Chapter t 1 and 2 Exam Flashcards
Biocapacity
the capacity of a given biological area to generate an on-going supply of renewable resources and to absorb its spillover wastes.
Three Scientific Principles of Sustainability
Solar Energy, Biodiversity, Chemical or Nutrient Cycling
Solar Energy
sun warms the planet, gives plants nutrients, + therefore gives animals the plant nutrients they need, etc.
Biodiversity
the variety of genes, species, ecosystems, and ecosystem processes. Provides ways for species to adapt + prevents them from getting too large.
Chemical or Nutrient Cycling
the circulation of chemicals or nutrients needed to sustain life in the environment (mostly from water and soil) through various organisms and back to the environment. We recieve energy constantly from the sun, but nothing new is produced chemically, so it must be cycled.
Natural Capital
the natural resources and ecosystem services that keep humans and other species alive and that support human economies.
Natural Income
is the yield obtained from natural resources
Natural Resources
materials and energy provided by nature that are essential or useful to humans.
Renewable Resource
any resource that can be replenished by natural processes within hours to decades, as long as humans do not use the resource faster than it can be regenerated.
Sustainable Yield
the highest rate at which people can use a renewable resource indefinitely without reducing its available supply.
Nonrenewable Resource (exhaustable)
exist in a fixed amount (or “stock) in the Earth’s crust. (ex - fossil fuel)
Inexhaustible Resource
a resource that is perpetual - ex. Solar energy
Ecosystem Services
natural services provided by healthy ecosystems that support life and human economies at no human monetary cost to us. (ex - forests purify water and air and prevent erosion)
Three Social Science Principles of Sustainability
Full Cost Pricing (Economics), Win-win solutions (Politics), Responsibility (Ethics)
Full-Cost Pricing (Economics)
include the harmful environmental and health costs of producing and using goods and services in their market prices.
Win-win Solutions (Politics)
political scientists look for compromises that will benefit the largest amount of people and the environment
Responsibility (Ethics)
it is our responsibility a people to treat the planet in ways that will leave it healthy for future generations.
Sustainability
the capacity of the Earth’s
natural systems that support life and human social
systems to survive or adapt to changing environmental conditions indefinitely.
Subsidy
a benefit given to an individual, business, or institution, usually by the government. It can be direct (such as cash payments) or indirect (such as tax breaks).
More Economically Developed Countries (MEDC)
industrialized nations with high average incomes per person
Less Economically Developed Countries (LEDC)
all other nations
Environmental Degradation / Natural Capital Degradation
the depleting of nature’s natural capital. (ex - shrinking forests, climate
change, and pollution.)
Ecological Footprint
the amount of biologically productive land and water needed to supply a population in an area with renewable resources and to absorb and recycle the wastes and pollution such resource and use produces. (per
capita ecological footprint is the ecological footprint in a specific area.)
Exponential Growth
When a quantity increases at a fixed percentage per unit of time, such as 0.5% or 2% per year.
3 Environmental Worldviews
Planetary Management, Stewardship, Environmental Wisdom
Planetary Management (Environmental Worldview)
We are apart from the rest of nature and can manage nature to meet our increasing needs and wants.
Because of our ingenuity and technology, we will not run out of resources.
The potential for economic growth is essentially unlimited.
Our success depends on how well we manage the earth’s life-support systems mostly for our benefit.
Stewardship (Environmental Worldview)
We have an ethical responsibility to be caring managers, or stewards, of the earth.
We will probably not run out of resources, but they should not be wasted.
We should encourage environmentally beneficial forms of economic growth and discourage environmentally harmful forms.
Our success depends on how well we manage the earth’s life-support systems for our benefit and for the rest of nature.
Environmental Wisdom (Environmental Worldview)
We are a part of and totally dependent on nature, and nature exists for all species.
Resources are limited and should not be wasted.
We should encourage earth- sustaining forms of economic growth and discourage earth-degrading forms.
Our success depends on learning how nature sustains itself and integrating such lessons from nature into the ways we think and act.
The Tragedy of the Commons
a situation in which individuals with access to a public resource (also called a common) act in their own interest and, in doing so, ultimately deplete the resource.
Environmental Science
a study of connections in nature. a) - how the Earth works, survives, and thrives ; b) - how humans interact with the environment, c) - how we can live more sustainably.
Ecology
branch of biology that deals with natural organisms and how they interact with their surroundings.
Ecosystem
a set of organisms within a defined area of land or volume of water that interact with one another and with their environment of nonliving matter and energy.
Biosphere
the parts of the Earth’s air, water, and soil where life is found
IPAT
influence (I) = Population (P) X Affluence (A) X Technology (T)
Sustainability Revolution
the next revolution in which we become more sustainable.
Explain how finding solutions to environmental problems involves making trade-offs.
In a trade off, a lumber company might be persuaded to plant/harvest trees in a place that isn’t a a mature forest. In return, or in “trade off”, the government might subsidize (pay a great part of the cost) of planting new trees.
Define and give an example of private lands. Define and give an example of public lands.
Private lands are lands owned by an individual or business - such as a ranch. Public lands are owned jointly by the citizens but are managed by the government. This includes national parks or wildlife refuges.
Explain how three major cultural changes taking place over the last 10,000 years have increased our overall environmental impact.
The agricultural revolution -(10,000 years ago) we abandoned the idea of being hunter/gatherers and learned how to grow plants and breed animals for food, clothing, and likewise.
The industrial-medical revolution - (300 years ago) - machines were invented for large-scale production of goods in factories. People moved from rural villages to cities, fossil fuels came into play, and things started happening in a more efficient manner.
The information-globalization revolution (50 years ago) - new technologies for rapidly receiving knowledge from around the world were developed.
What is Poverty and what are three of its harmful environmental and health effects?
Poverty is a condition in which people cannot fulfill their basic needs for food, water, healthcare, and education. 1 - People in poverty need short term solutions, meaning that they are less sustainable. 2 - High population growth 3 - not sure/couldn’t find.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of government subsidies?
Subsidies (tax breaks and payments to help companies with using resources for their companies) can help stimulate economies and create jobs, but they can encourage companies to deplete and degrade natural capital.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of green taxes?
They would encourage businesses to develop environmentally friendly goods/services, but wealthy companies/polluters could absorb the taxes at all costs. Other pros: it is easily administered by existing tax agencies ; helps bring about full-cost pricing. Other cons: Low income groups are penalized unless safety nets are provided, hard to determine optimal levels for taxes and fees.
Ecological Footprint
Amount of biologically productive land and water needed to supply a population with renewable resources and recycle wastes
Sustainability measure that relates to the earth’s biocapacity.
Ecological Deficit
Earth Overshoot Day - August 22, 2020
Footprint larger than biological capacity for replenishment
Basic Causes of Environmental Problems
Human population, affluence, poverty, Full-cost pricing, People are Increasingly isolated from nature, many different environmental worldviews (remember - the three!)
3 kinds of capital
Natural capital
Human capital
Manufactured capital
Environmental policy
environmental laws, regulations, and programs that are designed, implemented, and enforced by one or more governmental agencies.
Model
an approximate physical or mathematical simulation of a system.
Scientific Theory
a well-tested and widely accepted scientific hypothesis or a group of related hypothesis
Peer Review
scientists publish new info about their experiments for other scientists to read. Sometimes this can lead to new conclusions/revised hypotheses.
Scientific Law / Law of Nature
a well-tested and widely accepted description of what we find always happening in the same way in nature.
Unreliable Science
Scientific results and hypotheses that are presented as reliable without having undergone peer review, or are discarded as a result of peer review or additional research.
Reliable Science
data, hypotheses, models, theories, and laws that are accepted by most scientists who are considered experts under the field of study.
Tentative Science
preliminary scientific results without adequate tresting and peer review.
Matter
anything that has mass and takes up space.
3 physical states (solid, liquid, gas)
2 chemical forms (elements and compounds) ]
Element
substance that has a unique set of properties and cannot be broken down into simpler substances by chemical means.
Shown on periodic table
Compounds are mixtures of two or more elements.
Atomic Theory
the theory that all elements are made up of atoms
Most widely accepted theory in chemistry
3 Subatomic Particles
Neutrons (no electric charge)
Protons (positive electric charge)
Electrons (negative electric charge)
Center called the Nucleus . we know this
Atomic Number
corresponds with the number of protons in the nucleus of its atom. Each element has this
Mass Number
describes the mass of an atom. Is the total number pf protons and neutrons in the nucleus.
Isotopes
when an element in different cases have the same atomic numbers but different mass numbers.
Molecule
the building block - two or more atoms.
Ion
an atom or group of atoms that carries a positive or negative electric charge (one or more net positive or negative) as a result of having lost or gained one negatively charged electrons.
Ions can help to measure
Acidity
A measure of the comparative amounts of hydrogen ions and hydroxine ions. Ions can help to measure this
pH
is a measure of acidity.
Neutral solution has a pH pf seven, acidic solution has a pH below 7 (more hydrogen than hydroxine), a basic solution has a pH greater than 7 (more hydroxine ions than hydrogen ions).
Chemical Formula
shows the number of each type of atom or ion in a compound. (example - H20 is H TWO O)
Ionic Compounds
Tends to dissolve in water and break into ions. (Example: NaCl (Sodium Chloride).
Covalent Compounds
(example: H20 (water))
Complex Carbohydrates
consist of tow or more monomoers of simple sugars (such as glucose, C6H12O6) linked together. (ex - cellulose, found in plant cell walls, and starches that plants use for energy)
Proteins
large monomer molecules formed by linking together long chains of anino acids. (some store energy, others are components of immune system chemical messengers (aka HORMONES) , proteins can be used to calalyze (speed up) chemical reactions.) (Living organisms use about 20 different amino acid moleciules to build a variety of protiens.
Lipids
chemically diverse group of large organic compounds that do not dissolve in water (ex - fats and oils + steroids used for producing hormones.
Cell Theory
the theory that all iving things are made up of cells.
Most widely accepted theory in biology.
Physical Change
matter changes but its chemical composition stays the same
Genes and Chromosomes
Genes - DNA molecules are are made up of sequences of nucleotides called genes.
Chromosome - thousands of genes make up a single chromosome. Chromosomes are a double helix DNA molecule wrapped around one or more proteins.
Chemical Change / Chemical Reaction
there is a change in the chemical composition of substances involved.
Kinetic Energy
matter in motion.
Energy of movement
Heat
Electromagnetic radiation
Law of Conservation of Energy
energy can neither be created nor destroyed - only converted from one form of energy to another.
Law of Conservation of Matter
matter is neither created nor destroyed, so we must have the same number and kind of atoms after …
First Law of Thermodynamics
No energy is created or destroyed
Second Law of Thermodynamics
We end up with the lower quality or less-usable energy than we started with
Energy
ability to do work
Potential Energy
Stored energy
Can be changed into kinetic energy
Solar Energy
99% of the energy that keeps us warm and supports plants and other organisms
Commercial energy
Energy sold in the marketplace
Supplements sun’s energy
90% comes from burning fossil fuels
Oil, coal, and natural gas
High-quality energy
Concentrated energy with a high capacity to do useful work
Ex: high temp heat, strong winds, energy released by burning fossil fuels
Low-quality energy
Dispersed energy with a low capacity to do useful work
Ex: low-temperature moving molecules
Energy efficiency
Measure how much work results from a unit of energy put into a system
Improving efficiency reduces waste
Estimate: 84% of energy used in the U.S. is wasted
Unavoidably because of second law of thermodynamics (41%)
Unnecessarily (43%)
System
Set of components that interact in a regular way
Ex: human body, a cell, a TV set, and an economy
Systems have inputs, flows, and outputs of matter, energy, and information
Feedback can affect their behavior
Feedback
any process that increases or decreases a change to a system
Positive feedback loop
causes system to change further in the same direction.
when the product of a reaction leads to an increase in that reaction. If we look at a system in homeostasis, a positive feedback loop moves a system further away from the target of equilibrium.
number of cows running –> amount of panic –> number of cows running –> amount of panic –> numb
Negative, or corrective, feedback loop
causes system to change in opposite directions
Most systems in nature use negative feedback to enhance long-term stability
Negative feedbacks tend to dampen or buffer changes; this tends to hold a system to some equilibrium state making it more stable.
Ecological tipping point
Natural system stuck in positive feedback loop can reach this point
Beyond this point, system changes so drastically that it suffers from severe degradation or collapse.
