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Sprawl – Air Pollution Impacts
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- Every reduction in air pollution saves thousands of lives – and will continue to.
- Sprawl – Biodiversity Links
- Urban sprawl threatens biodiversity
- Habitat fragmentation leads to loss of native species in isolated patches of land
- Urban environments drastically change natural environments
- Urban sprawl disrupts natural habitats
- Urban sprawl causes biodiversity loss
Sprawl – Air Pollution ImpactsAir pollution kills 70,000 people in the U.S. every year—the impact is linear.Bernie Fischlowitz-Roberts, Analyst at the Earth Policy Institute, 2002 (“Air Pollution Fatalities Now Exceed Traffic Fatalities by 3 to 1,” Earth Policy Institute, September 17th, http://www.earth-policy.org/plan_b_updates/2002/update17 The World Health Organization reports that 3 million people now die each year from the effects of air pollution. This is three times the 1 million who die each year in automobile accidents. A study published in The Lancet in 2000 concluded that air pollution in France, Austria, and Switzerland is responsible for more than 40,000 deaths annually in those three countries. About half of these deaths can be traced to air pollution from vehicle emissions. In the United States, traffic fatalities total just over 40,000 per year, while air pollution claims 70,000 lives annually. U.S. air pollution deaths are equal to deaths from breast cancer and prostate cancer combined. This scourge of cities in industrial and developing countries alike threatens the health of billions of people. Governments go to great lengths to reduce traffic accidents by fining those who drive at dangerous speeds, arresting those who drive under the influence of alcohol, and even sometimes revoking drivers' licenses. But they pay much less attention to the deaths people cause by simply driving the cars. While deaths from heart disease and respiratory illness from breathing polluted air may lack the drama of deaths from an automobile crash, with flashing lights and sirens, they are no less real. Air pollutants include carbon monoxide, ozone, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and particulates. These pollutants come primarily from the combustion of fossil fuels, principally coal-fired power plants and gasoline-powered automobiles. Nitrogen oxides can lead to the formation of ground-level ozone. Particulates are emitted from a variety of sources, primarily diesel engines. "Smog"-a hybrid word used to describe the mixture of smoke and fog that blankets some cities-is primarily composed of ozone and particulates. Every reduction in air pollution saves thousands of lives – and will continue to.Brad Plumer, Reporter focusing on energy and environmental issues for the Washington Post, previously served as Associate Editor at The New Republic, 2012 (“What’s going to kill us in 2050? Air pollution — and lots of it,” WONKblog—a Washington Post blog, March 15th, Available Online at http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/whats-going-to-kill-us-in-2050-air-pollution--and-lots-of-it/2012/03/15/gIQAgiDgES_blog.html Air pollution tends to get wildly underrated as a public health concern. Everyone knows malaria is deadly. Or that access to clean water is a problem. And yet, in the next few decades, air pollution will kill far more people than both of those things combined, according to a new report. On Wednesday, the OECD released its “Environmental Outlook to 2050,” which contained a few spots of cheery news. Humanity is making steady progress against malaria. Worldwide, the number of deaths from the disease are expected to fall by half by 2050. And fewer people will die from unsafe drinking water and poor sanitation in the future. But the number of deaths caused by air pollution — which includes ground-level ozone, particulate matter, and “indoor pollution” — are expected to skyrocket, killing more than 6 million people per year by mid-century. Here’s the chart: [graphic chart omitted] (OECD Environmental Outlook 2050) The situation is particularly acute in India. In 2010, about 90 people out of every million died prematurely from ground-level ozone, which is formed when emissions from power plants, vehicles and factories react with sunlight. The resulting pollution can “trigger a variety of health problems including chest pain, coughing, throat irritation, and congestion. It can worsen bronchitis, emphysema, and asthma.” And by 2050, according to the OECD, about 130 Indians out of every million are likely to die prematurely from exposure. Wealthy countries aren’t immune, either, especially as places like the United States and Europe age, given that the elderly are especially sensitive to ozone pollution. While it’s technically feasible to reduce ground-level ozone, these control measures tend to be pricey and controversial — the Obama White House nixed stricter ozone standards last September for this very reason. Other pollutants, however, could prove much easier to tackle. Take particulate pollution, which the OECD expects will kill 3.6 million people per year by 2050. A lot of lung-damaging particulate matter comes from the burning of fossil fuels. And actions to curb them can prove quite cost-effective. The EPA’s new regulations on mercury, for instance, will reduce U.S. particulate pollution, as coal plants install new scrubbers. That, the agency estimates, will save an estimated 11,000 lives per year by 2016 and deliver between $36 billion to $89 billion per year in health benefits. And all for a cost of $9.6 billion per year. Sprawl – Biodiversity LinksUrban sprawl causes habitat fragmentation and harms animal lifeJohnson and Klemens ‘05 Director, Metropolitan Conservation Alliance, Wildlife Conservation Society (Elizabeth A. and Michael W., “Nature in Fragments”, 22)//DD Habitat fragmentation occurs when natural or human processes break large, contiguous areas into smaller, isolated patches. Although fragmentation is often associated with humans, it is also a natural process. Landscapes are fragmented over time by geologic forces, such as erosion and glaciation, and also by the workings of natural features such as rivers and mountains. Natural patchiness creates heterogeneous landscapes that support complex biological systems. However, fragmentation by human activities, a key charactaristic of sprawling development, usually creates more simplified landscapes that interfere with ecosystems processes, disrupt species movement, and remove critical habitats. Road construction is often the first stage of the human-caused fragmentation process. According to Forman and colleagues, "The road system ties the land together for us, yet slices nature into pieces" (2003:xiii). Roads divide natural landscapes, increase access, and open the way for further development. Today it is estimated that roads ecologically affect 15 to 20 percent of the land area in the United States (Formand and Deblinger 2000) by associated pollution, noise, and other disturbances (for a detailed discussion, see the box "Effects of Roads and Power Lines"). Although the rate of increase in road density has slowed overall in this country, the road network in suburban areas is still rapidly expanding. People are driving more, and the total miles traveled per year are increasing, mostly as a result of increased commuting in sprawled development. As driving miles increase, road construction and improvements lead to changed traffic patterns and new bypasses. The new roads being built in sprawled areas are wider, of greater density, and better connected to larger highways, resulting in even greater traffic volume (Forman et al. 2003). Once roads are established, habitat fragmentation accelerates with land clearing for agriculture or the construction of isolated vacation homes or large-lot subdivisions scattered here and there in otherwise undeveloped wild lands. This "early-stage" fragmentation, where a number of small developed areas are set within a larger natural ecosystem, is called a perforated landscape (Forman 1995). As development proceeds and intensifies over time these remaining natural-habitat patches are built on, broken up, and divided even further. Ultimately, fragmentation irreversibly changes the larger landscape into a human-dominated matrix of impervious pavement, strip malls, and housing developments with only scattered patches of natural vegetation (figure 2.1). HABITAT DEGRADATION Sprawl also causes habitat degradation. Habitat degradation is the alteration of a species's habitat such that it reduces the habitat's ability to meet that species's needs. A degraded environment, although harmful to many species, may benefit others that are more tolerant (DeStefano and Johnson, chapter 10, this volume). Pollution and the introduction of invasive species to a landscape, two threats that also degrade habitats, are addressed later in this chapter. Urban sprawl threatens biodiversityLee, 2010 – environmental journalist, San Diego Union Tribune (Mike, “Study shows urban sprawl threatens genetic diversity,” San Diego Union Tribune, 09/22/10, http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2010/sep/22/urbanization-threatens-genetic-diversity-species/)//AX “Urban sprawl in Southern California is limiting the genetic diversity of animal populations and possibly making them more prone to extinction, according to new research by federal biologists. Their study, released this week, was billed as one of the first concrete pieces of evidence that show significant genetic changes in populations caused by habitat fragmentation. Researchers assessed four species -- three lizards and a bird -- in the Santa Monica Mountains near Thousand Oaks. Co-author Robert Fisher at the U.S. Geological Survey in San Diego said a similar study recently was started in San Diego County to see what has happened to genetic diversity in a region where habitat "connectivity" and conservation planning goes back several years. His work in the Santa Monica Mountains suggests "habitat islands" are forming where animals are unlikely to be related to the same species in neighboring areas. In addition, animals within smaller and more-isolated habitat patches are closely related to one another. Research showed that when animals are unable to cross roads and other urban barriers they begin to inbreed and lose their genetic diversity. Decreased genetic diversity may increase a species’ chances of extinction because it limits their ability to adapt to environmental changes.” Habitat fragmentation leads to loss of native species in isolated patches of landJohnson and Klemens ‘05 Director, Metropolitan Conservation Alliance, Wildlife Conservation Society (Elizabeth A. and Michael W., “Nature in Fragments”, 25)//DD As natural-habitat patches decrease in size and area because of sprawling development, they initally appear to support a greater number of species and individuals, alls seeking refuge in the remaining undeveloped habitat patch (Collinge and Forman 1998). Over time, however, these smaller fragments support fewer and fewer species. Loss of species is nonrandom, with large predators that require extensive areas of habitat typically disappearing first from a landscape (Ray, chapter 9, this volume) Urban environments drastically change natural environmentsJohnson and Klemens ‘05 Director, Metropolitan Conservation Alliance, Wildlife Conservation Society (Elizabeth A. and Michael W., “Nature in Fragments”, 21)//DD The physical environments in developed and undeveloped land often differ dramatically, and the biodiversity found in each place reflects these differences. Urban environments typically have more polluted water and air, compacted soils that empede root growth, increased artificial lighting, and increased disturbance by humans and their vehicles (Adams 1994). Cities are dominated by permanent structures, such as buildings and impervious pavement. These hardened surfaces alter the movement of water through the city, increasing runoff and channelizing stream flows (L'vovich and White 1990; Adams 1994). They also affect the city's climate. Most buildings amd pavent absorb more of the sun's heat during the day than nonurban, vegetated land, making cities on average warmer than surrounding areas (Landsberg 1956; Berry 1990). Sprawl-dominated environments fall somewhere along the gradient from wild to urban in terms of environmental characteristics. Urban sprawl disrupts natural habitatsForys & Allen, 2005– teacher, Eckerd College, professor, University of Nebraska-Lincoln (Elizabeth & Craig, “The Impacts of Sprawl on Biodiversity: the Ant Fauna of the Lower Florida Keys,” University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 08/01/05, http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1007&context=usgsstaffpub) //AX “Habitat destruction is the primary cause behind the extinction of most terrestrial species (Baillie and Groombridge 1996), but the impact of human development or roads may be far greater than the immediate area of the habitat loss (Forman 2002). The reason why sprawl is such a threat to biodiversity is not simply because of the amount of habitat that is directly converted to a road or a building, but the effects these human disturbances have on the larger landscape. Many animals simply avoid areas with even moderate human densities or activity levels. For example, deer may avoid areas as far as 1.6 km away from developed areas (Vogel 1989). Decreased habitat quality caused by sprawl also may exclude animals. This is documented for aquatic organisms (Kemp and Spotila 1997), where the mechanisms behind decreased habitat quality include greater variation in stream flows, hypoxia (Limburg and Schmidt 1990) and siltation (Chapman 1988). Animal activity patterns reflect an evolved adaptation to ecological pattern and structure. Animal activity patterns can be altered with changes in land use associated with sprawl. For example, coyote (Canis latrans) movement activity patterns shift in suburban areas, becoming more nocturnal —“an external modification of internally derived diel patterns;” as well, in suburban areas, the amplitude of coyote circadian rhythms may increase (McClennen et al. 2000).”’ Urban sprawl causes biodiversity lossMSNBC 5 (1/11, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6814251/) WASHINGTON - Urban sprawl is gobbling up open spaces in fast-growing metropolitan areas so quickly that it could spell extinction for nearly 1,200 species of plants and animals, environmental groups say. The National Wildlife Federation, Smart Growth America and NatureServe projected that over the next 25 years, more than 22,000 acres of natural resources and habitat will be lost to development in 35 of the largest and most rapidly growing metropolitan areas. According to the groups, as many as 553 of the nearly 1,200 at-risk species are found only in those areas. “The bottom line is that these species are at risk of extinction due to habitat destruction,” said John Kostyack, a National Wildlife Federation attorney and report co-author. “And in these metro areas, the leading cause of habitat destruction is sprawl — development of homes and office buildings and roads in outlying forests and farm fields.” Directory: files files -> Answer True False 2 points Question 2 files -> Integer programming and game theory files -> 4 Integer Programming files -> Bpa vehicle Window Repair Scenario #1 task: Procure vehicle window relacement. 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