AP Environmental Science

Task 8: Online video resources. a. Bozeman AP Environmental Science at http://www.bozemanscience.com/ap-environmental-science - watch the FIRST 2 videos and take notes. Also make a list of the videos available in the notes, it is optional to watch additional videos. b. Watch the video "Emerging Science: Ecological Economics" at http://video.vpt.org/video/1409029473/ watch the video and take notes. c. Watch the TED Talk "Pavan Sukhdev: Put a value on nature" at http://www.ted.com/talks/pavan_sukhdev_what_s_the_price_of_nature.html - watch the video and take notes. d. Crash Course Ecology at https://www.khanacademy.org/science/biology/crash-course-bio-ecology make a list of the videos available in the notes, it is optional to watch the ones you are most interested in.

Answer Part 1: video 1: Environmental Science: the environmental science is the study of the of the interactions of the systems of the earth and the human systems. It would study the interactions between the natural systems and the human systems. It began with the earth itself and began to move to living and finally get to the population that make up human systems. The rest of the course would be dedicated to the interactions that began between these two worlds that started off with land/water use, energy, pollution, and climate change. Since it is a science course we study the practices of what it is to be an environmental scientist.Video 2: Environmental Systems: we study the inputs and outputs of the earth Emerging science: a science is something that relies on repeatable and verifiable testing of hypotheses to reach a conclusion. But, now we also have "emerging science," which might also be called "stuff that nobody really understands" Put a value on nature: it can be like economics but it can not happen that simple Crash course ecology: learning the history of life and how it works

Task 3: Fruits and vegetables on the Move! At some point over the summer, look around your house and identify a piece of fruit or vegetable that has traveled to be a part of your diet. Usually, there is a sticker on the item telling you it's country of origin - or you could go to a food store and browse. ( hint: do not use the tomato you picked out of the garden that morning) For the item, you select Record date, item, and it's country of origin. Use internet resources or other sources to estimate the distance from where the item was grown to your home. Do the best estimate you can - obviously, it is difficult/ impossible to tell where in Mexico that cantaloupe came from... List the most likely modes of transportation ( hint: there are probably more than one of them) used to move that item from the field where it was growing to your kitchen. Respond to the following in a paragraph or two: What are the environmental impacts of shipping fresh produce over long distances? What are the health benefits/ health costs of having a wide variety of fresh produce available at all times? Us it "worth it"?

Answer to select fruit Select: orange Monday, June 25, 2019 Oranges relied on in China 12.95 hours to the U.S. = 10 to 20 mins to home 1 transportation Answer to Constructed Response The impact of shipping fresh produce over long distances can be good because they could change it into something better for the grocery store to sell. It is good for people to eat fruit and live a healthy life all over the world. Also, it is good to travel food over long distances so it won't spoil. I'm not sure what is meant by having them available or by health costs, but eating a wide variety of fresh food is important to eat a balanced, healthy diet, so yes it is worth it.

Task 2: Math Assignment. Please complete the following problems, showing all work and units. Questions How many square centimeters are there in a square meter? How many square inches are there in a square meter? You may someday purchase a house that has 2500 Square feet of living space. How many square meters of living space is this? If a calorie is equivalent to 4.184 joules, how many joules are contained in that 200-kilocalorie slice of pizza? If a city of 10,000 experiences 100 births, 30 deaths, 10 immigrants, and 20 emigrants in the course of a year, what is it's the net annual percentage growth rate?

Answers 1 = 0.0001 × 10000 = 1 or 0.0001 ÷ 10000 = 0.0001 0.1m2 = 1000cm2 There are 1000 Square centimeters in a square meter. 1m2 = 1550.003 in2 There are 1550.003 square inches in a square meter. 2500 * 0.093 = 232.5 m2 There are 232.5 square meters. Kilo = 1000, 200*1000*4.185 = 836,800 joules There are 836,800 joules in that 200-kilocalorie slice of pizza. 100+10 = 110, 30*20 = 10, 110-10 = 100, 100/1000 = 0.01 = 1% annual growth rate

Task 7: The AP Environmental Science exam will have some mathematical calculations in the multiple choice section, and one of the free response questions always involves mathematical calculations. No calculators are allowed during the exam. Therefore, a thorough knowledge of scientific notation, metric and English systems of measurement, and basic computational skills to be performed without a calculator is necessary. Review the information below and complete the problems to be turned in the first day of class. Also, expect a quiz on the metric system, percentages, units (conversion factors will be supplied to you if needed on the quiz) and scientific notation during the first week of school to be done without a calculator. Questions Math Problems to be turned in the first day of class. Answer the questions. Use a separate sheet of paper to show all work. 1) What is ten thousand times one hundred million? Show your work in scientific notation. Give the answer in scientific notation and in words. 2) A population of deer had 325 individuals. If the population grows by 16% in one year, how many deer will there be the next year? 3) One year I had 124 AP Environmental Science students and the next year I had 87 Environmental Science students. What percentage did the population of APES students decrease by (round to the nearest tenth)? 4) Electricity costs 7 cents per kilowatt-hour. In one month one home uses 1.8-megawatt hours of electricity. How much will the electric bill be? 5) Your car gets 21 miles to the gallon and your friend's car gets 28 miles to the gallon. You decide to go on a road trip to the University of Virginia, which is 175 miles away. If gas costs $4 per gallon and you decide to split the gas money, how much money will each of you save in gas by driving your friend's car? 6) Virginia Beach is about 20 miles wide and 28 miles long. If one inch of rain falls on Virginia Beach, how many cubic feet of rain fell on Virginia Beach? (Hint: convert all units to feet first). 7) The concentration of mercury in a water supply changes from 10ppm (parts per million) to 56ppm over a ten-year period. What is the percentage change of the mercury concentration? 8) Consider a wind turbine that is rated at 1.5 MW (megawatts) per hour. This means that with sufficiently high winds, it will produce 1.5 MW or 1,500 kW (kilowatts) of power. If this wind turbine runs at its rated power of 100% of the time for a full year, how much energy would it produce in a year? Give your answer in kWh/year (kilowatt hours per year). 9) Show your work for the following multiplication and division problems. You can use a calculator to check your work, but I want to see that you understand how to solve these problems by hand. Just like on the AP exam, no credit is given if you don't show your work. a. 75.3 x 16.9 b. 1964 x .0718 c. 5.80x10-3 x 2.17 d. 2362 / 71.9 e. .08 / .0094 f. 4.60x104/ .0530

Answers 10,000 × 100,000,000 (1×10^4) × (1×10^8) 10^4 × 10^8 10^12 2. 0.16 × 325 = 52; 325 + 52 = 377 3. 124 - 87 = 37; 124/37= 0.298 or 30% when rounded 4. 1.8 × 1000 = 18,000; 18,000 × 0.07 = 126; $126 5. 175/28 = 6.25; 175/21 = 8.333; 6.25 × $4 =$25; 8.333 × $4 = $33.33: $33.33 - $25.00 = $8.32; $8.32/2 = $4.16 6. 1 mile = 5280 feet; 20 × 5280 = 105,600; 28 × 5280 = 147,840; 1 inch = 0.0833333333; 105,600 × 147,840 × 0.0833333333 = 130,991,999 7. 56-10=46;46/56=0.821428571; 82% or 46/100×56/100=46/100×56=46/56 8. 24×365=8760×1500=13,140,000 kw of power 9. a. 75.3 × 16.9 = 1272.57 75.3 16.9 6777 4518 +753 1,272.57 b. 1964 × .0718 = 141.0152 1964 .0718 15712 1964 42748 0000 141.0152 c. 5.80 ×10^-3×2.17 = 5.8 × 0.01 × 2.17 = 0.12586. 12.5860 0.01 0.12586 5.80 2.17 4060 580 1160 12.5860 d. 2362/71.9 = 32.8511822 71.9 √32.8511822 -215.7 205.0 - 143.8 6120 - 5752 368.0 -359.5 85 -71.9 59.10 -575.2 158.0 -143.8 14.2 e. .08/.0094 = 8.510638298 .0094√8.510638298 - 0.0800 0.0752 -0.0048 0.0047 -0.000100 - 0.000094 0.000006 f. 4.60×10^4/.0530 = 4.60/10,000/0.0530 = 46,000/0.0530 = 867,924.5283

Task 4: All AP Environmental Science students must know the names and locations of the following on a map of the world: all continents, all oceans, major seas, and lakes (Carribean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, Mediterranean Sea, Arabian Sea, Black Sea, all 5 Great Lakes, Caspian Sea, Aral Sea), major rivers and river systems (Amazon, Nile, Mississippi (also Missouri and Ohio Rivers), Yangtze, Ganges, Yellow), major mountain chains (Rockies, Andes, Appalachians, Alps, Urals, Himalayas), and approximately locations of some major world cities (New York, Los Angeles, Mexico City, London, Tokyo, Shanghai). Students should also be able to draw the equator on a map of the world within 10 degrees of latitude.

Answers All Continents: Asia: It is located east of Europe, north of the Indian Ocean, and it is bordered on the east by the Pacific Ocean and on the north by the Atlantic Ocean, which gives us 34.0479°N and 100.6197°E Africa: It borders the Southern half of the Mediterranean Sea, which gives us 8.7832°S and 34.5085°E North America: It relies on between the Arctic Circle and the Tropic of Cancer, which gives us 54.5260°N and 105.2551°W South America: It is located primarily in the Southern Hemisphere which is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west, which gives us 8.7832°S and 55.4915°W Antarctica: It is located at the South Pole and is surrounded by the Southern Ocean, which gives us 82.8628°S and 135.0000°E Europe: It is located north of Africa and west of Asia, which is bordered on the west by the Atlantic Ocean, on the north by the Arctic Ocean and on the South by the Mediterranean Sea, which gives us 54.5260°N and 15.2551°E Australia: It is located in the continent of Oceania, which gives us 25.2744°S and 133.7751°E All Oceans Pacific Ocean: It is located from the Antarctic region in the South to the Arctic in the north and relies between the continents of Asia and Australia on the west and North and South America on the east, which gives us 8.7832°S and 124.5085°W Atlantic Ocean: It is located on the west by the North and South America, which gives us 14.5994°S and 28.6731°W Indian Ocean: It is located on the North by Asia, including the country of Indian, on the west by Africa, and on the east by Indonesia and Australia, which relies southward on the continent of Antarctica, which gives us 33.1376°S and 81.8262°E Southern Ocean: It is located through the North and South, which gives us 68.4380°S and 160.2349°W Arctic Ocean: It is located in the Arctic North Polar region in the middle of the Northern Hemisphere, that is almost completely surrounded by Eurasia and North America, which gives us 65.2482°N and 60.4621°W All Major Seas Mediterranean Sea: It is connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land, on the north by Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa and on the east by the Levant Black Sea: It is located between far-southeastern Europe and the far-western edges of continent Asia and the country of Turkey, which borders by Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, Russia, and Georgia Carribean Sea: It is located to the southeast of the Gulf of Mexico, east of Central America and Mexico, and to the North of South America Baltic Sea: It is located in Northern Europe, which is bordered by Sweden, Finland, Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, northeastern Germany, eastern Denmark, and numerous islands. South China Sea: It is connected to the Pacific Ocean, which is located in southern China Arabian Sea: It is northwestern of the Indian Ocean, which is between India, Oman, Pakistan, Yemen, and Cape Guardafui in far northeastern Somalia. Bering Sea: It is a northern part of the Pacific Ocean, which is bordered in the west by Russia and the Kamchatka Peninsula, in the south by the Aleutian islands, and in the east by Alaska. Persian Gulf: It is the body of water that is an extension of the Indian Ocean through the Strait of Hormuz, and lies between Iran to the northeastern and the Arabian Peninsula to the southwest. Gulf of Mexico: It is located on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south of Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. Sea of Okhotsk: It is connected to the North Pacific Ocean, which is between the Kamchatka Peninsula, the Russian coastline, Sakhalin island, the Japanese island of Hokkaido and the Kuril islands. Sea of Japan: It is part of the western Pacific Ocean, which is bounded by Japan and Sakhalin island to the east and Russia and Korea on the Asian mainland to the west. Andaman Sea: It is located in the Indian Ocean, in the southern reaches of Bay of Bengal, near Myanmar and Indonesia. East China Sea: It is part of the Pacific Ocean, which is bounded on the east by Kyushu and Ryukyu islands of Japan, on the South by the South China Sea, and on the west by the Asian continent. Coral Sea: It is located off the northeast coast of Australia. Philippine Sea: It is located along the southeast rim of Asia. Bay of Bengal: It is a northern extension of the Indian Ocean, which is located between India and Sri Lanka in the west, Bangladesh to the north, and Myanmar and northern part of the Malay Peninsula to the east. Hudson Bay: It is located in Canada, which is bounded by the north and west Nunavut territory, South Manitoba and Ontario, and east Quebec. Celebes Sea: It is located in the western Pacific Ocean that is bordered by the Sulu Sea, the Sulu Archipelago, the Sangihe islands, Kalimantan, Minahassa Peninsula, and Mindanao islands. Sulu Sea: It is located in the southwestern area of the Philippines Gulf of Aden: It is located between Africa and Asia Gulf of Oman: It is a western extension of the Arabian Sea that is in the Middle East between Iran, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates Java Sea: It is located between the Indonesian islands Borneo to the north, Java to the south, Sumatra to the west, and Sulawesi to the east. Tasman Sea: It is part of the southwestern Pacific Ocean which is located between the southeastern coast of Australia and Tasmania on the West and New Zealand on the east that merges with the Coral Sea Yellow Sea: It is located between China and Korea. All 5 Great Lakes Lake Superior: It is located in the Northwestern Lake Huron: It is located on the west of Michigan and on the north and east of Ontario. Lake Michigan: It is located south of Lake Superior and is bordered by the Upper and Lower Peninsulas of Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin Lake Erie: It is located between Cleveland, Erie, Buffalo, Toledo, and Monroe. Lake Ontario: It is located on the border of the US and Canada. Major Rivers Mississippi River: It is located throughout Louisiana and ends into the Gulf of Mexico. Ganges: It is located in the Indian state of Uttarakhand Nile: It is located in Africa Amazon: It is located in South America Indus: It is located in Pakistan Yangtze River: It is located in China Danduble: It is located in Europe Brahmaputra: It is located in Tibet Rio Grande: It is located in Mexico that borders through the US of Texas and Mexico Volga: It is located in Russia Mekong: It is located in Southeast Asia Lena River: It is located in Russia Zambezi: It is located in Africa Yukon River: It is located in British Columbia Columbia: It is located in British Columbia Orinoco: It is located in South America Missouri: It is located in St.Louis Saint Lawrence River: It is located in New York State Major River Systems: Amazon River system: It is located in the northern portion of southern America flowing from west to east Amur River system: It is located in northeastern China and the Russian far-east Brahmaputra River system: It is located in Himalayan Lake Mansarovar in Tibet to the outfall in the Bay of Bengal. Chang Jiang (Yangtze) River system: It is located in China Danube River system: It is located in Germany Dnieper River system: It is located in Europe Huang Ho River (Yellow River) system: It is located in China Indus River system: It is located in China Irrawaddy River system: It is located in Myanmar Lena River system: It is located in Russia Mississippi River system: It is located through Louisiana to the Gulf of Mexico Mackenzie River system: It is located from the Great slave lake through the Beaufort Sea Mekong River system: It is located in Southeast Asia Murray River system: It is located in South Australia Madeira River system: It is located in South America Nile River system: It is located in Africa Niger River system: It is located in western Africa Irtysh River system: It is located in China near Mongolia Orinoco River system: It is located in South America Parana River system: It is located in South America Purus River system: It is part of the Amazon River that is located in the northern portion of South America Paraguay River system: It is located in Paraguay Sao Francisco River system: It is located in Brazil Salween River system: It is located in Southeast Asia Tarim River system: It is located in Xinjiang Tigris River system: It is located in Iraq Ural River system: It is located in Russia and Kazakhstan Volga River system: It is located in Russia Yenisei River system: It is located in Siberia Yukon River system: It is located in British Columbia, Canada Zaire River (Congo River) system: It is located in Africa Zambezi River system: It is located in Zambia, Africa Major Mountain Chains Rocky Mountains: It is located in Western North America Himalayas: It is located across the northeastern portion of India Andes: It is located in South America Alps: It is located in Europe Karakoram: It is located in Pakistan Transantarctic Mountains: It is divided east and west of Antarctica that is located in the region of Victoria Lands to Coasts land Great Dividing Range: It is located in Australia Alaska Range: It is located in Alaska Caucasus: It is located in Central Asia Sierra Nevada: It is located in Western North America that runs along the eastern edge of the US state of California Appalachian Mountains: It is located in North America Cascade Range: It is located western North America that extends from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California Hindu Kush: It is located in Afghanistan Mount Everest: It is located in Nepal Mount Kilimanjaro: It is located in Tanzania Atlas Mountains: It is located in northwestern Africa Major World Cities London: It is located in England New York City: It is located in the State of New York Beijing: It is located in China Tokyo: It is located in Japan Paris: It is located in France Shanghai: It is located in China Moscow: It is located in Russia Seoul: It is located in South Korea Istanbul: It is located in Turkey Jakarta: It is located in Indonesia Mexico City: It is located in Mexico Buenos Aires: It is located in Argentina Cairo: It is located in Egypt Sydney: It is located in New South Wales Berlin: It is located in Germany São Paulo: It is located in Brazil Bangkok: It is located in Thailand Mumbai: It is located in Maharashtra Rio De Janeiro: It is located in Brazil Singapore: It is located in Asia Los Angeles: It is located in southern California Bogotá: It is located in Columbia Guangzhou: It is located in China Karachi: It is located in Pakistan

Task 1: Tragedy Of The Commons Directions: Read the essay "Tragedy of the Commons" by Garrett Hardin and answer the following questions in complete sentences! Website: https://www.garretthardinsociety.org/ariticles/art_tragedy_of_the_commons.html Questions What is Garrett Hardin's central idea in this essay? Do you agree or disagree with his central idea? Is the "Tragedy of the Commons" unavoidable! Identify one "Commons" in your own life (at school, work, home) and explain how it is (or isn't) being managed wisely to avoid the situation described the essay.

Answers Garrett Hardin's central idea is explaining a presidential address presented before the meeting of the Pacific Division of the American Association for the Advancement of Science at Utah State University, Logan. I agree with his central idea because he explains how there is not much of a solution to maximize within a theory such as tick-tack-toe where it only includes winning and nothing else. Yes, Tragedy of the Commons is unavailable because you realize there is not really a solution to a problem that would increase situations in the future. One common I have in my own life is at home where it isn't being managed wisely to avoid the situation described in the essay because of my sisters getting very annoying that cause irritation and arguments.

Task 6: http://www.greenfacts.org/en/ecosystems/ There are 10 questions on this web site and answers to these questions. The answers for each question are presented in 3 different levels of depth which allows readers to explore as deeply or as superficially as they like. You should read the first "Summary" level answers for all 10 questions and be prepared for a quiz on the first level answers the second day of school. You are encouraged to read the second "Details" level if your background in ecology/ecosystems is weak. Questions How have ecosystems changed? How have ecosystem services and their uses changed? How have ecosystem changes affected human well-being and poverty alleviation? What are the most critical factors causing ecosystem changes? How might ecosystems and their services change in the future user various plausible scenarios? Why are both global and sub-global assessments of ecosystem change useful? How does the ecosystem change over time? What options exist to manage ecosystems sustainably? What are the most important uncertainties hindering decision-making concerning ecosystems? Conclusion: main findings

Answers Virtually all of Earth's ecosystems have been significantly transformed through human actions. Changes have been especially rapid in the last 50 years and today the fastest changes are taking place in developing countries. Ecosystems are particularly affected by large-scale fishing, freshwater use, and agriculture. Ecosystems depend on fundamental environmental cycles such as the continuous circulation of water, carbon, and other nutrients. Human activities have modified these cycles, especially during the last 50 years, through increases in freshwater use, carbon dioxide emissions, and fertilize, in turn, This, in turn, has affected the ability of ecosystems to provide benefits to humans. Many animal and plant populations have declined in numbers, geographical spread, or both. For instance, a quarter of mammal species are currently threatened by extinction. Human activity has caused between 50 and 1000 times more extinctions in the last 100 years that would have happened due to natural processes. Increasingly, the same species are found at different locations on the planet and the overall biodiversity is decreasing, because some rare species are lost and common ones spread to new areas. Overall, the range of genetic differences within species has declined, particularly for crops and livestock. Ecosystem services are the multiple benefits provided by ecosystems to humans. Human use of all ecosystem services is increasing: The use of resources such as food, water, and timber has increased rapidly and continues to grow, sometimes unsustainably. Human interventions have led to changes in the regulation of climate, disease, and other ecosystem processes. The use of ecosystems for recreation, spiritual enrichment, and other cultural purposes is growing. However, the capacity of ecosystems to provide these services has declined significantly. In the past, increases in the supply of resources were often achieved despite local limitations by shifting production and harvest to new, less exploited regions. These options are diminishing, and developing substitutes for services can be expensive. Biodiversity reflects the number, variety, and variability of living organisms in an ecosystem. Changes in biodiversity at a particular location affect the ability of the ecosystem to supply services and to recover from disturbances. When humans modify an ecosystem to gain something, it often has negative effects on other components of ecosystems, leading to trade-offs. For instance, increased food production tends to bring about reductions in biodiversity. However, conserving or enhancing particular components of an ecosystem, for instance creating an urban park, can also lead to positive synergies improving a variety of services. Human well-being depends on material welfare, health, good social relations, security, and freedom. All of these are affected by changes in ecosystem services. Ecosystem services, particularly food production, timber, and fisheries, are important for employment and economic activity. Intensive use of ecosystems often produces the greatest short-term advantage, but excessive and unsustainable use can lead to losses in the long term. A country could cut its forests and deplete its fisheries, and this would show only as a positive gain to GDP, despite the loss of capital assets. If the full economic value of ecosystems were taken into account in decision-making, their degradation could be significantly slowed down or even reversed. Levels of poverty remain high, and over one billion people have an income of less than $1 per day. Most of these people are very dependent on ecosystems because they support themselves mainly through agriculture, grazing, and hunting. The regions facing the greatest developmental challenges tend to be those having the greatest ecosystem-related problems. These include some parts of Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Some ecosystem changes such as increased food production have helped hundreds of millions of people out of poverty but also have negative effects. Degradation of ecosystem services is harming many of the world's poorest and most vulnerable people and is sometimes the main factor causing poverty. Poverty, in turn, tends to increase dependence on ecosystem services. This can lead to additional pressure on ecosystems and a downward spiral of poverty and ecosystem degradation. Natural or human-induced factors that change ecosystems are called drivers. Habitat change and overexploitation, for instance, are direct drivers that influence ecosystem processes explicitly. Indirect drivers affect ecosystems by influencing direct drivers. The main indirect drivers are changes in the human population, economic activity, and technology, as well as socio-political and cultural factors. For example, world population has doubled in the past forty years, with most of the growth taking place in developing countries. Pressures on ecosystems have grown in absolute terms, but the growth has been slower than GDP growth. This is due to changing economic structures, increased efficiency, and use of substitutes for ecosystem services. Important direct drivers include habitat change, climate change, invasive species, overexploitation, and pollution. Habitat change occurs, for instance, when the area of land used for agriculture or cities is expanded. World climate has already changed and continues to change, affecting temperature, rainfall, and sea levels. Commercially exploited fish stocks are probably at a historical low. Intensive use of fertilizers has polluted ecosystems with excessive amounts of nutrients. Most direct drivers of degradation are currently staying constant or growing in intensity. In this assessment, four plausible scenarios were developed to explore the future of ecosystems and human well-being. The different scenarios are based on either increased globalization or increased regionalization, and either a reactive or proactive way of addressing ecosystem problems. According to the scenarios, the indirect and direct drivers that will affect ecosystems over the next 50 years will be mostly the same ones as today. However, the relative importance of different drivers will change. Climate change and high nutrient levels in the water will become increasing problems, whereas population growth will become relatively less important. The scenarios predict that the rapid conversion of ecosystems for use in agriculture, cities, and infrastructure will continue. Moreover, habitat loss will lead to a significant loss of biodiversity by 2050. Three of the four scenarios predict improvements in at least some ecosystem services. In many cases, however, human uses of ecosystems will increase substantially. This will deteriorate ecosystems, particularly if they are used unsustainably. Overall, human health is expected to improve in the future in most scenarios. Only the scenario which combines regionalization with reactive ecosystem management might lead to a negative spiral of poverty, declining health, and degraded ecosystems in developing countries. In the scenarios, proactive management of ecosystems is generally beneficial, particularly when conditions are changing. However, both proactive and reactive approaches have costs and benefits. The importance of ecosystem services for human well-being around the world was investigated at local, national, and regional levels. Overall, the global and sub-global assessments gave similar results on the present state of ecosystems. However, local conditions were sometimes better or worse than expected from the global assessment, for instance for water resources or biodiversity. The assessments identified an imbalance in the distribution of the benefits and costs of ecosystem change since these are often displaced or postponed. Some ecosystem problems have been reduced by innovative local responses. However, the "threats" observed at a global level may be difficult to estimate from a more local perspective. Moreover, the consequences of actions that go beyond the actor's immediate perspective are often overlooked. Therefore, institutions are needed at multiple levels to strengthen the adaptive capacity and effectiveness of sub-national and local responses. The impacts of human actions on ecosystems are often slow to become apparent. In general, people manage ecosystems in such ways that short-term benefits are increased, while long-term costs go unnoticed or are ignored. This can transfer the costs of current changes to future generations. Different drivers of ecosystem change take more or less time to react to changes. For example, some species might become extinct quickly when they lose their habitat, but for others, like trees, it can take centuries. This delay provides opportunities for restoring habitats and rescuing species. Most changes in ecosystems are gradual and, in principle, detectable and predictable. Other changes are more difficult to predict because they are gradual only until they reach a certain threshold, at which large changes occur suddenly. Examples of abrupt changes include the start of epidemics, the collapse of a fish population, and bursts of algae growth. Human interventions in ecosystems make abrupt changes more likely. Loss of biodiversity, for instance, makes it more difficult for ecosystems to recover from damage. Once an ecosystem has undergone an abrupt change, recovery to the original state is slow, costly, and sometimes even impossible. Reversing the degradation of ecosystems while meeting increasing demands for their services is a major challenge. Changes in policy can decrease many of the negative consequences of growing pressures on ecosystems. However, the actions needed for this are much larger than those currently taken. Most ecosystem services have already suffered, but the damage would have been even greater without the conservation actions taken so far. The assessments identified many types of positive actions that would bring long-term benefits for both ecosystems and human well-being. Examples of actions include: increasing international coordination, developing and diffusing technology, and improving the use of information. Decision-making processes and their effects on ecosystems and human well-being can be improved by a series of elements such as transparency and public participation. Reducing some important uncertainties about ecosystems and their services could significantly improve the ability of assessments to provide the information needed by policy-makers. Better theories and models are needed to understand the links between ecosystem change and impacts on human well-being and to assess the economic consequences of ecosystem change. Conditions and trends in ecosystems are difficult to assess because of gaps in information, due for instance to incomplete monitoring systems, inventories of species, and models. Better models could provide decision-makers with detailed information that directly links local, national, regional, and global projections on the future of ecosystem services. There is limited information on the costs and benefits of alternative policy options in terms of total economic value (including non-marketed ecosystem services). Moreover, not enough is known about the importance placed by different cultures on cultural services, how this changes over time, and how it influences trade-offs and decisions. Four main findings on the links between ecosystems and human well-being: Over the past 50 years, humans have changed ecosystems faster and more extensively than in any period in human history. This has been due largely to rapidly growing demands for food, freshwater, timber, fiber, and fuel. The result has been a substantial and largely irreversible loss in the diversity of life on Earth. The changes made to ecosystems have contributed to substantial gains in human well-being and economic development, but these gains have been achieved at growing costs. These costs include the degradation of many ecosystem services, increased risks of abrupt changes, and increased poverty for some groups of people. These problems, unless addressed, will substantially reduce the benefits that future generations get from ecosystems. This degradation of ecosystem services could get significantly worse during the next 50 years. It is a barrier to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. Reversing the degradation of ecosystems while meeting increasing demands for their services is a challenge. This challenge can be partially met in the future under scenarios involving significant changes to policies, institutions, and practices. However, these required actions will have to be substantial when compared to the actions currently taken.

Task 5: Make flashcards of the attached vocabulary and become familiar with and be able to use the attached Prerequisite Basic Mathematical Skills.

Answers: Vocabulary: Environment - all external conditions and factors, living and nonliving ( chemicals and energy) that affect an organism or other specified systems during its lifetime Environmental Science - an interdisciplinary study that uses information from physical sciences and social sciences to learn how the earth works, how we interact with the earth, and how to deal with environmental problems Ecology - the study of the interactions of living organisms with one another and with their nonliving environment of matter and energy; study of the structure and functions of nature Ecosystem - set of organisms within a defined area/ volume that interacts with one another and with their environment Environmentalism - a social movement dedicated to protecting the earth's life support system for us and other species Sustainability - the ability of a system to survive for some specified (finite) time Natural Capital - the natural resources and natural services that keep us and other species alive and support out of economies Natural resources - resources existing in nature Nutrient cycling - all essential process in an ecosystem Per capita - for each person; in relation to people taken individually Resource Conservation - the ethical use and protection of valuable resources, such as trees, minerals, wildlife, water, and others Sustainable Yield - the highest rate at which we can use it without depleting Environmental degradation - unsustainable living by wasting, depleting, and degrading the earth's natural capital at an accelerating rate The tragedy of the Commons - a situation in which people acting individually and in their own interest use up commonly available but limited resources, creating a disaster for the entire community Pollution - presence within the environment of a chemical or other agent that is harmful to health survival, activities of humans, or other organisms. Can enter naturally (volcanoes), or from human activities(dumping of chemicals, burning of coal) Point source - single identifiable source that discharges pollutants into the environment Nonpoint source - the source of pollution is many or specific, but can't be traced Output pollution control - the process of removing harmful pollutants from the environment Input pollution control - the process of preventing pollutants from entering the environment Poverty - the inability to meet basic needs for food, clothing, and shelter Environmental ethics - the discipline in philosophy that studies the moral relationship of human beings to, and also the value and moral status of, the environment and its non-human contents Inductive reasoning - when we formulate generalizations based on the number of observations Deductive reasoning - drawing conclusions from initial definitions and assumptions by means of logical reasoning Paradigm shift - occurs when the majority of scientists in a field or related fields accept a new framework for theories and laws in a particular field pH - a scale that measures the acidity or baseness of a solution Organic Compounds - compounds of carbon produced naturally by living organisms or synthetically by human industrial processes Acidity - chemical characteristics that help determine how a substance dissolved in water interacts with and affects its environment Inorganic Compounds - Do not contain carbon Nuclear fission - nuclear change in which nuclei with certain Isotopes and with a large mass numbers are split apart into lighter nuclei when struck by neutrons Law of conservation of matter - a law of nature stating that matter cannot be created or destroyed The first law of thermodynamics - when energy is converted from one firm to another in a physical or chemical change, no energy is created or destroyed The second law of thermodynamics - whenever energy is changed from one firm to another, we end up with lower quality or less USAble energy than we started with Positive feedback loop - causes the ecosystem to change further in the same direction Negative feedback loop - causes a system to change in the opposite direction Tipping point - the point at which a fundamental shift in the behavior of a system occurs increase cost and complexity (and perhaps removes possibility) of the solution to an environmental problem Synergy - occurs when two or more processes interact so that the combined effect is greater than the sum of their separate effects Ecology - the study of the interactions of living organisms with one another and with their nonliving environment of matter and energy; study of the structure and functions of nature Species - organisms that are capable of breeding with one another and incapable of breeding with other species population - a group of organisms of the same species that live in the same area Community - form from populations of different species occupying the same geographic space Genetic diversity - variability in the genetic makeup among individuals within a single species and is vital to the sustainability of life on earth Habitat ecosystem - the area or environment where an organism or ecological community normally lives or occurs Biosphere - the part of the earth and its atmosphere where living organisms exist or that is capable of supporting life Geosphere - the solid part of the earth that consists of all rock, as well as the soils, and loose rocks on the earth's surface Biome - large distinct terrestrial region having similar climate, soil, plants, and animals Natural greenhouse effect - the trapping of the sun's heat by the atmosphere; it helps to keep our temperatures stable on Earth Abiotic - nonliving component of an ecosystem Biotic - living component of an ecosystem Range of tolerance - a range of Chemical and physical conditions that must be maintained for the population of a particular species to stay alive and grow, develop, and function normally Limiting factor - a single factor that limits the growth, abundance, or distribution of the population of a species in an ecosystem Tropical level - each of the feeding levels in a food chain The formula for photosynthesis - a simple word equation that can be used to describe the process of photosynthesis is carbon dioxide+water → glucose+oxygen+water (6CO2+6H2O) The formula for respiration - a simple word equation that can be used to describe the process of respiration is Oxygen+Glucose → Carbon dioxide+Water+energy (C6H1206+602→ 6CO2+6H2O) Anaerobic respiration - the process by which cells convert glucose into energy in the absence of oxygen Detritivore - organisms that derive energy from consuming nonliving organic matter, such as dead animals or fallen leaves. Earthworms and many species of fungi are detritivores Omnivore - organisms that consume both producers and primary consumers Decomposer - bacteria of fungi that absorb nutrients from nonliving organic matter like plant material, the wastes of living organisms, and corpses. They convert these materials into inorganic forms Food web - a complex of interrelated food chains in an ecological community Food chain - a succession of organisms in an ecological community that constitutes a continuation of food energy from one organism to another as each consumes a lower number and, in turn, is preyed upon by a higher member Biomass - the total mass of all living matter in a specific area Ecology efficiency - the proportion of consumed energy that can be passed from one trophic level to another Net primary productivity - the amount of energy that plants pass on to the community of herbivores in an ecosystem Transpiration - the act or process of transpiring, or releasing water vapor, especially through the stomata of plant tissue or the pores of the skin Aquifer - any water-bearing layer in the ground