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Файл:English for Environmental Engineers (Английский для инженеров-экологов). Часть 2. Учебное пособие
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45. Explain the energy pyramid, the biomass pyramid and the pyramid of
numbers.
46. What is the difference between energy flow and nutrient cycles in the
biosphere?
47. What is the Carbon cycle? Nitrogen Cycle? Phosphorus cycle?
48. What is the largest reservoir (or sink) in the Carbon cycle? Nitrogen
cycle? phosphorus cycle?
49. What is the law of conservation of energy? What is the law of
conservation of matter? Give examples.
50. What is the balanced chemical equation for photosynthesis? cellular
respiration?
51. What is a limiting factor?
52. What are the reservoirs (or sinks) in the Carbon Cycle? Nitrogen
Cycle? Phosphorus cycles.
53. How is Nitrogen (N2 gas “fixed”) fixation accomplished? Why is it
important?
54. Explain the long cycle and short cycle within the Carbon cycle.
Nitrogen cycle. Phosphorus cycle.
55. What is a limiting factor in the Chia experiment? in the Terrarium
experiment?
Answer Key
1.A 2.A 3.D 4.A 5.D 6.C 7.C 8.B 9.A 10.D 11.C 12.B 13.B
14.C 15.A 16.C 17.B 18.B 19.C 20.B 21.A 22.C 23.A 24.B
25.D 26.A 27.B 28. OPTIONAL
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Supplementary Reading
Text 1. NASA Takes to the Air With New 'Earth Venture' Research
Projects
Hurricanes, air quality and Arctic ecosystems are among the
research areas to be investigated during the next five years by new NASA
airborne science missions announced recently.
The five competitively-selected proposals, including one from
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., are the first
investigations in the new Venture-class series of low-to-moderate-cost
projects established last year.
The Earth Venture missions are part of NASA's Earth System
Science Pathfinder program. The small, targeted science investigations
complement NASA's larger research missions. In 2007, the National
Research Council recommended that NASA undertake these types of
regularly solicited, quick-turnaround projects.
This year's selections are all airborne investigations. Future
Venture proposals may include small, dedicated spacecraft and instruments
flown on other spacecraft.
"I'm thrilled to be able to welcome these new principal
investigators into NASA's Earth Venture series," said Edward Weiler,
associate administrator of the agency's Science Mission Directorate in
Washington. "These missions are considered a 'tier 1' priority in the
National Research Council's Earth Science decadal survey. With this
selection, NASA moves ahead into this exciting type of scientific
endeavor."
The missions will be funded during the next five years at a total
cost of not more than $30 million each. The cost includes initial
development and deployment through analysis of data. Approximately $10
million was provided through the American Recovery and Reinvestment
Act toward the maximum $150 million funding ceiling for the missions.
Six NASA centers, 22 educational institutions, nine U.S. or
international government agencies and three industrial partners are
involved in these missions. The five missions were selected from 35
proposals.
The selected missions are:
1. Carbon in Arctic Reservoirs Vulnerability Experiment. Principal
Investigator Charles Miller, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in
Pasadena, Calif.
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The release and absorption of carbon from Arctic ecosystems and
its response to climate change are not well known because of a lack of
detailed measurements. This investigation will collect an integrated set of
data that will provide unprecedented experimental insights into Arctic
carbon cycling, especially the release of important greenhouse gases such
as carbon dioxide and methane. Instruments will be flown on a Twin Otter
aircraft to produce the first simultaneous measurements of surface
characteristics that control carbon emissions and key atmospheric gases.
2. Airborne Microwave Observatory of Subcanopy and Subsurface.
Principal Investigator Mahta Moghaddam, University of Michigan
North American ecosystems are critical components of the global
exchange of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide and other gases within the
atmosphere. To better understand the size of this exchange on a continental
scale, this investigation addresses the uncertainties in existing estimates by
measuring soil moisture in the root zone of representative regions of major
North American ecosystems. Investigators will use NASA's Gulfstream-III
aircraft to fly synthetic aperture radar that can penetrate vegetation and soil
to depths of several feet.
3. Airborne Tropical Tropopause Experiment. Principal
Investigator Eric Jensen, NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field,
Calif.
Water vapor in the stratosphere has a large impact on Earth's
climate, the ozone layer and how much solar energy Earth retains. To
improve our understanding of the processes that control the flow of
atmospheric gases into this region, investigators will launch four airborne
campaigns with NASA's Global Hawk remotely piloted aerial systems. The
flights will study chemical and physical processes at different times of year
from bases in California, Guam, Hawaii and Australia.
4. Deriving Information on Surface Conditions from Column and
Vertically Resolved Observations Relevant to Air Quality. Principal
Investigator James Crawford, NASA's Langley Research Center in
Hampton, Va.
Satellites can measure air quality factors like aerosols and ozoneproducing gases in an entire column of atmosphere below the spacecraft,
but distinguishing the concentrations at the level where people live is a
challenge. This investigation will provide integrated data of airborne,
surface and satellite observations, taken at the same time, to study air
quality as it evolves throughout the day. NASA's B-200 and P-3B research
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aircraft will fly together to sample a column of the atmosphere over
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instrumented ground stations.
5. Hurricane and Severe Storm Sentinel. Principal Investigator
Scott Braun, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
The prediction of the intensity of hurricanes is not as reliable as
predictions of the location of hurricane landfall, in large part because of our
poor understanding of the processes involved in intensity change. This
investigation focuses on studying hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean basin
using two NASA Global Hawks flying high above the storms for up to 30
hours. The Hawks will deploy from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in
Virginia during the 2012 to 2014 Atlantic hurricane seasons.
"These new investigations, in concert with NASA's Earthobserving satellite capabilities, will provide unique new data sets that
identify and characterize important phenomena, detect changes in the Earth
system and lead to improvements in computer modeling of the Earth
system," said Jack Kaye, associate director for research of NASA's Earth
Science Division in the Science Mission Directorate.
Langley manages the Earth System Pathfinder program for the
Science Mission Directorate. The missions in this program provide an
innovative approach to address Earth science research with periodic
windows of opportunity to accommodate new scientific priorities39.
ScienceDaily (June 4, 2010).
94
Text 2. Car companies avoid huge climate change payout
A lawsuit filed by California's attorney general seeking to hold six
car manufacturers responsible for the local impacts of climate change has
been rejected by a federal judge.
A Supreme Court ruling that the US government's Environment
Protection Agency (EPA) should set greenhouse-gas emissions standards
proved crucial to the federal judge's decision.
The suit was filed by California's attorney general in September
2006 and targeted General Motors, Ford, Chrysler, and US subsidiaries of
Honda, Toyota, and Nissan.
It claimed cars made by the six companies generate more than 30%
of human-generated carbon dioxide emissions in California, and should
therefore be held accountable for millions of dollars that the state has spent
on dealing with the impacts of car emissions.
Guidance necessary
Had the car makers lost the suit, any funds awarded were to have
gone towards addressing problems related to climate change, such as
increased ozone pollution, rising sea levels, and an increased threat of
wildfires.
But federal judge Martin Jenkins declared the issue of global
warming and emissions standards should be decided in the political rather
than legal arena.
In his ruling, which approves the car manufacturers' move to
dismiss the case, Jenkins writes that in order for his court to "[inject] itself
into the global warming thicket" it would need the "political branches of
government" to first make a decision regarding what level of emissions is
admissible.
"The court is left without guidance in determining what is an
unreasonable contribution to the sum of carbon dioxide in the Earth’s
atmosphere," the judge writes.
'No emissions remedy'
Jenkin's ruling in part stems from the US Supreme Court decision,
in April 2007, that the US Environment Protection Agency had the duty to
regulate greenhouse gas emissions. A spokesperson for the EPA told “New
Scientist” that setting emissions standards "is still in deliberation" and that
"it could be quite some time” before a decision is reached."
The case in April saw 11 states, led by Massachusetts, accusing the
EPA of unlawfully refusing to regulate emissions of greenhouse gasses.
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The Supreme Court found in favour of the states, declaring that setting
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emissions standards for engines was the EPA's responsibility.
Based on this ruling, Jenkins concluded that without further
guidance from the US government, he could not determine whether the car
makers' emissions were unlawful.
"We understand why a district federal judge may not want to jump
into a global warming thicket with both feet," says Ken Alex, California's
supervising deputy attorney general. "Right now, because the political
branches – the federal government, Congress, and the executive branch –
have not acted, the state of California is left without a remedy."
Theodore Boutrous, lead lawyer for the auto makers, called
Jenkins' ruling "absolutely correct" adding: "We have said all along that
global warming presents exceedingly complex policy issues that must be
addressed at the national and international levels by Congress and the
president, not the federal courts"40.
18 September 2007 NewScientist. Catherine Brahic.
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Text 3. Study Paves Way for New Biofuels Models, Technologies
Biofuels hold promise as environmentally friendly sources of
renewable energy, but which ones should industry and policy leaders focus
their efforts on developing? A new study involving researchers from North
Carolina State University offers detailed insights into how biofuel
chemicals react when burned. Their data and new computer models pave
the way for development of new biofuels and technologies to maximize
energy efficiency while minimizing environmental and human health risks.
"Biofuels are a sensible choice as a renewable energy source, but
of course there are complications," says Dr. Phillip Westmoreland, a coauthor of the study, professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering
and director of the Institute for Computational Science and Engineering at
NC State. "All of the biofuels have pros and cons, and you can't manage or
plan for use and risks unless you understand them enough."
The new paper helps define these risks by finding the network of
chemical steps that take place when biofuels are burned. An invited
overview for Angewandte Chemie, one of the world's premier chemistry
journals, the paper draws on landmark research conducted by
Westmoreland and his co-authors from research institutions in the United
States, Germany and China.
"By studying individual chemicals that make up biofuels, we were
able to explain what emissions result from burning real biofuels,"
Westmoreland says. "We can measure the individual intermediates and
chemical reactions, helping us craft models that reveal what chemicals are
emitted, and in what amounts, by various biofuels. These models can be
used to design new engines, new fuels and new policies that foster
environmentally sustainable and efficient energy solutions.
"This is important for regulation, where policy makers are
weighing the environmental and health costs versus the energy benefits of
different biofuels, but it is also essential to decision makers in the business
community. Industry does not want to invest in developing biofuels and
related technologies that can't pass policy muster, and this research will
help them make educated investment decisions."
The paper draws on information the researchers have collected
about the chemicals produced when biofuels are burned, and how those
chemicals change during the combustion process. These insights stem from
the use of a novel experimental apparatus the researchers built at Lawrence
Berkeley National Laboratory and a second system in Hefei, China --
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which provide unprecedented detail as to exactly what is happening at a
41
molecular level when biofuels are burned.
The paper, "Biofuel combustion chemistry: from ethanol to
biodiesel," is the featured cover article in the May 3 issue of Angewandte
Chemie. The paper was co-authored by researchers from NC State,
Bielefeld University in Germany, Cornell University, Sandia National
Laboratories, the University of Science and Technology of China and
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
The research was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, the
U.S. Army Research Office, and Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, among
others.
NC State's Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
is part of the university's College of Engineering41.
ScienceDaily (May 10, 2010).
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Text 4. Atlantic hurricane frequency doubled last century
HERE'S a conundrum. If global warming is indeed responsible for
the increase in hurricane frequency in the North Atlantic, then how come
we've had only one tropical storm and one sub-tropical storm so far this
year? In 2005, there were four tropical storms and three hurricanes before
the end of July.
Don't be fooled. It's not unusual for this time of year to be quiet,
and most years July passes without a single tropical storm, says Greg
Holland of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder,
Colorado. However, we are about to enter the busiest part of the season:
"Come 10 or 15 August, it all goes mad."
Holland and colleague Peter Webster at the Georgia Institute of
Technology, Atlanta, see more busy seasons in the offing. From an analysis
of North Atlantic records dating back to 1850, they conclude that climate
change triggered three major shifts in the number of tropical storms during
the 20th century. The first came in 1905, heralding a 25-year period with a
seasonal average of six tropical storms or hurricanes. From 1931, that
number jumped to 9.4 per year, and hovered at that level until 1994. The
last big shift came in 1995, starting a 10-year period with an annual average
of 14.8 storms. Last season was comparatively quiet, with only nine storms,
but it would have been an average season a few decades ago.
The two hikes are clear, say Holland and Webster - there is almost
no variation between 1931 and 1994, then a rapid increase. The pair
conclude that greenhouse warming is largely to blame, and point out that
sea-surface temperatures in the North Atlantic increased around the same
times that the storm frequency jumped.
This runs counter to some earlier studies, which found that storm
counts rose and fell periodically, with 30 to 40 quiet years followed by 30
to 40 busy years, but no long-term change. "That was always a very, very
weak case," says Kerry Emanuel, a meteorologist at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology.
The fraction of storms that become major hurricanes does vary
cyclically, and has shown no marked trend over the past century, but that in
itself is no cause for complacency, Holland says. "The bad news is that
we're now seeing both an increase in the proportion of major hurricanes and
in the overall number of storms." With global warming raising storm
frequencies above those dating back more than 150 years, he warns that
"we are moving into territory that we don't understand".
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Or are we? Chris Landsea at the US National Hurricane Center
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thinks the apparent long-term increase arises from the undercounting of
storms before satellite observation records. He insists that storm numbers
vary cyclically rather than with global warming.
Despite these doubts, concern over the issue is spreading. The US
Congress has recently introduced bills to create a National Hurricane
Research Initiative. Right now, more uncertainty awaits as we approach the
peak of the North Atlantic hurricane season - from mid-August to midOctober42.
04 August 2007. NewScientist. Jeff Hecht.
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