Earth’s most recent major ecological catastrophe... ..occurred 65 million years ago. The fossil record changes abruptly before and after this moment. It indicates that the dinosaurs disappeared at this time. In addition, the majority of other ocean and land animals went extinct. What happened? The evidence supports the idea that the earth was struck by an asteroid. Asteroids are constantly colliding with planetary bodies, as evidenced lo Mele cle MOM UA MSU releHuman Populations, 1000 A.D.-Present 7000 6000 5000 4000 3000 2000 1000 of 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000 Anatomically modern humans emerged about 200,000 years ago. Human populations remained tiny relative to current levels until a few thousand years ago. In the last thousand years, global human population has begun to exhibit exponential growth, setting the stage for a massive global impact of humans on the natural environment.GEOLOGIC TIME The earth is approximately 4.6 billion years old and has undergone large changes throughout its lifetime. The earliest forms of life may have appeared as early as about 4 billion years ago, with bacteria and algae-like creatures appearing about 2.5 billion years ago. Evidence has emerged recently that about 600-700 million years ago, the earth was probably completely ice- covered more than once (snowball earth). Then, about 540 million years ago, the Cambrian Explosion occurred. This marks the first appearance of creatures with hard skeletons and is associated with a striking increase in biological diversity.Other heavenly bodies are , A 5 Neneh ae ee Crater in the Yucatan peninsula is eRe Eee about 300 km (200 miles) across Sedimentary rock 65 million years ago contains unusually high amounts of IRIDIUM, which has higher efor Tae Mela MRSA CUCM CNCLecture 1 Global Sa icelalieaie| ChangePaleogene Since the beginning of the Cenozoic era, the climate has cooled. The Miccene Antarctic ice sheet developed. Ice sheets grew and | decayed intermittently in the northern hemisphere as well during the last two million years (a period known as the Pleistocene). The periods of northern hemisphere glaciation are known pateocene aS the ice ages. OligoceneThe period since the Cambrian explosion is known as the Phanerozoic and is divided into three eras: the Paleozoic, the Mesozoic, and the Cenozoic. These eras are further subdivided based on discontinuities in the fossil record (i.e. extinctions). In class today, we will examine the most recent mass extinction event, which marks the boundary between the Mesozoic and Cenozoic periods.The earth and its climate toward the end of the reign of the dinosaurs.Contemporary Global Change: The Human Impact «Ecosystem Destruction eOzone Destruction *Climate ChangeCiImplications of 0° OU ESTATON ©@ Species joss The majority of earth’s species live in the tropics. The majority of the species in the tropics have very limited ranges, increasing the importance of small patches of land for overall biodiversity. @ Global carbon cycle The burning of the forests releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, contributing to the increase in greenhouse gas concentrations. ® Local climate change The loss of rain forest alters precipitation and cloud patterns.Global Distribution of Original and Remaining Forests eunee. neue, 20 EE Tropical 1) Temperate and Boreal Current Original Current Original UNEP WCMC Human impact on forest distribution as of the year 2000United States mmm Canada Annual fish catch ( nN oO CL LE EPSP PEPE ES IF SF compiled from Fishstat 2001 Ocean ecosystems are also coming under increasing stress due to human activity. Evidence comes from records of total fish catch in the oceans surrounding North America, shown above. Fish catch rose until the late 80s, then has declined precipitously. This has been attributed to overfishing. Fisheries around the world have behaved similarly.E is a 3-atopgi@aygemiorm of oxygen found in both th@™ieposphereiand the stratosphere. @ggmeumithe Stratosphere occurs naturally and SHiSi@etereattme Surface from hateoiul ultra ii neOnmOZOne in dige ¢ troposphere is llutant ass6giated with automobile aust ' (zone camer destroyed in the straigepnereay SeGseaenemical used in air cond and eee! Spray cans. yReo ert eS T) TOMS Ozone (DU): Oct 1991 se < 5 do I EaLTETTO TET 100 a “TRIER TOTES Because of peculiar meteorological conditions, ozone destruction is particularly severe over Antarctica, giving rise to an “Ozone Hole”ms ae Ocean. te : ; o “North Pacific. press a eee Le a _ ev EE ali (oF) Euls As r be rs eas e ~~ cay (as SS ae xFacts about DEFORESTATION worldwide (every 2.5 years, an area equivalent to the state California disappears).The Keeling Curve 370 PE 360}- + 350;- 4 ppm 330}- 4 320}- 4 goLLLtititiiiitititiiititiiiiipitiititiiiin 1960 1965 1970 1975 += 1980-1985 = 19901995 Year Note the seasonal oscillation and the steady upward trendAntarctic Ozone Hole Antarctic Ozone Hole imum Values Average Area wo S [2 8 E 3 5 5 = oO 1979 90 2001 Date Range Included: 5 Sep. - 25 Oct. Hole defined as area < 220 Dobson Units Source: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Sor NASA Goddard Space Flight Center— reconstruction (AD 1490-1880) raw data (AD 1802-1988) ~ calibration period (AD 1902-1980) mean —— reconstruction (40 year smoothed) & 7 z 3 3 8 2 : 5 é 7 # a @COz (ppm) Carbon dioxide record in the Greenland Ice Core 350 w 8 2 o 270 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 year 200005 00 0.5 1860 1880 1800 1820 1940 1960 Northern Hemisphere 1860 1880 1900 1920 The global temperature rise over the course of the instrumental record According to actual measurements from thermometers distributed around the globle, temperatures appeared stable until about 1900, when they began to rise. They cooled a bit from 1940 to 1970, then resumed their upward trend. This is the case for both the northern and southern hemispheres.Human Populations, 1000 A.D.-Present 7000 6000 5000 4000 3000 2000 1000 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000 All of these environmental changes stem in part from an explosion in human population, now growing exponentially. Accelerating economic growth and hence increased resource consumption by individuals also plays a large role.The Anthropocene: A New Geologic Era?