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Human Enviroment 1

Terms in this set (19)

1
Homo sapiens began life just over 100,000 years ago, with only the greatest amount of development in the last 10,000 years, where we discovered new technology, industrialization, plant/animal domestication, and state formation.
2
Pangaea is the theory that all of the continents started off as a supercontinent but drifted apart. This was proposed by Alfred Wegener.
3.
The age from about 1.8 million years ago to 11,700, going through the ice age, where the planet was in deep freeze.
4.
Climate changed rapidly causing farmer's crops to fail, and famine to spread, people got sick, and while coming into recovery went straight into famine.
5.
Tambora's explosion led to mass famine, contaminated water, and air, and poisoned crops. The sky was black for months, leaving to growing season for farming, resulting in sickness and famine.
6.
Renewable resources are resources that are being replenished as they are being used, for example, water is a renewable resource.
7.
The hydrologic cycle brings rain and snow from the oceans to the landmasses. Aquifiers are water holding rocks that provide millions of wells with steady flows.
8.
In California, people are sometimes not allowed to wash their cars or refill their swimming pools.
9.
In Kazakhstan, rivers were diverted into irrigation systems. Heavy use of pestisides polluted the waters, and now it is unsafe to drink.
10
Israel annually consumes nearly three times as much water as Joran, the west bank Palestinian areas, and Galilee combined. As much as half of Israel's water comes from soucrs outside the state.
11
We depend on the atmosphere for our survival. We breathe its oxygen, it shields us from the destructive rays of the sun, it moderated temperature, and it carries moisture form the oceans over the land, sustaining crops and forests and replenishing soils and wells.
12
Acid Rain forms when sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides are released into the atmoshpeher by the burning of fossil fuels.
13
Sanitary landfill is a method of controlled disposal of municipal solid waste on land. The method was introduced in England in 1912, waste is deposited in thin layers and promptly compacted by heavy machinery; several layers are placed and compacted on top of each other to form a refuse cell. At the end of each day the compacted refuse cell is covered with a layer of compacted soil to prevent odors and windblown debris.
14
Radioactive waste is the radioactive by-product from the operation of a nuclear reactor or from the reprocessing of depleted nuclear fuel. This means isolating or diluting the waste so that the rate or concentration of any radionuclides returned to the biosphere is harmless. To achieve this, practically all wastes are contained and managed - some clearly need deep and permanent burial. From nuclear power generation, none is allowed to cause harmful pollution.
15
The impact of agricultural activities on biodiversity of plants and animals has a long history, which began when humans first started the domestication process over 7000 years ago By selecting a few seemingly more useful or edible species, these ancient agriculturists began the selection process which still continues today as farmers, researchers and companies look for more productive plants and animals. This process necessarily involves a reduction and simplification of the immense biological diversity of nature, at both the species and genetic level.
16
Only the southern part of Mali is suited to farming, and less than 2% of Mali's area is cultivated. Agriculture accounted for about 45% of GDP, 21% of exports, and over 80% of the active labor force in 2001. Millet, rice, and corn are the basic food crops. Millet and sorghum are cultivated mainly in the areas around Ségou, Bandiagara, and Nioro. Paddy rice is cultivated on irrigated farms in the area around Mopti, Ségou, and Niafounké. Cereals are produced for subsistence by 90% of farmers. Peanuts are grown in the Sudanese zone, as are cotton, fruits, vegetables, and henna. The shea tree nut, which grows wild, is exploited by Malians for its oil.
17.
1. Technology and the industrialization of farming have enabled food production to be increased but this has led to vast human population growth which is overwhelming the natural world and will lead to a catastrophe unless we chose to control population growth. In rich countries industrialization and technology has enabled us to plunder natural resources such as coal, oil and gas at an accelerating rate. This has enabled us to satisfy greedy instincts but the environmental damage being done is enormous. Landfill sites and litter are evidence of this wastefulness and carelessness.
2. The immediate consequence of transport activities on the environment where the cause and effect relationship is generally clear and well understood. For instance, noise and carbon monoxide emissions are known to have direct harmful effects. The secondary effects of transport activities on environmental systems. They are often of higher consequence than direct impacts, but the involved relationships are often misunderstood and more difficult to establish. For instance, particulates are mostly the outcome of incomplete combustion in an internal combustion engine are indirectly linked with respiratory and cardiovascular problems since they contribute among other factors to such conditions.
3. The environmental impact of the energy industry is diverse. Energy has been harnessed by human beings for millennia. Initially it was with the use of fire for light, heat, cooking and for safety, and its use can be traced back at least 1.9 million years. In recent years there has been a trend towards the increased commercialization of various renewable energy sources.
18
The citizens of Kuwait have allowed the oil industry in there area to boom not only due to the fact that they are sitting on top of a large oil supply, but also the provide workers for there oil rigs and platforms. These oil producers supply a lot of the world and they hold a massive part in the oil economy, if they drop the world drops as well.
19
In Kuwait, the average rainfall is 110 mm per year and the fresh water streams do not exist. The fresh water resources are limited to groundwater, desalinated seawater, and treated wastewater effluents. The total conventional fresh water resources available in Kuwait are 6 million m³/y while the total water demand has exceeded 350 million m³/y in the year 2000. With the continued deterioration of existing groundwater resources, almost 90% of the water demand is currently satisfied through seawater desalination plants. The history of desalination in Kuwait dates back to 1951 when the first distillation plant was commissioned.
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