Our Impact on the
Pedosphere
Pedosphere and Lithosphere
Lithosphere - where the plates “sit”
Pedosphere - what we walk on
Ped = feet
Facts
Earth’s population is increasing rapidly.
Medicine, clean water, and better nutrition
have lowered the death rate.
Number of births has increased because more
people live to child bearing age.
By 2050, Earth’s population is predicted to
reach 9 billion!
Earth’s carrying capacity
The largest number of people that Earth’s
land resources can support.
Ways that people affect their
environment:
1.Electricity - which could be produced by
burning fossil fuels
2.Eating foods - yes we need this but the
more people eat the more land needed to
grow/raise food supplies
3.Using plastics - made from oil
(nonrenewable resource), pollutants
4.) Using paper - trees are cut down, air
pollutants
5.) Producing waste - trash!!!!
- Our landfills are filling up and the
garbage has to go somewhere!
Our actions could cause this!
Using Land
Farming - use more land to grow more crops,
chemical fertilizers, pesticides
Livestock - land is used for pastures, grow
food for the animals which we then eat.
Forest Resources - logging, development,
paper products!
Development - buildings, highways, stores,
parking lots
Water cannot soak into the ground, goes into streams
which could cause flash floods, lack of refills for
the underground water supply.
Landfills - garbage is covered with soil, area
is lined with plastic to prevent chemicals
leaking into the ground, some items do not
decompose.
Hazardous Waste - poisonous material (bad
for your health and the environment), some
are not allowed to be dumped in the
landfills.
Some radioactive material is buried in metal
containers.
Natural Preserves - land that is set aside to
protect it from environmental problems
caused by people.
Mining
The extraction of valuable minerals or other
geologic material from an ore, stream,
reef, etc.
Very dangerous
to do!
Drilling/Fracking
Using heavy machinery that allows for the
Earth to be cut to obtain materials.
A fast way to get gas (oil) to fill the need for
humans.
Fracking - injects liquid (water) into the
ground at high speeds to get material
released from shale rock.
Deforestation
When Earth’s forest are cleared (large areas
at a time).
Damages the land
Loss of habitat(s)
Leads to higher erosion rates
Chart for traditional energy sources and how
we obtain them.
Peat
Coal
Oil
Natural Gas
Wood
Conserving Resources
Conservation - the careful use of resources to
reduce damage to the environment.
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Composting - making your own fertilizer
Reducing - using less material
Reusing - finding another use for an object
Calculate YOUR carbon footprint!
http://www.carbonfootprint.com/calculator.
aspx