ECU EHST 2110 Exam 2 Study Guide | Environmental Health Review, Key Concepts & Practice
Questions
Overgrazing - ANS ✔✔When livestock managers grow herds to unsustainable sizes, the most
significant factor in soil degradation; 5% is severely degraded restoration impossible.
Deforestation - ANS ✔✔permanent decline in crown cover trees to < 10% of the original extent.
3 main reasons deforestation occurs: clearing for agricultural (largest single cause) production,
gathering wood for fuel, commercial lumbering. Deforestation rates increased in the Amazon by
40% in the early 2000s (palm oil production). 50% of all wood cut globally is used for fuel; 90%
of people in low-middle income countries are facing scarcity for fuel.
Desertification- - ANS ✔✔land degradation in arid, semiarid, dry sub humid, areas resulting
from various activities including climate variation and human activities. Over 1 billion people in
over 100 countries are affected through health and or the economy. EX: water holes where
nearby pastrues are heavily grazed and trampled, towns where people denude land in search
for firewood.
List the 3 requirements for land to be considered wetlands - ANS ✔✔wetland soil, wetland
hydrology, and wetland vegetation
Natural causes for loss of wetlands - ANS ✔✔erosion, land subsidence, storms, salt water
intrusions (EX: hurricanes)
1985 Swamp buster provision - ANS ✔✔loss of federal benefit if they drain more wetlands.
Biological diversity - ANS ✔✔ecological stability, loss of plant species equates to a potential loss
of food or medicinal benefits from species
List examples of how humans have impacted wildlife habitats - ANS ✔✔23% of animal
extinctions in the past 400 years are due to hunting
, Coral collectors destroying coral
Poachers : commercial game hunting for bushmeat
Biggest contributor is habitat destruction
Describe how invasive species can be harmful to humans and other animals - ANS ✔✔Invasive
species cause $137 billion annually in direct damages or in expenditures to control them. Over
6000 exotic plant and animals now established in the US
Invasive Alien species are the most dangerous, they lack predators in their new habitat- when
two species are competing for the same environment only 1 will survive; no diversification
(competitive exclusion)
Past Methods of Municipal Waste Management - ANS ✔✔garbage feed to hogs,Dumping MSWs
into nearest bodies of water,Dumping MSWs at Sea, open dumping
Current Waste Disposal Methods - ANS ✔✔Sanitary Landfilling, Bioreactors, Source Reduction,
recycling, composting, waste combustion
Features of Sanitary Landfilling - ANS ✔✔cheap and more accepted than open dumping:: refuse
is spread in thin layers and compacted by bulldozers, covered in dirt to prevent odor, when full it
is covered and turned into recreational facility: most economical of all legal options, but have
the potential to contaminate streams
Features of Bio Reactors - ANS ✔✔Landfill design that recirculates leachate to facilitate
microbial growth, recirculation of air and leachate accelerates decomposition, they have longer
life spans because of these features.
Source Reduction - ANS ✔✔Reducing wastes from the source by conserving materials and
energy by preventing waste generation or reducing the volume/toxicity of wastes generated.
Consumer Preference: selective shopping. Manufacturers Role: reducing materials in
production.
Questions
Overgrazing - ANS ✔✔When livestock managers grow herds to unsustainable sizes, the most
significant factor in soil degradation; 5% is severely degraded restoration impossible.
Deforestation - ANS ✔✔permanent decline in crown cover trees to < 10% of the original extent.
3 main reasons deforestation occurs: clearing for agricultural (largest single cause) production,
gathering wood for fuel, commercial lumbering. Deforestation rates increased in the Amazon by
40% in the early 2000s (palm oil production). 50% of all wood cut globally is used for fuel; 90%
of people in low-middle income countries are facing scarcity for fuel.
Desertification- - ANS ✔✔land degradation in arid, semiarid, dry sub humid, areas resulting
from various activities including climate variation and human activities. Over 1 billion people in
over 100 countries are affected through health and or the economy. EX: water holes where
nearby pastrues are heavily grazed and trampled, towns where people denude land in search
for firewood.
List the 3 requirements for land to be considered wetlands - ANS ✔✔wetland soil, wetland
hydrology, and wetland vegetation
Natural causes for loss of wetlands - ANS ✔✔erosion, land subsidence, storms, salt water
intrusions (EX: hurricanes)
1985 Swamp buster provision - ANS ✔✔loss of federal benefit if they drain more wetlands.
Biological diversity - ANS ✔✔ecological stability, loss of plant species equates to a potential loss
of food or medicinal benefits from species
List examples of how humans have impacted wildlife habitats - ANS ✔✔23% of animal
extinctions in the past 400 years are due to hunting
, Coral collectors destroying coral
Poachers : commercial game hunting for bushmeat
Biggest contributor is habitat destruction
Describe how invasive species can be harmful to humans and other animals - ANS ✔✔Invasive
species cause $137 billion annually in direct damages or in expenditures to control them. Over
6000 exotic plant and animals now established in the US
Invasive Alien species are the most dangerous, they lack predators in their new habitat- when
two species are competing for the same environment only 1 will survive; no diversification
(competitive exclusion)
Past Methods of Municipal Waste Management - ANS ✔✔garbage feed to hogs,Dumping MSWs
into nearest bodies of water,Dumping MSWs at Sea, open dumping
Current Waste Disposal Methods - ANS ✔✔Sanitary Landfilling, Bioreactors, Source Reduction,
recycling, composting, waste combustion
Features of Sanitary Landfilling - ANS ✔✔cheap and more accepted than open dumping:: refuse
is spread in thin layers and compacted by bulldozers, covered in dirt to prevent odor, when full it
is covered and turned into recreational facility: most economical of all legal options, but have
the potential to contaminate streams
Features of Bio Reactors - ANS ✔✔Landfill design that recirculates leachate to facilitate
microbial growth, recirculation of air and leachate accelerates decomposition, they have longer
life spans because of these features.
Source Reduction - ANS ✔✔Reducing wastes from the source by conserving materials and
energy by preventing waste generation or reducing the volume/toxicity of wastes generated.
Consumer Preference: selective shopping. Manufacturers Role: reducing materials in
production.
