SIMPLY QUATERNARY

EXERCISE #3 DATE: Wednesday  1 st  November, 2023.  What is Global Environmental Change? Global Environmental Change (GEC) is an integrative and cyclical process related to human actions which negatively transform natural systems, such as oceans, land, ice, the biosphere, atmosphere and elemental cycles on a planetary scale ( Butler   an d  McFarlane 2018 , 454 ) .  Since modern society exists within the anthropocene, shifts upon environmental systems are increasing, specifically in the form of global warming and climate change. Deforestation, energy production and consumption, population growth, agricultural production (crop and livestock), urbanization, transportation, etc. are some human driven causes of Global Environmental Change ( Pyhälä et al. 2016 ).  M ultiple large-scale and local physical and biological processes, for instance  biodiversity loss, freshwater depletion, ocean acidification, aquifer contamination, ecosystem degradation, species extirpation and waste productio

EXERCISE #2 DATE: Wednesday  18 th  October, 2023 .    What are Environmental Systems? Environmental Systems are complex interactions between abiotic (non-living) and biotic (living) components within several ecological spheres of the natural environment. The geosphere (internal rock), lithosphere (crust), pedosphere (soil), biosphere/ecosphere (biotic and abiotic flora and fauna), hydrosphere (water), atmosphere (air) and cryosphere (ice) are the main Environmental Systems. They regulate the distribution, growth, availability, etc. of natural resources and climate conditions on Earth ( The Geography of Transport Systems, n.d ). The Nitrogen, Phosphorous, Water, Sulphur and Carbon cycles also influence these environmental spheres, shaping landscape formation and guiding compound and chemical element flows.  These interlinked systems encompass boundaries where the movement, capturing, storage and utilization of energy or matter can be transferred and transformed ( Bojana 2019 ). Image 1