Environment Flashcards
Technology
application of scientific principles to improvement of life
•before = naïve optimism - technology can do no wrong
•progress picking up speed - tangible benefits
•post war started doubting technology
•thinking about it as frankenstein rather than saviour
Normal accidents
mishaps because very complexity of modern technologies ensures they will inevitably fail, though in unpredictable ways
normal because inevitable
risk society
social system in which tech distributes danger + advantage among all social groups, although some are more exposed than others are
risk doesn’t derive just from normal accidents there are also mounting environmental threats (more widespread, chronic, lasts longer, more ambiguous because we don’t know what to do about them)
Global Warming and Polar Ice
1.Heat-trapping gases produced by human activity collect in atmosphere
•increasing fuel burning which release co2 + gases into the atmosphere
2.More heat enters atmosphere than escapes: some absorbed + some reflected back by blanket of heat-trapping gases
•solar radiation is trapped
•greenhouse effect increase global warming, gradual increase of surface
Global Warming and Polar Ice
- Heat melts ice, creating water + revealing tundra.
- Tundra releases CH4 (methane), effective heat-trapping gas which traps even more heat
- Water reflects less heat than ice does because it’s darker than ice speeding up global warming
Average Annual Surface Air Temperature and Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide, 1880-2012
Safe upper limit by scientific consensus: 350 ppm - we reached this in 1980
Average annual surface air temperature in degrees Celsius
•rate of increase after 1975
•amount of co2 increase rapidly since 1880
•more water evaporates more rainfall
•more flooding, more erosion, ruins land
•droughts spread as land is eliminated = more famine
•oceans rise because warm water expands
•melting of ice = more water in ocean coastal regions flood
Global Warming, 1880-2012
- a lot more concentration of warm spots especially at the poles
- polar ice cap to the point where permanent ice cap has become water
Sólheimajökull Retreats
- 8 km x 1.5 tongue made of glacier that’s moving down a mountain
- at the end it starts melting into volcanic ash
- lots of melting, more moisture, bigger storms
Worldwide Insured Losses Due to “Natural” and Human Catastrophes, 1970-2012 (in 2005 $US billions)
- collect data on total cost for all disasters
- scared of increasing costs
- we’re contributing to natural resources
Ocean Acidification
high level of CO2 in atmosphere partly absorbed by oceans, causing them to acidify (lowering pH due to the formation of carbonic acid) faster
Ocean Acidification
- 56 million years ago, ocean pH fell by .01 unit per century.
- Now, ocean pH is falling by .1 unit per century.
- Coral reefs, oysters, salmon + other species threatened by ocean acidification
Global Fossil Fuel Reserves and the 2
Carbon Budget
2° C global warming would be catastrophic. We have already warmed the planet by 0.8°. The emissions potential of proven fossil fuel reserves is 2,795 billion tons of carbon dioxide.
Environmental issues become social problems when…
- policy-oriented scientists, environmental movement, mass media + respected organizations discover + promote issues
Only 1980s when they expressed great deal, insurance companies
•started getting a lot of attention from the media
Environmental issues become social problems when…
- people connect real-life events to info learned. If they can’t make a connection, it’s meaningless
•drought in midwest got ppl scared, started to realize the things they experienced, suddenly able to connect the dots
Environmental issues become social problems when…
- scientists, industrial interests + politicians who dispute existence of environmental threats must fail to convince public that threat is illusory + human intervention is unnecessary
•producers of coal + oil: industries fund some scientists that find holes, alternative theories
•some places are effective in US, where they create widespread confusion