Introduction

Question 1

Malthusian catastrophe

Answer 1

Due to extreme population growth and slower production of food, the malthusian catastrophe describes the point at which there will not be enough food for everyone on the planet

Question 2

Malthusian catastrophe solutions

Answer 2

1. less births (abstinence)
2. more (or earlier) death

Neo-Malthusianism
- modern re-interpretation, emphasising birth control

Question 3

William Jevons question

Answer 3

The Coal Question
- An inquiry concerning the progress of the nation and the probable exhaustion of our coal mines (1865)

Question 4

Jevons paradox

Answer 4

more efficient resource use does not lead to less but more use

Question 5

Extreme case of the rebound effect (Jevons)

Answer 5

part of the efficiency improvement is lost

Question 6

Rachel Carson silent spring (1962)

Answer 6

Pesticides have a detrimental effect on the environment. Introduced highly influential ban on DDT (pesticide) which was strongly contested by chemical industry.

Question 7

Kenneth Boulding statement

Answer 7

The earth is a closed system, like a spaceship we are restricted by what is on board

Question 8

Contrast: Cowboy and spaceman economy

Answer 8

1. the cowboy economy (the cowboy being symbolic of the illimitable plains and also
   associated with reckless, exploitative, romantic, and violent behaviour, which is
   characteristic of open societies)
2. the spaceman economy (the earth has become a single spaceship, without
   unlimited reservoirs of anything, either for extraction or for pollution, and in which,
   therefore, man must find his place in a cyclical ecological system which is capable
   of continuous reproduction of material form even though it cannot escape having
   inputs of energy)

Question 9

Garrett Hardin (The tragedy of the commons)

Answer 9

Open access to unregulated resources tend to be overexploited.

Examples:
- common lands
- forests
- rivers
- wildlife
- clean air

Question 10

The club of rome (limits to growth)

Answer 10

Malthusian theme:
- exponential growth of population
- finite supply of resources

but also:
- exponential growth of welfare

Question 11

Define Entropy

Answer 11

A measure of the amount of energy that is unavailable to do work. (measure of disorder or randomness)

Question 12

First law of thermodynamics

Answer 12

Energy is always conserved; it cannot be created or destroyed.
The same applies to matter (due to the Law of conservation of Mass)

Question 13

Second law of thermodynamics

Answer 13

I any ISOLATED system, entropy will inevitably increase over time.

Question 14

Implications for 2nd law of thermodynamics

Answer 14

• Materials can be recycled, but never 100% since this requires too much energy.
• Energy cannot be recycled at all (quantity is preserved but not quality; ie the availability to do work)
• All physical processes convert low-entropy energy and materials into high-entropy wastes
• The structure of any physical good degrades over time, and energy inputs are needed to counteract this
• A decrease in entropy in one place, means a larger increase somewhere else

Question 15

The laws and the economy

Answer 15

• The economy is a system that transforms low-entropy raw materials into high-entropy wastes, in order to satisfy human needs and wants
• The order in the economic system can only be maintained by a steady stream of low-entropy materials and energy
• All economic production is based on the resources provided by nature
• Whatever we produce must eventually decay, fall apart, or dissipate, returning as waste to nature

Question 16

Sustainable development (the brundtland report)

Answer 16

• development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability
  of future generations to meet their own needs
• economic development within environmental constraints

Question 17

United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

Answer 17

Mission to improve the quality of life of the people without compromising that of future generations

Important activities include:
- Millennium development goals
- Sustainable development goals

Question 18

Triple bottom line

Answer 18

1. people (social)
2. planet (ecological)
3. profit (financial)

Question 19

Nine earth system processes:

Answer 19

• climate change
• biodiversity loss
• nitrogen cycle/phosphorous
• ocean acidification
• land use
• fresh water
• ozone depletion
• atmospheric aerosols
• chemical pollution

Question 20

Kate Raworth: Doughnut Economics

Answer 20

The Doughnut: combining planetary and socio-economic boundaries
- the ecological ceiling
- the social foundation

Question 21

UNFCCC

Answer 21

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

Question 22

IPCC

Answer 22

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

Question 23

COP28

Answer 23

adoption of a fossil fuel phase-out agreement, which commits the parties to transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems, so as to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050