1.4 - Sustainability Flashcards
Define sustainability
The use and management if resources that allows full natural replacement of resources exploited and full recovery of the ecosystem effected their extraction and use
List ways in which a nation might measure sustainability
Measuring the re growth/ renewal of natural capital
E.g. if the rate of forest removal is less than the annual growth then the forest removal is sustainable
State one advantage and disadvantage of measuring sustainability on a local scale
Advantage - include local methods/cultures that are ecosystem specific
Disadvantages - does not include interrelationships between systems
State one advantage and disadvantage of measuring sustainability on a global scale
Advantage - many problems have worldwide impact
Disadvantage - individual and small scale community action can be more effective or problem is local in nature (plant source pollutants)
Define natural capital
Resources that can produce a sustainable natural income or goods and services
Natural capital can be rewnewable or non renewable
List natural capital items that are provided by the ecosystem
Oil and gas, tourism, iron ore, fisheries
Define natural income
The yield from natural capital, can products or services
Using examples, distinguish between natural income of goods and natural income of services
Using the ocean as an example goods provides are the fisheries products and services and are the recreational activities (guided snorkelling for example)
Explain how unsustainable land use might affect natural income for the current and future generations
Benefits of unsustainable land use is high food you’ll but drawbacks are reduction in soil fertility and pollution.
Land use can provide food, medicine, c02 absorbtion (local and global)
Egocentric view would value the needs of the present generation without compromising the future generation; they would advocate the reduction in the use of non renewable resources and invest more in renewable. They would encorage education targetted towards self sustainability - use of grey water, gow their own food, reduce ecological footprint. technocentics argue that the present needs have to be met and that technological innovations can lead to the production of more resourses which then guarantee present as well as futre needs
Summarise the purpose of the mellennium ecosystem assessment
Funded by the the UN and started in 2001, its a research program that focuses on how ecosystems have changed over time and predict what will happen in the future
What percentage of ecosystems are currently being degraded
60$
What is the percentage of fish overexploitation
25%
What is the percentage of surface freshwater use
40-50%
What percentage of mangroves have been destroyed
35%
Which three biomes had the most converted area by 1950
Mediterranean forest, temperate Forrest, temperate broadleaf and mixed forest
Which three biomes had the most area converted between 1950 and 1990
Tropical and subtropical dry broad leaf forests, flooded grasslands and sábanas, tropical and subtropical grasslands
What is the main cause for biome conversion
Agriculture
What is the current situation ofn global animal extinction rates
Rate is roughly 50-500 time greater than 01-1 extrication per 100 sopecies for 100 years
How will extinction rates change in the future
The rate will be more than 10 times higher
State the natural income of goods a forest can provide
Timber, fuel, food and medicine
State the natural income of services a forest can provide
Carbon sequestration, watershed protection, aesthetic recreation
In what ways might a forest ecosystem services become degraded
When forest are cut services can be degraded with pollution or eliminated
Using forests as an example, explain how the use of natural capital for :”marketed benefits” may be less economically sustainable than use for “non marketed benefits”
The commonly marketed benefit come from timber, fuel wood and grazing. These can be less economically sustainable for the long term because they cause direct degration and loss of resources
Outline the purpose of a enviromental impact assessment
Establishes the impact of a project on the enviroment. Predicts possible impacts on habitats, species and ecosystems and helps to determine if the project should go ahead or to mitigate impact
Outline the 5 stages of creating an enviromental impact assessment
- Screening - once all project designs have ben considered determine if the development will impact the enviroment significantly
- Scoping - define issues that need to be addressed. Focus on impacts that will have a significant impact on the enviroment
- Baseline study - study current state of the enviroment against which change due to the development can be measured
- Impact prediction - interpritation of the importance or significance of the impacts. Conclusions used to decide fate of project
- Mitigation - taking measures to reduce or remove enviromental impacts
- Monitoring/assesment - used to determine; accuracy of predictions, degree of deviation from predictions, reasons for deviations, effect of mitigation
Outline reasons for creating a non technical summary of EIA
Make the report more accessible to non scientists including the media and vernal public. Allows involved parties to be informed
Summarise four cirtisims of EIAs
- baseline study’s are often inaccurate or incomplete
- not all impacts may be identified
- there is no standard to the acceptance of the EIAS some countries use it within their legal framework, some use it to inform policy desisitions and other ignore it
- accurate monitoring dependent on baseline study may also be innacurate
Define ecological footprint
The area of land and water required to sustainably provide the resources at the rate which they are being consumed by a given population
Outline 6 factors related to the ecological footprint of a country
- cropland - the amount of land required to provide food for human consumption (including food, animal feed, and other products taken from crops)
- grazing land - the amount of land needed for meat production. The greater the meet consumption the greater the EF
- carbon sequestration - the more land with health vegetation the higher the carbon uptake for photosynthesis so reduced EF
- forests - increased carbon sequestration so the reduced EF
- build up land - reduces the 2 preceding points more luckily built up land emits fossil fuel emissions so increased EF
- fisheries - the greater the fisheries the higher the EF weather fishing or fish farms
Explain the link between EF and sustainability
The EF measures the land and water needed to provide resources for the population if this exceeds the land and water that is available that is not sustainable. The higher the EF the greater the un sustainability
What is another way to think about EF
The number of earths. For example how many earths would we need if everybody lived your lifestyle
Compare the enviromental footprint of Oman and Finland
Oman :
Bio capacity - 1.5 gha
EF - 6.9 gha
Difference - 5.4 gha
Finland:
Bio capacity - 12.7 gha
EF - 6.1 gha
Difference - 6.6 gha
