Warm Currents

Blue, crystal clear water = low

nutrients and few fish (except coral
reefs)
Florida, Gulf of Mexico,
Cold Currents
Green water = lots of nutrients and
fish
California
Hook

and Line
Individuals fish with own line
Catch everything
Minimal impact

Long

Lining
Long line of bait pulled in by crane
Catches swordfish and tuna
Not as good of an impact as hook &
line method; bycatch: dolphins and
sea turtles

Purse-seine Nets
Big boat with sonar sends small
boat with net to catch all fish in the
area
Catches salmon and tuna
Easy to overfish
Bycatch: dolphins and sea turtles
because caught in nets
Bottom Trawling
Boat with huge net scrapes bottom
of ocean systematically
Catches flounder, cod, shrimp
Horrible impact!!! 25% caught are
bycatch
Pots
Boats with pots/cages trap fish
Catches lobster and crab
Good impact
Fish farming
Raise fish commercially in tanks

Salmon (temperate), shrimp

(tropics), catfish (U.S)
Impact: deforestation to make
room for fish farms

Pleistocene & Holocene

Pleistocene (Ice Age): glacial and
interglacial periods (2.5 mil BP)
Holocene: interglacial period where all
glaciers receded (11.7k BP)
Glacial-interglacial
A glacial period is an interval of time
(thousands of years) within an ice age
that is marked by colder temperatures
and glacier advances. Interglacials, on
the other hand, are periods of warmer
climate between glacial periods.
What happened during the Ice Age?
Ice sheets and glaciers moved
Land bridges were formed that
connected places
Vegetation shifed North-South and
toward/away from equator
Ice Cores
Has info about climate millions of
years ago
Drilled from ice sheet
Isotope dating: O16 is lighter
(cold), O18 is heavier (hot)
Coral Reefs
A tropical forest; complex structure
with lots of diversity and niches
Types of Coral Reefs
Fringe reef: near shore
Patch reef: occur in lagoons
Barrier reef: far off shore in areas of
calm water; usually forms barrier
around islands
Origin of Coral Reefs =Darwin!!
1. Volcanic island
2. Fringe reefs first to form around
islands
3. Erosion fringe reef turns to
barrier reef

4. Atoll: all land has disappeared =

coral donut
5. Seamount: no corals because
everything eroded
Where Coral Reefs Occur
30 degrees N to 30S
65-91 degrees F
clear, shallow water
Globally, coral reefs cover 360k+ square
miles = size of British Colombia
Countries with greatest length of reef
1. Philippines: 22450 km
2. Indonesia: 17.5k km
3. Fiji: 5360k km
What is coral?
200 million years old
polyp: animal part attaches itself to
substrate
zooxanthellae: yellow-brown algae
in polyp (body)
Coral Bleaching
zooxanthellae (algae) leaves the
coral loses color
because of increase in temperature

6. Cant camp just anywhere, must

book a campsite
7. Fill gas in Catavina
8. Stay on right lane at border
Tourism: close to #1 revenue generating
business in world
Vacation v. Travel
Vacation
Time off to relax
Short time
Safe and organized
trip

Travel
Time to learn:
interest?
Lots of time off: 1-3
months
Hard work, not
always fun

Sediment Cores: Pollen Analysis

Over the years, water settles in
indentations and pollen goes to the
bottom in layer of sediment when
lake freezes
Drill our cross section of lake, ID
fossil pollen in sediment
Can reconstruct what vegetation
looked like during that time and
calculate percent of pollen over
time

75% of all corals today are threatened or

at risk; worth $375 billion annually

Carbon Dating
Examine carbon decay
C12 stable
C14 unstable

Why Coral Reefs are

Damaged/Threatened
fishing (dynamite, cyanide)
sediment runoff: makes water not
clear = corals eventually die
coral bleaching from high
temperatures
tourism

Tree Cores
Drill out from tree to examine rings
Small ring = dry year; big ring =
wet year
Size of ring matches rainfall and
temperature over time

Rules of Baja
1. get auto insurance
2. only drive to the border (Ensenada
beaches) or youll end up in Tijuana
3. dont drive at night
4. no guns or drugs
5. police: can you pay the judge for
me?

Sangamonian Interglacial
Has been warmer than it is today
All megafauna survived
Evidence of global warming
Temperature gauges increased 1.4
degrees F

Ice sheets and glaciers melting

(Greenland, South America)
Sea level rising

Kyoto Protocol
Must accept that Earth will warm
1.8-5.8 degrees C
Reduce Co2 emissions by 5.2% as
global unit
By 2100, cut CO2 by 29%
Emission
China exempt
Australia and Bush didnt sign
because bad for economy
Arnold CA Global Warming Solution Act
of 2006
Program to reduce greenhouse
gases
Significantly improved air quality
Created Cap and Trade Board to
buy/sell emissions (carbon trading)
Mandate ZEV: zero emission
vehicles to reduce CO2 emissions
OPEC
Algeria, Nigeria, Angola, Ecuador,
Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Qatar,
Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates,
Venezuela
NRDC: National Resources Defense
Council
1314 Second Street
Santa Monica, CA 90401
310-434-2300
98% of its materials were recycled
for use in the new building. 100%
recucled or recyclable materials,
including hand guns.
70% less water than a standard
building of its size.
Cut consumption of electricity
nearly 60% by maximizing natural
light and using efficient fixtures
and appliances, task lighting,
dimmable electronic ballasts and
occupancy sensors

Building generates 20% of its

electricity via rooftop photovoltaic
cells

Air Pollution in U.S

of all air pollution comes from
cars
200 million cars in country
Photochemical Smog
Hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxide,
sulfur dioxide, ozone
Sunlight chemical reaction = brown
layer
Thermal inversion layer: as you go
up, temperature actually
INCREASES rather than decreasing
Hydropower
Make a dam, water flows down
slope to turbine = power
Cheap to operate; 60% of energy in
U.S
Sediment build up will make dam
useless, warms water temperature
and chemistry
Geothermal Energy
Uses steam from water in hot
spring
Can only be done in certain
locations and uses lots of water
Solar Power
Active: sun heats up
Passive: based on design (like sun
in window)
Solar thermal: mirror reflects sun to
tower, add water to create steam
Hidden hills: water from mountains
heats hill
Photovoltaire: 20% efficient cellprocessing energy
Expensive to install
Storage of energy is difficult
Wind Energy
Spin and make energy
No emissions

Birds die
Fastest growing industry in U.S

Ethanol/Hydrogen Fuels
Add O2 to Hydrogen = energy and
water
Clean, easy to store unlike
electricity, no engine in car
Costly
Requires huge infrastructure
readjustment
GPS: Global Positioning System
Triangulation using Pythagorean
theorem (lengths and angles) to
predict exact location on Earth
GIS: Geographic Information System
Vector data!! Point (node), line
(arc), area (polygon)
Power of GIS is overlap and spatial
analysis different layers of data
Uses: urban planning, business,
transportation/shipping, health,
political science, natural resources
Remote Sensing
Study of Earth without direct
contact uses satellite imagery
Raster data: pixel grid cells data
within each cell
Each pixel records in
electromagnetic spectrum
Wavelengths:
UV Rays: see rat urine, etc.
Visible rays: colors of the rainbow
that we see
Infrared: night vision
Thermal: sea surface temperatures,
fires, people
Microwaves:
Active Remote Sensing
Sends and receives energy pulse
Ex. Measures elevation and forest
structure
Benefits of Ozone

Intercepts UV
Protects from cancer

Manufactured Gases Chlorofluorocarbon

(CFC)
Breaks up ozone 03 (reduces) and
releases chlorine
Used in AC, spray can, fridges
Acid Rain
Rain has sulfuric and nitric acids
and dry acid particles that settle
out of the air
Damage agriculture, corrode
metals and monuments, forest
decline
Bad Effects of Global Warming
Sea level rises = small islands
vulnerable to saltwater intrusion
and storm surges
Changes in precipitation pattern =
more frequent droughts or flooding
in certain areas; lower availability
of fresh water
Rise in sea level can take away
fertile agricultural lands; droughts,
increased pests and diseases lower
crop yields
Increase in heat related illnesses
and deaths
Changes in plant and animal
species and their ecosystems:
warmer temperatures = decline in
populations, higher rates of
reproductive failure, coral
bleaching
Why CO2 flucuates over a year
Winter = high level because plants
arent actively growing and
absorbing CO2
Human activities vary release of
CO2
Aquifers: underground reservoirs that
store groundwater
Ogallala Aquifer: largest aquifer in
the world farmers draw water 40

times faster than nature replaces it

(aquifer depletion)
Saltwater Intrusion
Movement of seawater into a
freshwater aquifer near the coast
Groundwater is depleted faster
than it recharges
Main Types of Water Pollutants (8)
1. Sewage
2. Disease-causing agents
3. Sediment pollution
4. Inorganic plant and algae nutrients:
animal wastes, fertilizer runoff,
plant residues
5. Organic compounds: landfills,
industrial wastes
6. Inorganic chemicals: oil drilling,
urban runoff, mines
7. Radioactive substances: medical
and science research facilities
8. Thermal pollution: industrial runoff
Types of Water Pollution
Point source pollution: water
pollution that can be traced to
specific spot ; through pipes,
sewers, ditches
Nonpoint source pollution: pollution
that enters bodies of water over
large areas rather than being
concentrated at a single point of
entry; ex. Rain carries pollutants
and deposit them elsewhere
Safe Drinking Water Act (1974)
Set uniform federal standards for
drinking water to guarantee safe
public water supplies
Determined maximum contaminant
level
Clean Water Act (1977)
EPA must monitor national
emission limitations (maxiumum
permissible amounts of water
pollutants that can be discharged
from a point source)
Has improved water quality

Seagrass Beds
Flowering plants adapted to
complete submersion in shallow
salty ocean water
Occur in temperate, subtropical,
and tropical waters
Roots and rhizomes help stabilize
sediments, reducing erosion
Provide food and habitat for marine
organisms
Benthic Environment
The ocean floor
Consists of sediments where
bottom-dwelling animals burrow
Aquaculture (fish farming)
Growing of aquatic organisms for
human consumption
Examples: shellfish, seaweed, sea
bass, salmon
Petroleum Refining
Hydrocarbon compounds are
separated into different products
(such as gases, jet fuel, heating oil,
diesel), based on their different
boiling points
Refined in fractionation tower:
lowest boiling points are highest in
tower
Nuclear Energy
Involved changes in the nuclei of
atoms; small amounts of matter
from nucleus are converted into
large amounts of energy
Produced by nuclear fission or
fusion
Can provide power without
emitting CO2
Nuclear energy is cleaner than coal
because combustion of coal to
generate electricity is responsible
for more than 1/3 of air pollution in
U.S and contributes to acid rain
and climate warming
Meltdown

At high temperatures, metal

encasing uranium fuel can melt
and release radiation
Water used in nuclear reactor to
transfer heat can boil away during
accident and contaminate
atmosphere

Yucca Mountain
Congress identified Yucca Mtns in
Nevada as the only candidate for
permanent underground storage
site for high level radioactive
wastes from commercially operated
power plants
U.S nuclear waste repository but
Obama repealed it = finding new
site
Best option is to store radioactive
waste deep underground
The average U.S household spends
several thousands of dollars each year on
energy/utility bills.
Green Architecture
High energy efficiency
Natural light, sensors, materials
from sustainable forests, recycled
materials, save on heat and AC
John Muir
Naturalist and biocentric
preservationist
Because of him the Yosemite
National Park Bill was established
to create national parks in CA
Protect nature from human
interference
Rachel Carson Silent Spring
Marine biologist

Book brought public awareness to

the dangers of using pesticides
Led to restrictions on use of certain
pesticides
Beginning of environmental
movement

First Earth Day: April 22, 1970

Top 5

Causes of Death in U.S

Cancer
Stroke
Motor vehicle accident
Suicide
Falling

E. Coli
Its presecence indicates sewagecontaminated water
Test to find disease-causing agents
in water
How DDT works up food chain
Persistence: extremely stable and
takes years to break down into less
toxic form = simply stored in an
organism
Bioaccumulation: buildup of toxins
in organisms
Biological magnification: increase
in toxins as its passed through food
chain
Hydropower 58%
Biofuels 11
Geothermal 3
Wind 27
Solar 1
2002 7.5%
2004 6%
2012 13.2%