ECOLOGY: Human Impacts?
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There are many.  What follows are just a few, and I am certain many people would put them into different catagories:\n\nDeforestation is one.  Humans have cut down many areas of natural vegetation and either replaced it with crops or built cities on it.  Plants return oxygen to the atmosphere from carbon dioxide; they reflect light and adsorb heat from the sun.  Both plants and the soil help adsorb water and pollutants.  The more of the planet we pave, the fewer trees and less soil exist to regulate these functions.\n\nPollution is another.  We dump our trash on land and in the oceans.  We create chemical compounds that wouldn't exist in nature and spread them in the land, water, soil and air.  Some directly effect the health of living things; others effect things like the ozone layer, taking away natural system that protect life on this planet.  We dump the heat from our indutrial processes into the atmosphere and water.\n\nAnd, now, we're relatively certain we are creating enough waste of carbon dioxide, water vapor, and other gases in our atmosphere to trap excess heat in the atmosphere.  Enough of it to warm the entire globe just fast enough that plants cannot adapt.  Fertile zones will change.  Crops may fail.  Livestock (and wild animals) that depend on plants for forage may die.  Areas that we now comfortably inhabit - with suitable climates and drinking water may become desert.  Others may end up under rising oceans as glaciers melt.\n\nWhat can we do about it?  Everyone will likely have a different answer.  As an American, I have to say I am more guilty than many others who will read this.  The average American family (about 5 people) owns 9 internal combustion (gasoline or diesel) engines; in a still developing nation like China, there is one engine for every 159 people. If the Chinese lived like the American, how much soot, smog, waste heat, and carbon dioxide would be produced on a single summer day of driving, lawn mowing, and boating?  How much could our planet take?\n\nThe answers aren't easy.  In the short term, we can use applicance - from light bulbs to computers - that are more efficient in how they use the energy we make.  We can think about how to reuse things to create less waste; or not use them at all. (Seriously, how much of your groceries really need to be double bagged?  And does your produce really need to go in another bag inside that?) We can decide whether we really need to build a new 3 bedroom house for ourselves, or if an older, smaller place can be refurbished to suit our tastes. \n\nBut, ultimately, we use too much.  We burn too many things to create the energy we use.  Period.  But, what are the alternatives?  Deforest vast tracts of land to crate wind and solar farms?  I will leave you to draw your own conclusions, but it seems more and more like the future of our existence on Earth depends on the right answer.
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The answer to studing ecology was worded the simplest by Kofi Annan. "There is little chance of protecting the environment without a greater sense of mutual responsibility." \nThe world in which is made up ofdelicate and complicated systems, which need to be understood by everyone on one level or another. While it would seem some of it to be trivial, an informed public insures a healthier planet.
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I guess I'm one of those people who notices changes in my own state - winters are NOT the same - but I am aware that our planet has undergone changes in the past. Are humans having an effect? I'm sure of it. But how much? And how much of the changes we're seeing are completely natural in the grand scheme of things? I'm not prepared to answer.
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Not a very specific question, but usually when we talk in terms of models we want to be able to represent a certain system on a smaller scale. Are you talking about predator-prey relationships, breeding rates and probabilities, what?\n\nOr how a fishery might impact the local ecosystem?\n\nI don't think there is a "Environmental Modeling for Fisheries for Dummies" book!
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given that ecology is about the interrelationship of live on this earth, it should be relevant to everybody. If your environment is destroyed, you wouldn't want to live their anymore. Toxins in your environment can make you sick (and if you are a nurse, they may have made some of your patients sick). Sick people are also much more sensitive to additional toxins. \nWhere to people like to go when they want to recover from a lengthy disease? Usually not in the middle of a big city, if they can, they much rather go to the seaside or the mountains, to places where the ecology is much more intact and healthy. \nA healthy ecosytem around you is good for your health. And you need knowledge in order to keep it that way, or try to make it better
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Pollution: Possibly adding to the global warming theory, especially prolifent during times of early scientific advancement I.E. Industrial Revolution and The Roman Industrialisation which created the second largest period of pollution.\n\nEthical Issues: Scientific advancemnts mainly pioneered by medical, military and the government have led to ethical problems. Obvious flash point include cloning, bioweapons etc.\n\nSurvival Of the fittest: This has been to a large extent diminshed due to mankinds medical wish to extend or protect the lifes of weaker members of society who in the natural world would have expired. This in turn leads to a burden on society. \n\nEscalation: This can be viewed as a negative effect. Whilst it does push the boundaries of science and engineering, such example as the space race can be positive. However, as far as creation of bigger and bigger weapons to out-arsenal the apponent goes, it cannot be presumed a good thing as it leads to problems with management, global security and worldwide relations.\n\nEnlightenment: Whilst in most cases there is no problem with the human race opening its eyes, there is the argument that humans are moving beyond their power to understand and comprehend. There is the argument that ignorance in our species is one of the things that leads to happiness. That by finding out all the most spiritual aspects of our lives are indeed scientific equations and chemical impulses that the human race loses part of what actually makes it human.\n\nI hope I have argued points correctly.\nCheers,\nDaniel.
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Biodiversity has contributed in many ways to the development of human culture, and, in turn, human communities have played a major role in shaping the diversity of nature at the genetic, species, and ecological levels.\n\nBiodiversity is what underlies many important ecological goods and services that provide benefits to humans.\n\nI have taken this straight from Wikipedia, there is much more useful information on the benefits of biodiversity to man at:\n\nhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodiversity#Benefits_of_biodiversity
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pollution and devastation to the environment\n\nspecies invasion\n\nover consumption leading to extinction\n\nand, basically natural disasters
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Search for "Mallee", "Flinders Ranges", "Roxby Downs", "Toxic Waste Dump", "Great Barrier Reef", "Riverland", "Aboriginal" - These will give you a background to some issues on human interaction with the environment in Australia.\n\nAlso check out political parties websites - For non Aussies try "The Greens" "Austalian Labour Party" "Liberal Party" "The Nationals" "The Democrats"
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a short account of environmental happenings that are endangering the blue and some possible solutions\n\nthese are some Mega threats that endanger the planet \n\nExstinction,over population,deforrestation,\nexcess carbon emissions,desertification(land...\nbad farming practises(landloss),\nerosian(landloss),watershortag...\nglobal warming,rising seas(landloss).\n\nEXSTINCTION\n\nwe harvest fish faster than they can reproduce,\nAnd habitat destruction,climatic change,\nexpanding populations,overexploitation,\ndeforrestation,desertification...\npolution are responsible for mayor looses \nof both flora and fauna,many for ever.\nwe are now witness to the first mass extinction\nsince the day of the dinosaurs.\nspecies are being lost every hour.\n\nOVERPOPULATION\nthe world population has doubled in the last 50 years \nthe fastest increase ever,since we became homosapian\n\neach year farmers have to grow food \nfor an extra 70 million people,\nmany of whom are taking the forrests place.\n\nDEFORRESTATION \nif it continues ,is that we could end up looking like Mars.Without an atmosphere ,without water,without air,\nwith out life\n\nthe rain forrest and all other forests are getting smaller every day.\nespecially in south America and Mexico.\nvaluable species of plants become lost \nand countles animals are killed into extinction.\n\nthe jungle of Lacadona one of\nthe richest environmental areas of Mexico\nwhich produces 70 %of the countries water,\nis home to thousands of rare species of flora and fauna\nis loosing hundred of hectares daily\n(2 millions hectares per anum)\ndespite nationwide campains on all tv and radio stations.\nnothing can stop the destruction,\nthe same thing is happening in the Amazon regions ,\nand probably in Asia as well,\nand it is also the case in Borneo\n\nthe forrests make most of the water that we can drink \nor use for agriculture(sweet water) \nsome is condensed from the sea but that reaches only the coastel aereas.\nthe bulk ,comes from the forests ,\nand the rivers come from the rainfall\nwhich comes from the trees.\nthe trees with precipitation,\nfeed the rivers when it is not raining\nand keep them running all year round.\n\nIf we kill all the trees,we kill the rivers .\nwe kill the rain. we kill us.\nthe trees also absorb the heat in the day \nand heat up the place in the night ,\nso they keep the temperature confortable to live in.\ntrees evaporate a mist which ,which protects us from the strong rays of the sun \n\nin the dessert the nights are freezing cold \nand during the days you burn up.\n\nCARBON EMISIONS\nthe world is producing more carbon monoxide\nthan the system can accomodate\nthe trees absorb carbon emisions ,\nwhich is poison to us and they leave the oxygen\nwhich we need to breathe.\nin the autemn the colder seas absorb carbon emisions\nthat is produced by rotting flora .\nand in the spring newly growing biomass \nutilises the carbon that is released by the warmer waters\n\nDESERTIFICATION\n\nbecause of bad agricultural practises \nand the resulting land loss \nfarmers are now cultivating highly erodable lands\nand deforresting vast areas\nthe sahara is growing by 7 kilometres every day.\n\ntwo major desserts in northern china \nare growing together making one giant dessert, \ncausing dust storms making thousands of people refugese.\nthe planet is drying out at an alarming rate.\n\nin the days of the dinasaurs this planet was under an aquiferus manta ,a mist that covered the entire earth \nand there were no desserts.\nCount how many there are today,and all of them are as a result of mans actions.\nthe sahara used to be forrests\narabia ,irak ,iran used to be fertile lands in biblical times\nGhengas Kahn burned all the forrests \nand filled the wellS with water and \nso turning vast lands into dessert.\nBAD FARMING\n\nBad agricultural practises is turning \nvast teritories into desserts ,because of \nover grazing ,the exessive pumping of carbon aquifiers. \nthe surface aquifiers alrea
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We let a forest fire free burn and we learned how fast a ecosystem can regrow itself.\nRe-populated it with wolves. Now wolf hunting is allowed to control the population.\nHighly studied area. (Super Volcanoes, geysers, wildlife)\nThe park service tries to limit the impact of humans.
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Human geography deals with people and how they interact with their surrounding environment.
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Effects of deforestation.\n\nthis can be a local problem with global consequences.\n\ncan be biology and chemsitry (maybe physics as well, heat flows etc.)
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Go here myabe it will help:  \nhttp://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2003/ecosoc6088.doc.htm
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Risk assessment\n\nFamily Systems (ecosystem theory)\n\nand individual as well and family therapy. \n\nGood luck!
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Have your tried BBC Bitesize? I think it covers pollution, media and unemployment/work.
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There's entirely too much information available on this subject.  I suggest you start with a simple internet search with using words or phrases like 'tropical deforestation issues' or 'impact of tropical deforestation'.  There's a ton of info to find.  Also try your local library.  I'm sure there are tons of magazine and journal articles written on the subject.