Unit 1

Question 1

What is EVS?

Answer 1

A set of paradigms which shapes the way individuals or societies perceive and evaluate environmental issues
This is affected by:
Cultural concerns
Religious concerns
Economic issues
Whether a society belongs to an MEDC or an LEDC

Question 2

What is a ecologist?

Answer 2

humans are part of the planets and systems where abuse of the system but overexploitation will backfire

Question 3

What is cornucopias?

Answer 3

earth exists for humans’ benefits. It has endless resources and with human exploitation there is still enough resources.

Question 4

What do EVS include?

Answer 4

• INPUTS (e.g. education, media, religious doctrines)
• OUTPUTS (e.g. environmental mediation)
• PROCESSING (e.g. political decisions)
• FEEDBACK LOOPS (e.g. scientific advice)

Question 5

Preservationists

Answer 5

Their main goal is to preserve land and its resources untouched because land with its natural beauty and existence has intrinsic values for humans.

Question 6

Conservationists

Answer 6

This movement was concerned mainly by the protection of different animals species from extinction, and impacts resulted from the industrial revolution (water and air pollution).

Question 7

Ecocentric

Answer 7

centered on the environment. They would view nature as having control over human society rather than the other way round.

Question 8

Technocentric

Answer 8

centered on technology. trust in technological advances to solve environmental problems.

Question 9

Anthropocentric

Answer 9

centered on humans. would include aspects of both ecocentrism and technocentrism and in their worldview.

Question 10

Who makes environmental philosophy and decision making?

Answer 10

The decisions made by politicians may depend on their own philosophies and those of others that influence them

Question 11

What is ecological footprint?

Answer 11

the impact of a person or community on the environment, expressed as the amount of land required to sustain their use of natural resources.

Question 12

What is a system?

Answer 12

A system consists of:
is a set of interrelated parts and the connection between them that unites them to form a complex whole and produces emergent properties.
Storages
Flows (inputs and outputs) (of energy or matter)
Processes (transfer or transformation)
Feedback mechanisms (to maintain stability)

Question 13

What is a system?

Answer 13

A system consists of:
is a set of interrelated parts and the connection between them that unites them to form a complex whole and produces emergent properties.
Storages
Flows (inputs and outputs) (of energy or matter)
Processes (transfer or transformation)
Feedback mechanisms (to maintain stability)

Question 14

Model of a system

Answer 14

Energy or matter (INPUT) –> Transformation –> energy or matter out (OUTPUT) –> Feedback mechanism to control input and maintain equilibrium.

Question 15

Open system

Answer 15

matter and energy exchanged to surroundings (lake)

Question 16

Closed system

Answer 16

only energy exchanged to surroundings (sauce pan)

Question 17

Isolated system

Answer 17

neither matter nor energy is exchanged to surroundings

Question 18

Biome

Answer 18

An open ecosystem in a geographically defined area with similar climatic conditions throughout – eg, desert, grassland (savannah), tropical rainforest

Question 19

Biosphere

Answer 19

A closed ecosystem – generally made up of a range of biomes (i.e. the entire Earth)

Question 20

Transfer

Answer 20

Transfer:
Water moving from a river to the sea
Movement of materials through a living organism ( Carnivore eating other animals)

Question 21

Transformation

Answer 21

Transformation:
Liquid to gas
light to chemical energy
Matter to matter (Soluble glucose to insoluble starch in plants)

Question 22

Difference between matter and energy

Answer 22

Matteris the “stuff” of the universe — the atoms, molecules and ions that make up all physical substances.Matteris anything that has mass and takes up space.Energyis the capacity to cause change. … Kineticenergycan be converted into other forms ofenergy, such as electricalenergyand thermalenergy

Question 23

Flows and storages

Answer 23

Energy and matter flow as inputs and outputs, Sometimes they are stored ( as storages or stock).

Question 24

Equilibrium

Answer 24

Steady State equilibrium, Static Equilibrium, Unstable and stable equilibria

Question 25

Feedback loops

Answer 25

Negative/ positive feedback

Question 26

Law of thermodynamics (1)

Answer 26

First law of thermodynamics: Energy is neither created nor destroyed.
The Law is often called principle of conservation of energy
Energy in the universe is constant.

Question 27

Law of thermodynamics (2)

Answer 27

Entropy in an isolated system not in equilibrium will tend to increase over time
What is entropy?
It is the measure of disorder of a system and it refers to the spreading out or dispersal of energy

Low entropy = more order
High entropy = less order
Energy conversions are never 100% efficient
When energy is used to do work, part of the energy is lost as heat

Question 28

Complexity and stability

Answer 28

Ecosystems are complex ( inputs, storages, processes, outputs, feedback loops)
The more complex the system is the more stable it is.
Monoculture (farming one crop) is vulnerable to fail due to a disease.

Question 29

Equilibrium

Answer 29

Tendency of system to return to it’s original state following a disturbance
1) Dynamic (Steady-state) equilibrium:
-A water tank, filled and emptied at the same rate
-Stable population size, constant births and deaths
-When maintaining constant body weight; constant food intake and burned calories
2) Static Equilibrium
No change over time
Mass of weathered rocks fragments piled up against a cliff

Question 30

Feedback loops (negative)

Answer 30

Negative: stabilizes steady state, returns to original state.
Ex: Your body’s reaction to change in its temperature.

Question 31

Feedback loops (positive)

Answer 31

Positive: changes a system to a new state, increases in change.
Ex: Global temperatures rising –> ice caps melt –> exposed dark soil absorbs more radiation –> global temperature rises

Question 32

Resilience of systems

Answer 32

• A measure of how a system responds to a disturbance.
• The more resilient the system, the more stable it is.
• It is the ability to return to original state after a disturbance.

Question 33

What affects the ecosystems resilience?

Answer 33

• The greater the biodiversity of a system the more it is resilient and able to maintain equilibrium.
• The greater the genetic diversity within a species the greater the resilience.
• Climate affects resilience: compare growth of plants in the arctic and in the amazon forest?
• The faster the reproduction rate the faster the recovery.
• Human interventions: removing an invasive species

Question 34

Tipping points

Answer 34

A tipping point is reached when an ecosystem experiences a shift to a new state, due to significant change.
Ex: Coral (before pollution and after)

Question 35

What is sustainability?

Answer 35

Living within the means of nature, on the sustainable natural income generated by natural capital.

Question 36

Natural capital

Answer 36

term used for natural resources that can produce a sustainable natural income for goods and services.

Question 37

Natural income

Answer 37

the yield obtained from natural resources.

Question 38

Natural income

Answer 38

The yield obtained from natural resources.