Unit 1 Foundations of ESS Flashcards
What is an Environmental Value System (EVS)?
EVS is a worldview or paradigm that shapes how individuals or groups perceive and evaluate environmental issues.
It’s influenced by education, experience, culture, and media, leading to consistent decisions and evaluations.
Philosophies are ecocentrism, anthropocentrism and technocentrism. (also cornucopians and deep ecologists as extreme parts of the spectrum)
Ecocentrism
perspective that recognizes the intrinsic value of all components of ecosystems, advocating for decisions that respect and maintain the balance of natural systems alongside human interests. BIORIGHTS
Anthropocentric
viewpoint that places humans at the center of consideration, valuing human life and interests above those of other species and the natural environment.
Categories of Environmental Value Systems
There are three general categories: Ecocentric (nature-centered), Anthropocentric (human-centered), and Technocentric (technology-based).
Technocentric
- technological developments
can provide solutions to environmental problems. - Scientific research is encouraged to understand how systems can be controlled, manipulated or changed to solve resource depletion.
- Economic growth is first on the
agenda. - Extreme technocentrists are called
cornucopians
Gulf of Mexico oil spill
Deepwater Horizon oil spill
- occurred on April 20, 2010.
- Location: Gulf of Mexico
- Explosion on the rig led to millions of barrels of oil.
- spill lasted for 87 days until it was capped on July 15, 2010.
- significant damage to marine and wildlife habitats, and the Gulf’s fishing and tourism industries.
- Led to new safety and environmental regulations for offshore drilling.
- Economic Impact affected thousands of Gulf Coast residents and businesses, leading to compensation and lawsuits.
- Raised global awareness about the risks of offshore drilling and the need for sustainable energy sources.
Earth Day
- Celebrated annually on April 22.
- Initiated by Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin, USA.
- raise public awareness about environmental issues such as pollution, deforestation, and endangered species.
- Engages more than 1 billion people in over 190 countries, making it the largest civic observance in the world.
- Includes planting trees, cleaning up litter, recycling programs, and educational events on environmental protection.
- Each year features a specific theme to address current environmental concerns.
- Has led to significant environmental policy changes and the passage of landmark environmental laws, such as the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and Endangered Species Act in the United States.
- has expanded to include digital campaigns to reach a wider audience and encourage global action.
- played a crucial role in uniting people from all walks of life in a shared commitment to protect the planet
What is a System?
A system is a set of interrelated parts working together to form a complex whole. It can be open, closed, or isolated.
Types of systems
- Open systems
EXCHANGE OF ENERGY with its surroundings: YES
EXCHANGE OF MATTER with its
surroundings: YES
- Living organism - Closed systems
EXCHANGE OF ENERGY with its surroundings: YES
EXCHANGE OF MATTER with its
surroundings: NO
- Water cycle - Isolated systems
EXCHANGE OF ENERGY with its surroundings: NO
EXCHANGE OF MATTER with its
surroundings: NO
- Universe?
Components of a system
- storages (box)
- flows (arrows), inputs (in) and outputs (out)
- foundries (lines)
- processes
What is energy?
The ability to do work
First law of thermodynamics
Energy is not created or destroyed it is transformed
Second law of thermodynamics
The entropy of a system increases overtime
Ecological Footprint
model (and an indicator) used to estimates the demands that human populations place on the environment.
Area of land and water required to sustainably provide all resources at the rate at which they are being consumed by a given population.
If greater than the area available to the population, this is an indication of unsustainability.
1.Carbon uptake
2.Grazing land
3.Forest
4.Fishing grounds
5.Cropland
6.Built-up land
Transfers
when energy or matter flows and changes location but does not change its state.
Transformations
when energy or matter flows and changes its state.
Models of systems
simplified version of reality and can be
used to understand how a system works and to predict how it will respond to change.
Models evaluation
Strengths
- simplify context to predict what will happen if changes
- no waiting long time
- allow results to be shown to the public
Limitations
- impossible to take all variables into account
- different models, show different effects using the same data
- complex models are oversimplified, loss of accuracy
Equilibrium
tendency of a system to return
to an original state following disturbance.
Static equilibrium
type of equilibrium in which there are no
changes over time because there are no inputs to and outputs from the system
Steady state equilibrium
characteristic of open systems where the
are continuos inputs and outputs of energy and matter, but the system as a whole remains in a more-or-less constant state
Stable and unstable equilibria
stable equilibrium: state in which a system that is disturbed returns to its former position
unstable equilibrium: state of equilibrium in which a small disturbance produces a large change a a new and different equilibrium
Positive feedbacks
- change a system to a new state away from equilibrium
- destabilizing as they increase change
Feedback systems
Natural systems are able to regulate themselves through feedback systems,
Negative feedbacks
- stabilize the system
- eliminate any deviation from the original state (preferred conditions)
Example of a negative feedback
A thermostat in a central heating system is a device that can sense the temperature. It switches a heating system on when the
temperature decreases to a predetermined level, and off when it rises to another warmer temperature. So a room or a building can be maintained within narrow limits of temperature
Examples of positive feedbacks
Lost on a high snowy mountain. When your body senses that is cooling below 37 degrees, various mechanisms such as shivering help to raise your body core temperature again. But if these are insufficient to restore normal body temperature, your metabolic processes start to slow down, because the enzymes that control them do not work so well at lower temperatures. As a result you become lethargic and sleepy and move around less and less, allowing your body to cool even further. Unless you are rescued at this point, your body will reach a new equilibrium: you will die of hypothermia.
PERMAFROST
ground that remains completely frozen for at least two years straight.
Albedo
measure of how much light that hits a surface is reflected without being absorbed
white reflects most of the light that hits it and has a high albedo
dark absorbs most of the light that hits it, indicating a low albedo.
Resilience
ability of a system to return to its initial state after a disturbance
tipping point
critical threshold when even a small change can have dramatic effects and cause a disproportionately large response in the overall system.
Examples of tipping points
- Lake eutrophication
- Extinction of a keystone species
- Coral reef death
Sustainability
use and management of resources that allows full natural replacement of the resources exploited and full recovery of the ecosystems affected by their extraction and use.
How can we measure sustainability?
ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT (EF)
Ecological Footprint
model (and an indicator) used to estimate
the demands that human populations place on the environment.
area of land and water required to sustainably provide all resources at the rate at which they are being consumed by a
given population.
If the EF is greater than the area available to the population, this is an indication of un sustainability.
measured in global hectares
Factor the EF considers
- Carbon uptake: amount of forest land that could sequester C02 emissions from the burning of fossil fuels
- Grazing land: The amount of grazing land used to raise livestock for meat, dairy and wool products.
- Forest: amount of forest required to supply wood products
- Fishing ground: estimated primary production required to support the fish and seafood caught.
- Cropland: amount of land used to grow crops for food an fibre for human consumption as well as for animal feed
- Built-up land: The amount of land covered by human infrastructure, including transportation, housing and industrial structures.
Bio capacity
ecosystems’ capacity to produce biological materials used by people and to absorb waste material generated by humans,
under current management schemes and extraction technologies.
Biocapacity reserve
When biocapacity is larger than the ecological footprint,
Biocapacity deficit
When biocapacity is smaller than ecological footprint
Earth Overshoot Day
marks date when humanity’s demand for ecological resources and services in a given year exceeds what Earth can regenerate in that year.
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)
report prepared before any development
project, for example to convert a forest into a golf course or to build a new wind farm.
Seven Key steps of EIA process
- Screening: is an EIA required? What level of detail is required?
- Scoping: Baseline study? How are things
now? - Impact analysis: environmental, social and economic impacts of the project
- Impact management and mitigation
strategies - The EIA report
- Decision: Yes? No?
- Monitoring
Weaknesses of EIAs
- no clear definition of the system boundaries
- different countries have different standards, difficult to make comparisons
- corruption can undermine the original purpose of EIAs
- often treated as a separate process and not integrated into the project cycle
- lack of monitoring and inconsistent application of established mitigation strategies
- Most EIAs do not include indirect impacts, that are more difficult to identify
What is pollution?
introduction of substances or energy into the environment, resulting in
harmful effects to human health, living resources and ecosystems.
Forms of pollution
- organic/inorganic substances
- Light
- Sound
- heat energy
- biological agents
- invasive species
biological agents
organisms introduced to control agricultural pests which may become pests themselves
Major sources of pollutants
- Combustion of fossil fuels
- Domestic waste
- Industrial waste
- Agricultural waste
Point source pollution
easy to identify, comes from a single place
Nonpoint-source pollution
harder to identify and harder to address, pollution that comes from many places
Persistent organic pollutants (POP) and
biodegradable pollutants
POPs are resistant to breaking down and remain active in the environment for a long time.
- they bioaccumulate in
animal and human tissues
- biomagnify in food chains, causing significant harm.
Example is DDT, an insecticide used to kill malaria mosquito
Discuss example of POP
DDT
- Discovery: Synthesized in 1874; insecticidal properties discovered in 1939 by Paul Hermann Müller, who won a Nobel Prize in 1948.
- WWII Use: Deployed extensively during WWII to control malaria and typhus among troops and civilians.
- Agricultural Use: Widely used post-WWII for agricultural pest control.
- Effectiveness: Highly effective at killing a broad range of insects.
- Persistence: Remains in the environment for months to years, with a variable half-life.
- Bioaccumulation: Accumulates in fatty tissues, leading to biomagnification and affecting wildlife, especially birds.
- Human Health Risks: Associated with potential cancer, reproductive, and developmental issues.
- “Silent Spring”: Rachel Carson’s 1962 book raised awareness of DDT’s environmental impacts, leading to public backlash.
- Ban: Banned in the U.S. in 1972 by the EPA, with many countries following suit, though some use it for malaria control.
- Current Use: Restricted to vector control under the Stockholm Convention; remains subject to debate over its benefits and risks.
Biodegradable pollutants
- not persist in the environment and break
down quickly - may be broken down by decomposer organisms or physical processes (light, heat).
Primary pollutants
pollutants emitted directly from a process.
Secondary pollutants
Pollutants that undergo a variety of reactions
with other chemicals already present in the atmosphere.
Erosion
The process by which natural forces move soil, rock, and other surface materials from one location to another.
