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geog > chap 12: human and environment > Flashcards

chap 12: human and environment Flashcards

1
Q

what are the 5 processes that shows that the human environmental impact has risen ?

A
  1. Small changes can have cumulative impact
  2. New technology increased energy use
  3. New lifestyles enabled by energy technology
  4. Increasing population
  5. Interconnections increasing global impact of
    change
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2
Q

saving the planet= the impact of human activities on Earth’s geology and ecosystems= ….

A

anthropocene

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3
Q

environmental consequences?

A
  • unintended consequences: climate change, ozone depletion (removal) , acid rain
  • conscious manipulation: deforestation, agriculture
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4
Q

3 aspects that lead to all the collapses that affected civilization?

A

-runaway train
-dinosaur
-house of cards

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5
Q

the runaway train?

A

-rise in population and pollution
-acceleration of technology, concentration of wealth and power

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6
Q

dinosaur:

A

old-fashioned ideas that resist changing and are based on the belief that letting markets solve everything is the best way, but these ideas are becoming outdated and may not work well anymore.

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7
Q

house of cards:

A

History shows us that
civilizations fall suddenly:
-“mother nature always
comes to the rescue of a
society stricken with… overpopulation, and her ministrations are never gentle” (Crosby (1993)
Ecological Imperialism)= civilizations face problems like overpopulation, their collapse can be sudden, and the actions taken by nature to address issues are often harsh.

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8
Q

systems

A

interrelated parts forming a unified whole

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9
Q

ecology

A

studies relationships
between organisms and
their environments

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10
Q

ecosystem

A

a set of independent organisms, and their physical, chemical, and biological environment
example: forest

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11
Q

ecosphere

A

global ecosystem = home to everything
ex: desert ecosystem

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12
Q

resource divided by:

A

Non- renewable : stock resource in human time scale
-renewable resource: tt le temps forming and regenerating

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13
Q

3 environmental concerns

A
  • Economic goals conflict with environmental sustainability . ex: industries
    -conflicting views of developed and less developed regions( developed areas emphasizing sustainability while less developed regions may prioritize economic development.)
    -Individual vs grp behaviour (individual actions dont align with larger systemic changes for effective environmental sustainability.)
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14
Q

human impact: vegetation

A

-deforestation
-fire
-plant domestication
- tropical rain removal
-desertification

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15
Q

human impacts: animals

A

-Domestication
-Movement to new places with migrations
-Extreme extraction, or localized hunting
-Removal of natural habitats
-General concern for biodiversity loss
-Hypotheses of a new period of extinction

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16
Q

human impacts: Land

A

removal of resources such as rocks, clays, sand, minerals, metals, rare earth minerals, fossil fuels can:
-change ecosystems
-lower land surfaces
-change hydrology (study of water)
-leave waste heaps
-create toxic wastes
-leaving scenic scars
-Degradation and loss of arable land major impact
-Population increases
-Industrialization
-Industrial agricultural practices

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17
Q

human impacts: soil

A

-Chemical changes
-Erosion associated with deforestation and cropping

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18
Q

when was dust bowl ; because of what

A

1930s ; poor farming on practice on temperature grasslands

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19
Q

human impacts: air

A

-Smoke-producing industries
reduced in Developed regions
- Vehicle pollution is high
-Industrial and vehicle pollution high in Developing regions
-Ozone layer removal
-Subsequent legislation to ban CFCs (man-made chemicals harmful for the ozone layer.)
- Montreal Protocol, 1987/1989 (protect the Earth’s ozone layer)

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20
Q

2 issues of water

A
  • scarcity (limited or insufficient in comparison to the demand for them.)
  • contamination
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21
Q

scarcity:

A

Agriculture consumes 73% of global supplies
-Industry consumes about 10%
-Most of remainder goes to supply basic human needs
-Availability and use unevenly distributed

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22
Q

contamination

A

-Organic and industrial waste inserted into water cycle
-Agricultural runoff ex: fertilizers going into the water

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23
Q

When was sustainability introduced?

A

late 1970

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24
Q

When was “sustainable development” introduced?

A

1987 in a report: “our common future”

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25
Q

4 principles of sustainable development?

A
  1. recognize humans are part of nature (cant destroy it without consequences)
  2. account for environmental costs in economy (externalities)
  3. everyone needs to achieve acceptable living standard (peace is not possible otherwise)
  4. local actions can have global impact
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26
Q

energy

A

the capacity to do work

27
Q

technology

A

the ability to convert energy
into forms useful for humans

28
Q

energy resources are divided between:

A
  1. non renewable resources (stock- resources): ex: fossil fuels
  2. renewable resources: unlimited supply: water, wind, sun
29
Q

Nuclear power supplies
__ % of the world’s electricity.
Only 30 of the world’s nearly 200 countries make some use of nuclear power.

A

14%

30
Q

nuclear energy

A

nuclear power plant = produces electricity from energy released by splitting uranium atoms in a controlled environment = fission.

31
Q

hydroelectric power

A

-generating electricity from the movement of water
-2nd most-popular source of electricity, after coal.

32
Q

__________ of the world’s hydroelectric power is generated
in _______________ countries.

A

2/3; developing

33
Q

wind power

A

-used in:
-China,
-North America,
-Western Europe
account for around
one-fourth each of
total world production.
- noisy and lethal for bats and birds

34
Q

geothermal energy

A

Heat released by
radioactive elements
makes Earth’s interior
hot.

35
Q

passive solar

A

includes approaches like south-facing windows and dark surfaces. (utilizes the natural movement of sunlight without the use of mechanical or electrical devices.)

36
Q

direct active solar

A

Photovoltaic cells ( use mechanical or electrical devices to collect, store, and distribute solar energy for immediate use)

37
Q

indirect active solar

A

creating heat to boil water for steam (use a combination of mechanical or electrical devices and a fluid (such as water or air) to collect, store, and distribute solar energy.)

38
Q

the climate

A
  • stable for the last 10000
  • 14 degrees celcius (average global temperature)
39
Q

what are the 5 greenhouse effect gases?

A
  • Water Vapor
  • CO2
  • CH4 (methane)
  • N2O (nitrate oxide)
  • CFC’s (compounds consisting of carbon, chlorine, and fluorine atoms)
40
Q

whats another cycle in the natural cycles?

A

milankovitch cycles: influence Earth’s climate over geological time scales. These cycles involve variations in Earth’s orbit, axial tilt, and precession, and they play a significant role in shaping the planet’s climate patterns, particularly in terms of the distribution of solar radiation.

41
Q

catastrophic events

A

meteors , volcanoes

42
Q

human induced change

A
  • global warming
  • acid deposition
  • ozone reduction
43
Q

while talking about anthropocentric, with industrial revolution, how much did these go up? CO2, CH4, N2O (nitrous oxide.) ?

A

CO2 up 31%
CH4 up 151%
N2O up up 17%

44
Q

CH4 = approx. ____ times the heat trapping
capability of CO2

A

20-25

45
Q

Causes of increase of greenhouse

A
  • burning fossil fuels for energy (wood, coal, natual gas)
  • deforestation (emissions - co2 , CH4), loss of carbon sink
    -Agriculture: emissions
  • industry : emissions
46
Q

WHICH COUNTRY is number 1 source of total carbon?

A

China

47
Q

WHICH COUNTRY is number 1 per capita of emissions?

A

CANADA

48
Q

Whats the position 1 of environmental issues?

A

-Technocentric: trust in technology.
-Cornucopian: reflects an optimistic belief in limitless resources and technological solutions
- market based approaches

49
Q

Whats the position 2 of environmental issues?

A

Ecocentric- Deep ecology: nature’s resources should be preserved for its intrinsic value

50
Q

what are other positions?

A

ecofeminism
limits to growth
hypothesis

51
Q

technocentrics

A

-preservation of existing technological structures
-market based approaches
-enviro. education

52
Q

ecocentric

A

-decentralization of power (i.e socialism)
-informal transactions (outside market capitalism)
-change in ethics

53
Q

who said that? “Conservation may be a sign of personal virtue, but it is not a sufficient basis for a sound, comprehensive energy policy”

A

dick cheney- vice president

54
Q

when was the kyoto protocol?

A

1997

55
Q

“the goofiest, most devastating thing ever contemplated by a
Canadian Government” who said that?

A

Ralph Klein - Former Alberta PM

56
Q

when did occur the Paris accord?

A

2015 its about aiming to address climate change by bringing countries together to work towards limiting global warming.

57
Q

Other responses to these environment issues?

A
  1. scientific solutions
  2. adaptation
  3. the market
  4. mitigation
58
Q

2 aims to improve environment issues?

A

mitigation: reduce our impact= actions taken to reduce or prevent the emission of greenhouse gases
adaptation: adapt to a warming world

59
Q

scientific solutions to reduce environmental issues:

A
  • geo-engineering (large-scale interventions in the Earth’s natural systems)
  • absorb/ store CO2
  • **Sequestration or geo-sequestration: **capture and long-term storage of carbon dioxide, by reducing the amount of greenhouse gases.
    -reflect sunlight and space mirrors= manipulate the Earth’s energy balance to mitigate the impact of climate change.
  • diposit sulfate particles in upper atmosphere
60
Q

Adaptation:

A

-Dykes (control water levels) to keep water out
- new food varieties

61
Q

the market

A

carbon emissions trading= “cap and trade” market-based approach to controlling pollution = quebec, 2013

  • BC government, 2008= carbon taxes
62
Q

canada’s approach

A

federal conservative government = consistent in its approach to climate change
-canada= plan on climate change

63
Q
A

geog (7 decks)

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