Unit 0: The Earth as a Singular System

Human Impact on Enviornment

Systems

Chemical Aspects

Environnemental Interactions

energy production

developed countries highly dependent on fossil fuels

increased reliance on fracking

chemicals released are detrimental to enviornment

contributes to pollution, land degradation, global warming, etc

greenhouse gases insulate the earth, increasing temp

ecological footprint

measure of how much an individual consumes, expressed in area of land

hectares 100mx100m

ecosystem services + environmental indicators

any set of interacting components that influence one another by exchanging energy, materials, or information

radioactivity

both man made and natural

human alteration of systems

conversion of land

change chemistry of land, air, water, etc

not always bad: Native American use of fire which led to the Great Plains

5 global scale enviornmental factors

  1. biodeversity
  1. food production
  1. human population
  1. recourse depletion
  1. avrg global surface temp + CO2 emissions

the tragedy of the commons

individuals use shared recourses in their own best interest, which in turn degrades the recource for the rest of the population

spontaneous release of material from the nucleus of radioactive isotopes

half life

aunt of time it takes or half of the substance to decay

chemical bonds

covalent

non-polar covalent

polar covalent

electrons shared UNEQUALLY

share electrons

electrons shared EQUALLY

ionic

not as strong as a covalent bond

trading electrons

hydrogen

between hydrogen and covalently bonded other atoms

acids, bases, PH

acids

contributes h+ to a solution

bases

contributes OH- to a solution

pH

0 (acidic) ------ 7 (neutral) ------ 14 (basic)

indicates relative strength of acids and bases

feedback loops

types of systems

open

closed

exchanges of matter and energy occur between multiple systems

changes of matter and energy occur within a single system

positive

negative

change in system is amplified

system responds to change by returning to original state or by decreasing rate at which change is occurring