GEOG101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 19: Smog, Fossil Fuel, Introduced Species

• School: University of Waterloo
• Department: Geography and Environmental Management
• Course: GEOG101
• Professor: Amanda Hooykaas

Document Summary

Impact on biodiversity second only to human habitat disturbance: take over the entire ecosystem, small proportion purposefully introduced, deal with other problems, rarely worked out well, huge loss in terms of biodiversity. Impact of energy needs on the environment: alternative energy: solar, wind, geothermal, tides, energy in the oceans, potential future sources, challenge is in the cost and technology, not affordable for many people in many places. Impact of energy needs on the environment: biomass: deforestation, using at a rate faster than it can be replenished, burning wood. Increasing pressure: not enough supply of fuelwood. Impact of energy needs on the environment: hydropower: downstream impacts, no carbon emissions, cleaner, does not contribute to climate change, reservoir impacts, disease. Land conflicts: flooding some places to support others, whose opinions matter, huge potential for future growth. Impact of energy needs on the environment: nuclear: cleaner alternative, no carbon emissions, meltdowns, ecological consequences, growth of production, waste, not environmentally neutral, very toxic.