Environmental Science Essay

Exercise 1. Part 1) How does a class being conducted online instead of on campus increase or decrease the classes' contribution to the carbon cycle during the term? Consider the differences between the two in terms of methods of travel, and use of facilities, energy, and other resources. Remember to focus on the impact to the carbon cycle. 1. Online classes are time efficient, less polluting and save schools money on utilities such as water and electricity. Going to on campus classes pollutes the air with gas because every student needs some kind of transportation to school, either that be a personal car, bus or a train. Another benefit of an online class is that less tress are cut each year because most students read their books over the computer/laptop and they don’t need to buy printed copies as well as other school supplies.
Part 2) Complete the ecological footprint quiz at the following link:http://myfootprint.org/en/visitor_information and report your results. What did you learn about you and your family's impact on the environment? 2. The result that I got was 4.93 Earths would be needed if everyone on the planet lived my lifestyle. I didn’t realize how inconsiderate I was until I took this quiz. Now that I actually saw what my habits are doing to the environment I am going to start recycling and using energy savings products.

Exercise 2. Using ONE ecosystem from the list below, explain the role of the carbon, hydrologic, phosphorus, and nitrogen cycles in this ecosystem.
Choose from a "normal": tropical rain forest, tundra, river delta, or savannah

The importance of rainforests in the carbon cycle depends on the extent of the forest, the amount of carbon stored per unit area and the rate at which carbon is fixed by the plants during photosynthesis. Plants and animals contain a great deal of carbon, which they take up as carbon dioxide during growth and photosynthesis, and which they release to the atmosphere during respiration and decomposition. The role of rainforests in the water cycle is to add water to the atmosphere through the process of transpiration. Humans can alter the phosphorus cycle in many ways, including in the cutting of tropical rain forests and through the use of agricultural fertilizers. Rainforest ecosystems are supported primarily through the recycling of nutrients, with little or no nutrient reserves in their soils. Nitrogen is one of the key nutrients required by the flora. Humans have

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Environmental Science Worksheet

Essay on environmental science