Studied by 26 people
Environmental Value System
A particular worldview that shapes the way an individual or group of people perceives and evaluates environmental issues. It is influenced by culture, economics, religion, and socio-political contexts.
Tipping Point
A critical threshold when a small change to a system leads to dramatic effects and a disproportionally larger change in their system.
An ecosystem that has enough change leading to a new state in which there are significant changes to biodiversity due to positive feedback.
Resilience
Ability to withstand a change
What would make ecosystems more resilient?
Higher biodiversity
Greater genetic diversity within individual species
Species with larger geographical range
Larger ecosystem
Steady climate
High species reproduction rate
Human involvement
Negative Feedback
Process which reverses a change
Stabilises steady-state equilibria
Positive Feedback
Process which increases a change
amplifies changes —> driving to tipping point —> destabilising
Properties of Tipping Point
Positive feedback: Process which increases a change (bad) --> self-perpetuating
Negative feedback: Process which reverses a change (good)
e.g. Antarctica reflects, sea absorbs (melting ice caps)
Fast shifts of ecological states occur (extreme weather events)
Cannot precisely predict threshold point
Long lasting changes
Hard to reverse changes
Significant time-lag between pressures driving change and impacts appearing (make it hard to manage and prevent)
State the what Silent Spring by Rachel Carson talked about and its influences.
Raised awareness of the threat of the bioaccumulation of pesticide DDT to organisms higher up food chains.
With JFK’s evidence, DDT was banned in the US and other countries.
Inspired people to be more environmentally active
BUT may have caused more harm than good due to malaria!
State what Chernobyl is and its influences
1986 accident due to flawed soviet-era reactor design which caused huge amounts of radiation.
Hundreds of people suffer from illnesses due to living on contaminated land (cancer)
Biodiversity suffered negative impacts, however some has adapted and became a unique sanctuary for wildlife (no industrial activities
Reinforced negative perceptions of nuclear power in society.
Made people question the safety of nuclear power
Countries shut down nuclear power reactors and used safer energy resources
State what the Inconvenient Truth is and its influences.
A documentary that talked about the effects of global warming.
Publicised global warming
Mainstream political figure (former US Vice President) championed environmental issues for the first time
Changed people’s attitudes and raised awareness about climate change
Ecosystem
A community and the physical environment with which it interacts
Social system
People, groups and institutions that work together, forming distinct patterns and relationships that define the society.
Explain Ecocentrism
nature-centred EVS
Sees nature as having an inherent value
“Humans are dependent on nature”
Aims for sustainability for the whole Earth
“Nature is the most important thing
Explain Anthropocentrism
people-centred EVS
Everyone in society should participate in environmental decision making
People act as the managers of sustainable global systems
taxes, regulations, legislations
Educate people about environmental issues
Debate to reach a consensual pragmatic approach to solving environmental problems
What is the middle EVS
Self-reliant, soft ecologists
more conservative about environmental problem solving than deep ecologists
Believe that materialism for its own sake is wrong
No faith in technology
Environmental managers
believe that economic growth and resource exploitation can continue only if it is managed
laws and regulations can manage natural resources
preserving biodiversity can have economic ecological advantages
Explain Technocentrics
technology-centred EVS
sees technology as providing solutions to environmental problems even when human effects are pushing natural systems beyond their normal boundaries
“We can use technology to benefit nature”
Emphasis should be on scientific research, economic growth
Intrinsic value
A characteristic of a natural system that has an inherent worth, irrespective of economic considerations
the belief that all life on Earth has a right to exist
System
A set of interrelated parts working together to make a complex whole
a way of visualising complex sets of interactions
Environment
a series of complex system which interacts and transfers energy and materials
State the components of a system
Storages, flows, inputs, outputs, boundaries, and processes
Transfers
processes that involve a change in location within the system but no change in state
e.g. water flowing from groundwater to river
Transformation
lead to the formation of new products
e.g. photosynthesis converting sunlight to glucose
Models
A simplified version of a system
used to understand how a system works and predict how it will respond to change
Open system
A system that can exchange both energy and matter across a system boundary
e.g. rainforest, any ecosystem
Closed system
A system that can only exchange energy and not matter across a system boundary
e.g. the Earth
Isolated system
A system that does not exchange either matter or energy with its surroundings
Gaia Theory
a model of earth that argues that Earth is a living organism which regulates itself through negative feedback
3 Evidence of Gaia theory
Constant temperature of Earth despite the sun giving 30% more energy
Composition of atmosphere is stable even when oxygen should go down (attach to rocks more)
Ocean salinity is 3.4% entering via rivers should increase
Entropy
A measure of the amount of disorder, chaos, or randomness in a system
Greater disorder, higher the entropy
First Law of thermodynamics
Energy cannot be created or destroyed but only transferred from one form to another
Second Law of thermodynamics
Entropy of a system not in equilibria will increase over time
Equilibrium
A state of balance among the components of a system
Steady-state equilibrium
condition of an open system in which there are no changes over the longer term but may be oscillating in the very short term
Stable equilibrium (equilibria)
Tendency in a system for it to return to the original equilibrium after the disturbance
System
A set of interrelated parts working together to make a complex whole
3 systems of the biosphere
Atmosphere, Lithosphere, Hydrosphere
Unstable equilibrium
System tends to return to a new equilibrium after the disturbance
Static equilibrium
No change over time
Note 
Flashcard (224)