Links to James Lovelock and Gaia hypothesis: http://www.jameslovelock.org/ https
ID: 291862 • Letter: L
Question
Links to James Lovelock and Gaia hypothesis:
http://www.jameslovelock.org/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaia_hypothesis
Earth's Greatest Enemies? Lovelock (http://www.jameslovelock.or g/) (originator of the Gaia hypothesis) once said that metaphorically and practically speaking, Earth's greatest enemies were the chainsaws because of their contributions to destabilizing planetary climate. A. In this final Discussion Forum, you will answer the following question to show your ability to find connections among the environmental issues that you have learned about in this course. Number your responses so l can see you have addressed each part. You must cite specific evidence from any Unit of the course to support each of your responses. Each contributor is worth 4 points x 3- 12 points Why and what and how do each of these things contribute to the destabilizing of Earth's atmosphere and climate? 1a. cows? 1b. cars? 1c. chainsaws? Reminders: Be sure to consider the needs that cars, cows, and chainsaws meet for humans . in the "Why?" part of your response Loss of land plants because of human activities will not result in a reduction of . atmospheric oxygen because most of planetary photosynthesis and its resulting oxygen production is in the oceans Be sure to back up your explanations with some research before discussing this topic online with your classmates. Be sure to read relevant sections of your text (and supplementary readings from this Module) and look online. Start with the links in this question and the Resources listed for this Module B. After you have posted, you must respond to at least one of your classmates right there on the discussion thread. This is worth 1+2 4 points In your response posting, you must include a reply to your classmate (this is worth 1 point) and your own "beautiful question" - that is, a well thought out question that shows knowledge and understanding beyond an obvious question. Beautiful questions are clear, specific, relevant, and invite . -Explanation / Answer
1.a. Cows contribute to de-stabilization of earth's atmosphere and climate by intensive grazing of land through cattle farming. The forests and other naturally vegetated landscapes are thought to be sinks of greenhouse gases, many of which have been cleared by means of agriculture massively supported by cattle. This also leads to a production of a huge amount of crops, such as corn, required to feed the cows which clears more forests. Every day when cows consume such heavy quantities of corn, they produce tens to even hundreds of liters of methane, the warming effect of which is even more potent than other greenhouse gases like CO2. Thus, increase in the population of cows meant for supporting agricultural needs is causing harm on planetary scales through positive feedbacks in the climate system.
1. b. Cars pollute the atmospheric environment not only in and around urban areas but in far-off places in forests and water bodies through acidification of rainwater. Massive amounts of NOx and SO2 emitted from automobiles in cities are responsible for air quality degradation and forms acid rain on a number of occasions. The growing demand for cars by relatively wealthier humans to meet their transportation needs is thus causing a negative impact on the planetary atmosphere.
1. c. Chainsaws are detrimental to the natural ecosystems as they are conventionally used for cutting trees in forests to obtain agricultural lands and timber wood. This also has an impact on the sustainability of resources which are meant to be extracted in an ethical way by humans. The unethical clearing of forests reduces the land's capacity to absorb carbon and negatively impacts the atmosphere through increases in CO2, a greenhouse gas concentration that is currently causing planetary-scale warming.
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