Human impacts on the Environment

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Human impacts on the Environment
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• Humans are part of the Earth's
• ecosystem.   Human activities
• can either deliberately or
• inadvertently
• alter the balance
• of an ecosystem.  

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What do you Think???

• How do human activities affect the environment?

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With more info

• Will you change your perspective or will you feel
  the same way?

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Human impacts on the Environment

• Global warming
• Use of machinery by humans seems to be increasing
  CO2 levels in the air. CO2 prevents heat from
  escaping, believed to cause slight world wide
  temperature increases

Rising water temperatures causes coral bleaching
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Human impacts on the environment

• Deforestation
• Caused by demand for wood products,
• need for space, farmland, housing, roads
• Deforestation causes
  
• habitat fragmentation -
• Animals and plants are forced into
• confined areas

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Habitat Fragmentation
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Human impacts on the Environment

• Ozone depletion
• Caused by aerosol chemicals called
• chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)
• CFCs
• Escape into atmosphere, reacts breaking down the
  ozone (O3, a protective atmospheric layer)
• UV rays penetrate the atmosphere and
  
  cause harm to many organisms
  

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HOLE in the ozone (O3)
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Human impacts on the Environment

• Fishing activities
• Demand for fish and shellfish
• Commercial Fishing can be harmful
• to environments in many ways

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Human impacts on the environment

• Invasive species (EXOTIC SPECIES)
• introduced by people accidentally or
  intentionally
• Can cause problems if no natural enemies are
• present

Cane toad was introduced to Australia to control
cane beetles, pest insects that destroy sugar
cane crops
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Human impacts on the Environment

• Exotic pet trade
• Capture and sell wild animals from
• exotic locations
• Wealthy buyers and collectors desire
• obscure animals
• Animals removed from their habitat
• causes an imbalance in the ecosystem

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Pollution

• Agricultural
• DDT
• Fertilizers
• Animal wastes (nitrogen)
• Homes
• Strong cleaning agents
• Industry
• Toxic gases and wastes
• Acid rain

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Importance of the Environment

• Biodiversity Many different types of organisms
• Organisms depend
• upon one another
• Interfering with one
• organism can have a
• ripple effect to many
• w/in the habitat

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What can humans do to help?
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• Reduce
• Buy products that dont have a lot of packaging
• Borrow if possible if it is something you will
  not use often
• Use public transportation, car-pool, walk or ride
  a bike if possible.
• Turn off lights, appliances your not using, water
  while brushing your teeth
• Cancel subscriptions you can get on the internet
  and stop junk mail from coming to your house
• Reuse - Instead of throwing things away, try to
  find ways to use them again!
• Recycle - Many of the things we use every day are
  made out of materials that can be recycled.
  Recycled items are put through a process that
  makes it possible to create new products out of
  the materials from the old ones.

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• www.wsfcs.k12.nc.us/.../notes_human_impact_on_envi
  ronment_2.ppt?
• - http//www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0775891.html