Natural Resources and Civilizations Exam 1

Civilization

a dynamic society characterized through its advanced developments in art, culture, education, financial systems, government, and technological to industrial skills

List natural resources

air

water

land/rock/mineral

life

How long did Rome exist?

1,200 years

How long did the ancient Egyptian civilization exist?

4,300 years

What can weaken a civilization?

humanity’s movement towards the destruction of ecosystems

climate change (warming and cooling)

hostile neighbors

loss of allies

political/social/cultural factors

List the possible societal reactions to change

failure to perceive the problem

recognize the problem and doing nothing

recognizing the problem and working to fix it but failing

List the patterns of denial

Stage 1 It’s not happening

Stage 2 it’s not our fault

Stage 3 it's not that bad

Stage 4 solutions are too costly

Stage 5 It’s too late

How can science help avoid the end of a society?

the scientific method

observing and testing

How do you lock down the definition of a wicked problem?

develop a description of the problem or related sub problem and tackle that first, learn to communicate well

How do you measure to identify success to solving a wicked problem?

effective collaboration

How do we influence behavior?

prompts

feedbacks

commitments

incentives

rules/regulations/laws

Frames

a mental short cut that uses word associations and images to help people quickly apply meaning to new information

List connections we may communicate with

social groups

organizations

networks

Demand

how much of the product/service is desired by consumers/ how much consumers are willing to pay

Supply

total quantity of the product/services available

____shape the production, distribution, and consumption of products and services

economic systems

Markets

areas that bring buyers and sellers together

What is the purpose of government in economics

try to adjust prices by regulating production and/or the distribution of products

Ethics

a set of moral principles that provides guidelines for personal to collective behaviors

Eternalities

market failures that do not account for all of the costs and benefits of products or services

negative externalities

unintentional adverse impacts to a person or community

positive externalities

unintentional favorable impacts to a person or community

Open system

a system where you can buy/sell/trade goods and services with others

List an example of an open system

the sun’s energy being absorbed or reflected off Earth

Closed system

everything the system needs is already there, things can be recycled not lost

List an example of a closed system

rock and water cyles

In what ways can something be added to a closed system?

meteors and comets adding rock and water

Box models

include inflow, outflow, and stock, a way of simplifying a situation

Inflow

a resource is added

Outflow

a resource is taken away

Stock

the reservoir of resources

Residence time

how long the stock exists within the system

Resident time =

size of stock/ rate of transfer

Biogeochemical cycle

the cycle of biological, geological, and chemical things

Negative feedback

resist change or slow change down

Positive feedback

increase the rate of change

Nitrification

increase in nitrogen in water and soil

Atmosphere

air

Hydrosphere

water

Biosphere

life

Lithopshere

rock

Exothermic

energy/heat from outside the earth

Endothermic

energy/heat from earth’s core

Oxygen cycle

basis of lifeforms on Earth

Phosphorus cycle

fertilize the land

Nitrogen cycle

used as fertilizer

How do you increase nitrogen in the soil?

lightning, microrizomes/fungi, microecosystems, agriculture

Natural resources and conservation services

teach farmers sustainable practices

Bioreactors

sit between the tile and streams and act like a filter using bacteria to transform NO3

Tiling

a grid of pvc piping under farm fields that removes excess water and puts it into the creek/streams

Carbon cycle

used for respiration and energy production

Methanogens

micro-organisms that convert carbon to methane (CH4) in anoxic environments

List the greenhouse gases

carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide (N2O), water vapor, fluorinated gases, and synthetic gases