ENV 1 Final Studying

Principles of K-Ar dating

1. 40K decays to 40Ar which escapes to molten lava as a gas

2. lava cools, 40Ar cannot escape, leaves 40K

3. 40K decays to 40Ar over time, which is now trapped and accumulates at a constant rate

Geological time scale

separates geologic time into eras, epochas, age, periods

uniformitarianism

the earths past can be understood in terms of processes operating on the Earth today

the great oxidation event

increase in earth’s atmospheric oxygen between 2.4-2.1 billion years ago

lithosphere

rock component

hydrosphere

water component

atmosphere

gas component

biosphere

living component

5 major extinction events

1. end ordovician (444 mya)

2. late devonian (360 mya)

3. end permian (250 mya)

4. end triassic (200 mya)

5. End cretaceous (65 mya)

straigraphy

sedimentary layers accumulate in predictable ways that enable them to be understood as a s

superposition

upper layers are younger than older layers

original horizontality

stratigraphic layers tend to be deposited on a horizontal plane

lateral continutity

deposit will be bounded by a basin of deposition or will thin down to a feather edge

iridium spike

increase in the element iridium, which rare on earth but found in meteorites, in layers ~65myo marking the End cretaceous extinction

human driven extinctions

In the past → mainly large mammals due to hunting

currently a wide variety of species are going extinct for human connected (but not necessarily directly related) reasons

anthropocene

idea that humans have impacted the stratigraphic record (through things like climate change, agriculture, society industrialisation etc) significantly enough to create a new epoch, its merit as an epoch is controversial

system

an interconnected set of elements organized in a way that forms a coherent whole

example of a system → wetlands

groundwater flows, bacteria break down contaminants, saturated peat stores water and slowly releases it into streams etc.

components of a system

identifiable elements, connected together, produce unique observable effects

negative feedback loop

Regulate outcomes and stabilize systems (example daisyworld, ratio of B:W daisies impacts albedo which impacts temp, which impacts daisy ratio)

positive feedback loop

amplify outcomes with potential to destabilize systems (ex: changing climate leads to more wildfires, which lead to more atmospheric CO2, and amplifies the greenhouse effect, which impacts the changing climate)

gaia hypothesis

all organisms and their inorganic surroundings on Earth are closely integrated to form a single and self-regulating complex system, maintaining the conditions for life on the planet

Earths systems science

concerned with interconnections within and between subsystems of the Earth’s spheres

carbon cycle

movement of carbon between different sources and sinks within the Earth’s system

photosynthesis

process where autotrophs combine light energy with CO2 to produce glucose, which is then stored or fixed in the plants structures, and releasing O2

carbon sink

a part of earth system where that carbon is stored outside the atmosphere for longer periods of time

water cycle

describes the movement of water between the spheres of the Earth system

watershed

area of land that channels water to a common outflow or collection point

pollution

substance or energy that is added to an environment or system faster than it can be dispersed or safely absorbed

eutrophication

excess accumulation of nutrients in a water body resulting in overgrowth of microorganisms and decreased availability in dissolved oxygen

example of eutrophication: Gulf dead zone

area of the Gulf of Mexico extending from the Mississippi River Delta featuring hypoxic conditions

open systems

a system that exchanges both energy and matter with elements outside its boundries

closed system

a system that exchanges energy but not matter with elements outside its boundaries

hadley cell

an atmospheric circulation pattern driven by convection from solar radation and operates between the equator and 30 degrees latitude

coriolis effect

an atmospheric circulation pattern driven by the turning of the earth, changing the appearent path of the prevailing winds

orographic rain

rainfall caused by the interaction of warm moist air masses and sharp elevation incline, forcing air to cool at higher altitudes

el nino souther oscillation

a pattern of periodic ocean and atmospheric interactions in the Pacific Ocean that influences global weather patterns and ocean conditions

ecosystems

a group of organisms, their physical environment, and their biotic & abiotic interactions and processes (an open system)

trophic cascade

impacts on biotic relationships; controls exerted by energy flows across trophic (food chain) levels

ecosystem services

benefits provided by an ecosystem as an intrinsic property of its functionality

provisioning services

benefits that can be extracted from nature (food, medicine, wood, etc)

supporting services

provide basic ecological functions (i.e. nutrient cycling, soil formation)

cultural services

non-material (psychological and emotional) benefits gained from human interactions with ecosystems (i.e. tourism, recational)

regulation services

facilate and moderate natural processes (i.e. carbon sequestration, crop polination)

biodiversity

the variability among living organisms from all sources including terrestrial, marine, and other aquatic systems and the ecological complexes of which they are a part of

tragedy of the commons

without intervention, self-interested individuals will utilize common pool resource is ways that trend toward resource degradation or depletion

excludability

the degree to which use of a resource can be limited to a select group

subtractability

the degree to which use of a resource depletes its availability

common pool resources

resources for which the exclusion of others is difficult, and the use of such a resource by one user subtracts resource benefits for other users

public goods

resources for which the exclusion of users is difficult, and the use of such a resource by one user has no effect on resource benefits for other users

how to avoid the tragedy of the commons?

• establish private property rights

• community based management

community based management

an approach to natural resource management that involves the full participation of local communities, stakeholders, and resource users in decision-making activities, and the incorporation of local institutions, customary practices, and knowledge systems in management, regulatory and enforcement processes.

kaitiakitanga

the Maori concept whereby identity is associated with guardianship of a natural feature or resource

relational values

• place is important to who I am

• place is important to the identity of my people

• care for this place is personally fulfilling

models of population growth

linear growth, exponential growth

density-dependent limits

limits to growth imposed by the existing population (competition, predation and disease)

density-independent limits

factors that impact population regardless of size, such as natural disasters or climate changes.

renewable resources

resources capable of being replenished as fast or faster than they are depleted

non-renewable resources

resources prone to being depleted faster than they are replenished

sustainability

a characteristic or state whereby the needs of the present and local population can be met without compromising the ability of future generations or populations in other locations to meet their needs while maintaining ecological balance.

maximum sustainable yield

max number of individuals you can remove from a biological population while maintaining the greatest rate of growth

I = P * A * T

impact as a measure of population size, affluence, and access to technology

simplified model explaining the relationship between a human population, and its impact on the environment, modified by affluence and technology

ecological footprint

the natural resources required to support people and economies at a given level of affluenceand the environmental impact of their consumption.

jevons paradox

increases in efficiency leading to increased growth and consuption

Environmental kuznets curve

a model of the relationship between indicators of environmental degradation and per capita income

cornucopianism

the theory or belief that human ingenuity and technological development, driven by continued population and economic growth, will provide solutions to social and environmental problems

sustainable development

development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs

conceptual pillars of sustainable development

• environmental: maintain environmental function

• economic: maintain economic opportunity

• social: maintain well-being of people and communities

sustainable development goals

developed out of the millennium development goals to address key issues facing the world, has an emphasis on certain goals over others with the wedding cake model

• each goal comes with a set of targets that include measurable indicators of progress, and considers trade offs, not much progress on the goals have been made

planetary boundries

safe limits for human pressure on nine critical processes which together maintain a stable and resilient earth

wedding cake model for SDG

developed by the stockholm resilience center to align SDG with planetary boundaries framework, emphasizes some goals as non-negotable

environmental justice

a field of study and a social movement that seeks to address the unequal distribution of environmental benefits and harms and asks whether procedures and impacts of environmental decision making are fair to the people they affect

unjust distributions

inequalities that exist in the distributions of environmental benefits and burdens

Distributional justice

an approach to justice concerned with the equitable distributions of environmental benefits and burdens

structural racism

racial inequalities produced and reproduced by laws, policies, economic practices and cultural and social norms

recognition justice

an approach to justice concerned with how and why privileged and marginalized groups are unevenly recognized by individuals and social institutions

participation justice

an approach to justice concerned with the representation of a community needs, concerns and knowledge in decision making

energy justice

equitable distribution of energy benefits and burdens, inclusive decision-making in energy policy, and the recognition of impacted communities rights and identities

global warming

observed and estimated increases in air, land surface, and sea surface temperature averaged over Earth

milankovitch cycles

regular, long term cycles in earth’s movements that influnece the amount of solar radiation the earth receives

• eccentricity, shape of Earth’s orbit around sun

• Ubiquilty, angle of earth’s rotation

• precession, wobbling of Earth's axis

the greenhouse effect

process through which heat is trapped near Earth’s surface by gasses in the atmosphere - short-wave radiation is emitted from the sun, some is reflected but some becomes absorbed and long-wave radiation

notable natural sources of greenhouse gasses

• volcanic eruptions

• organic decomposition

• ocean-atmospheric gas transfer

• wetland methane production

notable anthropogenic sources of greenhouse gas emissions

• energy generation

• transportation

• manufacturing

• agriculture

• industrial activity

common gas pollutants

CO2, CH4, N2O, CF4, hydrofluorocarbons, SF6

climate impact on water cycle

• intense and frequent storms

• melting of glaciers

• sea level rise

• flooding of low-lying regions

• drying up of rivers and lakes

• scarcity of freshwater resources

• shifts in precipitation pattern

Neocolonialism

use of economic and political coercion by external actors to influence a nations policymaking

indirect, informal, constraints self-determination to impose de-facto control, typically exerted through economic presure

milestones in global climate migation

• 1987 Montreal Protocol

  • banned the use of ozone destroying gasses

• 1988 intergovernmental panel on Climate change (IPCC) established

• 1992 UN Framework Convention on Climate change (UNFCCC)

  • established common but differentiated responsibilities

common but differentiated responsibility

all states have a shared obligation to address environmental issues, but denies equal responsibility of all states regarding environmental protection

milestones in global climate action

• 1995 first annual conferences of parties (COP) meeting

• 1997 Kyoto protocol

  • legally binding climate protocol, required developed countries to reduce emissions by an avg of 5%

• 2015 Paris Agreement

  • required emission reduction pledges with the goal of preventing temp increase under 2 degrees C, and pursuing effort to keep below 1.5 degrees

Nature based solutions

Reforestation - replanting trees in recently forested land to sequester atmospheric carbon

Afforestation - human-induced conversions of non-forested land to forest to sequester atmospheric carbon

bioenergy with carbon capture

buringing biomass for energy with direct CO2 capture and ground based storage, biochar

Direct air carbon capture and storage

direct capture of airborne CO2 with ground based storage

carbon pricing

policy instrument that levies a fee on private emissions to account for the public costs of greenhouse gas emissions

free rider problem

individuals who receive benefits from a common pool resource or public good without contributing to the payment of its costs

collective action problem

individuals acting independently produce an outcome that is less advantageous to all than if they coordinate their actions

self-organization

emergence of an overall order in time and space of a given system that results from the collective interactions of its individual components

soical norms

standards of behavior that are based on widely shared beliefs as to how individual group members ought to behave in a given context.

decriptive norms

“what I think others do“

injunctive norms

“what I think others will approve of“

ostroms design principles

• strong group identity

• rules for access and consumption based on local conditions

• participatory rule-making among stake-holders

• accountable monitoring of resources

• graduated sanctions

• conflict resolution mechanisms

• coordination among relevant groups