Biomes and Conservation

Biome

• Large areas with similar climates and ecosystems– Tundra– Taiga– Temperate decidious forest– Temperate rainforest– Tropical rainforest– Desert– Grasslands– Aquatic ecosystems

Resources

• Natural resources- parts of the environment that are useful or necessary for living organisms to survive

• Renewable resource- natural resource that is constantly recycled or replaced by nature

• Nonrenewable resources- not easily replaced.– Petroleum- or oil, takes hundreds of millions of years to

form– Fossil fuels- coal, oil, and natural gas are nonrenewable

that form in the Earth’s crust over very long periods of time

Alternative energy

• Can be used to help conserve fossil fuels• Hydroelectric power- energy from falling water used to

generate electricity• Wind power- wind turns blades of turbine, which

powers electric generator• Nuclear power- fission of uranium atoms generates

nuclear energy that is used to produce electricity• Geothermal power- use heat from Earth’s crust to

generate electricity• Solar energy- turns sunlight into electric current

Pollution

• Pollutant- substance that contaminates air, land, or water– Soot, smoke, ash, gases

• Acid precipitation- results from air pollutants reacting with water in the atmosphere

• Greenhouse effect- increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere traps heat and can cause global warming

• Ozone depletion- thinning of the ozone layer caused by chlorofluorocarbons and can result in increased UV radiation reaching Earth’s surface

Water Pollution

• When air or land pollutants enter rivers, lakes, ocean– Includes chemical pesticides, raw sewage,

fertilizer, oil spills• Groundwater can become polluted as it seeps

through particles of rock or soil that collects in underground pools called aquifers

Erosion

• Movement of soil from one place to another

Three “R”s of Conservation

• Conservation can prevent shortages of natural resources, slow growth of landfills, reduce pollution levels, and save money

• Reduce• Reuse• Recycle- reprocessing an item or natural resource for reuse

– Steel– Plastics– Glass– Paper– Compost