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Sustainability Flashcards

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1
Q

What are the elements of sustainability? Describe the focus of each category

A
  1. Ecological sustainability
    - conserve life support systems and biological diversity
    - anticipate/prevent impacts
    -environment/social costs,
    global responsibility, respect nature
  2. Economic Sustainability
    - improve quality of life while using constant physical resources
    -ensure renewable resources are used+ non renewable available for fitter
  3. Social sustainability
    - equitable distribution of resources
    - ensure future generations have = or more resources
    - promote quality of life, involve citizens in land use and environmental discussions
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2
Q

Describe the wizard and prophet approaches

A

wizard: technological advancement, tech can expand natures limits
prophet: apocalyptic environmentalism, cut back, are exceeding limits

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3
Q

What is the definition of sustainability?

A

meeting the needs of present without compromising ability of future gens to meet their own needs
- places limits of nature at core of all activity, allow nature to regenerate

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4
Q

Is definition of sustainability (development) sufficient?

A
  • does not define what need, how many future generations, what to preserve
  • vague description, unable to set true goal
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5
Q

What is the comparison between mallows hierarchy of needs and the Seneca First Nation diagram of human needs?

A
  • both represent the goal of reaching happiness
  • maslow’s hierarchy has a pyramid with set goals that all humans value
  • First Nation represents the interdependent of human needs, NOT hierarchal, some humans may forego certain things for others
  • overall difference is that maslow thinks its set steps, while Terry cross’ diagram shows the need for all aspects of health to achieve happiness, and may look different for individuals
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6
Q

What factors determine birth rate? Why might birth rate decrease in developed nations?

A

Factors: health care, culture, religion, women’s rights, conflicts, disease education, standard of living

May decrease as better access to health care, education, rights, less work etc.. are more accessible

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7
Q

Why is it problematic to discuss population growth and reducing it?

A
  • incites xenophobia and racism
  • the ‘other’ should reduce their population, individuals value their own people more
  • solution is to limit other populations, not one’s own
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8
Q

What are the two ways to promote impacts of population growth without mentioning it?

A
  • support education/empowerment of women
  • prevent income inequality
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9
Q

What are the 3 graphs which represent global warming?

A

1) Global averages surface air temperature (increasing)
2) global sea level (increasing)
- earth heats, ice melts and water expands = rising sea level
3) arctic sea ice extent (decreases)
- warming = loss of ice = absorption of solar

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10
Q

What are the anthropogenic climate change impacts (human)?

A

1) anthropogenic carbon emissions
2) atmospheric contraptions = ocean acidification
3) energy imbalance
4) climate change (climate sensitivity)
5) impacts
6) economic analysis

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11
Q

If all emissions were eliminate today, what would occur with climate change?

A

the planet would still warm, takes time for ocean and sinks to reabsorb CO2.
- stopping emissions TODAY would limit warming to 1.5 degrees
- the CO2 we’ve emitted in 100 years takes 100 million years to store

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12
Q

What is a climate energy balance and why are we in an imbalance?

A

balance: incoming radiation = outgoing radiation

  • Climate system is perturbed by adding CO2 to atmosphere, reduces outgoing terrestrial radiation (imbalance, more energy in atmosphere, warming)
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13
Q

What are the factors which determine globally averaged surface temperature?

A

1) amount of incoming solar radiation constant
2) albedo of the earth
3) greenhouse factor
4) hydrological cycle
5) air sea interactions

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14
Q

Is the greenhouse effect a good thing? Why is it detrimental today?

A

Greenhouse effect is good, keeps Earths stable temperature when greenhouse gases exist in trace amounts

  • humans accelerate greenhouse gases and warming, leads to energy imbalance
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15
Q

Where does most excess energy that is not emitted from the atmosphere go?

A

(90% )Most goes into the ocean, increasing ocean acidification and expanding water

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16
Q

What are the fossil fuels from most CO2 emitted in order?

A

Coal, oil, gas

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17
Q

What are the consequences of ocean acidification?

A

20% harder for organisms to form shells

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18
Q

Why is warming temperature a problem?

A

impacts every other earth system

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19
Q

What are the natural climate system feedbacks (which are impacted by warming)?

A

water vapour feedback, cloud feedback, ice albedo-temperature feedback, methane temperature feedback

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20
Q

Why are emissions and concentration different things?

A

Increased CO2 (emissions) increases concentration of other system leading to an energy imbalance = warming

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21
Q

How can running a global climate model develop policies?

A
  • choose boundary conditions, run simulation of ocean and atmosphere, analyze data (it simulates a century)
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22
Q

what are some impacts of climate change according to glen lesings?

A

health, arctic sea loss, sea level, reef systems

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23
Q

What are some mitigation strategies?

A

replace fossil fuel with renewable energy and nuclear, replace coal with gas, carbon capture, removal of CO2 from atmosphere, solar management , carbon tax for renewable energy

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24
Q

What does the material self?

A

-we think/express ourselves through material possessions, possessions are apart of our identities
- emotional weight, key to self-representation, communication, identity

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25
Q

What is consumer culture?

A
  • lifestyle hyper-focused on spending money to buy material goods
  • good citizen is one who consumes
  • homo economicus: rational person acting out of economic interests
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26
Q

What aspects do proponents of economic growth neglect?

A

Biophysical (nature, limitations, pollution) and social (ethical, injustice, crime, disparity)

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27
Q

Why has traditional economic analysis failed us?

A
  • considers only a part of the means to an end spectrum
  • considers only production and output, ignores natural world, limits, ethics, etc,
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28
Q

What is the holocene planet?

A

The best state for our planet, planetary boundaries are in red zone, exceeding limits that will get them out of Holocene state

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29
Q

What is the relationship between social thresholds and planetary boundaries?

A

As a nation achieves more social thresholds it exceeds more planetary boundaries

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30
Q

What is the best solution to consumerism?

A

A circular economy

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31
Q

What are the stages of consumer capitalism?

A

1) carbon copy society
2) mass consumption society
3) hyper consumption
4) shop til you drop society

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32
Q

What is a better solution to GDP?

A

GPI or SPI
- social progress index has 3 components: basic human needs, well being, opportunity

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33
Q

What is growth state economics?

A

-ignores physical constraints, no limits, tech will solves anything, adapt, hyper consumerism
- wizard approach

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34
Q

What is steady state economics?

A

-abides by natural constraints, resource limitations, tech is controlled tool, localize,
- prophet approach

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35
Q

What is the easten paradox?

A
  • rich countries tend to be happier but people don’t get happier
  • adaptation to changes or comparison with peers
  • keeping up with the joneses
  • life satisfaction rises with average income, as income increases so do internal norms for happiness
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36
Q

What is conspicuous consumption?

A

Consumption primarily for intent of status, must be better than others

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37
Q

What is the hedonic treadmill?

A

Metaphor for human tendency to pursue one pleasure after another
- internal norms to evaluate happiness can increase
- constantly revert to baseline happiness

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38
Q

What is the cycle of debt? Why does Canada take out debt?

A

Ideal: Take on debt, pay interest, pay debt back
Problem: take out more debt to pay back old debt

  • Canada takes out debt to cover period between when money runs out and new tax money comes in. During debt period Canada hopes GDP grows.
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39
Q

Why is it safer to have a bond rather than a stock?

A

A bond owner, or creditor, loan money to the company and is the first to be paid.

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40
Q

Why is the Canadian household debt so high?

A

1) 2008 financial crisis: interest rates lower, take on more debt
2) covid 19: 2021 inflation leads to rapid increase in household debt

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41
Q

Why is Canadian work productivity a potential reason for poor economy?

A

Canada has 42.5 percent of Ireland, 72 percent of USA (competition for jobs)

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42
Q

What are some reasons for lower productivity?

A
  • weak government and private sector investment
  • oligopoly of banks
  • poor use of immigration
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43
Q

What is the difference between Canadian and American banks? Why might this reduce productivity?

A

There are only 5-6 Canadian banks which can design products and offer only those.
- interest rates in Canada are fixed for 10 years. Canadians cannot predict how inflation will change.
- government will bail out banks immediately, but cannot ‘come after’ them

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44
Q

What are the primary goals of the IPCAs in Canada?

A
  • decolonize conservation. Respect indigenous forms of conservation through living and using land whilst protecting it
  • encouraging the communication and planning through indigenous people
  • people have connection with their land, goals to protect diversity, sustainable use land, and share fairly and equitably the benefits.
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45
Q

Why was a paradigm shift with respect to the IPCAs necessary?

A
  • positive social/cultural outcomes, careful to do this without another form of colonization, allowing indigenous peoples to lead
  • initial protected areas policy built on western paradigm of conservation separating people and nature. The shift away from involved decolonizing conservation, changing the model
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46
Q

What is out society’s paradigm with respect to the natural world?

A
  • we are separate from the natural world, it is for our use
  • hierarchal: place ourselves above natural world
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47
Q

What is anthropocentrism?

A
  • humans are central, superior to nature, it is for our use to exploit, embedded In many western religions and philosophies
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48
Q

What is the cornucopian view of nature?

A
  • wizard perspective
  • nature is bountiful and for our to take from, human ingenuity is the ultimate resource, each is infinitely resourceful, only limits are human creativity, no carrying capacity
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49
Q

What is biocentrism?

A
  • natural world has intrinsic value, questions if humans are superior to other creatures, humans are one species among many
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50
Q

What is deep ecology view of Nature?

A
  • prophet view
  • humans and non human life has value alone, humans have no right to reduce richness / diversity but for vital needs, decrease in population needed
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51
Q

what does the term ‘all my relations’ mean? What is the main idea of this?

A
  • indigenous perspective that every living creature is connected
  • goal is to show cultures are different,
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52
Q

What makes up a culture?

A
  • knowledge, belief, values, assumptions, perspective that people learn through membership of a group
  • does not determine behaviour, but determines how someone understands identity
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53
Q

What is ethnocentrism? How was is expressed in the Angry Inuk documentary?

A
  • the belief that one’s own culture is superior, the standard to which all else should be judged
  • In angry inuk, seal hunting is condemned and called barbaric by Canadians. They are being ignorant and ignoring cultural humility, only observing it through their western perspective.
  • In reality, traditional practice, using their resources
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54
Q

What is the hierarchy of skills and values?

A

Cultural awareness: being conscious of others, learn about values unlike our own
Cultural sensitivity: insight into one’s own culture, awareness of emotions attached to culture and how it may be perceived
Cultural competence: builds on sensitivity, maintain humility, neutrals discrimination
Cultural safety: determine by clients
Cultural humility: Recognize your privilege, develop critical consciousness of values, unearned advantages

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55
Q

What is an internally displaced person?

A
  • one forced to move within their country
  • remain in country because hope conflict is resolved, do not have means, stuck
  • NOT protected by international law
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56
Q

What is the primary cause of IDPs?

A

majority is due to weather related disasters

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57
Q

What is sudden vs slow onset disaster and displacement?

A

sudden: Earthquake, storms, volcanoes
- sudden disruption, people rendered homeless, minorities vulnerable

Slow: Drought, rising sea level,
- significant/increasing distress, food insecurity + loss of land and livelihoods, agricultural, poor, indigenous most affected

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58
Q

What is the tripe impact of climate events in terms of disaster displacement?

A
  • tears people from homes, compound their crisis while in exile, destroys homeland
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59
Q

What are some examples of the compounding effect?

A

earthquake in turkey and syria, drought In short of Africa, tropical storm in Lydia, save flooding in Sudan and Horn of Africa

60
Q

Where are the majority of refugees and asylum seeker accepted as levels increase?

A

75% in middle and low income nations. Major emission nations do not take many.

61
Q

How might national wealth impact climate refugees response to disaster?

A
  • In US (rich) citizens can fly away to other parts of nation
  • In poorer nations, do not have this access, may be unwelcome in other nations, given fewer rights as immigrants
62
Q

What are the 3 forms of human mobility? What are they in response to?

A

Migration, displacement, planned relocation
- all strategies of adaptation to climate change

63
Q

Why might migration be an affective adaptation to climate change? What may be some challenges?

A
  • migration diversifies livelihoods, coping with environmental changes before degradation is life threatening
    -Challenges: puts strains on fragile ecosystems, infrastructures, and social services in moved to areas. Also have to learn new skills, climate change may impact it in a way immigrants cannot handle, economy may be bad already, current challenges adopted by immigrants, may lead to tension between groups.
64
Q

What are the guiding principles on internal displacement?

A

people shouldn’t be forced to leave, option to return or establish elsewhere, decision should be made voluntarily by informed IDPs

65
Q

What are some changes which should be made in terms of climate refugees?

A

International law must be midfield to provide legal status to environmental refugees
- no mention of climate refugee in Paris agreement
- should countries with more emissions take more refugees?

66
Q

Why is there a need for international solidarity when it comes to climate refugees?

A
  • climate change amplifies conflict between people, increases disparity
  • international studnets scapegoated
  • should accept more refugees: decreasing population, low productivity, stagnant workforce
67
Q

Why may climate change be viewed as a threat multiplier?

A
  • climate change sows seeds for conflict, makes displacment worse
  • conflict <-(migration) –> Climate change
  • exacerbate each others
68
Q

Why might Canada’s arctic be an example of a threat multiplier?

A
  • ice melting opens new resources, competition between nation increases
  • ice melting, ocean acidification, loss of permafrost = result of climate change
69
Q

What are the stages of climate change as a threat multiplier as seen in the Syrian Drought?

A

1) amplifying Syrian drought impacts
- increased agricultural production quotas, irrigation, quota, duel subsidies: unsustainable water use = loss of crop/herd = 1.5 million Syrians displaced

2) igniting the tinderbox: Arab springs uprising, protestors killed, civil war begins, 500,000 killed in war so far

3)Syrian refugee crisis: syria has population of 18 million, 13 million need aid, 6 million IDP, 5 million fled as refugees

70
Q

What are the conclusions from climate change as a threat multiplier?

A
  • serious threat to national and international security
  • must adopt sustainable practice in agriculture
  • build resilience in all our activities to survive impacts
71
Q

What is the trend of food production today?

A

global production of crops and animals are on the rise

72
Q

What are the 3 main challenges of feeding the world?

A

1) Eliminate world hunger and malnutrition
2) match food supply to changing demand for food from rich/large population
3) increase food production sustainably

73
Q

What is the yield gap?

A

The difference between realized productivity and potential

74
Q

what is sustainable intensification?

A

a response to close yield gap,
- increase short term crop yields without damaging long term productivity
- reducing negative externalities: greenhouse gas, waste, pest management

75
Q

Why is agriculture significant to the workforce?

A
  • worlds largest employer;oyer
    provides livelihood for 40% of world
76
Q

What is subsistence farming?

A
  • practice of small scale agriculture for direct consumption oby indvudals, families, small communities
77
Q

What is the green revolution?

A
  • periods since the 50s of increased agriculture from modern techniques
    ie: pesticides, herbicides, fossil fuel, irrigation, modified grain
78
Q

Where does the majority of water go? What are the problems with this?

A
  • 70% of all human water use is used for irrigation
  • negative effects: algal bloom (deoxygenates water, toxic, block sunlight), soil, salinization
79
Q

How has the Canadian food guide changed and why is it more environmentally friendly?

A
  • old food guide focused on a lot of dairy and meat. Incites wasteful foods which require a lot of energy.
  • the new guide is majority plant based, less dairy, less meat
  • represents positive shift, revision done in response to increased food prices and climate change
80
Q

What is the double pyramid of health and sustainability?

A
  • food guides altered to promote more sustainable foods, looks at overlaps between human health and
    sustainability
  • climate change canada and food health Canada should be equal partners in developing these revisions
81
Q

How does Brazil’s food chart promote sustainable consumption?

A

Brazil offers 10 suggestions on eating well, educates public on link between food choice and sustainability issues.
- has cultural connections, environmental and social harm that can be avoided by being a conscious consumer

82
Q

What are the forms of malnutrition?

A
  • many nations see persistent hinger and over consumption of wrong types of food
  • urbanization + processed foods + sedentary lifestyle = overweight/ obesity
83
Q

What are the links between obesity and hunger and a nation’s wealth?

A
  • world produces 17% more food per person than 30 ago
  • a billion people go to bed hungry
  • in canada 30% obese, 35% overweight,
  • more affluent nations = more meat consumption
84
Q

Why are domesticated animals inefficient?

A

humans use 20% of earth’s land as pastures. 30% used to feed
- produce waste, methane, deforestation, disease. ethics

85
Q

What are the best ways to ‘feed a hungry world’ ?

A
  • to meet future needs we must ensure equitable food distribution by fighting poverty, corruption and negative global markets, problems in shipping, storing food
  • increase production, hold down consumption
  • beef is inefficient, wasteful, ruminants contributes to half of global greenhouse has emissions
86
Q

What are some strategies to shift consumption?

A

evolve social norms, minimize disruption, maximize awareness, sell compelling benefits

87
Q

What are the links between food and health?

A
  • Columbo says food and health are linked
  • both physical and mental health
  • studies connection gut health to brain chemistry
88
Q

What is food security?

A
  • all people at all times share physical social and economic access to food
89
Q

What are some threats to food security?

A
  • we need more protein
  • demand increases with population (cultural/social norms and wealth make it such that meat is in demand)
  • double animal protein, more land and freshwater
90
Q

What are the goals for a food system?

A
  • food supply must be healthy, safe, affordable, accessible, consistent, sustainable
91
Q

what is the link between blue foods and food security ?

A
  • farmed aquatic food have lower emissions and impacts than other livestock
  • salmon and trout have low freshwater use
  • blue foods = sustainable (good for health and environment)
92
Q

Why is food production emissions considered a necessary evil?

A
  • we require food, therefore the emissions are necessary even though they are bad
93
Q

What are some nutritional benefits of seafood?

A
  • fish is healthiest food, high in protein, high and low fat, rich in vitamins, omega 3 fatty acids (DHA and EPA)
94
Q

What is DHA? How are DHA and EPA produced?

A
  • abundant fatty acid in brain, necessary for developing brains
  • DHA and EPA are produced only be aquatic plants,
95
Q

What is the relationship between DHA and temperature?

A
  • DHA acts as antifreeze, warmer temps = less DHA produced
96
Q

Describe the experiment on the impact of climate change on fish and its results

A
  • two diets: high DHA and low DHA at 12 and 16 degrees
  • climate change fish grew more
  • Conclusion: salmon able to make a bit more DHA when needed in freshwater global warming may help (a LITTLE)
97
Q

Describe the experiment on which fish are the best options and the results

A
  • analyzed 6 different fish, farmed and wild
  • wild sockeye and wild chinook are nutrient dense, high mercury, limits to catch
  • farmed Atlantic best option for low cost, nutritional vale, availability, low mercury
98
Q

What is the cause of some misconceptions on Wild and farmed salmon?

A
  • lack of nutritional info
  • traceability/labelling is evolving, provide public with info, provide info of future labelling
99
Q

Why might Canadians choose to use immigrants as a scapegoat for economic issues?

A

High immigration and low ‘output’ (limited change in economy) incites negative feelings towards immigrants
- blames housing crisis and lower paying jobs on the fact that there are more immigrants

100
Q

What, in considering sustainable technology for the future, is the most important aspect of earth systems which must be saved?

A
  • the ocean
  • promoting ocean health is a primary factor because blue foods are the next step in producing enough food sustainably and is a major carbon sink
  • to feed the growing population and meet demands for protein
  • current protein harvesting (cattle, livestock) is not sustainable - uses a lot of land for herds and feed, emissions, waste, more energy in than out, etc.
101
Q

What are the reasons of concern for DHA levels?

A
  • global warming may result in a 58% decrease of available DHA (2.5 degrees increase - well within range)
102
Q

Please explain the difference between growth state vs. anthropocentrism vs. the cornucopian view of nature

A

growth state: no limitations, tech solves anything, ignores physical constraints

anthropocentrism: humans are above nature, it is for our use

Cornucopian view of nature: bountiful, for us to use, no carrying capacity, only limit is human creativity,

103
Q

Whose definition of sustainability is problematic?

A

Brundtland’s definition

104
Q

What are the 3 forms of malnutrition?

A
  • overeating, undereating, wrong kinds of eating
105
Q

Is there a significant difference between farmed and wild fish?

A

Not much of a difference between farmed or wild, differences found in the types of fish (wild sockeye and chinook, farmed Atlantic are best)

106
Q

What is the root cause of food insecurity?

A

Inequality

107
Q

How much of CO2 is absorbed by the ocean?

A

~30 %

108
Q

What are the 3 gaps related to food inequality which must be closed by 2050?

A

Food Gap: 50% more crop calories by 2050 , food gap must be closed by 56% by 2050
Land Gap: need additional agricultural land twice the size of India, avoiding further agricultural consumption
Greenhouse Gap: need to reduce agricultural emissions by 70%

109
Q

What are some effective ways to reduce agricultural emissions?

A

Eat less meat, shift diet, waste less food

110
Q

Where does the majority of CO2 emissions come from?

A
  • 88% comes from the burning of fossil fuels, 12% comes from deforestation
111
Q

What are the 4 E’s?

A

Economy, energy, emissions, environment

112
Q
A
113
Q

What are the 3 gaps that need to be closed by 2050?

A

-Food gap: 50% more crop calories than in 2012
(close food gap of 56%)

  • land gap: need additional agricultural land nearly twice the size of India

Greenhouse gap: need to reduce agriculture emissions by 70%
- agricultural emissions likely to be 70% of total emissions for all sectors by 2050

114
Q

Why is bioenergy a false hope?

A
  • the world’s entire biomass was used only 20% of energy needs would be met in 2050
115
Q

What is the best diet shift for the planet?

A

Reducing meat consumption!

116
Q

What is soil degradation?

A
  • soil degraded from overgrazing, deforestation, agricultural activity (salinization, over fertilization, runoff)
  • social consequences (trickle up effect)
117
Q

How can we reduce food demand?

A
  • shift diets, reduce food demand
  • crickets!
  • amount of additional food needed to feed the world in 2050 could be cut by HALF!
118
Q
A
119
Q

How many planetary boundaries have we not surpassed? Which ones are remaining?

A

3 boundaries remaining: ocean acidification, atmospheric aerosol loading and ozone depletion.

120
Q

What are huge causes of food waste on farms?

A

Bumper crop surpluses - drop in prices, nowhere to store, transportation is swamped - harvest dies

121
Q

What are the 3 gaps that must close by 2050?

A

food gap: 50% more crop calories than in 2010

Land gap: need additional agricultural land nearly twice the size of India

Greenhouse gas gap: need to reduce agricultural emissions by 70%
- by 2050 agricultural emissions likely to be 70% total allowable emissions for all sectors

122
Q

Why is bioenergy a false hope?

A
  • if the world’s entire harvest of crops / biomass were used it would only provide 20% of energy needed by 2050
123
Q

What is soil degradation ?

A
  • soil degraded from overgrazing, deforestation, agricultural activity (salinization , overfertilisation, runoff)
  • social consequences have a trickle up effect
124
Q

How can we reduce food demand?

A

Shift diets, reduce consumption
- we have enough goof
- amount of additional food needed to feed the world in 2050 could be halved!
- crickets!

125
Q

Why does the current definition of climate refugee fall short?

A

Does not recognize them as a legal refugee
- a limiting term, better definition is climate immigrants

126
Q

why is climate change viewed as a threat multiplier?

A

climate change effects interact with and have the potential to exacerbate pre-existing threats and other drivers of instability to contribute to security risks.

127
Q

which of the 3 graphs presented in Glen Lesins lecture shows best effects of climate change?

A
  • the mean global sea level
128
Q

What are some impacts of the sea level rising?

A
  • tides, sea level rise, storms, weather events
129
Q

What is the hydrological cycle?

A

One of the main factors that determines global surface temperature
- energy used to evaporate surface water
- cooler in forest because energy is evaporating moisture , desert all energy is put towards heat

130
Q

what is the relationship between energy and the earth’s heat content?

A

as energy increases so does heat

131
Q

are positive feedbacks or negative feedbacks ideal for our current situation?

A
  • negative feedback: IDEALLY, systems would remove energy as we add it to keep us in balance
  • positive feedback systems are adding to the problem, exacerbate one another
132
Q

Why might feedbacks be difficult to quantify?

A
  • it’s difficult to tell what it exacerbating what. Warming may be from albedo affect but can also be an impact of methane temperature.
133
Q

What is the carbon budget?

A
  • indicates how much time we have left, how much more carbon we can emit before it’s too late
134
Q

What are the 3 main factors of economic growth?

A

factors of production labour, capital, productivity

135
Q

What is the solution to consumerism?

A

Circular economy!!

136
Q

What are the two theories of the easterlin paradox?

A
  1. adaptation to changes
  2. comparison to peers (keeping up with the joneses_
    - eastern says that richer countries tend to be happier but don’t get happier, eventually happiness plateaus (at around 70,000) - due to comparison, raised standards, conspicuous consumption)
137
Q

The internal displacement monitoring centre says that the amount of people displaced is 41% higher in 2022 than in the last 10 years. Why might this be?

A
  • weather related disasters are increasing
138
Q

Describe the difference between climate change a as threat multiplier and a cascading effect

A

Threat multiplier: has to do with national security when it sows seed for conflict.
- climate change causes displacement and conflict which also causes displacement
-ex: Syrian drought amplifies political conflict = civil war

Cascading effect has more to do with earth systems. Every system is related, so if earth heats sea levels rise, ice melts, coral dies, etc.

139
Q

What is the difference between Canadian workers now and 20 years ago?

A

Less productivity due to lack of government investment in technology and growth incentives : no preparation for the work force, cannot compete with america

140
Q

Describe ‘cartels’ role in Canadian productivity

A
  • ex: monopoly of banks can price fix, design products and sell them, fix interest rates
  • entire economy of cartels: fixed prices ie: airlines, pipelines, banks, grocery stores,
  • result: lack of innovation in the business sector
141
Q

what is the order of business sectors in Canada

A

banking, mining, oil

142
Q

How long can interest rates be locked in Canada? the rest of the world?

A

5 years in Canada
30 years

143
Q

What are the primary reasons for low productivity in Canada?

A

1) Lack of government investment in government and private sector (tech and growth incentives)

2) lack of innovation in business sector : ‘economy of cartels’ = less innovation

144
Q

What is the best month to record arctic sea ice extent? What is this not taking into account?

A

September
- doesn’t account for ice thickness

145
Q
A

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