Ch. 1 The Environment and Sustainability Pettit

life support system

sunlight, earths clean air and water, food, shelter, energy, fertile soil, a livable climate, and other components.

Environmental science

the study of life systems and connections in the natural environment

Environmental science key points

1) how the earth (nature) works and has survived and thrived 2) how humans interact with the environment and 3) how can we live more susutainably

ecology

the branch of biology that focuses on how living organisms interact with the living and nonliving parts of their environment.

biomimicry

the rapid growing scientific effort to understand, mimic, and catalog, the ingenious ways in which nature has sustained life on earth for 3.8n billion years.

what is an example of biomimicry

Gecko tape

What is an ecological footprint

ecosystem

biological comunity of organisms within a defined area of land that interact with each other and with their environment of nonliving matter and energy

3 scientific principles of sustainability

solar energy, biodiversity, and chemical cycling

The 3 Human Principles of Sustainability

Full cost pricing(economics) , win-win solution(politics) , and responsibility to future generations(ethics)

Differences between more and less developed countries

More developed countries use more resources while less developed countries use less, and less developed countries usually have a bigger population compared to more developed countries

Ecological Footprint

A rough measure of the total environmental impacts of and individuals, cities, and countries on the earths natural resource, natural capital, and life support system.

• Ecological footprint of MDC vs LDC

More developed countries are ranked high on the chart compared to the less developed countries that are ranked lower

biocapacity

The ability of an area's ecosystems to regenerate the renewable resources used by a population city, region, country or the world and to absorb the resulting waste and pollution. 

ecological deficit

When people are living unsustainably by depleting natural Capital instead of living off of the renewable resources and ecosystem Services provided by such capital 

biocapacity vs ecological deficit

 bio capacity is  Nature's capacity to provide, ecological deficit is how much our demand exceeds that capacity

What are the 3 major cultural changes that influenced our ecological footprint

Agricultural revolution, industrial-medical revolution, and the information-globalization revolution

What are the six major environmental problems we face

1). Climate Change 2). Loss of species and habitats (biodiversity loss) 3). Ocean acidification 4). Diminishing access to fresh water 5). Resource waste 6). Hazardous pollutants

Exponential Growth

When a quantity increases at a fixed percentage per unit of time. Starts slowly but after a few doublings it grows to enormous numbers.

How does affluence affect environmental issues(Pros)?

Affluence can allow for widespread and better education, which can lead people to become more concerned about environmental quality and sustainability.

How does affluence affect environmental issues(cons)?

The united states, with only 4.3 of the worlds population, is responsible for about 23% of the global ecological footprint. The average american uses 30 times the amount of resources than the average indian consumes

Nature deficit order

A phenomenon when people our isolated from natural they have symptoms of stress, anxiety, depression, and other problems.

What are the 3 major environmental worldviews

human-centered environmental worldview, life-centered environmental worldview, and earth-centered environmental worldview

What are Biomimicry Principles(6)?

 1). runs on sunlight not fossil fuels 2). adapt to changing environment conditions 3). depends on biodiversity for population control and adaption 4). creates no waste because the matter outputs of one organism are resources for other organisms 5). does not pollute its own environment 6). does not produce chemicals that cannot be recycled by the Earth's chemical Cycles 

What is an environmentally Sustainable Society

A society that Protects natural capital and lives on its income.Such a society would meet the current and future basic resource needs of its people in a just and Equitable manner without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their basic resource needs .

What are some requirements for living sustainably(There’s 9, can you name 5)?

• Learning from nature

• Protecting natural capital

• Not wasting resources

• Recycling and reusing non-renewable resources

• Using renewable resources no faster than nature can replenish them 

• Including the harmful health and environmental cost of producing and using goods and services in their market prices

• Preventing future ecological damage and repairing past damage

• Cooperating with one another to win win solutions to the environmental problems we face

• Accepting that ethical responsibility to pass the Earth's life support system onto future Generations in a condition as good or as better than what we inherited