ess unit 1

values

affect people's priorities, judgements, perspectives, and choices

beliefs

our convictions about reality and often closely related to our values

worldview

lenses, often shared by groups of people, through which they perceive, make sense of, and act within their environment

environmental value system

worldview or paradigm that shapes the way an individual or group of people perceive and evaluate environmental issues

perspective

how a particular situation is viewed and understood by an individual

assumption

underlying ideas we hold; moral shortcuts that allow for quick judgements and interpret complex situations

human nature dualism

sees human beings as separate from nature and views nature as a resource for exploitation by humans

animal dualism

sees no fundamental divide between human beings and nature

the systems approach

exploring connections and interdependencies between the parts of a system to understand the value

system boundary

a line that separates the system you want to study form the external environment that is not part of the system

emergent properties

characteristics of a system that appear when the individual system parts interact. system parts themselves do not have these characteristics

open system

exchanges both matter and energy with its external environment

closed system

exchanges energy with the external environment, but not matter

storages

an accumulation of material, energy or information (physical or non-physical)

flows

movement of matter, energy or information in or out of a storage system

transfers

a change in location of energy or matter, without any change in state or form

transformations

moves energy or matter, but in the process, there is a change in the chemical nature, state, or energy

steady state equilibrium

situation, mainly in open systems, where there are continuous inputs and outputs of energy or matter that may result in short-term changes and imbalances; however, it remains in a relatively constant state

negative feedbacks loops

occurs when the output of a storage or system returns as an input in a way that inhibits or reverses the operation of the same process

positive feedback loop

occurs when the output of a sotrage or system returns as an input in a way that amplifies change

tipping point

the minimum amount of change that will cause destabilization within a system

causal loop diagrams

type of system diagram that shows the complex relationships between different variables in the system

resilience

a system's ability to recover after a disturbance; can avoid tipping points and stay stable due to the balance of positive and negative feedback loops

sustainability

measure of the extent to which human activities allow for the long-term viability of a system

natural income

yield or harvest from natural resources

natural capital

stock of natural resources on earth

environmental sustainability

the use and management of natural resources that allows the replacement of the resources, and the recovery and regeneration of ecosystems

social sustainability

focuses on creating the sturctures and systems that support human wellbeing

economic sustainability

focuses on creating the economic structures and systems to support production and consumption of goods and services that will support human needs into the future

renewable natural capital

can be generated or replaced as fast as it is being used

non-renewable natural capital

irreplaceable or can only be replaced over geological timescales

earth overshoot day

marks the date when humanity’s demand for ecological resources and services in a given year exceeds what the earth can regenerate in that year

environmental justice

the risks and benefits of environmental exploitation are equally distributed

ecological footprint

a model used to estimate the demands that human populations place on the environment

carrying capacity

maximum number of individuals of a species that the environment can sustainably support

biocapacity

the capacity of a biologically productive area to generate a supply of renewable resources and to absorb its waste

system

a set of inter-related parts working together to make a functioning whole

biosphere

all the parts of the earth where life exists

anthroposphere

parts of the earth made or modified by humans

stable equilibrium

the condition of a system in which there is a tendency for it to return to the previous equilibrium following disturbance

unstable equilibrium

the system returns to a new equilibrium after disturbance

feedback loops

information starts a reaction that may input more information which may start another reaction