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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.
• 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
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
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.