sign in sign up
<<
Home , Desertification, Environmental issues, Land degradation, Overexploitation, Ozone depletion, Urbanization

GREEN PART TWO – PROBLEMS RESULTING FROM IMPACT

KAREN L. LANCOUR National Rules Committee Chairman –

Green Generation is designed for a two year rotation – the first year will cover aquatic issues, air quality issues and change while the second year will cover terrestrial issues and growth issues.

Part 2: Problems resulting from human impacts on the quality of our environment A. Aquatic Environment Issues – , Ocean Dead Zones, Water Diversion, (2015) B. Air Quality Issues – Acid , , Nuclear Pollution (2015) C. Issues – , Depletion (2015) D. Terrestrial Environment Issues – , , pollution, Waste Disposal, (2016) E. Issues – Destruction, Farming Practices, & (2016)

ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES

Major – Worldwide

• Pollution of Air, Water and • Hazardous Chemicals and Wastes • • Loss of • • Climate Change • Loss of natural and cultural

Major Causes of Environmental Issues

• Rapid population growth and the effects of , industry and harvesting practices on the • Rapid and wasteful use of resources • Degradation of the ’s environmental systems

Environmental Impact (I) (depends on three factors) - Paul Ehrlich

1. The number of people (, P) 2. The average number of units of each person uses (per capita consumption or affluence, A) 3. The amount of environmental degradation and pollution produced for each unit of resource used (destructiveness of the technologies used to provide and consume resources, T)

I = P x A x T (environmental impact)

1

Sustaining the Earth– Learning as much as we can about how Earth sustains itself and adapts to ever-changing environmental conditions and integrating such lessons from into the ways we think and act The basic environmental beliefs of the : • Nature exists for all of Earth’s species, not just for people • There is not always more • Some forms of are environmentally beneficial and should be encouraged, but some are • environmentally harmful and should be discouraged • Our success depends on learning to cooperate with one another and with the rest of nature to learn how to • with the earth • The key to creating a sustainable society:

Pollution - when harmful materials enter the environment Sources of pollution usually fall into four main categories – industrial, residential, commercial, and environmental. enter the environment through natural (volcanic eruption) or human activities Sources of pollution may include o point source pollution from a clearly identifiable location o nonpoint source pollution that comes from many different places. Sources of pollution may include o organic pollution – of living organisms and their bi-products o inorganic pollution – dissolved and suspended solids as silt, salts, and o toxic pollution – heavy medals and other chemical compounds that are lethal to organisms o – waste heat from industrial and power generation processes o nuclear pollution - radioactive materials

Harmful Impacts of Pollution – three factors determine the severity of the harmful effects 1. Chemical nature – how active and harmful the is to living organisms 2. Concentration – the amount of pollutant per unit of volume 3. Persistence (degradability) – how long the pollutant stays in the air, water, soil, or body of the organisms

Pollution can affect all areas of the environment and it is divided into the following: • Air Pollution - the emission of any impurity into the air, such as smoke (including tobacco smoke), , cinders, solid particles, gases, , fumes, odors and radioactive substances. • – pollutants being added to ground water, environments and marine water environments • Thermal Pollution – changes in water temperature due to additions of hot or cold water to a natural water system – often heated water from cooling at power • Soil Pollution – pollutants being added to soil by agricultural runoffs, unclean technology, waste • disposal • – excess noise from industrial and urbanization activities • – excess night lighting around urban areas which can impact life cycles or organisms • Radioactive Pollution – and 2

nuclear accidents

3

Types of Water Pollution and their Effects

If water pollution is from a single source it is called point-source pollution while pollution coming from many sources is called nonpoint pollution.

Type of Water Cause of Symptoms of Effect of Pollution Source of Pollution Pollution Pollution Pollution Biodegradable and Decreasing Increased number of Run-off, improperly treated waste animals numbers of bacteria, decreased effluent, fish and other levels, death of aquatic life aquatic life, increasing number of bacteria Nutrients and Green, Algae blooms, Over use of fertilizers, run-off cloudy, of water from fields, improper disposal of slimy, stinky source containers, wastewater treatment water Heat Increased water Warmer Decrease in oxygen levels, Industrial run-off, wastewater temperature water, less death of fish and plants treatment oxygen, fewer aquatic organisms Sedimentation Suspended Cloudy water, Warms up water, decreases Construction sites, farming and particles increased depth of water source, operations, , settling out of amount of deposits toxins flooding, run-off, dams water bottom Chemicals Toxic and Water color Kills aquatic life, can enter Human-made, improper disposal, hazardous changes, human chain, leads to run-off, dams, , chemicals develops an birth defects, infertility, industrial discharge, odor, aquatic and other diseases life die out in humans and animals Radioactive Radioactive Increased Kills aquatic species and Waste water discharges from pollutants isotopes rates of birth leads to cancer and death , hospitals and uranium defects and in humans and other mines cancer in animals human and animal . Medical Medicines, Infertility in Unknown Humans dumping medicines into antibiotics aquatic water systems, wastewater organisms, treatment and other unknown symptoms

Source: Safe Water Drinking Foundation

4

Environmental Threats to Freshwater and Ground Water Systems

• The creation of dams and water-diversion systems blocks migration routes for fish and disrupts . o Dams are a major factor in water diversion. o Dams are built along rivers to produce reservoirs. o This affects the of the river and the surrounding environment including Habitat Loss, , and Loss of Biodiversity o The Colorado River is a good example. o

• Water withdrawal for human use shrinks and degrades habitats. • Runoff from agricultural and urban areas hurts . • Draining of wetlands for development depletes habitats. • and pollution threaten supplies. • Invasion of exotic species can harm native animals and plants. • Global warming may lead to devastating and .

Thermal Pollution and Rising Ocean Temperatures

• Change in the water temperatures of , rivers, and oceans caused by made- man industries or practices • Water as coolant is warmed returned & to body of water • Ocean warming from climate changes can lead to problems like bleaching

5

Eutrophication – bodies of water becomes enriched with nutrients.

This can be a problem in such as lakes as it can cause algal blooms. • run-off from fertilizers, into nearby water causing an increase in nutrient levels. • It causes phytoplankton to grow and reproduce more rapidly, resulting in algal blooms. • This bloom of algae disrupts normal ecosystem functioning and causes many problems. • The algae may use up all the oxygen in the water, leaving none for other . This results in the death of many aquatic organisms such as fish, which need the oxygen in the water to live. • The bloom of algae may also block from photosynthetic marine plants under the water surface. • Some algae even produce toxins that are harmful to higher forms of life. This can cause problems along the and affect any animal that feeds on them.

Threats to Marine Environments

• Ocean Dead Zones o Eutrophication is magnified as rivers lead into larger rivers and eventually into the ocean – as the Mississippi River network. o This leads to ocean dead zones or regions where oxygen concentration is very low () to the point where plants and animals either die or leave the zone. o The Mississippi River, which is the drainage area for 41% of the continental , dumps high-nutrient runoff such as and phosphorus into the Gulf of Mexico. o The Dead Zone at the mouth of the Mississippi River in the Gulf of Mexico is the largest in the US. In 2010 it was the size of New Jersey.

6

7

• Oil spills and their ecological disasters o The BP Oil Rig Explosion in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 o Chemical spills and dumping of waste in the oceans or near coral reefs and ocean shelf areas causes major environmental problems. • Marine dumping of wastes – and other wastes • Climate Change - is warming the oceans and making them more acidic. • Temperature Rise – warming the oceans is causing problems like coral bleaching • - caused by excess CO2 dissolving in the sea to form carbonic acid, has the potential to literally dissolve the skeletons and shells of marine creatures such as leading to devastating effects on marine • Habitat loss as and estuary regions causing population displacement • Bycatch – marine unintentionally caught as sea turtles, porpoises, albatross, crabs, starfish & fish • Whaling is still a problem though strides are being make • : an industry devoted to the catching or selling of fish • Overfishing and Exploitation - depletes stocks of fish beyond their ability to recover, disrupting the ecosystem and eliminating a valuable source of food and income. o Fish catch has risen from 20 million tons/year to over 90 million tons / year o Original limit – 12 miles out to sea o In 1960s changed to 200 miles due to lack of fish o Boats go out even further or rely on more technology-based systems to find huge numbers of fish o Driftnets: dragged through the water indiscriminately catching everything including turtles, dolphins, sharks and o Long-lining: using long lines that have baited hooks that will capture multiple fish o Bottom trawling: ocean floor is literally scraped by heavy nets for all bottom-dwelling fish – leaving a cared path of destruction. o 47-50 % of major of the world are fully exploited, 20 % are nearly over exploited, 10 % a r e

d e p l e t e d

8

9

• – are disrupting normal food chains and food webs within the ecosystem

Threats to Estuaries

• Estuaries receive the pollutants dumped into the streams and rivers that feed them • Residential and commercial development not only adds to pollution but eliminates some estuaries due to land filling • Coastal development, introduction of invasive species, over fishing, dams, and global climate change have led to a decline in the health of estuaries, making them one of the most threatened ecosystems on Earth. • A majority of pollutants find their way into estuaries from non-point sources

Threats to Coral Reefs

• Chemical pollutants • Excess nutrients • Sedimentation • Coral bleaching • Coral diseases • Climate change and ocean acidification • Overfishing

10

AIR POLLUTION AND CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS

Climate Changes Temperature Precipitation Health Impacts -related Mortality

Infectious Diseases Air Quality-Respiratory Illnesses Impacts yields demands Water Resource Impacts Changes in water supply Water quality Increased for water Impacts on Coastal Areas of beaches Inundate coastal Costs to defend coastal communities Species and Natural Areas Shift in ecological zones Loss of habitat and species

11

Acid Rain

• a mixture of wet and dry deposition (deposited material) from the atmosphere containing higher than normal amounts of nitric and sulfuric acids • Wet deposition refers to acidic rain, , and snow • Dry deposition occurs where environment is dry and the arid chemicals are incorporated into the dust or smoke sticking to surfaces of buildings, ground, cars and trees. As it is washed off by rain, it leads to acidic runoff • About half of the acidity in the atmosphere falls back to earth through dry deposition • pH of acid rain is typically about 5.6 • Effects of Acid Rain o Surface water in lakes, rivers, streams becomes more acid o Damages at high elevations o Damages building materials and paints o Affects human health

Nuclear Pollution

• Nuclear pollution is pollution that is radioactive. • Fallout can lead to radiation sickness and death. • can destroy environmental features and animal life. • Fukushima Daiichi Disaster (2011)

12

Climate Change Issues

Greenhouse Effect - warming that results when the atmosphere traps heat radiating from Earth toward space. • The Earth gets from the sun in the form of sunlight. • The Earth's surface absorbs some of this energy and heats up. • That's why the surface of a can feel hot even after the sun has gone down—because it has absorbed a lot of energy from the sun. • The Earth cools down by giving off a different form of energy, called infrared radiation. • But before all this radiation can escape to outer space, greenhouse gases in the atmosphere absorb some of it, which makes the atmosphere warmer. • As the atmosphere gets warmer, it makes the Earth's surface warmer, too.

• The earth's temperature is dependent upon the greenhouse-like action of the atmosphere, but the amount of heating and cooling are strongly influenced by several factors just as greenhouses are affected by various factors. o In the atmospheric greenhouse effect, the type of surface that sunlight first encounters is the most important factor. o Forests, grasslands, ocean surfaces, caps, , and all absorb, reflect, and radiate radiation differently. o Sunlight falling on a white surface strongly reflects back into space, resulting in minimal heating of the surface and lower atmosphere. o Sunlight falling on a dark soil is strongly absorbed, on the other hand, and contributes to significant heating of the surface and lower atmosphere. o Cloud cover also affects greenhouse warming by both reducing the amount of solar radiation reaching the earth's surface and by reducing the amount of radiation energy emitted into space o Atmospheric gases – water vapor ( ), ( ), ( ), and ( ), all act as effective global insulators 13

o The negative concerns are related to the possible impacts of an enhanced greenhouse effect caused by excess pollutants going into the air

14

• Ozone Depletion - is deteriorating due to the release of pollution containing the chemicals and ( or CFCs)

Ozone Hole over

15

16

Terrestrial Issues (2016) • Desertification • Deforestation • Soil pollution • Waste Disposal • Mining

Desertification

• Desertification is an expansion of arid conditions into a non- arid environment. • Major causes of desertification include o & poor management o Cultivation of marginal lands o Deforestation o Destruction of in arid regions o Expanding human population o Urbanization o Incorrect irrigation practices leading to salinization o as a low priority • Most endangered regions are near the world's five main deserts o which lies in Northwest Mexico and the Southwest United States o in o in Southern o most of o the large desert mass made up by the , Arabian, Great Indian, Taklimakan, Gobi and the deserts of Iran and the former Soviet Union.

17

18

Deforestation

Deforestation – the permanent destruction of indigenous forests and woodlands for agricultural or exportation

Causes include • Conversion of forests to agricultural land to feed people Development of cash and cattle raising esp. in tropical countries • Commercial logging that is not regulated • Poor in humid tropics do not support agriculture for long so more clearing becomes necessary

Forest Terminology • Old Growth : one that has never been cut down • Second Growth: area previously harvested • Plantations or Tree Farms: remaining forests • Silviculture: management of forest plantations to • Clear-Cutting: removal of all trees in a n area – significant environmental problems • Selective-Cutting: removal of selected trees leaving majority of habitat in place • Shelter- Cutting: cutting only mature trees and leaving younger trees to reseed the forest. • Agroforest: trees and crops are planted together for symbiotic relationships • Green-Belts: open forested areas where no one is permitted to build

Types of Forest Fires • Surface Fires: burn only forests’ underbrush but don’t damage trees • Crown Fires: damage canopies of trees and spread quickly • Ground Fires: smoldering fires that take place in bogs or swamps and can burn under ground for days

Deforestation Rates in the US – US Forest Service • The United States lost an average of 384,350 hectares (949,750 acres) of forest each year between 1990 and 2010. • A total of almost 4 million hectares (10 million acres) of timber is harvested each year, but most of that timber regenerates and remains classified as forested land, albeit at a different successional stage. • The deforestation here refers to lands that are converted from forest to some other purpose. • Deforestation could increase in the future because tree pests and diseases such as bark beetles are becoming more prevalent in the face of climate change.

Bark Beetle Damage

19

Soil Pollution

Ways that soil can become polluted, such as: • Seepage from a landfill • Discharge of into the soil • Percolation of contaminated water into the soil • Rupture of underground storage tanks • Excess application of pesticides, or • Solid waste seepage

Most common chemicals involved in causing soil pollution are: • Petroleum hydrocarbons • Heavy metals • Pesticides •

Effects of Soil Pollution • Negative Effects on Human Health • Effects on Growth of Plants o Ecological Balance is affected o Soil Chemistry changes o Fungi and bacteria found in soil decline o Nitrogen fixing bacteria decline • Decreased and decrease soil yield • Toxic Dust from pollute the environment • Changes in Soil Structure – death of soil organisms as earthworms lead to alteration in soil structure

20

Farming Practices

Negative environmental impacts from unsustainable farming practices include: • Land conversion & habitat loss • Wasteful water consumption • and degradation • Pollution • Climate change •

Fertilizers and Pesticides

DDT Magnification

• Insects, weeds, and diseases are serious threats that destroy crops • Drainage of fertilizers and pesticides into water supplies has negative environmental effects • Nitrogen fertilizers in lakes and oceans causes euthrophication and “dead zones” • Use of artificial fertilizers can eventually deplete soil of organic matter reducing their ability to hold water and making them subject to erosion • Pesticides can have negative effects on human health from over-exposure • Effects of pesticides can be compounded as you go up the food chain as with DDT • Herbicides used in agriculture can be highly toxic to wildlife • Organic methods of farming do not use chemical pesticides and fertilizers • There are plants which remove the pollutants from the soil • There are organisms which can control pests

21

Waste Disposal

• Waste, or rubbish, trash, junk, is an unwanted or undesired material or substance. • It may consist of the unwanted materials left over from a process (industrial, commercial, mining or agricultural operations,) or from and household activities. • The material may be discarded or accumulated, stored, or treated (physically, chemically, or biologically), prior to being discarded or recycled. • Waste Categories o Solid Waste or Municipal Waste commonly known as trash o Regulated Medical Waste (RMW) – potentially infectious or biohazardous waste o RCRA - hazardous pharmaceuticals, bulk chemotherapeutic agents, , xylene and other solvents, some paints, cans etc o Nuclear Waste – radioactive materials o Universal Waste – batteries, pesticides, mercury-containing equipment, bulbs or lamps o Recyclables - , cardboard, beverage and food containers, metal and glass o Construction and Demolition Debris as ceiling tiles, plumbing fixtures, carpeting, concrete, bricks, fill dirt, etc. o Composting material – as grass, weed clippings, tree limbs, branches, waste from vegetable produce, bread and grains, and paper products as napkins and paper plates

• Methods of Waste Disposal o Landfill o o Methods o Biological Processing o Energy Recovery o Avoidance and Reduction Methods

• Landfill makeup

22

Mining - Environmental

Mining: excavation of the earth for the purpose of extracting ore or minerals • Metallic minerals: zinc, copper • Non-Metallic minerals: salt, precious gems • Deposit: where a particular mineral is concentrated • Surface Mining: starting from the top down and mining for minerals or oil deposits – results in permanent scaring of the land and changing land features • : a waste created from mining operations (usually consists of acids, sulfur compounds)

23

Population Growth Issues –2016

• Urbanization • • Farming Practices • Fertilizers & Pesticides

Human Population Growth

Urbanization

Concerns: • • Food Supply • Freshwater • Coastlands and Oceans • Forests • Biodiversity and Habitat Destruction • Global Climate Change

24

Habitat Fragmentation & Destruction

Habitat destruction and fragmentation is a process that describes the of discontinuities (fragmentation) or the loss (destruction) of the environment inhabited by an organism. Causes include: • conversion to human-made uses: urbanization, deforestation, etc. • fragmentation—natural geographic ranges are “cut up” due to construction, farming, etc • simplification—clearing and cleaning up land areas of natural debris; stream channelization, etc. • intrusion—interference with species: telecommunication lighted towers attracting migrating , casing collisions and entanglement in wires, etc. It results in o Loss of resident species o Loss of food sources o Loss of ecosystem functions provided by the habitat

Biodiversity Threats Types of Biodiversity: o Genetic diversity – varies in the genetic make-up among individuals within a single species o – variety among the species or distinct types of living organisms found in different habitats of the planet o Ecological diversity – variety of forests, deserts, grasslands, streams, lakes, oceans, wetlands, and other biological communities

Causes: • Habitat loss & Fragmentation • Climate Change • Over use and exploitation o deforestation o nonsustainable agricultural practices: over-cultivation, etc. o overfishing o excessive o illegal poaching o illegal exotic species trade • Construction, farming, etc. o simplification—clearing and cleaning up land areas of natural debris; stream channelization, etc. o intrusion—interference with species: telecommunication lighted towers attracting migrating birds, casing collisions and entanglement in wires, etc. • Human population explosion

25

• • Pollution o land and water pollution: pesticides, , oil spills, eutrophication of water, pathogens from human waste o air pollution and related issues: NO2, SO2, acid deposition; ozone depletion, GHG (Greenhouse gases) • Exotic (invasive alien) species introduction can be accidental or deliberate (ornamentation, horticulture, ) can take over an area, competing with native species for resources

26