environmental science midterm 1

culture

the ensemble of knowledge, beliefs, values, and learned ways of life shared by a group of people

worldview

with personal experience and personal circumstance, culture influences each person’s perception of the world and his or her place within it

relativists

believe that ethics do and should vary with social context

universalists

maintain that there exist objective notions of right and wrong that hold across cultures and contexts

ethical standards

the criteria that help differentiate right from wrong

instrumental value

to value something for the pragmatic benefits it brings us if we put it to use

intrinsic value

to value something for its worth, to believe that something has a right to exist and is valuable for its own sake

environmental ethics

the application of ethical standards to relationships between people and nonhuman entities

anthropocentrism

people who have a human-centered view of our relationship with the environment

biocentrism

the perspective that ascribes intrinsic value to certain living things or to the biotic realm in general

ecocentrism

people who judge actions in terms of their effects on whole ecological systems, which consist of living and nonliving elements and the relationships among them

preservation ethic

associated with John Muir; holds that we should protect the natural environment in a pristine, unaltered state

Gifford Pinchot

the first professionally trained American forester

conservation ethic

Gifford Pinchot’s view; holds that people should put natural resources to use but that we have a responsibility to manage them wisely

Aldo Leopold

wildlife manager, author, and philosopher, articulated a new relationship between people and the environment as coexistence

environmental justice

the fair and equitable treatment of all people with respect to environmental policy and practice, regardless of their income, race, or ethnicity

environment

consists of all the living and nonliving things around us

environmental science

• the scientific study of how the natural world works, how our environment affects us, and how we affect our environment

• Combines disciplines

• Involves complex interactions

• Environment consists of our surroundings and involves cycles

natural resources

the substances and energy sources from our environment that we rely on to survive

renewable natural resources

natural resources that are replenished over short periods

nonrenewable natural resources

such as minerals and fossil fuels, are in finite supply and are formed far more slowly than we use them

exhaustible renewable natural resources

such as timber, water, animal populations, and fertile soil, renew themselves over months, years, or decades

inexhaustible renewable natural resources

such as sunlight, wind, and wave energy, are perpetually renewed

ecosystem services

our planet’s ecological systems purify air and water, cycle nutrients, regulate climate, pollinate plants, and recycle our waste

agricultural revolution

as people began to grow crops, domesticate animals, and live sedentary lives on farms and in villages, they produced more food to meet their nutritional needs and began having more children

industrial revolution

began in the mid-1700s, it entailed a shift from rural life, animal-powered agriculture, and handcrafted goods toward an urban-centered society provisioned by the mass production of factory-made goods and powered by fossil fuels

fossil fuels

nonrenewable energy sources including oil, coal, and natural gas

ecological footprint

expresses the cumulative area of biologically productive land and water required to provide the resources a person or population consumes and to dispose of or recycle the waste the person or population produces

overshoot

the practice of consuming more resources than are being replenished

natural capital

our planet’s vast store of resources and ecosystem services

scientific method

• Observations, questions, hypothesis (reject hypothesis), predictions (fail to reject hypothesis), test, results 

• Testing of ideas

• Uses observations

• Verifiable

• Based on certain operating assumptions (stable natural laws, cause and effect relationships, info from senses or sensors)

• Follows sequence of steps

• Repeatable

• Experimental criteria - experimental control and all variables are stable except for one

Three ways to study the environmental or complete an ES experiment

1. Laboratory studies: fairly easy, more control

2. Field studies: more complicated 

   1. Lacks experimental control

   2. Many variables, but which is most important

3. Computer models: limitations

   1. Models are only as good as inputs

*Using all 3 works best

Are the scientific method and environmental science a contradiction in terms?

yes, scientific method doesn’t always align with environmental science values

Value Judgments

What is and isn’t important to us in the environment

cumulative impacts

Integrated effect of changes as they work throughout a system (culture, personal experience, worldview, values, decisions/actions)

Why is determining the environmental cost of items in the environment difficult

• What is the cost of losing an endangered species? 

• What is the value of a life?

• What are we willing to pay to keep or lose things in the environment?

classical economics

founded by Adam smith, when people pursue economic self-interest under these conditions, the marketplace will behave as if guided by “an invisible hand” to benefit society as a whole

neoclassical economics

examines the psychological factors underlying consumer choices, explaining market prices in terms of consumer preferences for units of particular commodities

cost-benefit analysis

compares the estimated costs of a proposed action with the estimated benefits

external cost

A cost of a transaction that affects someone other than the buyer or seller

discounting

meant to reflect how people tend to grant more importance to present conditions than to future conditions

economic growth

an increase in an economy’s production and consumption of goods and services

cornucopians

the belief that human ingenuity and technology will allow us to overcome all environmental constraints and continue growth indefinitely

Cassandras

the disbelief in human ingenuity and technology will allow us to overcome all environmental constraints and continue growth indefinitely

environmental economics

the belief that we can modify neoclassical economic principles to make resource use more efficient and thereby attain sustainability within our current economic systems

ecological economics

belief that sustainability requires more far-reaching changes

steady-state economy

intended to mirror natural ecological systems

non market values

values not usually included in the price of a good or service

contingent valuation

uses surveys to determine how much people are willing to pay to protect or restore a resource

gross domestic product

the total monetary value of final goods and services a nation produces each year

genuine process indicator

indicators meant to differentiate desirable from undesirable economic activity and to better reflect our well-being

full cost accounting

aims to account fully for all costs and benefits

market failure

When markets do not take into account the positive outside effects on economies (such as ecosystem services) or the negative side effects of economic activity (external costs)

ecolabeling

sellers who use sustainable practices in growing, harvesting, or manufacturing products advertise this fact on their labels, hoping to win approval from buyers

socially responsible spending

entails investing in companies that have met criteria for environmental or social sustainability

greenwashing

A public relations effort by a corporation or institution to mislead customers or the public into thinking it is acting more sustainably than it actually is

sustainable development

economic progress that maintains resources for the future

development

the use of natural resources for economic advancement (as opposed to simple subsistence, or survival)

triple bottom line

a trio of goals made up of economic advancement, environmental protection, and social equity

sustainable devlopment goals

A set of 17 goals for sustainable development for humanity globally, agreed to by representatives of the world’s nations at the United Nations in 2015

epidemiological

medicine studies in disease control

policy

a formal set of general plans principles intended to address problems and guide decision-making in specific instances

public policy

a set of rules made by governments, regulatory agencies, etc.

environmental policy

policy that pertains to human interactions with the environment

who has the most power to change environmental rules

U.S. government

how are environmental rules made

1. Identify problem

2. Identify causes of problem

3. Envision solution and set goals

4. Get organized

5. Cultivate access and influence

6. Manage development of policy

risk assessment

1. Hazard identification

2. Toxicity characterization

3. Extent of exposure

4. Steps - tracking the path

   1. How do we know there is an issue?

   2. At what level is the issue bad?

   3. Track the path to know how bad: Residency time - how long will the contamination be a problem 

   4. Limit the output/production of the items causing the issue

   5. Dispose of items causing the issue

waves of U.S. environmental policy

1. First wave

   1. 1780s to late 1800s - addressed public land management

2. Second wave

   1. Late 1800s - addressed impacts of the first wave with environmental issues associated with westward expansion and natural resource protection

3. Third wave

   1. Mid to late 20th century - largely addressed pollution issues (DDT/pesticide spraying tracked bioaccumulation across sea animals)

risk management

1. Private citizens

2. Industry and manufacturing

3. Nonprofit interest groups

NEPA

1. (Nation Environmental Protection Act - 1970)

   1. Council on environmental quality

   2. Environmental protection agency (EPA)

environmental assessment (EA)

1. Finding of no significant impact (FONSI) - no environmental problems

2. Environmental impact statement (EIS) - environmental problems