ES 200 Exam 2 Study Guide

high and low atmospheric CO2 concentration over Phanerozoic

CO2 - High: 6000 ppm - Low: ~800 ppm O2 - High: 32% - Low: ~12.5% Today: O2: 21% CO2: 410 ppm

effects of elevated CO2 and tropospheric O3 on forest productivity

CO2 increases forest productivity while tropospheric O3 decreases it (pollutant)

prokaryotes

Cells that do not contain nuclei ex) cyanobacteria or stromatolites

pre-cambrian time

Collectively, these Eons (Hadean, Archean, Proterozoic) comprise what is known as "Pre-Cambrian" time

IPCC database

Current IPCC assessment based on work of 234,913 scientists published in 41,475 peer-reviewed publications Not only are the underlying scientific publications peerreviewed, but the IPCC assessments are themselves rigorously peer-reviewed by wide-ranging constituencies synthetic knowledge - super broad

direct and indirect evidence of climate change

Direct: - Increasing atmospheric CO2 (and other GHG) over the Industrial Revolution - Rapidly rising global mean temperature on land and in the oceans - Altered precipitation patterns - Melting of the Cryosphere: polar ice caps and continental glaciers - Rising sea level and increasingly severe storms/flooding - Increasing frequency and severity of recurring drought VS Indirect: ecosystem change --> independent evidence of CC

archaea

Domain of unicellular prokaryotes that have cell walls that do not contain peptidoglycan

theia

Earth's twin, theorized to have crashed into Earth, increasing its mass, and remnants forming the Earth's Moon -4.48 billion years ago it smashed into earth, mantle shot up and made moon

mass extinctions

Ecosystems are a kind of bioassay of climate change - They integrate important (controlling) physical, chemical and biological processes over relevant time scales - When conditions get too far out of range, mass extinctions can be the result - Life has the capacity for recovery and reinvention, but it takes millions of years Therefore, understanding how ecosystems are being affected by current and future climate change is fundamental to insuring that they will continue to provide the goods and services needed by society

ecological threshold or tipping point

Exceeding ecosystem tolerances

FACE acronym

Free-Air CO2 Enrichment

stellar fusion

GIVES RISE TO ELEMENTS ON EARTH - different cosmic relative abundances of the elements - up to iron --> fusion in massive stars - the rest of elements --> mainly from super nova explosions of massive stars

earth heat engine

Heat engine: is any device/system that converts heat energy into motion Earth's HE: climate is an engine that uses heat energy derived from the net heating imbalance between the equator and poles, driving ocean and atmospheric circulation - evaporation, convection, rainfall, winds, and ocean currents are all a part of the EHE

high and low sea level

High: +220 m Low: ~-20 m

IPCC Process

International consortium of scientists from all parts of the world dedicated to distilling the cumulative scientific knowledge on climate change in support of policy towards a sustainable future - peer reviewed, not to make money, don't do science themselves but review it

first US copper boom

all initial copper for industrial revolutions came from michigan - pure metallic copper in volcanic rock ~1840s - deforested a BUNCH of land for copper **resource extraction economy! take what you want POS: fueled economic growth, developed Michigan & country, money! NEG: widespread deforestation, genocide of natives, exploitation of labor, widespread environmental damage, superfund site now

big bang

all known matter in the universe instantaneously came into being in a huge explosions - mainly as H and He - matter was not distributed evenly from big band, gravitational forces caused coalescence

banded iron formations

alternating bands of iron oxide and chert some of which date to as early as 2.5 bya (used as evidence for an oxygenated atmosphere during Precambrian time) NOTES: When aerobic Ps came along, O2 accumulated as a waste product - Bound with free Fe and Si in seawater and precipitated out in oxidized (red) and reduced (gray) forms - Banded Iron Formations (3.2 to 2.3 Ga) - Most of the world's commercially mined iron comes from these formations

evapotranspiration

amount of water evaporated and transpired by a specific crop or ecosystem. It incorporates the energy available for evaporation and the ability of the lower atmosphere to transport evaporated moisture away from the land surface

age of invertebrates

cambrian-ordovician - 541-485 mya - most in southern hemisphere, 12.5% atm O2, 4500 ppm CO2, 21 degrees Celsius - +30-90 m SL --> started cold, then warmed through ordovician LIFE: - land barren lots of shallow continental shelves - hard body parts evolved, chitin, lots of mollusk fossils - by end of cambrian, extinction happened due to changing environmental conditions Ordovician - 485-444 mya, 13.5% O2, 4200 ppm CO2 **spike at 6000***, +180 m sea level (spike at +220) - diversification , reed building corals, arthropods, cephalopods, mollusks, sea stars, planktonic filter feeders, primitive jaw-less fish, green algae ENDED with extinction due to glaciation --> 60% of marine genera dead :(

second atmosphere

carbon dioxide, water vapor, nitrogen, and other gases added to atmosphere by comets and volcanic eruptions (still had some hydrogen and helium) aka not good yet since no O2

age of amphibians

carboniferous-permian periods - C: 359-299 mya, atm O2 32%, CO2 800 ppm, 14 degrees C, +120 or 0 or +80 m SL - P: 299-252 mya, atm O2 32%, CO2 900 ppm, 16 degrees C, SL +60 to -20 m - polar cold --> low latitudes warm & humid - later, cooled & more arid *** modern day coal deposits from here Life: - first trees w/ wood/bark, burial of large quantities of undecomposed wood --> no fungi yet so turned into coal - high NPP--> so lots of atm O2 - modern gymnosperms, marine invertebrates! cartilaginous fish, arthropods, amphibians - GIGANTISM b/c high O2, early reptiles - largest extinction after C-P --> 90% of marine species died

global change

climate change is a part of how humans are causing huge amounts of change to the natural world simultaneously

cold upwelling

cold nutrient rich water upwells and supports fisheries

managed ecosystem

deliberately manipulated by people to provide specific ecosystem services - they have lower complexity and are not in equilibrium with their surroundings - require energy and money to manage - better to leave be Ex) tree farm

scaling ecological processes

ecosystems control lang-atmosphere exchange of carbon, H2O, and energy THUS they control PLANETARY ENERGY BALANCE aka also climate!! - ecosystems can be seen as MACHINES - these eco-processes scale in space and time! ex) endolithic ecosystem --> forest --> drainage basin --> global (aka apply to small --> huge systems)

natural ecosystem

ecosystems more or less in equilibrium with the physical environment

cenozoic era

era that began about 66 million years ago, known as the "Age of Mammals" youngest era of the phanerozoic eon

age of fishes

silurian-devonian -S: 444-419 mya, atm O2 14%, CO2 4500 ppm, 17 degrees C, SL +180 m - D: 419-359 mya, atm O2 15%, CO2 2200 ppm, 20 degrees C, SL +189 m S--> warm/stable, D--> warm/dry LIFE: - diversify, primitive plants, swampy near-shore environments - upright stems, complex vasculature, needles! - arthropods, arachnids, scorpions - paleosoils - jawless fish diversify! - armored fish, cartilaginous fish, fin fish, lobe-finned fish **375 mya lobe finned fish went on land ENDED in massive devonian extinction - we still got some cool af horseshoe crabs tho

Temperate and boreal forests

• More distinct seasons than lower latitudes • Cooler winters, milder summers • Precipitation - sufficient precipitation to support trees Temperate: - Warm summers/cool winters • Adequate rainfall to support trees • Large, diverse trees - conifer, broadleaf, or mixed Boreal: - Subarctic and cold continental climate • Long, cold winters and short summers (<100 days frost free) • Represents 29% of worlds forest cover • Relatively low in biodiversity (85 species of mammals, 130 species of fish, and 300 species of birds) --> Moose, bear, fox

major global biomes

• Oceans and freshwater bodies • Coastal (continental margins) • Tropical Forests: Wet and Dry • Deserts, steppes and Mediterranean ecosystems • Temperate and boreal forests • Polar tundra and cryosphere

"dark" money

"Dark money" special interest groups have been waging a disinformation campaign for decades, trying to sow doubt into the public discourse on climate change @scott Pruitt

proterozoic eon

"Global changes" !!! 2.5 bya-511 mya - 3rd and final atmosphere from cyanobacteria O2 production - cratons --> early continents - climate oscillates from hot-->cold - 5 episodes of "snowball earth" each ~10 my "Life evolves" - life in sea, not land - simpler life (bacteria) and archea - endosymbiosis --> mitochondria/chloroplasts Late--> multicellular plants~1.0 bya, animals ~900 mya - 1st plants --> red/green algae - 1st animals --> sponge life

archean eon

"formation of continents" -3.8-2.5 billion years ago - formation of primordial continents, oldest rocks at surface "craters, shields" - once joined together in "super-continents" - temp mod but WARM - lots of water, evidenced by gneiss "Rise of LIFE" - single organic compounds formed spontaneously (lightning experiments) 3.7 bya organic life formed!!! --> anaerobic metabolic pathways aka chemoautotrophs then 3.2-2.5 bya single celled got crazy bc oxygenic photosynthesis! "life begins, changes earth" - methanogenesis --> made CH4 - w/ aerobic PS O2 accumulated --> Made O2 Made life

hadean eon

"hell of earth" H FOR HELL - 4.5-3.8 bya - geologic stratification - interior v. hot, heavy elements down, lighter up, made the magnetic field - 1st atm --> H & He --> went to space - 2nd atm --> volcanic gases (CO, CO2, H2S, SO2, NOx) --> HOT, no O2 - gradual cooling, early ocean, acidic af NOT SUITABLE FOR LIFE

coal swamp forest

- Carboniferous-Permian (Palaeozoic Era) - volume of plant biomass dying and being deposited in the ground was great --> build-up of peat - then buried, and eventually turned into coal over time -these swamps gave rise to most of the major industrial-grade coal reserves that are mined today

cyanobacteria

AKA these dudes figured out how to release oxygen through PS and changed the world NOTES: By 3.2 to 2.5 bya, single-celled prokaryotic organisms (cyanobacteria) had become widespread due to the evolution of a new metabolic pathway with much higher energy yield, thus conferring a "competitive advantage": oxygenic photosynthesis

holdridge life zones

Bio-climatic land area classification • Climate-driven biology • Based on temperature, precipitation, and evapotranspiration aka the triangle with different zones

Isthmus of Panama

a narrow strip of land connecting North and South America and separating the Caribbean Sea from the Pacific Ocean - allowing mixing of SA and NA fauna - but still very different today - neogene

crab nebula

a supernova remnant in the constellation Taurus - common photo - Chinese astronomers saw in 1054 AD

aspen face project

- FACE technology used to expose stands of sugar maple, paper birch, and trembling aspen to ambient and elevated levels of atmospheric CO2 and tropospheric O3 simulating the year 2050 - Exposure lasted from seedling stage to 11 years of age - Measured biomass production, forest water use, nutrient dynamics, soil carbon cycling and storage, forest health (insect pests and diseases), etc., for the life of the experiment FINDINGS: - O2 and CO2 kind of cancel each other out - FACE used as justification to decrease the Secondary Air Quality Standard for O3 from 80 ppb to 70 ppb in 2008 - Secondary Standard (protects vegetation health) = Primary Standard (protects human health) - Cleaner air, improved human health and enhanced environmental quality

Coastal

- continental margins Climate --> Varies widely depending on latitude and atmospheric/oceanic circulation - Many wetland species, low lying ****Over 1/3 of the total human population, nearly 2.4 billion people, lives within 100 km (60 miles) of an oceanic coast • Filter pollutants, storm buffering (coastal wetlands), support coastal marine populations Coastal wetlands: • Temperate forested wetlands, Highly productive, large mammal, reptile, bird, and insect populations - Bottomland hardwood swamps - tend to grow along river bottoms • Tidal swamps - forested, occur in areas subject to tidal flooding Salt/brackish water • Mangrove wetland forests • Tropical to warm temperate latitudes • Brackish waters, Marsh wetland, Salt or freshwater • dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species, such as grasses, rushes, or reeds • Common in deltas where rivers empty into oceans

Polar tundra and cryosphere

- extremely cold, dry climate • Coldest biome on Earth • Driest plane on Earth, low biotic diversity • Tussock grasses, dwarf trees, sedges, and small woody shrubs • High altitude/latitude *** Significant C storage - Tundra soils: permafrost within 100 cm of the soil surface

lecture 2 questions

1. The universe came into to existence in a cataclysmic explosion called the Big Bang about: 13.7 Ga 2. The elements that comprise Life on Earth ultimately came from: nuclear fusion in stars 3. The Hadean, Archean, and Proterozoic Eons comprise what fraction of Earth's history: 7/8 4. According to a recent IPCC report, society has until what year to make major changes to our energy production systems to avoid catastrophic climate change: 2030

age of universe

13.77 billion years !!!!!

Quaternary Period

2.6-0 mya, O2 20.8%, CO2 230 ppm, 14 degrees C, 0 to -100 m SL - pleistocene and holocene - variance of ice sheets (11 big ones in past 2.6 mya) thx milankovich - up to 30% of Earth's land surface was covered in ice - last 10,000 y, inter-glacial period - modern fauna, but way more mega fauna - also humans! lots of us and our agriculture

age of solar system

4.5 billion years!!!

ages of the earth

4.55 billion years ago earth formed hadean-->archean-->proterozoic 7/8 of history- important y'all

ordovician-silurian extinction

439 M years ago - Caused by a drop in sea levels as glaciers formed then by rising sea levels as the glaciers melted - 25% of marine families and 60% of marine genera became extinct **between age of invertebrates and age of fishes

phanerozoic eon

541 mya to present - includes paleozoic, mesozoic, and cenozoic - break point b/c major extinction events - rapid appearance of widespread, complex plant and animal taxa that evolved into today's forms - was both warm and cold, a lot of extinctions - rise of humans!

cambrian explosion

A burst of evolutionary origins when most of the major body plans of animals appeared in a relatively brief time in geologic history; recorded in the fossil record about 545 to 525 million years ago. early parts of paleozoic era

holdridge

Leslie Holdridge • American botanist and climatologist • Published paper in 1947 (Determination of world plant formations from simple climatic data)

Deserts, steppes and Mediterranean ecosystems

Low winter temperatures, greater temperature extremes than lower latitudes, Low and unpredictable precipitation --> dessert>grassland>shrubland - High diversity of drought adapted species Deserts: - Cover about 20% of Earth, Low precipitation (< 50 cm/yr), Greater evaporation than precipitation, Few large animals, some small animals, Specialized plants - succulents, cacti Steppes: - Extreme differences in night/day temperatures and seasonally, Driven by lack of water bodies --> Solar energy is major driver of temperature • Montane grasslands and shrublands and temperate grasslands, savannas and shrublands ecoregions, ex) Prairie of North America Mediterranean: - Hot-dry summers and mild rainy winters, Forests, woodlands, and shrubs

protoplanetary disk

NOTES: - 4.5 Ga, solar system formed from a rotating nebula of gas and dust, put into motion possibly by a nearby supernova - At the center, hydrogen and helium contracted until nuclear fusion occurred, igniting the Sun - At distance, clumps of dust and debris formed a protoplanetary disk, with heavier elements pulled inward by the Sun's gravity, forming the rocky planets - Further out, lighter elements formed the gas giants - Protoplanetary disks are observed around nearby young stars today, suggesting this is a common process aka gravity scoops up stuff and makes it a disk

Abiotic factors

Nonliving components of environment ex) water

hubble deep field

Our deepest images of the universe show a great variety of galaxies, some of them billions of light-years away aka looking deep into space is looking back in time - the oldest galaxy is ~13.44 bya

list of major oceans by size

Pacific Atlantic Indian Antarctic Arctic PAt - InAnAr

IPCC assessment reports

Scientific literature is summarized in assessment reports - been 5 so far - 6th in 2022

eukaryotes

Simpler life, Prokayotes (bacteria) and Archea, evolve to form more complex, Eukaryotic organisms

landform effects

Spatial distribution of land, water, and mountains modify general latitudinal trends in climate • Example: orographic effect: mountain ranges influence atmospheric circulation and climate • Windward - cold and wet • Leeward - dry, rain shadow • Dessert, dessert/grasslands - downwind of major mountain ranges also) Vegetation changes surface energy budget (e.g., albedo) • Grasslands - reflect more sunlight (higher albedo) • Forests - reflect less (absorb more) sunlight (lower albedo) • Alter fluxes of heat to the atmosphere

general ocean physical characteristics

Surface of Earth is 71 % covered in oceans - Area: 361,000,000 km2, Volume: 1.35 billion km3 - Depth: 0 to 10,994 m (36,070 ft), mean depth = 3,700 m (12,100 ft) - 97% Earth's total water, 90% total biosphere, < 5% of it fully explored - Home to 230,000 known species of Life, but because it is largely unexplored may be as high as 2,000,000 - Mean salinity is 35 ppt (parts per thousand), but this may become diluted near shorelines/rivers

THC

THC ~1,000 years to cycle deep ocean water -Water cools at high latitudes -Freezing increases salinity - Both increase density, causing seawater to sink -Warming occurs at lower latitudes, causing seawater to rise

lecture 4 questions

Temperature and precipitation are the two major drivers of global biome distribution. A) True 2) Which of these four choices does NOT make up the basis for the Holdridge Life Zones System A) Temperature B) Precipitation ****C) Dominant Vegetation D) Evapotranspiration 3) What is the most diverse biome on Earth A) Tropical wet forests 4) Tundra's contain some of the coldest ecosystems on Earth A) True

third atmosphere

The Great Oxygenation Event introduces free oxygen into the atmosphere and causes the extinction of many organisms Banded-Iron formations give evidence to an oxygen filled atmosphere 3.7 billion years ago Formation of Earth's ozone layer from excess oxygen produced by plants aka hella oxygen

Antarctic Circumpolar current

The current driven by powerful westerly winds north of Antarctica. The largest of all ocean currents, it continues permanently eastward without changing direction. - caused by drake passage between Antarctica and Australia, initiating growth of polar ice cap

Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum

The most extreme change in Earth surface conditions during the Cenozoic Era began just after the temporal boundary between the Paleocene and Eocene epochs around 55.0 million years ago. It is associated with rapid (in geological terms) global warming, profound changes in ecosystems, and major perturbations in the carbon cycle. +15 degrees C relative to today

role of surface and deep currents in heat distribution

The oceans redistribute heat from equator to poles on long and short time scales

tropical forests

Wet: - Constant high temperature, High precipitation (175-400 cm) throughout the year - 40% to 75% of all species are indigenous to rainforests - C sequestration, biodiversity, clean air (breathable air-pumps out large proportion of global O2 because of high plant productivity), medicinal - "worlds largest pharmacy": over ¼ of natural medicines discovered here - Highly productive, High biodiversity, fewer ecological obstacles (less env stressors, more access to water, energy, carbon, etc) --> no glaciation Dry: - More pronounced wet and dry season - Warm but long dry season - droughts are major driver biology --> Less diverse than tropical wet - Tall, deciduous trees form a dense canopy throughout the wet season, dry trees drop their leaves monkeys, deer, large cats, parrots, rodents, ground dwelling birds ***Most endangered tropical ecosystem: sensitive to excessive burning and deforestation; overgrazing and exotic species can also quickly alter natural communities; restoration is possible but challenging, particularly if degradation has been intense and persistent.

K-T extinction event

a global extinction event responsible for eliminating approximately 75% of marine and terrestrial species at or very close to the boundary between the Cretaceous and Paleogene periods

stable but dynamic

Within each biotic region (or biome), natural ecosystems are "stable but dynamic" within the natural range of variation of biotic/abiotic factors that determine growing conditions, resource availability, and disturbance regimes "Stable but dynamic" means that the overall structure, composition and function of ecosystems remain constant over long time scales (100s to 1000s y), but vary on short time scales due to variation in abiotic/biotic factors

cooksonia

first known vascular land plant ** showed up in age of fishes

cahokia

humans are naturally economic creature - pop has exploded w/ industrial revolution and our society revolves around cheap energy so as economics inc, environmental quality dec and we exploit natural resources! - Policy a way to fix EX) Cahokia - Mississippian NA culture that had huge pop growth and destabilized due to nat resource exploitation (thx dr. bruno)

first atmosphere

hydrogen and helium existed. the gases were lost in space early in earths history because gravity couldnt hold onto lighter gases and solar winds blew them away because no solid core or liquid outer core aka H and He got shot out to space

ecosystem resilience

is the capacity to resist change due to external forcing Observations suggest that climate change is affecting growing conditions, disturbance regimes, and ecosystem resilience

physiographic factors

landform, topography, soil thickness and type, aspect, elevation, availability of soil water, etc.

oceans and freshwater bodies

largest of all ecosystems • Warmer to colder waters moving poleward • Warmer to colder waters moving deeper • 3.5 % salinity on average (35 ppt) • Ocean stratified vertically based on sun light • Organisms in open ocean adapt to changes in temperature and amount of sun light and nutrients available (aphotic/photic) - coral reefs Freshwater: - cover roughly 20% of the Earth, low salt, cannot survive in high salt - Biological zones - flow of the water, amount of light, the temperature or climate, and the chemistry of the river --> Littoral - close to shore, Limnetic - well lit, open surface waters, produces O2 and food to support lake consumers, Euphotic - receives enough light for Ps, Benthic - live at bottom or burrow, Primary producers - macrophytes and phytoplankton - Globally important source of water, recreational value, fishing Estuaries: - Diffuse boundary between aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems; freshwater rivers merge with ocean; mix of fresh and salt water create unique ecosystems - super important ecosystem services

Biotic factors

living parts of an ecosystem ex) birb

mesozoic era

middle life (245-144 million years ago); rise of mammals and dinosaurs; the rise of birds; extinction of dinosaurs, rise of flowering plants middle of phanerozoic

climatic zones

more or less fixed conditions of temperature, precipitation, evaporation, and their seasonality, around the globe

milky way galaxy

our galaxy - 12.5 bya, 100,000 light years across - has about 300 billion stars - 220 million year solar period --> we've only gone around ~20 times - we're way out on a branch

andromeda galaxy

our sister galaxy, 2.3 million light years away

El nino-la nina

represent the varying warming and cooling trends in the ocean surface temperature on the equatorial area of the pacific ocean Winters are typically warm at high northern latitudes during El Niño years

direct ecosystem services

resources from ecosystems that we directly gain from ex) lumber also- cost of "externalities" often not accounted for in economics - aka bad environmental things we don't think about ex) pacific plastic gyre

indirect ecosystem services

resources that we take but don't realize are from ecosystems ex) clean air/water from forests

gaia hypothesis

so our atmosphere is in constant dis-equilibrium BUT we have a constant surface temperature regulated by the planetary energy balance (we think bc biota) THUS we are super unusual, and Earth acts as a giant SUPER ORGANISM trying to keep life alive - a lot of people disagree but its still concerning since earth is changing so fast

Ecosystems

specific assemblages of populations of an organism forming communities in a geographic area resulting from ecological processes operating over evolutionary time, interacting with the physical environment - physiology and growth of communities of organisms provide ECOSYSTEM SERVICES and feedback

mining mentality

still retain "mining mentality" today w/ oil, nat gas, and coal - we still crazy use fossil fuels and use the atmosphere as our trashcan w/ CO2, CH4

stromatolites

the dudes that figured out oxygenic photosynthesis would stick together making mats - which are now in fossils and we can still see em NOTES: Formed microbial mats, called "stromatolites" preserved in the fossil record - Modern day stromatolites occur in specialized environments in western Australia!

Anthropocene

the modern geological era during which humans have dramatically affected the environment

paleozoic era

the part of geologic time 570-245 million years ago - invertebrates, fishes, amphibians, reptiles, ferns, and cone-bearing trees were dominant earliest part of phanerozoic

snowball earth

the period of time during the late Precambrian when snow and ice completely covered the planet

2030

the planet only has until 2030 to stem catastrophic climate change - need to keep us below 1.5 degree C inc - aka we need to be more aggressive

late heavy bombardment

the surge in cratering impacts in the solar system that occurred about 3.8 billion years ago - aka early planets/moons got smacked up with asteroids - craters on moon! earth's geologically active so they don't stay fun fact - comets brought a lot of water to earth

biome

the world's major biological communities, classified according to the predominant vegetation and characterized by adaptations of organisms to that particular environment ** TEMP AND MOISTURE drive biome distribution

global heating imbalance

there's uneven heating of the Earth's surface --> drives atmospheric and oceanic change NET heating imbalances --> results from difference in albedo and solar energy at different latitudes NET heating: diff between the amount of incoming sunlight and heat radiating by Earth back to space - trop: surplus, polar: deficit

age of reptiles

triassic-jurassic-cretaceous - T: 252-201 mya, atm O2 16%, CO2 1750 ppm, 17 degrees C, -20 SL - J: 201-145 mya, atm O2 26%, CO2 1950 ppm, 16.5 degrees C, SL -20 m - C: 145-66 mya, atm O2 30%, CO2 1700 ppm, 18 degrees C, 0 to +20 m SL Pangea! - warm & dry, little glaciation, little seasonality - period ended w/ meteorite (15 km diameter) --> "nuclear winter" aka K-T extinction event LIFE: - cycad, ginko, horsetail - flowering plants - reptiles, corals, invertebrates - marine reptiles, dinos!! - high O2--> gigantism - lots of mammals and birds K-T killed 75% of marine & terrestrial

tetrapods

vertebrate animals having four feet, legs or leglike appendages - lobe-finned fish went on land during the "age of fishes" and gave rise to all 4 legged species

planet earth quo vadis

we have been able to ignore externalities until now - society is at a cross roads Will we: 1. engineer an equitable society based off environmental sustainability 2. OR continue to mine the earth with no concern for future QUO VADIS = "where are we going" aka what will we choose to do?

nebulae

where stars are born - live their lives of 100's of millions or billions of years depending on initial mass - when fuel runs out, the stars die --> they either shed or supernova

Boreal refugia

zone of cold boreal forests was huge, some of these forests still exist today but are threatened by CC