Portfolio: keep a file each month of
environmental articles you find in the newspapers, online,
magazines, etc. Your portfolio will be due at the end of the
semester
ES Chapter 1
Biodiversity
Link: Environmental Protection Agency
http://www.epa.gov/
Biodiversity (a shortened version of biological diversity) is a
measure of the variety of the Earth’s animal, plant and
microbial species. It is a new phrase which has been coined
in 1992 when an international convention for the
preservation of biodiversity was signed by over 100 world
leaders at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Much
research has been done in this area and it has been found
that the biodiversity of the Earth is far greater than
previously thought. For
instance, it is now thought that approximately only 1-10% of
the world’s species of bacterial are know at present.
It is important to monitor to ensure that species do
not die out unnecessarily.
A large biodiversity ensures ecological stability and
is a resource for research into new drugs and crops.
What’s
the Problem?
Of all the world’s
species, humans have the greatest effect on the environment.
In the 20th century the world’s human
population has been increasing at an alarming rate.
This has meant that more land has had to be excavated
to house them and supply enough food for them to have a
healthy existence. The
problem with this is that the land destroyed is home to many
species that can only survive in certain conditions.
Once their habitat is destroyed, the animal will also
die out. So, although this century has provided us with many great
people and discoveries the number of animals lost forever is
phenomenal. It
is not only the destruction of habitats that threaten the
Earth’s biodiversity, the balance of nature is upset by
other activities such as, over fishing, over hunting,
cutting down of too many trees as well as by pollution of
land, air, oceans and rivers..
Habitat
Destruction: In
many areas it is the habitat’s destruction that is wiping
out many species. For instance, peat bogs are a haven for
creatures and these are being rapidly depleted by the
intervention of humans.
Another example is the destruction of the rain
forests in South America. These are home to many species, many of which are unknown to
man, so it is crucial that these are not destroyed.
Terms:
1.
Abiotic
-factors of an ecosystem that are the non-living,
physical components of the area
2.
adaptation
-a process by which an organism or species becomes
better suited to a change in its environment
3.
biotic
-factors of an ecosystem that are the living
organisms of the area
4.
communities
-the interaction of living things in a given area
5.
convergent evolution
-a process in which unrelated species developed
similar characteristics
6.
divergent evolution
-a process by which many different species developed
from common ancestor
7.
ecosystem
-an environment made up of biotic & abiotic
interactions
8.
evolution
-changes over a period of time in the genetic makeup
of a group of organisms of the same kind
9.
fossil
-evidence of past life, such as bones, shells or
imprints
10.
greenhouse effect
-temperature increase due to carbon dioxide buildup
in the atmosphere
11.
pollution
- introduction of unwanted or unhealthy materials to
an environment
12.
population
-the number of individuals of a species in a given
area
13.
producers
-members of the ecosystem which use abiotic factors
to make & store energy for consumers of ecosystem
14.
consumers
-members of the ecosystem which depend on other members for
food
15.
decomposers
-members of the ecosystem that live on dead or
decaying organisms & reduce them to their simplest forms
16.
habitat
-dwelling place where an organism seeks food &
shelter
17.
niche
-useful place as a productive member in the community
18.
symbiotic relationship
–how biotic organism interrelate with other member
of a community in which one or both parties benefit
19.
Commensalism
-symbiotic relationship in which one member benefits
from another, but no
harm is done to the host
20.
Mutualism
-symbiotic relationship in which two organism live in
dependency on each other
21.
Parasitism
-symbiotic relationship that benefits one organism
but harms the other
Assignments:
1.
Changes in the ecosystem (natural disasters and the actions
of man) can affect the balance of nature & disrupt the
ecosystem. List 10 examples.
2.
Choose a habitat and discuss the biodiversity of the region,
dangers to the inhabitants of the habitat and what is being
done to maintain the biodiversity of that specific region.
Three pages, MLA, parenthetical documentation, works
cited page.
3.
WebpageS
ES Chapter
2: Air Pollution:
Ground Level Ozone Primer
Link:
http://www.epa.gov/airnow/resource.html
Educators
and learners can use this curriculum to acquire the
knowledge and skills to understand ground level ozone.
Many people have roles in dealing with ground level ozone
including scientists that conduct research to understand
ozone and its health effects, Government agencies that
monitor ground level ozone and enforce regulations to
control ozone, and citizens who need to understand
ground level ozone and its impacts on human health.
This primer provides the necessary background
information about ground level ozone and its potential
health effects to successfully implement the curriculum.
What is Ozone?
Ozone
(O3) is a gas that occurs in two layers of the
atmosphere, the stratosphere and the troposphere. The
stratospheric or "good" ozone layer, which extends
upward from about 10 to 30 miles above the earth's surface,
protects life on earth from the sun's harmful ultraviolet
rays (UV-b). However, ozone found in the troposphere,
the layer of the atmosphere that extends from the earth's
surface to about 10 miles up, is deemed ground level or
"bad" ozone. At ground level, ozone is an air
pollutant that damages human health, vegetation, many common
materials, and is a key ingredient of smog.
How Does Ozone Form?
Ozone
has the same chemical structure (O3) whether it
occurs miles above the earth or at ground level. At
ground level, "bad" ozone is formed when certain
compounds react in the presence of direct sunlight.
VOCs + NOx + Sunlight = Ozone
VOCs, (volatile organic compounds) are widely used as ingredients in
household products including; paints, varnishes, wax, fuels,
cleaning, disinfecting, cosmetic, degreasing, and hobby
products. Some VOCs are safe to handle and have little
known health effects, while other VOCs are highly
toxic. In addition to all of the man made sources of
VOCs, natural sources of VOCs exist. For example,
trees naturally release small amounts of VOCs.
NOx,
(nitrogen oxide gases) is the generic term for a group of
highly reactive gases, all of which contain nitrogen and
oxygen in varying amounts. Many of the nitrogen oxides
are colorless and odorless. The primary sources of NOx
are motor vehicles, electric utilities, and other
industrial, commercial, and residential sources that burn
fuels.
When high levels of VOCs and NOx are
present in the air, they can react. When they react in
the presence of sunlight and hot weather, ground level ozone
forms.
There are other factors involved with the formation
of "bad" or ground level ozone, including;
cloud cover, wind direction, and low wind speeds. If
the weather conditions are conducive, and there are ample
amounts of NOx and VOCs, harmful concentrations of ground
level ozone can form in the air. Often industry is
blamed entirely for emissions that cause ground level ozone
air pollution, but actually private citizens are responsible
for a significant percentage of the air pollutants that lead
to ground level ozone production. Motor vehicle emissions
are the single greatest contributor to ground level ozone
pollution.
Where is Ground Level Ozone Found?
Many
urban areas tend to have high levels of ground level ozone.
But even rural areas are subject to increased ozone levels
because winds can carry ozone, and the pollutants that form
it, hundreds of miles away from the original sources.
The process of prevailing winds carrying ground level ozone
away from the original source is called transport. For
example, if large amounts of NOx are transported to a rural
area, filled with trees that are naturally releasing VOCs, a
large amount of ground level ozone can form in the rural
area. Regardless of how the ground level ozone gets to
the cities, it can pose health threats to all the
inhabitants, people, animals and plants.
Is it a Problem?
Ground level ozone
is a common and widespread air pollutant that causes injury
to the environment and human health. Exposure to
ground level ozone can:
- irritate your respiratory system
- reduce lung function
- aggravate asthma
- inflame and damage cells that line your lungs
- aggravate chronic lung diseases
- cause permanent lung damage
It is important to know that lung damage
caused by ground level ozone can occur without any
noticeable signs. People who live in areas where ozone
levels are frequently high may find that their initial
symptoms go away over time, but ozone continues to cause
lung damage even when the symptoms have disappeared. The
best way to protect your health is to find out when ozone
levels are elevated in your area and take simple precautions
to minimize exposure to unhealthy levels of ozone, even when
you don’t feel obvious symptoms.
What is considered to
be an unhealthy level of ground level ozone? In an
effort to determine unhealthy levels of air pollutants,
National Ambient Air Quality Standards were created for
ground level ozone. Two standards have been set, a one
hour (120 ppb) and an eight hour (80 ppb) standard.
When ozone levels surpass the set standards, unhealthy
conditions are present.
To ease understanding of the standards, the
EPA developed the AQI, or Air Quality Index. The AQI
is a scale used to report ground level ozone and other
common pollutants in the air. The higher the AQI value, the
greater the health concern. There are five
categories, with a specific color assigned to each AQI
category. The color scheme can help citizens quickly
determine if air pollutants are reaching unhealthy levels.
In an effort to provide citizens with
information about ozone, the United States Environmental
Protection Agency (USEPA) coordinates the collection of
real-time ground level ozone data from around the country
and posts the information on the AIRNow web site. The
information is compiled into animations and forecast maps,
allowing citizens to determine if ground level ozone is
reaching unhealthy levels in their area. The location of
monitoring stations across the country reflects the quantity
and accuracy of the data collected. Although ozone
monitors represent ozone measurements over a large area,
there are areas of the country that may not appear to have
an ozone problem simply because there may not be
any monitoring stations to report ground level ozone
that may be present. Citizens should keep this fact in
mind when attempting to determine their potential exposure
to ground level ozone.
How
do Scientists Know what levels are harmful?
EPA
has gathered a great deal of information about the health
effects of ozone. This information comes from a number of
sources including; studies that examine health statistics
and ozone levels within communities, computer modeling and
controlled testing of human volunteers to determine how
ozone affects lung function.
Though
scientists' understanding of ozone's effects has increased
substantially in recent years, many important questions
still remain to be investigated. For example, does
repeated short-term exposure to high levels of ozone cause
permanent lung damage? Does repeated exposure during
childhood to high levels of ozone cause reduced lung
function in adults? Scientists are continuing to study
these and other questions to gain a better understanding of
ozone's effects and make necessary revisions of safety
guidelines to better protect public health and the
environment.
Why
Don't Stratospheric (good) and Tropospheric (bad) Ozone Mix?
At
first, the answer to the problem might seem easy. Why
don't we mix the layers and use the "bad" ground
level ozone to plug the holes in the "good" ozone
layer? Wouldn't that solve both problems? Yes,
theoretically that would solve both problems, but
unfortunately that cannot be done.
First, we simply cannot mix the air in the
troposphere and the stratosphere. The troposphere
is the layer of the atmosphere at the earth's
surface. The troposphere contains 75% of all the air
found in our atmosphere and 99% of the water vapor.
The air in the troposphere is in constant motion, with both
horizontal and vertical air currents. The combination
of vigorous air movement and water vapor creates
weather. The troposphere is capped by a thin layer
known as the tropopause, which is a region of stable
temperature that helps to confine most weather phenomena and
"bad" ozone to the troposphere.
The stratosphere
is the second layer in the atmosphere from the earth's
surface. The lower part of the stratosphere contains
the ozone layer. The ozone layer prevents harmful
ultraviolet radiation from reaching the earth's surface by
absorbing the rays, causing the ozone layer and the air
above it to warm. The warm air tends to remain in the
upper stratosphere, and cool air remains lower. The
layering of warm and cool air prevents vertical mixing,
so the air moves only in a horizontal direction, making the
stratosphere very stable, but also creating a kind of giant
lid. This is helpful to commercial airlines that often
fly in the lower stratosphere because the air is relatively
warm and stable, but not helpful to be able to mix ozone
between the stratosphere and the troposphere.
Second, the "good" ozone
that occurs naturally in the stratosphere is gradually being
destroyed by man-made chemicals. The ozone depleting
substances can remain intact for years while moving through
the troposphere until they reach the stratosphere. There
they are broken down by the intensity of the sun's
ultraviolet rays and release chlorine and bromine molecules,
which destroy "good" ozone. One chlorine or
bromine molecule can destroy 100,000 ozone molecules,
causing ozone to disappear much faster than nature (or man)
could ever replace it. We can't make enough
ozone to replace what's been destroyed, but provided that we
stop producing ozone depleting substances, natural ozone
production reactions could return the ozone layer to normal
levels. Delays in ending production of ozone depleting
substances could result in additional damage and prolong the
ozone layer's recovery.
What
Can I Do?
Be alert. If exceptionally high concentrations of
ground level ozone are predicted, Ozone Action Days can be
declared by the state environmental protection
agencies. When an Ozone
Action Day is declared it serves two purposes, to alert
citizens of possible exposure to unhealthy levels of ozone,
and to offer an opportunity for citizens to curtail
activities that contribute to the ozone problem. An
Ozone Action Day prompts participating businesses to notify
their employees so they can telecommute, share rides to
work, use mass transit, and take other steps to help reduce
smog. The press is also notified to alert the public
so they can pitch in too.
But don't wait until an Ozone Action Day is
declared. Avoid unhealthy exposure to ozone by
monitoring the amount of your outdoor activity and the
strenuous nature of the activity on days when ozone is
present. If an activity requires heavy exertion, you could
either reduce the time spent on the activity or substitute
another activity that requires more moderate exertion (e.g.,
go for a walk rather than a jog). In addition, you could
plan outdoor activities when ozone levels are lower, usually
in the morning or evening.
Avoid contributing to the ozone problem. There
are many simple steps citizens can take to help decrease the
production of compounds that create ground-level ozone:
Conserve
energy — at home, at work, everywhere. In the long term,
it helps to reduce the emissions associated with energy
production.
Pick
one day a week to leave your car at home. If only 1 percent
of America's car owners did this, it would save millions of
gallons of gasoline a year and keep a good deal of
pollutants out of the atmosphere.
Try
telecommuting.
Consider manual or electric-powered lawn
and garden maintenance equipment when replacing a
gasoline-powered mower
One of the most important steps to take is to tell
friends, family and co-workers what you are doing and why.
Education and small modification of activities will do
wonders for keeping the air cleaner in your corner o
American
Lung Association
In 2000, the American Lung Association initiated
its State of the Air annual assessment to provide citizens
with easy-to-understand summaries of the air quality in
their communities based on concrete data and sound
science. Air quality in counties are assigned a grade
ranging from "A" through "F" based on
how often their air pollution levels exceed the
"unhealthful" categories of the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency’s Air Quality Index for ground-level
ozone pollution. The air quality standard for ozone
used as the basis for the report, 80 parts per billion
averaged over an eight-hour period, was adopted by the EPA
in 1997 based on the most recent health effects information.
The grades in the report are assigned based on the quality
of the air in areas, and do not reflect an assessment of
efforts to implement controls that improve air
quality. According to the most recent report,
approximately 75 percent of the nation’s population lives
in counties with an "F" rating (where there are
ozone monitors).
This
figure is significant because ozone is a highly reactive gas
that affects the respiratory system by severely irritating
the mucous membranes of the nose and throat. Since 90%
of the ozone breathed into the lungs is never exhaled, ozone
molecules react with sensitive lung tissue which can cause
several health consequences. Ozone's effects are more
severe in individuals with preexisting respiratory
disease. The length and frequency of exposure, as well
as concentration, are significant factors in determining the
many effects, which may include the following:
-
Increased susceptibility to respiratory
infection.
-
Impaired lung function and reduced
ability to perform physical exercise. (Recent studies
suggest that healthy exercising individuals exposed to
120 parts per billion (ppb) of ozone for one hour
experience significant shortness of breath. Similar
decreases are also seen upon a 6 hour exposure to 80
ppb.)
-
Increased hospital admissions and
emergency room visits for respiratory diseases, which
may be associated with exposures to one-hour ozone
concentrations greater than 120 ppb.
-
Severe lung swelling and death, due to
short-term exposures greater than 300 ppb.
Activity
level (e.g. moderate-heavy exercise) and environmental
stress (e.g. humidity and high temperatures) also affect
susceptibility. Other factors include:
-
Individual sensitivity.
-
Age (children and young adults appear to
be more sensitive than older adults).
-
Smoking status (smokers appear to be
less sensitive than non-smokers).
-
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or
asthma, which may increase susceptibility to
ozone-induced decreases in lung function. (Decreases in
lung function are greater in asthmatics concurrently
exposed to ozone and pollen than for either pollutant
alone.)
-
Possibly additive or synergistic effects
when ozone combines with sulfur dioxide, nitrogen
dioxide, carbon monoxide, sulfuric acid, or other
particulate aerosols.
To
avoid prolonged exposure to ozone, people could:
-
Reduce the amount of time spent outside
on days when high levels of ground level ozone are
present.
-
Decrease involvement in activities that
require heavy exertion, or substitute another activity
that requires more moderate exertion (e.g., go for a
walk rather than a jog). Examples of
activities that involve moderate exertion include
climbing stairs, playing tennis or baseball, simple
garden or construction work, and light jogging, cycling,
or hiking. Activities that involve heavy exertion
include playing basketball or soccer, chopping wood,
heavy manual labor, and vigorous running, cycling, or
hiking.
-
In addition, plan outdoor activities
when ozone levels are lower, usually in the morning or
evening.
The
air pollution levels in Alabama.
|
County
|
Total
Pop
|
14
&
Under
|
65
&
Over
|
Pediatric
Asthma
|
Adult
Asthma
|
Chronic
Bronchitis
|
Emphy-
sema
|
Cardiovascular
Disease
|
|
BALDWIN
|
147,932
|
28,462
|
23,269
|
2,892
|
8,187
|
5,141
|
1,982
|
35,824
|
|
CLAY
|
14,163
|
2,695
|
2,319
|
272
|
788
|
496
|
194
|
3,488
|
|
COLBERT
|
54,850
|
10,411
|
8,685
|
1,051
|
3,059
|
1,923
|
744
|
13,450
|
|
DE
KALB
|
65,605
|
13,237
|
9,027
|
1,312
|
3,589
|
2,227
|
807
|
14,860
|
|
ELMORE
|
68,771
|
14,213
|
7,348
|
1,425
|
3,706
|
2,262
|
740
|
14,075
|
|
ESCAMBIA
|
38,347
|
7,545
|
5,112
|
755
|
2,109
|
1,306
|
467
|
8,627
|
|
ETOWAH
|
103,105
|
19,901
|
16,490
|
2,008
|
5,712
|
3,589
|
1,392
|
25,123
|
|
HOUSTON
|
89,966
|
18,900
|
12,261
|
1,896
|
4,848
|
3,015
|
1,101
|
20,226
|
|
JEFFERSON
|
661,153
|
133,950
|
89,230
|
13,402
|
35,995
|
22,300
|
8,021
|
147,852
|
|
LAWRENCE
|
34,655
|
7,004
|
4,283
|
706
|
1,889
|
1,168
|
409
|
7,621
|
| |
