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Greek language > ST4 > Flashcards

ST4 Flashcards

1
Q

Define Ecosystem?

A

An ecosystem is a biological environment consisting of all the organisms living in a given area

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2
Q

Define Biodiversity?

A

Biodiversity is the variety and range of species found within a given ecosystem, as well as between different ecosystems

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3
Q

Define Mega-diversity?

A

A mega-diverse country must have at least 5000 species of endemic plants and must border marine ecosystems.

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4
Q

Define Ecology?

A

Ecology is the branch of biology that studies the relations of organisms with one another and with their physical surroundings.

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5
Q

Define Food Chain?

A

A food chain is the interconnectedness (chain) between a series of organisms that each depend on the next organism as a source of food and sustenance.

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6
Q

Define Deep Ecology?

A

Deep ecology is an enviro-political movement concerned with protecting the environment. It considers humans no more important than other species and advocates a radical readjustment of the relationships between humans and nature and the way in which human society is structured.

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7
Q

Define Ecotoxicity?

A

is the study of toxic effects on non-human organisms, populations or communities, i.e. the impact of a toxin on an ecosystem.

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8
Q

Define Cumulative impact?

A

A cumulative impact is the collective effect on the environment by a range of impacts from the past, present and even the future

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9
Q

Define Bioaccumulation/bioconcentration?

A

is the accumulation over time of a substance and especially a contaminant (such as a pesticide or heavy metal) in a living organism, which may or may not lead to a toxic effect.

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10
Q

Define Plume?

A

is a cloud of contaminated smoke or vapour that flows from a specific pollution source.

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11
Q

Define Wetland?

A

is an area that is regularly saturated by surface water or groundwater and, under normal circumstances, is capable of supporting vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions
Wetlands are usually rich in biodiversity. They are critically important filtration systems for rivers, streams and estuaries.

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12
Q

Listed here are some of the most important MEAs to date?

A
  • Bonn Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals, 1979.
  • Madrid Protocol on Environmental Protection of the Antarctic, 1991.
  • Vienna Convention on Nuclear Safety, 1994.
  • Kyoto Protocol (on Greenhouse Gas Emissions), 1997.
  • Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, 2000.
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13
Q

Living organisms depend on the Earth to provide them with three basic requirements?

A
  • Resources for consumption
  • A physical environment that provides a habitat
  • A sink for wastes that organisms discard
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14
Q

Why does Environmental degradation occur because of human activities and needs?

A
  • Land use,
  • Deforestation
  • Excessive consumption
  • Improper land farming techniques
  • Improper fishing techniques
  • Industry and mining
  • The ability of humans to wage wars and conflict has rarely been considered an effect on environmental degradation.
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15
Q

Give examples of environmental degradation?

A

Deforestation
Soil erosion
Ozone depletion
Acid rain

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16
Q

Define Deforestation?

A

Forests are the largest and most efficient sinks of the world – their ability to absorb CO2 and create oxygen, which is essential for us and all non-plant species on Earth, is unparalleled.

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17
Q

Define Soil Erosion?

A

Soil erosion has been worsened by deforestation, rapid human development and land needs. Today, topsoil is eroded faster than it forms on about one-third of the world’s croplands.

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18
Q

Define Ozone depletion?

A

The ozone layer, located in the stratosphere, 17–26km above the Earth’s surface, protects us from harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation, which can cause diseases such as skin cancer.

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19
Q

Define Acid Rain?

A

Acid rain is caused by the release of the gases SO2 (sulphur dioxide) and NOx (nitrous oxides) into the air, which mix with water particles. Rain that falls becomes acidic, which, in turn, increases the acidity of soil, lakes, dams and streams.

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20
Q

What are the types of pollution?

A
  • Light pollution
  • Visual/aesthetic pollution
  • Noise pollution
  • Thermal pollution
  • Marine pollution
  • Radioactive pollution
  • Transgenic/genetic pollution
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21
Q

What are the Environmental Factors For Human Health?

A 
3.2	Environmental Factors For Human Health
A clean natural environment is essential for human health and well-being. There are environmental factors that can influence or affect, whether positive or negative, on human health. These factors include:
•	Climate
•	Soil quality
•	Biodiversity
•	Water quality
•	Water availability
•	Ambient air quality
•	Food quality/access to quality nutrients
•	Food availability
•	Toxicity levels in natural media, for example, in the air, in water and in soils
•	Disease vectors
•	Topography
•	Natural events and processes
•	The natural greenhouse effect
•	Solar energy
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22
Q

What are the pollution relater diseases?

A

•Air pollution:
o Coronary heart disease
o Stroke
o Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
o Lung cancer
o Childhood/infant respiratory infections/asthma

•Water pollution:
o	Cholera
o	Typhoid
o	Guinea worm disease
o	Dysentery

• Soil/ground pollution:
o Childhood leukaemia
o Cancers
o Neuromuscular blockage

• Marine pollution:
o	Hepatitis
o	Cholera
o	Gastroenteritis
o	Salmonellosis

• Radioactive pollution:
o Cancers (all variants)
o Eye cataracts
o Impaired central nervous system

• Noise pollution:
o Hypertension
o Heart disease
o Mental disorders

23
Q

What are the diseases associated due to Deforesting?

A
  • Malaria
  • Nipah virus
  • Ebola
  • Dengue fever
  • Zika fever
  • Bilharzia
24
Q

What are the diseases associated due to Deforesting?

A
  • Malaria
  • Nipah virus
  • Ebola
  • Dengue fever
  • Zika fever
  • Bilharzia
25
Q

What are Climate Change And Weather change?

A

Climate refers to the long-term average (and other statistics) of weather measured over long periods of time (at least several decades).

Weather refers to the state of the atmosphere for a specific period – from several minutes up to several days.

26
Q

What are three greenhouse gases?

A
  • Carbon dioxide (CO2): CO2 enters the atmosphere through the burning of fossil fuels, solid waste, trees and wood products. It is naturally removed from the atmosphere and stored when it is absorbed by plants as part of the biological carbon cycle.
  • Methane (CH4): Methane is emitted during the production and transport of coal, natural gas and oil. Methane emissions also come from livestock and other agricultural practices and by the decay of organic waste in landfills.
  • Nitrous oxide (N2O): Nitrous oxide is emitted during agricultural and industrial activities, as well as during combustion of fossil fuels and solid waste.
27
Q

What are the climate-influencing factors?

A
  • The strength of radiation from the sun, which determines the overall temperature of the Earth.
  • The spherical shape of the Earth.
  • The orientation of the Earth’s axis towards the sun.
  • The greenhouse effect of water vapour and other trace gases.
  • The proliferation of oceanic water on Earth.
  • The distribution of landmass on Earth.
  • The amount of ice cover.
  • The movement and velocity of winds in the atmosphere.
  • The various physical, chemical and biological processes that take place within the atmosphere- geosphere-biosphere climate system.
28
Q

Earth’s atmosphere is divided into layers, what are they?

A
  • Troposphere
  • Stratosphere
  • Mesosphere
  • Thermosphere
  • Exosphere
29
Q

Define Short-lived greenhouse gases?

A

The main short-lived climate pollutants are black carbon, methane, tropospheric ozone and fluorinated gases.

30
Q

What is Global warming?

A

The natural greenhouse effect is being usurped by a more extreme greenhouse effect owing to huge amounts of greenhouse gases being emitted into the atmosphere due to human activities. These gases become trapped in the ozone layer of Earth and, in turn, result in more solar energy being trapped on Earth rather than escaping back into space.

31
Q

Which human activities cause or contribute to climate change due to pollution?

A
  • Energy production
  • Animal rearing
  • Industrial processes
  • Mining
  • Transportation
  • Deforestation
  • Burning vegetation due to land clearing
  • Waste at landfills
32
Q

What can we or an organisation do to reduce climate change?

A
  • Fossil fuels - use less
  • Electricity - use less
  • Carbon footprint - minimise
  • Carbon management - improve
  • Upgrade buildings and infrastructure
  • Transportation - electrical
  • Plant more trees
  • Fossil fuels: Use less fossil fuels wherever possible in the organisation’s activities or processes.
  • Electricity: Be more energy efficient regarding electricity usage wherever this is at all possible within the organisation.
  • Carbon footprint: An organisation should know its actual carbon footprint, which is the sum total of all the carbon it produces or emits due to its activities or processes.
  • Carbon management: Ensure that the management of the organisation’s carbon output is an integral part of its environmental management system.
  • Upgrade buildings and infrastructure: Make buildings and infrastructure more energy efficient in terms of design, materials and insulation.
  • Transportation: Make less use of fossil fuel-based transportation wherever possible.
  • Plant more trees: Plants provide us with much-needed oxygen while taking in carbon dioxide. They are our carbon sinks. On a planet that has so much carbon dioxide resulting from human activities, the more trees we have, the better.
33
Q

What are the principal fossil fuel energy sources?

A
  • Petroleum
  • Coal
  • Natural gas
34
Q

What are the advantages and disadvantages of fossil fuels?

A

5.1.2 Advantages and disadvantages of fossil fuels
There are reasons why fossil fuels have been so dominant in the modern world economy for so long, and reasons too why their use is problematic:
• Advantages of fossil fuels:
o Traditionally quite easy to find and extract (especially coal and oil).
o Fairly inexpensive.
o Well-known technologies, i.e. familiar.
o Relevant to long-existing technologies, e.g. the internal combustion engine, power stations, pipelines, etc.
o Central importance in the world economy.

• Disadvantages of fossil fuels:
o Increasingly difficult to find and extract.
o Increasingly expensive to produce.
o Losing economies of scale and price per unit comparisons with renewables.
o Enormous pollution and other environmental degradation impacts.
o Leading contribution to climate change.
o Adverse impacts on human health and well-being.
o Increasingly unpopular in public opinion/civil society.
o Over-dominance in the world economy, especially petroleum.

35
Q

What are the principal types of renewable energy?

A
  • Solar
  • Wind
  • Geothermal
  • Hydro-electric*
  • Wave**
  • Tidal**
  • Biomass/Biofuels***
  • Algal**
  • Hydrogen
36
Q

What are the advantages and disadvantages of renewables?

A

• Advantages of renewables:
o Easily available, especially solar, wind and geothermal energy.
o Unit costs per kilowatt-hour (kWh) continue to fall.
o Increasingly popular across the world.
o Far less impact on the environment.
o Less impact on human health.
o Smaller carbon footprint – little or no carbon releases to atmosphere.
o Well-known technologies, i.e. familiar.

• Disadvantages of renewables:
o Technology can be very complex.
o Start-up/installation costs can be very high.
o Continued resistance from governments and industry.
o Huge pushback by the oil and gas industry and related lobbies.
o Far less subsidised than fossil fuel industries.
o Perception that it cannot provide all energy needs.
o Not suited to all existing technologies and processes.

37
Q

Define an Environmental impact assessment?

A

An environmental impact assessment (EIA), is the administrative or regulatory process by which the environmental impact of a proposed project, the development or extension to an existing project or development is determined.

38
Q

What is an EIA?

A

An environmental impact assessment (EIA), is the administrative or regulatory process by which the environmental impact of a proposed project, the development or extension to an existing project or development is determined.

39
Q

What are the benefits and flaws of the EIA process?

A 
BENEFITS
- Provides systematic methods of impact
assessment	
- Estimates the cost/benefit trade-off alternative
actions
- Facilitates public participation
- Triggers institutions-buildings

FLAWS
- Time-consuming
- Costly
- Little public participation in actual implementation
- Too focused on scientific analysis (sometimes)
- Poor presentation of EIA report (bulky volumes,
scientific explanation, difficult to understand)

40
Q

What are the types of social impacts?

A
  • Demographic impacts
  • Cultural impacts
  • Community impacts
  • Socio-psychological impacts
41
Q

EIA inspections can entail?

A
  • Conducting a site visit.
  • Monitoring the attainment of environmental quality standards.
  • Considering environmental audit reports and statements.
  • Checking premises and equipment.
  • Checking the adequacy of environmental management and of relevant records.
  • Checking plant, equipment or infrastructure intended to prevent pollutants being released to land when there has been a loss of containment.
42
Q

Cleaner production is a preventive approach to managing the environmental impacts of business processes and products. Give examples of Cleaner production?

A
  • Uses changes in technology, processes, resources or practices to reduce waste, environmental and health risks.
  • Minimises environmental damage.
  • Uses energy and resources more efficiently.
  • Increases business profitability and competitiveness.
  • Increases the efficiency of production processes.
  • Cleaner production is applicable to all businesses, regardless of size or type.
43
Q

What are the advantages for an organisation to commit to cleaner production?

A
  • Greater innovation = better productivity.
  • Wish to reduce operating/production costs.
  • Greater commitment to environmental imperatives by top management.
  • Budgets allocated to cleaner production initiatives.
  • Better access to appropriate technology.
  • Legislative or regulatory demands.
  • Reduction in enforcement fees, e.g. fines, authorisation costs, etc.
  • Improved health and safety for employees.
  • Industry-related peer pressure.
  • Pressure from investors and shareholders.
  • Pressure from communities or other interested and affected parties.
  • Product- or process-related issues or bans.
44
Q

What are some of the cleaner production techniques?

A
  • Changes in technology
  • Changes in input materials
  • Changes in resource use
  • Changes in operating practices
  • Changes in product design
  • Changes in service delivery
  • Changes in waste generation
  • Changes in maintenance
  • Changes in packaging
45
Q

Options for achieving cleaner production should be considered?

A
  • Best Available Technique (BAT)
  • Best Available Technique Not Entailing Excessive Cost (BATNEEC)
  • Best Practicable Environmental Option (BPEO)
46
Q

Key aspects of eco-efficiency?

A
  • Greater focus on environmental imperatives
  • A reduction in the material intensity of goods or services
  • A reduction in the energy intensity of goods or services
  • Reduced use and disposal of toxic materials
  • Improved recyclability
  • Less waste generation
  • Less pollution
  • Decreased water and energy usage
  • Maximum use of renewable resources
  • Greater durability of products or services rendered
  • Increased service intensity of goods and services
47
Q

Pollution prevention means source reduction and other practices that reduce or eliminate the creation of pollutants through?

A

o Reduces the amount of hazardous substance, pollutant or contaminant entering any waste stream or otherwise released into the environment (including fugitive emissions) prior to recycling, treatment or disposal.
o Reduces the hazards to public health and the environment associated with the release of such substances, pollutants or contaminants.
o Reduces the need to resort to end-of-pipe pollution control devices and measures.

48
Q

The three questions of pollution management With regard to any type of pollution, an organisation should have strategies in place to address potential pollutants by asking the following three hierarchical questions?

A
  1. Can the pollution be avoided? If not …
  2. Can the pollution be reduced? If not …
  3. Can the pollution be controlled?

Pollution prevention should be the primary goal, with compliance with environmental legislation as only the minimum criterion.

49
Q

Define a Life cycle analysis?

A

A life cycle assessment (LCA) identifies, quantifies and evaluates the environmental impacts (of both inputs and outputs) of a product, service or activity from cradle to grave.

50
Q

The LCA process comprises a systematic set of stages consist of four components?

A
  • Goal definition and scoping – what is the purpose of the analysis?
  • Inventory analysis – what impacts arise from all inputs and outputs?
  • Impact assessment – what is the extent of impacts?
  • Interpretation – how can improvements be made based on findings?
51
Q

Define Sustainable Development In Context?

A
  • Putting people at the centre
  • The precautionary principle
  • Making the polluter pay:
52
Q

Explain what is meant by The Triple Bottom Line?

A

Sustainability is viewed as the inter-dependence between the three systems identified as basic to any development: the economic system, the social system and the ecological system.

True sustainable development, therefore, is development that meets triple bottom-line considerations by which all three systems interact on an equal and interconnected basis

53
Q

What is GRI?

A

Global Reporting Initiative

54
Q

These guidelines are for voluntary use by organisations for reporting on economic, environmental and social dimensions of their activities, products and services. More specifically these guidelines?

A
  • Present reporting principles and specific content to guide the preparation of organisation-level sustainability reports.
  • Assist organisations in presenting a balanced and reasonable picture of their economic, environmental and social performance.
  • Promote comparability of sustainability reports, taking practical considerations related to disclosing information across a diverse range of organisations into account – many with extensive and geographically dispersed operations.
  • Support benchmarking and assessment of sustainability performance with respect to codes, performance standards and voluntary initiatives.
  • Serve as an instrument to facilitate stakeholder engagement.

Greek language (15 decks)

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