Environmental Science Exam 4- 14. Wetlands such as estuaries, swamps, and marshe
ID: 271490 • Letter: E
Question
Environmental Science Exam 4- 14. Wetlands such as estuaries, swamps, and marshes have the same productivity as forests. Why does this make protection of wetlands so important? Are tropical rain forests carbon sinks? Why or why not? carbon sink in your answer. 15. Be sure to include a definition of 16. Today we are faced with an increase in carbon dioxide in our atmosphere. Imagine, however, that the reverse were true. Imagine if there were an decrease in carbon dioxide and a increase in oxygen. What would be the consequences for the temperature of the atmosphere near the surface of the Earth? Why would a decrease in carbon dioxide cause this?Explanation / Answer
14)
Wetlands :- The land area which is surrounded or saturated with the water. It has an distinct ecosystem which helps the surrounding biotic and aquatic life to sustain for long period. They include peatlands, marshes and swamps.
Why do wetlands forests matter:-
As compared to the rain forest and the coral reefs, the wetlands are among the most productive ecosystem in the world. They provide benefit to the humanity, fresh water supply, food, building material, reduces erosion, fills the acquifers and provide habitat to the aquatic life. Due to the change in the climate and human anti-activity against the nature causes the decline in the quality of the wetlands. Due to their crtitical ecological services it is important to maintain their existence because :-
Hence wetlands are so imporatant to keep them healthy to maintain clean water to support wildlife and aquatic life.
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15)
Carbon sink :-The natural system or reservoir that accumulates or soakes the carbon or carbon compund from the atmosphere. The process by which carbon is removed from CO2 by carbon sink is called carbon sequestration. Carbon sinks play major role in maintaining the climate and temperature changes in the environment. Trees, forest, soil and ocean are major carbon sink present on the earth. The decline in the number of natural carbon sinks like forest, trees and increase in carbon emmision by human activities impacting negatively to the nature and cause rise in the temperature, climate change.
Tropical forest as carbon sink --Yes or No:-
Surprisingly, tropical forests are no longer a carbon sink due to the increased human activity like urbanisation, illegal logging, deforestation, and land degradation. Tropical forests now emit more carbon than they are able to absorb. Recent studies and research suggested that every continent's tropical forest emits more carbon than absorb where other researcher's data showed that about 862 teragrams of CO2 is realsed while 437 teragrams CO2 is absorbed.
Researchers have calculated the carbon loss by calculating the carbon density from the forest for 12 years and revealed the data of carbon loss and gain that tropical forest of the world gained 436m tonnes of the CO2 and in the year 2003 to 2014 whereas loss the 861 m tonnes of CO2 ove the same period. Data has proved that tropical forests are no longer a carbon sink.
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16)
Consequences for the temperature of the earth when CO2 is decreased and Oxygen is increased:-
Increased Oxygen level can influence the global temperature and humidity with the change in the concentration. Because oxygen is not the green house gas so its increased concentration thickens the atmoshpere which results in the more scattering of the sunlight rather than letting it reached on the earth. The earth's temperature will be dropped down and less humidity will occur. Low temperature negatively affect the living life and vital functions of every living oragnism who has adopted for long time for current temperature of the atmoshpere. If the oxygen increased is so fast and molecular oxygen or O3 then it will cause fatal effect on normal being.
The amount of the atmoshperic CO2 and the global temperature goes hand in hand. CO2 is the greenhouse gas prevents the heat dissipating back into the space and heat is entrapped by it. It act as thermal blanket which warms the earth to maintain delicate balance for survival of living oragnism on the earth. Reduce CO2 level means less atmospheric temperature. The cooler the temperature, lesser will be the evaporation and then lesser will be the precipitation. This unevenly distributed precipitation over the different region will cause more drought at some places, few summer thunderstorm at another or no alteration in somewhere. Continuous decreased in the carbon di oxide will lead the earth to the Ice-age.
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