Topic 1 Environmental Systems and Societies Review

A comprehensive vocabulary flashcard set reviewing key concepts, figures, historical environmental disasters, system dynamics, and sustainability metrics from Topic 1.

Environmental Value System (EVS)

A model that shows the inputs that affect our perspectives and the outputs resulting from our perspectives regarding environmental issues.

System

An assembly of parts and the relationships between them, which together constitute a whole.

Ecocentrism

A nature-centred viewpoint that integrates social, spiritual, and environmental dimensions into a holistic ideal, prioritizing ecology, biorights, education, and self-restraint.

Anthropocentrism

A people-centred viewpoint that holds humans must sustainably manage the global system through environmental regulation, legislation, taxes, and consensual debate.

Technocentrism

A technology-centred viewpoint that relies on technological developments, scientific research, and a pro-growth agenda to solve environmental problems and resource depletion.

Greta Thunberg

A Swedish climate activist (born January 3, 2003) who began the school strike for climate ('Skolstrejk för Klimatet') in August 2018 outside the Swedish parliament.

Greta effect

A term used by media to describe Greta Thunberg's widespread influence on global climate activism and public consciousness.

Rachel Carson

An American marine biologist, writer, and conservationist (May 27, 1907 – April 14, 1964) whose 1962 book Silent Spring led to a nationwide U.S. ban on DDT and inspired the creation of the U.S. EPA.

Silent Spring

A 1962 book written by Rachel Carson regarding the environmental hazards of synthetic pesticides, which inspired a nationwide grassroots environmental movement.

Dame Jane Morris Goodall

An English zoologist, primatologist, and anthropologist (born 3 April 1934) considered the world's foremost expert on chimpanzees after 60 years of studying them in Gombe Stream National Park, Tanzania.

Máxima Acuña

A Peruvian subsistence farmer (born ~1970) who received the 2016 Goldman Environmental Prize for standing up to Newmont Mining Corporation and Buenaventura to keep her land from becoming the Conga Mine.

Wangari Maathai

A Kenyan environmentalist (1 April 1940 – 25 September 2011) who founded the Green Belt Movement, won the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize, and organized women-led groups to plant 30 million trees.

Green Belt Movement

An environmental initiative founded by Wangari Maathai that led to the planting of 30 million trees in the early 2000s, creating jobs and securing firewood for rural Kenyan communities.

Robert D. Bullard

Known as the 'father of environmental justice', an advocate (born 21 December 1946) who documented that toxic waste sites in Houston were disproportionately located in African American neighbourhoods.

Environmental racism

The unfair practice of disproportionately siting garbage dumps, incinerators, and toxic waste sites in minority neighborhoods, as highlighted by Robert D. Bullard's research.

Dato' Seri Tengku Dr. Zainal Adlin Bin Tengku Mahamood

A Malaysian conservationist (born 1940) who helped conceive and create the 'Heart of Borneo: Three Countries One Conservation Vision'.

Heart of Borneo: Three Countries One Conservation Vision

A conservation program uniting Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei to protect one of the world's largest transboundary rainforests in central Borneo.

Minamata disease

A neurological disease discovered in 1956 in Minamata City, Japan, caused by methyl mercury released into wastewater by the Chisso Corporation accumulating in edible coastal fish and shellfish.

Bhopal Disaster

A toxic gas release on December 3, 1984, in Bhopal, India, where an overheating tank at a Union Carbide pesticide plant released $42\text{ tonnes}$ of methyl isocyanate gas, killing thousands.

Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster

A catastrophic nuclear accident on April 26, 1986, at reactor number four of the Chernobyl plant in Ukraine (USSR), spreading radioactive fallout over Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia.

Fukushima Nuclear Disaster

A 2011 nuclear meltdown event on March 11 at a coastal power plant in Northern Japan caused by a tsunami, leading to the closure of all 48 nuclear reactors in Japan.

La Pampilla Refinery spill

An oil spill on January 15, 2022, off the coast of Peru, where nearly $12,000\text{ barrels}$ of crude oil leaked from a pipeline, polluting marine reserves and beaches.

Transfer

A flow in a system involving a change in the location of energy or matter without altering its chemical nature or state.

Transformation

A flow in a system involving a change in chemical nature, chemical state, or energy form, such as photosynthesis or respiration.

Open system

A system that exchanges both matter and energy across its boundaries with the surrounding environment.

Closed system

A system that exchanges energy but not matter across its boundaries, such as planet Earth receiving solar radiation and emitting heat.

Negative feedback loop

A self-regulatory feedback mechanism that counteracts any change away from equilibrium, maintaining system stability.

Steady-state equilibrium

A condition of continuous stability in an open system where overall balance is maintained despite constant inputs and outputs of energy and matter.

Stable equilibrium

A state of balance in a system where it returns to its original equilibrium following a disturbance.

Unstable equilibrium

A state of balance in a system where a disturbance prevents it from returning to its original state, resulting in a new equilibrium.

Positive feedback loop

A feedback mechanism that amplifies and accelerates change away from equilibrium, driving the system toward a new state.

Tipping point

The minimum amount of change within a system that destabilizes it, causing it to adopt a new equilibrium or stable state.

Resilience

The capacity of a system to resist damage, avoid tipping points, and recover from or adapt efficiently to disturbances while maintaining steady-state equilibrium.

Sustainability

The practice of using global resources at a rate that allows natural regeneration and minimizes damage to the environment.

Natural capital

The stock of a specific natural resource present in an ecosystem.

Natural income

The annual amount or yield of a natural resource that is naturally regenerated each year.

Social sustainability

A dimension of sustainability that focuses on the survival of human societies and their cultures, including languages, beliefs, and spiritual practices.

Economic sustainability

The ability of the present generation to meet its economic needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Nested Circle Model

A sustainability framework illustrating that the economy exists within society, which exists within and relies entirely upon the environment.

Ecological footprint

The area of land and water required to sustainably provide all resources consumed and assimilate all wastes produced by a given population.

Carbon footprint

The total quantity of greenhouse gases produced by human activities, measured in tons of carbon dioxide equivalent ($\text{CO}_2\text{e}$).

Water footprint

A measure of total water usage calculated in cubic meters per year ($\text{m}^3/\text{year}$) for an individual, company, or country.

Biocapacity

The ability of a biologically productive area to generate an ongoing supply of renewable resources and absorb its resulting wastes.

Citizen science

The involvement of the general public in scientific research, allowing larger sample sizes and data collection.

Crowdsourcing

A method of gathering data for citizen science projects from large groups of people who submit information via the internet or social media.