Chapter 3 - Current Pressures and Need for Action Flashcards
Air pollutants in Europe and North America went — from 1990-2014
decreased from 100% to 70-80% (relative to 1990)
What was the name of the Act that decreased SO2 NOx Emissions in Germany?
Federal Immission Control Act in 1974
And what did the federal emission control act do ?
Regulation for emission limitation. implementation of air quality management and integrated environmental protection
Who are the biggest GHG emitters by Country(ish)?
China, US and the EU
What includes the integrated approach of reducing GHG emissions?
Integrated approaches covering, multiple sectors , multiple pollutants, multiple effects, balancing local and regional global level
Can you sense international effects of air quality in your own country?
yes most of the bad air quality comes from international (so other surrounding countries) and then 40% if your own countries fault
How is high income and waste related?
The richer the income level the most waste is created
what is MSW?
municipal solid waste (household trash)
what is the source of the highest quantity of waste?
C&D - construction and demolition
What part of the MSW Composition decreased the richer a country gets? and what increased
Organic Material decreases, Paper and Plastics increase.
Are most metals recycled more than 1%
no , most are recycled less than 1% , some are recycled more than 50%
Where is the biggest E-waste dumpsites in the world?
Ghana, 80% of kids living nearby have increased levels of lead in their blood
Waste management hierarchy (what is the best to the worst)
Prevention,Minimization,
Reuse,Recycling,
Landfill,Controlled,
Uncontrolled disposal
What is circular economy?
It seeks to rebuild capital, whether human social natural or financial or manufactures. this is for enhanced flows of goods and services.
so in nature its all a circular thing there isnt a linear trash chute. like packaging that has seeds in it and biodegrades(no resources has been lost in the making orf something) so for tech stuff, find a way that tech has more than one shelf life. goods of today are the resources of tomorow. products are disasembled and regenerated. like not owning smth but licensing that are reused.
what is a cascade?
pass (something) on to a succession of others.
“teachers who are able to cascade their experience effectively”
What are three consequences of bad waste management?
health impacts, environmental impacts, and economic losses
what is the solution to the problem that ; Increase in global population, urbanisation and increasing income
levels will lead ceteris paribus to increasing amounts of waste
Demand for further development of waste management and circular
economy
in circular economy, in terms of stock management what are examples how to minimise systematic leakage and negative externalities?
share tools with other manufacturers, maintain or prolong machines life, remanufacture (use factories for long), recycle
In the global land status, what is most land?
most land is medium to strong degradation, and the second highest is even higher medium to strong degradation
why is grassland, savannahs and forests turned into cropland? (net and gross expansion of cropland)
Net
expansion is a result of rising demand
for food and non-food biomass(food or biofuel) which
cannot be compensated by higher yields.
Gross expansion comprises also the shift
of cropland to other areas due to losses
by severe degradation and built-up land (where houses and man made cities are now) so current cropland is so degraded its useless so you have to make more by taking forests land
in short, why is there an expansion of cropland?
more food and biofuel demand, current cropland is so degraded we also take more.
is the net(higher demand for food and biofuel) expansion of croplands or the gross (degradation and build up) expansion predicted to be more?
gross expansion (expansion because of degraded and build-up of existing cropland)
How to solve degraded cropland?
Large areas with degraded soils are in need of restoration and better
land use planning would help to avoid building on fertile land.
How to get lower need for cropland?
Reducing excessive consumption provides high untapped potentials for
“saving” land.
Can product certification help with lower demand for cropland?
no, Product certification cannot control the global expansion of cropland. For
that, countries should monitor and control the level of their global land
use.
Another help to reduce cropland demand?(efficiency)
A more efficient use of biomass and its substitutes is necessary and
possible; it requires enhanced efforts toward sustainable resource
management at multiple scales
In what countries is an alarming rate of withdrawal of freshwater resources even though they do not have a lot?
Saudi Arabia and north east Africa and that region up to India.
What are the damage categories and impact categories of the waste management problem in Africa?
impact categories: ecotoxicity(ocean), waste generation, eutrophication and water pollution, open waste burning, greenhouse effect
Damage categories:
intrinsic: ecosystem and human health (toxic gas, water pollution), instrumental, ecosystem services, and natural resources (dying fish, job loss)
what is eutrophication
enrichment of nutrients in the water, which lowers quality bc too many algae
the proposed solution to waste management problems in Africa?
forbid single-use plastic bags, taxes on plastic bags. easy access to recycling, money in exchange for water, sell waste to recycling companies, recycling creates jobs
