IB ESS Unit 1 - Foundations of Environmental Systems and Societies

environmental value system (EVS)

a world view or paradigm that shapes the way an individual or group of people perceive and evaluate environmental issues. This is influenced by cultural, religious, economic, and socio-political context.

ecocentric worlview

integrates social, spiritual and environmental dimensions into a holistic ideal

-ecology and nature as central to humanity

-emphasizes a less materialistic approach to life with greater self-sufficiency of societies

-prioritizes biorights

-emphasizes the importance of education and encourages self-restraint in human behavior

anthropocentric worldview

argues that humans must sustainably manage the global system

-through the use of taxes, and environmental regulation and legislation

-debate would be encouraged to reach a consensual, pragmatic approach to solving environmental problems

technocentric worldview

argues that technological developments can provide solutions to environmental problems.

-scientific research is encouraged in order to form policies and to understand how systems can be controlled, manipulated or changed to solve resource depletion

-pro-growth agenda is deemed necessary for society's improvement

cornucopians

extreme technocentrists who see the world as having infinite resources to benefit humanity

environmental managers

moderate technocentrists who see the Earth as a garden that needs tending - the stewardship worldview.

biocentric worlview

see all life as having inherent value - value for its own sake, not just for humans

deep ecologists

put more value on nature than humanity. They believe in biorights - universal rights where all species and ecosystems have an inherent value and humans have no right to interfere with this

system

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

open system

exchanges matter and energy with its surroundings

closed system

exchanges energy but not matter with its surroundings

isolated system

exchanges neither matter nor energy with its surroundings

transfer

occurs when energy or matter flows and changes location but does not change its state

transformation

occurs when energy or matter flows and changes its state - a change in the chemical nature, a change in state or a change in energy

systems approach

a way of visualizing a complex set of interactions which may be ecological or societal

model

a simplified version of reality that can be used to understand how a system works and predict how it will respond to change

1st Law of Thermodynamics

Principle of conservation of energy, which states that energy in an isolated system can be transformed but cannot be created nor destroyed

2nd Law of Thermodynamics

Energy is transformed through energy transfers. An increase in entropy arising from energy transformations reduces the energy available to do work.

entropy

a measure of the amount of disorder in a system

efficiency

the useful energy, the work or output produced by a process divided by the amount of energy consumed

negative feedback loops

Stabilizing systems that occur when the output of a process inhibits or reverses the operation of the same process in such a way to reduce change - it counteracts deviation

steady-state equilibrium

characteristics of open systems where there are continuous inputs and outputs of energy and matter, but the system as a whole remains in a more-or-less constant state

static equilibrium

no change over time

stable equilibrium

a system that tends to return to the same equilibrium after a disturbance

unstable equilibrium

a system that returns to a new equilibrium after a disturbance

positive feedback loops

Destabilizing systems which tend to amplify changes and drive the system toward a tipping point where a new equilibrium is adopted.

tipping point

when an ecosystem experiences a shift to a new state in which there are significant changes to its biodiversity and the services it provides.

sustainability

the use and management of resources that allows full natural replacement of the resources exploited and full recovery of the ecosystem affected by their extraction and use

sustainable development

development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs

natural capital

natural resources that can produce a sustainable natural income of goods or services. e.g. forest (natural capital) provides timber (natural income)

ecological footprint

the area of land and water required to sustainably provide all resources at the rate at which they are being consumed by a given population

pollution

the addition of a substance or an agent to an environment by human activity, at a rate greater than at which it can be rendered harmless by the environment, and which has an appreciable effect on the organisms within it

primary pollutant

pollutants which are active on emission

secondary pollutant

pollutants which are formed by primary pollutants undergoing physical or chemical changes

non-point source pollution

pollution which is released from numerous, widely dispersed origins. May have many sources making it virtually impossible to detect exactly where it is coming from.

point source pollution

release of pollutants from a single, clearly identifiable site.

Persistent organic pollutants (POPs)

Chemicals, often manufactured as pesticides in the past, which are resistant to breaking down and remain active in the environment for a long time.

Biodegradable pollutants

Pollutants which do not persist in the environment and break down easily.

Acute pollution

large amounts of a pollutant are released over a short period of time, causing a lot of harm

chronic pollution

The long-term release of a pollutant, in small amounts.

Rachel Carson's Silent Spring

explained how indiscriminate application of agricultural chemicals, pesticides, and other modern chemicals polluted our streams, damaged bird and animal populations, and caused severe medical problems for humans

Davis Guggenheim's documentary An Inconvenient Truth, 2006

American documentary film featuring the former U.S. vice president Al Gore that and focused on the emerging human challenge of global warming and climate change

Minamata 1956

Disease from a chemical plant in Japan that dumped chemicals into the water. The fish were poisoned and people at the poisoned fish and got mercury poisoning.

Bhopal 1984

Explosion in a factory which was run by a US firm, Union Carbide, released a gas which has since killed 20,000 people. Taking Situ and Emmons approach, it can be argued that local health and safety laws were broken, causing the event. But is it simply not a case that companies such as these locate in countries with weak health & safety laws deliberately?

Chernobyl disaster 1986

An event that occurred in Ukraine where a power plant exploded, causing severe radiation and death. People were exposed to radioactive iodine up to 4 years later. Created a risk society.

UN Rio Earth Summit in 1992

a fundamental meeting, since the documentary bases were laid there to face the multiple threats that loom over life on Earth

Green Revolution

a large increase in crop production in developing countries achieved by the use of fertilizers, pesticides, and high-yield crop varieties

emergent properties

New properties that arise with each step upward in the hierarchy of life, owing to the arrangement and interactions of parts as complexity increases.

range of scales of an ecosystem

micro (small), meso (middle) and macro (big)

Inputs

the resources—such as labor, money, materials, and energy—that are converted into outputs

Outputs

the goods, services, and ideas that result from the conversion of inputs

Storages

The stock or reservoir of energy and matter in a system

-represented by rectangular boxes

Flows

processes that move matter between pools

-represented by arrows

resilience

the rate at which an ecosystem returns to its original state after a disturbance

natural income

Renewable resources such as plants, animals, and soil provided by natural capital.

life-supporting services

-provided by ecosystems

-water replenishment, flood and erosion protection and goods such as timber, fisheries and agricultural crops

environmental indicators of sustainability

Biodiversity / Pollution / Population / Climate

goods

-physical resources which are measurable and may (or may not) be monetized; marketable commodities exploited by humans

-Fresh water, soil nutrients, minerals, wood, animal products (meat, milk, leather)

Services

-generally not monetized; natural processes that provide a benefit to the human environment

-Oxygen production from photosynthesis, carbon sequestration (capture & store) through respiration, water cycling, potable groundwater filtration, erosion control from forests, recreational opportunities, aesthetics: beauty

Milliennium Ecosystem Assessment

-gave a scientific appraisal of the condition and trends in the world's ecosystems and the services they provide using environmental indicators, as well as the scientific basis for action to conserve and use them sustainably

environmental impact assessments (EIA)

-Incorporate baseline studies before a development project is undertaken

-assess the environmental, social and economic impacts of the project

-predicting and evaluating possible impacts

-suggesting mitigation strategies for the project

-followed by an audit and continued monitoring

-each country or region has different guidance on the use

Criticisms of EIAs include:

the lack of a standard practice or training for practitioners, the lack of a clear definition of system boundaries and the lack of inclusion of indirect impacts.

organic pollution

Comes from the decomposition of living materials and their

byproducts or fertilizers.

Plant residue, human sewage and pet waste are all examples

inorganic pollution

-fertilizers, chemicals,

-Smog, minerals/metals resulting from industrial processes

Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT)

-Organic pollutant that bioaccumulates in aquatic ecosystems.

-highly effective insecticide, sprayed in the United States after WWII

-exemplifies a conflict between the utility of a pollutant and its effect on the environment

-major health consequences

Tier 1 level of pollution management

-change human behavior to replace the pollutant with a less-harmful substance

-most effective; hardest to implement (old habits die hard)

-involves legislation, economic incentives & education

Tier 2 level of pollution management

-does not stop the production of pollutants, but prevents their release into the environment through legislation and new technologies

-emission limits, smokestack scrubbers, catalytic converters

Tier 3 level of pollution management

-clean up damaged ecosystems

-least effective; most expensive (does not address the source of the problem)

-requires repeated application until one of the other strategies is implemented properly

albedo positive feedback

rise in global temps --> increase melting of ice caps --> --> decrease in albedo --> increase in solar radiation --> rise in global temps

Albedo Negative Feedback

rise in global temps --> increased evaporation --> increased cloud cover --> increased albedo and reflection of solar radiation --> decrease in global temps

albedo effect

A measure of how much of the Sun's energy is reflected off an object back out to space compared to how much is trapped in Earth's atmosphere

high albedo

- solar radiation is reflected away from the surface = lowering temperatures

low albedo

solar radiation is absorbed by surfaces = increasing temps