In nature all things are recycled

Humans upset the cycles

What have you noticed?

Food costs

Transport

Energy Costs

Fish

Weather

More buildings

Research: Human impact on the environment

Discuss what you

understand these terms

to mean

The atmosphere and climate change

• carbon dioxide emissions;• - concept of ‘carbon footprint’ and the need

to reduce the carbon footprint;• - deforestation;• - greenhouse effect and global warming:

– desertification, drought and floods;• - methane emissions;• - ozone depletion.

http://www.vanderbilt.edu/sustainvu/2009/03/so-what-is-a-carbon-footprint-and-why-is-vanderbilt-calculating-one/

Carbon footprint: the amount of carbon dioxide or other carbon compounds emitted into the atmosphere by the activities of an individual, company, country.

Brainstorm what you can do to

reduce your carbon footprint

http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/kids/basics/index.html

• Desertification is a complex process involving multiple natural and human-related causes. In desertification, the productive potential of arid and semi-arid lands falls by 10% or more, and topsoil is lost or degraded.

– Desertification results mainly from a combination of natural climate changes causing prolonged drought and unsustainable human activities, including overgrazing and deforestation.

– Desertification may lead to the formation of a desert or the encroachment of an existing desert onto formerly arable land.

Overgrazing on marginal lands (top) can

extend desert zones (lower)

Effects of Climate Change

Effects of Climate Change

Effects of Climate Change

http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/kids/

Research what individuals, schools,

communities and businesses can do to

reduce climate change

Most household cleaning can be done with a half-and-half mixture of vinegar and water, or liquid soapand baking soda.

Most household cleaning can be done with a half-and-half mixture of vinegar and water, or liquid soapand baking soda.

If it has a thermostat it uses a large amount of electricity.

How can your family/school

reduce its electricity

consumption?

Not all SA’s have access to safe water.

Investigate how human activity affects

water quality and availability and

suggest solutions

Water:Availability:

• Construction of dams• - Destruction of wetlands• - Poor farming practices• - Droughts and floods• - Exotic plantations and depletion of water table• - Boreholes and effects on aquifers• - Wastage• - Cost of water

Water: Quality

• - Water for domestic use, industry, agriculture and mining: pollution, diseases, eutrophication and algal bloom.

• - The effect of mining on quality of water• - Thermal pollution The need for water

purification and recycling• - Alien plants, e.g., Eichornia

Biodiversity is the degree of variation of life forms within a given species, ecosystem, biome, or an entire planet. Biodiversity is a measure of the health of ecosystems. Biodiversity is in part a function of climate

http://www.novamind.com/connect/nm_documents/285

http://www.novamind.com/connect/nm_documents/285

http://www.eco-question.com/what-are-the-main-causes-of-biodiversity-loss

Loss of Biodiversity (the 6th extinction)

- habitat destruction: farming methods, e.g.,•overgrazing and monoculture, golf estates, mining,•urbanisation, deforestation; loss of wetlands and•grasslands;- poaching, e.g., for rhino horn, ivory and ‘bush meat’;- alien plant invasions: control using mechanical, chemical and biological methods; and- indigenous knowledge systems and the sustainable use of the environment e.g., devils’claw, rooibos, fynbos, the African potato (Hypoxis) and Hoodia.

Loss of Biodiversity (the 6th extinction)

Investigate: Rhino poaching in South Africa: read articles and make suggestions on how it can be prevented.

QUESTIONS . .

Resource material from teaching biology.org