Foundations of Environmental Systems and Societies

Topic 1: Foundations of Environmental Systems and Societies

1.1 Environmental Value Systems

• Significant Ideas:
  • Historical events influence the development of Environmental Value Systems (EVSs) and environmental movements.
  • EVSs form a spectrum between ecocentric, anthropocentric, and technocentric views.
• Knowledge and Understanding:
  • Historical influences include literature, media, disasters, international agreements, and technology.
  • An EVS represents a worldview guiding perception and evaluation of environmental issues, shaped by various contexts.
  • The development of an EVS involves education, culture, and media inputs leading to decisions and evaluations (outputs).
• Examples of EVS Influences:
  • Gaia Hypothesis (James Lovelock); Silent Spring (Rachel Carson); Chernobyl, Fukushima disasters; Minamata disaster; Earth Day; Rio Earth Summit.
• Ecocentric Viewpoint:
  • Integrates social, environmental dimensions; emphasizes ecological importance; promotes self-restraint and biorights.
• Anthropocentric Viewpoint:
  • Advocates sustainable management via regulations, taxes; encourages debate for pragmatic solutions.
• Technocentric Viewpoint:
  • Optimistic view of technological advancements solving environmental issues; focuses on scientific research and resource manipulation.

1.2 Systems and Models

• Significant Ideas:
  • Systems approach clarifies complex interactions in ecological/societal contexts.
• Systems Knowledge:
  • Systems consist of storages and flows that exchange energy and matter.
  • Flows can be transfers (location change) or transformations (chemical/state change).
  • Open systems exchange both energy and matter; closed systems exchange only energy; isolated systems exchange neither.
• System Diagrams:
  • Used to represent flows and storages; storages as boxes, flows as arrows indicating their magnitude and direction.
• Applications:
  • Construct and evaluate system diagrams related to ecological systems (e.g., carbon cycling).

1.3 Energy and Equilibria

• Significant Ideas:
  • Thermodynamics govern energy flow and work capacity in systems with potential equilibria.
  • Positive feedback destabilizes systems; negative feedback stabilizes them.
• Laws of Thermodynamics:
  • First Law: Energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transformed.
  • Second Law: Entropy increases over time, affecting energy available for work.
• Stability and Resilience:
  • Resilience definitions and concepts of tipping points influence systems equilibrium.
• Applications:
  • Discuss implications of thermodynamics in ecological systems and evaluate tipping points.

1.4 Sustainability

• Significant Ideas:
  • Sustainability ensures resource use does not compromise future availability.
  • Natural capital supports ecosystem services critical for human survival.
• Indicators and EIAs:
  • Environmental indicators (biodiversity, pollution, climate) gauge sustainability.
  • Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) assess and mitigate potential impacts before projects.
• Applications:
  • Discuss relationships between natural capital, income, sustainability, and evaluate effectiveness of EIAs.

1.5 Humans and Pollution

• Significant Ideas:
  • Pollution originates from human activities and manifests diversely across ecosystems.
• Pollutants Classification:
  • Definitions, sources, point and non-point source distinctions; examples like DDT illustrate conflicts of utility vs. environmental impact.
• Management Strategies:
  • Pollution management levels: altering human activity, controlling release, and ecosystem restoration.
• Applications:
  • Evaluate pollutant management effectiveness and methods for each strategy.

Topic 2: Ecosystems and Ecology

2.1 Species and Populations

• Significant Ideas:
  • Species dynamics affected by interactions within biotic and abiotic environments.
• Knowledge and Understanding:
  • Definitions of species, populations, habitats, and niches explained through examples and models.
• Applications:
  • Interpret models illustrating ecological interactions like predation, competition, and resource use.

2.2 Communities and Ecosystems

• Significant Ideas:
  • Energy and nutrient flows in ecosystems represent community interactions.
• Knowledge and Understanding:
  • Understand community definitions and the role of ecosystems in supporting interactions.

2.3 Flows of Energy and Matter

• Significant Ideas:
  • Energy and matter flows link ecosystems.
• Applications:
  • Analyze quantitative models and calculate values in energy transfers and matter flows.

2.4 Biomes, Zonation and Succession

• Significant Ideas:
  • Climate impacts biomes; succession leads to climax communities.
• Applications:
  • Discuss climate change impacts on biomes and analyze successional stages in ecosystems.

2.5 Investigating Ecosystems

• Significant Ideas:
  • Ecosystem investigation allows for comparisons and monitoring of impacts.
• Applications:
  • Design and carry out ecological investigations, emphasizing continued improvement in methodologies.

Topic 3: Biodiversity and Conservation

3.1 An Introduction to Biodiversity

• Significant Ideas:
  • It is essential to quantify biodiversity forms for conservation efforts.
• Knowledge and Understanding:
  • Definitions of biodiversity types: species, habitat, genetic.

3.2 Origins of Biodiversity

• Significant Ideas:
  • Evolution through natural selection drives biodiversity.
• Knowledge and Understanding:
  • Speciation and isolation of populations influenced by geographical events.

3.3 Threats to Biodiversity

• Significant Idea:
  • Rapid declines in biodiversity driven by human activity.
• Applications:
  • Explore case studies on endangered species focusing on ecological roles and threats.

3.4 Conservation of Biodiversity

• Significant Ideas:
  • Conservation arguments vary depending on EVSs.
• Applications:
  • Evaluate conservation strategies strengths and weaknesses.

Topic 4: Water and Aquatic Food Production Systems

4.1 Introduction to Water Systems

• Significant Ideas:
  • Hydrological cycle can be disrupted by human activity.

4.2 Access to Fresh Water

• Significant Ideas:
  • Inequitable freshwater distribution leads to conflict.

4.3 Aquatic Food Production Systems

• Significant Ideas:
  • Aquatic systems' sustainability affects ecological balance.

4.4 Water Pollution

• Significant Ideas:
  • Identifying and managing aquatic pollution is crucial for environmental health.

Topic 5: Soil Systems and Terrestrial Food Production

5.1 Introduction to Soil Systems

• Significant Ideas:
  • Soil systems are vital ecosystems influencing primary productivity.

5.2 Terrestrial Food Production Systems and Food Choices

• Significant Ideas:
  • Socio-political and ecological factors influence food production sustainability.

5.3 Soil Degradation and Conservation

• Significant Ideas:
  • Human activities can harm soil fertility; conservation strategies are needed.

Topic 6: Atmospheric Systems

6.1 Introduction to the Atmosphere

• Significant Ideas:
  • The atmosphere influences all ecosystems.

6.2 Stratospheric Ozone

• Significant Ideas:
  • Ozone protects life from harmful UV rays; human activities threaten its balance.

6.3 Photochemical Smog

• Significant Ideas:
  • Smog results from fossil fuel combustion, affecting air quality.

6.4 Acid Deposition

• Significant Ideas:
  • Acid deposition is a cross-border pollution issue affecting ecosystems.

Topic 7: Climate Change and Energy Production

7.1 Energy Choices and Security

• Significant Ideas:
  • Energy source choices impact climate and sustainability.

7.2 Climate Change—Causes and Impacts

• Significant Ideas:
  • Human activities increase greenhouse gas levels, affecting global climates.

7.3 Climate Change—Mitigation and Adaptation

• Significant Ideas:
  • Mitigation reduces causes of climate change; adaptation manages effects.

Topic 8: Human Systems and Resource Use

8.1 Human Population Dynamics

• Significant Ideas:
  • Population growth models assess human dynamics and resource implications.

8.2 Resource Use in Society

• Significant Ideas:
  • Sustainability of natural capital relies on responsible management.

8.3 Solid Domestic Waste

• Significant Ideas:
  • Waste management plays a crucial role in sustainability efforts.

8.4 Human Population Carrying Capacity

• Significant Ideas:
  • Understanding carrying capacity is vital for sustainable resource use.