EESB18H3 Lecture 12: Lecture 12
16 Oct 2011
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Document Summary
Anthropocene is used by some scientists to describe the most recent period in the earth"s history. It has no precise start date, but may be considered to start in the late 18th century when the activities of humans first began to have a significant global impact on the earth"s climate and ecosystems. Topics covered: urban sprawl: severe weather (most important from the list, hardening of watersheds, wastes/ ground water contaminated sites, radon gas, earthquakes; landslides and tsunamis, acid mine drainage, climate warming, water shortages. Urbanization results in hardening of watersheds by asphalt and concrete such that infiltration of precipitation is reduced and runoff is increased. This results in more water entering rivers by overland flow such that these rivers rise quickly, with increased erosion and sedimentation and the destruction of habitats. The water, which originally would have infiltrated to groundwater and would have been slowly released to creeks and rivers as baseflow, quickly runs off the land.
