Human Impact on the Environment

Standards: 7.ESS3.2 Engage in a scientific argument through graphing and translating data regarding human activity and climate. COMPONENT IDEA: D. Global Climate Change

Carbon cycle link

activity link

ping pong balls activity

Day 1

Greenhouse gases

Global warming: http://www.neok12.com/video/Global-Warming/zX407c6f445b664b6c535045.htm

Activity 1: Go to the following site and complete the organizer reading

second reading Duckster

Activity 2 Climate time machine

https://www3.epa.gov/climatechange/kids/impacts/signs/index.html

one degree warmer

http://www.neok12.com/video/Global-Warming/zX00676c64657b4b58074773.htm

two degrees warmer http://www.neok12.com/video/Global-Warming/zX6215066a507660476c5263.htm

three degrees warmer http://www.neok12.com/video/Global-Warming/zX044a527942054f5f6f7877.htm

four degrees http://www.neok12.com/video/Global-Warming/zX4153704765015f02776563.htm

five degrees http://www.neok12.com/video/Global-Warming/zX0556645305606c47747955.htm

six degrees link

Sources of Acid Rain
Acid rain is caused by a chemical reaction that begins when compounds like sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides are released into the air. These substances can rise very high into the atmosphere, where they mix and react with water, oxygen, and other chemicals to form more acidic pollutants, known as acid rain. Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides dissolve very easily in water and can be carried very far by the wind. As a result, the two compounds can travel long distances where they become part of the rain, sleet, snow, and fog that we experience on certain days.

Human activities are the main cause of acid rain. Over the past few decades, humans have released so many different chemicals into the air that they have changed the mix of gases in the atmosphere. Power plants release the majority of sulfur dioxide and much of the nitrogen oxides when they burn fossil fuels, such as coal, to produce electricity. In addition, the exhaust from cars, trucks, and buses releases nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide into the air. These pollutants cause acid rain.

Acid Rain is Caused by Reactions in the Environment
Nature depends on balance, and although some rain is naturally acidic, with a pH level of around 5.0, human activities have made it worse. Normal precipitation—such as rain, sleet, or snow—reacts with alkaline chemicals, or non-acidic materials, that can be found in air, soils, bedrock, lakes, and streams. These reactions usually neutralize natural acids. However, if precipitation becomes too acidic, these materials may not be able to neutralize all of the acids. Over time, these neutralizing materials can be washed away by acid rain. Damage to crops, trees, lakes, rivers, and animals can result.

Acid Rain Can Cause Health Problems in People
Air pollution like sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides can cause respiratory diseases, or can make these diseases worse. Respiratory diseases like asthma or chronic bronchitis make it hard for people to breathe. The pollution that causes acid rain can also create tiny particles. When these particles get into people’s lungs, they can cause health problems, or can make existing health problems worse. Also, nitrogen oxides cause ground-level ozone. This ground-level ozone causes respiratory problems, like pneumonia and bronchitis, and can even cause permanent lung damage. The health effects that people have to worry about are not caused by the acid rain, but are caused when people breathe in these tiny particles or ozone. Swimming in an acidic lake or walking in an acidic puddle is no more harmful to people than swimming or walking in clean water.

Acid Rain Harms Forests
Acid rain can be extremely harmful to forests. Acid rain that seeps into the ground can dissolve nutrients, such as magnesium and calcium, that trees need to be healthy. Acid rain also causes aluminum to be released into the soil, which makes it difficult for trees to take up water. Trees that are located in mountainous regions at higher elevations, such as spruce or fir trees, are at greater risk because they are exposed to acidic clouds and fog, which contain greater amounts of acid than rain or snow. The acidic clouds and fog strip important nutrients from their leaves and needles. This loss of nutrients makes it easier for infections, insects, and cold weather to damage trees and forests.

Acid Rain Damages Lakes and Streams
Without pollution or acid rain, most lakes and streams would have a pH level near 6.5. Acid rain, however, has caused many lakes and streams in the northeast United States and certain other places to have much lower pH levels. In addition, aluminum that is released into the soil eventually ends up in lakes and streams. Unfortunately, this increase in acidity and aluminum levels can be deadly to aquatic wildlife, including phytoplankton, mayflies, rainbow trout, small mouth bass, frogs, spotted salamanders, crayfish, and other creatures that are part of the food web.

This problem can become much worse during heavy downpours of rain or when the snow begins to melt in the spring. These types of events are known as episodic acidification.

Acid Rain Damages Buildings and Objects
Acid rain can also have a damaging effect on many objects, including buildings, statues, monuments, and cars. The chemicals found in acid rain can cause paint to peel and stone statues to begin to appear old and worn down, which reduces their value and beauty.

Activity 1 go to https://www3.epa.gov/acidrain/education/site_students/whatisacid.html

Write down the questions on the left hand side. Read the material and answer the questions.

activity 2: complete the crossword puzzle at the bottom.

Take a look at the current growth around the world: https://www.worldometers.info/

What countries show the most growth? Why?

What countries show the least? Why?

Day 3

ozone depletion https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9ztDSbSrFI

The ozone layer is mainly found in the lower portion of the stratosphere from approximately 20 to 30 kilometres (12 to 19 mi) above earth, though the thickness varies seasonally and geographically.

The ozone layer protects the earth from the suns UV Rays. If the ozone layer is depleted by human action, the effects on the planet could be catastrophic.

Activity 1. What is happening?

http://eschooltoday.com/ozone-depletion/what-is-ozone-depletion.html

what happened to the hole? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZfBgjUnXIs

animation https://ozonewatch.gsfc.nasa.gov/education/ozone_movie.mp4

Activity 2: Brain Pop: https://www.brainpop.com/science/earthsystem/ozonelayer/

Activity 1: look at the picture above and explain two types with your group.

Activity 2: Go the following site and read the article. Write out and answer the three review questions.

http://www.ck12.org/earth-science/Water-Pollution/lesson/Water-Pollution-HS-ES/?referrer=concept_details

Sources of Water Pollution

Water pollution contributes to water shortages by making some water sources unavailable for use. In underdeveloped countries, raw sewage is dumped into the same water that people drink and bathe in. Even in developed countries, water pollution affects human and environmental health.

Water pollution includes any contaminant that gets into lakes, streams, and oceans. The most widespread source of water contamination in developing countries is raw sewage. In developed countries, the three main sources of water pollution are described below.

Municipal Pollution

Wastewater from cities and towns contains many different contaminants from many different homes, businesses, and industries (Figure below). Contaminants come from:

Sewage disposal (some sewage is inadequately treated or untreated).
Storm drains.
Septic tanks (sewage from homes).
Boats that dump sewage.
Yard runoff (fertilizer and herbicide waste).
Industrial Pollution
Factories and hospitals spew pollutants into the air and waterways (Figure below). Some of the most hazardous industrial pollutants include:
- Radioactive substances from nuclear power plants and medical and scientific sources.
- Heavy metals, organic toxins, oils, and solids in industrial waste.
- Chemicals, such as sulfur, from burning fossil fuels.
- Oil and other petroleum products from supertanker spills and offshore drilling accidents.
- Heated water from industrial processes, such as power stations.
- Agricultural Pollution
  Runoff from crops, livestock, and poultry farming carries contaminants such as fertilizers, pesticides, and animal waste into nearby waterways (Figure below). Soil and silt also run off farms. Animal wastes may carry harmful diseases, particularly in the developing world.

- Fertilizers that run off of lawns and farm fields are extremely harmful to the environment. Nutrients, such as nitrates, in the fertilizer promote algae growth in the water they flow into. With the excess nutrients, lakes, rivers, and bays become clogged with algae and aquatic plants. Eventually these organisms die and decompose. Decomposition uses up all the dissolved oxygen in the water. Without oxygen, large numbers of plants, fish, and bottom-dwelling animals die

water pollution http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/environment/an-ocean-of-plastic/2686/

An ocean of plastic

By Vanessa Carr

August 9, 2010

An estimated 330 million tons of plastics will be manufactured in 2010. That’s more than 100 pounds of new plastic for every person on earth. And in the U.S., only 7 percent of that will be recycled. The rest ends up in landfills, and some ends up in rivers, streams and eventually the ocean.

There’s a place in the center of the Pacific Ocean where all currents converge, and swirls of colorful confetti billow through otherwise blue waters. But far from magical, these tiny shards are pieces of plastic from around the world, whirled in a gyre known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

No one knows exactly how big it is, but some scientists estimate it to be twice the size of Texas.

And nowhere is the impact of this floating landfill on marine life more clear than on the Midway Atoll, an island of coral and sand near the Garbage Patch where albatross come to nest.

Photographer Chris Jordan began to document what’s happening to the albatross on Midway starting in September 2009.

Activity 4 Watch the following video and write a response to what you see

.albatross video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bRZm9AYSuU

Activity 5 Brain Pop: Water Pollution https://www.brainpop.com/science/ourfragileenvironment/waterpollution/

Day 5: land

1. Deforestation:

Here's a more detailed explanation of why deforestation is bad:

1. Loss of Biodiversity and Habitats:

Habitat Destruction:
Forests are home to a vast array of species, and deforestation destroys these habitats, leading to species loss and extinction.
Biodiversity Decline:
The complex web of life within a forest ecosystem is disrupted, and many species cannot survive when that network breaks down.
Amazon Rainforest:
The Amazon rainforest, a global biodiversity hotspot, is facing significant deforestation, which could lead to the loss of a significant portion of the world's plant and animal species.

2. Climate Change:

Carbon Emissions:
Trees absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, but when forests are cleared, the stored carbon is released, contributing to climate change.
Greenhouse Effect:
Increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere intensifies the greenhouse effect, trapping heat and raising global temperatures.
Global Warming:
Deforestation is a major contributor to global warming, along with other human activities, and its effects are felt worldwide.
Water Cycle Disruption:
Forests play a crucial role in the water cycle, and deforestation disrupts these processes, leading to changes in rainfall patterns and potentially drier climates.

3. Soil Degradation and Erosion:

Soil Erosion:
Trees anchor the soil, and when they are removed, the soil becomes vulnerable to erosion by wind and water.
Landslides and Flooding:
Soil erosion can lead to landslides and increased flood risks, especially in areas with heavy rainfall.
Reduced Soil Fertility:
Erosion removes the topsoil, which is rich in nutrients, making the land less fertile and less productive for agriculture.

4. Impacts on Human Communities:

Food Insecurity:
Forests provide food and resources for local communities, and deforestation can lead to food insecurity and displacement.
Economic Impacts:
Deforestation can negatively impact local economies that rely on forest resources for livelihoods.
Health Impacts:
Deforestation can increase the risk of zoonotic diseases and other health problems.
Indigenous Communities:
Indigenous peoples who rely on forests for their livelihoods are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of deforestation.

2. Excessive Use of Fertilizers and Pesticides:

(a) Increasing concentration of pesticides residues as they move up the food chain; and

(b) Rapid evolution of new breeds of pests that are immune to the pesticides applied.

3. Overgrazing:

Increase in livestock population results in over exploitation of pastures. Due to this, grass and other types of vegetation are unable to survive and grow in the area, and lack of vegetation cover leads to soil erosion.

4. Soil erosion:

Wind Erosion: lack of vegetation makes it easier for wind

Water Erosion:

Deforestation, overgrazing and mining, all are equally responsible for an increase in the rate of erosion by water. Water erosion is caused either by water in motion or by the beating action of rain drops. Water during heavy rains may remove the thin soil cover over large areas more or less uniformly.

Water erosion prevention http://forest.mtu.edu/pcforestry/resources/studentprojects/AdamB/Rain%20Erosion.html

5. Landfills

The U.S. has 3,091active landfills and over 10,000 old municipal landfills, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. However, in the "good old days," every town (and many businesses and factories) had its own dump.

landfills https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wzo5sv4IrIw

presentations

National geographic- Human footprint link

worksheet: link

Extra Files:

ACFhuman impact practice sheet.pdf (63k)Kathy Dougherty, Apr 16, 2019, 7:03 AM