Describe where the liquidfreshwater is found on the planet? If freshwater is a supposedly “renewable resource” (thanks to the water cycle!), why are our supplies of freshwater slowly dwindling? (10 pts.)
After reading “The Last Drop, explain the social and political challenges that people in India and Pakistan face in filling basic water needs from an extremely limited supply. (10 pts.)
According to Sylvia Earle in her TED Talk, what are the three greatest human-induced crises facing marine systems? Explain each one briefly. (10 pts.)
Look at a map of Central Florida, and think about everything that happens in the watershed (and springsheds) of the St. John’s River (flowing north, just west of DeLand, from Orlando to Jacksonville): land uses of various urban centers and all the associated surface run-off of parking lots, streets and heavily fertilized lawns, parks and golf courses; land uses of rural areas including crop land and pastures; and the various cities that have their sewage effluent dumping into that river. I can assure you there is an amazing amount of human and animal excrement that flows into that river, not to mention a whole lot of unmonitored toxic chemicals. How could anyone possibly feel OK about swimming and fishing in that river? The QUESTION (and I’m serious!):Is dilution the solution to pollution?Is there enough clean water mixing with the pollution to make all of that OK?
Let’s just pretend that we don’t fully understand how the increase in CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere is affecting climate. Regardless of that, what are the impacts of all that CO2 on ocean chemistry that could have huge impacts on human well-being? What can be done about that?
* These questions should be answered separately.
