Ecosystem Impacts
This happens when mining removes vegetation and wildlife homes.
What is habitat destruction?
Using more water from an aquifer than is replaced leads to this.
What is groundwater depletion?
Burning fossil fuels releases these gases.
What are greenhouse gases?
Cutting down trees on a large scale is called this.
What is deforestation?
Using resources in a way that allows future generations to have them.
What is unsustainable?
When pollutants build up in organisms and move through the food web.
What is bioaccumulation (or biomagnification)?
Farm irrigation can harm ecosystems by causing this in rivers or lakes.
What is reduced water levels or drying habitats?
Air pollution from power plants can damage this part of ecosystems.
What is air quality/the atmosphere?
Tree removal can lead to this when soil is washed or blown away.
What is erosion?
Catching fish faster than they reproduce is this.
What is unsustainable?
This can happen to rivers when factories or farms release waste.
What is water pollution?
Polluted runoff from farms often contains these that cause algal blooms.
What are nutrients (like nitrogen or phosphorus)?
This renewable source uses moving air to generate electricity.
What is wind energy?
Forests help ecosystems by providing this for wildlife.
What is habitat/shelter?
Using solar panels instead of coal would generally be considered this.
What is sustainable?
Building roads or cities can split habitats into smaller pieces.
What is habitat fragmentation?
Taking too much water can make it hard for these organisms to survive.
What are fish or aquatic species?
Mining coal or drilling for oil can lead to spills of this.
What are pollutants/oil/chemicals?
A sustainable forestry practice involves doing this after harvesting.
What is replanting trees/reforestation?
A practice is sustainable if long-term environmental damage is kept this.
What is minimal/low/avoided?
When one species is removed, many others may be affected because of this.
What is a food web/interconnected ecosystem?
A sustainable water strategy would include using water at a rate that does not exceed this.
What is the natural recharge/replacement rate?
Energy is more sustainable when it reduces emissions and relies on this type of source.
What are renewable resources?
Removing too many nutrients from soil can make land less productive, called this.
What is soil degradation?
To evaluate sustainability, you must consider environmental, economic, and this type of need.
What are social needs?