Topic 1 - Foundations of Environmental Systems & Societies

Question 1

environmental worldview

Answer 1

set of paradigms or patterns that shape humans and their relationship with the earth

Question 2

environmental value system

Answer 2

worldviews or paradigm that shapes way people perceive and evaluate environmental issues, influenced by cultural, religious, economic, and socio-political contexts

input: experiences, culture, and the “environment” you grow up in
output: decisions and evaluations

Question 3

What are the components of a system?

Answer 3

There are inputs, processes, and outputs. In an EVS, the input would be the influence, the process would be the EVS itself, and the output would be the decisions made by the individual(s)

Question 4

intrinsic value

Answer 4

importance simply by its existence

Question 5

preservationists

Answer 5

preservation of land and its resources, untouched condition

Question 6

conservationists

Answer 6

conserving land not for intrinsic value but for instrumental value of goods and services

Question 7

What are some impacts of human activity?

Answer 7

• extinct and endangered species
• coral reef bleaching
• impact of synthetic chemicals like DDT
• deforestation
• overfishing
• climate change
• chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) and their impact on the ozone layer
• sea ice melting
• environmental disasters

Question 8

Why was the Chernobyl Catastrophe important?

Answer 8

Occurring on April 26, 1986, the Chernobyl Catastrophe and its consequences sparked movements and development all across the world. There were creation of funds and development programmes, as well as changes in approach to industrial safety standards. There were also increased regulatory procedures for nuclear power.

Question 9

What is the CITES?

Answer 9

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species

Question 10

What is the IPCC?

Answer 10

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

Question 11

What is a system?

Answer 11

Complex set of parts and their interconnections

Question 12

What are some factors that affect our opinions (the input)?

Answer 12

culture, friends, family, religion, education, media, political parties, and personality

Question 13

What is cost-benefit analysis?

Answer 13

Balancing relative costs and benefits (the process)

Question 14

instrumental value

Answer 14

value because it is a means to an end; it doesn’t have value simply for existing

Question 15

What is an ecocentric environmental value system?

Answer 15

There is intrinsic value to natural resources and natural systems, and there should be prioritization towards biorights and the promotion of environment-related education.

Question 16

What are some important aspects of an ecocentric EVS?

Answer 16

• humans are a part of nature and work with nature
• there should be a self-imposed restraint on resources
• less materialistic
• prioritize biorights and emphasize education
• human needs are secondary to those of the Earth as the sum of its ecosystems
• destruction of environment is unethical in a deeper way than lost natural capital and depleted ecosystem services
• one can play a part through activism

Question 17

deep ecologist

Answer 17

extreme EVS, ecocentric who believes nature should be left alone

Question 18

self-reliance soft ecologists

Answer 18

In between ecocentric and anthropocentric, believes there is room for development while still protecting the environment

Question 19

biorights

Answer 19

(something) should remain unharmed

Question 20

What is an anthropocentric environmental value system?

Answer 20

A human-centered EVS which believes nature is there because we can use all natural resources for our own benefit; can manage this through taxes, environmental regulation, and legislation

Question 21

What are some important aspects of an anthropocentric EVS?

Answer 21

• humans are environmental managers that should work to balance environmental conservation with the needs of people
• economic growth and resource exploitation is acceptable as long as it is properly regulated
• there is a need for population control and better resource management
• governments tend to control anthropocentric societies
• we regulate the environment for our own benefit
• even benefitting human spirit is anthropocentric
• obligations towards the environment are justified by obligation towards humans
• Wesley J. Smith: human exceptionalism (we’re so special!) justifies why we have responsibility to take care of the environment

Question 22

What is a technocentric environmental value system?

Answer 22

An EVS where people have absolute faith in technology and industry, and believe nature can be completely replaced with technology if necessary

Question 23

What are some important aspects of a technocentric EVS?

Answer 23

• they see environmental issues as opportunities for science and technology to advance
• they believe technology will keep pace with environmental issues and provide solutions
• they believe natural resources have no intrinsic value other than benefiting humans
• policymaking is usually made by experts because there is a large emphasis on development and scientific analysis
• they believe we can overcome obstacles and that all global problems can be solved with technology
• way forward for developed and developing countries lies in scientific and technological advancements

Question 24

What is fracking?

Answer 24

One type of developing technology that made previously inaccessible oil or gas accessible

Question 25

cornucopians

Answer 25

(technocentric) an extreme EVS believing development should be carried on because technology will solve arising environmental or economic problems
- natural resources unlimited
- deny population will exceed carrying capacity of Earth

Question 26

environmental managers

Answer 26

an anthropocentric EVS with some technocentric aspects, which believes natural resources and human population should be managed

Question 27

What is a historical influence?

Answer 27

Anything that impacts environmental movements

• media, disasters, literature, agreements, etc.
• Rachel Carson and “The Silent Spring”
• Chernobyl, Bhopal, and Fukushima disasters

Question 28

What are some examples of worldviews and how they view nature?

Answer 28

Buddhists: plants and animals all dependent on each other, humans aren’t any more important
Judaeo-Christian: mastery over Earth
Islam: Earth is a gift, humans are not masters
Native American: organisms have spirituality

Question 29

What is a systems approach?

Answer 29

Focus on interactions, and helps us study complex environmental systems

• provides holistic view without reducing issues to simple processes
• interactions produce emergent properties of the system (the whole can do things the individual cannot) (zoom in zoom out)

Question 29

1st rule of ecology

Answer 29

everything is linked to everything else

Question 30

What are storages and flows of a system?

Answer 30

Flows are how storage moves from one place to another, the storages represented by square/boxes and flows as arrows

Question 31

What is the difference between transformative and transfer flows? (flows provide inputs and outputs of energy and matter)

Answer 31

transformation: transformation of state of matter (glucose to mechanical and thermal energy)
transfer: change in location of matter (migration and precipitation)

Question 32

What is the only way ecosystems get energy?

Answer 32

solar

Question 33

open system

Answer 33

exchanges both energy and matter across boundary (ecosystems)

Question 34

closed system

Answer 34

exchange only energy across boundary

Question 35

isolated system

Answer 35

hypothetically no energy or matter exchanged (doesn’t exist)

- universe