global resources Flashcards
where does fresh water come from
69% comes from glaciers ad snow cover
why is fresh water becoming a probelm
glaciers are melting (climate change)
what is physical water scarcity
when physical acces to water is limited (demand and population is greater than capacity or ability)
economic water scarcity
when population does not have the necesscary monetary means to utilise an adequate source of water
what countries have little to no water scarcity and why
canada (small population lots of land)
europe (rich and smaller population)
south america (access)
what countries have physical water scarcity?
northern china (dry desert like)
middle east
north africa
what countries are starting to get water scarcity?
iran, pakistan and india as all the glaciers are melting
who has economic water scarcity?
central africa and south east asia
what is water used for in HICs
industrially (half)
and people
what is water used for in LIC’s
agriculture 82% and industrial is 10%
farmland is main source of food and income
why is the UK using more water
increased industrial production
populaiton is iincreasing so all of the leisure things, industrial, food, appliances, demand
what is happening to water around the world
availability of fresh water in many regions decreases due to climate change
these pressures will exacerbate economic disparities
population size increases meaning water demand rises - meat consumption is very water intensive
why is water hard not to use
its used in literally everything, even in ‘clean’ renewable and sustainable energy practises
what are main water supplies in countries
surface water (streams rivers lakes)
ground water however some are contaminated
desalination of saline water
what is embedded or virtual water
Measurement of water used in the production and transport to market of food and commodities
where has the highest water footprint
europe beacuse they import the most water intensive products
how much of the earths water is fresh drinkable
2%
what is happening to meat consumption
because meat is so expensive as countries develop the demand increases because they have more money to spend
how is meat consumption worsening water consumption
it takes lots of water to farm and raise cattle and livestock
what is situational poverty
caused by sudden crisis or loss, often temporary (disasters causing homelessness)
what is absolute poverty
involves lack of basic needs such as shelter water and food, focus on day to day survival
relative poverty
where peoples income fall below average for the area they live in (have access to basic needs but thats it)
what has the UN development goals achieved?
43 million more kids go to school
2 billion more have access to clean drinking water
why has poverty gone down overall
globalisation
education
global shift
womens rights
life expectancy
what is the global middle class
the growing middle class as poverty decreases more are now classed as middle class
what is the effect pf the global middle class
consumption has gone up a ton
china - global middle class probelms
westernised diet is more meat and restaurants
consumes 50% of the worlds pork
every two years their consumption grows by the size of the whole US market
meat eating reduces land available for crop
what are the global trends and patterns of food
consuming more food due to expanding population
due to tech, we are getting better at agriculture
GMC - drought resistance
storage and availability
what are modern solutions to farming
re imagingin farming to reduce envrionmental impacts
hydroponics, GMC’s, reducing presticides and fertilisers
digital tools, robots and drones
localised farming (cut transport)
why is food waste increasing
in HIC’s because of storage, demand, choice and expendable money
why is food homogenising
diets are becoming similar due to westernisation and gobalisation as well as the nutrient transition
non renewable energy
coal, oil, gas, nuclear
renewable energy
hydro, solar, geothermal, biomass, wind
what does china use (energy)
wind, as its cost effective long term, little land and renewable, however it impacts wildlife and is loud and noisy
France energy choices
they dont produce the most nuclear power however they use it the most
clean - provides pollution fre power, high yield
however causes nuclear waste and malfunctions can be catastrophic
iceland energy choices
iceland and indonesia
pros heat homes, bathing very relliable and small land footprint
cons location dependent, high cost initially, surface insability
what are hydrocarbons
methane
what are the countries that make the most oil
saudi
USA
russia
China
Venezuela
what is energy surplus
more energy than the demands
energy decifict
less energy than demand (high demand)
energy security
access to reliable sources of energy
what is peak oil refering to
the hypothetical point at which globa crude oil production will hit its maximum rate, after which the production will decline
ecological footprint
the theoretical footprint of the amount of land and water a population needs to produce the resources it consumes and absorb its waste
bio capacity
the supply of reasources availbile for consumption
ecological debtor
countries whose ecological footprint is higher than biocapacity
ecological creditor
countries whose ecological footprint is lower than their biocapacity
when resources are used at a lower rate than that at which they can produced
global hectare
measure of biocapcity and ecological footprint
why is our ecological footprint increasing
development causing an increase in consumption of clothes, food and eating meat
what is the nexus of food
the close links between food energy and water and the ways the changes effects each sector
case study for nexus
india and canada
water in india and canada
in india 250 million people lack access to clean water
where as in canada they don’t have water scarcity because its a small population however local shortages happen
food security in india and canada
in india - increased freq of droughts and floods, urbanisation reduces availability of agricultural land
canada - some people don’t have food availability, temp increased
energy security in india and canada
bad in india bc of natural disasters and poor - can adopt hydropower
good in canada - high security for energy
nexus links for india
don’t have water so food becomes difficult to grow, also agricultural productivity will fall due to climate change, if they adopt hydropower it will allow more energy for more food and then water
however it decreases drinking water
nexus links for canada
they dont have water shortages so they will have food and energy, the temperature is also warming so they have more land to grow food
they have energy surplus so theyll be able to grow food and get water
e-waste in US
little management
- recycling and reuse programs,
- domestic landfill dumping
- international shipment
creates toxic materials - lead mercury and cadmium
Waste in US
268 million tones of waste -> 140 million goes into landfills
Main source: trash, products and packaging, electronics
massive envrionmental impacts - land degradation and water pollution
social impacts - lowers health
E waste in NEE - brazil
main waste is organic material
brazil disposes of their waste there
they dispose of e -waste as they same as general waste
place most of the waste in landfills
what is the waste hierarchy
new waste management shows that we should be reducing by preventing waste and use landfill as a last resort
why do LIC’s struggle with waste
population growth = more waste = more consumption
growing so rapidly means they cant build the places for it
e - waste in LIC
ghana, africa
e-waste gets sent to there from other countries
they burn the waste causing many health issues
they sell usable parts for very little
low quality of life
how many tons of e waste per year
40 million
international flows of waste
International flows of waste
- China used to import everyones waste
- Now they have banned it
- Plastic is now turned into new products
Benefit of international waste
- Sweden buys waste to make into biofuels
- Germany has built 81 biofuel power stations for waste
malthus theory
population will increase, and so will resources, however they will converge and meet a point of crisis that states we have more people than resources
proof of malthus theory
1 billion starve to death everyday
children are malnourished
people dont have access to food and water
boserup theory
population will increase however we will find new ways to solve problems
eg
tech fertilizers pesticides
renewable energy
going to space
GMC
ehrlich theory
population growth cannot continue without control because the planet will reach capacity
proof of ehrlich theory
mass starvation in parts of the world due to increase
- chinas one child policy
resource steward ship
is the sustainable and responsible approach to managing resources that look at the future generations needs
what are the global commons
refers to areas of the world that cannot be interfered with by any other nation
for example antartica and international waters
how are the SDG’s resource stewardship
13 ensures government tackle climate change and provides resources to combat for it
12 promotes sustainable lifestyles and protect the future
circular economy
it is a model that reduces material use and doesnt allow things to become waste
raw materials get produced, used, recycled, and so on and so forth
what are local initiatives (circular economy)
chineses factories use recovered copper waste rather than mining new
what are national initiatives (circular economy)
france and italy have taken steps that makes companies keep food waste and donate it to charity
what are global initiatives (circular economy)
EU has committed to target of no food waste
what is linear economy
raw materials
production
use
non-recycable waste
reuse economy
raw materials
production
use, then recycling
it will eventually become waste
IKEA is which economy
reuse
- they use lots of energy and waste and lack lots of recycling and carbon emissions, illegal logging in ukraine
they are more sustainable as they are biodegradable, and they get reused and recycled in ikea
have a goal to move toward only recycled stuff
