Unit 1 - Foundations of Environmental Systems and Societies

Environmental value systems

An environmental value system is a worldview or paradigm that shapes the way an individual, or group of people, perceives and evaluates environmental issues

ecocentrics, anthropocentrics, technocentrics

• puts ecology and nature as central to humanity

• life-centered, respects the rights of nature and dependence of humans on nature

• less materialistic approach to life

• self-restraint

• self sufficiency in human societies

deep ecologists, self reliant soft ecologists

• believes humans must sustainably manage the global system (through use of taxes, environmental regulation)

• human centered - humans are not dependent on nature but nature is there to benifit human kind

• believes that technological developments can provide solutions to environmental problems

technocentrics, cornucopians

• believe world has infinite resources

• through technology humans can solve any environmental problems + improve living standards

• free market economy

• believe humans have ethical duty to protect the earth

• believe that governments need to protect environment, and make sustainable economies

• put more value on nature than humanity

• believe in biorights - all societies and ecosystems have an inherent value and humans have no right to interfere

ecocentric

anthropocentric and technocentric

closed system, open system, isolated system

exchanges matter and energy with its surroundings

exchanges energy but not matter, do not occur naturally on earth, however earth is a closed system

does not exchange matter or energy, no such systems exist, however cosmos could be an isolated system

atmosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere, ecosphere

• storages (of matter or enegry)

• flows (into, through and out of the system)

• inputs

• outputs

• boundaries

• processes

when the flow of energy or matter flows and changes location but not its state

when energy or matter flows and changes its state

• chemical to mechanical

• radiant to chemical

• electrical to thermal

representation of a complex process, used to understand how a system works and to make predictions

• easier to work with

• can be used to predict the effect of a change of input

• can be applied to other situations

• patterns

• visualization of smaller/larger things

• accuracy is lost due to simplification

• if assumptions are wrong, model will be wrong

• predictions may be inaccurate

environment, social and economic overlap

• standard of living

• education

• community

• equal opportunity

• natural resource use

• environmental management

• pollution prevention

• profit cost savings

• economic growth

• R and D

• business ethics

• fair trade

• workers rights

• environmental justice

• natural resources stwardship

• local and global

• energy efficiency

• subsidies/incentives for use of natural resources

the laws of thermodynamics

energy is neither created nor destroyed, therefore energy is constant (in any type of system), and can only be altered in form (through transfers and transformations)

entropy of a system will tend to increase over time

spreading out or dispersal of energy

• steady state equilibrium

• static equilibrium

defined as useful energy

• efficiency = energy produced / energy consumed x 100%

• efficiency = useful output / input x 100%

the tendency for a system to return to an original state following a disturbance

• applies to open systems

• more or less constant

• no long term changes

• system will return to its previous state

• continuous inputs and outputs of energy and matter

• no change over time

• stable

• when disturbed, creates new equilibrium

• non living systems

• returns system to its original state

• same state of equilibrium

• stabilising as they reduce change

• changes system to a new state

• new state of equilibrium

• destabilizing as they increase change

tends to return to the same equilibrium after a disturbance

system returns to a new equilibrium after disturbance

measures how a system responds to a disturbance

the more disturbance the system can deal with, keep the same state

the less disturbance the system can deal with, will enter a new state

• more complex system, more resilience, as there are more interactions between species

• the greater the species the greater the chance that a species can replace another if one dies out

• the greater the genetic diversity within species, the greater the resilience

• species that can shift geographical ranges are more resilient

• the larger the ecosystem the more resilience

• climate affects resilience

• faster reproduction means faster recovery

the minimum amount of change within a system that will destabalize it, causing it to reach a new state

• involve positive feedback

• threshold point cannot be precisely predicted

• the changes are long lasting

• the changes are hard to reverse

• there is a time difference between the pressures driving the change and appearance of impacts

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

goods and services provided by nature

yield obtained from the use of natural resources

resources that are able to replace themselves by growing

between renewable and non-renewable resources

resources that are finite, once consumed not replaced

• economic

• ecological

• scientific/technological

• Intrinsic value (cultural or spiritual)

max amount of harvest that can be extracted from a renewable resource without negatively impacting the reference population size in the future

annual gain in biomass or energy through growth and recruitment (without depletion of natural stock)

• total biomass / energy (at time t+1)

• total biomass / energy (at time t)

• annual growth and recruitment - annual death and emmigration

Report that presents advantages and disadvantages of development projects, including biotic and abiotic elements

• Resource conservation

• Waste minimization

• Recovery of by-product

• Efficient use of equipment

• Sustainable development

The hypothetical area of land required to fulfill all the resource needs and assimilate all wastes

per capita food consumption (kg yr^-1) / mean food production per hectare (kg ha^-1 yr^-1)

per capita CO2 emmision (kg C yr^-1) / net carbon fixation per hectare (kg C ha^-1 yr^-1)

Presence or introduction of contaminants (by human activity) in which the environment is harmed and affects the health of organisms within environment

• matter

• energy

Particulate matter

the number of micrograms per cubic meter of particles (with particular diameters)

• PM 10

• PM 2.5

10 micrometers or less (in diameter)

2.5 micrometers or less (in diameter)

• suspended particulate matter (SPM)

• Respirable suspended matter (PM10)

• Fine particles (PM2.5)

Smoke, dirt, dust

Heavy metals

group of metals and metalloids that have relatively high density and are toxic

Erosion of rock and soil, blown by wind

• Driving cars

• Burning

• Smelting and processing metals

anthropogenic pollution

• combustion of fossil fuels

• domestic waste

• Industrial waste

• Agricultural waste

• Carbon Dioxide

• Carbon Monoxide

• Nitrogen Oxide

• Sulfur Oxide

• Ozone

• human health

• climate change

• acid deposition

refers to the byproducts generated from industrial processes

• Accumulation of heavy metals

• Dissolution of heavy metals

• Disposal of harmful waste materials

• soil, water contamination

waste produced by households

• Habitat loss

• Deforestation

• Euthrophication

refers to the byproducts generated from farming and agricultural activities

• Eutrophication

• Accumulation of pesticides

Eutrophication refers to an increase in nutrient levels (nitrogen and phosphorus) in water bodies

release of pollutants from single identifiable source

release of pollutants from numerous origins

is a POP

persisting organic pollutant

the buildup of persistent or non-biodegradable pollutants within an organism or trophic level because they cannot be broken down

the tendency of pollutants to concentrate as they move from one trophic level to the next

when an organism absorbs a substance faster than it can be lost or eliminated by catabolism and excretion

active on emission from the incomplete combustion of fossil fuels

carbon monoxide