Chapter 6 Environmental Science

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2 Chapter 6 Environmental Science Environmental Science: study of the relationship between humans and the earth. Every thing is globally connected. Important factors affecting the climate globally are: 1. Convection cells which result into upwelling 2. El Nino

3 Upwelling Sun heats up the air close to earth surface and causes it to rise up. Air eventually cools down and sinks in. This pattern of rising and falling air using a loop is called convection cell.

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6 Convection cells create a wind that blows from east to west pushing warm surface water from South America toward Australia, pulling along with it the cold water from deeper in the ocean to replace the warm water. This rising current is called upwelling that brings with it organic material and nutrients that support an abundance of plankton, which in turn support large populations of fish. This is extremely crucial to the population of anchovy. This is extremely crucial to the economy of Peru.

7 What is El Niño? Sometimes during December, the normal east-to-west winds do not form over the Pacific Ocean. Instead, winds push warm water eastward toward the coast of South America. This prevents upwelling of nutrients. This phenomena is known as El Niño.

8 What are the effects of El Nino? 1. Prevention of upwelling resulting in fewer nutrition, causing a decrease in fish population. 2. El Nino causes northeastern Australia suffer from summer drought. 3. It results in an increase in rain fall in the southeastern United States, boosting agriculture and decreasing forest fires.

9 The Biodiversity Crisis What is biodiversity? This refers to the variety of organisms living in a given area. The most important measure of biodiversity is genetic diversity which looks at the genetic makeup of an organism in an environment.

10 Ecosystem diversity refers to the variety of habitats, communities, and ecological processes in the biosphere.

11 Types of Biodiversity species diversity: The number of different species in the biosphere, or in a particular area. Genetic diversity can refer to the sum total of all different forms of genetic information carried by a particular species, or by all organisms on Earth.

12 Valuing Biodiversity Biodiversity and Medicine example: foxglove plant contains compounds called digitalins that are used to treat heart disease. Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Healthy and diverse ecosystems play a vital role in maintaining soil, water, and air quality. The number and variety of species in an ecosystem ca influence that ecosystem s stability, productivity, and value to humans.

13 Threats to Biodiversity Altered Habitats Hunting and the Demand for Wildlife Products Introduced Species: Organisms introduced to new habitats can become invasive and threaten biodiversity. Pollution- example; DDT, Acid rain Climate Change : Organisms are adapted to their environments and have specific tolerance ranges to temperature and other abiotic conditions. The organism must move to a more suitable location or face extinction.

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15 The Importance of Biodiversity 1. Utilitarian Value: The economic benefits biodiversity provides to humans. 2. Nonutilitarian Values: the belief that life forms have value simply because they exist.

16 Taking Action 1. Conservation 2. Restoration 1. Conservation biology: a branch of biology that is designed to identify and maintain natural areas and protect their biodiversity. Example: a. Conserving migratory birds. b. Saving critical habitats c. Reintroduction of the wolf

17 Preserving Habitats and Ecosystems: Ecological Hot spots (shown in Red) An ecological hot spot is a place where significant numbers of species and habitats are in immediate danger of extinction.

18 1. Restoration biology: This is to reverse major changes and to replace missing ecosystem components. Examples: a. Introducing bacteria to the soil, planting grass and shrubs. b. Restoring the everglades ecosystem.