources
- Process of safely disposing toxic waste
-Control birth rate & minimizing poverty

 

Interrelationship of society and the environment
- North/South Division of haves and have nots
--income ratio of poor to wealthy in 2000 =100 to 1

Economic Classification:
First World-industrialized, democratic, market economies.
Second World- previous socialist countries.
Third World- developing, non-industrialized.

Acute Poverty-1/5% world making less than $1/day.
How can we work within the boundaries of nature and continue to improve economic status of all humanity? (Sustainable Development)

*Perspectives*
-Neo-Malthusian: world full of too many people fighting over to few resources (pessimistic)
-Technological optimists: human innovations and advancements will solve the earth's problems (critics refer to as Cornucopian Fallacy)

Environmental Ethics and Philosophy

morals: distinction between right and wrong
values: the ultimate worth of actions or things

Environmental Ethics~~> moral relationships between humans + the world around them

A. Other Ethics:
1) Universalists~~> the principles of ethics are universal, unchanging, and eternal
2) Relativists~~> moral rules always apply to a particular person, society, or situation
"There are no facts, only interpretations"-Nietzsche
3) Nihilists~~>there are no truths, life is hard, and dark. The world makes no sense at all!
4) Utilitarians~~>an action is right when it produces the greatest good for the greatest number of
people. Pleasures on the intellect are superior to pleasures on the body.

Modern Environmentalism- Silent Spring, written by Rachel Carson, is often viewed as initiating the environmental movement. Her book documented the tragic effects of DDT on birds.

B. World views and Ethical Perspectives
"What people do about their ecology depends on what they think about themselves in
relation to the things around them" - Lynn White Jr.

1.) Anthropocentric~~> "human-centered" Environmental responsibility and duties are derived from human interest.
2.) Stewardship~~> a strong sense of responsibility to manage and care for a particular place.
3.)Biocentric~~> "life-centered" All forms of life have the right to exist! Everything in this world is important.
4.) Ecocentric~~> "Earth-centered" the environment deserves moral consideration on its own, not associated with human interest.
5.) Ecofeminism~~> a philosophy that suggests how humans could reconceived themselves and their relationship to nature in non-demanding ways.

C. Environmental Justice~~> combines civil rights with environmental protection to demand
a safe, healthy, beautiful environment for everyone.
*ex: 3 out of 5 African-Americans and Hispanics, and nearly half of all NATIVE AMERICANS, ASIANS AND PACIFIC islanders live in communities with one or more toxic waste sites or
major landfills.* (LULU's Locally Unwanted Land Uses)

D. Environmental Racism~~> inequitable distribution of environmental hazards based on race. Ex: the people who have the highest lead content in their bodies are Latino, Native
American, African American, and Asian children.

>>>Dumping Across Borders:
Paying a poorer country/community to allow the dumping of toxic wastes in their land.
Ex: nearly every tribe in America has been approached with proposals for some dangerous
Industry or waste facility

Toxic Colonialism~~> targeting poor communities of color in the 3rd or 4th world countries for waste disposal and/or experimentation with risky technologies.
This has gotten worse over the years. Millions of tons of hazardous materials have been moved (legally or illegally) from richer to poorer countries every year.

1992 - The Environmental Justice Act introduced in US.
identify areas threatened by toxic chemicals, assess health effects, ensure residents chance for public discussion concerning cleanup of industrial facilities.

>>>"Green" Organizations.

Most Environmental Activist groups seem to only care about wildlife preservation, instead of inner-city problems (which are much more pressing to people who are struggling for survival)

NIMBY- Not In My Back Yard- protests the dumping of pollution in one's own neighborhood. The protests too often end with dumping in someone ELSE's backyard.

National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit (1991) decided to combine civil rights with Environmental justice.

 

====>Science as a way of knowing(!), exploring and explaining the world around us.

>>>The Scientific Process:

Inductive and Deductive Reasoning:
Deductive Reasoning~~>Deriving Testable predictions about specific cases from general principles.

Inductive Reasoning~~>Inferring general principles from specific examples.

>>>Hypothesis and Scientific Theories

Hypothesis~~> A provisional explanation that can be tested scientifically

Scientific Theory~~> An explanation supported by many tests and accepted by a general consensus of scientists.

Scientific Method~~> A systematic, precise objective study of a problem.

When asked to create your own scientific test for a phenomenon you must include:

Hypothesis
Equipment and materials needed
Description of test (control and one variable at a time)
Detailed list of procedures include time frame of test
How data collected and organized
Possible outcomes of test and how it would relate to your hypothesis

 

>>>Paradigms and Scientific Consensus

Paradigms~~> A model that provides framework for interpreting observations.
They determine which phenomena are worth investigating.

>>>Technology and Progress

Luddites~~> opponents of rampant technology.
(They smashed power looms and other machines in the 19th century because they threatened craft guilds and cottage industries. )

Neo-Luddites~~> Like Luddites except they're the 'new wave." They say we should revert back to low-tech Pastoral or hunting-gathering society. Some resort to terrorism and bombings.

>>>Appropriate Technology

Appropriate Technology~~> Technology that does the least harm to human society and the environment. Cheap and easy to make.

 

 

Population Growth rate
History of Human Population
     -Human populations were kept in check by diseases, famines and wars until the middle ages ex: Infanticide, Bubonic Plagues
-Populations began to increase rapidly after A.D. 1600 (Increased sailing and navigating skills, agricultural developments, better sources of power, better health care and hygiene)
-We are now in a J-curve, population is increasing at an exponential rate. Our present population is 6.6 billion people and growing by 100 million people per year.
    
Demographics-vital statistics about people (births, deaths, where people live, total population size)
1) Crude Birth rate-the number of births in a year per thousand persons
2) Crude Death rate-the number of deaths per thousand persons in any given year
3) Life Expectancy-the average age that a newborn infant can expect to attain in any given society
To calculate the annual rate of population growth subtract the crude death rate from the crude birth rate and divide by 10.

The replacement fertility rate is the number of children a couple must have to keep the population stable. In the third world it is 2.7, in the US it is 2.1.
-Developing countries have seen the greatest progress
-Discrepancies in how benefits are distributed within a country are shown by varying life expectancies at different areas in a country
-Annual income has a strong correlation to life expectancy
          Developing Countries-residents live for about twice as long as they used to                         
          Developed Countries-increase not as great because it was higher to begin with

Impact on Resources-The more people there are, the more resources are used.  Especially in developed countries like the U.S. where the amount of resources used per person is greater then in less developed countries.

Carrying Capacity-local, regional and global
-The number of individuals who can be supported in a given area within natural resource limits, and without degrading the natural social, cultural and/or economic environment for present and future generations.  As the environment is degraded, carrying capacity gets smaller. The maximum carrying capacity for humans on the Earth is 13-15 billion.  The average ecological footprint an American makes is approximately 12 acres/person. Our footprint is the number of acres required to meet the resource needs of an individual.

Population Projections and Solutions
-There could be a population overshoot past the carrying capacity and then a die-off or we could adjust our population growth to an S-curve

-Estimated Demographic Transitions-from high birth and death rates to lower birth and death rates due to improved living conditions and economic development

-Cairo Conference-179 countries met in 1994 to develop an action plan to deal with population growth and included issues such as poverty and health care
         -5 Basic Components
          1) Provides family-planning services
          2) Promotes free trade, private investment, and assistance to countries that need help.
          3) Addresses issues of gender equity.
          4) Addresses issues of equal access to educational opportunity.
          5) Educates men.

          *Female Education and Economic Status-If females are educated about birth control, and made aware that they do not need to have many children to replace them, they will not have as many babies.  Also, if their economic status is improved, many women will get jobs instead of having children

-Family Planning
-Fertility Decline in Rich Countries
-Abortion-RU486, methotrexate, misprostol, surgical abortion
     -Avoidance-Body temp. technique, celibacy/abstinence
     -Barrier-Condom, diaphragm, cervical cap, vaginal sponge, spermicide, IUD
     -Chemical-"The Pill"
     -Surgical-Tubal litigation, vasectomy

-Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, Rodenticide Act of 1947 (FIFRA): regulates the manufacture and use of pesticides
-Wilderness Act of 1964: established the national wilderness preservation system
-Water Quality Act of 1965: attempt to reduce non-point source pollution by creating government watch dog under Dept of Heath, Ed and Welfare.
-National Environmental Policy Act of 1969: Environmental Impact statements must be done before any project effecting federal lands is started. Created a council on environmental quality.
-Clean Air Act of 1970: established national primary and secondary air quality standards. Set emission standards for cars, and limits for release of air pollutants.
-Clean Water Act of 1972: set maximum permissible amounts of water pollutants that can be discharged into waterways and created pollutant discharge permits. Goal: To make all water swimmable and fishable.
-Endangered Species Act of 1973: protects threatened and endangered animals in the US, and puts their protection over economic considerations.
-Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) of 1974: set maximum contaminant levels for pollutants that may have adverse effects on human health.
-Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA): increased superfund to $8.5 Billion. Shares responsibility for cleanup among potentially responsible parties.
-Toxic Substance Control Act of 1976: EPA- ban or regulate chemicals deemed a risk to health to the environment.
-Resource Conservation & Recovery Act (RCRA) of 1976: Controls hazardous waste with a cradle to grave system from storage, treatment, transportation to disposal.
-Surface Mining Control & Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA): requires coal strip mines to reclaim the land
-Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) of 1980: Created $1.6 billion superfund designed to identify and clean up abandoned hazardous waste dump sites. Established liability for clean up costs if source could be identified.
-Ocean Dumping Ban Act of 1988: Bans dumping of sewage, sludge and industrial waste into oceans.
-Food Quality Protection Act of 1996 (FQPA0: Set pesticide limits in food, and all active and inactive ingredients must be screened for estrogenic/endocrine effects.
-Low Level Radioactive Policy Act: all states must have facilities to handle low level radioactive wastes.
-Nuclear Waste Policy Act: US government must develop a high level nuclear waste site by 2015
-Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA)- A 1972 Federal law that provides guidance and federal assistance to voluntary state and local coastal management programs. Goals are for the protection of natural resources and management of land development along coasts.
-Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA)- A 1976 Federal law that outlines procedures concerning the use and preservation of public US lands.
-Food Drug and Cosmetic Act- A federal law passed in 1906 that regulates the sanitary condition and safety of food, drugs and cosmetics. It includes food additives.

 

International Treaties, Laws and Conventions

 

-Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES): lists species that cannot be commercially traded as live specimens or wildlife products.
-Madrid protocol: Moratorium on mineral exploration for 50 years in Antarctica
-Kyoto Protocol of 1997: Controlling global warming by setting greenhouse gas emissions targets for developed countries. Not signed by the U.S.
-Montreal Protocol of 1987: A plan to limit and eventually phase out ozone depleting substances (CFC's)
-Earth Summit: held in 1970's, discussed clean water and air. Held in South Africa. The last summit tried to pass a world law by the year 2010 that 15% of our power was to be created by air and solar power. But the Summit was shut down.
-The World Trade Organization (WTO): designed to make international trade more fair and encourage development.
It has been used to subvert national environmental laws. Has the effect of hurting small, local farmers and businesses.
-North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA): Trade alliance between U.S., Canada and Mexico

 

Role of Government in Environmental Affairs Module

History
?            In 1639 Rhode Island Colony established a closed season on deer hunting
            1. Colonies and later states established similar regulations
            2. Enforcement of regulations not really dealt with until warden systems developed in                                     the 1850's
?            Lacey Act - 1900
           1. Prohibited the transportation of illegally killed game across state lines, curbed trafficking of
plumage and other wildlife products and initiated permit requirements and controls for the introduction of mongooses, starlings and other exotic species
            2. Established federal control over wildlife, broadened the areas of interest, strong deterrent to the unwarranted exploitation of wildlife
?            Migratory Bird Treaty Act (1918)
           1. International treaty  for the protection of whooping cranes, swans, most shorebirds and
wood ducks, bird nests and eggs and establishment of closed seasons for waterfowl, and authorization for the states to adopt and enforce regulations that were not inconsistent with federal provisions
            2. Beginnings of an expanded wildlife refuge system, endangered species management
                        and federal law enforcement
?            Pittman-Robertson Act (1937)
            1. Levied a 10% tax on the sales of sporting arms and ammunition, money returned to
                        the state based on a formula
            2. Through matching program ($1 from state: $3 P-R) state projects approved at the
                        federal level; research, land acquisition and construction
?            Dingell - Johnson Act (1950)
            1. Levied a 10% excise tax on fishing tackle
            2. Similar matching program as P-R and supported research projects, fish hatcheries,
                        land acquisition
?            Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act (1934)
            1. Ensured that fish and wildlife receive equal consideration with other features of
                        water-development programs at the federal level
            2. Massive dislocations of water must consider fish and wildlife values
            3. If project jeopardizes existing wildlife habitat, land acquisition may be required part of
                        the project
?            Wetland Loan Act (1961) - Money loaned to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for wetland acquisition in the face of rapid loss of wetlands
?            Wilderness Act (1964)
            1. Maintain the pristine nature of land where man is a visitor who does not remain
            2. Established the value of pristine wilderness, protected areas from any development,                         habitat preservation, use for research

Current Federal legislation
?            Freedom of Information Act (1966)
?            National Environmental Policy Act (1969)
?            Clean Air Act (1970)
?            Occupational safety and Health Act (1970)
?            Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act  (1972)
?            Endangered Species Act (1973)
?            Safe Drinking Water Act (1974)
?            Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (1976)
?            Toxic Substances Control Act (1976)
?            Clean Water Act (1977)
?            Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act
?            Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act (1986)
?            Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (1986)
?            Oil Pollution Act of 1990
?            Pollution Prevention Act (1990)

Pertinent New York State Legislation
?            Where to find the Environmental Conservation Laws
            1. Seasons, bag limits, regulations etc.
            2. Recycling laws
            3. Air pollution standards
            4. Endangered species related laws
Interpretation of the fundamental principles of ecology to further the understanding of why these laws have been instituted

Key Agencies
?            U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
?            U.S. Department of the Interior - Fish and Wildlife Service
?            U.S. Agencies whose work impacts on the environment
                        1. Department of Justice
                        2. Department of Transportation
                        3. Federal Emergency Management Agency
                        4. U.S. Geological Survey
                        5. Department of Health and Human Services
                        6. Department of Labor

References
Wildlife Ecology and Management, William L. Robinson, Eric G. Bolen, Macmillan Publishing Company, New York, 1984
Environmental Conservation Law of New York
EPA Guide to Environmental Issues, 1995

 

Energy Flow -First Law of Thermodynamics- Energy is conserved, not created or destroyed. It can only change in form.
-Second Law of Thermodynamics- Energy transfers lead to the energy being in a less "useful", lower form.
Matter recycles itself, unlike energy. Energy always degrades to a less concentrated level.

High Quality Energy: Very concentrated, rich, intense, has high temperatures.
Low Quality Energy: dispersed, diffused, sporadic, low temperature

-Photosynthesis: Plants convert energy from sun along with carbon dioxide and water into sugars (C6H12O6) and oxygen within the chlorophyll. Only 1-2% of the sunlight ever makes it into the plant's tissue!
-Aerobic Respiration: Oxygen consuming producers, consumers and decomposers break down complex organic compounds (glucose, etc) and convert carbon back into carbon dioxide. The energy stored in the glucose bonds is transformed into chemical and heat energy- it is not lost! The formulas for photosynthesis and respiration are the same but reversed!

Biotic- living components of the ecosystem
Abiotic-nonliving components of the ecosystem

Trophic Levels:
   1. Tertiary Consumers- eats secondary consumers
   2. Secondary Consumers- eats primary consumers
   3. Primary Consumers/Herbivores -eats plants
   4. Producers/Autotroph- Photosynthesize energy

The biomass of each level is 90% greater than the one below it! Only 10% of useable energy is transferred up to the next trophic level because so much is lost.
-Some of the food source many be inedible or indigestible.
-Energy may be expended catching the prey
-Energy is degraded through normal metabolic processes (Second law of thermodynamics).

--Food Chain- A linear list of who eats who. The arrow points to who is doing the consuming.
--Food Web- A more complex interwoven diagram of which organisms prefers to eat each other.

Scavenger- Feeds on dead animals. ex. coyote
Detritivore- Eats leaf litter, dung. ex. ants
Decomposers- organsims that break down or feeds on dead organic matter. ex. Fungus or bacteria

Nutrient Cycles

            Carbon Cycle
The building blocks of life.
Short cycle: Photosynthesis and Respiration. Carbon is incorporated into a sugar during photosynthesis and then released during respiration. Plants, animals and microbes all respire which send the CO2 back into the air.

Long term cycle:
Carbon can stay in one form for years to thousands of years before changing.
Carbon sinks: plants, animals, ocean life (especially in plankton, coral and fish skeletons), coal, oil, atmosphere, and limestone (CaCO3).

Largest storage reservoirs of carbon are in carbonate rocks.

Man is upsetting this cycle by burning fossil fuels and tearing down the jungles and woodlands of the world.

 

            Nitrogen Cycle
Nitrogen is a critical limiting factor for plant growth. A majority of nitrogen exists as an inert gas (N2) the in air (78%), yet plants can’t take it up. How can a plant access it?
1. Nitrogen Fixing: Atmospheric nitrogen is "fixed" or transformed by bacteria living symbiotically on plant roots of legumes or in blue green algae (cynobacteria). The bacteria change the N2 into ammonia. (This form of nitrogen is toxic to most plants). Examples of legumes are peas, beans, soy, clover and alfalfa.
2. Nitrification- A different set of bacteria break down the ammonia by combining it with oxygen to create nitrites and then finally nitrates. Plants can absorb nitrates nicely.
3. Assimilation- The plants then incorporate the nitrogen into organic molecules (DNA, amino acids, proteins, etc!). Animals might then chow on the plants incorporating the nitrogen into their bodies.
4. Ammonification- Dead plants and organic waste (like cow dung) convert their stored nitrogen back into ammonia with the help of decomposers.
5. Denitrification- Some of the nitrates can be converted back into atmospheric N2 through the help of (you guessed it)- bacteria!

Man is upsetting the natural balance of nitrogen by fixing nitrogen artifically to make fertilizers. These fertilizers as well as excess sewage rich in nitrogen (from large animal farms or crappy munipal waste systems for humans) is added to aquatic ecosystems by rain runoff or sewage overflows. This in turn destroys the health of our fresh water streams and ponds by promoting rampant algae growth, which eventually renders the aquatic environment lifeless!!! :(

            Phosphorus Cycle
A veeerrry sllloow cycle.
Soils contain very little phosporous naturally, so it is also major limiting factor for growth.

Phosphorous does not circulate as easily as nitrogen because it does not exist as a gas, but is released by weathering of phosphate rocks. The phosphorous (PO4) is then dissolved in water and absorbed by plants. Animals that eat plants then pass the phosphorous along to the decomposers through their waste products, or when they die and decay. The decomposers then break down the phosphorous to the soil.

The largest storage reservoir of phosphorous is in rocks.

Man is creating an imbalance in phosphorous levels by mining Guano (bird poop rich in phospates) for fertilizers and detergents. These products then make their way to our fresh waterways causing massive algae blooms and wide zones devoid of life.

          Sulfur Cycle
Another slow cycle upset by mans influence. Most sulfur is bound up inside rocks (like pyrite and gypsum). On a good day sulfur can become mobile through volcanic eruptions or deep-sea vents. Unfortunately, burning coal and other fossil fuels adds massive amounts of sulfur into the air, which causes the rain to be damagingly acidic.

Persistence and Mobility in the Environment
-Because DDT and other chlorinated hydrocarbons are so stable, have high solubility, and high toxicity, it makes them effective pesticides, as well as environmental nightmares.
-Often bio-accumulate in animal fat, leading to bio-magnification in predators like falcons.
-Grasshopper Effect: substances evaporate from warm regions and precipitate in colder regions, accumulating in great concentrations in top predators up north.
-DDT byproduct has been found to be able to enter a woman's amniotic fluid, which can be dangerous to the developing baby even in small amounts.
-POPs (persistent organic pollutants) like Atrazine and alochlor are so dangerous and long-lasting, 127 countries agreed to ban them. The 12 most dangerous (dirty dozen) have been banned
-Pesticide can either have short term effects on human health or long term effects. Short term effects include poisoning and illness from high exposure doses. Long term effects include cancer, birth defects, Parkinsons, and other degenerative diseases.
-3.5- 5 million people suffer acute pesticide poisoning each year. 20,000 die from it.
-farmers who use pesticides are 8 times more likely to develop non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
-long-term exposure and consumption of contaminated foods can cause learning disorders in the generations that were developing with the pesticides.

Alternatives
Behavioral changes
-crop rotations, flooding fields, burning crop residues, restoring windbreaks, hedge rows, and groundcover allows bird and other predators perches from which to eat insects. Adjusting planting times could avoid pest concentration, growing where pests are not prevalent, and tilling and diversifying species can prevent losses from pests.
-Biological controls- predator insects (mantises, wasps, ladybugs), pathogens, as well as ducks and geese, which eat insects and weeds, and are harmless to crops. Often times they will continually provide protection year after year. Herbivorous insects also control populations of hardy weeds.
-bio-engineered sterile males can fight against pests or plants that are engineered to be resistant to insects or weeds.
-development of upsetting hormones and sex lure traps have been used to stop the spread of pest insects.
Integrated Pest Management
-a flexible, ecologically based pest control strategy that carefully applies techniques at specific times, intervals, and aimed at specific pests. It determines economic threshold at which pesticides need to be applied to justify returns.
-trap crops are grown a week before other crops, mature early, attract the insects, and are sprayed with pesticides. Thus, they detract pests away from the real crop.
-many countries and states like Massachusetts, Brazil, Cuba, and Costa Rica have had remarkable success transforming their agriculture with IPM.
-in Indonesia, pests that once ran rampant were controlled by the education of poor farmers in the benefits of IPM. Because the staple crop is rice, it could be important for other countries.

Reducing Pesticide Exposure
Regulating pesticides
-many of the thousands of tons of pesticides in the U.S. contain suspected carcinogens and pose human health hazards.
-EPA regulates through scientific studies which pesticides pose health risks.
-FDA & USDA- enforce EPA rulings, have authority to destroy food shipments that do not conform.
- Delaney Clause- added in 1958 to the U.S. FFDCA that states that any cancer causing agent cannot be added to processed food, drugs, or cosmetics.
-has been revamped, now law has been restated, saying that if the risk is so slight that it has "little" effect (it just kills you slowly), the additive can be used.
-now, pesticides like methyl parathion and other harmful ones have been banned for use on fruit because of human health concerns. These pesticides can damage human internal organs.
-however, many people agree that carcinogens from food are relatively unimportant as opposed to the natural carcinogens all around us.

A Personal Plan
-don't use chemicals on your yard and garden. Clean up spilled food to eliminate insects. Wash houseplants to get rid of pests. Drown slugs in stale beer in a saucer. Drain stagnant water to discourage mosquito breeding. Use toxic chemicals in only the smallest possible amounts. Read magazines on being organic and healthy.

HISTORY:
-5,000 yrs, ago. Sumerians: sulfur
-2,5000 yrs ago: China: mercury, arsenic. Greek/Roman: oil sprays, ash, sulfur, lime.
Also: burn fields, rotate crops, spices and alcohol for spoilage
-1,200 yrs ago: predatory ants in China used for caterpillar control
-1934 DDT discovered by Paul Muller controls insects
-1943 first DDT produced on large scale, used on fields, forests, and cities.
-1960's discovery that predatory birds had softened egg shells from DDT- passed through food webs
-1970s DDT use banned

PESTICIDE USE:
US uses the most pesticides in the world :(
Monoculture growing practices causes need for more insecticide use

PESTICIDE TYPES
-Inorganic pesticides- arsenic, copper, lead and mercury compounds. Highly toxic, indestructible, neurotoxin, harmful to humans.
-Natural organic pesticides (botanicals)- extracted from plants, nicotine, rotenone (from roots of debris plants- kills fish), pyrethrum (Chrysanthemum extractions), coniferous oils.
-Fumigants- easily dispersed gasses to sterilize soil, prevent decay/rodents/insects harmful to humans- banned [ex: carbon disulfide]
-Chlorinated hydrocarbons (organochlorines)- synthetic organic insecticides, toxic and long lasting, banned, blocks nerve signals, [ex: DDT, aldrin]
-Organophosphates- lethal, but only for short time period, quickly dissipate, damages nervous system not persistent, low bioaccumulation [ex: DDVP]
-Carbamates (urethanes)- not persistent, low bioaccumulation, damages nervous system, kills bees esp. [ex: Sevin, Temik, Baygon]
-Microbial agents & Biological controls- pest control using living organisms [ex: ladybugs eat aphids, parasitic wasps lay eggs in caterpillars]

PESTICIDE BENEFITS:
-Disease control- insects that carry diseases are killed, thus decreasing human suffering [ex: malaria via mosquitoes]
-crop production- crop loss is decreased by eliminating pest, farmers save $3-5 for every $1 spent on pesticides

PESTICIDE PROBLEMS:
-other species- sometimes wipe out area of all living organisms [ex: bees die, thus bee keeper profit goes down, and crops not well pollinated. Sacramento River herbicide dumped and river ecosystem decimated]
-pest and pesticide resurgence. Resistant genes are being communicated between species ­ problem is having used pesticides so abundantly, no longer as useful and effective
-pest creation- predators are reduced by pesticides, predator controls are gone, thus lower trophic levels explode [ex: Canete Valley, Peru]

DEFINITIONS:
Biological pest- organism that inhibits use of resources
Pest control- any method of killing pests
Pesticide- chemical that kills pests
Biocide- kills many kinds of organisms
Herbicide- kills plants
Insecticide- kills insects
Fungicides- GUESS. (kills fungi)
Pest resurgence (rebound)- quick reproduction cycle causes pests to re-populate with pesticide-resistant individuals
Pesticide treadmill- using increasing dosages of pesticides to catch up with higher resistance in pests

STATS:
90% of pesticides world wide used in agriculture or food storage/transport
34 pesticides used in US are in agriculture
59% herbicides
22% insecticides
11% fungicides
8% other
90% pesticides never get to organism intended!!!!

Population Ecology
-         Exponential growth and doubling time:
-         Exponential growth: growth at a constant rate of increase per unit of time. The sequence follows a geometric rate of increase (ex. 2,4,8,16)
-         Doubling time: Amount of time necessary for the population to double. 70 / annual % growth (ex. Populations growing at 35% will double every 2 years.)

-         Population Oscillations:
-         Population exceeds carrying capacity or limiting factors come into effect, death rates surpass birth rates = crash or dieback
-         Extent to which a population exceeds the carrying capacity = overshoot
-         Population explosion followed by a population crash = irruptive/ Malthusian growth
-         Sometimes populations go through cycles of exponential growth and catastrophic crashes, usually they are quite regular if they depend on certain factors like seasonal light, temperature. May be irregular if they depend on complex environmental and biotic relationships.

-         Carrying Capacity:
-         Carrying Capacity: the maximum number of individuals of any species that can be supported by a particular ecosystem on a long-term basis.

-         Catastrophic Population Decline:
-         Catastrophic System: when the population jumps from one seemingly steady state to another without any intermediate stages.
Factors that Increase/Decrease Populations

-         Natality, Fecundity and Fertility:
-         Natality: production of new individuals, main source of adding to populations, sensitive to environmental conditions (nutritional levels, climate, soil and water conditions, social interaction between species),
-         Fecundity: physical ability to reproduce
-         Fertility: measure of the actual number of offspring produced.
-         Immigration: Seeds, spores, and small animals may be introduced by wind, water (major source of organisms to islands), carried inside other animals, walking, swimming, flying,
-    Mortality and Survivorship:
-         Mortality: death rate, death rate is found by dividing the number of organisms that die in a certain time period by the number alive at the beginning of the period.
-         Survivorship: the percentage of a certain organism that lives to be  a certain age.
-         Life Expectancy: probable number of years of survival of an
  individual of a given age.
-         Life Span: longest period of life reached by a given type of
  organism.

Survivorship Curves gives us the predicted life expectancy at each age interval. Humans in the first world have a high survivorship when young and most likely live to old age. Most marine organisms have a low survivorship- they are cast out into the waters, but once they survive that trauma they are likly to live out their full age. Hyrdas and sea gulls randomly die throughout their lives.

                  -Age Structure Diagrams/Histograms:
-         An outcome of the interaction between mortality and natality.
-         Bigger towards the bottom- rapidly expanding population
-         Pretty equal throughout- stable population
-         Bigger at the middle/top- diminishing population
      -         Emigration: movement of members out of the population
Factors that Regulate Population Growth
-         Density dependent and independent factors and Biotic/Abiotic:
-         Mostly these things affect natality and mortality, therefore changing the population.
-         Intrinsic: operating within individual organisms or between organisms of the same species.
-         Extrinsic: imposed from outside the population
-         Biotic: caused by living organisms
-         Abiotic: caused by non-living components of the environment
-         Density dependent: effects are stronger or a higher percentage of the population is affected as the population density increases (food shortage)
-         Density independent: the effect is the same or a constant proportion of the population is affected regardless of the population density (fire, climate conditions, volcano)
-         In general, biotic factors are density- dependent while abiotic factors are density-independent

Most common = least desirable
USA makes 33% world's waste

The three R's: reduce reuse recycle

Ocean Dumps
illegal in US
55 million lbs/yr of packaging are dumped into ocean
330 million lbs/yr of fishing gear lost or discarded
deadly to marine life (ex. seals)

Landfills
fate of most municipal solid waste
Paper is most common in landfill
trash buried within impermeable lining (clay, plastic) to prevent leaching
controls pollution of aquifer (oil, chemical compounds, toxic metals, contaminated rainwater)
methane gas burned for energy
Once very effective, landfills are now expensive land hogs- $1 billion/hectare
many aquifers already toxic from leaks
Natural Hydrogeologic Setting-
New landfills must now be set on stable, impermeable bedrock, away from streams rivers lakes etc.
Must include Leachate Collection System - contaminated fluids seep to bottom of landfill where they are collected by complex drainage pipes

Exporting
Often sent to poor, un-educated communities or countries ex. American Indians
Bet Trang plastics calamity- $3 million bribe for dumping toxic waste in Cambodia
"garbage imperialism" and NIMBY

Incineration
volume of waste reduced 90%
45,000 tons/day burned in US
energy production as by product- stream or electricity
expensive to build and operate
high levels of toxins in smoke & ash
ex. dioxins, mercury, lead, cadmium, PVC
Need to remove batteries and plastics first for cleaner burn but expensive
Mass burn- throw everything in smaller than Volkswagen. Dirty air

Reduction and Reuse
- reduce- is minimizing the amount of waste to begin with. Don’t buy it!
- reuse is simply reusing an item (Tupperware and cloth shopping bags)
- recycling is reprocessing discarded materials (glass, aluminum)

Recycling - ITS A GOOD THING
glasses to glasses, rust to rust
bottles may be reforged as bottles
tires may be turned into roadways or sandals!
benefits include more efficient use of non-renewable resources
- cheaper method of waste disposal
- less air and water pollution
- cuts waste volume in landfill

Alternatives to Household Chemicals
Use garlic and ginger for an insecticide
Vinegar or citrus oil make solvent for cleaning counters, etc. (but not both at the same time!)

Long Term Storage
It has to go somewhere
non bio-degradables
- permanent retrievable storage vs. non-retrievable storage

EPA ranks best strategy for Municipal Solid Waste
1. Source reduction (including reuse)
2. Recycling and composting
3. Incineration
4. Landfilling

Hazardous and Toxic Waste
Hazardous waste if any waste that poses a danger to human health. It could be corrosive, ignitable, reactive or toxic.
The fate of hazardous waste

1. Recycled
2. Converted to less hazardous form
3. Bioremediated ex. Brassica (broccoli family) absorbs Fe
4. Placed in permanent storage- deep well injection-agh! or surface impoundment- the creation of shallow pools from which the hazardous liquid evaporates.

or the hazardous/toxic wastes could be “temporarily” located in

1. Brownfields- polluted properties that have been abandoned because of real or suspected contamination
2. Superfund Sites- highly polluted waste site that is (hopefully) undergoing rapid containment, cleanup and remediation. Money for clean up comes from a Superfund which is funded by the federal government (our taxes) and a tax on the producers of toxic or hazardous waste. IF responsible parties can be identified they will be held responsible for the cleaning up cost.

Long-term storage of nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain is a controversial topic because of NIMBY and that fact that the mountain has two active fault lines and is above a huge aquifer. So the short-term storage of the nuclear waste is at the nuclear power plants in huge pools or giant land “coffins”. High-level nuclear waste is the high level of ionizing radiation that is created at uranium mines, manufacture of nuclear weapons, and the waste from spent nuclear fuel. Low-level waste is waste from industrial or research industries like clothing, needles, animal carcasses and stuff.

Laws to Know
1. Ocean Dumping Ban Act: bans ocean dumping of sewage sludge & industrial waste
2. Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation & Liability Act (CERCLA): Otherwise known as the Superfund Act- calls for a rapid cleanup of abandoned dumpsites containing toxic waste.
3. National Priorities List (NPL)- lists sites most in need of immediate cleanup. but many have yet to be contained
4. Surface Mining Control & Reclamation Act (SMCRA): requires coal strip mines to reclaim the land after they are finished mining. Money is put aside in escrow for clean up BEFORE mining begins.
5. Resource Conservation & Recovery Act (RCRA): requires generators, shippers and disposers of hazardous waste to keep accurate accounts of the management of the waste from the “cradle to grave”.

Urbanization- an increasing concentration of the population in cities and the
transformation of land use and society to a metropolitan pattern of organization
-Nearly half the people in the world now live in urban areas
-By the end of the 21st Century 80-90% will live in urbanized areas
-Rural area- most residents depend on agriculture or other ways of harvesting and natural resources
for their livelihood
-Urban area- a majority of the people are not directly dependent on natural resource based
occupations
-Village- a collection of rural households linked by culture, custom, family ties and an association
with the land, sense of community and connection, can be stifling
-City- a differentiated community with a population and resource base large enough to
specialize in arts, crafts, services rather than natural resource based occupations, freedom to
experiment, be upwardly mobile and break from restrictions, can be harsh and impersonal
-Mega-city- beyond about 10 million inhabitants

World Urbanization
-19th and early 20th centuries-US undergoes major shift
-Many developing countries are experiencing similar demographic movement
-In 1850 only 2% of the world's population lived in cities
-2000-47% live in cities
-Only Africa and South Asia remain predominantly rural
Some urbanologists believe that the whole world will be urbanized to the level of developed
countries by 2100
-90% of pop. Growth in next 25 years is expected to occur is less developed countries- mostly in
already overcrowded cities of poor countries such as India, China and Brazil
-in 1900- 13 cities had a population over 1 million- all in NA or Europe by 1995 there were
1300 metropolitan areas with over 1 million people only 3 in developing countries

Causes of Urban Growth
-2 ways that urban populations can grow-natural increase-more births than deaths, immigration
-Natural increase is fueled by improved food supplies, better sanitation, and advances
in medical care-reduced death rates can cause populations to grow both in cities and rural areas
around them
-Immigration to cities can be caused by push factors (force people out of the country) pull
factors (draw them into the city)
-Push factors- people migrate to cities for many reasons
-Countryside can not support massive populations
-"Surplus" population is forced to migrate to cities in search of jobs, housing in some places
economic forces or political, religious or racial conflicts drive people out of their homes
-UN estimated that in 1992 at least 10 million fled their native country and that another 30-40
million were internal refugees within their own countries, displaced by political, economic or
social instability
-Land tenure patterns and changes in agriculture also play a role in pushing people into cities
-Pull factors- jobs, excitement, vitality and desire to meet people who are similar
-Jobs, housing, entertainment and freedom of constraints of village traditions
-Possibilities exist in the city for upward social mobility, prestige of power not ordinarily
available in the countryside
-City supports specialization in arts, crafts, and markets, which do not exist elsewhere
-Modern communication
-90% of the people in Egypt have access to a television set
-Government policies often favor urban over rural areas in ways that both push and pull people into
the cities
-Developing countries spend most of their budgets on improving urban areas even though only a small
percentage of the population lives their or benefits from the industry
-Governments often manipulate exchange rates for the benefit of more politically powerful urban
populations but at the expense of rural people

Current Urban Problems in the developing world
-90% of human pop growth in next century is expected to occur in the developing world in Asia,
Africa and South America
-Problems will occur especially in largest cities, which already have trouble supplying food, jobs
and basic services for their residents
Traffic and congestion- in less developed countries there is an overwhelmingly amount of
pedestrians and vehicles that clog the streets
-Noise, congestion and confusion of traffic make it seem suicidal to venture into the street
-Air pollution- dense traffic, smoky factories and use of wood/coal fires create a thick pall of air
pollution in the world's super cities
-Lenient pollution laws corrupt officials, inadequate testing equipment, ignorance about the
sources and lack of funds to correct the situations cause the problem
Sewer systems and water pollution-
-Modern waste treatment systems are too expensive to build for rapidly growing populations
-35% of urban residents in developing countries have sanitary systems
-400 million people (one third) of the population in developing cities have safe drinking water
-Many rivers and streams, little more than open sewers, used for washing clothes, cooking,
bathing, and drinking
-Diarrhea, dysentery, typhoid, cholera are widespread diseases
-Infant mortality ­ high
-Housing-
Slums- legal but inadequate multifamily tenements rooming houses
Shantytowns- settlements created when people move onto undeveloped lands and build their own houses
Shacks- built of corrugated metal, discarded packing crates, plastic sheets, or whatever
building materials people can scavenge
Squatter towns- people occupy land without owners permission
-Three quarters of residents of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Luwanda live in refugee camps
Current problems in the developed world:
-Urban Sprawl- pattern of urban growth where cities spread out and consume open space and waste
resources
-In a study of 213 American urban areas, David Russ found that between 1960 and 1990 total
population grew 47% while land use increased by 107%
-Atlanta, Georgia (1990-2000) 32% growth
-In some metropolitan areas, 1/3 of land is used for automobiles
-Traffic congestion costs the U.S. 78 billion dollars in wasted time and fuel.
-To solve this, people want to buy more freeways, but this will cause people to drive even further
than before.
-Sprawl causes the city to be unable to maintain its infrastructure (schools, parks, streets and
other buildings fall into disrepair)

Sustainable Community Design:
-Smart Growth- proposed by many urban planners, makes effective and efficient use of land
resources and existing infrastructure, aims to provide a mix of land uses to create a variety of
affordable housing choices and opportunities. Goal: not to block growth, but to channel it to areas
where it can be sustainable in the long term. Protects environmental quality by conserving
farmland, wetlands and open space. Portland, Oregon has a boundary on outward expansion and is
considered one of the best cities in America because of its urban amenities. Between 1970-1990,
the population grew 50%, land use only grew by 2%.
-Garden Cities- neighborhoods separate from the central city by a green belt of forests and
fields. Done in the early 1900s in London by Ebeneezer Howard who wrote a book called Garden
Cities of Tomorrow
-Planned Communities are built in the United States as well.
New Urbanist Movement:
-Redesign metropolitan areas to make them more efficient, appealing and livable.
-Examples: Stockholm, Sweden, Helinski, Finland and Leicester, England
-Urban Ecology Research- LTER (Long Term Ecological Research) in Phoenix and Baltimore,
funded by national science foundation, researches every aspect of urban ecology, advocate for
environmental justice (toxic materials and how they affect the health of the population)
Examples: Detroit has many children with elevated levels of lead in their blood, linked to
low-income, old housing
-Design for Open Space-
-Conservation Development- cluster housing or open space zoning preserves at least half of the
subdivision is natural spaces, farmland etc.
-Ian McHarg, Frederic Steiner and Randall Arendt have led these movements in places such as
Farmview, PA, Hawksnest, WI

Sustainable Development in the Third World-
-Immediate needs are housing, clean water, sanitation, food, education, health care and basic
transportation for the residents
-Redistribute unproductive land
-Some people believe that social justice and sustainable economic development are the answers,
because if people have the opportunity and money to buy better housing, adequate food, clean water,
sanitation and other things they need for a decent life, they will do so.
- Social Welfare system ensures that old people will not be alone and abandoned.

Sustainable Development
Environmental Literacy
- every citizen is fluent in the principles of ecology and has a "working
knowledge of the basic grammar and underlying syntax of environmental wisdom"- according to EPA
administrator William K. Reilly
- An important part of environmental education
- Creates a stewardship ethic-care for environment and its resources for the long run
- Helps prepare for life in the next century
- Hope for students to continue learning about the environment:
Books to read to help with this:
- My First Summer in the Sierra by John Muir
- Silent Spring by Rachel Carson
- Walden by Henry David Thoreau

Environmental Movement
1. Student Environmental Groups
- Projects to teach ecology and environmental ethics to students as well as to get them involved
in active projects to clean up their local community.
- Kids Saving the Earth
- Eco-Kids Corps.
- Student Environmental Action Coalition (SEAC)-work on activities like promoting recycling
and lobby against industrial projects
2. Mainline Environmental Organizations
- Influential and powerful forces in environmental protection
- Help pass legislation like the Clean Air Act
- National Wildlife Federation
- Sierra Club
- Ducks Unlimited
3. Radical Environmental Groups
- Direct action groups
- Often associated with the deep ecology philosophy and bioregional ecological perspective
- Main tactics: civil disobedience, attention-grabbing actions like guerrilla street
theater and picketing. (rar!)
- Earth First!
- Sea Shepard
- Earth Liberation Front
4. Wise Use Movement
- Advocate conservation rather than preservation of natural resources
- National Cattlemen's Association
- National Farm Bureau (these organizations have great names, don't they?)

Personal Choices and Personal Action
- Write to elected officials and urge them to support environmental causes.
- Petition
- Email them political folks
- Run for a local office
- Participate in practical environmental projects-i.e. litter cleanup- Clean Sweep!, restoration projects

 

 

Solar:

.1% of the electricity in US produced through solar panels.

Constant, free energy supply
-Amount of solar energy reaching the earth's surface is 10,000 times all the commercial energy used each year.
-Until this century it was too diffuse and low in intensity to use except for environmental heating and photosynthesis.
    
-Passive Solar Heat

Much of passive solar heat is simply orientating your home toward the sun and absorbing the heat- naturally.

- Indirect gain: Absorption-using natural materials or absorptive structures with no moving parts to simply gather and hold heat.
-Old Method: Thick-walled stone and adobe dwellings that slowly collect heat during the day and gradually release heat during the night.  After cooling at night, they maintain a comfortable daytime temperatures while still absorbing external warmth.
-New Method: glass-walled "sunspace" or greenhouse on the south side of a building. Uses massive energy-storing materials such as brick walls, stone floors, or barrels of heat-absorbing water to collect heat to be released at night.

-Direct gain: Use a roof overhang that blocks the direct sunlight in the summer, but lets the sun in when its at a lower angle in the winter.

-Active Solar Heat

-Solar panels-Photovoltaic Cells-capture solar energy and convert it directly to electrical current by separating electrons from their parent atoms and accelerating them across a one-way electrostatic barrier formed by the junction between two different types of semiconductor material. This is known as the photovoltaic effect.

-They used to be too expensive for practical use but prices are falling.
-In 2001 prices were approaching $5 per watt.
-By 2020 it will be down to about $1 per watt and nuclear energy will cost twice as much.
-World market for solar energy is expected to grow rapidly in the near future, especially in remote places where conventional power isn't available.
-Already used in watches, solar-powered calculators and toys
-Solar energy could mean being able to build a house anywhere and have a cheap, reliable, clean, quiet source of energy with no moving parts to wear out, no fuel to purchase, and little equipment to maintain.

Pro:

No pollution, unlimited resource, can store energy during the day and release it at night, cost going down- decreased by a factor of ten in 2 years!

Con:

Needs a storage system like deep cell batteries, not efficient if climate too cloudy, high costs for purchasing solar panels and have limited life span, Visual pollution, efficiency between 10 and 25%.

-Solar water heaters- generally pump a heat-absorbing, fluid medium through a relatively small collector instead of passively collecting heat.
-Can be located next to or on top of buildings.
-Flat, black surface sealed with a double layer of glass makes a good solar collector.
-A fan circulates air over the hot surface and into the house through ductwork, like standard forced-air heating.
-A simple flat panel of 5 square meters can provide enough hot water for an average family of four.
-What about when it's not sunny?
     1) For climates where sunless days are rare- small, insulated water tank makes a good solar energy storage system.
     2) For winter months-A large, insulated bin containing a heat-storing mass, such as stone, water, clay provides solar energy storage.

Fuel Cells:

- Devices that use an ongoing electrochemical reaction to produce an electric current.
- Discovered by William Grove in 1839 during his study of electrolysis.
- Fuel cells consist of a cathode (positive electrode) and an anode (negative electrode) and are separated by an electrolyte.
- an electrolyte is a material that allows ions (positively charged atoms) to pass through but not electrons.

How a fuel cell works: hydrogen passes over the anode and a catalyst on the anode takes an electron from each hydrogen atom, creating a positive hydrogen ion. The ion can pass through the electrolyte to the cathode, but not the electron. The electron then passes through an  external circuit going into the cathode creating an electrical current. Then, at the cathode the electrons and positive ions rejoin and combine with oxygen creating water.  

Pro:

-Emits water as waste! no pollution, minimal environmental impact, easily transported, not explosive when stored in compounds

Con:

- takes energy to produce hydrogen, changing from fossil fuels to hydrogen would take a lot of money to build the infrastructure, hydrogen gas is explosive which is inconvenient- how could we store it in a car?

Biofuels:

-Biofuels produce 15% of the world's energy, 4% of that energy is used by the U.S (.1% electricity). 

-Types of biofuels include switchgrass, woodchips, sawdust, wood residue, any kind of wood or plant material. Maybe we should use all the paper we throw into the dumps... if I were queen...- Biomass (plants, wood, etc.) converted into a liquid form making storage and transportation easier.

Pro:
-It is a renewable resource if used in moderation; biofuel could produce 1/2 of the world's electrical needs if managed properly; many marginal areas of the world could support biomass plantations with plants like cottonwoods, populars, sycamores and shrubs; its inexpensive, and the burning of biofuels produce less SOx and NOx then coal.

Con:
-Deforestation and soil erosion occur, requires fertilization and water. It is expensive to transport and can cause the loss of wildlife and habitats. Some methods of burning biomass causes air pollution such as CO2 emission. Also the use of corn to produce ethanol takes more energy than it creates and is driving the price of corn up for the poor who depend on it for food (ex. Mexicans).
-When biofuels are converted to electricity, 70% of the energy is lost!

Hydroelectric Power:

-Dams trap water which is then released and channeled through turbines which generate electricity.
    - 9% of USA's electricity, 3% worldwide. There are 2000 dams in the US.

Pro:

    - Good because there's no pollution, low operation costs and they control flooding. They also have a high to moderate energy yield and a long life span.

Con:

Dams create large  floods, which uproot people, destroy habitats, and disrupt natural soil fertilization of agricultural land downstream. Sediments eventually need to be dredged from the reservoir. Also dams upset fish migration patterns (salmon!) andthe natural beauty of rivers. Also dams are extremely expensive to build.

       
Tidal and Wave energy:

The natural movement of tides spin turbines which generate electricity. Very few plants exist- only in US, France and Scotland.

Pro:

No pollution, moderate energy yield, minimal environmental impact, cheap to maintain.

Con:
      Costs a lot to construct, few suitable sites. Plants get hurt by corrosion from salt and storms.
    

Wind Power:

Large blades of wind mills spin create electricity. Now make less than .1% of electricity in US but growing!

Pro:
  -Fastest growing renewable energy resource today- no pollution
  -Very promising
  -Unlimited source (quick fact: all electrical needs of the US could be met by wind in North Dakota, South Dakota and Texas!)
  -Wind farms can be built quickly
  -Maintenance is low and automated
  -Moderate to high net-energy yield
  -Production of wind turbines would be a boost to economy
  -Land underneath turbines can be used for agriculture

  Con:
  -Steady wind is required to make it economical. Back up systems needed when wind is not blowing
  -Visual Pollution- ugly
  -Noise pollution
  -May interfere with communications (radio, TV, Microwave)

- may kill some birds if on migrational pattern

Geothermal Power:

  -Two kinds: Heat contained in underground rocks and and fluids from magma are used or just the stable subsurface ground temperature is used to heat air in winter and cool it in summer.
 
  -Geothermal energy supplies less then 1% of energy needs in the U.S.
  -It is being utilized in Hawaii, Iceland, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Russia and California

Pro:
  -Moderate net-energy yield
  -Limitless and reliable source if managed
  -Little air pollution
  -Competitive cost

  Con:
  -Reservoir sites for hot geothermal power are scarce
  -Source can be depleted if not managed
  -Non-renewable
  -Noisy
  -Odor
  -Local climate changes
  -Land damage involved for pipes and roads- can cause land sinks.
  -Can degrade ecosystems due to hot water wastes and corrosive or saline water

~Water- essential for all living processes: dissolves nutrients and distributes them to cells, regulates body temperature, supports structures, and removes waste products; 60% of our body is water and 70% of the world's surface is covered in it.
~The hydrologic cycle- the circulation of water as it evaporates from land, water, and organisms, enters the atmosphere, condenses and precipitates to the earth's surfaces, and moves underground by infiltration or overland by runoff into rivers lakes and seas: Allows for a fresh supply of water, maintains a habitable climate and moderates world temperatures. Plants help add water vapor to the air through transpiration.
Evaporation= process through which liquid is turned into a gas way below its boiling point
*Sublimation= when water moves from the solid to the gaseous form with out ever being liquid (occurs on bright, dry cold winter days)
*Saturation point= when a volume of air contains the most water vapor that it can at a given temperature
*Relative humidity= the amount of water vapor in the air expressed as a percentage in terms of the saturation point
*Condensation= when saturation point is exceeded and water molecules begin to aggregate
*Dew point= the temperature at which condensation occurs
*Condensation nuclei= tiny particles that help facilitate the condensation process (smoke, dust, sea salts, spores, etc)
*Cloud= accumulation of condensed water vapor in droplets or ice crystals
~Mountains have two different climates: the windward side is cool wet and cloudy; the leeward side is warm dry and sunny, ex. Himalayans (dry spot on mtn= rain shadow)
~Deserts lack moisture and have much evaporation due to the descending air masses. The air will condense under the higher pressure and warms through adiabatic heating. This typically occurs at 30 degree latitudes North and South of the equator. Typical deserts include the Sahara, Gobi, and Death Valley.
~Tropical rainforests receive much rain
~Oceans make up 86% of evaporation, 90% returns directly to the ocean: the other ten percent is carried onto the continents- once there some is incorporated into plants and animals, the rest seeps into the underground but all eventually returns to the ocean. 40,000 km2 of surface runoff and underground flow represents the renewable supply for us and freshwater-deep ecosystems.
~Evaporation and condensation help regulate the climate, as winds redistribute the heat and moisture
~Oceans= contain 90% of all bio mass and 97% of all the liquid in the world. They moderate the global temperature- warm water flow from tropics to poles and vice versa,
*Residence time= that length of time an individual molecule spends circulating in the ocean before evaporation, on average its 3,000 years
~Glaciers hold almost 90% of the earths freshwater. These frozen rivers slowly move downhill. Antarctic glaciers contain 85 % of all the ice in the world.

 

GROUNDWATER:
-Second largest freshwater reservoir
~Ground water= holds next largest amount of fresh water
*Infiltration= precipitation that doesn't evaporate and runs through fractures of the rocks in the soil
*Zone of aeration= upper soil layers that hold both air and water, moisture for plant growth comes from here. The depth varies.
*Zone of saturation= lower levels where all soil air spaces are filled with water. The top of the zone is called the water table and it is neither flat nor stationary. Aquifers: porous layers of sand etc. below water table
-Artesian well: water gushes out without being pumped

Should We Remove Dams?

YES!
*Storage reservoirs drown free-flowing rivers
*They can submerge towns, farms, and cemeteries and important historic sites
*Block fish migration- salmon migration routes impeded
*Can change aquatic habitats that were important to species
*Siltation of reservoir behind dam builds up requiring dredging.
*Nutrients carried within the silt and clay are lost to down stream farmlands that would normally be deposited during floods.
*Dam breakage could devastate communities living downstream.

NO!
*Stores water, and generates electricity
*Create jobs for workers
*Help economic development
*Allows arid and unfarmable lands to grow crops through irrigation of water

Main problem with dams are their inefficiency!!! Dams lose water through evaporation, and seepage through porous rocks~~~> wasting more water than they make available.
* Accumulating sediments can clog reservoirs and make dams completely useless~~~> lose a lot of valuable nutrients. Silts can be replaced with commercial fertilizers costing more than 100 million bucks a year!

LOSS OF FREE-FLOWING RIVERS

Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National Park: San Francisco wanted to dam the Tuolumne River in the park to produce hydroelectric power and provide water for the city. Some people liked it because it supported clean water and power. John Muir opposed the dam project (He founded the Sierra Club and Yosemite Park!! Wahoo!) He said that Hetch Hetchy valley's beauty should be protected. The people fought a hard fight but the dam builders won.

WATER MANAGEMENT AND CONSERVATION
*Goal: prevent flood damage and store water for future use instead of building dams and reservoirs.
Watershed-> also known as a "catchment" is all the land drained by a stream or river. Retaining vegetation and ground cover in watersheds help hold back rainwater and decrease downstream floods.
*More environmentally sound farming and forestry techniques can help reduce runoff.
*Retaining crop residue on fields can reduce flooding
*Minimizing plowing and forest cutting on steep slopes protect watersheds
*Conserving wetlands helps preserve natural water storage capacities and aquifer recharge zones.

Small dams can be just as useful as big dams:
Small dams on tributary streams have the ability to hold back water before it turns into a big flood. These dams can form ponds, and they provide useful wildlife habitats! Small dams can be built with simple equipment and local labor.
***More than 60 million people in 33 states obtain their drinking water from national forest lands***

DOMESTIC CONSERVATION
How can we help stop water shortages?
Take shorter showers!! Stop leaks!! Efficiently wash your cars, dishes, and clothes!!! What about appliances? Use low-volume showerheads, and efficient dishwashers and washing machines!! **If you plant native ground cover in a "natural lawn" or make a rock garden, landscape in harmony with the surrounding environment- xeriscaping (choosing plants that require little moisture) can be great instead of constantly watering and feeding a dry, arid garden.***
:0) Our biggest domestic water use is toilet flushing!! eeeew. We use about 13,000 gallons of drinking quality water annually to flush toilets. People are now creating low-volume and waterless toilets.

RECYCLING AND WATER CONSERVATION
*In 3rd world countries 70% of all the agricultural water used is lost to leaks in irrigation canals, application to areas where plants don't grow, runoff, and evaporation. People have been trying to turn to new farming techniques such as leaving crop residue on fields and ground cover on drainage ways, using mulches, and low-volume irrigation in order to reduce water losses. And its been working!
*Cooling electric power plants = bad water usage
*Installing dry cooling systems= better water usage

PRICE MECHANISMS AND WATER POLICY
In the past, water policies were been against conservation. Some parts of the US were based on riparian use rights= people who lived near a river could use as much as they wanted as long as they didn't taint its quality or the limit others who wanted to access to the water down stream. In many places, like NYC, water used to be very cheap. People didn't have any incentive to repair leaks, or restrict usage. The drought of 1988 changed all of these practices...
*The US is currently saving 38 million gallons a day compared to per capita rates 20 yrs ago. However, we have 10% less water because of the growing population!
*Drip irrigation= AWESOME! It applies water directly to plant roots, but its very expensive. Used on only 1% of farmland worldwide.
*Charging higher proportion of costs to users of public water projects~~~> encourages conservation!

A Flood of Pigs

• Hurricane Floyd flooded Cape Fear in North Carolina on September 16, 1999
• The flooding created a lake that was 300 km (200 miles) across covering towns, farms, factories and forests
• The worst of this flood was the open manure lagoons submerged by the water
• North Carolina was the leading turkey-producing state and the second largest pork producing state which contained ponds of 40,000 cubic meters of liquid waste that isn’t protected against floods
• It is believed that the waste found in wells is from the waste and bacteria that leaked into areas that the flood got into
• Dead animals were buried in the ground where they continue to contaminate groundwater

What is Water Pollution?

• Point sources-factories, power plants, underground coal mines and oil wells that discharge pollution from specific locations such as drain pipes, ditches or sewer outfalls
• Nonpoint sources-scattered or diffuse so that they have no specific location where they discharge into a particular body of water
• Nonpoint sources include runoff from farm fields and feedlots as well as golf courses, lawns and gardens
• Atmospheric deposition of contaminants carried by air currents and precipitated into watersheds or directly onto surface waters as rain, snow or dry particles
• Sources of some nonpoint chemicals can be thousands of kilometers away
• It is estimated that there is 600,000 kilograms of herbicide atrazine in the Great Lakes
• Studies have shown that health problems are occurring among those who eat fish regularly from the Great Lakes

Infectious Agents

• Serious water pollutants in terms of human health world-wide are pathogenic organisms
• Some of these diseases like malaria, yellow fever and filariasis are transmitted by insects that have aquatic larvae
• The main source for these pathogens is from untreated or improperly treated human wastes as well as inadequately treated animal waste from feedlots
• If everyone had pure water and satisfactory sanitation, the World Bank estimates that 200 million fewer episodes of diarrheal illness would occur each year and 2 million and 2 million childhood deaths would be avoided
• 450 million people would be spared debilitating roundworm or fluke infections
• Coliform bacteria-any type of bacteria that lives in the colon or intestines of humans and other animals
• To test for coliform bacteria, a water sample is placed in a dish containing a nutrient medium that supports bacterial growth
• The EPA recommended maximum coliform count for swimming water is 200 colonies per 100 ml, but some cities and states allow higher levels

Oxygen-Demanding Wastes

• The amount of oxygen in water can help to determine the quality of the water
• Game fish and other desirable forms of aquatic life exist above 6 parts per million (ppm) while worms, bacteria and fungi exist below 2 ppm of oxygen
• Oxygen is added to the water through diffusion with the air and removed through respiration and chemical processes that consume oxygen
• The affects of materials on water quality is expressed in terms of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) which is a standard test of the amount of dissolved oxygen consumed by aquatic microorganisms over a five-day period
• The chemical oxygen demand (COD) uses a strong oxidizing agent (dichromate ion in 50% sulfuric acid) that completely breaks down all organic matter in a water sample
• Dissolved oxygen (DO) content measured directly using an oxygen electrode also measures the affects of organic materials on water quality
• Oxygen sag-the decline in oxygen downstream of a pollutant source
• Rough fish such as carp, bullheads and gar can survive oxygen-poor environments

Plant Nutrients and Cultural Eutrophication

• Rivers and lakes hat have clear water and low biological productivity are said to be oligotrophic (oligo = little + trophic = nutrition)
• Eutrophic (eu + trophic = truly nourished) waters are rich in organisms and organic materials
• Eutrophication, an increase in nutrient levels and biological productivity is a normal part of successional changes in most lakes
• An increase in biological productivity and ecosystem succession caused by human activities is called cultural eutrophication
• “Dead zones” often form where rivers dump nutrients into estuaries and shallow seas

Inorganic Pollutants

• Some toxic inorganic chemicals are released from rocks by weathering and are carried by runoff into lakes or rivers
• Other inorganic materials such as acids, salts, nitrates and chlorine that are normally not toxic at low concentrations may become concentrated enough to lower water quality or adversely affect biological communities
• Metals such as mercury, lead cadmium and nickel are highly toxic
• Levels in the parts per million that are so little that you can’t see them or taste them and they can be fatal
• Miners in the Amazon River who look for gold use mercury to trap the gold and separate it from sediments
• The mercury is boiled off with a blow torch which is believed to be why miners and their families suffer nerve damage from breathing the toxic fumes
• Lead poisoning has been known since Roman times to be dangerous to human health
• In 1990 the EPA lowered the maximum limit for lead in public drinking water from 50 parts per billion to 20 parts per billion
• Desert soils often contain high concentrations of soluble salts including toxic selenium and arsenic
• Sodium chloride (table salt) is nontoxic at low concentrations and can become toxic to plants when mobilized by irrigation and concentrated by evaporation
• Acids are by-products of industrial processes such as leather tanning, metal smelting and plating, petroleum distillation, and organic chemical synthesis coal mining is an especially important source of acid water pollution because of the sulfur compounds in coal react with oxygen and water to make sulfuric acid
• 200 lakes in the Adirondack Mountains of New York State have been reported having aquatic damage due to acid precipitation

Surface Waters in the United States and Canada

• The 1972 Clean Water Act established a National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) which requires an easily revoked permit for any industry, municipality or other entity dumping wastes in surface waters
• Since the Clean Water Act was passed, the US has spent more than $180 billion in public funds and perhaps ten times as much in private investments on water pollution control
• The goal of the Clean Water Act to make all US surface waters “fishable and swimmable” has not been fully met, but in 1999 the EPA reported that 91.4% of all monitored river miles and 87.5% of all assessed lake acres are suitable for their designated uses
• States are required to identify waters not meeting water quality goals and to develop total maximum daily loads (TMDL) for each pollutant and each listed water body
• The 1970 Water Act in Canada has produced comparable results
• 70% of all Canadians in towns over 1,000 population are now served by some form of municipal sewage treatment
• In the USA as much as 25% of the 46,800,000 metric tons of (52 million tons) of fertilizer spread on farmland each year is carried away by runoff
• Nitrates and phosphates in surface water have decreased from point sources but have increased about four-fold since 1972 from nonpoint sources
• Fossil fuel combustion has become a major source of nitrates, sulfates, arsenic, cadmium, mercury and other toxic pollutants that end up in water

 

 

Surface Waters in Other Countries

• The fall of the “iron curtain” in 1989 revealed appalling environmental conditions in much of the former Soviet Union and its satellite states in eastern and central Europe
• Parts of Russia itself and some other former socialist states in the Balkans and Central Asia remain some of the most polluted places on earth
• In Russia, only half of the tap water is fit to drink
• Life expectancies for Russian men have plummeted from about 72 years in 1980 to 59 years in 1999 and deaths now exceed births by about 1 million per year
• There are also some encouraging pollution control stories such as in 1997 Minamata Bay in Japan, long synonymous with mercury poisoning was declared officially clean again
• Less-developed countries such as South America, Africa and Asia have even worse water quality than do the poorer countries of Europe
• The coliform count in the Yamuna River in New Delhi has 7,500 coliform bacteria per 100 ml that increases to 24 million cells per 100 ml as the river leaves the city

Groundwater and Drinking Water Supplies

• Half the people in the United States including 95% of those in rural areas depend on underground aquifers for their drinking water
• One of the serious sources of groundwater pollution throughout the US is MTBE (methyl tertiary butyl ether) a suspected carcinogen and is added to gasoline
• In one US Geological Survey  (USGS) study, 27% of shallow urban wells tested contained MTBE
• The US EPA estimates that every day some 4.5 trillion liters of contaminated water sep into the ground in the United States from septic tanks, cesspools municipal an industrial landfills and waste disposal sites, surface impoundments, agricultural fields, forests and wells
• Although most of the leaky, single-walled underground storage tanks once common at filling stations and factories have now been removed and replaced by more modern ones, a great deal of soil in American cities remains contaminated by previous careless storage and disposal of petroleum products
• A 1996 survey concluded that nearly 20,000 public drinking water systems in the US expose consumers to contaminants such as lead, pesticides and pathogens at levels that violate EPA rules

Human Waste Disposal

• In poorer countries of the world, most rural people simply go out into the fields and forests to relieve themselves as they have always done
• Major cities of many less-developed countries are often littered with human waste which has been left for rains to wash away or for pigs, dogs, flies, beetles or other scavengers to consume
• Studies have shown that a significant portion of the airborne dust in Mexico City is actually dried, pulverized human feces
• Grease and oils rise to the top of a septic tank while solids settle to the bottom where they are subject to bacterial decomposition
• Primary treatment is the first step in municipal waste treatment, it physically separates large solids from the waste stream
• Secondary treatment is the biological degradation of the dissolved organic compounds
• Tertiary treatment removes plant nutrients such as nitrates and phosphates from the secondary effluent
• Effluent sewerage is a hybrid between traditional septic tanks and a full sewer system in which the effluents are pumped into a central treatment plant instead of a drainfield

The Clean Water Act

• The Clean Water Act of 1972 along with the endangered Species Act and the Clean Air Act are the most significant and effective pieces of environmental legislation ever passed by the US Congress
• To fulfill the main goal of the act make all surface waters “fishable and swimmable” they used a best practicable control technology (BPT) which sets national goals of best available, economically achievable technology (BAT) for toxic substances and zero discharge for 126 priority toxic pollutants
• Industries, state and local governments, farmers, land developers and others who have been forced to change their operations or spend money on water protection aren’t happy with the Clean Water Act
• These people who aren’t happy often times feel imposed upon
• Another flaw with the act is when state or local governments spend money that is not repaid by Congress
• Small cities that couldn’t afford or chose not to participate in earlier programs in which the federal government paid up to 90% of water quality programs are especially hard hit by requirements that they upgrade municipal sewer and water systems

:

The pH of rainwater is normally slightly acidic, at about 5.6, due mainly to reaction of carbon dioxide with water to form carbonic acid.

 

Other natural events can contribute to the acidity of precipitation. Volcanic eruptions, forest fires, and lightning bolts produce sulfur dioxide, sulfur trioxide, and nitrogen dioxide. These gases can react with atmospheric water in much the same way that carbon dioxide does to produce sulfurous acid, sulfuric acid, nitric acid and nitrous acid.

: Formula that represents the process of “scrubbing” products of industrial combustion processes. Sulfur dioxide gas is removes by using an aqueous solution of calcium hydroxide, also called limewater. The sulfur dioxide reacts with the limewater to form solid calcium sulfite. Scrubbers that utilize this “wet” scrubbing method can remove up to 95% of sulfur oxides.

 

Another process for scrubbing that utilizes magnesium hydroxide instead of limewater. The sulfur dioxide dissolves in the water and reacts with the magnesium hydroxide to form a salt. The magnesium sulfite that is formed can be isolated and heated to regenerate sulfur dioxide. The recovered sulfur dioxide can be collected and used as a raw material in other commercial processes.

Impurities such as pyrite or iron pyrite are found in coal, when we burn coal it interacts with atmospheric oxygen to form iron oxide and sulfur dioxide (a primary air pollutant).

The primary air pollutant, sulfur dioxide, is oxidized, once in the atmosphere, to sulfur trioxide.

:

Sulfur trioxide dissolves it atmospheric water droplets to form sulfuric acid. Sulfuric acid is a major component of acid rain. Sulfuric acid is considered a secondary air pollutant

:

The generalized representation of sulfur oxides, whether it be sulfur dioxide or sulfur trioxide. The Sulfur oxides are considered primary air pollutants.

:

Molecules of nitrogen and atmospheric oxygen combine AT VERY HIGH TEMPERATURES to form nitric oxide, a colorless gas. The high temperatures of natural processes like lightening or those of the combustion chambers of an engine are effective in causing this conversion. Nitric oxide is a primary air pollutant

:

Once in the atmosphere, nitric acid reacts with additional oxygen to form nitrogen dioxide, a red-brown toxic gas that causes irritation to the eyes and respiratory system

:

Further reaction of nitrogen dioxide with water can produce nitric acid, another component of acid rain

 

As sunlight penetrates into the stratosphere, high-energy UV photons react with oxygen gas molecules, splitting them into individual oxygen atoms. These highly reactive oxygen atoms are examples of free radicals; they quickly enter into chemical reactions that allow them to attain stable arrangements of electrons. In the stratosphere free radicals can combine with oxygen molecules to form ozone. A third molecule, typically nitrogen gas or atmospheric oxygen (represented by M in the equation), carries away excess energy from the reaction but remains unchanged.

Each ozone molecule formed in the stratosphere can absorb a UV photon with a wavelength of less than 320nm. This energy absorption prevents potentially harmful UV rays from reaching the earth’s surface. The energy also causes the ozone to decomposed, producing an oxygen molecule and an oxygen free radical. These products can then carry on the cycle by replacing ozone in the protective stratospheric layer.

 

CFC’s (chlorofluorocarbons) are highly stable molecules in the troposphere, however, high energy UV photons in the stratosphere split chlorine radicals from CFC’s by breaking their C-Cl bond. The freed chlorine radicals are very reactive and can participate in a series of reaction that destroy ozone by converting it to diatomic oxygen. Every chlorine radical that participates in the first reaction can later be regenerated . Thus each chlorine radical acts as a catalyst participating in not just one, but an average of 100,000 ozone –destroying reactions. In doing so, it speeds up ozone destruction but remains unchanged itself.

Nitrogen oxide is an essential ingredient of photochemical smog that is produced during the high temperatures associated with combustion of vehicle’s engines.
 

:

Initial reaction of nitrogen dioxide with sunlight

 

:

The oxygen atom generated from the initial reaction reacts with atmospheric, diatomic oxygen, to form ozone. This is not the good, protective ozone of the stratosphere, this is the polluting ozone of the lithosphere, which traps heat and contributes to thermal inversion.

 

This simplified equation represents the key ingredients and products of photochemical smog. Hydrocarbons (including VOC’s), carbon monoxide, and nitrogen oxides from vehicle exhausts are irradiated by sunlight in the presence of oxygen gas. The resulting reactions produce a potentially dangerous mixture that include other nitrogen oxides, ozone, and irritating organic compounds, as well as carbon dioxide and water vapor.

 

The different forms and compounds in which carbon atoms are found are considered chemical reservoirs of carbon. These reservoirs include atmospheric carbon dioxide, calcium carbonate (in limestone), natural gas, and organic molecules, to name a few.

 

: Plants use carbon dioxide and energy from the sun to form carbohydrates in photosynthesis. The carbohydrates are consumed by other organisms, and are eventually broken down, or “oxidized”.

 

: The process of respiration. The chemical representation of how carbohydrates are broken down, or oxidized, thereby releasing energy for use by the consuming organisms. The carbon used and circulated in photosynthesis represents only a tiny portion of the available global carbon.

 

Atmospheric carbon dioxide levels have increased by 30% since the 1800’s (industrial revolution).This increase can be explained, primarily, but several human activities. The most significant of these activities is the burning of fossil fuels.

 

Atmospheric nitrogen is converted to ammonia or ammonium ion by nitrogen-fixing bacteria that live in legume root nodules or in soil, or atmospheric nitrogen is converted to nitrogen oxides by lightening.  

Ammonia and Ammonium are oxidized by soil bacteria first to nitrite ions and then to nitrate ions

After plants have taken up nitrogen from the soil in the form of nitrate ions, the nitrogen is passed  along the food chain. When those plants and animals dies, bacteria and fungi take up and use some of the nitrogen from the plant/animal protein and other nitrogen containing molecules. The remaining nitrogen is released as ammonium ions or ammonia gas. Denitrifying bacteria convert some ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate back to nitrogen gas, which returns to the atmosphere.

 
Haber-Bosch Process: A technique for making ammonia from hydrogen and nitrogen, according to the first equation. To get the reactants, nitrogen gas is liquefied form air and hydrogen gas is obtained chemically from methane (natural gas). First natural gas is treated to remove sulfur-containing compounds; then the present methane is allowed to react with steam. Carbon monoxide, a product of methane reacting with steam, is converted to carbon dioxide which allows for the additional production of nitrogen gas.

Clean Air Act 42 U.S.C. s/s 7401 et seq. (1970)

The Clean Air Act is the comprehensive Federal law that regulates air emissions from area, stationary, and mobile sources. This law authorizes the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to establish National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) to protect public health and the environment.

The goal of the Act was to set and achieve NAAQS in every state by 1975. The setting of maximum pollutant standards was coupled with directing the states to develop state implementation plans (SIP's) applicable to appropriate industrial sources in the state.

The Act was amended in 1977 primarily to set new goals (dates) for achieving attainment of NAAQS since many areas of the country had failed to meet the deadlines. The 1990 amendments to the Clean Air Act in large part were intended to meet unaddressed or insufficiently addressed problems such as acid rain, ground-level ozone, stratospheric ozone depletion, and air toxics.

Clean Water Act

Clean Water Act History  Growing public awareness and concern for controlling water pollution led to enactment of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972. As amended in 1977, this law became commonly known as the Clean Water Act. The Act established the basic structure for regulating discharges of pollutants into the waters of the United States. It gave EPA the authority to implement pollution control programs such as setting wastewater standards for industry. The Clean Water Act also continued requirements to set water quality standards for all contaminants in surface waters. The Act made it unlawful for any person to discharge any pollutant from a point source into navigable waters, unless a permit was obtained under its provisions. It also funded the construction of sewage treatment plants under the construction grants program and recognized the need for planning to address the critical problems posed by non-point source pollution.

Subsequent enactments modified some of the earlier Clean Water Act provisions. Revisions in 1981 streamlined the municipal construction grants process, improving the capabilities of treatment plants built under the program. Changes in 1987 phased out the construction grants program, replacing it with the State Water Pollution Control Revolving Fund, more commonly known as the Clean Water State Revolving Fund. This new funding strategy addressed water quality needs by building on EPA-State partnerships.

Over the years, many other laws have changed parts of the Clean Water Act. Title I of the Great Lakes Critical Programs Act of 1990, for example, put into place parts of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement of 1978, signed by the U.S. and Canada, where the two nations agreed to reduce certain toxic pollutants in the Great Lakes. That law required EPA to establish water quality criteria for the Great Lakes addressing 29 toxic pollutants with maximum levels that are safe for humans, wildlife, and aquatic life. It also required EPA to help the States implement the criteria on a specific schedule.

The electronic version of the Clean Water Act (available below) is a thirtieth anniversary snapshot of the law, as amended through the enactment of the Great Lakes Legacy Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-303, November 27, 2002). Provided by the Congressional Great Lakes Task Force, it is the amended law as of that particular point in time. This electronic version annotates the sections of the Act with the corresponding sections of the U.S. Code and footnote commentary on the effect of other laws on the current form of the Clean Water Act.

Introduction to the Clean Water Act
The Clean Water Act (CWA) is the cornerstone of surface water quality protection in the United States. (The Act does not deal directly with ground water nor with water quantity issues.) The statute employs a variety of regulatory and non-regulatory tools to sharply reduce direct pollutant discharges into waterways, finance municipal wastewater treatment facilities, and manage polluted runoff. These tools are employed to achieve the broader goal of restoring and maintaining the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation's waters so that they can support "the protection and propagation of fish, shellfish, and wildlife and recreation in and on the water."

For many years following the passage of CWA in 1972, EPA, states, and Indian tribes focused mainly on the chemical aspects of the "integrity" goal. During the last decade, however, more attention has been given to physical and biological integrity. Also, in the early decades of the Act's implementation, efforts focused on regulating discharges from traditional "point source" facilities, such as municipal sewage plants and industrial facilities, with little attention paid to runoff from streets, construction sites, farms, and other "wet-weather" sources.

Starting in the late 1980s, efforts to address polluted runoff have increased significantly. For "non-point" runoff, voluntary programs, including cost-sharing with landowners are the key tool. For "wet weather point sources" like urban storm sewer systems and construction sites, a regulatory approach is being employed.

Evolution of CWA programs over the last decade has also included something of a shift from a program-by-program, source-by-source, pollutant-by-pollutant approach to more holistic watershed-based strategies. Under the watershed approach equal emphasis is placed on protecting healthy waters and restoring impaired ones. A full array of issues are addressed, not just those subject to CWA regulatory authority. Involvement of stakeholder groups in the development and implementation of strategies for achieving and maintaining state water quality and other environmental goals is another hallmark of this approach.

 

Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (Superfund ) (CERCLA) 42 U.S.C. s/s 9601 et seq. (1980)

CERCLA (pronounced SIR-cla) provides a Federal “Superfund” to clean up uncontrolled or abandoned hazardous-waste sites as well as accidents, spills, and other emergency releases of pollutants and contaminants into the environment. Through the Act, EPA was given power to seek out those parties responsible for any release and assure their cooperation in the cleanup.

EPA cleans up orphan sites when potentially responsible parties cannot be identified or located, or when they fail to act. Through various enforcement tools, EPA obtains private party cleanup through orders, consent decrees, and other small party settlements. EPA also recovers costs from financially viable individuals and companies once a response action has been completed.

EPA is authorized to implement the Act in all 50 states and U.S. territories. Superfund site identification, monitoring, and response activities in states are coordinated through the state environmental protection or waste management agencies. In Region 5, CERCLA is administered by the Superfund Division.

 

Emergency Planning & Community Right to Know Act (EPCRA)

42 U.S.C. 11001 et seq. (1986)

Also known as Title III of SARA, EPCRA was enacted by Congress as the national legislation on community safety. This law was designated to help local communities protect public health, safety, and the environment from chemical hazards.

To implement EPCRA, Congress required each state to appoint a State Emergency Response Commission (SERC). The SERC's were required to divide their states into Emergency Planning Districts and to name a Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) for each district.

Broad representation by fire fighters, health officials, government and media representatives, community groups, industrial facilities, and emergency managers ensures that all necessary elements of the planning process are represented.

Endangered Species Act

7 U.S.C. 136; 16 U.S.C. 460 et seq. (1973) The Endangered Species Act provides a program for the conservation of threatened and endangered plants and animals and the habitats in which they are found. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service of the Department of the Interior maintains the list of 632 endangered species (326 are plants) and 190 threatened species (78 are plants).

Species include birds, insects, fish, reptiles, mammals, crustaceans, flowers, grasses, and trees. Anyone can petition FWS to include a species on this list. The law prohibits any action, administrative or real, that results in a "taking" of a listed species, or adversely affects habitat. Likewise, import, export, interstate, and foreign commerce of listed species are all prohibited.

EPA's decision to register a pesticide is based in part on the risk of adverse effects on endangered species as well as environmental fate (how a pesticide will affect habitat). Under FIFRA, EPA can issue emergency suspensions of certain pesticides to cancel or restrict their use if an endangered species will be adversely affected. Under a new program, EPA, FWS, and USDA are distributing hundreds of county bulletins that include habitat maps, pesticide use eliminations, and other actions required to protect listed species.

 

Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) 21 U.S.C. 301 et seq.

authorizes EPA to set maximum residue levels, or tolerances, for pesticides used in or on foods or animal feed. FFDCA:

• mandates strong provisions to protect infants and children
• provides the authority to set tolerances in foods and feeds (maximum pesticide residue levels)
• also provides authority to exempt a pesticide from the requirement of a tolerance
• rule-making process required to set tolerances or exemptions
• before a registration can be granted for a food use pesticide, a tolerance or tolerance exemption must be in place
• mandates primarily a health-based standard for setting the tolerance--"reasonable certainty of no harm"
• benefits may be considered only in limited extreme circumstances, very unlikely

pesticide residues in foods are monitored and the tolerances enforced by FDA (fruits and vegetables, seafood) and USDA (meat, milk, poultry, eggs, and aquacultural foods)

 

Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act

7 U.S.C. s/s 136 et seq. (1996)

The primary focus of FIFRA was to provide federal control of pesticide distribution, sale, and use. EPA was given authority under FIFRA not only to study the consequences of pesticide usage but also to require users (farmers, utility companies, and others) to register when purchasing pesticides.

Through later amendments to the law, users also must take exams for certification as applicators of pesticides. All pesticides used in the U.S. must be registered (licensed) by EPA. Registration assures that pesticides will be properly labeled and that if in accordance with specifications, will not cause unreasonable harm to the environment.

National Environmental Protection Act 42 U.S.C. s/s 4321 et seq. (1969)

The National Environmental Policy Act was one of the first laws ever written that establishes the broad national framework for protecting our environment. NEPA's basic policy is to assure that all branches of government give proper consideration to the environment prior to undertaking any major federal action that significantly affects the environment.

NEPA requirements are invoked when airports, buildings, military complexes, highways, parkland purchases, and other federal activities are proposed. Environmental Assessments (EAs) and Environmental Impact Statements (EISs), which are assessments of the likelihood of impacts from alternative courses of action, are required from all Federal agencies and are the most visible NEPA requirements.

 

Oil Pollution Act of 1990 33 U.S.C. 2702 to 2761

The Oil Pollution Act (OPA) of 1990 streamlined and strengthened EPA’s ability to prevent and respond to catastrophic oil spills.  A trust fund financed by a tax on oil is available to clean up spills when the responsible party is incapable or unwilling to do so.  The OPA requires oil storage facilities and vessels to submit to the Federal government plans detailing how they will respond to large discharges.   EPA has published regulations for aboveground storage facilities; the Coast Guard has done so for oil tankers.  The OPA also requires the development of Area Contingency Plans to prepare and plan for oil spill response on a regional scale.

 

Pollution Prevention Act 42 U.S.C. 13101 and 13102, s/s et seq. (1990)

The Pollution Prevention Act focused industry, government, and public attention on reducing the amount of pollution through cost-effective changes in production, operation, and raw materials use. Opportunities for source reduction are often not realized because of existing regulations, and the industrial resources required for compliance, focus on treatment and disposal. Source reduction is fundamentally different and more desirable than waste management or pollution control.

Pollution prevention also includes other practices that increase efficiency in the use of energy, water, or other natural resources, and protect our resource base through conservation. Practices include recycling, source reduction, and sustainable agriculture.

 

Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
42 U.S.C. s/s 6901 et seq. (1976)

RCRA (pronounced "rick-rah") gave EPA the authority to control hazardous waste from the "cradle-to-grave." This includes the generation, transportation, treatment, storage, and disposal of hazardous waste. RCRA also set forth a framework for the management of non-hazardous wastes.

The 1986 amendments to RCRA enabled EPA to address environmental problems that could result from underground tanks storing petroleum and other hazardous substances. RCRA focuses only on active and future facilities and does not address abandoned or historical sites (see CERCLA).

HSWA (pronounced "hiss-wa")—The Federal Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments are the 1984 amendments to RCRA that required phasing out land disposal of hazardous waste. Some of the other mandates of this strict law include increased enforcement authority for EPA, more stringent hazardous waste management standards, and a comprehensive underground storage tank program.

Safe Drinking Water Act
42 U.S.C. s/s 300f et seq. (1974)

The Safe Drinking Water Act was established to protect the quality of drinking water in the U.S. This law focuses on all waters actually or potentially designed for drinking use, whether from above ground or underground sources.

The Act authorized EPA to establish safe standards of purity and required all owners or operators of public water systems to comply with primary (health-related) standards. State governments, which assume this power from EPA, also encourage attainment of secondary standards (nuisance-related).

Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA) 42 U.S.C.9601 et seq. (1986)

The Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 reauthorized CERCLA to continue cleanup activities around the country. Several site-specific amendments, definitions clarifications, and technical requirements were added to the legislation, including additional enforcement authorities.

Title III of SARA also authorized the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA).

The Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA) amended the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) on October 17, 1986. SARA reflected EPA's experience in administering the complex Superfund program during its first six years and made several important changes and additions to the program. SARA:

• stressed the importance of permanent remedies and innovative treatment technologies in cleaning up hazardous waste sites;
• required Superfund actions to consider the standards and requirements found in other State and Federal environmental laws and regulations;
• provided new enforcement authorities and settlement tools;
• increased State involvement in every phase of the Superfund program;
• increased the focus on human health problems posed by hazardous waste sites;
• encouraged greater citizen participation in making decisions on how sites should be cleaned up; and
• increased the size of the trust fund to $8.5 billion.

SARA also required EPA to revise the Hazard Ranking System (HRS) to ensure that it accurately assessed the relative degree of risk to human health and the environment posed by uncontrolled hazardous waste sites that may be placed on the National Priorities List (NPL).

 

The Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA) of 1996

The Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA) of 1996 amended the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and the Federal Food Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA). These amendments fundamentally changed the way EPA regulates pesticides. The requirements included a new safety standard-reasonable certainty of no harm-that must be applied to all pesticides used on foods. This web site provides background information on FQPA's provisions and discusses some of the specific issues raised by FQPA, as well as status of implementation of this important law.

Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA)
15 U.S.C. s/s 2601 et seq. (1976)

The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) of 1976 was enacted by Congress to give EPA the ability to track the 75,000 industrial chemicals currently produced or imported into the United States. EPA repeatedly screens these chemicals and can require reporting or testing of those that may pose an environmental or human-health hazard. EPA can ban the manufacture and import of those chemicals that pose an unreasonable risk.

Also, EPA has mechanisms in place to track the thousands of new chemicals that industry develops each year with either unknown or dangerous characteristics. EPA then can control these chemicals as necessary to protect human health and the environment. TSCA supplements other Federal statutes, including the Clean Air Act and the Toxic Release Inventory under EPCRA