Unit 8

Lead: anything that contains led; can damage brain and kidneysMercury: grows with human consumption, damages the nervous systemArsenic: Mining and natural occurrences ; all kinds of cancer.Acid deposition/Mine drainage: mines and industrial plants; damage to humansPesticides: agriculture usage; loss of biodiversityPharmaceuticals: medicine disposing gone wrong; not much of an effectHormones: bad disposing; alteration of genes of animals and affect reproductionPCBs: manufacturing goods; cancer.PBDEs: Flame retardants; brain damage.Oil: oil wells, drilling, and spills; contaminating water and enrapturing animals killing themSolid Waste: ends up in water; threat to water animals for getting caught in it or ingesting itThermal: plants; change in water temperature and in adaptation of animals

Freshwater Resource Discussion:Underground aquifers give water to plants and are sources of water- usage for irrigation and drinking water. human impact is that the humans are depleting water resources in aquifers at a rate that the aquifers cannot be replenished. lakes provide water for animals and humans for industry and irrigation. same as aquifers the rates are causing them to dry up. Rivers have a ton of biodiversity. rivers allow humans to have hydroelectric dams for crop growth. humans are diverting the water so the river does not reach the ocean. Wetlands provide irrigation and humans use this and cause them to dry out.

Water Diversion Discussion:Aral Sea: started out in central asia it was meant to provide water for agriculture. the water usage by humans dried the sea up and now is nothing but barren land. ecological costs were that it had a loss of biodiversity and an increase in salinity and benefitted the agriculture production. most economic costs are going toward rehabilitating.

Colorado River: sources of the colorado river are lake mead and lake powell. diversion of lake mead for agriculture and human use has cause drying of the lake and ending with increased salinity and loss of biodiversity. But the diversion has caused economic growth in revenue and agriculture industry.

Salton Sea: it has a similar situation as the Aral sea. it is caused by diversion of water for agriculture use. The new river and whitewater rive are its sources. Salinity has increased and there is a loss of biodiversity. demand for water takes a higher stand than keeping the sea replenished. Ecologically, sustainability of life in the sea has greatly reduced, but economically it has brought in large amounts of revenue.

Water Quality Discussion:

Phosphate- the water is put through a chemical test with a phosphate tablet and then tested color with a color chart. high levels or high ppm is bad in water because it can cause algal blooms.

Nitrate- same as phosphate. the water is put through a test with a tablet and matched on a color chart. High nitrate levels are bad. this also leads to algal blooms that take away the oxygen.

Dissolved Oxygen- it is a test with a vial and two dissolved oxygen tablets, then using barometric pressure the corrected DO is found. low levels of oxygen is bad for organisms.

pH- the water is tested with litmus paper. Water is near neutral, so a low or high pH is bad. more acidity is very toxic.

Temp- this is measured with a thermometer. the temperature should relate to the climate of the environment.

Turbidity- this is the test using secchi disk that measures the waters clarity. It can be done with eyesight as well. the more murky the water is the worse it is for the ecosystem.

Fecal Coliform- this was the test with the water mixed with the broth. High levels show the measure of fecal bacteria in the water that could be a cause of sewage waste.

Indicator Species-

Mollusca indicates water pollution level through their behavior and stoneflies indicate high levels of oxygen.

Water Conservation Discussion:

Agriculture- They could switch to drip or spray irrigation which is more efficient in water usage or they could use hydroponic methods which allows a reduction in water usage.

Industry- They have the capability to reuse the water or they can switch to alternate methods such as wind power.

Households- Changing their personal habits, such as showers, can lead to a reduction in the use of water. They can reuse their shower/sink water as well.

Big Picture:

Human Impact- Humans have a large impact on the use of water taking it for personal and economic reasons. This causes a loss of water and this resource of freshwater is decreasing in a irreversible process from areas that hold freshwater. This causes a loss in water that can actually be consumed by humans. Humans also take water for irrigation thus drying up lands and increasing salinity in those areas causing harm to biodiversity.

Environmental Impact- Humans are taking up water at a rate that is harmful to the environment. This is causing freshwater areas to dry up and have an increase in salinity. Harming the environment because the increase in salinity causes some species to die. And the less the water there is in those areas the less biodiversity because the aquatic species need water to sustain life. Also the use of fertilizer and run-off can cause algal blooms thus resulting in a loss of biodiversity.

Economic Impact- Water is used in industry as an economic resource. Many manufacturers use it and bottle it to sell as drinking water, and this brings in a lot of revenue. Though the water is being taken up at a rate that it cannot be replenished, therefore some are trying to rehabilitate it using money. 

Government Legislation- The government passed the clean water act of 1972 in order to attempt to restore water back to its natural state. It also protects the water from being more and more polluted by controlling industries on dumping in water and putting on regulations. Also passed is the safe water drinking act that provides for the ability to have safe drinking water for humans.

second semester

Forestry Discussion

Forest fires have pros and cons. One pro for a forest fire is the decrease in diseased insects. The fire stops the spreading of the disease causing a beneficial impact on plants and other animals. A con for a forest fire is that the fire is uncontrolled. It could affect parts of the forest that the fire was not supposed to before causing damage to ecosystems and could possible cause the fire to move over to homes having an economic impact. 

Global Nutrition Discussion

Meat production is high inefficient because it takes a lot of grain to produce a low amount of meat. It takes about 13 million of grain produce to even produce 1 pound of meat. It also takes 11 times more the energy from fossil fuels for meat production than grain production. This contributes a lot to the environment because of the extra air pollution from the usage of the fossil fuels. And takes away land resources.

Genetic Engineering Discussion

Economic-

A benefit economically is that it gives more nutritional value, so that it will be sold more in the stores. A con is that it takes the same amount of resources to produce GM crops and normal crops meaning there is no benefit there.

Environmentally-

A benefit is that the crops are more resistant to disease allowing them to grow faster and healthier. A con is that there can be environmental damage of the soil, surrounding crops, and animals in the ecosystem.

Sustainable Agriculture Discussion

Contour Farming allows the farmers economically to produce more on the soil by preventing soil erosion and environmentally using the land to their advantage and not changing the land.

Crop rotation is another way to economically change your crop yields and sell different crops and improve soil fertility by replacing the corps. 

Pest Management Discussion

IPM- Integrated Pest Management is the management of pests through common-sense uses. Some examples are using animals and conserving specific pests that kill off other pests. 

These things are safer than pesticides because it prevents the pesticides from messing with the land and killing other insects. This helps preserve the animals in the environment and is very effective when compared to traditional pesticide use. 

BIG Picture Discussion  

Human Impact- Humans have a large impact on forests and land. On certain forests they are there to protect and preserve and any action by humans can cause disruptions in that environments. A mishandled forest fire can lead to ecosystems burning down or homes. Along with fires, humans deal with land. In land humans use pesticides and bad agriculture techniques. This leads to soil erosion and infertility causing the soil to regenerate slowly.

Environmental Impact- Environmentally ecosystems can be hurt due to many factors such as forest fires, pesticides, and bad agricultural techniques. The forest fires can cause the ecosystems to burn down and be replenished slowly, but fires also help, if used properly. They can get rid of the bad soil and replace it with a new layer that will assist the soil to grow more. Pesticides have a bad impact on insects, plants, and other animals. Agricultural techniques can cause soil erosion and infertility.

Economic Impact- Genetically modified crops can cause a increase in sales because of the better nutritional value. Pesticides can cause farms to produce faster, in order to sell more crops to the people and then turn around farm more and sell more. Soil conservation techniques used to better farm can also help in economics. Chickens that take 49 days instead of 3 months to raise are better because they are sold for the same price, but raised in less days taking less time and resources. 

Government Legislation- FIFRA gives the foundation for sale, distribution, and use of pesticides. PRIA establishes fees for pesticides and its registrations. FFDCA lets the EPA set a limit of use of pesticides in food and animal feed. FQPA allows FIFRA and FFDCA to set standards on foods to allow higher safety standards. The ESA stops any action from being taken that will harm and endangered species. THe structural pest control act allows people to have a set foundation for pest control and use of insecticides.