ENV200H1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Deep Time, Industrial Revolution, Biogeography

• School: UTSG
• Department: School of Environment
• Course: ENV200H1
• Professor: Karen Ing

Document Summary

Lec 5 earth"s env systems scales of time, plate tectonics htp://www. learner. org/courses/envsci/unit/text. php?unit=1&secnum=0. Challenge to tackle long-term goal of sustainability to ix climate change: earth ~4. 5 billion years old categorized as deep ime (gould) Human lifeime very recent/ short compared to deep ime of earth"s existence. To put into perspecive, convering 4. 5 billion years into 1 year: beginning of human existence (genus homo) is 4 hours, industrial revoluion ill now is 1. 2 seconds. Lithosphere = crust & upper mantle, thin crust of rock loats atop malleable mantle, surrounding molten solid iron core. Divided into 12-15 tectonic plates, move 2-15cm/ yr. Earth"s internal heat drives convecion currents, push mantle"s sot rocks upwards as it warms & downwards as it cools. Impact on earth"s systems/ climate: changes global geography combining/ dispersal of coninents, changes global topography mountain building, determines atmospheric circulaion, chemistry, transparency, controls ocean currents, determines biogeography.