ENVS 1126 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Gross Domestic Product, Rachel Carson, Ecosystem Services
17 Nov 2016
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Document Summary
Science and environment and basic needs of living things. Four unhealthy global trends (1) increasing population growth and its detrimental effects on human well-being (2) a decline of vital ecosystem services (3) the negative impacts of global climate change (4) a loss of biodiversity. Global climate change: a serious problem: global climate change is a serious problem, due to the accumulation of greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide is a by-product of burning fossil fuels, carbon dioxide is a natural component of the atmosphere. It"s important to the earth"s atmosphere energy system: without greenhouse gases, the earth would be freezing. Literally: the greenhouse effect: carbon dioxide absorbs infrared (heat) energy radiated from. Biodiversity loss is crucial: we threaten our well-being when we diminish biodiversity. It is the mainstay of agricultural crops and medicines: losses will curtail development in these areas. It helps maintain natural systems: enabling them to recover after a disturbance.
