Sustainability Flashcards
Explain the tragedy of the commons
- No individual has incentive to maintain the long-run viability of shared resources
- Try to conserve others take what they can
Explain what is happening with Ogallala aquafer and why this is a good example of the tragedy of the commons.
Tragedy of commons
• No individual has incentive to maintain the long-run viability of shared resources
• Try to conserve others take what they can
American dust bowl is now American bread basket due to irrigation using ‘fossil’ water from the Ogallala aquifer. Water being extracted at 100 times natural rate reducing water table. Discuss this in light of tragedy of the commons defined above.
Explain what is happens with North Atlantic (Newfoundland) cod stocks and why this is a good example of the tragedy of the commons.
Tragedy of commons
• No individual has incentive to maintain the long-run viability of shared resources
• Try to conserve others take what they can
- Cod stocks almost wiped out and Cod fishing banned in 1990’s
- Factory trawlers cleared seas of cod.
- Small fish increased eating baby cod and zooplankton on which they feed.
- Phytoplankton increased reducing oxygen levels.
- Loss of predator triggered unpredicted changes in biodiversity
- Government ignored scientific advice to reduce quotas and continued to heavily subsidise the wages of fishermen
- 20+ years on situation reversing but only at 10% 1980 level
Discuss this in light of tragedy of the commons defined above
What are the three pillars of sustainability (otherwise known as the triple bottom line)
- Profit - Create economic value
- People – Fair business practices
- Planet – Sustainable practices and reduction of environmental impact
According to Goodall, what are the first and second criteria for sustainability
- Our use of materials, fuels and products of the soil must not reduce the resources available to future generations if this constrains their standard of living below ours
- Must avoid pollution and/or degradation that makes it more difficult for future generations to match our material prosperity, health or pleasure in our physical surroundings
We will eventually run out of the estimated five trillion tonnes of fossil fuels but not in the near future. Whilst debatable this perhaps meets the first criterion for sustainability, not depleting resources excessively. However, fuel usage breaks the second criterion for sustainability. Define the second criterion for sustainability and explain why the burning of fossil fuels is likely to breach this criterion.
• Must avoid pollution and/or degradation that makes it more difficult for future generations to match our material prosperity, health or pleasure in our physical surroundings
The burning of fossil fuel is a source of CO2 a greenhouse gas which threatens to degrade the environment through its impact on global warming.
What proportion of the estimated 5 trillion tonnes of fossil fuels can we burn without causing the temperature of the climate to rise above 2 degrees C.
We can burn 20% and we have already burned 10%
Approximately what is the worlds need for Iron per person
Approximately what is the worlds need for Iron per person
Define ‘absolute’ and ‘relative’ decoupling in terms of the impact of economic development on Sustainability.
- Relative Decoupling -Use of resources will grow at just below GDP
- Absolute Decoupling - Use of resources is flat or negatively correlated to GDP
The united kingdom’s total material requirements were no higher in 2009 than in 1970. What are the reasons driving the apparent decoupling of the UK economy
- ‘Dematerialised’ virtual goods such as online music and streaming DVD
- Visits museums and galleries.
- Historically, we were more likely to eat more, drive bigger cars and live in bigger houses.
- Recession may be making things seem better
- UK citizens are travelling less and using less water
- Waste being collected is falling as the portion sent for recycling is increasing rapidly
- Open to digital technology
Name the nine planetary boundaries developed by the Stockholm resilience institute
- Biodiversity/Rate of extinction
- Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere
- Amount of Nitrogen and fertilisers used
- % of worlds surface used for crops
- Amount of fresh water extracted from rivers
- Levels of toxic chemicals in water, land and air
- Soot and particulates in the atmosphere
- Changes in oceanic acidity
- Density of ozone
Even allowing for increased prosperity of developing countries and population rise to 10 billion people it can still be concluded that if we eat only grain we will have twice as much land as needed in 2050. List four reasons why this might not be the case.
- Population may grow at a faster than expected rate
- We don’t eat just one thing and agricultural yields for other crops can be much lower
- A vast amount of food is diverted to animals to produce meat which is a very inefficient process
- Increasingly food being converted into biofuels.
Why might ‘organic’ food not be sustainable?
Not sustainable in a world where pressure on land acreage is rising as yields are lower
Match the following primary sources of energy Sun Fossil fuels, Moon and Radioactive decay up with the secondary source of energy that is derived from each out of the following list Wind, Gas, Tidal and Geothermal.
- Sun - Wind, wave, hydro and photochemical processes
- Fossil fuels – Coal, Gas, Oil ultimately from the sun
- Moon - Tidal
- Radioactive Decay -Geothermal energy, Nuclear power
List six challenges associated with adoption of electric cars
- Cars cost more than traditional cars to buy (Batteries expensive / Low volumes of cars produced)
- Limited range 100miles
- Charging infrastructure
- Image problem
- Dirty power plants
- Limited battery life
