Human Impact on the Environment
STANDARD 17_ INTERDEPENDENCE
SC.912.L.17.20
Predict the impact of individuals on environmental systems and examine how human lifestyles affect sustainability.
You need to know:
SC.912.L.17.20
Predict the impact of individuals on environmental systems and examine how human lifestyles affect sustainability.
You need to know:
- how the actions of humans may impact environmental systems and affect sustainability
- the costs and benefits of renewable and nonrenewable resources
- environmental policy decisions should be made after adequate monitoring of environmental parameters
- how the environment and personal health are related
Sustainability and Environmental Policy
Lesson Activities:
- Video & Handout with Analysis Questions:The Lorax
1. Sustainability
a. Ecological Footprint
b. Overpopulation
2. Predict Human Impact on Environmental Systems including, but not limited to:
a. Air
i. Acid rain
ii. Smog
iii. Ozone depletion
iv. Effects of fossil fuels
b. Water
i. Eutrophication
ii. Ocean acidification
iii. Biomagnification
iv. Bioaccumulation
c. Land
i. Deforestation
ii. Erosion
iii. Desertification
d. Climate change
e. Invasive species
CLIMATE CHANGE
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Invasive Species
An introduced species, also called invasive species, is one living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived there by human activity, either deliberate or accidental.
Introduced species generally outcompete native species due to:
Introduced species generally outcompete native species due to:
- lack of natural predators in the new environment which can increase their population exponentially in a short period of time.
- adapt quickly to new environmental condition, perhaps because their native habitat was harsher that the new one,. and their adaptations allows them to obtain nutrients, and successfully reproduce.
- Reduce of Biodiversity: wipe out endemic/ endangered species
- Loss of habitat: they may destroy large numbers of trees or vegetation in general due to overgrazing, or infestation (parasites, fungi). Native organisms who inhabit these areas loose they home, which forces them to emigrate, increase competition, and possibly increasing their dead rate, and or decreases their birth rate.
- Economic Loss: Native species provides us humans with food, medicine, ect. Their loss can have an impact on our local economy.
- Harm to human health: the use of pesticides to get rid of some of these invasive species can accumulate in the food chain. Runoff, can move these toxic products onto rivers, lakes, canals, oceans, increasing the level of pollution, and bio-magnification. Also, invasive species sometimes harbor parasites or disease, which can infect other organisms, or move up the food chain till it gets to us.
Lesson Activities
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B. Evaluate the costs and benefits of renewable and nonrenewable resources (17.11) 1. Renewable (e.g. Wind, Solar, Nuclear) 2. Non-Renewable (e. g. Fossil Fuels)
Renewable vs. Non Renewable Resources
What are Natural Resources and how are they classified?
- Humans, like other species require natural resources to meet their basic needs like water, food, and shelter. Additionally, unlike other species, we extensively exploit many other natural resources to go about daily activities, such as transportation, education, and recreation, fashion, etc.
- Those resources can be classified in Renewable or Nonrenewable Resources
Renewable Resources
- Renewable resources are those that can be replenished fairly easily within a human lifetime.
Costs
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Benefit
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Nuclear Energy
Although nuclear energy itself is a renewable energy source, the material used in nuclear power plants is not.
- Uranium, the material used is found in rocks all over the world is non-renewable.
- Nuclear power plants are complicated to build, and the nuclear energy is difficult to harvest.
- Many countries lack the technologies, engineers or the trained scientists to run these power plants.
- Power plants produce radioactive waste which is extremely toxic.
- Produces lots of energy
- It does not produce green house gases, so no air pollution
- Power plants can be built in rural and non-rural areas with minimal disruption of the environment around them.
Nonrenewable Resources
- Nonrenewable resources are those that can not be replenished (or at least not in our life time)
- With the exponential growth of the human population, we need more and more natural resources, the question is:
Cost
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Benefit
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Human Impacts on Environmental Systems: Climate Change
What is climate change?
Evidence/ Causes/ Effects/ Solutions
Evidence/ Causes/ Effects/ Solutions
Monitoring of Environmental Parameters
Collecting an analyzing data about specific environmental parameters - salinity, depth, pH, light, food resources, etc.- is important to assess the quality of the environment around us, including whether it is improving, worsening, or staying the same. This information can then be used to assist in decision making, both by governments and private sectors.
- Public health officials and other healthcare providers need information about both short-term and long-term environmental impacts. For example, the short-term environmental issue of poor air quality affects the ability to treat patients with asthma and the need to issue smog advisories. The long-term environmental issue of toxic substances in groundwater may also be relevant to healthcare workers.
- Municipal engineers must know about potential toxins in water sources so they can treat them, and potential water level maximums so they can design flood control systems. Insurance actuaries also need to understand environmental risk.
- First responders must understand the nature of toxic events so they know how to respond and treat survivors, and how to use safety equipment effectively.
- Farmers need to understand nutrient levels in surface water so they can assist with runoff management while keeping their land fertile.
- Industrial concerns must monitor the environmental effects they have on their surroundings to ensure regulatory compliance and worker safety.
- Ecological and economical concerns must determine the presence of invasive species that threaten the local biodiversity. For example, Environmental DNA (eDNA) is DNA collected from bodies of water, soil, even air; rather than directly from the organisms. This is information is used to determine the presence of invasive species, predict impact on ecosystems and economy; and work on solutions to control the problem. See the video below to learn more about how eDNA is used.
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