To discuss and illustate the impact of human activity and development on the resources of the biospherse.
 | will double in the next century |
| Population density in San Francisco area (29-2) |
2.2.1. Demand for food
2.2.2. Land use
2.2.3. More pollution: water, air, land
2.2.4. Demand for drinking water
2.2.5. Depletion of energy resources
2.2.6. Depletion of other resources: e.g. forests, minerals
2.2.7. Crowdedness
| classes of air pollutants (29-3) |
| smog (29-4) |
| indoor air pollution |
| acidities of precipitation (29-5) |
| effect on forests (29-6) |
| destruction of buildings and artifacts |
| caused by chlorofluorohydrocarbons (freon) |
| effect is 30 years delayed |
| lets more uv light in |
| causes rise in skin cancer, cataracts |
| weakens immune system |
| harms photosynthesizers |
3.4.1. increase in carbon dioxide and temperature (29-8)
3.4.2. increase in atmospheric methane (29-9)
3.4.3. relative contribution of different gases (29-10)
3.4.4. effects of global warming
| 1-2oC change over the next few decades |
| melting of polar ice caps (29-11) (total melting would raise ocean level 75m) |
| release of methane from permafrost |
| changes in climates in world |
| increase in productivity could absorb some changes |
| change in ecology |
| human health effects |
4.1.1. water depletion
4.1.2. salt water intrusion (29-13) (Persian Gulf, caused by irrigation)
4.2. Categories of Water Pollutants
| organic matter |
| nutrients |
| solids |
| toxic substances |
| biomagnification (29-14) |
| effect of PCBs on osprey (29-15) |
| long-term genetic effects |
| pathogens |
| heat |
| rivers and lakes |
| estuaries |
| oceans |
| rain |
5.4.1. clear cutting (29-16)
5.4.2. rainfall (29-17)
5.4.3. nitrates (29-18)
5.4.4. world trends (29-19)
| Three Mile Island (1979, partial meltdown in Middletown PA due to cooling system failure) |
| Chernobyl (1986) (29-22) |
6.9. Solutions
| conservation |
| renewable |
| nuclear |
|
 habitat
loss
|
|
freshwater
supply
|
|
bioinvasion
|
|
alteration
of fire cycles
|
|
persistent
organic pollutants
|
|
nitrogen
pollution
|
|
overfishing |
| Over-harvesting |
| habitat destruction or Change |
| Inhibition Death of Critical Species |
| Decrease in Species Diversity |
| Introduction of Alien Species |
9. Social Sphere
|
 population
growth
|
|
infectious
disease
|
|
economic
exploitation
|
|
natural
resource exploitation
|
|
human
resource exploitation
|
8.1. Is the style of living in the U.S. sustainable worldwide and in the long-term future? Defend your answer.
8.2. Discuss the current state of the biosphere in terms of population, water, energy, forests, topsoil, ecological diversity, waste disposal, accumulation of refractory pollutants, and minerals.
8.3. Discuss what you think are reasonable solutions to the issues presented in Questions 1 and 2.
| acid rain | chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) | ozone hole |
| deforestation | desertification | fossil fuel |
| green revolution | industrial smog | meltdown |
| nuclear winter | photochemical smog | pollutant |
| PAN (peroxyacyl nitrate) | slash-and-burn agriculture | thermal inversion |
| wastewater treatment | global warming | greenhouse effect |
| water shortages | clear cutting | biomagnification |
| salt water intrusion | renewable energy | ozone layer depletion |
Compendium of Environmental Statistics - US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Tables and graphs of federal data collected up to 1994.
