How Humans are Connected to the Environment Objective

How Humans are Connected to the Environment. Objective: • To understand how man depends on ecological systems and processes. • Threats to ecosystem processes

VIDEO • https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=h. PL_m. TVw. CFc

What are ecological systems? Our plant's ecological systems • • • purify air and water, cycle nutrients, regulate climate, pollinate plants, and receive and recycle our waste. ecosystem services. Ecosystem services are the transformation of a set of natural assets (soil, plants and animals, air and water) into things that we value. For example, when fungi, worms and bacteria transform the raw "ingredients" of sunlight, carbon and nitrogen into fertile soil this transformation is an ecosystem service. 1

Why are ecosystem services important? • The natural environment supplies us with a multitude of life supporting and life enhancing benefits. • These underpin our economic and social well-being: • Ecosystems create a breathable atmosphere and provide us with food , fibre, timber and a host of other raw materials. • Ecosystems breakdown waste products, control water supplies and help regulate climate. • Ecosystems provide space for recreation and contemplation • Ecosystems play a pivotal role in creating a sense of place that underpins our mental and spiritual well-being.

Categorisation of ecosystem services

Major Threats to Ecosystems Services • 1. Climate change Changes in climate throughout our planet's history have, altered life on Earth in the long run — ecosystems have come and gone, species routinely go extinct. However, rapid, manmade climate change speeds up the process, and do not allow ecosystems and species the time to adapt. E. g. Rising ocean temperatures and diminishing Arctic sea ice affects marine biodiversity and can shift vegetation zones, having global implications. Overall, climate is a major factor in the distribution of species across the globe; climate change forces them to adjust. But many are not able to cope, causing them to die out.

Major Threats to Ecosystems Services 2. Deforestation and habitat loss. Deforestation is a direct cause of extinction and loss of biodiversity. An estimated 18 million acres of forest are lost each year, due in part to logging and other human practices, destroying the ecosystems on which many species depend. Tropical rainforests in particular, such as the Amazon, hold a high percentage of the world's known species, yet the regions themselves are in decline due to humans

Major Threats to Ecosystems Services 3. Overexploitation • Overhunting, overfishing and over-harvesting contribute greatly to the loss of biodiversity, killing off numerous species over the past several hundred years. • Poaching and other forms of hunting for profit increase the risk of extinction; the extinction of an apex predator — or, a predator at the top of a food chain — can result in catastrophic consequences for ecosystems.

Major Threats to Ecosystems Services 4. Invasive species • The introduction of non- native species into an ecosystem can threaten endemic wildlife (either as predators or competing for resources), affect human health and upset economies. • https: //antiguaobserver. co m/invasive-speciesthreaten-other-caribbeancountries/

Major Threats to Ecosystems Services 5. Pollution • From the burning of fossil fuels ( which releases dangerous chemicals into the atmosphere and the depleting of ozone levels) to dumping of billions of pounds of plastic into the ocean every year, pollution completely disrupts the Earth's ecosystems. • Pollutants do have the potential to influence species' habits. • For example, acid rain, which is typically caused by the burning of fossil fuels, can acidify smaller bodies of water and soil, negatively affecting the species that live there by changing breeding and feeding habits.