EVSC 100 Lecture Tutorial Notes PDF

Chloe Tran Spring Semester 2024 EVSC 100 - Lecture Notes Week 2 - Planetary Boundary Framework (January 15, 2024): Earth Systems: - Lithosphere - Realm of rock...

Chloe Tran Spring Semester 2024 EVSC 100 - Lecture Notes Week 2 - Planetary Boundary Framework (January 15, 2024): Earth Systems: - Lithosphere - Realm of rock - Studies rocks and processes involving rocks - Ex: minerals, fossil fuels, plate tectonics - Hydrosphere - Realm of water - Water movement and storage - Quantity and quality of water - Limnology (study of freshwater ecosystems) - Oceanography (study of ocean) - Cryosphere (water in frozen forms) - Atmosphere - Realm of air - Ex: climatology, meteorology, air quality - Biosphere - Realm of life - Spheres are interconnected - All influenced by human activity Planetary Boundaries: - Science-based levels of human disturbance of Earth systems - Beyond the levels, functioning of systems may substantially change - 9 processes that regulate the stability and resilience of the Earth system - 6 have already been crossed - Quantitative planetary boundaries - Humanity continues to develop and thrive within - Crossing boundaries can increase the risk of problems - Largescale, abrupt, irreversible environmental changes - Like a warning system - NOT a global threshold/tipping point - Rather the upstream of it (well before reaching the threshold) Anthropocene: - Age of humans - Anthropos = human; cene = new - Concept that humans are the primary driver for environmental change - Sharp, upward trends in earth system processes since 1950  - Has to do with the human population - Growth, wealth, accumulation, etc. Quadruple Squeeze: - Simultaneous pressures on the Earth system - Population growth - Climate change - Ecosystem decline - Habitat destruction, biodiversity loss - Surprise “Resilient” Earth System: - Ability of a system to maintain key functions and processes in the face of stress/pressures - Resisting and adapting to change - Adaptable, flexible, able to deal with change and uncertainty - Systems may lose resilience - If pushed too far away from their regular state - Threshold beyond what they can recover from Week 3 - Fresh Water Cycles (January 22, 2024): Basic Water Stats: - Approx. 71% of Earth’s surface is water - 97% of this is seawater - 3% of this is freshwater - Only approx. 0.009% of Earth’s surface water is usable and available to us Freshwater = Groundwater: - Groundwater = water beneath Earth’s surface - Stored in aquifers - Geological formations that contain pore spaces in the soil and fractures in the bedrock - Water is only accessible by drilling/pumping from a well Freshwater = Surface Water: - Melting of snow and land ice - Ex: glaciers, ice sheets, ice caps, etc. - Lakes, ponds, rivers, wetlands, streams Watershed/Catchment/Basin: - Land areas that channel rainfall and snowmelt into water reservoirs - Ex: lakes, ponds, rivers, wetlands, streams - Then eventually into outflow points - Ex: oceans, bays, etc. Metro Vancouver Water Supply: - Surface water from 3 watersheds - Capilano - Seymour - Coquitlam Freshwater Sources: - Renewable resource - Replenished via hydrologic cycle - Earth has systems where water is stored - Called stores, sinks, reservoirs, or pools - Water moves between stores through various processes - Called flows or fluxes - Moves through a natural cycle - Humans disrupt/alter it Planetary Boundary(ies): - Concept was developed to be used as benchmarks for society - A target, or guide, to help plan and implement technology and growth goals - Boundaries are not static - Emphasis on interconnectedness - WHY we have them - Freshwater is being consumed by humans faster than it can be replenished - Results in a reduction in freshwater availability - Original boundary for freshwater use only considered surface water in rivers - Subdivided into natural blue and green water planetary boundaries Blue vs Green Water: - Blue = freshwater available for human use - Ex: lakes, rivers, reservoirs, renewable groundwater sources - Green = freshwater available for ecological functions - Ex: precipitation, evaporation, soil moisture Tutorial 2 - Scientific Method and Streamflow (January 24, 2024): Steps of the Scientific Method: - Observation - Question - Broader - Hypothesis - “If… then” statement - Specific - Experiment must be replicable  - Experiment - Quantitative or qualitative (or combo of both) data - Experimental vs control group - Independent variable differentiates (1) - Analysis - Analyze data - Form visualizers - Conclusion - Accept or reject hypothesis The Water Cycle: - Precipitation - Any liquid that falls from the sky - Infiltration - Water stored below the surface - Water absorbed into the ground - Surface Runoff - Water that can’t infiltrate → runs off the surface - Snow/ice melting - Soil reaches saturation point → runs off the surface - Enters a stream faster than groundwater - Often leads to flooding Hydrographs: - X-axis - time - Y-axis (1) - runoff, discharge - Y-axis (2) - precipitation - Stream discharge - Amount of water that flows through the stream - Lag time - Peak rainfall - peak discharge = lag time - Rising limb = less steep - Higher infiltration rate Week 4 - Biogeochemical Flows (January 29, 2024): Breakdown: - Bio = life - Geo = earth - Chemical = the elements - Biogeochemical = cycling of elements among the living and nonliving parts of Earth’s systems - Movement of nutrients (carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus) through biotic and abiotic components of ecosystems Biosphere: - Made up of all living organisms on Earth - Interacting with each other, and various parts - Atmosphere = air - Hydrosphere = water - Lithosphere = earth - Controlled by: - Energy flow (sun) - Nutrient cycling (biogeochemical) Nutrient Storage: - Stored in compartments - = reservoirs or stocks - Lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere Why C, N, P, and H20: - Makes up DNA of eukaryotic cells - Very important elements!!! - N and P fertilize plant life Phosphorus Cycle: - Found from natural weathering - Breaking down of rocks, erosion - Slow process - Or from decomposition - Animal waste - In the soil - No major “store” of phosphorus - Mostly found in lithosphere and biosphere - Very slow cycle - Can be accelerated through mining and land disturbances Nitrogen Cycle: - More dynamic than phosphorus cycle - Makes up approx. 80% of atmosphere - Simply breathing out = unusable form (by organisms) of Nitrogen - Reactive nitrogen = usable Nitrogen - Done by N-fixation - Microbes convert atmosphere N into NH - Lightning converts N into NO3 - Both usable forms Human Alterations of P and N Cycles:  - Industrial and intentional biological fixations increases the amount of reactive nitrogen - Mining of phosphorus speeds up the release of P into the environment - N and P increase from farmland runoff, municipal sewage, wastewater discharges - Eutrophication of freshwaters and coastal zones Eutrophication: - Excess of nutrients in a body of water - Due to runoff from the land - Causes increased plant growth and animal death - Due to changes in oxygen levels - Anthropogenic sources - Municipal sewage - Agricultural fertilizers - Livestock waste - Stormwater drainage - Aquaculture Crossed Planetary Boundary: - CV (phosphorus, global) = phosphorus flow from freshwater systems into oceans - PB (phosphorus, global) = 11 tg P/year - CV (phosphorus, regional) = phosphorus flow from fertilizers in erodible soils - PB (phosphorus, regional) = 6.2 tg P/year - CV (nitrogen, global) = industrial and intentional biological fixation of N - PB (nitrogen, global) = 62 tg N/year - CROSSED: - P Global = 22 tg P/year - P Regional = 14 tg P/year - N Global = 150 tg N/year N Interventions: - Controlling nitrate emissions from fossil fuel combustion - Increased nitrogen-uptake efficiency of crops - Improved animal waste strategies - Increase the access of people living in cities to sewage treatments Tutorial 3 - Gulf of Mexico Dead Zone (January 31, 2024): Dead Zone: - Oxygen-depleted water that is unable to support marine life - Process of eutrophication - Lack of wind = less circulation of oxygen - Can be reversed when storms occur - Increased wind Forming of Gulf of Mexico Dead Zone: - Human caused - 42% of continental US is within the Mississippi River drainage basin - Provides drinking water for 20 million people - 90% of US agricultural exports come from the Mississippi watershed Nitrogen Cycle - How: - Lightening: N2 (atmospheric nitrogen) → NO3 (nitrates) - Microbes: N2 (atmospheric nitrogen) → NH3 ( Week 5 - Stratospheric Ozone Depletion (February 5, 2024): Blue + Purple = least ozone - AKA = “hole” - Not a literal hole - Decrease in ozone concentration Red + Orange/Yellow = most ozone - AKA ≠ hole Crossing the Planetary Boundary: - CV = stratospheric ozone (O3) concentration - DU = dobson units - Threshold = 290 DU (pre-industrial level) - Boundary is crossed when there is a less than 5% reduction from 290 DU - Current = approx. 200 DU - Only measured in the Southern hemisphere over Antarctica Structure of our Atmosphere: - Atmosphere = thin layer of gases that surround Earth - Composed of several sublayers - Differ in density, gas composition, and temperature - Composition = 78% Nitrogen, 20.9% Oxygen, 0.9% Argon gas, 0.03% Carbon dioxide, 0.17% other gases - 5 layers (inner to outer):  - Troposphere = where we live, surface to the earth → approx. 20 km above surface - Stratosphere = 20 - 50 km above earth’s surface, where the ozone layer is - Mesosphere - Thermosphere - Exosphere = fades into space, no real upper limit - Layers determined by temperature properties - Higher up → colder temperature - Temperature goes back and forth as layers go up - Temperature changes due to ozone Ozone Layer: - 78.08% Nitrogen, 20.94% Oxygen, Argon, Carbon Dioxide, Ozone, and Water Vapor in very little amounts - 90% of ozone is found in the stratosphere - BUT it is still a trace gas, meaning less than 1% - Peak ozone concentration occurs between 30-35 km above the Earth’s surface How to Measure Ozone: - Instruments: - Satellites - High and low altitude aircrafts - Balloon sondes - Ground-based systems - Usually use optical techniques - Lasers as light sources - Detect microwave emissions - Chemical reactions unique to ozone - Total amount of ozone measured in DU - Determined by measuring the concentration of ozone molecules in a given column of air - Extends from the Earth’s surface to the top of the atmosphere - If you were to “squish” all the measured ozone DU, then what kind/size layer would it make - Areas with less than 200 DU → severe ozone depletion Importance of Ozone: - Formed when high energy UV rays from the sun breaks apart molecular oxygen (O2 → O1 + O1) - Oxygen atom combines with another oxygen molecule (O1 + O2) - Forms ozone (O3) - If there is natural production, there is natural reduction UV Radiation: - Sun gives off a range of wavelengths - Measured in nanometers - Wavelength  - Shorter wavelength = very energetic - Can cause damage to things that can absorb it - Longer wavelength = less energetic - UV is divided into different categories: - UV-A = longest wavelength of UV - UV-B - UV-C = shortest wavelength of UV - When the ozone layer is INTACT (no “hole”) it absorbs: - 50% of UV-A - 90% of UV-B - 100% of UV-C - Extremely dangerous → ozone blocks it CFC and Ozone Disappearance: - As CFC concentration increases, Ozone level decreases - Potential correlation - Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) used in aerosol sprays, refrigerators - When CFC meets lower temperatures and higher UV radiation in the stratosphere, they can break down - THEN, the broken down CFC can attack and destroy ozone molecules - 3 conditions needed for “efficient destroying”: - High UV radiation - Extremely low temperatures - Surface that the ozone destruction process can occur - Stratosphere above Antarctica has all these conditions during the southern hemisphere spring - Damage to ozone layer is intense - Polar stratospheric clouds = the surface that the ozone destruction process can occur - Only form in extremely cold temperatures Ozone Destruction: - In addition to the natural destruction of ozone molecules, we are now contributing to man-made destruction - But, only natural production is occurring - Therefore, we are destroying 2x more than the ozone can produce naturally Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete Ozone: - Originated in 1985 - Action plan developed to phase out CFCs - Administered by the UN - By 2009, every country signed the agreement - Then each individual country’s government develops policies and timelines to reduce CFCs - Canada: - Canada banned CFCs in the late 1970s  - Passed the first regulation in 1980s on CFCs - In 2001, an accelerated phase out plan was implemented by Environment Canada and the provincial governments - One of the most successful treaties in environmental history - Clear downward trends in CFC emissions after the protocol was put into action - Nearly 2 million cases of skin cancer have been avoided - Protocol has been altered based on changes to society/environment Kigali Amendment (2016): - When CFCs were phased out, HFCs were made to replace them - While HFCs don’t have the same properties and ozone-depleting effects as CFCs, they can still lead to global warming 2021 Ozone Hole: - Particularly large - International agreements are not 100% effective - But still good tools - High CFC emissions from parts of China Climate Change and Weather: - While it is warming the Earth’s surface, it is actually cooling the stratosphere - Large ozone hole in the Arctic in 2020 - Due to the polar vortex Tutorial 4 - Ozone Depletion (February 7, 2024): Ozone Location and Concentration: - 90% of ozone is found in stratosphere - Determine ozone concentration: - Measure number of ozone molecules in a column of air from the earth’s surface to the top of the atmosphere - Areas with less than 220 dobson units = severe ozone destruction - Redder the area = more ozone - Bluer the area = less ozone Ozone Molecule Formation: - Molecular oxygen has 2 oxygen atoms = O2 - UV rays break those oxygen molecules apart - Single oxygen atoms pair with another oxygen molecule - = O3 UV Protection: - UV-A and UV-B are able to penetrate the ozone layer - UV-C is blocked  - Losing stratospheric ozone would increase the amount of UV radiation at the earth’s surface Week 6 - Climate Change (February 12, 2024): Loss of Alpine Glaciers: - Slowly melting - 0 = snow accumulation is equal to melt - Will continue and intensify - RCP = representative concentration pathways (for carbon dioxide) - So what: - Changing abnormally quick - Earth warming is due to human activity - Use of fossil fuels - Emissions of greenhouses gases - Emotional loss - Consequences for the lives of people - Glaciers supply water for the world - As climate change puts the resources at risk, puts water security in jeopardy - Implications on the Earth’s systems Weather vs Climate: - Weather = short term atmospheric conditions and the spatial distribution of temperature, humidity, etc. - Climate = long term average of weather conditions in a region, over time - Climate change = altered patterns of weather over decades (warming, cooling, etc.) Crossing Planetary Boundary: - CV = atmospheric CO2 concentration (ppm), energy imbalance at the top of the atmosphere (w/m^2) - Threshold for CO2 = 350 ppm - Threshold for energy imbalance = +1 w/m^2 - Relative to pre-industrial levels - Current CO2 = 419 ppm - Current energy imbalance = +2.3 w/^2 Global Carbon Cycle: - One of many cycles in the Earth system - Any cycle is made up of a complex set of interconnected processes - Something that affects one process will affect other processes in the cycle - Things that humans add or take away to/from the environment can change the balance of the cycles - Found in the: - Biosphere = carbon compounds trapped in living organisms - Lithosphere = in the soil, carbonate rocks, other materials  - Hydrosphere = dissolved in water → carbonic acid - Atmosphere = carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) - Crysophere = in the permafrost (frozen soil), ice, carbon dioxide (CO2), and methane (CH4) - Measured in petagrams (pg) - 1 pg = 1 gigaton - Or 1 billion tons - Moves between atmosphere and biosphere: - Atmosphere → plants - “Plant diet” - Green plants use energy of the sun to absorb atmospheric CO2 - Combines with water to make carbs through photosynthesis - How plants grow and gain mass - Approx 120 gt every year +3 gt human additives - Plants → atmosphere - Plants (and animals who eat them) break down the carbs down into carbon dioxide and water - Released back into the atmosphere through respiration - When plants (and animals who eat them) die, bacteria and fungi break down the carbon - Convert it into CO2 through decomposition - Burning can also transform carbon in plants (and animals who eat them) into CO2 - Combustion - Moves between lithosphere and atmosphere: - Atmosphere → lithosphere - Rocks absorb carbon through weathering - Moves between atmosphere and hydrosphere: - Atmosphere → hydrosphere - Water bodies absorb excess carbon Global Carbon Budget Changing over Time: - Anthropogenic emissions of carbon have negative values - Processes represent a loss of carbon from a particular sphere - Emissions = things below 0 (black/brown) - Positive values show a gaining of carbon - Uptake = things above 0 (red/blue/green) - Typically, there is no large increases or decreases in the overall amounts of carbon - Just changing where it is coming from and in what form - Looking at the years, general magnitude is the same CO2 Human Emissions: - Most emissions are related to energy - Direct production or energy to fuel other things - Most of the carbon is staying in the atmosphere - In total, humans contributed 9 gt of CO2 through fossil fuels, cement, land-use change - 3 gt through photosynthesis - 2 gt through the ocean - Air-sea gas exchange → ocean acidification - 4 gt through atmospheric carbon net annual increase Radiation: - Electromagnetic waves = classified by wavelength - Longwave = lower energy - Earth’s energy (terrestrial) - Cooler, longer wavelength - Shortwave = higher energy - Sun’s energy (solar) - Hotter, shorter wavelength Greenhouse Gas Effect: - Some infrared radiation passes through the atmosphere - But most is absorbed and re-emitted in all directions by greenhouse gas molecules and clouds - The effect of this is to warm the Earth’s surface and the lower atmosphere - Solar radiation powers the climate system - Some solar radiation is reflected by the Earth and the atmosphere - About half is absorbed by the Earth’s surface and warms it - After solar radiation is absorbed by the surface, infrared radiation is emitted from the Earth’s surface - Infrared radiation can either just pass through the atmosphere into space - Or, it can bounce off of gas molecules (CO2), and be reflected back into the Earth - And this heats the Earth - Without it, we would freeze - Why greenhouse gases are important (within reason) - More reflection = more heat in the troposphere - Greenhouse effect DOES NOT involve radiation coming in from the sun - More greenhouse gases = stronger warming - Greenhouse gases = molecules that absorb and emit radiation at wavelengths that overlap with some of the wavelengths of radiation emitted by Earth - AKA infrared - Surface radiation = Earth emitting infrared radiation, related to the Earth’s temperature Increase CO2 and Human-Enhanced GHG Causing Climate Change:  - Warming air temperatures → warming ocean temperatures → rising sea levels, shrinking glaciers/ice, changes to the biosphere - More than 90% of the extra heat in the climate system is absorbed by oceans - Increasing ocean heat content is contributing to sea level rise, ocean heat waves, coral bleaching, melting glaciers How to Slow it: - Choices we make now matter - Policy changes - Personal choices - Even if we completely cut out CO2 human emissions, we would still see approx +1 degree of warming by the end of the century - AKA committed warming - What we already signed up for - Unless major technology changes can allow for CO2 removals from the atmosphere Week 8 - Atmospheric Aerosol Loading (February 25, 2024): What are Aerosols: - Tiny particles suspended in atmosphere - Sea salt - Volcanic dust - Desert dust - Smoke from forest fires - Human made aerosols - Ex: burning coal, oil - Very small particles - Range from few nanometers to tens of microns Measurement of Aerosols: - Measured using sensors on satellites - Produce maps that show global distributions of particular aerosols at particular times - Some patterns driven by nature - Aerosol Optical Thickness (or Depth): - Scientists use satellites equipped with radiometers to measure the amount of light that aerosols scatter and absorb in the atmosphere - And generally prevent from reaching the surface - Aerosol optical depth of: - < 0.05 = clear sky with relatively few aerosols and max visibility - 1 = hazy conditions - > 2 or 3 = high concentrations of aerosols - High aerosol optical depth is depicted in orange on a map Transport of Aerosols: - Most aerosols remain in the atmosphere for short periods - Approx. 4 - 7 days - Can travel vast distances at a quick pace - Particles that move at approx. 5 meters per second can travel thousands of km in a week Role of Aerosols: - Fertilizes ecosystems - Ex: dust from the Sahara desert contains phosphorus, and the dust particles blow and travel to fertilize the Amazon ecosystems - Important link between the atmosphere and biosphere Planetary Boundary: - CV = aerosol optical depth (AOD) - Threshold and PB have not been quantified - WHY should we define it - Human activities (since pre-industrial era) have doubled the global concentration of most aerosols - Importance: - Influence of aerosols on climate system - Adverse effects on human health at a regional and global scale Indirect Effects on Climate: - Influence the water cycle - Cloud formation - Clouds form when water vapour condenses in the troposphere - Need condensation nucleus to condense onto - Aerosols provide condensation nuclei for cloud formation - Can impact the reflection of radiation and regional precipitation patterns Direct/Complex Effects on Climate: - Aerosols (and the clouds they help create) reflect a fourth of the sun’s radiation back to space - Therefore, decrease surface temperatures (less radiation gets to earth’s surface) - “Opposite” of GHG effect - But, some aerosols absorb radiation - Black carbon aerosols - Ex: sooty black material that is emitted after burning fossil fuels, or when forests burns - Warms the layer of the atmosphere that carries the black carbon - But offers shades and cools the surface below - NOT an easy cut and dry relationship between aerosols and climate Short Term Climate Change: - Volcanic eruptions  - Sulphate aerosols are ejected into the stratosphere - Reflect incoming sunlight away from the Earth - Cools global climate for 1-2 years following the eruption - Extreme ex: “Year without a Summer” (1816) - In most cases, volcanic eruptions do not have such a severe/extreme effect on the atmosphere - Those extreme magnitudes occur approx. 1 time every 100 years - Overall impact of eruptions is dependent on the size of the volcano, overall emissions, and height of volcano Human Health Effects: - Air pollution from air particles - From combustion of fossil fuels - Can lead to cardiopulmonary disease, tracheal/bronchial/lung cancer, acute respiratory infection - Anything larger than 10 micrometers gets caught by mucus membranes - But smaller than 10 micrometers can get inhaled into lungs - Embedded in lung tissue - Can enter bloodstream - These effects convert to about 800,000 premature deaths - Mostly in Asian developing countries - Mortality due to exposure to indoor smoke is about double that of air pollution - Approx. 1.6 million deaths - These effects are mostly from the anthropogenic emissions of aerosols - Anthroposause: - Reduction in anthropogenic emissions during COVID-19 - Lockdowns, economic shutdowns → short term pauses in environmental degradation - Not feasible to expect this behaviour consistently - Needed economies back up and running - Challenge = continue developing and growing, while simultaneously promoting clean energy and other environmental initiatives - The Aral Sea: - Toxic dust - Dried lake beds are abundant sources of atmospheric dust - Filled with light, fine-grain sediments that wind can easily lift and “mix” up - One of the most harmful sources of dust worldwide - Build-up of fertilizers, pesticides, heavy metals of lakebed dust - Can travel thousands of km - Impacts soil, vegetation, and physiological and mental health Tutorial 8 - February 29, 2024: Week 9 - Biosphere Integrity (March 4, 2024): Extinction Patterns: - Natural rate of extinction - Approx. 1 extinction per 1 million species per year - Background rate of extinction - Mass extinction - Loss of 3/4 of all species in existence - Across the entire earth - Over a relatively short geological period of time - Short = less than 2.8 million years - 5 mass extinctions in Earth’s history - Due to climatic changes or massive impacts from asteroids collisions - Current species extinction rate is the highest it’s been in 65 million years - Current evidence emphasizes human’s hand in species loss - High per capita use of fossil fuels - Exploitation of ecosystems Biosphere Organization: - Organized by “size” - Previous part contributes to the next - Build off of each other - Individual - Single member of a population - Population - Group of individuals of the same species - Interact in the same region - Community - All populations living and interacting in a given area - Communities = living part of an ecosystem - Ecosystem - Portion of a biome consisting of living and nonliving components - Interact - Biome - Portion of the biosphere characterized by distinct climate and “types” of things - Ex: specific plants, animals that have adapted to that area - Biosphere - Total area on Earth where living things are found What is an Ecosystem: - Integrated system composed of biotic communities, abiotic environment, and dynamic interactions - Arbitrary spatial boundaries - But they are all nested together - Ecosystem functions - Ecological processes that control the fluctuations of energy  - How species interact - Flow of energy and nutrients - Primary production = plant growth - Secondary production = animal/microbe growth - Resource storage, movement - Decomposition - Trophic levels - Describe what kind of species and how does energy/nutrients flow between those different species/populations - Who is eating who - Ecosystem services - Benefits that humans derive from ecosystems - Provisioning: - Providing food, fuel, water - Regulating: - Floor control - Climate regulation - Supporting - Carbon storage - Nutrient cycling - Cultural - Recreation - Cultural benefits Biosphere Functioning: - Fundamental processes: - Energy flow - Biogeochemical/nutrient cycling - Solar radiation = principal source of energy - Drives ecological productivity - Photosynthesis - Autotrophs = perform photosynthesis - Feed themselves - Auto = automatic, self - Ex: plants - Heterotrophs = everything else - Must feed on biomass produced by other organisms - Ex: animals - Energy flow: - Energy passed through food chains/webs → through trophic levels - 90% of energy is lost as heat - Only 10% is passed onto the next trophic level - Primary producers = autotrophs - Plants  - Secondary producers = primary consumers - Herbivores - Feed on plants - Tertiary producers = secondary consumers - Carnivores - Feed on herbivores - Quaternary producers = tertiary consumers - Top carnivores - Feed at the top of the food web - Decomposers = consumers at every level - Detritivores - Feed on dead matter at every trophic level What are Communities: - Populations of multiple species existing in the same area at the same time - Species “fit” into communities - Apex predator = top level predator - No natural predator of their own - Resides at the top of the food chain - Keystone species = species with large effects on the environment - Significantly larger effects than other species - When keystone species are removed, an ecosystem will change drastically - Trophic cascades - Occurs when the impact of a predator on its prey affects one or more trophic levels - When the apex predator is removed, the lack of population control at the trophic level below can affect other levels - Occur across a minimum of 3 trophic levels every time - Secondary consumer, primary consumer, producer - Can also occur from the bottom up - When keystone species are removed and put into place → causes changes → trophic cascades - Habitat = physical environment where species typically lives - Niche = role a species plays in its ecosystem - Not only its habitat requirements - How it acquires food, energy, nutrients - How it interacts with other species and non-biotic parts of an ecosystem Ecosystem Ecology: - Understanding how ecosystems react to change - Loss of 1 species can disrupt an entire ecosystem - Specific populations, movement of matter and energy - Connections create ecosystem complexity - Creates genetic and functional diversity - Every piece of an ecosystem is interdependent Biodiversity: - Enhances ecosystem resilience - Degree of variation of life - Affects ecosystem function and ecosystem services - Genetic diversity - Variation of genes among individuals of the same species - Ex: varying colours of the same fish - Species diversity - Variety of species present in an area - Includes number of different species present - Abundance of different species - Ex: different types of fish - Ecological diversity - Variety of habitats, niches, trophic levels - Community interactions - Biodiversity is intertwined with ecosystem functioning - Greater biodiversity may lead to increases in productivity - Ex: more types of trees → more energy production - Higher biodiversity → higher ecosystem functions → higher ecosystem benefits/services Planetary Boundary: - CV (1) = genetic diversity (extinction rate) - Threshold = < 10 extinctions per million species per year, but background extinction rate = 1 E/MSY - Current = 100-1000 E/MSY - CV (2) = functional diversity (biological intactness index, BII) - Threshold = maintain BII at 90% or above - Assessed geographically by biomes/large regional areas - Current = 84% (South Africa) Biodiversity Loss: - Loss of 1 species can disrupt an entire ecosystem - Specific populations, movement of matter - Every piece of an ecosystem = interdependent - More biodiverse ecosystems → more resilient to other pressures COP 15 - Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework: - Percentage of Earth’s surface covered by protective areas increased from 2010 to 2019 - 14.1% → 15.3% on land - 2.9% → 7.5% in marine - Target 3 (30x30) = ensure at least 30% of terrestrial, inland water, and coastal and marine areas are effectively conserved and managed by 2030 Tutorial 9 - March 5, 2024: Salmon Lifecycle: - Anadromous - Spend part of life in freshwater and part in salt water - Egg - Alevin - Fry - Smolts - Transitionary period - Becomes acclimated to salt water after living in freshwater rivers up until this point - Ocean adult - Migrating adult - Returns back to river that they were originally born in - Spawner - Lay eggs Salmon Importance: - Keystone species - Very important organism in the ecosystem - Connected to multiple aspects - Ex: food sources for whales, bears - Animals that eat salmon OUTSIDE of the water leaves remnants on land, and fuels the bio life Salmon Weir: - Fence across the river with small openings across - Salmon are forced to go through a smaller opening - Allows conservation specialists to count/assess salmon traffic upstream - AI analysis or physically counting Week 10 - Land System Change (March 11, 2024): Land Use and Land Cover: - Primary land cover = natural vegetation that has never been disturbed by human activity - Ex: no agriculture or wood harvesting - Secondary land cover = natural vegetation that is recovering from human activities - Can be mature or young - Land use = how humans use the land - Ex: for agriculture or urbanization Global Land Use: - Earth’s surface = 29% land, 71% water - Land surface = 71% habitable, 10% glaciers, 19% barren land  - Habitable land = 50% agriculture, 37% forest, 11% shrub, 1% urban and built up land, 1% freshwater - Agricultural land = 77% livestock (meat, dairy), 23% crops - Global calorie supply = 18% meat and dairy, 82% plant-based - Global protein supply = 37% meat and dairy, 63% plant-based Impacts of Land Cover Change: - Land is converted to human use all over the planet - Forests, grasslands, wetlands, etc. → mostly cropland or agricultural - Driving force behind reductions in biodiversity - Impacts on water flows, biogeochemical cycles - Each individual change occurs on a local scale, the action can have impacts on the entire Earth’s processes on a global scale Planetary Boundary: - CV (1, global) = area of forested land as a % of the original (preindustrial) forest cover - Threshold = 75% - Current = 62% (2015) - CV (2, biome) = area of forested land as a % of potential forest - Threshold = tropical 85%, temperate 50%, boreal 85% - Current = Amazon Rainforest Significance: - 1 in 10 species globally lives in the Amazon - Performs about 14% of Earth’s photosynthesis - Approx. 20-25% of terrestrial photosynthesis - Supplies 8% of Earth’s oxygen - Approx. 15% of terrestrial oxygen Deforestation: - Net loss of forest area - 1980s = area of tropical forests declined by 15.4 million HA/year - Prompted global concern - Main causes: - Clearing of land for agriculture - Urbanization - Wildfires - Climate change/drought - Forestry ≠ deforestation - Assuming forests are replanted - But forestry = land cover change Earth System Effects of Land Use Changes: - Changing the global carbon cycle  - Potentially the global climate - Since 1850, approx. 35% of anthropogenic CO2 emissions resulted directly from land use - Regional climates through changes in surface energy and water balance - Transformation of the hydrologic cycle - Provide freshwater for irrigation, industrial, and domestic consumption - Anthropogenic nutrient inputs to the biosphere - From fertilizers, atmospheric pollutants - Widespread effects on water quality and coastal and freshwater ecosystems - Declines biodiversity - Through loss, modification, fragmentation of habitats - Degradation of soil - Overexploitation of native species The Land Use Dilemma: - Land use practices are essential for humanity - Provide natural resources and ecosystem services - Ex: food, shelter, etc. - But, most forms of land use are degrading the ecosystems and services upon which we depend - Finding the middle ground IPCC: - Urgent action to stop and reverse the overexploitation of land resources would buffer the negative impacts of multiple pressures - Ex: climate change on ecosystems and society Tutorial 10 - March 13, 2024: Forests: - Important for sustaining biodiversity, capturing C, regulate air temps and water storage, Week 11 - Novel Entities (March 18, 2024): What is a Novel Entity: - New substances, new forms of pre-existing substances, and/or modified life forms that have unwanted geophysical and/or biological effects - Many potential things - Chemicals, physical things - More than 350,000+ chemicals that are produced industrially - CFCs = novel entities - Ozone depleting substance - Effects were substantial enough to create its own PB Physical Novel Entities: - Plastic  - Much of the plastic waste produced is still on earth today - Highly durable! - By 2015, there was 7.8 billion tonnes of plastic waste produced - Roughly 1 tonne per person - More than half of all plastics ever produced have been made since 2000 - Best way to eliminate this novel entity is to stop using and producing plastic Criteria for a Pollutant to get its own PB: - Pollution must be irreversible OR very difficult to reverse - Disruptive effect is only detectable at the global scale - Pollution must disrupt Earth system processes Apply Criteria to a Pollutant: - Chemicals - At least 80% of chemicals manufactured today have not been assessed for environmental threats - Missing a lot of info regarding chemicals - A few chemicals (ex: CFCs) have been assessed - Plastic pollution - While there is still stuff we don’t know, we know a fair bit about the effects of plastic pollution Plastic as a Pollutant: - Pollution must be irreversible OR very difficult to reverse - Estimate 8 million metric tonnes of plastic waste enters the world’s ocean from coastal regions - Increasing each year - Estimated that 90% of plastics that have been produced are NOT recycled - Plastic = geological marker of anthropocene - Plastics are abundant - “Techno fossils” - Global plastic from 1950-2015 - 100% production = 8.3 million metric tonnes → 30% in use = 2.3 million metric tonnes → 60% discarded = 4.9 million metric tonnes (12% incinerated, release GHGs = 800 metric tonnes) → 9% recycled = 600 metric tonnes (most of it ends up in the landfills since plastic can usually only be recycled 1-2 times) - Plastic in landfills ends up in many other spheres of our Earth - Atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, lithosphere, cryosphere - The term plastic is a “catchall” for many different types of materials - Hard to recycle plastics because there are so many differing aspects - 3% of global annual plastic waste entered the ocean - Get stuck in the ocean gyres and creates “floating islands” of plastic - Garbage patches - Disruptive effect is only detectable at the global scale  - Potential scenarios: - Concentration of the contaminant is nearly homogenous at the global scale - Plastic abundance is similar across the board - Effects are rapidly distributed globally - Effects of the containment are only observable at the global scale - Time delay between the exposure of the contaminant and the effects - Plastic meets these requirements - Pollution must disrupt Earth system processes - MPP has direct effects on organisms - MPP has indirect effects as a vector or carrier of other pollutants - MPP has systemic effects on various temporal and spatial scales - Mismanagement of discarded plastic is implicated in globally systemic alteration to food webs, habitats, and BGC flows - MPP link to climate change - Copepods ingest microplastics → fecal matter then does not settle as quickly into marine sediments → changes ocean carbon storage - Sunlight accelerates disintegration of plastics → releases methane (powerful form of GHG) - Plastics floating in arctic waters interfere with ice formation and melt Great Pacific Garbage Patch: - Largest documented GP - Typically, GPs are constructed of: - Approx. 20-30% of ocean plastics come from marine sources - Approx. 70-80% of ocean plastics come from land sources - But, GDGP is constructed of approx. 52% of plastic from marine sources - Due to intensive fishing activity in the pacific ocean How Scientists Collect Data about Plastic Pollution: - Where does Plastic Come From: - Sector = Packaging creates the most plastic waste - Country = China, USA, Brazil, Nigeria, Japan, Germany, Pakistan - Coastal Populations = China (28% of global mismanaged waste, combined Asia accounts for more than 60%) - Ocean plastics specifically, populations within 50 km of a coastline - Mismanaged plastic waste: inadequately managed waste, literate waste - High income countries have more effective methods of managing the waste - While China may produce/mismanage the most plastic waste, plastic is a globally traded commodity - No pointing fingers, still a global issue - High income countries will essentially move their plastic waste to middle/low income countries to get rid of their produced waste  - In 2017, China introduced a ban on importing non-industrial plastic waste - By 2030, it’s estimated that approx. 110 million tonnes of plastic will be displaced as a result - Countries will begin exporting waste to other countries, therefore replicating the problem in other areas - More to the story than just mismanaged waste - Managed waste ends up in: - Landfills - Leakage distributes microplastics and other pollutants into groundwater, rivers, oceans, atmosphere - Interacts with plants, animals, humans, etc. - Incinerated - GHG and other pollutants released into our atmosphere - Recycled - Only 9% - Eventually ends up in landfills anyways - Microplastics from laundry - Synthetic textiles, clothing releases microfibers - During drying: microfibers released into the air, we inhale them - During washing: microfibers get washed down the drain, released into the next water body OR run through a wastewater treatment plant - Water body: 3.5 quadrillion released - Wastewater treatment plant (WWTP): 65 quadrillion retained (held back in the sludge) - High in nutrients, used as a fertilizer and/or landscaping material - BUT, this introduces microplastics to soil - Even more than just mismanaged and managed waste - When thinking of plastic pollution, we have to consider the WHOLE life cycle of plastic - Extraction → transport → oil refinery → transport → naphtha fracking → nurdles → virgin plastic transport → product manufacture → “end” (managed, mismanaged) - Emissions of GHG, burning fossil fuels, pollution releases How does Plastic End up in the Ocean: - Largest contribution = rivers - Traffic: driving cars, tires are made of rubber, microfibers rub off - Agricultural runoff - WWTP: flow to rivers, which flow to oceans - Sea based contributions = fishing industry - All of this leads to plastic found in the ocean - Sea surface - Water column - Sediments Plastic Pollution Impacts: - Alters habitats, harms wildlife, damages ecosystems function and services - More than 800 species are already known to be affected by MPP - Plastic has been identified as having human health impacts through its life cycle - Alter soil structure - Decreases its ability to hold water - Carry pollutants - Decrease microbial activity Planetary Boundary: - No known, concrete CV or threshold - So many things that are considered novel entities - Most majorly suggested CV = disturbance to biosphere by plastic pollution - In some parts of the world, this has already been crossed - Other potential CV = released quantities of plastic into the environment - No concrete value, but we have most likely already crossed this boundary - Considering how much we’ve produced already Addressing the Plastic Problem: - Current approaches focus on small impact solutions - Ex: banning plastic straws - While these approaches have good intentions and raise awareness, they will quickly be absorbed by the growth of global plastic reproduction - Must focus on high impact solutions - Understand the global picture of plastic pollution - Ex: developing effective waste management infrastructures in all countries, stop plastic trading (rich → poor countries), managing fishing activity and waste, global policies to reduce plastic production Tutorial 11 - March 20, 2024: How does Plastic Enter Bodies of Water: - Wind - Litter can be swept away - Drainage systems - Sewage overflow - Drains into water bodies - Storms - Large storms lead to excess runoff - Sweeps away plastic pollution Week 12 - Ocean Acidification (March 25, 2024): Cause of OA: - Excess carbon in the atmosphere absorbed by the oceans - Carbon is due to human activity - Extra CO2 in the ocean lowers the pH in the ocean - Becomes more acidic - Organisms are potentially impacted by increased absorption of CO2 in the ocean - Coral reefs are especially important because they are extremely biologically diverse - Help control CO2 absorption - Approx. 25% of anthropogenic CO2 is absorbed by the ocean Ocean Acidification = Climate Change’s Evil Twin: - CC is not the only consequence in carbon pollution - As CO2 increases in the atmosphere, oceans absorb more of it - Becomes increasingly acidic - This is occurring at an unprecedented rate - Will continue if we don’t stop burning fossil fuels Ocean (Marine) Ecosystems: - Impacted by OA - Marine ecosystems over 70% of Earth’s surface - Large variety of plants and animals - More than all land masses combined - Coral reefs - Large, underwater structures - Formed by colonies of small invertebrates - NOT plants - Produce calcium carbonate exoskeletons - Accumulate over time - Corals = ultimate keystone species - Provide underlying structures for the whole reef communities - Approx. 25% of ocean species spend time in coral reefs - Important role of coral reefs - Makes them worth monitoring by ecologists - Critical to understand how ocean ecosystems function Ocean Absorption of CO2: - CO2 uptake can go through 2 cycles - Solubility cycle - CO2 is “pumped” into the ocean (atmospheric CO2 → CO2 dissolved into ocean, pCO2) - Increased atmospheric CO2 → increased pCO2 - pCO2 + H20 ↔ H2CO3 - Dissolved carbon dioxide + water = carbonic acid - H2CO3 → HCO3- and H+  - Carbonic acid = bicarbonate + hydrogen ions - Hydrogen ions are what makes the ocean more acidic - HCO3- → CO3 (2-) and H+ - Bicarbonate = carbonate + hydrogen ions - Hydrogen ions are what makes the ocean more acidic - Higher H+ concentration → lower pH (more acidic) - Created by dissociation of carbonic acid and bicarbonate - pH = measure of concentration of H+ - pH of ocean water = 8.1 - 8.3 ish - Calcium carbonate is important because it’s used by organisms to make their shells - CO3(2-) + Ca = CaCO3 (calcium carbonate) - Ocean can balance out the acidity - Buffering - Reactions going “back and forth” - Biological cycle - Photosynthetic organisms convert CO2 - Take energy from the sun, take out CO2, convert into organic matter - CO2 + H20 + sun energy = oxygen, biomass - In the ocean = biological carbon pump - When the created biomass sinks to the bottom of the ocean, it’s pumping CO2 from the atmosphere into the sediments - If it’s not decomposed, then the CO2 stays buried in the ocean floor OA in Numbers: - 40% increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels since the start if the industrial revolution - 26% increase in ocean acidity from pre-industrial levels to today - Projected increase in ocean acidity by 2100 = 170% - Compared to pre-industrial levels if CO2 levels continue on the same trend - Current rate of acidification is over 10x faster than any time in the last 55 million years - Ocean absorbs 24 million tonnes of CO2 every day Planetary Boundary: - CV = carbonate ion concentration - Average global surface ocean saturation state, related to aragonite - Threshold = aragonite concentration should be over 80% of the pre-industrial saturation - Including natural and seasonal variability - Current = approx. 84% - Not yet crossed Saturation State with Respect to Aragonite: - “Saturation state” (Ω) = level of saturation of calcium carbonate in seawater - Mineral form of calcium carbonate = aragonite - If Ω < 1, conditions are corrosive for aragonite-based shells/skeletons  - Undersaturated - BAD - Shells/skeletons would dissolve, or not able to be produced - If Ω > 1, conditions are favourable for shell/skeleton formation - Supersaturated - GOOD - Coral growth occurs best when Ω > 3 - BEST Ocean’s Continuation to Absorb Excess CO2: - As ocean acidity rises, its capacity to absorb atmospheric CO2 decreases - Therefore, this decrease the ocean’s role in moderating climate change Solutions: - restore/establish land uses that enhance uptake of atmospheric CO2 by vegetation and soils - Ex: wetland restoration - Multiple smaller projects added together = larger impact - Geoengineering - Ex: “fertilizing” oceans with iron to cause human-made phytoplankton blooms to take up CO2 (effective in small areas) - Results are unknown, could be detrimental - Hard to predict, gauge - Cut fossil fuel emissions - Only thing we know that will be effective and positively impact the situation - Realistic mitigation solution - Would also combat climate change Tutorial 12 - March 27, 2024: Ocean Ecosystems: - Ocean ecosystems cover 70% of the Earth’s surface - Oceans have a greater diversity of plants and animals than all land masses combined Coral Reefs: - Colonies of small invertebrates - Not plants! - Keystone species - Make up places for animals to live - Calcium carbonate exoskeletons build up over time - 25% of all ocean species spend part of their life in a coral reef Ocean Acidification: - Excess CO2 in the atmosphere lowers the pH of seawater  - Becomes more acidic - Limits growth of coral - Basically stops growing Biological Carbon Pump: - Phytoplankton take in CO2 from the atmosphere - Photosynthesis - Zooplankton eat the phytoplankton - Zooplankton die off and sink to the bottom of the ocean - Bring the CO2 with them - Carbon remains buried in the sediment on the seafloor - Lack of disturbance at the bottom, just sits there - Ocean = carbon sink - NOT source Standard Error: - Error bars - How far each dataset is from the mean - Short bars = values are close to the mean - Long bars = values are far from the mean - Overlap = the difference between 2 datasets may not be statistically significant Week 13 - Sustainability (April 1, 2024): Making Changes that coincide with our Personal Constraints: - Assessing your lifestyle, make changes that are feasible for you - Small, personal changes motivate larger changes on a world scale - Ex: politicians, policy makers, - Without transformative global policy changes, we will not be able to return to a safe operating system - PBs - Changes only occur if we are all aware of the situation and are “aboard” the ship Define Sustainability: - Sustainable: when something is sustainable, it is able to endure, thrive, and regenerate without overburdening the living systems of Earth - In “human scale of time” - Sustainable society: a society that satisfies its needs without jeopardizing opportunities for future generations - Environmental - Social - Economic  - Sustainable development: development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability for future growth and future generation’s needs World Scientists’ Warning to Humanity: - Published in 1992 (31 years ago) - Stated that: - We are on a collision course when considering the regenerative capabilities of the ecosphere - Human society may be unable to sustain life as we know it - Fundamental changes are urgent - Second publication in 2017 - Stated that: - Humanity has failed to make sufficient progress in general - Most of them are getting far worse Operating within the PBs = Sustainability: - Does operating within the PBs achieve sustainability? Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): - Adopted in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development - Signed by all members of the UN in 2015 - “Shared blueprint” - Urgent call for action by all countries - 17 total - No poverty - End hunger, achieve food security, improved nutrition, promote sustainable agriculture - Good health and wellbeing - Quality education - Gender equality - Clean water and sanitation - Affordable and clean energy - Decent work and economic growth - Industry, innovation, infrastructure - Reduced inequalities - Sustainable cities and communities - Responsible consumption and production - Climate action - Looking out for life below water - Looking out for life on land - Peace, justice, and strong institutions - Partnerships for the goals - Can we achieve SDGs within the safe operating space of the PBs? - As we achieve more SDGs, we are projected to do so at the sacrifice of the safe operating space 5 Transformational Policies from Rockstrom: - Rapid renewable energy growth - Cutting emissions in half every decade starting in 2020 - Accelerated sustainable food chains - +1%/year better productivity, more sustainable solutions - New development models in the poorer countries - Replicating aspects of those countries that are better developed - Active inequality reduction - Ensuring 10% richest < 40% of income - Investment in education to all, gender equality, health, family planning - Improves wellbeing, reduces eco footprint - These aspects allow us to achieve the SDGs without sacrificing the safe operating space Sustainability Requirements: - Reduction in inputs and outputs of human economies - Shift to renewable energy - Energy from resources that are easily replenished or perpetually available - Can be used and replenished in a timely manner - Ex: non-renewable = minerals, fossil fuels (oil, gas, coal) - Ex: renewable = solar, wind, water - Sustainable energy = renewable energy with a low environmental impact - Vancouver’s energy: - 98% of electricity currently comes from BC hydro - Goal is to achieve 100% of all energy, not just electricity - Reduction in waste - A human concept - No real waste in natural systems because all “waste”/matter is reused by another organism - Law of conservation of matter: matter is neither created or destroyed - Humans expel waste that is not used again - Waste/trash = products of human creation that are no longer wanted, and therefore thrown away - 48% of waste is constructed of oil sands, oil and gas industry - 19%, 16% of waste from various mining forms - 14% of waste from livestock manure - 3% of waste from municipal solid waste (MSW) - Scaling down of lifestyles - Reduction in population - Deals with the issue of overpopulation - But narratives of resource exploitation and overpopulation may justify compulsory sterilization and even genocide… - Overpopulation does not solve climate change  - Generalizing all societies as the same puts those who are lesser at a disadvantage - Ex: well-developed vs under-developed - “Inconvenient truths” Ecological Footprint: - Impact of a country or individual on the environment - Expressed as the amounts of land required to support the use of natural resources - Measures = how fast we consume resources and generate waste compared to how fast nature can absorb our waste and generate new resources - Energy, settlement, timber/paper, food, seafood - Carbon footprint, build-up land, forest, cropland/pastures, fisheries - Average eco footprint in Canada = 5 earths - If everyone lived like the average Canadian, it would take 5 earths to support this lifestyle and this population - People like us, who have the bandwidth for a larger eco footprint in a well-developed society need to make choices that reduce our eco footprints