Week 5 HW1 (PDF)

Week 5 HW1 Biodiversity loss since European colonization is severe, but there are 4 reasons that make conservation hopeful. What are they? Australia has distinct advantages that could help stem losses and enable recovery: (i) The continent is a single nation, making legislative, policy, and managem...

Week 5 HW1 Biodiversity loss since European colonization is severe, but there are 4 reasons that make conservation hopeful. What are they? Australia has distinct advantages that could help stem losses and enable recovery: (i) The continent is a single nation, making legislative, policy, and management responses theoretically simple; (ii) it is politically stable and wealthy, which should allow consistent, strategic, and long-term responses to conservation problems; (iii) it has a low population density, which should cap pressure on the environment; and (iv) the country’s Indigenous peoples retain a culture of caring for Country (a term for the interlinked spiritual, cosmological, cultural, ecological, and physical environmental attributes) and continue to manage large areas of the continent. In addition, many Australians celebrate their natural world, and a large majority want no further extinctions. Look at Fig. 1D. What is the biggest threat to Australian biodiversity? Is this expected according to the Theory of Island Biogeography? Increases in extinction risks to threatened biodiversity constitute the final stages in only part of Australia’s biodiversity decline. - The biggest threat to Australian biodiversity is invasive species The theory of island biogeography: The theory proposes that the number of species on an island is determined by a dynamic equilibrium between two main processes: Immigration: The rate at which new species arrive and colonize the island. Extinction: The rate at which species already present on the island die out. Hence, due to the increase in invasive species -> this leads to rapid colonization of the island, and the increase in extinction rates of existing species Page 4 What important roles have mammals served in the Australian ecosystem? Many now extinct or declining mammal species provided critical roles in ecosystem function, such as turnover of soil, seed dispersal, and germination and as keystone predators. Page 4 What is the main driver of loss for plants? For plants, the main driver of loss has been habitat clearance and degradation. Page 4 What is the main driver of loss for frogs? For frogs, it has been chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis), first evident in the 1970s. Page 6 What is “Indigenous Caring for Country” and how is it used today? The rights and responsibilities of Indigenous Australians to care for Country and their critical role in biodiversity conservation are increasingly recognized in policy and management implementation. Eg. The growing leadership of Indigenous Australians in a range of fire management initiatives provides an example of rich cross-cultural solutions to challenging contemporary conservation problems Where is your home region and what is the state of biodiversity in your home region? What seems to be the biggest threat to your home region’s biodiversity? - The biodiversity in hong kong is pretty good - The biggest threat would be air pollution cuased by diesel/petrol fueled cars -> because we don’t have legislation regarding renewable energy use such as biodiesel -> so still predominantly based on petrol and diesel. HW2 Read the article below and answer this question: What benefits do NYC trees provide to residents? 1. 527.67 grams of pollutants it saves from human lungs every year 2. trees can provide crucial de-pollution services Week 6 HW1 How much of NYC is greenspace? The tree canopies, shrubs and lawns cover nearly 35 percent of the city, according to the study. How much of NYC's human-caused carbon emissions does this greenery absorb? the greenery takes up enough carbon to absorb as much as 40 percent of the human-caused carbon emissions in the New York City area. HW2 1 What is the definition of anthropogenic? Human caused 2 Amazon ecosystems are affected by anthropogenic activities. List three of the main drivers of Amazonian ecosystem destruction and degradation. The main drivers of Amazonian habitat destruction and degradation are land-use changes (such as land clearing, wildfires, and soil erosion), water-use changes (such as damming and fragmenting rivers and increased sedimentation from deforestation), and aridification from global climate change. 3 Which impacts the Amazon ecosystem faster: humans or natural phenomena? Human impacts outpace natural processes in the Amazon -> so humans 4 True or False: There are no policies known to prevent the worst outcomes. Policies to prevent the worst outcomes are known and must be enacted immediately. We now need political will and leadership to act on this information. To fail the Amazon is to fail the biosphere, and we fail to act at our peril -> False HW3 What is gentrification? Gentrification is the process where a poor urban area is changed by wealthier people moving in and displacing the current inhabitants. How does gentrification change the built and natural environment of a neighborhood? Changes in the built environment can be relatively easy to measure. For example, gentrification can result in new businesses or safer housing, even better transportation options, investment in schools, healthier food options at the grocery store, stuff like that. But gentrification can also change the natural environment, and that is a little bit more difficult to measure. Certainly, the creation of new green spaces can also raise property values and result in gentrification; and that's something kind of easy to measure. But other processes like reinvestment with an already existing green space is really hard to measure. And then even at smaller scales, the landscaping choices that new inhabitants to a gentrifying neighborhood make can also really add up to have a very big impact on the natural environment. What does it mean to disconnect urban green space development from Western capitalism? 1. Shifting priorities away from profit-driven development: Western capitalist approaches often prioritize economic gains when developing urban spaces, including green areas. Disconnecting from this model means focusing on ecological and social benefits rather than financial returns1. 2. Emphasizing community needs and input: Instead of top-down planning driven by developers or investors, green space development would be guided by local community needs, preferences, and participation2. 3. Preserving existing communities: A non-capitalist approach would aim to create green spaces without displacing current residents through gentrification. This means implementing policies to maintain affordable housing and protect vulnerable populations Why does the author suggest that we disconnect urban green space development from Western capitalism? we need to start addressing these types of systemic issues that occur in cities if we are going to have equitable and just cities in the future HW4 Make a simple list of the five neighborhoods in this article and next to each name, write its main environmental problem. Reflect on your hometown or near you home town and write a few sentence about the major environmental injustice there. 1. Traffic in the South Bronx has contributed to higher asthma rates, which put residents at a disadvantage when extreme weather, such as smoke from wildfires, pollutes the air further. 2. Trees struggle to thrive in Red Hook, where the water table is high, meaning the ground is often saturated. 3. Edgemere, Queens, lacks fresh produce (but has plenty of flooding). 4. Throgs Neck, the Bronx: With the recent influx of migrants, there is also a strong demand for English classes at the branch. But the building is too small to offer them 5. A legacy of toxins in East Williamsburg and Greenpoint, Brooklyn HW5 What is LIDAR and how was it used in this study. What was the main research outcome that was revealed by LIDAR? The team’s main tool was lidar, which relies on an airplane beaming a laser over a region to measure the heights of buildings and treetops. By inputting those heights into an algorithm describing the positions of the Sun in the sky, they mapped where shade is cast each day. They found greater temperature effects in disadvantaged communities because those areas had little tree cover to begin with. HW6 According to this article, what is the “urban heat island effect”? the urban heat island effect, where buildings, roads and other built infrastructure absorb heat, making those neighborhoods significantly hotter than nearby greener neighborhoods. How is LIDAR used in the research described in this article? NYC uses lidar scans to offer a “leaf-level” visualization for each of the city’s 7m trees. By focusing on individual trees rather than the city’s aggregate tree canopy, Kobald said, researchers can learn more about how trees contribute to the overall shadiness of specific areas and then better direct resources to those areas. Week 7 HW1 How do geological dynamics impact biodiversity? active plate tectonics promote both the formation of mountains, such as the Andes in South America, and the emergence of archipelagos, as in Southeast Asia. These two processes result in many new ecological niches, which in turn give rise to numerous new species. HW2 What forms the high ground in Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island? the mammoth sheet of ice ended immediately to the south, in Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island. The terminal moraine, the mounds of rubble left behind, form much of their high ground. What is a terminal moraine? terminal moraine, the mounds of rubble left behind, form much of their high ground. What is an erratic? Boulders like this one in Forest Park in Woodhaven were deposited by the ice sheet as it retreated. They are called erratics. Look at the map and answer: What is the string of parks, cemeteries and golf courses built on and why? The terminal moraine was often the last land to be developed, and parts of this inexpensive land were set aside for parks, cemeteries and golf courses. How did Brooklyn and Staten Island become disconnected? Staten Island and Brooklyn were once connected by the terminal moraine, but glacial floodwaters pouring down the Hudson River some 13,000 years ago burst through the ridge and formed the Narrows. HW3 How do trees respond to climate change? Rising global temperatures and changing weather patterns are accelerating the movement of the trees How is the shotgun used in this research? To measure tree migration - The trees “migrate” by spreading their seeds - To shoot down the leaves at the top of the canopy because they get a consistent amount of sunlight HW4 What is a kettle pond? a kettle pond, a 62-acre dimple in sand and gravel that formed around a block of melting glacial ice about 15,000 years ago. What does the author mean by "the bottom is a time capsule? The bottom is a time capsule. Within its sediments are layer upon layer of fine silt washed in from the shore, golden pollen grains from flowers and trees, charcoal from forest fires, insect wings, fungus spores and the remains of microscopic algae. Echo soundings of the deep basin by the Salem State University geologist Brad Hubeny and colleagues recently revealed about 30 feet of mud dating from the birth of the pond What were plastic tubes used for? lowered weighted plastic tubes through 45 feet of water near the center of the pond and hauled up several sediment cores. The longest measured two feet, enough to capture 1,500 years of environmental history. In this 1,500 year-long paleoecological record, when was the period of most extreme change? the sediments of the last century were more extreme than anything in the previous 1,400 years What biological indicator revealed nutrient pollution? Diatoms Name two layers in the pond that represent human activity and what were the activities? If you were to dive to the bottom of the pond and thrust your hand wrist-deep into the mud, your fingertips would brush a layer that emits radiation. It is laced with cesium-137, a memento of the early 1960s, when humankind flirted with Armageddon. Just above the cesium layer, that layer was deposited during 1968, when the lake was poisoned with rotenone, a fish-killing pesticide. HW5 Where can you find remnants of old growth forests in NYC? How did many of these NY logs get to the city? What is archaeodendrochronology? archaeodendrochronology, the study of wood from old buildings. Briefly explain how tree rings relate to climate conditions. Trees’ growth rings vary each year according to weather; in the simplest translation, wider rings mean wetter years with good growing conditions. in-class reading: add to your class notes your answers to these reading questions: 1: make a list of course topics that appear in this reading - El nino - La nina - Trade winds - Rise in global ocean temperatures - Temperature anomalies - albedo 2: Describe how a La Nina phase serves as an ocean air conditioner? During La Niña, strong trade winds push warm surface water west along the equator toward Indonesia and pull up a fountain of deep, cold water in the eastern Pacific that helps cool the planet -> functioning as an air conditioner Pollution and hydrology lecture starter: Point source pollution: pollution from a precise origin. Eg. industrial plant Non point source pollution: pollution from diffuse, unbounded discharges from many contributors, such as runoff from city streets or agricultural runoffs. Biodegradable pollutant: pollutants that can be broken down into less harmful components by bacteria eg. sewage, paper Non biodegradable: pollutant that can not be broken down or metabolized and can accumulate overtime and therefore be more dangerous, eg PCBS, DDT, dioxin, and heavy metals eg mecury arsenic lead Biomagnification: higher concentrations of a particular pollutant are reached in organisms higher up the food chain, generally through a series of prey predator Higher concentrations of a particular chemical higher up the food chain (because they accumulate in the lower levels of the food chain and they tertiary consumers consume them) Week 8 HW1 How does the title of this article relate to albedo? Climate scientists have long known that pollution declines can lead to warming: Not only do the pollution particles, or aerosols, reflect light into space, but they can also increase the number of droplets in clouds, causing them to grow brighter or last longer - Lower pollution -> clearer skies lead to a decrease in albedo/reflectivity What are other factors mentioned that reduce Earth's reflectivity? Melting snow and ice expose darker land, and warming can cause low marine clouds to dissipate, revealing a dark ocean. Changes in winds and ocean currents could also be altering cloud behavior to make them less reflective. Are these positive feedbacks or negative feedbacks? The melting of the snow and ice -> will lead to decreased albedo -> which continues to warm up the planet due to a decrease in reflectivity -> leading to a greater increase in the melting of snow and ice -> hence this is a positive feedback mechanism Same with the changes in winds and ocean currents which alters cloud behavior -> if the behaviors are affected -> this leads to increased warming + potential for greater pattern changes HW2 What is happening to the Amazon River and why? The Amazon River, battered by back-to-back droughts fueled by climate change, is drying up, with some stretches of the mighty waterway dwindling to shallow pools only a few feet deep. Tldr: the amazon river is drying up -> caused by climate change Why is it referred to as a superhighway? The crisis has gridlocked the Amazon, a vital watery superhighway that serves as practically the only way to connect forest communities and move commerce around some of the most remote stretches on the planet. What are three societal/economic ecosystem services provided by the river to the people that live and work near the Amazon? 1. The tributaries -> allow for transportation via water transport for people living near the amazon The remarkable drop in water levels has left boats struggling to shuttle children to school, rush the sick to hospitals or deliver medicine and drinking water to distant villages. 2. The jungle absorbs and stores heat-trapping gases from the atmosphere. 3. It used to be able to shade vegetation from intense sunlight and to retain moisture What is Brazil currently doing to mitigate this situation? “The decision to dredge meets a need for communities, for mankind,” Dr. Val said. “But, from an environmental point of view, it is very reckless.” Still, the dredging plan was welcome news in communities like Tauary, a riverside village in one of the driest regions in the state of Amazonas. HW3 Define the term "tipping point" and give an example of one. Tipping point -> refers to a threshold that if surpassed, may lead to irreversible changes to the environment An example would be the continuous decrease in average temperatures, if it decreases more than 2 degrees celsius -> would surpass a threshold. HW4 What is Arctic amplification? The far north has already been warming four times as quickly as the global average, a phenomenon that scientists call Arctic amplification. HW5 What is “AMOC collapse” and how would it impact climate? AMOC -> tipping-point-like change in a tangle of ocean currents Their analysis included no specific assumptions about how much greenhouse-gas emissions will rise in this century. It assumed only that the forces bringing about an AMOC collapse would continue at an unchanging pace — essentially, that atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations would keep rising as they have since the Industrial Revolution. HW5 What do nations have to do to prevent the planet from overheating beyond the dangerous threshold? Mr. Guterres called on countries to stop building new coal plants and to stop approving new oil and gas projects, especially large nations such as China and the United States How many degrees is that threshold? The 1.5 degree limit HW6 What causes red-lined neighborhoods to be at higher risk for heat stress? Urban heat islands, hot pockets of city where asphalt, dense buildings, and infrastructure cause the temperature to rise higher than in surrounding areas, are home to millions of people who are not able to properly escape the effects of unrelenting summer heat. Tldr: in urban areas, the urban heat island effect is super prevalent -> and if people don’t have access to necessary equipment -> then they will suffer in terms of not being able to cope with increasing temperatures HW7 Some inspiration toward solutions: what is Dr. Johnson's three-part suggestion? What brings you joy What are you good at What work needs doing -> focusing on those area to collectively band together to solve for climate change Week 9 HW1 Which two factors mentioned in this article have interfered with Earth's rotation on its axis? Accelerated melting of the polar ice sheets and mountain glaciers had changed the way mass was distributed around the planet enough to influence its spin. Scientists say that warming will largely halt once humans stop adding heat-trapping gases to the atmosphere, a concept known as “net zero” emissions. HW2 What is threatening New Orleans' drinking water according to this article? Saltwater is swiftly pushing its way up the Mississippi River and is expected to contaminate most of the New Orleans public drinking water supply on Oct. 28 ***The Mississippi’s current is typically strong enough to prevent seawater from the Gulf of Mexico from moving upriver. But it’s a challenge that gets harder each year as global warming causes sea level in the Gulf to rise while coastal subsidence causes the riverbed to sink. HW3 What two factors are helping this happen? 1. The broader Mississippi watershed has endured consecutive years of drought, those drought conditions have deeply affected the states in the Midwest, which feed the river downstream. 2. The lower Mississippi is isolated by levees and doesn’t have large tributaries feeding into it. “When it rains in the state of Mississippi or in Louisiana, it doesn’t actually go into the river at all While there’s a good chance of some rain in the next two weeks, according to the National Weather Service precipitation outlook, a huge amount will be needed to stop the saltwater creeping upriver. HW4 What does BWM stand for and how does it work? The “bengal water machine” -> They did so simply by irrigating intensively in the summer dry season using water from shallow wells. The the ability to use groundwater to irrigate rice paddies during the dry seasons (January to May) helped Bangladesh become food self-sufficient by the 1990s, which was no small feat for one of the most densely populated countries in the world. Researchers proposed that lowering of the groundwater table as a result of intensive irrigation practices in the dry season created conditions for recharge from monsoon rains (June to September), which then replenishes the groundwater. Tldr: basically they create shallow wells -> that then fill up during monsoon season -> replenishes the water supply “This depletion-replenish process and show that this recharge has indeed been happening at a large scale, in a process they call the Bengal Water Machine (BWM)” HW5 What activity enabled the abatement of the food shortages typical of the 1970s? After severe food shortages in the 1970s, Bangladesh embarked on a path toward agricultural intensification. Groundwater irrigation played a huge role in enabling this effort by allowing farmers to cultivate boro, a type of summer rice crop (3, 4). Affordable drilling of shallow tube wells, policy support for the import of cheap water pumps, and removal of bureaucratic control over pump installation have all con- tributed to a consistent increase in the area and production of boro rice HW6 What 2019 policy is threatening food availability and how does it do this? However, more than 30 years after the removal of bureaucratic controls over pump installtion, the government of Bangladesh reintroduced a pump permit system in 2019 to limit groundwater use (7). Without customizing these policies according to local aquifer and recharge conditions, the regulation may create unnecessary hurdles for farmers in search of affordable irrigation Ecology is the study of the relationships between living things and their environment. Paleoecology = ecology of the past What was the ecology of the New York City area like 12,000 years ago? Was it warmer or colder? Were the plants and animals the same? Why would we want to know this? Knowledge from the past may help us understand what we see today. Maybe we can use this information to predict or prepare for the future. An example of famous paleoecology science paper that showed us what happened in the past so we can understand patterns of glaciation and know what to expect in the future is by Hays, Imbrie and Shackleton. They used ocean cores, forams*, oxygen isotopes and found evidence supporting: ice ages occur and last for about 100,000 years and that they are separated by warm phases that last about 10,000-20,000 years. We are in a warm phase now. *Foraminifera: simple, aquatic, amoeboid protozoans (mostly marine); indicators of salinity, temperature, oxygen ratios During an ice age: Ice sheets grow larger Sea levels get lower Plants and animals redistribute themselves. Ice conditions today: Ice conditions 18,000 years ago: How does a glacier grow? More snow falls than that which melts in the summer; it accumulates. This is how much of the US was covered with ice during the Last Glacial Maximum, 18,000 years ago. Vegetation distribution today………………………………………………..………and at the Last Glacial Maximum: Did NYC look something like this 12,000 years ago? ice , mastodons, sabertooth cats, tundra vegetation……. How can we find out? To trace the ecology of the past you need evidence: -Fossils of microscopic size (microfossils) are everywhere and abundant. -Microfossils are biological indicators of past environments. -If you know the ecological requirements of the various fossil species and their current geographic distributions, you can infer the environmental conditions of where you found them. An example of microfossils: Pollen grains: microscopic structures that carry male genetic material from one plant to the next; indicators of vegetation. Here are some pictures of pine pollen, hickory pollen and basswood pollen: Palynology: the study of pollen and spores The reconstruction of a vegetation history is largely dependent on fossil pollen. Pollen and spores have a highly resistant outer layer that facilitates excellent preservation. Principles of pollen analysis Plants produce enormous amounts of pollen pollen grains have distinctive surface sculpture which permits identification of the plant species or family that produced the pollen each spring/summer, the pollen released into the atmosphere eventually returns to the earth’s surface = pollen rain Pollen rain that falls on lakes/ponds/bogs gets preserved in the bottom sediments. Each year a layer of pollen is deposited, leaving a signature of the vegetation that produced it. If a palynologist locates a lake or bog that has not been disturbed, they have found a potential record of vegetation. The pollen analysis includes identification of no less than 300 grains per layer and the tallying of each type. For example 80 oak pollen grains, 20 hemlock grains, etc. How do you get the pollen out of the lake? Find the deepest part of the lake, it will typically have the thickest sediments. Core the sediments with a hand driven piston-corer. Wrap and label each core segment and bring to the lab. How do you isolate the pollen from the lake mud? Take 1cc sediment samples from the core at close intervals. Process using sieves and various chemicals to remove unwanted components from the sediment. Mount the resulting pure pollen suspension on a slide and begin microscopic analysis. Plant macrofossils: are fossil seeds, needles, buds, twigs, etc. can often be identified to the species level can confirm local presence of a taxon at the study site can provide valuable material for radiocarbon dating. can be isolated from pollen-bearing sediments by sieving and identified using a dissection microscope, reference material and pictorial keys paper birch seeds Forest, climate, and fire history of the Hudson Highlands, southeastern New York during the last >12,500 years (TMG): The Late-glacial (>12,500 years ago (BP)): dominated by herbaceous and shrub types: with some trees, Pine (Pinus) and Spruce (Picea) possibly represents a tundra-like environment with scattered trees. More Late-glacial (12,500-11,000 BP): onset of organic deposition into each pond and the first occurrence of seeds and other plant macrofossils and large increases in pollen influx to the ponds indicates development of a mixed boreal coniferous - temperate deciduous woodland (Spruce, Fir, Paper Birch,Oak, Ostrya/Carpinus, and Ash. = dramatic environmental change (climatic warming) began at 12,500 years ago. Younger Dryas (11,000-10,000 BP) : An abrupt climatic flip back to cold conditions occurred at approximately 11,000 years ago and lasted for roughly 1000 years. This happened because the Gulf Stream ocean current was shut off for 1000 years due to glacial melt water reducing the salinity of the current. This cool climatic episode is inferred from the dominance of Spruce, Fir, and Alder with a reduction of Oak, Ash, and Ostrya/Carpinus. Holocene: Warm conditions, similar to the present, were established by 10,175 years ago. This is inferred from expanding Oak-dominated forests and invasion by White Pine, followed by Eastern Hemlock at 9645 years ago and replacement of Paper Birch (cold tree) by Gray Birch (warm tree) at approximately 9575 years ago. The early and middle Holocene (10,000 - 2000 BP) : Featured immigration of other tree taxa: American Beech (Fagus grandifolia) at 8100 BP Hickory (Carya) at 6200 BP American Chestnut (Castanea dentata) at 3600 BP Native American influence on vegetation: sources: archaeological, paleoecological, dendrochronological, and ethnobotanical research, as well as traditional ecological knowledge Native Americans actively managed the landscape through activities such as burning and cultivation to increase the mast yields of their favorite native plants notable favorites: hickory, oak, chestnut, walnut: important sources of fat and carbohydrates began as early as the Middle Archaic Period (approximately 8,000 to 5,000 years ago) refs in Fern, Rachel R., et al. "Native American landscape modification in pre-settlement south-west Georgia." Landscape History 41.1 (2020): 57-68. Arrival of Euroamericans (about 1700 AD): Euroamerican settlement of the Hudson Highlands is well-documented in the pollen record: rises in Ragweed, Grass, and Composites signal land clearance and decreased percentages of Oak, Pine, and Eastern Hemlock reflect the harvest of each taxon. Increased charcoal signals use of fire in connection with land-clearance, wood-related industries (charcoal, iron, and brick manufacturing), and operation of railroads (track fires)). Decline of American chestnut (Castanea dentata) due to a fungal pathogen is introduced at New York City in 1904. In 1909, only 1 to 2% of Castanea in the Hudson Highlands was affected by the pathogen; by 1915, most Castanea were killed. Prior to the blight, Castanea represented 35% of the trees in the forest with as much as 70% on mid-elevation slopes. This sequence is evident in the pollen record. What about fire throughout this history? Fossil charcoal was more abundant during the last 10,000 years than between 12,500 and 10,000 years ago. High values of Oak pollen in association with continuous charcoal influx for some 9000 years suggest that fire played an important role in the development and maintenance of Oak forest. How do you know the ages of these vegetation events? Radiocarbon dating (AMS method) Match ages of historical events with corresponding signals in the fossil record (for example the Ragweed Rise). Pollen diagram showing vegetation history for the last ten thousand years at Black Rock Forest. Data from Sutherland Pond (Maenza-Gmelch, 1997): What is the cause of the observed pattern of glaciations? The most widely accepted theory is the Milankovitch Theory of Orbital Forcing: Milankovitch proposed that cyclical changes in the relative positions in the earth and the sun (orbital geometry) influence the amount of solar radiation received on earth. These variations in solar radiation affect the contrast between summer and winter temperatures. If summers are not warm enough to melt the previous year’s snow then ice sheets grow.  ~100,000 year cycle 41,000 year cycle 21,000 year cycle Dendroclimatology (Dendrochronology) is the science of determining past climates from tree rings. Tree rings are wider when conditions favor growth, narrower when times are difficult. Evergreen trees at the edge of Alaska’s tundra are growing faster, suggesting that at least some forests may be adapting to a rapidly warming climate. How did we find this out? Tree ring samples show that both tree-ring width and density shot up starting a hundred years ago, and rose even more after 1950. (Trees are thought to absorb a third of all industrial carbon emissions, transferring carbon dioxide into soil and wood. Far northern ecosystems may play a future role in the balance of planet-warming carbon dioxide that remains in the air.) Ref: LDEO Tree Ring Lab watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmZO7aRgcW4 up to 1 minute 12 seconds Cross section of the trunk of a red oak tree In an annual ring one can distinguish the early wood (light band) with large, thin walled cells and the late wood (dark band) with small, thick walled cells. The early wood, formed in the spring, has an important role in the transportation of liquids in upward direction. The function of the late wood, on the other hand, is providing stiffness to the trunk. cross section of tree trunk tree core Ice cores: Trapped air bubbles form an archive of past atmosphere and temperature. An 800,000 year record comes from Dome C in Antarctica. If you have time you might enjoy watching "Chasing Ice" on Netflix. Polluon lecture notes: Polluon: unwanted altera on of natural systems as a result of human ac vity. Point source polluon: pollu on from a precise origin, e.g. industrial plant Non-point source polluon: pollu on form an unclear source, e.g., nding fer lizers in ground water could be from any number of sources: homes, farms, golf courses. Biodegradable pollutant: a pollutant that can be broken down into less harmful components by bacteria. This only works to a point. The biota can be overwhelmed by excess pollu on. Some examples: sewage, paper, wood, cloth, leather, wool, vegetable/plant ma"er are biodegradable pollutants Nonbiodegradable: pollutant that can not be broken down or metabolized. They accumulate over me and therefore become more dangerous. Examples, PCBs, DDT, dioxin, heavy metals (mercury arsenic lead). Bioaccumulaon: is the repeated uptake of pollutants by an organism so that the concentra ons in that organism become several orders of magnitude greater than their surrounding environment (a clam lters polluted water and concentrates the toxins in its ssue) Biomagnicaon: higher concentra ons of a par cular pollutant are reached in organisms higher up the food chain, generally through a series of prey-predator rela onships (a hawk eats ve contaminated mice WATER POLLUTION How do pollutants get into the water?: industry waste CSOs sep c systems agricultural runo, leaking landlls golf courses and suburban lawns illegal dumping parking lot runo, Common problem: leaking underground storage tanks at gas sta ons I am introducing this idea now but we will do these calcs in lab during groundwater week: If contaminaon is (owing into groundwater, how many years would it take for it to (ow from its source to a drinking water well located 10,000 meters away? Time = distance/velocity Assume you already know the velocity (0.00000366 m/s) Your answer will be in seconds….how do you convert seconds to years? We will learn how to calculate GW velocity in the hydrology lecture but work on it in lab: ∆h V = (K/n) * (∆ h/∆ L¿ reminder: is the slope of the water table ∆L Groundwater calculaons will not be on the lecture exam. They will be part of a lab. MERCURY: pollutant from coal-red power plants also from incinerators neurotoxin When mercury falls on land, it is absorbed by soil and by fallen leaves that are consumed by worms and insects. Songbirds then feed on the bugs, absorbing the mercury (Evers, 2014). The mercury interferes with reproduc on. LEAD: Lead is a cumula ve toxicant that a,ects mul ple body systems and is par cularly harmful to young children. Lead in the body is distributed to the brain, liver, kidney and bones. It is stored in the teeth and bones, where it accumulates over me. Human exposure is usually assessed through the measurement of lead in blood. Lead in bone is released into blood during pregnancy and becomes a source of exposure to the developing fetus. There is no level of exposure to lead that is known to be without harmful e,ects. Lead exposure is preventable. (world health organiza on) Clue: iron transports oxygen Chlorinated hydrocarbons: DDT, PCBs: Lipid soluble Long-lived Suspected human carcinogens Hormone mimickers (endocrine disrupters) Circulate globally in food chains PCBs and the Hudson River: PCBs are oily solvents used in the electrical industry. GE Co. factories legally released more than one million pounds of PCBs into the Hudson River between 1946 and 1977. PCBs were banned in 1977. In 1983, 200 miles of the Hudson River were designated as a federal Super Fund site. GE and EPA ba"le over nature of problem and the solu on. DEC and environmental organiza ons have repeatedly rejected the ndings of EPA's Five-Year Review Report on the Hudson River cleanup remedy. With unacceptably high levels of contamina on remaining in river sediment, the State called on EPA to declare the remedy "not protec ve" in accordance with EPA rules, and to thoroughly reexamine its cleanup to e,ec vely protect public health and the environment over the long term. The Clean Water Act (CWA) 1972: protects surface water quality Goal: reduce direct pollutant discharges into waterways, nance municipal wastewater treatment facili es, and manage polluted runo, Evolu on of CWA programs over the last decade has also included something of a shiC from a pollutant- by-pollutant approach to more holis c watershed-based strategies. Under the watershed approach equal emphasis is placed on protec ng healthy waters and restoring impaired ones. Have we seen any good results since the Clean Water Act was established in 1972? The Safe Drinking Water Act 1974 (SDWA) : main federal law that ensures the quality of Americans' drinking water Under SDWA, EPA sets standards for drinking water quality and oversees the states, locali es, and water suppliers who implement those standards. MCL is maximum contaminant level. Every town gets their water tested and this type of report is available to all residents. Any viola ons must be addressed. Air polluon: How do pollutants get into the air? The majority of air toxics come from humanmade sources: factory smokestack emissions coal-red powerplants motor vehicle exhaust gasoline vapor industrial sources such as chemical factories, reneries, and incinerators small industrial and commercial sources such as dry cleaners and prin ng shops coal-red power plants release: Sulfur dioxide – High concentra ons of SO 2 a,ect breathing and may aggravate exis ng respiratory and cardiovascular disease. Sensi ve popula ons include asthma cs, individuals with bronchi s or emphysema, children, and the elderly. Sulfur dioxide is also a primary contributor to acid deposi on, or acid rain. Par culate ma"er – Short term exposure to par culate ma"er can aggravate lung disease, cause asthma a"acks and acute bronchi s, may increase suscep bility to respiratory infec ons and has been linked to heart a"acks. Nitrogen oxides – Nitrogen oxides can cause ground-level ozone, acid rain, par culate ma"er, global warming, water quality deteriora on, and visual impairment. Nitrogen oxides play a major role, with vola le organic chemicals, in the atmospheric reac ons that produce ozone. Children, people with lung diseases such as asthma, and people who work or exercise outside are suscep ble to adverse e,ects such as damage to lung ssue and reduc on in lung func on. In a coal-red power plant: water is turned into steam, which in turn drives turbine generators to produce electricity. (Burn coal to heat water to create steam to drive turbine to produce electricity.) Summary of the Clean Air Act (1955, with major revisions in 1970, 1977, and 1990)  requires EPA to set health-based standards for ambient air quality;  sets deadlines for the achievement of those standards by state and local governments;  requires EPA to set na onal emission standards for large or ubiquitous sources of air pollu on, including motor vehicles, power plants, and other industrial sources;  mandates emission controls for sources of 187 hazardous air pollutants;  establishes a cap-and-trade program to limit acid rain;  requires the preven on of signicant deteriora on of air quality in areas with clean air;  requires a program to restore visibility impaired by regional haze in na onal parks and wilderness areas; and  implements the Montreal Protocol to phase out most ozone-deple ng chemicals. h"ps://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/RL/RL30853#:~:text=The%20act%20establishes%20federal %20standards,major%20sources%20of%20air%20pollu on What about CO2 as a pollutant from power plants?: August 2015: Clean Power Plan #CleanPowerPlan President Obama and EPA announced the Clean Power Plan for reducing carbon pollu on from power plants and the pollutants that cause the soot and smog that harm health designed to strengthen the fast-growing trend toward cleaner and lower-pollu ng American energy (expand the capacity for zero- and low-emiOng power sources) shows the world that the United States is commi"ed to leading global e,orts to address climate change will reduce carbon pollu on from power plants, the na on’s largest source outlined Carbon Pollu on Standards for new, modied, and reconstructed power plants These are the rst-ever na onal standards that address carbon pollu on from power plants. NOTE: As you know, not too long ago, we had 4 years of policy coming out of The White House that weakened environmental legisla on. Now, policy is being rebuilt. Con nue to ght for what you believe in.  HYDROLOGY NOTES Hydrological cycle: the movement of water between the atmosphere and the earth’s surface. Solar energy is the driving force in the water cycle in that it facilitates evapora%on. Evapora%on and transpira%on move water from the earth’s surface to the atmosphere. Precipita%on moves water from the atmosphere to the earth’s surface.  Ground water: precipita%on that is stored underground in the soil pores. water table: top of the ground water Aquifer: geologic layers that contain water, for example, layers of sand or gravel underlain by clay or rock. Surface water: rivers, lakes, wetlands Recharge zone: area where surface water -lters into aquifer Find the ground water velocity using these bits of info and Darcy’s Law: V = (K/n) X slope K is the permeability constant for sandy soil; 0.0005 meters/sec n is porosity; (0.4) (∆ h/∆ L¿ is the slope; 0.006 If contamina%on is /owing into groundwater, how many years would it take for it to /ow from its current loca%on to the drinking water well located 10,000 meters away? Time = distance/velocity Recall a forest's role in the water cycle: Transpira%on (release of moisture from within the leaf to the atmosphere - evapora%on and diFusion are involved in transpira%on) leaves provide a surface on which water can collect and then drip to the ground (intercep%on) roots enhance water storage capacity of soil and prevent /ooding and erosion Evapotranspiraon: Plant roots absorb rain water and return some of it locally to the atmosphere through transpira%on. Another por%on of this absorbed water is slowly released to the aquifer or reservoir….. It is -rst puri-ed by the soil microbes and plant roots in the forested watershed. What if you develop in the watershed…retail, homes, parking lots? Ecosystem Services: A $2.1 billion water -ltra%on plant is being built in the Bronx under Van Cortlandt Park. The Croton Watershed can no longer carryout its ecosystem service of providing CLEAR water so it must be -ltered ar%-cially. The Croton watershed, made up of reservoirs in Dutchess, Putnam and Westchester Coun%es, provides 100 million gallons of water to the city each day, or about 10 % of the city’s drinking water. Water (from these reservoirs) is chlorinated as it /ows downstream. It is then stored in the Jerome Park Reservoir in the Bronx before being distributed to homes, most of them in the Bronx and Manha1an. The rest of the city’s drinking water is supplied by the Catskill and Delaware watersheds. The water from those systems, which are in upstate coun%es far more rural than those in the Croton system, is of a higher quality than Croton’s and so far has not needed -ltering. Case Study of Long Island, NY drinking water: GROUNDWATER Virtually all of Long Island’s drinking water is drawn from a single aquifer: Poten%al contaminants: household sewage; fer%lizers and pes%cides used on lawns and gardens; farmland and golf courses; solid waste, including toxic chemicals, in land-lls; industrial wastewater and chemical wastes from laboratories; gas sta%ons, pet waste and livestock manure. Two hundred years ago, Pine Barrens = one-fourth of Long Island, assuring a plen%ful supply of pure, fresh drinking water. Today, most of that land has been developed, and water supply has been compromised. Pine Barrens Protec%on Act of 1993, the Commission is responsible for producing the Comprehensive Land Use Plan for the Central Pine Barrens Case Study of NYC drinking water: SURFACE WATER Catskill/Delaware watershed encompasses more than a million acres (provides 90% of the city’s water): how do they protect the water? development is regulated to prevent pollutants from gePng into the water supply upgraded sep%c systems and wastewater treatment plants in communi%es around the watershed municipal salt sheds manure sheds on dairy farms to prevent harmful runoF “We’re trea%ng things at the source, as opposed to at the end of the pipe,” said Paul V. Rush, deputy commissioner of the city’s Bureau of Water Supply. Aqueducts and tunnels carry the water from the reservoirs to the city. Water is delivered to the city by gravity alone. The 92-mile-long Catskill Aqueduct, which plunges 1,100 feet underneath the Hudson River, was constructed a century ago. Typical Components of Frack Fluid For a 1.5 million gallon frack job, the 0.5 percent is equivalent to 7,500 gallons of “chemistry”. Reversing Course, E.P.A. Says Fracking Can Contaminate Drinking Water Coral Davenport DEC. 13, 2016 NY Times Fracking has contributed to drinking water contamina%on in all stages of the process: 1 acquiring water to be used for fracking 2 mixing the water with chemical addi%ves to make fracking /uids 3 injec%ng the chemical /uids underground 4 collec%ng the wastewater that /ows out of fracking wells aVer injec%ons 5 storing the used wastewater Potenal Environmental E/ects of Fracking: Water quality – Surface spillage – Well leakage – Waste water disposal Air quality – Increased traYc – Flaring – Other site emissions Climate change – Methane emissions Noise Earthquakes