Transcript Ch. 14.1-2: Resource Issues

Ch. 14.1-2: Resource Issues
Acid Rain
• Def: Industrial conversion of sulfur oxides and
nitrogen oxides to acids that return to earth as
snow. The concentration of acids harm water
features (killing fish and plants).
• Sig: It’s hard to address because the rain often
falls in different regions from those that
benefit from the pollution.
Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD)
• Def: Decomposing organic waste dumped into
water features use up oxygen that the fish and
plants need which results in mass die-offs.
• Sig: Water using industries (e.g. food
processing), sewage and agriculture are the
biggest contributors.
Chloroflourocarbons (CFCs)
• Def: pollutants, like freon, that reduce the
ozone layer
• Sig: The Montreal Protocol in 1987 banned the
use of CFCs.
Climate Change
• Def: It refers to the warming of the earth and
its effects on sea levels and weather patterns.
• Sig: Particular attention is focused on human
actions, such as burning fossil fuels, that cause
global warming (anthropogenic).
Ecotourism
• Def: Tourism to the LDCs that is supposed to
help sustain fragile ecosystems.
• Ex: Costa Rica may see keeping the rain forest
intact as economically more beneficial than
deforestation for cattle production.
Greenhouse Effect
• Def: Global warming caused by CO2s trapping
radiation from escaping out of our
atmosphere.
• Sig: It is causing sea levels to rise and weather
patterns to change.
Natural Resource Depletion
• Def: Using up of the available scarce resources
(especially petroleum, natural gas & coal).
• Sig: The more readily reserves are extracted
first making the extraction increasingly more
expensive. This should lead to extraction
innovation and use of alternative resources).
Ozone depletion
• Def: It refers to the reduction of the protective
ozone gas layer. The ozone protects us from
UV light.
• Sig: The reduction of CFCs has slowed this
down but it will take a long time to regenerate
itself.
Potential Reserves
• Def: Reserves of resources that are
undiscovered but thought to exist.
• Sig: Reserves become proven once they are
discovered.
Proven Reserves
• Def: Discovered reserves of resources.
Discovery is dependent on technology and
will.
• Sig: Proven reserves can be measured with
accuracy.