Unit 1 Flashcards
What is EVS?
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
What is a ecologist?
humans are part of the planets and systems where abuse of the system but overexploitation will backfire
What is cornucopias?
earth exists for humans’ benefits. It has endless resources and with human exploitation there is still enough resources.
What do EVS include?
- INPUTS (e.g. education, media, religious doctrines)
- OUTPUTS (e.g. environmental mediation)
- PROCESSING (e.g. political decisions)
- FEEDBACK LOOPS (e.g. scientific advice)
Preservationists
Their main goal is to preserve land and its resources untouched because land with its natural beauty and existence has intrinsic values for humans.
Conservationists
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).
Ecocentric
centered on the environment. They would view nature as having control over human society rather than the other way round.
Technocentric
centered on technology. trust in technological advances to solve environmental problems.
Anthropocentric
centered on humans. would include aspects of both ecocentrism and technocentrism and in their worldview.
Who makes environmental philosophy and decision making?
The decisions made by politicians may depend on their own philosophies and those of others that influence them
What is ecological footprint?
the impact of a person or community on the environment, expressed as the amount of land required to sustain their use of natural resources.
What is a system?
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)
What is a system?
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)
Model of a system
Energy or matter (INPUT) –> Transformation –> energy or matter out (OUTPUT) –> Feedback mechanism to control input and maintain equilibrium.
Open system
matter and energy exchanged to surroundings (lake)
Closed system
only energy exchanged to surroundings (sauce pan)
Isolated system
neither matter nor energy is exchanged to surroundings
Biome
An open ecosystem in a geographically defined area with similar climatic conditions throughout – eg, desert, grassland (savannah), tropical rainforest
Biosphere
A closed ecosystem – generally made up of a range of biomes (i.e. the entire Earth)
Transfer
Transfer:
Water moving from a river to the sea
Movement of materials through a living organism ( Carnivore eating other animals)
Transformation
Transformation:
Liquid to gas
light to chemical energy
Matter to matter (Soluble glucose to insoluble starch in plants)
Difference between matter and energy
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
Flows and storages
Energy and matter flow as inputs and outputs, Sometimes they are stored ( as storages or stock).
Equilibrium
Steady State equilibrium, Static Equilibrium, Unstable and stable equilibria
Feedback loops
Negative/ positive feedback
Law of thermodynamics (1)
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.
Law of thermodynamics (2)
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
Complexity and stability
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.
Equilibrium
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
Feedback loops (negative)
Negative: stabilizes steady state, returns to original state.
Ex: Your body’s reaction to change in its temperature.
Feedback loops (positive)
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
Resilience of systems
- 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.
What affects the ecosystems resilience?
- 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
Tipping points
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)
What is sustainability?
Living within the means of nature, on the sustainable natural income generated by natural capital.
Natural capital
term used for natural resources that can produce a sustainable natural income for goods and services.
Natural income
the yield obtained from natural resources.
Natural income
The yield obtained from natural resources.
