Dependence of man on the environment

Dependence of humankind beings on the environs The environment mainly consists of the earth and its surroundings which include the atmosphere. The livelihood of man here on earth completely depends on the raw(a) environment for its existence. It is from the environment that man ultimately obtains food or cash. Actually seventy percent of the earths surface is covered by piddle but collectable to mans activities both domestic and industrial, most of this water is polluted. Actually it is true that out of all this water covering the earths surface only 0.02% of this water is fresh. So as to control the impacts of water contamination which are hazardous to both human and marine life several world environmental bodies bring on come up with lawfully regulated water quality laws based on its desired using up. Changing the water sources designated purpose affects the allowed pollution levels in various ways. First one has to reason about the divergence between water for human c onsumption and water meant for untaught usage such as irrigation or industrial utilization. This various water uses will require variable water quality standards. Water quality is detect by the water characteristics which may be biological, physical or even biological. Most frequently there are set reference of standards to assess the compliance of the water. The most used standards to determine water quality relate to water used for domestic purposes such as drinking and cooking, wellbeing of humankind who take hold of in touch with it and the safety of the marine life. A person contributes to water pollution when you flush a toilet, pour dirty water down the forget you are using water which has to be purified in a water treatment plant. Mevery countries do not have water treatment plants and provided pump the raw waste into the rivers or sea. Also agricultural runoff water which contains high amounts of washed off pesticides and fertilizer enter the rivers and streams resu lting to pollution and blue the local plant and marine wildlife. There are numerous avails of the bakshis energy. First wind energy is clean and wind turbines generate electricity that does not release pollutants as compared to other energy sources. This means less environmental pollution thus combating with occurrence of environmental hazards such as acid pelting and smog amongst others. Power plants contribute to air pollution by emitting a large amount of carbon dioxide, nitrous oxides and sulphur dioxide resulting to global warming- this bunghole be vacateed by utilizing wind energy. In addition wind energy is renewable and has the less competitive cost as compared to the other sources such as natural gas. Also wind is readily available and it is in abundance thus it will not result to exhaustion of natural resources in the world. Moreover wind energy plants have a short construction period, involve minimal maintenance and require low operating costs as compared to the trad itional cater sources. Lastly wind power plants are very reliable as they generate electricity all the time and are not affected by international conflicts making it defiant to supply troubles or price fluctuations (Global wrap report, 2008). In spite of this many pros about wind energy it also has got just about cons. The main disadvantage of the wind energy is the winds unpredictability factor. This is caused by the occurrence of too low wind strengths which bathroomnot support the wind turbines. Also wind turbines generally produce less electricity thus requiring the construction of numerous turbines so as to generate an impact which leads to more initial capital cost. The wind turbines can be a source of noise pollution if they happen to be accomplished close to residential areas. Thus there you got for yourself the pros and cons of wind energy and the broad steadfastness of wind turbines (Clean energy ideas, 2008) REFERENCES Clean energy ideas, 2008 Energy articles- Sola r, Wind and Geothermal, Retrieved May 25, 2010 From http//www.clean-energy-ideas.com/articles/Global Wind Report, 2008 Adapted from information provided by the American Wind Energy Association, Retrieved May 25, 2010 From http//www.nrgsystems.com/AboutWind/BenefitsofWindEnergy.aspxDependence Of Man On The EnvironmentDependence Of Man On The EnvironmentAn ecological stones throw measures humanitys consumption of the natural resources. This proficiency is helpful because it shows how much of the natural resources human need for everyday life. However, the ecological footprint concept can be misleading as well. Ecological footprint does overlook renewable energy sources (sun, water) which reduce non-renewable sources (oil, coal). W. Cunningham and M. Cunningham (2008) add, These renewable sources increase the worlds carrying capacity for people as well (p. 79).5. How might exploitation universes lead to solutions to societys problems?The only reason how population growth can be benef icial to societys problems is by creation and innovation. In other words, more people can lead to additional manufactured goods that inspection and repair millions. more people boosts humanintelligence that will create new resources (W. Cunningham M. Cunningham, 2008 p. 77)8. In which parts of the world are populations declining?The parts of the world that populations are declining are North America, Western Europe, Japan, Australia, and newborn Zealand (W. Cunningham M. Cunningham, 2008 p. 79)Discussion Questions 1 and 61. Suppose that you were head of a family planning agency in India. How would you design a scientific study to determine the potentiality of different approaches to population stabilization? How would you account for factors such as culture, religion, education, and economics?If I were the head of a family planning agency in India, I would involve to know what type of parentage control method is better for stabilization the India population. I would intervie w my clients to find out family size preferences and choice of desired ingest control. However, to curb a fast growing population, I would offer a special incentive, such as higher education and/or cash for couples to rest a certain amount of time to have children. Since family plays an important role in India, I would still offer family planning alternatives to separate out to slow population growth. I believe this would be good start to stabilize population growth in India.6. In chapter 3, we discussed carrying capacities. What do you think the maximum and optimum carrying capacities for humans are? Why is this a more complex question for humans than it might be for other species? Why is designing experiments in human human ecology difficult?I think this is a complex subject. Some people believe humans are considerably over their carrying capacities, which is the cause of poverty. While others say, our environment has the potential to carry humans despite of limited resources. Has the world reached its carrying capacity? I believe since the human population has a tendency to grow in an exponential way, the advancement of todays technology should increase our resources as well. Some believetechnology and enterprise can expand the worlds carrying capacity that would allow us to overcome any problems we encounter (W. Cunningham M. Cunningham, 2008 p. 75).I also think this is a more complex question for humans than other species because humans have the advantage of reducing birth rates through family planning.Since demography is the study of a populations size and growth, experimentation may be difficult because according to (W. Cunningham M. Cunningham, 2008) every day people continue to be born and die (p. 79). Furthermore, I believe the purpose of a designed experiment is to rule out an estimation of human population. Unfortunately, due to some growing and shrinking populations, consistency will be impossible.Chapter 5 Text Practice Quiz Questions 1, 9 a nd 161. Why did ecologists want to reintroduce wolves to Yellowstone Park? What goals did they have, and have their goals been achieved?Ecologists wanted to reintroduce wolves to Yellowstone Park because of the rapid growth of the elk and cervid populations. Since the elk and the deer inhabitants damaged the trees and shrubbery in the park, ecologists needed to minimize the elk and deer growing residents. Therefore, wolves became predators, which minimize the elk and deer population and the Yellowstone Park was restored. W. Cunningham and M. Cunningham (2008) adds, while wolves preyed on the elks, the wolves population grew, the elk figures decreased and the park was recovered (p. 95).9. Define biodiversity and bewilder three types of biodiversity substantive in preserving ecological systems and functions.Biodiversity is a diversity or assortment of organisms in a specific biological community. W. Cunningham and M. Cunningham (2008) state that the three types of biodiversity essen tial to preserve ecological systems and functions are genetic diversity (heritable measure of individual species), species diversity (description of various(a) organisms within an ecosystem), and ecological diversity (a variety of species in diverse environments) (p. 108).16. What is a flagship or umbrella species? Why are they often important, even though they are costly to maintain?A flagship or umbrella species is an large-hearted living thing used to protect its entire ecosystem. Even though it is costly to preserve flagship or umbrella species, a tiger for instance, will consist the entire feline environment. the protection of flagship or umbrella species would help more organisms in it ecosystem (W. Cunningham M. Cunningham, 2008 p. 121)Discussion Questions 1 and 51. Many poor tropical countries blame out that a hectare of shrimp ponds can provide 1,000 times as much annual income as the same area in an intact mangrove forest. Debate this point with a friend or classmate . What are the arguments for and against saving mangroves?Mangroves advantageA sheltered habitat for aquatic organisms such as fish, crabs, and shrimps.Since these organisms use up on the mangroves roots for nutrients, from a human perspective, fish, crabs, and shrimp can also offer economic benefits, which would lead to high efficiency.Mangroves disadvantageVulnerable to marine pollution such as oil spills and sewage leaks.W. Cunningham and M. Cunningham (2008) confirm the pros and cons of mangroves, Both marine speciesand terrestrial speciesrely on mangroves for shelter and food however, mangroves are also poisoned by sewage and industrial waste near cities (p.105).5. Many ecologists and resource scientists work for government agencies to study resources and resource management. Do these scientists serve the public best if they try to do pure science, or if they try to support the political positions of democratically elected representatives, who after all, represent the position s of their constituents?I think since science involves experimentation and detection, ecologists would benefit by supporting the political council. In other words, I believe ecological science is a political process because the ecologists research focuses on societys concerns such as biodiversity extinction. Since there are some organisms in the biodiversity community that offer specific benefits such as medicines and food supplies, the political government would help the scientists serve the public by sustaining the biodiversity ecosystem.Chapter 6 Text Practice Quiz Questions 2, 3 and 102. What do we mean by closed-canopy forest and old-growth forest?A closed-canopy forest is when tree crowns cover most of the ground.a old-growth forests are those that cover a large enough area and have been undistributed by human activities yearn enough that trees can live out a natural life (W. Cunningham M. Cunningham, 2008 p. 129)3. Which commodity is used most heavily in industrial economie s steel, plastic, or timber? What portion of the worlds population depends on timberland or charcoal as the main energy supply?Wood is a product used frequently in industrial economies. More than half of the people in the world depend on firewood or charcoal as their principal source of modify and cooking (W. Cunningham M. Cunningham, 2008 p. 129)10. What was the first national park in the world, and when was it established? How have the purposes of this park and others changed?According to W. Cunningham M. Cunningham, 2008), The first national park in the world, Yellowstone National Park, was established in 1872. The Yellowstone National Park along will a few others were established to preserve natural scenery because of the disappearance of scenic beauty due to the land being sold to railroad and timber companies (p. 140).Discussion Questions 1 and 61. Paper and pulp are the fastest growing sector of the wood products market, as emerging economics of China and India catch up with the growing consumption rates of North America, Europe, and Japan. What should be done to reduce paper use?According to (W. Cunningham M. Cunningham, 2008), a couple of ways to reduce paper consumption is toRecycle paperInstead of printing copies, email the data (p.136)For instance, instead of nonrecreational bills by mail, register with e-statements and pay bills online. In additions, instead of buying newspapers and magazines from the store, sign up for online subscriptions.6. Why do you suppose alter tropical forest and tundra are well represented in protected areas, while grasslands and wetlands are protected relatively rarely? Consider social, cultural, geographic, and economic reasons in your answer.I believe dry tropical forest and tundra are well represented in protected areas because of its vast diversity of organisms and valuable resources such as paper and lumber. Therefore, conservation would avoid logging and extinction. In contrast, I assume grasslands and wetl ands are rarely sheltered because of lack of lumber. However, the particular biome offers income to humans, such as grazing. In this case, minimum protection is required. Basically, tropical forests and grasslands are utilized by humans- tropical forest areas (benefits from lumber for fuel and paper products)-grassland areas (benefits of large herds of grazing animals).