Human Impacts on the ENV: Global Warming, Ozone Depletion,

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Human Impacts on the ENV Global Warming, Ozone
Depletion, Acid Rain
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A. First World Pollution

1. people have always transformed the Earths land,
   water, air
2. Human industrial actions the past 250 years,
   though, have accelerated the process
3. U.S. disproportionately consumes 1/4th of worlds
   energy generates 1/4th of the pollutants

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Industry creates a landscape, not for beauty, but
for profit and utility
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B. 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)?

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Industrial Landscape, Lanzhou, Chinahttp//www.h
uffingtonpost.com/2014/01/16/beijing-air-pollution
_n_4607200.html
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• Asian Brown Haze Over Northern India

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C. 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

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D. 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

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Coal Reserves
The U.S., Russia, China, India have the largest
reserves of coal
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Petroleum Reserves
2/3 of the worlds known petroleum reserves are
in the Middle East Saudi Arabia has over 1/4th
of world reserves
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Natural 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.
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E. 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

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The U.S., with about 5 of world population,
consumes about 25 of world energy.
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F. Pollution

• Air pollution
• global, regional, local
• 2. Water pollution
• sources
• wastewater
• 3. Land pollution
• solid waste
• toxic pollutants

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G. 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

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4. The Greenhouse Effect

• caused by burning of fossil fuels
• chemical composition of the air is being altered
• leads to Global Warming

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A vast blanket of pollution being called the
"Asian Brown Haze"
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S.E. Asia (left)E. Russia (right)
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Global Temperatures, 18802000
Annual mean temperatures have increased more than
0.5 C since 1880
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5. Ozone Depletion

• The stratosphere contains a concentration of
  ozone gas
• absorbs UV rays from the Sun
• chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) destroy ozone layer

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6. 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)

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Effects of Acid Rain
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Acid 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.