Humans in the environment

Goals

1. To understand what is causing the global decrease in biodiversity

2. To understand why many climatologists think that the earth's climate may warm significantly

3. To understand that our actions have consequences...

Outline

Loss of biodiversity

Definitions

Causes

Loss of habitat

agriculture and deforestation

Introduced species

intentional and accidental

may outcompete or prey on natives

Overharvesting

e.g., fisheries, rhinos, tigers

Climate change

1) CO₂ and other "greenhouse gases" trap heat in the atmosphere

this has been know for at least a century -- this is the "greenhouse effect"

2) the amount of CO₂ and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is increasing

this trend has been measured around the globe

3) humans are causing this increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere

by the use of fossil fuels like coal and oil, along with deforestation

the logical inference from these well-established facts it that an increase in greenhouse gases will cause a stronger greenhouse effect, and will result in a warmer planet

Vocabulary

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