IB ESS Vocab quiz

EVS (Environmental Value Systems)

A worldview or paradigm shaping how people perceive and evaluate environmental issues.

Environmental movement

Influential actors (media, campaigns, pressure groups, corporations, governments, IGOs) that influence environmental policy.

Environmental worldview

A view of the world formed from experiences, background, culture, education, and society.

Ecocentric

Nature-centered value system; believes people are under nature's control.

Anthropocentric

Human-centered value system; environment is evaluated from a human perspective.

Technocentric

Technologically-based view that human brains and technology can control the environment.

Cornucopians

Extreme technocentrists who believe resources are infinite and technology can solve environmental issues.

Environmental managers

View Earth as a garden needing tending; stewardship and government legislation to protect the planet.

Biocentric

All life has inherent value; not just humans; oppose extinction and value other species.

Deep ecologists

Nature has more value than humanity; humans should interfere less and reduce consumption and population.

Carbon footprint

Total greenhouse gas emissions directly and indirectly caused by a person, organization, event, or product.

Systems approach

A way of visualizing a complex set of interactions in ecology, society, or another system.

Open system

Exchanges both matter and energy with its surroundings.

Closed system

Exchanges energy but not matter across its boundaries.

Isolated system

Exchanges neither energy nor matter with its environment.

Transfers

Flow through a system involving a change in location.

Flows and storages

Energy and matter flow as inputs/outputs or are stored within a system.

First law of thermodynamics

Energy cannot be created or destroyed; it can be transferred or transformed.

Entropy

A measure of energy distribution (evenness) or disorder; higher disorder means higher entropy.

Second Law of Thermodynamics

In isolated systems, entropy tends to increase; transformations create new end states or change state.

Efficiency

Useful energy output divided by energy input for a process.

Negative feedback loops

Output inhibits or reverses the process, promoting stability.

Positive feedback loops

Output amplifies the process, leading to greater change and potential destabilization.

Feedback

Return of part of a system's output as input to affect subsequent outputs.

Equilibrium

A state of balance among components of a system.

Steady-state (dynamic) equilibrium

A stable state where a system resumes its state after disturbance.

Static equilibrium

No changes over time due to no inputs or outputs.

Stable equilibrium

A disturbed system returns to its original position.

Unstable equilibrium

A small disturbance leads to a large change to a new equilibrium.

Tipping points

Minimum change required to destabilize a system toward a new equilibrium.

Resilience

Tendency of a system to maintain stability and resist tipping points.

Ecological overshoot

Using resources faster than they can regenerate.

Natural income

Yield obtained from natural resources.

Sustainability

Use and management of resources so full natural replacement can occur.

Sustainable development

Development that meets present needs without compromising future generations.

Tragedy of the commons

Individuals acting in self-interest deplete a resource, harming future use.

Ecosystem services

Natural income derived from natural capital (goods and services provided by ecosystems).

Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs)

Studies conducted before a development to assess potential environmental damage.

Ecological footprint

Area of land and water needed to sustainably provide all resources at current consumption.

Pollution

Addition of substances or energy to the environment faster than it can be accommodated.

Pollutants

Matter (gases, liquids, solids), energy (sound, light, heat), or living organisms that cause pollution.

point-source pollution

Pollution traced to a single source (e.g., oil refinery, power station, chemical plant).

Non-point source pollution

Pollution from numerous dispersed origins; difficult to detect; examples include air and water pollution from many sources.

Acute pollution

An ecological event thats effects are short-term and immediate (Bhopal disaster).

Biomes

Groups of ecosystems with similar climates.

Biosphere

Part of Earth inhabited by organisms, extending from the upper atmosphere to the depths of the crust.

Chronic Pollution

An ecological event whose effects are long-term and persistent, often accumulating over time.

Persistent pollutants

toxic, human made materials that resist environmental breakdown for decades, and accumulating in the food chain.

Biodegradable pollutants

refers to pollutants that can be broken down by natural processes, minimizing long-term environmental impact.