OUTLINE
 
by Paul Nervy
Copyright (c) 2006 by Paul Nervy
 
Visit www.paulnervy.com.


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ECOLOGY and ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

Contents
Ecology - nature before man's impact.
Problems - due to man's impact on nature.
Solutions - to restore balance.
History of mans environmental impact and the environmental movement


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ECOLOGY - NATURE BEFORE MAN'S IMPACT


Ecosphere.
The ecosphere includes all the plants and animals and all the inorganic materials on which the plants and animals rely.  Land, sea and air.
  
Web of life.
On earth, living and non-living things exist in a complex and interdependent web of life.
Man cannot exist without the web of life.  Man cannot exist in a vacuum.  The web of life provides air, water and food for man.
Another name for the web of life is the ecosystem.
Every element in the ecosystem plays a role and is important.
Destroying one species can impact the entire ecosystem.

Gaia hypothesis.
The earth is self regulating.
The earth, however, cannot suffer unremitting abuse by man.


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Eco-systems.  Biomes.

Tundra due to polar latitudes or mountain altitudes

Taiga

Desert

Forests: coniferous, deciduous, tropical

Grasslands.  African savanna.  American plains.  Eurasian steppe.  South American pampas.

Mountains

Wetlands: a mix of water and land.  

Tidal areas: a mix of freshwater and saltwater.  Mangrove swamp.  Marshes.  Lagoons.  Estuaries.

Freshwater.  Lakes.  Rivers.

Oceans.  Coral reefs.  Deep water.


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Food chains.

Producers.  Base of chain.  Plants

Herbivores.  Eat plants.

Carnivores.  Eat herbivores.

Decomposers.  Eat carnivores when they die.


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Cycles:

Carbon cycle

Nitrogen cycle

Oxygen cycle


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Soil ecosystems

Composition of soil.

What lives in soil.  Bacteria that break down dead plants and animals.

Importance of insects.  

Importance of fungi.  


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Ocean ecosystems

Estuaries.  Mangroves.  Tidal flats.  Where fresh water and salt water mix.

Coastal ocean.  Coral reefs.

Surface ocean.  Plankton.  Plant plankton.  Diatoms and desmids.  Animals.  Krill.

Deep ocean.  Ocean vents.  Scavenger species.


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Air.  Atmosphere.
Composition of air.  Oxygen.  Hydrogen.  Nitrogen.


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Environmental conditions of an ecosystem.

Temperature.

Humidity.

Ph.

Salinity.

Pressure.


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Population 
A population is a group of animals of the same species.

Species.
A species are all members capable of breeding with each other.

Carrying capacity.
How many individuals of a species the environment can support.

Community.
The community is the sum of all the local populations.

Succession.
Succession refers to the community through time.

Biosphere
The biosphere is all the living material on earth.

Biomass.
Biomass is the biosphere measured in terms of mass.

Chains.
A chain is a line of cause and effect interactions.
Example, food chain.

Web.
A web is a group of chains interacting.
Example, web of life.


Population ecology.
Size of a population in number of individuals.
Size of a population in geographic area.
Density of a population in number of individuals per geographic area.
Limits of the size of a population due to food limits.
Limits of the size of a population due to predators.


Community ecology


Interspecies relationships
Antagonist
Competitors
Mutualism
Commensalism





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ECOLOGICAL PROBLEMS - DUE TO MAN'S IMPACT ON NATURE


Land
	Destruction of wetland ecosystems.
	Garbage dumps.
	Overbuilding.  Sprawl.

Agriculture.
	Loss of topsoil from poor farming techniques.
	Methane produced by cattle raising polluting atmosphere.
	Livestock manure and urine runoff.  Cattle, hogs, chickens, etc.
	Pesticide runoff polluting streams, rivers and oceans.
	Fertilizer runoff polluting steams, rivers and oceans.

Industry.
	Airpollution.  Smokestack pollution.
	Liquid pollution dumped into rivers, lakes and oceans. 
	Solid pollution.

Consumers.
	Too much stuff leads to too much garbage.
	Lawns.  Fertilizers.  Insecticides.  Herbicides - weed killer.
	Tree spraying.
	Household chemicals.  Bleach.  Ammonia.  

Poisonous chemicals.  Lead.  Chlorine.  Mercury.
	
Fresh water is becoming more scarce.

Deforestation.  Loss of the rain forest.

Extinction of animals and plants.  Loss of biodiversity.

Nuclear power.  Radioactive wastes.  Chance of meltdowns.

Oil energy.  Gasoline.  

Coal powered energy plants.

Damming rivers to create hydroelectric power destroys river ecosystems.
Taming rivers for transportation destroys river ecosystems.

Incineration or burning garbage is polluting.

Power lines can create electromagnetic fields.

Illnesses in humans caused by human produced pollution.

Asbestos
DDT
Thalidomide.

Population.  Overpopulation.  Too many people who don't live sustainably.


Sea
Overfishing and sea ecosystem trouble.
Warm water
Pesticide runoff
Animal and human waste runoff and 


Air
Air pollution
Carbon dioxide and the greenhouse effect and global warming.
Chloro-fluro-carbons and ozone depletion.
Sulfur and acid rain.
Particulates and smog.






Worldwide, what is the state of the environment?
What is causing problems in the environment?
What are the solutions to help save the environment?

How much pollution and garbage does an average person in the U.S. Produce?
	Directly, after making purchases.  Packaging.
	Indirectly, through pollution created in the pre-purchase phases.
How can it be reduced?




Resources
Renewable resources
Non-renewable resources


Pollution

Pollution of the air, water and land.
Air pollution
Water pollution
Land pollution

Pollution in the form of solid, liquids and gases (which in any combination can pollute the atmosphere, ocean and land).

Biodegradable garbage
Non-biodegradable garbage.


Ecological problems

Freshwater scarcity.
Animal waste.  Urine and feces.  Nitrogen polluting the rivers.
Erosion causing loss of topsoil
Fluorocarbons causing hole in ozone layer.
Carbon dioxide (CO2) causing greenhouse effect and global warming.
Deforestation
Pesticides acting as estrogens
Oil spills in oceans.  Exxon Valdez disaster.
Runoff from parking lots.  Oil and gasoline in water.
Detergents flowing into rivers and polluting ecosystems.
Smog
Acid rain.
Ozone hole
Bioengineered plants and animals disturbing natural ecosystems.
Foreign plants and animals disturbing ecosystems
Extinction of plants and animals.  Lack of biodiversity.
Saving the rainforests.
Global warming
Overpopulation
Overconsumption by existing population
Oceans polluted, fished out, coral dying
Agricultural runoff - nitrogen from fertilizers.  Nitrogen from animal urine and feces
Air - smog from smokestakes.  Ozone.
Nasty chemicals - chlorine in bleach, lead, mercury, pcb's, pvc's.
Noise pollution
Light pollution

Resources
fresh water (unsalinated), and clean water (unpolluted)
forests
soil
fish
oil, natural gas
biofuels
nuclear power


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SOLUTIONS - 	TO RESTORE THE BALANCE BETWEEN MAN AND NATURE.


General principles.

	Reduce.
	Reuse
	Recycle.

	Educate.
	Lobby.
	Legislate.
	Litigate.
	Protest.
	Civil disobedience.

	Use renewable energy sources.
	Create biodegradable products.


	Sustainable development

	Use more biodegradable materials
	Use more recyclable materials

Power
Use less fossil fuels
Use more renewable energy
	Solar powers
	Wind power
	Water power
	Geothermal power
	Human power

Cars
Gas - Electric hybrids
Hydrogen fuel cell cars

Human power
Bicycles
Pedal generators or treadmill generators.
Hand-crank radios, flashlights, cellphones and computers
Generating electricity by walking throughout the day.






Housing
Smaller houses.
Less stuff.  Own fewer possessions.  Rent or borrow rather than buy.
Smaller stuff.
Compost.

Fewer energy needs.  Fewer lights.  
Solar energy.
Wind energy.
Hand crank energy.
Rechargeable batteries.


Transportation.
Fewer cars.  More mass transit.
Smaller cars.
More fuel efficient cars.
Hybrid vehicles like the 2004 Toyota Prius.
Fuel cell powered cars.

Agriculture
Organic farming.

Ecotourism.

Better testing of chemicals, drugs, etc..





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Amount arable land.  
Amount of arable land farmed.


Problem: Soil burnout.  Loss of soil nutrients by single crop agriculture.  
Solution:  Cycling crops. Letting land rest.

Problem: Animals for food creates pollution and is cruel to animals.
Solution: Use plants, not animals for food.  Vegetarianism.

Problem:  Desertification due to plant destruction, and erosion.
Solution: Planting to reduce erosion.

Problem: Overfishing.  Killing of whales and dolphins is not necessary.
Solution: Fish farming.  Aquaculture.  


Types of energy pollution:
	Nuclear pollution.  
	Oil burning internal combustion pollution.  
	Burning of wood pollution.  



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Philosophy of Nature
nature, wilderness, solitude, place (geography)


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History of the Environmental movement (see history database)