Ecological Footprints.

How do ecological footprints exist at a personal level and extend to larger scales? 

• An ecological footprint is the impact of a person or community on the environment, expressed as the amount of land required to sustain their use of natural resources. It's an indicator that measures the nation's impact on Earth and its natural systems, it indicates whether a country and it's people are living symbiotically or harming the planet, it does this by comparing our consumption of natural resources with nature's ability to replenish them. What is a personal footprint? The land area that it takes to support your personal lifestyle.  Each person's footprints is included in the nation's impact on the Earth, one person's lifestyle effects the rest of the world. 

Evaluate your impact on the availability of natural resources and environmental quality. 

Personal Footprint Quiz

Carrying Capacity and Human Growth.

Explain carrying capacity. 

• Carrying capacity is the number of people, other living organisms, or crops that a region can support without environmental decline. 

Infer the limiting factors to human population growth.

• The amount of resources available limits the amount of people that can live in an area, sicknesses also contribute to the rate at which population growth increases or decreases. In periods of epidemics, there are much lower percentages of population growth , or higher percentages in population decline. Another limiting factor would be the amount of space, there can only be a certain number of people in a given amount of space. If people can't spread out then they cannot reproduce. 

Summarize the impacts of a growing population on natural resources. 

• As the population increases there is more of a demand for natural resources, more need for food, water, and personal items. Carrying capacity and limiting factors all deal with the impacts of a growing population on natural resources, there are only a certain amount of people that can be in an area. An area can only have a certain amount of water and if everyone if drinking that water than it will be depleted, this can be shown in the game Celtic Village.

Traditional Agriculture/ Aquaculture VS. Sustainable Agriculture/Aquaculture.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of traditional agriculture/ aquaculture techniques and sustainable agriculture/aquaculture techniques. (Economics and environmental impacts.)

AGRICULTURE 

• Agriculture also called farming or animal husbandry, is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi, and other life forms for food, drugs, biofuels, fiber, and other products used to sustain human life. 
• It keeps natural resources open, Farmers farm for the love of farming and not for money. 
• Farmers don't make a lot of money from profits, and it's very stressful. 
• If they don't have the proper pivots and expensive irrigation systems then they have to rely on natural water and sunlight. 

SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE

• Sustainable agriculture is the production of food, fiber, or other plant and animal products using farming techniques that protect the environment, public health, human communities, and animal welfare.
• Food produced using sustainable agriculture is more nutritious. 
• It's poison free, grown without using pesticides. 
• Tastes better, and stays fresh longer.
• Disease and pest resistance, and lower input costs for farmers. 
• Smaller yields.
• Long cultivation times.
• Takes longer, with more skill required to plant. 
• Higher market for crops grown using sustainable agriculture.

AQUACULTURE

• The raising of animals of the cultivation of aquatic plants for food. 
• Growing concerns, concerns surrounding fish farming arise from the crowding of fish together in an artificial environment. 
• Environmental impact, mangrove forests are being destroyed to make shrimp and fish farms.
• Creation of thousands of jobs.
• Fresh reliable, year-round source of farming. 

SUSTAINABLE AQUACULTURE

• Sustainable aquaculture is the cultivation of fish species for commercial purposes by means that have a neutral or positive impact on the environment, contribute to local economy, and generate an economic profit.

Judge potential impact of sustainable techniques on environmental quality. 

Sustainable techniques are a good way to prevent pollution and harmful effects on the environment, when using sustainable techniques the goal is to have a positive impact on the environment and to contribute locally and help the economy thrive. I believe that sustainable techniques are more efficient than traditional farming which can use pesticides and such to create a better yield or to keep bugs off of plants. With traditional aquaculture areas are being destroyed to create space for fish and shrimp farms.

Alternative sources of energy for North Carolina.

Critique the benefits, costs, and environmental impact of various sources of alternative energy.

SOLAR ENERGY. 

• The only pollution that solar panels produce are the result of manufacturing and installation. Solar energy also has the benefit of being very quiet, and they can even be used in remote locations off the national grid. With new technology solar panels can even be used in cloudy weather!
• The initial cost of photovoltaic solar panels cost around $300 per panel, a family of 5 would need around 500 square feet of photovoltaic panels. 
• "The environmental impacts associated with solar power can include land use and habitat loss, water use, and the use of hazardous materials in manufacturing, though the types of impacts vary greatly depending on the scale of the system and the technology used -photovoltaic solar cells or concentrating solar thermal plants." 

WIND POWER 

• Wind turbines produce clean energy that is abundant (in some places wind blows 24 hours a day.) Once wind turbines are built they produce no green house gases or pollutants, and the land under them can still be used for agriculture. When more energy is used than produced, electric companies can end up owing you money. 
• Wind turbines cost about $65,000. 
• "Harnessing power from the wind is one of the cleanest and most sustainable ways to generate electricity as it produces no toxic pollution or global warming emissions. Wind is also abundant, inexhaustible, and affordable, which makes it a viable and large-scale alternative to fossil fuels." 

BIOFUELS

• Biofuels are fuels made of live matter, so they are biodegradable and a renewable source of energy. Biofuels can help  reduce the level of greenhouse gases in the air, when fossil fuels are burned they release these gases and carbon dioxide into the air. They also have a positive impact on the economy, and cause engines to have a higher quality. 
• Biodiesel from soybeans costs an estimated $2 to $2.50 per gallon to produce. Biodiesel from yellow grease is about $1 a gallon cheaper, but the available supply in the U.S. is much smaller, only enough to make 100 million gallons per year.
• Using biofuels lowers the amount of emissions of cancer-causing toxins, sulfates, particulate matter, and hydrocarbons into the air, their smog creating potential is 50% less than petroleum diesel's. 
  
  
  
  NUCLEAR FUSION  

• Nuclear fusion releases no carbon emissions, and the only by-products are small amounts of helium which won't lead to atmospheric pollution. This is also one of the reliable energy forms, and supplies a larger amount of energy with the same estimated cost as other sources. 
• The cost of nuclear fusion is still being determined, because it's not an advanced form of energy yet.
• Nuclear fusions limit the amount of toxins being released into the air and have a much lower pollution percentage.

FUEL CELLS

• Fuel cell energy is extremely clean, and when installed the air is cleaned in the area. Using fuel cell energy is extremely reliable and can reduce fuel costs because of their high efficiency. "High efficiency minimizes the carbon footprint of DFC plants operating on natural gas; DFC plants are generally classified as carbon neutral by regulatory bodies when operating on biogas due to its renewable nature" 
• A small hydrogen fuel cell for portable electronic devices can be bought in the United States for less than $100, but it is possible to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars for a large Multi Watt stationary power system. 
• Hydrogen fuel cells are environmentally friendly, their only by-product of the energy production is water, meaning they can significantly reduce the pollution and greenhouse gases in the air. 

WAVE POWER

• Wave power is power obtained by harnessing the energy produced by the waves at sea, humans harness this power along the coast of the United States, Canada, Scotland, and Australia. It is a renewable form of energy, and are not limited by seasons like other sources. The best upside of wave power is it's multiple ways to be harnessed and the widely available oceans to produce this. 
• Unlike dams, wave power structures that are equally long-lived promise good environmental effects. Wave power is renewable, green, pollution-free, and environmentally invisible. Its potential and costs are equal to or better than wind, solar, hydro or biomass power.

GEOTHERMAL

• Geothermal energy is a cost saving form of energy production that limits our dependence on fossil fuels. It produces little to no pollution and can creating economically benefiting job opportunities.
• The average cost of a geothermal pump to be installed is around $42,000 but the system has a 20+ year guarantee. 
• Geothermal has a very low environmental impact and causes low CO2 emissions. 

Fuel Cells Benefits

Biofuels environmental impacts

Environmental Impacts