Environmental Science Final Exam

• 1. is Heterotropic and must get food to live and grow
• 2. Man needs a balanced diet (proteins, vitamins, and minerals)
• 3. Over population (man has exceeded the carrying capacity)
• 4. Unequal population distribution - transport food
• 5. Estuary/Wetland destruction - decrease in productivity

• 1. Most land is not productive to be farmed - less than one acre per person - 1/4 of the earth is land and 3/4 is water - only 1/10 is farmable
• 2. Poor farming methods causing less productivity and erosion - Desertification - Irrigation: long term is a problem, water from lakes has minerals and builds up a salty crust that kills plants
• 3. Farming disrupts ecosystem homeostasis - creates a garden of eden for pests - monoculture: one crop
• 4. Competition from pests/weeds
• 5. Decrease in the amount of farmland - developed into homes, roads, shopping centers)
• 6. Clear cutting jungles and forests - 50 acres a minute- no nutrients in soil
• 7. Irrigation - builds up a saline crust on soil
• 8. Growing plants that are not adapted to the environment - Oranges in Orange County(freezes)
• 9. Non-food crops - tobacco, cotton
• 10. Trend toward monoculture farming - growing one crop where many plants once lived
• 11. Politics - politicians control distribution of food - gov't subsidizes farmers to not grow to keep prices up
• 12. Biofuels - crops grown to burn for energy usage
• 13. antibiotics

• 1. Starvation caused by lack of food - 1 person every 9 seconds
• 2. Under nourishment - not enough nourishment
• 3. Malnourishment - badly balanced diet 
• 4. Permanent brain damage - not enough nutrients during pregnancy
• 5. Poor health and increase in diseases
• 6. Poison on food - toxins and pesticides
• 7. Poisons and carcinogens in food - food additives
• 8. water pollution - fertilizer run off
• 9. More food = more people
• 10. Disruption of ecosystem homeostasis
• 11. Obesity

• 1. Control population - more education the less population
• 2. Add fertilizer
• 3. Genetics - modified or natural
• 4. Chemical controls - Spray
• 5. Biological controls - predator
• 6. Irrigation - drip
• 7. Mechanization - Better farming techniques - stop erosion - Salad vac: sucks up bugs and kills them - Terracing: making stairs from side of mountain - Crop rotation - Contour ploughing
• 8. Food additives
• 9. Education - diet needs, food habits
• 10. Recycle materials
• 11. Food from ocean

Protein deficiency disease

Protein deficiency disease

thyroid problem - iodine deficiency disease

a killer of living organisms

DDT - Chlordane - Non-biodegradable and persistent

Malathion, parathion, diazinon - Biodegradable - dangerous

sevin dust, temik - low persistence + biodegradable - systemic: poison goes through entire system and kills the bug

• 1. Competition for food
• 2. Diseases
• 3. Destruction of materials - moths and termites
• 4. Broad spectrum poisons - nonspecific 
• 5. Resistent insect populations
• 6. Fat-soluable poisons pass through a food chain - biological magnification (ex: DDT + thin bird shells - top carnivore suffers most)
• 7. Persistent poisons - non biodegradable
• 8. Disposal of unused poison
• 9. Contamination of ground water
• 10. Carcinogenic poisons - food and water

• 1. Death and extinction
• 2. Disease due to poison in food and water
• 3. Birth defects (genetics) ex: dioxin(2,4,5-T) in Agent Orange
• 4. Sterility and low sperm count
• 5. Production of more resistant insect pests
• 6. Use of water for sports or recreation(fishing)

• 1. Chemical Controls - biodegradable
• 2. Biological Controls - Predators (can become worse than the problem) - Lady bugs
• 3. Research
• 4. Education
• 5. Legislation - Environmental Protection Agency - Banning DDT in 1973
• 6. Pheromones (sex attractant) - trick to lure males
• 7. Juvenile Hormones - chemical in body - metamorphosis (egg-larva-pupa-butterfly) - gland that keeps them in the juvenile stage - prevents reproduction
• 8. Sterilization (radiation)
• 9. Genetics (hybrids and gene splicing)
• 10. Life cycle changes - eliminate alternate hosts - wheat rust - barberry (fungus - grows on barberry then wind takes to wheat - eliminated barberry)
• 11. Light - bug zappers
• 12. Noise 
• 13. Hand and foot (fly swatters)
• 14. Eliminate breeding and feeding source
• 15. Heat or cold
• 16. Germ warfare - bacteria or viruses - BT: fatal to caterpillar 
• 17. "Do nothing" - live with nature
• 18. Safe chemicals - Diatom, dust, salt, boric acid, beer
• 19. Traps - bait
• 20. Screens
• 21. Integrated pest management - all the systems that work
• 22. Farming techniques: crop rotation, timed plantings, no monoculture, resistant plants (salt water plants)
• 23. Test water for pesticide contamination
• 24. Fly paper
• 25. Flooding - drowning bugs and larva
• 26. Burning
• 27. Scarecrow - fake owls
• 28. Gas - fumigate

• 1. Health damage - illness and death
• 2. Decline in plant growth and death
• 3. Destruction of materials - lime stone, marble, rubber, etc
• 4. Loss of aesthetic value of pure air
• 5. Incineration (burning of wastes) - particulate matter and heavy metals
• 6. Evaporation of hazardous water - gasoline, benzene, etc
• 7. Lead release - using leaded gas

• Burn Carbon - forms CO₂ - causes greenhouse gases (methane gas 23x worse than CO₂)
• C(fuel) + O₂ = CO₂ release
• CO₂ forms a dome around the earth 
• a) Heat cannot escape: temperature of earth increase melting polar caps causing a rise in sea level - costal flooding
• b) increase in violent storms (hurricanes) and drought in other areas
• c) Agricultural problems: plants cannot grow due to heat
• d) bird migration/breeding 
• e) coral killed
• *Solution: Reverse CO₂ - Use alternative fuel

• Cool air from mountains or sea pushes up warm ground level air which forms a lid holding in smoke and other pollutants - causes an increase in the intensity and concentration of pollutants
• *Solution: Car pool/mass transit

• Sunlight bakes smog (smoke and fog) causing a chemical change
• Sunlight + smog = Photochemical smog (potent and more dangerous)
• Synergism: Combination of two or more gases that gives you more potent gases
• Solution: No gases

• Ozone layer around earth (which protects us by screening out much of the sun's harmful radiation) is removed by CFC molecules (chlorofluorocarbon) these make up freon gas used in air conditioners and refrigerators and in styrofoam
• Result: Increase in skin cancer
• *Solution: ban CFC

• Burning fuel containing Sulfur or Nitrogen(by burning coal or oil)
• S + O₂ = SO₂(sulfur dioxide gas) + H₂O(rain) = H₂SO₄(Sulfuric Acid)
• N + O₂ = NO₂(sulfur dioxide gas) + H₂O(rain) = HNO₃ (Nitric Acid)
• a) Acid Lakes - Dead Fish, Algae, etc
• b) Acid Soil - plants decline and die
• c) Acid Fog and rain - Dead trees
• *Solution: Stop burning fuels with sulfur or nitrogen - alternative fuels

• 1. Legislation - Clean Air Act, EPA - Cap and trade
• 2. Alternative energy sources - Solar, wind, water, geothermal, nuclear, (gas)
• 3. Remove sulfur/burn low sulfur fuels
• 4. Change transportation habits - carpool, mass transit, cars(unleaded gas) 
• 5. Emission controls on auto
• 6. Enclosed burning of wastes (no open burning dumps)
• 7. Clean smoke stacks - scrubbers, electrodes, filters, electro static precipitator
• 8. Reduce power use
• 9. Ban smoking in public answer
• 10. Education
• 11. Ban from use - cfcs
• 12. Change lifestyle - fireplaces, etc
• 13. Plant trees

A "compound" - things combine to create something new

scientific study of fresh water

scientific study of salt water

Temperature - "Thermal Shick"

• Cold water has a lot of dissolved oxygen
• warm water has less

E. Coli bacteria

• Demand goes up and DO goes down
• Polluted = high demand

• 7=Neutral
• 4=Death(acid rain)

• Water suffering from dirt and pollutants cause it to be cloudy
• Secci Disc
• Photosynthesis

Over feeding lawns - goes into sewer - body of water - bottom muck - algae blooms

Gauge if water is good or bad - index plants/animals

Young, not productive - new lake

Old, Productive - algae blooms

where pollution is coming from

Coast - Desalination plant - Key West

• a) Raw or treated sewage (e coli, bacteria, viruses)
• b) agricultural waste (pesticides and fertilizers)
• c) detergents (nitrates, phosphates)
• d) dumps (liquids leak into aquifer)
• e) oil and gasoline from street or tanks
• f) lead (water and pipes) and metals
• g) garbage (cruise ships, cities)
• h) oil spills and release of unused oil (15% remains 3 months after)

• 1. Excessive use of fresh water - causing salt water intrusion
• 2. Top soil/ground water runoff causing pollution
• 3. Aquaculture - wastes, food, antibiotics, poisons
• 4. Thermal pollution - water used as a coolant - hot water released - low DO

• 1. Disease - viruses, high chloroform count
• 2. Killing of wild life
• 3. Destruction of habitats - Poisons, heat, salt water
• 4. Ground water and aquifer contamination
• 5. Turbidity and decreased photosynthesis - secci disc
• 6. Drinking water contamination
• 7. Eutrophication and algae blooms
• 8. Low DO caused by the BOD (biochemical oxygen demand)

• a) primary - filter out solid waste
• b) secondary - add bacteria to breakdown wastes - add O₂ - add chlorine to kill bacteria - trickling filter
• c) tertiary - remove nutrients - reclaimed water

• 1. Use low phosphate detergents - release into yard
• 2. Legislation - Clean Water Act 1972 - Teaching - All bodies of water should be clean enough for recreational use
• 3. Cooling towers, holding towers(cools water from factories), retention ponds(retains bad water)
• 4. Education/Awareness - water use
• 5. Closer monitoring/testing - temik, other poisons, secci disc
• 6. Desalination plants
• 7. No ocean or fresh water dumping
• 8. Xeroscape - Plants that don't need water

• Nimby - Not In My Back Yard
• 1. We throw too many things away 
• 2. Incineration - air pollution
• 3. Ocean/water dumping (contamination) - plastic
• 4. Land dumps - aquifer pollution -burning dumps(air pollution) - space/cost - odor, disease, aesthetics
• 5. Litter
• 6. Non-biodegradable wastes
• 7. CFC's from styrofoam, old fridges, A/C
• 8. Newspaper ink - was petroleum product - now use a vegetable oil
• 9. Hazardous wastes

• 1. Pollution
• a) air - smoke, gases, etc
• b) land - dumps, litter
• c) water - lakes, rivers, oceans, aquifers
• 2. Disease - bacteria, viruses, poisons, carcinogens
• 3. land value drops (NIMBY)
• 4. Aesthetics

• a) Melting - glass, plastic, metals
• b) Revulcanization - rubber
• c) Pulping - Paper - De-inking problem
• d) Rendering - animal fats(soap, tallow)
• e) Fermentation(methane gas) - burn it for fuel
• f) Composting - organic material: grass, leaves, orange peels, apple skins, egg shells, banana peels, etc