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ESS > Chapter 1 > Flashcards

Chapter 1 Flashcards

1
Q

what can influence environmental movements

A
  • historical events
  • literature
  • media
  • major environmental events
  • international agreements
    -technological developments
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2
Q

what is an EVS

A

a worldview or paradigm that shapes the way an individual, or
group of people, perceives and evaluates environmental issues

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3
Q

what can influence an EVS

A
  • culture
  • religion
  • economic context
  • sociopolitical context
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4
Q

in what way is an EVS a system

A

EVS might be considered as a system in the sense that it may be
influenced by education, experience, culture and media (inputs), and involves
a set of interrelated premises, values and arguments that can generate
consistent decisions and evaluations (outputs).

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5
Q

what are the main EVSs

A
  • ecocentric
  • anthropocentric
  • technocentric
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6
Q

what does an ecocentric view entail

A

it integrates social, spiritual and environmental
dimensions into a holistic ideal. It puts ecology and nature as central to
humanity and emphasizes a less materialistic approach to life with greater
self-sufficiency of societies. An ecocentric viewpoint prioritizes biorights,
emphasizes the importance of education and encourages self-restraint in
human behaviour.

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7
Q

what does an anthropocentric viewpoint entail

A

it argues that humans must sustainably manage
the global system. This might be through the use of taxes, environmental
regulation and legislation. Debate would be encouraged to reach a
consensual, pragmatic approach to solving environmental problems.

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8
Q

what does a technocentric viewpoint entail

A

it argues that technological developments can
provide solutions to environmental problems. This is a consequence of a largely
optimistic view of the role humans can play in improving the lot of humanity.
Scientific research is encouraged in order to form policies and to understand
how systems can be controlled, manipulated or changed to solve resource
depletion. A pro-growth agenda is deemed necessary for society’s improvement

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9
Q

what is a society

A

an arbitrary group of individuals who share some common
characteristics, such as geographical location, cultural background, historical
time frame, religious perspective, value system and so on

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10
Q

what are some possible historical influences on EVSs and environmental movements (name at least 3)

A
  • James Lovelock’s development of the Gaia hypothesis
  • Minamata disaster
    Rachel Carson’s book Silent Spring (1962)
  • Davis Guggenheim’s documentary “An Inconvenient Truth (2006)”
  • Chernobyl disaster of 1986
  • Fukushima Daiihi
    nuclear disaster of 2011
  • whaling
  • Bhopal disaster of 1984
  • Gulf of Mexico oil spill of 2010
  • Chipko movement
  • Rio Earth Summit 2012 (Rio+20)
  • Earth Day
  • Green Revolution
  • Copenhagen Accord
  • recent or local events of student interest.
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11
Q

what is a system approach

A

a way of visualizing a complex set of interactions which may be ecological or societal.

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12
Q

what is a system

A

an assemblage of parts, working together, forming a functional whole.

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13
Q

what is a system comprised of

A
  • flows
  • storages
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14
Q

what are flows in a system

A

processes that may be either:
- transfers (a change in location)
- transformations (a change in the chemical nature, a change in state or a change in energy).

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15
Q

what are the types of systems

A
  • open system (exchanges both energy and matter across its boundary)
  • closed system (exchanges only energy across its boundary)
  • isolated system (a hypothetical concept in which neither energy nor matter is exchanged across the boundary)
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16
Q

what is the biosphere

A

the part of the Earth inhabited by organisms that extends from the upper parts of the atmosphere to deep within the Earth’s crust.

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17
Q

! Be able to produce a systems diagram of carbon cycling, food production, soil systems !

A

not a question, a tip

18
Q

what is the first law of thermodynamics

A

principle of conservation of energy,
which states that energy in an isolated system can be transformed but cannot
be created or destroyed.

19
Q

what is the second law of thermodynamics

A

the entropy of a system increases over time. Entropy is a measure of the amount of disorder in a system. An increase in entropy arising from energy transformations reduces the energy available to do work.

20
Q

what is equilibrium

A

A state of balance among the components of a system.

21
Q

what are positive and negative feedback loops

A
  • positive feedback loops (destabilizing) will tend to amplify changes and drive
    the system towards a tipping point where a new equilibrium is adopted
  • Negative feedback loops (stabilizing) occur when the output of a process inhibits or reverses the operation of the same process in such a way as to reduce change—it counteracts deviation.
22
Q

! Emphasis should be placed on the relationships between resilience, stability,
equilibria and diversity. !

A

not a question, a tip

23
Q

what is stable equilibrium

A

the condition of a system in which there is a tendency for it to return to the previous equilibrium following disturbance.

24
Q

what is steady-state equilibrium

A

the condition of an open system in which there are no changes over the longer term, but in which there may be oscillations in the very short term.

25
Q

what is a tipping point

A

the minimum amount of change within a system that will destabilize it, causing it to reach a new equilibrium or stable state.

26
Q

what is resilience in a system

A

The resilience of a system, ecological or social, refers to its tendency to avoid such tipping points and maintain stability.

27
Q

what can affect the resilience of a system

A
  • Diversity and the size of storages within systems can contribute to their
    resilience and affect their speed of response to change (time lags).
  • Humans can affect the resilience of systems through reducing these storages
    and diversity
28
Q

what is sustainability

A

the use and management of resources that allows full natural
replacement of the resources exploited and full recovery of the ecosystems
affected by their extraction and use.

29
Q

what is natural capital

A

a term used for natural resources that can produce a sustainable natural income of goods or services.

30
Q

what is natural yield

A

the yield obtained from natural resources

30
Q

what are some factors that indicate sustainability

A
  • biodiversity
  • pollution
  • climate
31
Q
A
32
Q

what is an ecological footprint

A

the area of land and water required to
sustainably provide all resources at the rate at which they are being consumed by a given population

33
Q

what are EIAs and what do they do

A

Environmental impact assessments that assess the environmental, social and economic impacts of the project, predicting and evaluating possible impacts and suggesting mitigation strategies for the project.

34
Q

what are some criticisms of EIAs

A
  • the lack of a standard practice or training for
    practitioners
  • the lack of a clear definition of system boundaries
  • the lack of inclusion of indirect impacts.
35
Q

what is pollution

A

the addition of a substance or an agent to an environment through human activity, at a rate greater than that at which it can be rendered harmless by the environment, and which has an appreciable effect on the
organisms in the environment.

36
Q

in what form can pollutants manifest

A
  • organic matter
  • inorganic matter
  • biological agents
  • invasive species
  • light
  • sound
  • thermal energy
  • combustion of fossil fuels
37
Q

what are non-point and point source polluters

A
  • Non-point source is pollution that arises from numerous widely dispersed origins is described
  • Point source pollution arises from a single clearly
    identifiable site
38
Q

what are primary and secondary pollutants

A
  • primary: active on emission
  • secondary: arising from primary pollutants undergoing physical or chemical change
38
Q

what does biodegradable mean

A

capable of being broken down by natural biological processes

39
Q

what is the process by which pollution spreads

A
  • human activity producing pollution
  • release of pollutant into the environment
  • pollutant impacts the ecosystem
40
Q

what are some ways to manage the level of pollution

A
  • altering human activity
  • controlling release of pollutant
  • clean-up and restore damaged systems

ESS (2 decks)

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