Human Impact

1. Human Impact How we affect the Lithosphere

2. Essential Standards • EEn.2.2 Understand how human influences impact the lithosphere. • EEn.2.2.1 Explain the consequences of human activities on the lithosphere (such as mining, deforestation, agriculture, overgrazing, urbanization, and land use) past and present. • EEn.2.2.2 Compare the various methods humans use to acquire traditional energy sources (such as peat, coal, oil, natural gas, nuclear fission, and wood). • EEn.2.8 Evaluate human behaviors in terms of how likely they are to ensure the ability to live sustainably on Earth. • EEn.2.8.1 Evaluate alternative energy technologies for use in North Carolina. • EEn.2.8.2 Critique conventional and sustainable agriculture and aquaculture practices in terms of their environmental impacts. • EEn.2.8.4 Evaluate the concept of “reduce, reuse, recycle” in terms of impact on natural resources.

3. How we use the Earth Land use

4. Assignment! • As we talk about land uses, you will keep a journal on various topics • DO NOT LOSE YOUR JOURNAL ENTRIES • This is a project grade • Due when we finish this • Be thoughtful in constructing your responses • It is okay to make opinion questions personal but keep your facts reasonably scientific • Refer specifically to content from the article • This should be a great time for you to reflect on how these topics impact you. Enjoy!

5. What types of land use are there? Urbanization Agriculture Land Use Harvesting Drilling Mining

6. What is Urbanization? • The physical growth of cities, or taking the characteristics of cities

7. Why do people build cities? • Proximity – so people will be closer to the things they desire • Job opportunities • Transportation and housing • Entertainment and attractions • Diversity • Marketplace competition

8. How do cities affect Earth? • Deforestation – cutting down all trees in an area • What can removing trees cause? • Increased flooding • impervious (water can’t move through it) surfaces cause water to run off into streams instead of being absorbed • Increased pollution • from transportation and factory production • Heat islands – pavement absorbs heat all day and releases it at night making the surrounding area warmer

9. Causes and Effects of Urbanization Job opportunities Increased pollution Entertainment Increased flooding Transportation and housing Urbanization Deforestation Diversity Heat Islands Marketplace competition

10. What can we do? • Urbanization • “Green” cities • Add walls that can hold plant life • Walkable urban areas- mixed use so most things are in walking distance of residents • Entice people to move back to cities instead of urban sprawl • Better public transportation • Urban farming • Build structures that use sustainable energies (solar, wind, hydroelectric, etc…)

11. Assignment! • Create a journal entry on the benefits and draw backs of being in a city • Would you like to live in one? Why or why not? • Read through http://www.actionbioscience.org/environment/voogt.html and explain: • What is a heat island? • How do heat islands form? • How do they impact cities? • How can the impacts be reduced?

12. Why is land used for agriculture? • Until humans learned to farm they were nomadic (followed food) • A stable food source • Vegetables • Meats • Animal feed • Economic gain • Non – edible resources – cotton, ethanol

13. How does agriculture affect the lithosphere? • Deforestation • Overgrazing • Desertification • Dryland salinity • Decline in fresh water • Pollution

14. Are there other side effects to deforestation? • Deforestation means a loss of habitats, which means a loss in biodiversity • All the different life forms in an area • Increased erosion degrades soil • Increased evaporation leading to drought • Higher CO2in the air • Less photosynthesis Deforestation

15. What exactly is overgrazing? • Plants are exposed to grazing with insufficient recovery period • Roots grow smaller and eventually plants begin to die off • Occurs from having more animals on a piece of land than it can support

16. Assignment! • Read the article on a national park’s response to overgrazing in Nepal http://www.asianewsnet.net/Nepal%e2%80%99s-national-park-shows-way-in-overgrazing-f-46275.html • Why was grazing becoming a problem in the area? • How did the National Park Service handle the problem? • How do you think this impacted the local peoples? • Was it a fair decision? Why or why not? • Read the article on deforestation http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/deforestation-overview/ and briefly summarize at least: • 3 reasons deforestation happens • 3 effects of deforestation

17. What about desertification? • The process of land becoming a desert, characterized by loss of bodies of water and plant life • Occurs when overgrazing happens in already dry areas • Can be caused by the weight of cattle pressing on the land until it becomes too compacted for plants to grow

18. Assignment! • We will read http://library.thinkquest.org/26026/Science/desertification.html together. • Write in your journal: • Where is desertification more likely to happen? • How does desertification affect people globally? • How does it affect you personally? • What sustainable solutions can you propose to help with the problem?

19. What is dryland salinity? • Gradual loss of farmland from rising salt • Salt is located underground but pulled upwards when water tables rise • Domesticated plants have shallower roots • Loss of biodiversity • Huge problem in Australia and other places where underground salt reserves are present

20. How is freshwater being depleted from agriculture? • Irrigation in arid areas to water crops is pulled from freshwater sources • This has been devastating to the ecosystems of some rivers • Colorado River hasn’t reached the sea since 1998

21. Assignment! • Read through the story of Zachary Podmore’s trip down the Colorado from beginning to end • http://www.huffingtonpost.com/zachary-podmore/colorado-river-environment_b_1306665.html • Briefly write your opinion on the Colorado • How does it enrich the lives of millions of people? • What has happened to the river system? • Include what you think should be done • Then read http://www.abc.net.au/science/slab/salinity/default.htm by Justin Murphy and write about: • How did Australia come to be in this situation? • Was there anyway to predict this would happen? • What should be done now?

22. How is agriculture polluting? • Pesticides and herbicides to control insects and weeds runoff with rain into rivers • These can cause major problems with rivers • Hypoxic – dead zones where oxygen levels have decreased to where they cannot support life

23. What are the causes and effects of agriculture? Deforestation Vegetables Overgrazing Meats Feed for livestock Agriculture Desertification Non – edible resources Dryland salinity Freshwater depletion Economic Gain Pollution and dead zones

24. What can we do? • Agriculture • Keep the proper amount of animals on acreage • Crop rotation to keep soil fertile • Reduces need for deforestation • Purchase seasonallyand locally • Drip line irrigation • Reduce the amount of chemicals and synthetic fertilizers

25. Is agriculture possible underwater? • Yes, this is called aquaculture • Farming of fish, crustaceans, aquatic plants, and mollusks • Mariculture – uses sea water to grow aquatic organisms • Integrated methods – often combine various trophic levels of the food chain to make conditions more natural and sustainable

26. How is aquaculture affecting the environment? • Can increase water consumption and worsen drought conditions • Some fish are fed pellets, which when not eaten, settle and alter the food chain for benthic organisms • Increased fertilizer from feces of fish produces algal blooms • Higher presence of microbial decomposers lowers oxygen levels • What does this cause? • Can introduce new species when pins break

27. Is aquaculture all bad? • No, aquaculture can decrease the problem of overfishing • Increases the amount of food for consumption

28. What is mining and why is it done? • Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other resources from the earth • Done for • Economic gain • Resources

29. How is mining done? • Surface mining • Sub-surface mining • In-situ mining

30. What is surface mining? • Strip mining • Mountain top removal • Open pit mining • Soil and overlaying rock are removed to get to the resource below

31. What is sub surface mining? • Digging tunnels or shafts to get to ore deposits visit the mine

32. What is in-situ mining? • Commonly done to obtain uranium for energy • Uranium is dissolved into water below the surface • Solution is brought to the surface and the mineral is recovered In situ mining

33. How does mining affect the environment? • Acid mine drainage from sub surface mining • Deforestation • Erosion • Formation of sinkholes • Contamination of soil and groundwater • Some diseases (black lung, blue baby syndrome, asthma) Mining and the Environment

34. Causes and effects of mining Deforestation Economic Gain Acid Mine Drainage Minerals mining Diseases Loss of biodiversity Contamination of soil and water Energy Resources Sinkholes

35. What can we do? • Mining • Alternative energy sources • Write representative to let them know you want more opportunities for these energies • Recycle and reuse goods to reduce need to mine • Reduce consumption of unnecessary items

36. Assignment! • Read the article http://www.wvrivers.org/issues/acidminedrainage/acidminedrainage.html • Summarize what acid mine drainage is • Pay close attention to the problems associated with mine drainage and explain how these can negatively impact the people living around mines also use the next article for this • http://biology.duke.edu/bio217/2005/seanb/humanimpacts.html read about how people are directly impacted from mining. • Is mining worth the risks to the environment and people nearby the site? (you may look up blue baby syndrome on Wikipedia for more information)

37. Assignment! • Complete the land use sheet • Turn into the turn in box

38. What is harvesting and how is it done? • Gathering of resources from the surface of the Earth • Peat – non – renewable • Wood – renewable

39. Why is wood harvested? • Renewable energy supply • 9% of the world’s energy supply • Used particularly in developing countries • Used for heating and cooking • What environmental problem is this linked to?

40. Assignment! • Read http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2012/10/121022-wood-for-heating/ • Discuss in your journal: • How are the Fey’s trying to be environmentally conscious in their decision to use wood? • What are their reasons? • How do the majority of American’s heat their homes? • Why are people steadily switching to alternative energy? • What do you expect to see used in American homes in the future for heating?

41. What is peat, where is peat, and how is it harvested? • Peat is an accumulation of partially decayed plant matter • Soils containing mostly peat are histols • Found in bogs or mires • Fossil fuel due to slow regrowth • Harvested by: • Cutting • Stacking • Drying • Packing and shipping peat bog at harvest time cutting peat

42. Assignment! • SAS carbon cycle activity – QL 952 • With a partner complete the activity on the carbon cycle • Sections 1-3 answer all questions • Analysis section answer questions for sections 1-3 • Honors – entire activity

43. Assignment! • Read http://www.peatmoss.com/blog/harvesting-peat • Discuss in your journal: • How are peat sites found • How is the site prepared and peat harvested? • How is peat used? • Where does most peat produced in Canada go and how is it used? • What is surprising about Canada’s harvesting peat and their energy usage of peat? • Where does most peat come from?

44. Review from Mining • What is a major fossil fuel that is mined for electricity? • What is mining? • Let’s look at coal

45. What exactly is coal and how is it extracted? How coal is formed • Coal is either mined underground or in an open pit (through mountain top removal) • Non renewable fossil fuel • Formed in low lying wetlands • Plant matter was buried • Compressed into bituminous coal • Further compressed into its most usable form, anthracite

47. How are uranium and plutonium mined? • Uranium mines are: • Open pit • In situ • Underground • Plutonium is extracted from uranium deposits • Radioactive elements used in nuclear energy • Occurs in extremely small amounts in most rocks

48. Assignment! • Cookie mining lab • If we don’t have time today be prepared tomorrow! Shoes people! • You will need: • Lab sheet • Cookie • Calculator • Toothpicks and / or paperclips • NO HANDS!

49. What is drilling and how is it done? • A cutting process that uses a drill bit to cut or enlarge a hole in the Earth for extraction purposes • Oil • Natural gas

50. What is oil? • Formed from the remains of tiny plants • Non – renewable resource • Obtained by drilling • Found using seismology and other tools such as magnetometers and gravity meters oil formation