Title: Human Impacts on the ENV: Global Warming, Ozone Depletion,
1Human Impacts on the ENV Global Warming, Ozone
Depletion, Acid Rain
2A. First World Pollution
- people have always transformed the Earths land,
water, air - Human industrial actions the past 250 years,
though, have accelerated the process - U.S. disproportionately consumes 1/4th of worlds
energy generates 1/4th of the pollutants
3Industry creates a landscape, not for beauty, but
for profit and utility
4B. Third World Issues
- In the periphery, over 2 billion people live
without clean water or sewers - 1 billion live in cities with unsafe sulfur
dioxide levels - What about the growing economies of the BRIC
countries (Brazil, Russia, India China)?
5Industrial Landscape, Lanzhou, Chinahttp//www.h
uffingtonpost.com/2014/01/16/beijing-air-pollution
_n_4607200.html
6- Asian Brown Haze Over Northern India
7C. Resource Depletion
- Energy resources
- Nonrenewable fossil fuels
- petroleum, natural gas, coal
- Mineral metal resources
- gemstones, copper, iron,
- bauxite, diamonds, gold
- 3 Ts tin, tantalum, tungsten
8D. Energy Resources
- 1800s coal supplanted wood as leading energy
source - U.S. main energy resource is coal-burning power
plants - 2. Petroleum became important with diffusion of
automobiles - almost all transportation systems operate on
petroleum products - 3. Natural gas heats millions of homes today
9Coal Reserves
The U.S., Russia, China, India have the largest
reserves of coal
10Petroleum Reserves
2/3 of the worlds known petroleum reserves are
in the Middle East Saudi Arabia has over 1/4th
of world reserves
11Natural Gas Reserves
Russia has the worlds largest natural gas
reserves. Iran other Mid-Eastern countries
have large reserves, but the U.S. has relatively
little.
12E. Uneven Distribution of Fossil Fuels
- The global distribution of fossil fuels
- some regions have abundant reserves
- Core countries consumption majority of fossil
fuels - major cause of global instability in the world
13The U.S., with about 5 of world population,
consumes about 25 of world energy.
14F. Pollution
- Air pollution
- global, regional, local
- 2. Water pollution
- sources
- wastewater
- 3. Land pollution
- solid waste
- toxic pollutants
15G. Air Pollution
- concentration of particulate matter in the air
human or natural events - most common air pollutants burning of fossil
fuels like carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide,
nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons - 3 human activities generate most air pollution
- motor vehicles, industry, power plants
164. The Greenhouse Effect
- caused by burning of fossil fuels
- chemical composition of the air is being altered
- leads to Global Warming
17(No Transcript)
18A vast blanket of pollution being called the
"Asian Brown Haze"
19S.E. Asia (left)E. Russia (right)
20(No Transcript)
21Global Temperatures, 18802000
Annual mean temperatures have increased more than
0.5 C since 1880
225. Ozone Depletion
- The stratosphere contains a concentration of
ozone gas - absorbs UV rays from the Sun
- chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) destroy ozone layer
236. Effects of Acid Rain
- Industrialized, densely populated regions in
Europe eastern U.S. are especially affected by
acid rain - caused by burning fossil fuels mixing w/ oxygen
rain - Acid precipitation damages lakes killing fish
plants - (Over 90 lakes in Adirondack Mts. of New York
devoid of fish life by 1980... - In E. Canada, 50,000 lakes impacted)
24Effects of Acid Rain
25Acid Deposition
Due to prevailing winds, the highest sulfate
deposit levels in North America lie east of the
emission sources. Deposit levels in Germany are
higher than in the U.S.