Chapter 1 Botkin and Keller Flashcards
what are the six themes for approaching environmental science?
Human population growth
Sustainability
A global perpective
An urbanizing world
People and nature
Science and values
What brought the “environment” into social and political debate in the 60s?
Silent Spring by Rachel Carson
At the same time, there were oil spills and threats of extinction of many species
What was the “population bomb”?
in the past 40 years the human population has doubled, gong from 2,5 billion to 6,8 billion
Famine and food crisis happens when…
occurs when the human population exceeds its environmental resources.
Famine in Africa in the 70s
In the mid 70s, 500 000 africans starved following the drought in Sahel
Why is there so much famine in africa?
Multiple interrelated causes:
Drought combined with large population size.
Desert in africa are spreading due to climate change and human activity
Food is also a political weapon
The famine in Africa illustrate a key theme in environment studies…
people and nature: people affect the environment, and environment affect people
the population size has stretched the capacity of the land to provide sufficient food
What has caused the global food crisis in the 21st century?
Mostly by rising food costs on goods such as corn, wheat and rice
Has led to food riots in Mecia, Haiti and Egypt, India and Sudan in 2007 and 2008
What is carrying capacity?
the maximum number of individuals of a species that can be sustained by an environment to sustain that same number in the future
What are the two formal scientific meanings of sustainability?
sustainability of resources (coal, trees from forests of fish from the sea)
sustainability of an ecosystem
When is an ecosystem sustainable?
when it can continue ifs primary functions for a specified time in the future (called “planning time horizon”)
What is the 21st century’s environmental paradigm?
Sustainability
What attributes to a sustainable economy in the information age?
populations of human and other organisms living in harmony with the natural support system
energy policy that does not pollute
A plan for renewable resources
A plan for non-renewable resources
A social, legal and political system dedicate to sustainability
What do we need to do to achieve a sustainable global economy?
develop efficient population control, requires education and lower literacy rates
Completely restructure our energy programs
economic planning, a new tax structure and financial aid to those in need
implement social and legal changes to protect environment in local, regional and educational changes
What is “desirable human carrying capacity”?
includes sustainability in the equation - meaning that the it considers how we want the people on earth to have it, not just the number. Depends on our values
What is the Gaia hypothesis?
over the history of life on Earth, life has profoundly changed the global environment, and that these changes have tended to improve the changes for the continuation of life.
how people affect the environment locally affects globally
What is the precautionary principle?
when there is a serious threat, perhaps even irreversible, environmental damage, we should not wait for scientific proof before taking precautionary steps to prevent potential harm to the environment
it emerged as a new proactive tool of thinking about environment and the EU has implemented it
What is utilitarian justification?
some aspects of the environment is valuable because it benefits individuals economically or is directly necessary to human survival
What is ecological justification?
an ecosystem is necessary for the survival of some species if interest to us, or that the system itself provides some benefit
What is aesthetic and recreational justification?
has to do with our appreciation of the beauty of nature and our desire to get out and enjoy it
this is gaining legal basis in many parts of the world
What is creative justification?
the creativity of artists and poets is often inspired by their contact with nature
What is Moral justification?
various aspects of the environment have a right to exist and that it is our moral obligation to help them, or at least allow them, to persists
What is cultural justification?
different cultures have many of the same values but also some different values with respect to the environment
When was the precautionary principle introduced?
1992 Rio Summit
The Gaia Hypothesis states that the dominant force that has shaped the global environment through time is:
life
