Environmental Science Earth As A Living Planet 9th Edition Pdf Free Download

[Patrizia Leones]

Aboutten years ago, science writer Ferris Jabr started contemplating Earth as a living planet rather than a planet with life on it. It began when he learned that the Amazon rainforest doesn't simply receive the rain that gives it its namesake; rather, it helps generate that rain. The Amazon does that by launching bits of biological confetti into the atmosphere that, in turn, seed clouds.

The Living Planet Report 2022 is a comprehensive study of trends in global biodiversity and the health of the planet. This flagship WWF publication reveals an average decline of 69% in species populations since 1970. While conservation efforts are helping, urgent action is required if we are to reverse nature loss.

Climate change and biodiversity loss are not only environmental issues, but economic, development, security, social, moral, and ethical issues too. Industrialized countries are responsible for most environmental degradation but it is developing nations that are disproportionately impacted by biodiversity loss. We all have a role to play in building a nature-positive society that safeguards the planet for the good health of everyone.

Monitored freshwater populations have declined by an average of 83% since 1970, more than any other species groups. Habitat loss and barriers to migration routes account for around half the threats to these populations.

WWF has created a youth edition of their 2022 Living Planet Report that uses engaging infographics and visuals to highlight the state of our planet and explain the causes of decline.

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(Note: The Tulane Earth & Environmental Sciences department launched a new unified minor in Spring 2023. The previously offered Environmental Earth Science minor described on this page is no longer offered to incoming students as of Fall 2023.)

The Department Earth & Environmental Sciences (EENS) offers this environmental science minor, which provides students with broad exposure to the integrated earth system and environmental problems. Students minoring in environmental earth science may elect to broaden their background in environmental issues by completing a major in environmental studies in the School of Liberal Arts. Course requirements for the environmental earth science minor are given below:

Environmental Science provides an overview of how science affects our environment. We focus on interactions between the solid Earth, its water, its air and its living organisms, and on dynamic, interdependent relationships between these four components.

Earth and environmental scientists also consider how these relationships produce environmental change at different timescales. To do this, they combine knowledge, models and methods drawn from geology, biology, physics and chemistry.

Some environmental specialists focus on environmental issues while others focus on issues relating to human health. Either way, they work on critical issues, solving some of the most important problems of our day.

Earth and Environmental Science is ideal for people that want to explore a mix of sciences like biology, chemistry and physics along with history and public policy. It allows you to apply practical solutions to real-world problems, too.

The Living Planet Report uses the Ecological Footprint and additional complementary measures to explore the changing state of global biodiversity and human consumption. The Living Planet Report 2022, released October 13, 2022, shows a 69% decrease in the average size of monitored vertebrate wildlife populations between 1970 and 2018.

The report indicates that many of the main drivers of wildlife population decline are directly linked to human activities, including habitat loss, degradation, and exploitation. According to Global Footprint Network, humanity is currently using the resources of 1.75 planets to provide the goods and services we demand when we only have one Earth.

Zoological Society of London

ZSL is a global science-led conservation organisation helping people and wildlife live better together to restore the wonder and diversity of life everywhere. It is a powerful movement of conservationists for the living world, working together to save animals on the brink of extinction and those which could be next.

In 2009, the center published the Planetary Boundaries Framework, which outlined nine key processes, influenced by humanity, that threaten the stability of the entire Earth System. These are: climate change, biodiversity integrity (functional and genetic), ocean acidification, depletion of the ozone layer, atmospheric aerosol pollution, biogeochemical flows of nitrogen and phosphorus, freshwater use, land-system change, and release of novel chemicals (including heavy metals, radioactive materials, plastics, and more).

An example: melting of the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets has accelerated since the early 1990s, suggesting these colossal ice deposits may have now entered a new state of sustained and escalating retreat, after many centuries of stability. Contained within these now vulnerable ice sheets is enough water to raise the global sea level by more than 65 meters (213 feet).

These early changes are signs of an impending shift from once stable Holocene conditions, say scientists. More concerning: many of these changes are expected to create positive feedback loops that further accelerate change.

For example, the continued melting of the Greenland ice sheet will not only cause major sea level rise, but also could alter ocean surface temperature and salinity, potentially triggering a transition in ocean circulation systems like the Atlantic Meridional Ocean Circulation (AMOC), which in turn could drastically alter global climate, and even accelerate the loss of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet.

If we are to steer our planet away from a devastating new trajectory, phasing out fossil fuels to reach a net-zero greenhouse gas emissions world economy is a key priority. But even more pressing, experts say, is a change to our food systems.

Food production accounts for nearly 25% of climate-changing greenhouse gas emissions, is the biggest driver of biodiversity loss, the primary cause of land-use change, one of the largest sources of nitrogen and phosphorus pollution, and it generates huge freshwater demand. Because food production generates big carbon emissions, it adds to ocean acidification too. That covers six of the nine planetary boundaries.

One such framework is the Global Commons Alliance, which brings together more than 50 international NGOs, multinational corporations, and city policymakers to promote the adoption of science-based targets to operate within planetary boundaries. But that partnership will need to grow geometrically if we are to act effectively.

Climate change: Rising concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are leading to increasing global temperatures. We passed the safe boundary of 350 parts per million of CO2 in 1988. By 2020, levels were 417ppm.

Novel entities: One of the more elusive planetary boundaries, novel entities refers to harmful chemicals, materials, and other new substances (such as plastics), as well as naturally-occurring substances such as heavy metals and radioactive materials released by human activities. We release tens of thousands of synthetic substances into the environment every day, often with unknown effects. These risks are exemplified by the danger posed by CFCs to the ozone layer, or of DDT to biodiversity.

Stratospheric ozone depletion: The depletion of O3 in the stratosphere as a result of chemical pollutants was first discovered in the 1980s and led to the 1987 Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. The ozone layer is now showing signs of recovery.

Atmospheric aerosols: Atmospheric aerosol pollution is a bane to human health and can also influence air and ocean circulation systems that affect the climate. For example, severe aerosol pollution over the Indian subcontinent may cause the monsoon system to abruptly switch to a drier state.

Freshwater use: Agriculture, industry and a growing global population are putting ever greater strain on the freshwater cycle, while climate change is altering weather patterns, causing drought in some regions and flooding in others.

Biosphere Integrity: The functional integrity of ecosystems is a core planetary boundary because of the many ecoservices they provide, from pollination to clean air and water. Scientists are concerned about rapid declines in plant and animal populations, the degradation of ecosystems, and the loss of genetic diversity which could disrupt essential biosphere services.

Banner image: Monitoring ice sheet melt: A WWF-sponsored research expedition to monitor melting of the Greenland ice sheet in 2009, led by Marco Tedesco of the City University of New York. Contained within the Greenland ice sheet is enough water to raise the global sea level by more than 65 meters (213 feet). Image by James Balog/Extreme Ice Survey.

We are running out of time for this metanoia to take place. The central committee of the World Council of Churches (WCC), meeting in June this year, noted the Pacific island of Kiribati, facing rising sea-levels, had declared a State of Natural Disaster due to a prolonged drought. As we gather for the 11th Assembly of the WCC, our sisters and brothers in Pakistan face the heaviest rainfall in living memory and flooding that has killed 1,162 people, injured 3,554 and displaced 33 million. Four years of failed rains in the Horn of Africa have put 22 million people at risk of starvation. In Europe, a drought unprecedented in 500 years has affected large swathes of the continent. Such extreme weather, and accompanying humanitarian crises are the alarm bells of a Climate Emergency. Moreover, instability and increased competition for resources resulting from climate change greatly exacerbates conflict risks. In addition, climate change is a public health emergency, having been recognized as a leading cause of human mortality and morbidity. Climate-induced displacement, relocation or migration is no longer a matter of if or when, but is occurring now.

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