Ecology Essays

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Ecology Essays
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1 CFCs

• Why were they banned? chlorofluorocarbon (CFC)
• Widely used in refrigerants, aerosol propellants,
  and solvents.

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Ozone protects the earth from harmful UV rays if
broken to just oxygen, then we are not protected.
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• The manufacture of such compounds is being phased
  out by(2005) the Montreal Protocol (1987)because
  they contribute to ozone depletion.

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Ozone O3
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2 Biological Magnification

• A substance appears in higher concentrations in
  organisms higher in a given food chain than in
  organisms lower in a food chain.

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• Food Chain Concentration of DDT in a Long Island
  Marsh sprayed for Mosquito Control (1967)

   ppm
Water  .00005
Plankton  .04
Silverside Minnow  .23
Sheephed Minnow  .94
Pickerel 1.23
Needlefish 2.07
Heron 3.57
Tern 3.91
Osprey 13.8
Merganser 22.6
Cormorant 26.4
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DDT BIOMAGNIFICATION EXAMPLE

• DDT biomag in Eagles
• DDT builds up in the fatty tissues of organisms.

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Acid Rain

• form of precipitation that is unusually acidic
  (pH of 5.5 or lower)

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• SO2 and NO2 combine with H2O to form acids

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• Almost all of the electricity that powers modern
  life comes from burning fossil fuels like coal,
  natural gas, and oil. acid deposition is caused
  by two pollutants that are released into the
  atmosphere, or emitted, when these fuels are
  burned sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides
  (NOx).

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Fossil Fuel Factories Common Around the Great
Lakes

• Note the acidic pHs around the Great Lakes

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Acid Rain Effect on Plants

• Damages leaves
• Stunts roots
• Inhibits seed germination

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Acid Rain Effect on Aquatic Life

• pH reaches 5.5, plankton, certain insects and
  crustaceans begin to die.
• At a pH of around 5.0, the fish population begin
  to die.
• When the pH drops below 5.0, all the fish have
  died,

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Acid Rain Effect on Animals

• Lose habitats
• Eventually animals up the food chain will die

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Effect on Human Beings

• entire fish stocks in certain lakes have been
  wiped out
• asthmatic people and children are directly
  affected.

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FUEL COAL OR WOOD
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COAL WOOD

• Price is acceptable
• Burns higher amount of heat
• Polluted smoke
• Not a renewable source
• Pollutes water as acid rain

• Not real expensive
• Can replant as a renewable source
• Puts carbon dioxide in the air
• Does not pollute the water
• Can get local wood

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COAL WOOD