GEOG-120 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Kyoto Protocol, Deep Ecology, Natural Uranium
24 Sep 2020
School
Department
Course
Professor
Leo Ellis
Physical Geography
Geog-120
Impacts on the Environment:
Conservation:
● The sustainable use and management of natural resources
● Ensures that renewable resources like trees are not consumed faster than they can be
replaced
● Accept that development is necessary, but in a sustainable manner
Preservation:
● Maintain areas of the Earth untouched by humans
● Ensures protection from any kind of damage or destruction
● Deep Ecology Viewpoint: Biodiversity should be preserved regardless of its usefulness
to humans
The Atmosphere:
● A unique feature to the Earth that is composed of gases not found on other planets. The
atmosphere plays a big role in regulating the global climate system.
The Greenhouse Effect:
● A naturally occurring process that warms the earth by preventing the loss of heat into
space.
● Greenhouse Gases:
o Water Vapor (H20)
o Carbon Dioxide (C02)
o Methane (CH4)
o Ozone (03)
o Nitrous Oxide (N2)
o When the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere changes, do does
the temperature
● Human-Made Sources of Greenhouse Gases:
o Growth in productivity, technological advances and human population has
resulted in the atmosphere becoming a ‘dumping ground’ for pollutants, which
has augmented atmospheric change.
● Human-Made Sources of Carbon Dioxide:
o Combustion of fossil fuels (industry and transportation)
o Land use change (clearing forests/deforestation)
● Enhanced Greenhouse Effect: Drastic increases in concentrations and rates of increase
in GHGs
Kyoto Protocol, 1997:
● International agreement on climate change
● Countries required to reduce GHG emissions
