Geog 181 Exam 3

What types of resilience are there? (5)

1. Ecological

2. Social-ecological

3. Disaster

4. Urban

5. Community

What is ecological resilience?

Retaining essentially the same function (as before)

What is social-ecological resilience?

Ability to cope, respond, reorganize

What is disaster resilience?

Absorb and recover

What is urban resilience?

Withstand shocks and stresses

What is community resilience?

Thrive through uncertainty and surprise

How did Hurricane Katrina show resilience? Or not?

Led to building floodwalls and using Saints Stadium

• Still rebuilding 20 yrs later from lack of coordination, communication failures, etc

Resilience-thinking is ___________

Systems-thinking

What are the 3 parts of systems-thinking?

1. We are all part of the system

2. Social-ecological systems are complex adaptive systems

3. Resilience is the key to sustainability

What is a system?

Interrelated elements that interact w/ each other in some defined boundary to perform a function

What are 3 systems frameworks?

1. Natural

2. Mechanical

3. Social

What is the difference between oligotrophic and eutrophic?

Oligotrophic- clear lake

Eutrophic- green/murky lake

What are the 2 take-home concepts for social-ecological systems?

1. Multiple, alternative stable states - separated by thresholds

2. Emergence

What is emergence?

Well-formulated aggregate behavior arises from localized, individual behavior

What is optimization?

Common, economically-rational approaches attempt to maximize for a “desirable” output

Optimization equation

Optimization + Exploitation → Fragility

What happens if you optimize the last bit of efficiency instead of acting sustainably?

Lose ability to adapt/respond to disturbances

What is at the heart of resilience?

Change

What is Resilience Dividend?

A book written by Judith Rodin

• As you become more adept at managing, disruption, you are able to take advantage of new opportunities

What are environmental hazards?

A potential threat to people and the things they value

What are the 3 types of environmental health hazards?

1. Biological

2. Chemical

3. Cultural & Lifestyle Health

What are biological hazards?

Threats from disease-causing organisms

What are chemical hazards?

Harmful chemicals in air, water, soil, food

What is spatial diffusion?

Spread of people, resources, info, practices, disease or other items/actions from place to place

What are the 2 types of diffusion?

Contagion and Hierarchical

What is contagion diffusion? Examples?

Outward movement from a source

• Ex: flue, covid-19, chickenpox

What is hierarchical diffusion? Examples?

Jumps from source to a lower order location, repeats

• Ex: HIV/AIDs

What is wrong with models?

All models are wrong, but some are useful

What do SIR models stand for?

Susceptible

Infected

Recovered

What is an agent?

Computer-based representation of an individual that interacts with

• Other agents (individuals)

• Their environment

What does ABM stand for?

Agent-based model

What are the 2 categories of biological hazards? What’s the difference?

1. Infectious diseases- illness caused by pathogens, communicable

2. Non-communicable- non-infectious disease (don’t spread)

What are emerging diseases?

Infectious disease previously unobserved in humans

What are re-emerging diseases? Example?

Existed in past & recently increasing in incidence

• Ex: Tuberculosis

What is endemic (disease)?

Constantly present in population/region with relatively low spread

What is epidemic (disease)?

Sudden increase in cases spreading through a large population

What is pandemic (disease)?

Sudden increase in cases across several countries/countinents/world

What are agent based models used for?

Simulating complex systems by modeling individual interactions

What is the difference between acute and chronic chemicals?

• Acute- immediate effects after exposure

• Chronic- delayed effects, low-level or prolonged exposure

What do carcinogens cause?

Cancer

What do mutagens cause?

DNA mutations

What do teratogens cause?

Prenatal development

What do neurotoxins cause?

Nervous system complications

What is bioaccumulation? Example?

Buildup of persistent toxic substance in the body, often in fatty tissues

• Ex: build of DDT in birds of prey

What is biomagnification? Example?

Increased concentration of toxic chemicals in tissues of organisms at higher levels in food webs

• Ex: toxins such as DDT, microplastics, or mercury accumulating in humans

What is DDT?

Toxic pesticide that has left harmful effects on the environment, especially birds

What did DDT and Silent Spring lead to?

1. Challenged practices of ag scientists and the gov

2. Sparked an environmental movement, raised public awareness

3. Ban of DDT and changes in environmental policies

4. Creation of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

What are PCBs? What are they in?

Synthetic organic chemicals

• Electric equipment, oils, adhesives, paints

What sort of heath issues can toxic chemicals cause?

• Immune system issues

• Reproductive issues- fertility, birth weights

What are BPA and BPS?

Endocrine disruptors → special concerns

• Chemicals that mimic hormones

• Inhibit reproductive development

What are the 2 main indicators that demonstrate a MDC/LDC gap?

1. Life expectancy

2. Infant mortality

What are reasons for low health in LDCs?

• malnutrition

• unsafe water

• poor sanitation

What are reasons for health differences in MDCs?

Consequence of choices

• eating right, exercise, smoking

What impacts the difference in deaths between LDCs and MDCs?

LDCs- spreadable diseases

MDCs- genetic, lifestyle

What exemptions are there for not getting certain vaccines?

• Medical

• Religious

• Philosophical

What does MSW stand for?

Municipal Solid Waste

What makes up solid and hazardous wastes?

1. Municipal solid wastes

2. Industrial wastes

3. Hazardous wastes

What is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch? What makes it worse?

Huge area of the ocean filled with trash

• It bioaccumulates and biomagnifies through other organisms

Why does recycling fail?

1. Extremely difficult to collect

2. Mixed plastic can’t be recycled together

3. Wasteful, polluting, and a fire hazard

4. Toxicity risks

5. Not economical

What types of waste management is there for MSW?

1. Sanitary landfills engineering (compact and burying waste)

2. Incineration (burns waste)

What are the 4 types of hazardous waste?

1. Toxic

2. Corrosive

3. Reactive

4. Ignitable

What is toxic waste?

Harmful or fatal when ingested/absorbed

What is corrosive waste?

Strong acids/bases capable of corroding metal containers

What is reactive waste?

Chemically unstable, can cause explosions, toxic fumes

What is ignitable waste?

Can create fires, spontaneous combustion

What is the RCRA?

Resource Conservation & Recover Act

• Prohibition of open dumps, rules for waste storage/management

What is the CERCLA?

Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act

• Cleanup of closed and abandoned hazardous waste sites

What is the superfund program?

Cleans up existing hazardous waste and contaminated lands

What is bioremediation?

Use of bacteria and other microorganisms to break down hazardous waste into relatively harmless products

What is phytoremediation?

Use of plants to absorb and accumulate hazardous materials in the soil

What are the 3 parts of phytoremediation?

Phytoextraction

Phytostabilization

Phytodegradation

What is one example of phytoremediation?

Indian mustard removes heavy metals

What are transnational pollution push factors?

• Large waste volume

• Urban sprawl

• High waste disposal costs

What are transnational pollution pull factors?

• Political instability

• Lax environmental laws

• Limited economic opportunities

What is environmental justice?

The right of every citizen regardless of age, race, gender, social class, or other factor adequate protection from environmental hazards

What is distributive justice?

Equitable distribution of environmental risks and benefits

What is procedural justice?

Equal protection and meaningful involvement of all people in development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulation, policies

What are the 2 types of environmental justice?

Distributive and Procedural

What is resilience? - in regards to environment

Being able to bounce back following a disaster of some sort