Section 2: Sustainability

Question 1

Which 3 environmental problems have passed the safe boundary?

Answer 1

1. Biodiversity loss
2. Climate change
3. Nitrogen cycle

Question 2

Name the 4 criteria that are used to classify an environmental problem

Answer 2

1. Absorbative capacity: Cumulative or non-cumulative (stock or flow)
2. Scale of impact: local or global
3. Origin: point source or non-point source
4. Occurrences: continual or episodic

Question 3

What is GDP?

Answer 3

GDP is the total economic output of producers in a country

Question 4

Why is rising GDP a good thing?

Answer 4

• Reduces poverty
• Increases literacy
• Reduces unemployment
• Slows population growth
• Reduces environmental degradation

Question 5

On the environmental Kuznets Curve, what are the labels on the x and y axes?

Answer 5

Y-axis: environmental degradation

X-axis: income per capita / GDP per capita

Question 6

Explain the shape of the Environmental Kuznets Curve

Answer 6

Emissions and impacts increase as a countries economy grows. Environmental degradation starts to decrease as:

• Consumers and producers use more efficient technology
• Citizens gain pro-environmental values
• Citizens for governments with pro-environmental values
• Governments implement policies and regulations that are good for the environment

Question 7

Name an example of an environmental problem that follows EKC

Answer 7

Urban air pollution

Question 8

Name the 3 types of human-based capital

Answer 8

1. Physical capital
2. Intellectual capital
3. Human capital

Question 9

Define weak sustainability

Answer 9

Natural and human-based capital are perfect substitutes

Question 10

Define strong sustainability

Answer 10

Natural and human-based capital cannot be substituted, but are compliments

Question 11

Is the following quote weak or strong sustainability:

“each generation should leave water, air, and soil resources as pure and unpolluted as when it came on the earth”

Answer 11

Strong sustainability

Question 12

Is the following quote weak or strong sustainability:

“Each generation should be presented with the capability of being at least as well off as previous generations.”

Answer 12

Weak sustainability

Question 13

Define thermodynamics

Answer 13

The study of energy and is conversions

Question 14

Explain the 3 systems in thermodynamics

Answer 14

1. Open system: both energy and material can be exchanged
2. Closed system: only energy can be exchanged
3. Isolated system: neither energy nor material can be exchanged

Question 15

What is the first law of thermodynamics?

Answer 15

Energy and matter cannot be created nor destroyed. Energy can be converted into different forms

Question 16

What is the second law of thermodynamics?

Answer 16

There are always losses and inefficiency. Energy degrades from available to unavailable.

Question 17

Define entropy

Answer 17

Entropy is the measure of energy quality/availability

• Low entropy is high quality/availability (e.g. fossil fuels)
• High entropy is low quality/availability (e.g. heat energy)

Question 18

What is the growth paradigm?

Answer 18

Growth is good for society and there are no limits to growth

Question 19

Explain the thermodynamics perspective on growth

Answer 19

There are biophysical limits to growth. Closed system. We are limited by:

• Stock of high availability resources (e.g. fossil fuels)
• Capacity to capture solar energy (for food)
• Ecosystem’s capacity to absorb waste

Question 20

What are Daly’s 4 steady-state principles?

Answer 20

1. Renewable resources should be harvested at maximum sustainable yield
2. Non-renewable resources should be invested into an equal renewable replacement
3. Emissions do not exceed assimilative capacity
4. Limit scale of human activity

Question 21

What does Genuine Process Indicator (GPI) account for?

Answer 21

Income inequality
Household labour and parenting
Higher education
Volunteer work
Family breakdown
Crime
Resource depletion
Pollution
Damages from GHGs
Loss of farmlands, wetlands, forests