Post on 28-Jun-2018
SCBI 109: Integrated Biology
Dr. Patompong Johns Saengwilai Department of Biology, Faculty of Science
Patompong.sae@mahidol.ac.th
Outline: Environmental concerns
1. Human Use of Resources and Pollu4on
2. Impact on Biodiversity
3. Working Toward a Sustainable Society
Human Use of Resources and PolluJon
Resources
Natural resources
14Ecological�services:�nutrient�cycles,�pollination,�decomposition,�etc
Natural ResourcesResources
Matter Energy
Nonliving Living�(Biodiversity)
Nonrenewables
Renewables�(possible)
Minerals
Air,�water,�soil
Renewables NonrenewablesSun,�wind,�biomass,�waves,�current
Fossil�fuel,�nuclear
Terrestrial�Biomes
Aquatic�BiomesOceans,�lakes,�streams
Forests,�grasslands,�deserts
Availability of resources Availability
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Availability• Availability–How ready a resource can be used?• Directly available– Solar energy, fresh air, wind, fresh water, fertile soil, wild
edible species, etc.• Indirectly available– Required some efforts, technology» Petroleum, iron, groundwater, modern crops
– Petroleum» Finding, extracting, refining to fuel
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Availability• Availability–How ready a resource can be used?• Directly available– Solar energy, fresh air, wind, fresh water, fertile soil, wild
edible species, etc.• Indirectly available– Required some efforts, technology» Petroleum, iron, groundwater, modern crops
– Petroleum» Finding, extracting, refining to fuel
Renewability Renewability
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Renewability• Renewability in scale of human lifetime– Renewable• Inexhaustible in our lifetime. Solar energy will last for
another 5 billion years.– Potentially renewable• Replenished rapidly, but can be depleted. Examples:
forest, fresh and clean water, soil, air.–Nonrenewable (exhaustible resources)• Resources that exist in a fixed quantity, therefore, they
can be totally used up.
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Nonrenewables• Nonrenewables– Energy sources• Coal, oil, natural gas, uranium, etc. (cannot be recycled)
– Metallic minerals• Iron, copper, aluminum, etc. (can be recycled)
– Nonmetallic minerals• Salt, clay, sand, phosphate, etc. (costly or difficult to be recycled)
• Economically depleted– When the cost of extraction is greater than the economic
value.
Renewability
World populaJon
Thomas Malthus Thomas Malthus
An essay on the principle of population: "The power of population is indefinitely greater than the power in the earth to produce subsistence for man".
Carrying capacity is a well-‐known ecological term that has an obvious and fairly intui4ve meaning : "the maximum popula4on size of a species that the environment can sustain indefinitely, given the food, habitat, water and other necessi4es available in the environment".
Carrying capacity
Ecological footprint -‐ es4mate how much of the Earth (or how many planet Earths) it would take to support humanity if everybody followed a given lifestyle. -‐ For 2007, humanity's total ecological footprint was es4mated at 1.5 planet Earths; that is, humanity uses ecological services 1.5 4mes as quickly as Earth can renew them.
Tragedy of the commons Tragedy of the Commons
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Tragedy of the Commons• Garrett Hardin (1968)–Tragedy of the commons• The degradation of common-property resources.– “If I don’t use this resource, someone else will.”– “The little bit I use or pollute is not enough to matter.”–With only few users, the statements work, but not for a
number of users.–Commons• Resources that are available to all, free of charge• Potentially renewable-type resources
20http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garrett_Hardin
soluJons? Precautionary principle
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Precautionary Principle• The solution to the tragedy of the commons– Uncertainties in determining the sustainable yield.• It is best to use the resource well below its estimated
sustainable yield.– Prevention approach– Precautionary approach
• Does it work?– Rarely used– Hard to enforce– Conflict from long-term and short-term profits and pleasure.
PolluJons
Air polluJon -‐ The combina4on of smoke and fog. -‐ Photochemical smog VS Industrial smog
Photochemical smog -‐ first described in the 1950s. -‐ It is the chemical reac4on of sunlight,
nitrogen oxides and vola4le organic compounds in the atmosphere, which leaves airborne par4cles and ground-‐level ozone.
-‐All of these harsh chemicals are usually highly reac4ve and oxidizing. Photochemical smog is therefore considered to be a problem of modern industrializa4on. -‐ It is present in all modern ci4es, but it is more common in ci4es with sunny, warm, dry climates and a large number of motor vehicles.
LA
Industrial smog The gray air in industrial ci4es in cold winter area caused from burning fuel.
-‐ It is in the form of dust, smoke, ashes, sulfur oxides, etc. -‐ in 1952 caused 4000 deaths in London
London 1952
Acid rain
-‐ Deposi4on of wet (rain, snow, sleet, fog) and dry (acidifying par4cles and gases) acidic components. -‐ Clean or unpolluted rain has an acidic pH but usually not lower than 5.7. -‐ Sulfur dioxide-‐-‐> Sulfuric acid -‐ nitrogen dioxide-‐-‐> nitric acid
Acid rain
h_p://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acid_rain
-‐ corrosion: calcium carbonate, iron, stele, copper, bronze
-‐ increase availability of toxins and leach away nutrients
-‐ Affect living organisms
Water polluJon -‐ the contamina4on of water bodies (e.g. lakes, rivers, oceans, ground water)
Greenpeace revealed that the samples collected from Samrong canal contained nonyl phenols, 2-Naphthalenamine and tri-iso-butyl phosphate (TiBP), the toxic chemicals used in the textile industry. The study also revealed high concentrations of heavy metals such as copper, lead, manganese, nickel and zinc, all exceeding Thai surface water quality standards by three and eight times.
EutrophicaJon Runoff enhances excess plant and algae growth.
RedJde -‐ Phytoplankton; dinoflagellates -‐ Alexandrium fundyense: paraly4c shellfish poisoning (Saxitoxin)
Dead Zone -‐ Hypoxic (low-‐oxygen) areas caused by excessive nutrient pollu4on from human ac4vi4es coupled with other factors that deplete the oxygen required to support life in the water.
Gulf of Mexico
Oil spill in Thailand 2013 -‐ 50,000 liters of crude oil was leaked from an offshore pipeline belonging to PPT. (100,000 liters according to satellite pictures)-‐-‐CNN -‐ 5,000 liters have washed onto Ao Prao beach of Koh Samet.
PesJcides -‐ Usually not target-‐specific and kill other related species. -‐ Or change community’s dynamic
PesJcides
DDT and its metabolites (breakdown products), DDD and DDE, are toxic to embryos and disrupt calcium absorption, thereby impairing eggshell quality.
DDT is also highly toxic to aquatic life, including crayfish, sea shrimp and many species of fish. DDT may be moderately toxic to some amphibian species, especially in the larval stages
Water quality bioindicator Biological test: use indicator or index species to determine water quality
Land polluJon land polluJon, the deposi4on of solid or liquid waste materials on land or underground in a manner that can contaminate the soil and groundwater, threaten public health, and cause unsightly condi4ons and nuisances
Soil degradaJon a process in which the value of the environment is affected by combina4on of human-‐induced processes ac4ng upon the land also environmental degrada4on is the gradual destruc4on or reduc4on of the quality and quan4ty of human ac4vi4es animals ac4vi4es or natural means example water causes soil erosion, wind, etc.
Soil contaminaJon
-‐ caused by the presence of xenobio4c (human-‐made) chemicals or other altera4on in the natural soil environment. -‐ It is typically caused by industrial ac4vity, agricultural chemicals, or improper disposal of waste. -‐ The most common chemicals involved are petroleum hydrocarbons, polynuclear aroma4c hydrocarbons (such as naphthalene and benzo(a)pyrene), solvents, pes4cides, lead, and other heavy metals.
Ozone damage Ozone (O3): Protect life on earth from the damaging of UV radia4on
SPF (Sun ProtecJon Factor): is the amount of UV radia4on required to cause sunburn on skin with the sunscreen on, as a mul4ple of the amount required without the sunscreen. Most sunscreen prevent UVB which causes sunburn but not UVA (cause some types of skin cancer and wrinkle). Find sunscreen products containing zinc oxide, avobenzone, or ecamsole
Nuclear RadiaJon
Nuclear RadiaJon “With contaminated water from Japan’s crippled Fukushima nuclear complex continuing to pour into the Pacific, scientists are concerned about how that radioactivity might affect marine life. Although the ocean’s capacity to dilute radiation is huge, signs are that nuclear isotopes are already moving up the local food chain.
CO2 increase
Effect of CO2 on plants Large-‐scale experiment on the effects of evaluated CO2 concentraJon -‐ Rings of towers in the Duke University Experimental Forest emit enough CO2 to raise and maintain CO2 level 200ppm above present-‐day concentra4ons in half of the experimental plots. -‐ Aier 10 years, they found that increased CO2 plots produced 15% more wood each year than the control plots -‐ The increase was far less than predicted from the results of greenhouse experiments!!
Energy
Energy
Effects on Biodiversity
Habitat destrucJon
UrbanizaJon
Overgrazing, monoculture, golf estates
Mining
Poaching
Moving toward sustainability
To produce one ton of paper, 100 tons of water are used. For every litre of beer, 10 litres of water have been used in the fermen4ng process. Producing one cellphone requires 75 kg of resources. A toothbrush requires 1,5 kg of resources – coal, oil and water – for its produc4on
What’s in your bin?
If anything in your dustbin can be reused by somebody else, recycled or repaired it should not be there!
Moving towards sustainability is a social challenge that entails interna4onal and na4onal law, urban planning and transport, local and individual lifestyles and ethical consumerism. Ways of living more sustainably can take many forms from reorganising living condi4ons (e.g., ecovillages, eco-‐municipali4es and sustainable ci4es), reappraising economic sectors (permaculture, green building, sustainable agriculture), or work prac4ces (sustainable architecture), using science to develop new technologies (green technologies, renewable energy and sustainable fission and fusion power), to adjustments in individual lifestyles that conserve natural resources.
Sustainability
• Reduced maintenance/replacement costs over the life of the building.
• Energy conserva4on. • Improved occupant health and produc4vity. • Lower costs associated with changing space
configura4ons. • Greater design flexibility.
Green building
PolluJon control
PracJces -‐ Recycling -‐ Reusing -‐ Waste minimiza4on -‐ Preven4ng -‐ Compost
Air polluJon control Dust collecJon systems -‐ Baghouses -‐ Cyclones -‐ Electrosta4c precipitators
Water polluJon control Sewage treatment -‐ SedimentaJon (Primary treatment) is a physical water treatment process using gravity to remove suspended solids from water. -‐ AcJvated sludge biotreaters (Secondary treatment) is a process for trea4ng sewage and industrial wastewaters using air and a biological floc composed of bacteria and protozoa. -‐ Aerated lagoons is a holding and/or treatment pond provided with ar4ficial aera4on to promote the biological oxida4on of wastewaters. -‐ Constructed wetland is an ar4ficial wetland created as a new or restored habitat for na4ve and migratory wildlife, for anthropogenic discharge such as wastewater, stormwater runoff, or sewage treatment, for land reclama4on aier mining, refineries, or other ecological disturbances such as requiredmi4ga4on for natural areas lost to a development.
BioremediaJon a waste management technique that involved the use of organisms to remove or neutralize pollutants from a contaminated site