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Environmental Systems and Societies > Unit 1 > Flashcards

Unit 1 Flashcards

1
Q

What is a perspective?

A

The way in which an individual views and understands a particular situation.

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2
Q

What are perspectives influenced by?

A

Personal and collective assumptions, values and beliefs.

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3
Q

What are values?

A

Deeply held beliefs that focus on the things that certain people see as important or desirable in life.

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4
Q

What are worldviews?

A

The lenses shared by groups of people through which they perceive, make sense of and act within their environment.

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5
Q

How are worldviews shaped?

A

Through how societies see the world, and how people’s values and perspectives are shaped through culture, philosophy, religion, ideology and politics.

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6
Q

What is an environmental values system (EVS)?

A

A model showing the inputs affecting our perspectives and the outputs resulting from our perspectives.

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7
Q

What does an EVS consist of?

A

Inputs, outputs and storages.

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8
Q

What are some EVS inputs?

A

Education, worldviews, the media, economic factors, cultural influences, and religion.

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9
Q

What are some EVS outputs?

A

Judgements, choices and courses of action.

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10
Q

What are the three main environmental perspectives (worldviews)?

A

Ecocentrism, anthropocentrism and technocentrism.

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11
Q

What is an ecocentric perspective?

A

Putting ecology and nature as a central to humanity (nature-centred). Shows how important nature is.

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12
Q

What is an anthropocentric perspective?

A

The view that humans must sustainable manage the global system (people-centred). Could be through the use of taxes and laws.

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13
Q

What is a technocentric perspective?

A

The view that technological developments can provide solutions to environmental problems (technology-centred).

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14
Q

What are pressure groups and how do they impact the environments?

A

Pressure groups are a group of people who put pressure on governments to act sustainably, by making protests.

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15
Q

What is Greenpeace?

A

A NGO that mounted an anti-whaling campaign and developed into ‘Save the Whale’ campaign making news headlines.

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16
Q

What did Greta Thunberg do to help the environment?

A

Held many ‘school strikes’ to protect the climate.

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17
Q

What did Rachel Carson do to help the environment?

A

She was a marine scientists and made a book ‘Silent Spring’ to highlight the environmental hazards posed by pesticides.

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18
Q

What did Jane Goodall do to help the environment?

A

She was the first person to study chimpanzees in the wild, setting up a global community conservation organization that advances her vision.

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19
Q

What is a system?

A

An assemblage of parts and the relationships between them which create a whole.

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20
Q

What does a system show?

A

How components within the whole system relate to one another.

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21
Q

What are storages in a system?

A

A place where matter or energy is kept.

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22
Q

What are flows in a system?

A

Inputs and outputs of energy and matter between storages.

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23
Q

What are storages represented as in a systems diagram?

A

Rectangular boxes

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24
Q

What are flows represented as in a systems diagram?

A

Arrows going in the direction of the flow.

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25
Q

What two processes can flows be?

A

Transfers or transformations

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26
Q

What is a transfer?

A

A change in location

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27
Q

What is a transformation?

A

A change in the chemical nature, change in state or energy.

28
Q

What is an open system?

A

A system where both matter and energy are exchanged through the boundaries.

29
Q

What does organic mean in a system?

A

For an open system- the system must interact with their environment to take in energy and new matter to remove waste.

30
Q

What is a closed system?

A

A system where energy is exchanged across the boundaries but NOT matter.

31
Q

What is the Gaia Hypothesis?

A

A theory that states that all components of the Earth work together to form a ‘living organism’, which is the Earth.

32
Q

What is an ecosystem?

A

A community of interdependent organisms and the physical environment they inhabit.

33
Q

What is a biome?

A

Ecosystems with similar climactic conditions in different parts of the world.

34
Q

What is negative feedback?

A

Feedback that brings a system back to equilibrium, reducing the likelihood of a tipping point.

35
Q

What is an example of a negative feedback loop?

A

Burning of fossil fuels –> increased release of carbon dioxide –> enhanced plant growth.

36
Q

What is equilibrium?

A

A state of balance among the components of a system.

37
Q

What is positive feedback?

A

Feedback that brings a system away from equilibrium, towards a tipping point.

38
Q

What is an example of a positive feedback loop?

A

Increased temperature through global warming –> melting of ice in polar ice caps and glaciers –> decrease in albedo.

39
Q

What is albedo?

A

The white in north and South Pole that reflects heat from the Earth’s surface.

40
Q

What is a tipping point?

A

When even a small change can have dramatic effects and cause a large response in the system.

41
Q

What is a model?

A

A simplified version of reality.

42
Q

What are some strengths of models?

A

They allow scientists to simplify complex systems, used to predict things, inputs can be changed and outputs examined.

43
Q

What are some limitations of models?

A

It is nearly impossible to take all variables into account, may be too oversimplified (less accurate), data put into the model may be unreliable.

44
Q

What is a trophic level?

A

The position that an organism occupies in a food chain.

45
Q

What is resilience (in a system)?

A

The capacity to resist damage and recover from or adapt efficiently to disturbance.

46
Q

What is sustainability?

A

Using global resources at a rate that allows natural regeneration and minimizes damage to the environment.

47
Q

What is environmental sustainability?

A

Focusing on resource depletion, pollution and conserving biodiversity.

48
Q

What is pollution?

A

The contamination of the Earth

49
Q

What is biodiversity?

A

The variety of life on Earth

50
Q

What is social sustainability?

A

The survival of societies and their cultures

51
Q

What is economic sustainability?

A

The ability of the present generation to meet its needs without compromising those of future generations.

52
Q

What is Gross Domestic Product (GDP)?

A

A measure of national output.

53
Q

What is environmental justice?

A

The fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people with respect to the enforcement of environmental laws.

54
Q

What is an ecological footprint?

A

A focus on given population and its current rate of resource consumption and estimate the area of environment necessary to support that population.

55
Q

What is a carbon footprint?

A

The quantity of greenhouse gases produced by human activities

56
Q

What do greenhouse gases do?

A

Heat up the planet

57
Q

What is biocapacity?

A

The capacity of a given biologically productive area to generate an ongoing supply of renewable resources to absorb its resulting wastes.

58
Q

What is citizen science?

A

The involvement of the public in scientific research.

59
Q

What are the SDGs?

A

Sustainable development goals

60
Q

What do the SDGs do?

A

Provide a framework for sustainable development and address global challenges faced by humanity.

61
Q

What is the planetary boundaries model used for?

A

Identify science based limits to human disturbance of earth’s systems.

62
Q

What does the doughnut economics model do that the planetary boundaries model does not?

A

It also focuses on the social aspect

63
Q

What is the doughnut economics model?

A

A model that shows the planetary boundaries (ecological systems) as well as social foundation.

64
Q

What is the circular economy model?

A

Reusing materials to benefit the environment

65
Q
A

Environmental Systems and Societies (1 decks)

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