Chapter 1 & 2: Intro to Environmental Science

Chapter 1 & 2 Vocab

Sustainable development

as a form of development or progress that “meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

Development

refers to the continued improvement of human well-being, usually in the lower and middle income countries.

environmentalist’s paradox

The paradox, they said, is this: over the past 40 years, human well-being has been steadily improving, while natural ecosystems (from which we derive many goods and services) have been declining.

SDG

Sustainable Development Goals

MDG

Millennium Development Goals

global climate change

the worldwide alteration of patterns of temperature, precipitation, and the intensity of storms.

mitigation

the reduction of emissions

Environmental Science

The study of how the world works

sustainability

the practical goal toward which our interactions with the natural world should be working.

sound science

the basis for our understanding of how the world works and how human systems interact with it.

stewardship

the actions and programs that manage natural resources and human well-being for the common good

sustainable yields

A system or process is sustainable if it can be continued indefinitely, without depleting any of the material or energy resources required to keep it running.

environmental movement

in which a newly motivated citizenry demanded the curtailment of pollution, the cleanup of polluted environments, and the protection of pristine areas.

sustainable society

a society in balance with the natural world, continuing generation after generation, neither depleting its resource base by exceeding sustainable yields nor producing pollutants in excess of nature’s capacity to absorb them.

junk science,

information that is presented as valid science but that does not conform to the rigors of the methods and practice of legitimate science

sound science

legitimate science utilizing scientific method

The foundation of all science and scientific discovery is

observation

model

Models may be mathematical formulas, computer simulations, diagrams, conceptual descriptions, or other representations

Experimentation

simply setting up situations to make more systematic observations regarding causes and effects.

null hypothesis

which is what would be true if there were no relationship between the variables they are investigating.

stewardship ethic

concerned with right and wrong as they apply to actions taken to care for the natural world and the people in it.

Economics

the social science that deals with the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services and with the theory and management of economies or economic systems.

economy

the system of exchanges of goods and services worked out by the members of a society.

Economic systems

are social and legal arrangements that people construct in order to satisfy their needs and wants and to improve their well-being.

centrally planned economies,

characteristic of dictatorships,

free-market (or capitalist) economies

characteristic of democracies.

state capitalism

is an economic system where the government undertakes commercial business activity and owns the means of production, using market forces and profit-making to achieve political or national goals.

International Monetary Fund

an organization of 188 countries supporting cooperation, financial stability, and trade, as well as working to promote employment and lower poverty

World Bank

group of agencies with the goal of ending extreme poverty and promoting shared prosperity by improving the incomes of the bottom earners in each country.

brown economy

all the current economic activities that are contributing to environmental degradation and resource depletion

ecological economists

point out that the classical view (Figure 2–2) sees the environment as just one set of resources within the larger sphere of the human economy.

economic production

the process of converting the natural world to the manufactured world.

natural capital

refers to the combination of ecosystem capital and nonrenewable mineral resources, such as fossil fuels and metal ores

human capital

which refers to the population and its physical, psychological, and cultural attributes, such as innate talents, competencies, and abilities.

social capital

the social and political environment that people create for themselves in a society.

knowledge assets

the codified or written fund of knowledge that can be readily transferred to others across space and time.

GNP

gross national product

GDP

Gross Domestic Product

The Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI)

a measure of economic progress that extends the idea of the ISEW

Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare (ISEW)

Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare (ISEW)

Human Development Index (HDI)

a somewhat simpler measure of human flourishing used by the UN. The HDI reflects health indicators, life expectancy, and literacy rates. However, one problem with both the GDP and HDI is that they do not require natural capital to be maintained, or that wealth be measured to include sustainability

discount rate

the rate used for finding the present value of some future benefit or cost

payments for ecosystem services (PES).

A new market-based initiative for conserving the services provided by ecosystems

In the classical model of economics,

land, labour, and capital are the three core factors of production required to create wealth and drive economic activity.

external cost (or externality)

is an effect of a business process that is not included in the usual calculations of profit and loss.

cost-benefit analysis (or benefit-cost analysis)

begins by examining the need for the proposed regulation and then describes a range of alternative approaches.

The Regulatory Right-to-Know Act

directs the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to submit an annual report to the Congress containing, among other things, an estimate of the costs and benefits of federal rules.