Environmental History

Environmental History

Significant People • John Muir(1892): Early American environmentalist started the Sierra Club and encouraged the government to protect the first national forest (Yosemite Valley as a national park) "Father of Our National Park System.

Teddy Roosevelt • Roosevelt was passionate about preservation of the environment and, during his presidency (from 1904-08), he established 150 national forests, fifty-one federal bird reservations, four national game preserves, five national parks, etc! He loved nature, knew the songs of dozens of birds, loved to ride, climb, hike and shoot. As a boy he wanted to be a naturalist, and as a President he became the first to make environmentalism a political issue.

Rachel Carson • Rachel Carson: Silent Spring 1962 helped launch the environmental movement; detrimental effects of pestisides (DDT-helped stop insect borne illness after WWII) thinning eggshells. DDT proved to very persistent: moved through soil , air, water, and living things..even found in traces in Antartica. Her work showed us that the environment cannot be divided and studied into self contained compartments. • “Twas a spring without voices. On the mornings that had once throbbed with the dawn chorus of robins, catbirds, doves, jays and wrens and scores of other bird voices there was now no sound; only silence lay over the fields and woods and marsh.”

Significant Events • Dust Bowl (1933) poor farming procedures. Soil blew away! • Three Mile Island Incident: Nuclear power plant meltdown near Middletown, Pa., on March 28, 1979. Most serious in U.S. Even though it led to no deaths or injuries to plant workers or members of the nearby community, it brought about sweeping changes involving emergency response planning, reactor operator training, human factors engineering, radiation protection, and many other areas of nuclear power plant operations. (Current Event: Japan) • Love Canal, NY: (irony)1979 • Chenobal: UrKraine 1986: Nuclear plant exploded

Ecology Introduction • Ecology: greek –oikos (home) logos-(study) • Since the 2nd half of 20th century, technological change and the rapidly expanding population have disrupted natural systems. Hence the relatively new emphasis on the interest in ecology. And of course its connection with our economy and political affairs.

Ecology: The Abiotic and Biotic Environment The student will demonstrate an understanding of how organisms interact with and respond to the biotic and abiotic components of their environment.

Biotic and Abiotic Factors: • The stem “Bio” means life. • The stem “a” means not Biotic Factors: Trees Ferns Insects/animals Abiotic Factors: Rocks Soil Water Air

Name some abiotic and biotic factors you see here.

Levels of Organization(359) • CellsTissuesOrgansOrganSystems OrganismPopulationsCommunities EcosystemsBiomes OPCEB

Organisms

Populations

Communities: all the different populations in a specific area or region at a certain time

Ecosystems: one or more communites and all abiotic factors

Biomes of the World

A niche is an organism’s job or role in the ecosystem. Warbler’s have very specific niches to help with competition.

Habitat:where an organism lives to obtain food, water, and shelter

Food Chains and Food Webs How does energy move in a living system?

Food chain and its components: • Flow of energy from one organism to the next (Trophic Levels:Producers = Level 1)

Trophic Level 4: Tertiary Consumer (Frog) Trophic Level 5: Quarternary Consumer (snake) Trophic Level 3: Secondary Consumer (Dragonfly) Trophic Level 2: Primary Consumer(Bee) Trophic Level 1: Producer (Flower)

Food Webs • Interconnected food chains that show all of the different ways energy flows in the ecosystem

Food Web • Starts with producers – capture energy from sun and convert it to food (chemical energy)

Food Web • Decomposers break down dead organisms into simple nutrient materials that are re-useda.

Energy decreases at each level going up the pyramid Energy Pyramid

Environmental History