Reference no: EM13454188

1. What is your current environmental worldview? What issues that you are familiar with relate to the ozone hole, El Niño effects, global warming, forests, lakes, and oceans? What, if anything, needs changing?

   At the end of this course, evaluate your answer to learn which, if any, of your basic environmental beliefs have changed.

2. What are some of the general rules that govern biogeochemical cycles (see pp.90 - 99 of Raven, 7th. edition), especially the transfer of material from different parts of the cycle? Give at least 2 examples.
   
   

   (Our text states that these are cycles that "involve biological, geologic, and chemical interactions." As a first observation, one can see that all of these cycles directly and/or indirectly affect our atmosphere and our earth. One can observe that materials are transferred through the different phases of matter: gas, solid or liquid).

   What is a limiting factor? Give two examples.

3. What public service functions do natural ecosystems carry out for humans? List three examples and explain them in detail.
4. In the troposphere, the temperature falls as one goes higher; this is not the case in the stratosphere. What is the source of heat in the stratosphere?
5. "The atmosphere is the key symbol of global interdependence. If we can't solve some of our problems in the face of threats to this global commons, then I can't be very optimistic about the future of the world." Discuss this quote. Explain the meaning of commons and global commons. What exactly was Margaret Mead anticipating?