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Ch 1: Foundations of Environmental Systems and Societies

1.1 - Environmental value systems

  • Environmental value system (EVS): a worldview that shapes the way an individual or group perceive and evaluate environmental issues

    • Examples: culture, religion, economic and socio-political context

  • Who is included in the environmental movement?

    1. Influential individuals: often use social media to raise awareness

    2. Independent pressure groups: they use awareness campaigns to make a change. They influence the government and corporate business organisations → Non Governmental Organisations (NGO’s)

    3. Corporate businesses: multinational corporations (MNC) and transnational corporations supply consumer demand and create environmental impact

      • mining for minerals or burning of fossil fuels

    4. Governments: make policy decisions which include environmental ounces, such as planning permission for land use, applying legislation to manage emissions controls over factories

    5. Intergovernmental bodies: these groups hold summits about earth to bring governments, NGOs and corporations to consider environmental and world development issues

  • Categories of EVS:

    • Ecocentric worldview: puts ecology and nature as central to humanity (less materialistic lifestyle)

      1. Deep ecologists

      2. Soft reliant, soft ecologists

    • Anthropocentric: believes humans must sustainably manage the global system

      • Humans are not dependent on nature but nature is there to benefit from mankind

    • Technocentric: believes that technological developments can provide solutions to environmental problems

      1. Environmental managers → technocentrists

      2. Extreme technocentrists → cornucopians

  • Cornucopians: people who see the world as having infinite resources to benefit humanity. They think that technology can solve any problem

  • Environmental managers: believe that we have an ethical duty to protect and nurture the earth

  • Biocentric: thinkers see all life as shaving value for its own sake, not just for humans. Humans should not cause premature extinction of any species

    • the ultimate source of energy for all organisms → sun

  • Deep ecologists: put more value on nature than humanity. They believe in biologists, universal rights where all species and ecosystems have value and humans cannot interfere with it

1.2 - Systems and Models

  • System: set of interrelated parts working together to make a complex whole, can be living or nonliving. Systems are all more than the sum of their parts

    • Can exist in many scales (large or small)

    • Can be open, closed, or isolated, though most systems are open

    • Material and energy undergo transfers and transformations in flowing from one storage to the next

    • Biosphere = atmosphere + lithosphere + hydrosphere + ecosphere

  • Systems can be closed, open, or isolated

  • Biome: can be seen as an ecosystem. It helps if the ecosystem has clear boundaries

  • Biosphere: is a fragile skin on planet earth. Includes atmosphere (air), lithosphere (rocks), hydrosphere (water)

  • All systems have:

    1. Systems (stores of matter/energy)

    2. Flows (into, through, and out of the system)

    3. Inputs

    4. Outputs

    5. Boundaries

    6. Processes (which transfer or transform energy or matter from storage to storage)

  • Matter (material) and energy flow through ecosystems as:

    • Transfers: when energy or matter flows and changes location but does not change its state

      • Movement of material → in a non-living process

      • The movement of energy

      • Movement of material through living organisms

  • Transformations: when energy or matter flow and changes its state, a change in the chemical nature, a change in state or energy

    • Matter to matter

    • Matter to energy

    • Energy to energy

  • Transfers require less energy → more efficient than transformations

  • An open system exchanges matter and energy with their environments; all ecosystems are open systems

    • Examples: in forest ecosystems:

      • Plants fix energy from light energy entering the system during photosynthesis

      • Nitrogen from the air is fixed by soil bacteria

      • Water is lost through evaporation and transpiration from plants

  • A closed system exchanges energy (not matter) with its environment. They are extremely rare in nature

    • Light energy enters the earth’s ecosystem in large amounts and some is eventually returned to space as long-wave energy (heat). This is how a closed system operates.

  • An isolated system neither exchanges matter nor energy with its environment. They do not naturally exist; the entire universe is an isolated system.

  • Models are simplified versions of systems, it could be:

    • A physical model (a wind tunnel)

    • A software model (climate change or evolution)

    • Mathematical diagrams

    • Data flow diagrams

  • Advantages of Models:

    • Easier to work with than complex reality

    • Used to predict the effect of a change of input

    • Can be applied to other situations

    • Used to visualise small and large things

    • Can help us observe patterns

  • Disadvantages of models:

    • Predictions may be inaccurate

    • Accuracy is lost

    • Model will be wrong if our assumptions are wrong

  • Sustainability is achieved only when economy, society, and the environment overlap

1.3 - Energy and Equilibrium

  1. First law of thermodynamics: principle of conservation of energy

    • Principle of conservation of energy: states that energy in isolated systems can be transformed but not created or destroyed

  2. Second law of thermodynamics: states that energy is transformed through energy transfers

    • Entropy: a measure of the amount of disorder in a system

      • Refers to the spreading out of dispersal of energy

      • More energy = less order

      • When entropy is used to do work, some energy is always wasted as heat energy

    • Energy = work + heat (+other wasted energy)

  • Efficiency: the useful energy, the work or output produced by a process divided by the amount of energy consumed being the input to the the process

    • Efficiency =  work or energy produced / energy consumed

    • Efficiency = useful output / input

      • TIP: multiply by 100% if you need the answer in a percentage

  • Equilibrium: the tendency of the system to return to an original state following disturbance. At an equilibrium; a state of balance exists among the components of a system

    • Types of Equilibrium: static, steady state, stable, unstable

  1. Steady-state equilibrium: a characteristic of an open system where there are continents inputs and outputs of energy and matter, the system remains in constant state

    • No long-term changes, however, small fluctuations occur in the short term

      Fig. 1 Steady State Diagram

  2. Static equilibrium: no change occurs over time. Most non-living systems are in a state of static equilibrium

    • This cannot occur in a living system, it can only occur in an isolated system

      Fig. 2 Static state diagram

  3. Stable equilibrium: the system tends to return to the same equilibrium after a disturbance

    Fig.3 Stable state diagram

  4. Unstable equilibrium: the system will return to a new equilibrium after a disturbance

Fig. 4 Unstable state diagram

  • Feedback loop: when information that starts as a reaction in turn may input more information which may start another reaction

    • This is a way that the input is affected by the output. In a stable equilibrium, feedback returns the equilibrium to its original state.

    • In an unstable equilibrium, feedback returns the equilibrium to a different state

  • Negative feedback loop: stabilises steady state equilibria, occur when the output of a process inhibits or reverses the operation of the same process in such a way to reduce change, counteracts deviation.

    • Returns back to its original state

    • Stabilising as they reduce change

  • Positive feedback loop: will amplify changes and bring the system towards a new tipping point where a new equilibrium is adopted

    • Change a system to a new state

    • Destabilising as they increase change

    • Albedo: reflecting ability of a surface

  • Resilience: the ability of a system to return to its initial state after a disturbance

    • If a system has low resilience it will enter a new state

    • Generally considered a good thing, for example, bacterium will not be affected from antibiotics which is not good

  • Factors affecting ecosystem resilience:

    • Biodiversity increases resilience

    • Species that can shift their geographical range → more resilient

    • Fast reproductive rate means faster recovery

  • An ecological tipping point: is a reached when an ecosystem experiences a shift to a new state

    • Significant changes occur in biodiversity and services it provides

    • Changes are long lasting and hard to reverse

  • Lake eutrophication: nutrients added to a lake may not change much until enough nutrients are added to change its state

    • Occurs when bodies of water are overly enriched with minerals and nutrients which promotes the growth of algae

  • Extinction of a keystone species: A keystone species within an ecosystem is fundamental to keeping the ecosystem stable and supported

    • Their extinction can negatively affect the ecosystem

  • Coral reef death: if ocean acidity rises enough the reef coral dies and cannot regenerate

1.4 - sustainability

  • Sustainability: the use of resources that allows full natural replacement of the resources used and full recovery of the ecosystems affected by their extraction

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

  • Ecological overshoot: when a sustainable resource is exploited to its maximum

    • Replenishing the resources will take longer

    • This increased demand is due to level of overall consumption, per capita consumption

  • Natural capital: natural resources that can produce a sustainable natural income of goods or services

    • Economics use the world “capital” ro describe the means of production. For example: Factories, tools, machines…

    • Used to create goods which provide income

  • Environmental impact assessments (EIA): is a report prepared before a development project changes the use of lans. It weighs up the advantages and disadvantages of the development

    • Will qualify changes to microclimate, biodiversity, scenic and amenity value resulting from the changes

    • These measurements represent the “baseline study”

  • Baseline study: an analysis of a current situation to identify the starting points for a project

  • Ecological footprint (EF): the area of land and water required to sustainability provide all resources at the rate which they are being consumed by a given population

    • A model used to estimate the demands that human populations place on the environmental

      Fig. 5 Ecological Footprint

1.5 - Humans and Pollution

  • Pollution: the introduction/addition of a substance to the environment by human activity. This addition is considered harmful to the environment

    • Pollutants released by human activities: matter, energy, living organisms

    • Matter (gasses, liquids, solids) which is organic (contains carbon atoms) or inorganic

    • Energy (sound, light, heat)

    • Living organisms

  • Primary pollutants: are active on emission (carbon monoxide) from the incomplete combustion of fossil fuels

    • Causes headaches, fatigue, and can kill

  • Secondary pollutants: are formed by primary pollutants undergoing physical or chemical changes

  • Point source and nonpoint source pollutants:

    1. Nonpoint course (NPS):

      • Release of pollutants from dispersed origins, example: exhaust gases from vehicles

      • Has many sources (hard to detect its origin)

      • Rainwater can collect nitrates which are used as fertilisers

      • Air pollution can be blown and mix with other chemicals

    2. Point source (PS):

      • Release of pollutants from a single site

      • Easier to locate pollution

      • Easier to manage and can be found more easily

  • Persistent organic pollutant (POPs): a toxic environmental contaminant which requires special handling and disposal

    • Resistant to breaking down and remain active in the environment for a long time

    • Can cause significant harm, Health wise, due to the heavy pollution we are inhaling

    • High molecular weight

    • Not soluble in water

    • Highly soluble in fats and liquids (can pass through cell membranes)

  • Biodegradable pollutants: do not persist in the environment and break down quickly. May be broken down by decomposer organisms or physical processes. Example: Light, heat

  • Acute pollution: when large amounts of pollutants are released causing a lot of harm

  • Chronic pollution: long term release of a pollutant but in small amounts

    • Often goes undetected for a long time

    • More difficult to clean up

    • Often spreads widely

  • Pollution:

    1. Direct measurements of air pollution:

      • acidity of rainwater

      • amount of gas in the atmosphere

      • amount of particles emitted by a diesel engine

      • amount of lead in the atmosphere

    2. Direct measurements of water or soil pollution:

      • nitrates and phosphates

      • amount of organic matter or bacteria

      • heavy metal concentrations

    3. Indirect measurements of pollution:

      • Measuring abiotic factors that change as a result of the pollutant (oxygen content of water)

      • Recording the presence of indicator species, only found if the water is polluted or unpolluted

  • How can pollution be managed?

    • By changing the human activity which produced it

    • By working to restore or clean up damaged ecosystems

    • By regulating or preventing the release of the pollutant

  1. Human activity: promoting alternative technologies through

    • Controlling release of pollutant/release of pollutant into environment

    • Impact of pollution on ecosystems

    • Campaigns, education, community groups, governmental legislation, economic incentives/disincentives

  2. Controlling release of pollutant/release of pollutant into environment:

    • Legislating and regulating standards of emission

    • Developing/applying technologies for extracting pollutant from emissions

  3. Impact of pollutant on ecosystems: Clean up and restoration of damaged systems:

    • Extracting and restoration of damaged systems

    • Replanting/restocking lost or depleted populations and communities

Ch 1: Foundations of Environmental Systems and Societies

1.1 - Environmental value systems

  • Environmental value system (EVS): a worldview that shapes the way an individual or group perceive and evaluate environmental issues

    • Examples: culture, religion, economic and socio-political context

  • Who is included in the environmental movement?

    1. Influential individuals: often use social media to raise awareness

    2. Independent pressure groups: they use awareness campaigns to make a change. They influence the government and corporate business organisations → Non Governmental Organisations (NGO’s)

    3. Corporate businesses: multinational corporations (MNC) and transnational corporations supply consumer demand and create environmental impact

      • mining for minerals or burning of fossil fuels

    4. Governments: make policy decisions which include environmental ounces, such as planning permission for land use, applying legislation to manage emissions controls over factories

    5. Intergovernmental bodies: these groups hold summits about earth to bring governments, NGOs and corporations to consider environmental and world development issues

  • Categories of EVS:

    • Ecocentric worldview: puts ecology and nature as central to humanity (less materialistic lifestyle)

      1. Deep ecologists

      2. Soft reliant, soft ecologists

    • Anthropocentric: believes humans must sustainably manage the global system

      • Humans are not dependent on nature but nature is there to benefit from mankind

    • Technocentric: believes that technological developments can provide solutions to environmental problems

      1. Environmental managers → technocentrists

      2. Extreme technocentrists → cornucopians

  • Cornucopians: people who see the world as having infinite resources to benefit humanity. They think that technology can solve any problem

  • Environmental managers: believe that we have an ethical duty to protect and nurture the earth

  • Biocentric: thinkers see all life as shaving value for its own sake, not just for humans. Humans should not cause premature extinction of any species

    • the ultimate source of energy for all organisms → sun

  • Deep ecologists: put more value on nature than humanity. They believe in biologists, universal rights where all species and ecosystems have value and humans cannot interfere with it

1.2 - Systems and Models

  • System: set of interrelated parts working together to make a complex whole, can be living or nonliving. Systems are all more than the sum of their parts

    • Can exist in many scales (large or small)

    • Can be open, closed, or isolated, though most systems are open

    • Material and energy undergo transfers and transformations in flowing from one storage to the next

    • Biosphere = atmosphere + lithosphere + hydrosphere + ecosphere

  • Systems can be closed, open, or isolated

  • Biome: can be seen as an ecosystem. It helps if the ecosystem has clear boundaries

  • Biosphere: is a fragile skin on planet earth. Includes atmosphere (air), lithosphere (rocks), hydrosphere (water)

  • All systems have:

    1. Systems (stores of matter/energy)

    2. Flows (into, through, and out of the system)

    3. Inputs

    4. Outputs

    5. Boundaries

    6. Processes (which transfer or transform energy or matter from storage to storage)

  • Matter (material) and energy flow through ecosystems as:

    • Transfers: when energy or matter flows and changes location but does not change its state

      • Movement of material → in a non-living process

      • The movement of energy

      • Movement of material through living organisms

  • Transformations: when energy or matter flow and changes its state, a change in the chemical nature, a change in state or energy

    • Matter to matter

    • Matter to energy

    • Energy to energy

  • Transfers require less energy → more efficient than transformations

  • An open system exchanges matter and energy with their environments; all ecosystems are open systems

    • Examples: in forest ecosystems:

      • Plants fix energy from light energy entering the system during photosynthesis

      • Nitrogen from the air is fixed by soil bacteria

      • Water is lost through evaporation and transpiration from plants

  • A closed system exchanges energy (not matter) with its environment. They are extremely rare in nature

    • Light energy enters the earth’s ecosystem in large amounts and some is eventually returned to space as long-wave energy (heat). This is how a closed system operates.

  • An isolated system neither exchanges matter nor energy with its environment. They do not naturally exist; the entire universe is an isolated system.

  • Models are simplified versions of systems, it could be:

    • A physical model (a wind tunnel)

    • A software model (climate change or evolution)

    • Mathematical diagrams

    • Data flow diagrams

  • Advantages of Models:

    • Easier to work with than complex reality

    • Used to predict the effect of a change of input

    • Can be applied to other situations

    • Used to visualise small and large things

    • Can help us observe patterns

  • Disadvantages of models:

    • Predictions may be inaccurate

    • Accuracy is lost

    • Model will be wrong if our assumptions are wrong

  • Sustainability is achieved only when economy, society, and the environment overlap

1.3 - Energy and Equilibrium

  1. First law of thermodynamics: principle of conservation of energy

    • Principle of conservation of energy: states that energy in isolated systems can be transformed but not created or destroyed

  2. Second law of thermodynamics: states that energy is transformed through energy transfers

    • Entropy: a measure of the amount of disorder in a system

      • Refers to the spreading out of dispersal of energy

      • More energy = less order

      • When entropy is used to do work, some energy is always wasted as heat energy

    • Energy = work + heat (+other wasted energy)

  • Efficiency: the useful energy, the work or output produced by a process divided by the amount of energy consumed being the input to the the process

    • Efficiency =  work or energy produced / energy consumed

    • Efficiency = useful output / input

      • TIP: multiply by 100% if you need the answer in a percentage

  • Equilibrium: the tendency of the system to return to an original state following disturbance. At an equilibrium; a state of balance exists among the components of a system

    • Types of Equilibrium: static, steady state, stable, unstable

  1. Steady-state equilibrium: a characteristic of an open system where there are continents inputs and outputs of energy and matter, the system remains in constant state

    • No long-term changes, however, small fluctuations occur in the short term

      Fig. 1 Steady State Diagram

  2. Static equilibrium: no change occurs over time. Most non-living systems are in a state of static equilibrium

    • This cannot occur in a living system, it can only occur in an isolated system

      Fig. 2 Static state diagram

  3. Stable equilibrium: the system tends to return to the same equilibrium after a disturbance

    Fig.3 Stable state diagram

  4. Unstable equilibrium: the system will return to a new equilibrium after a disturbance

Fig. 4 Unstable state diagram

  • Feedback loop: when information that starts as a reaction in turn may input more information which may start another reaction

    • This is a way that the input is affected by the output. In a stable equilibrium, feedback returns the equilibrium to its original state.

    • In an unstable equilibrium, feedback returns the equilibrium to a different state

  • Negative feedback loop: stabilises steady state equilibria, occur when the output of a process inhibits or reverses the operation of the same process in such a way to reduce change, counteracts deviation.

    • Returns back to its original state

    • Stabilising as they reduce change

  • Positive feedback loop: will amplify changes and bring the system towards a new tipping point where a new equilibrium is adopted

    • Change a system to a new state

    • Destabilising as they increase change

    • Albedo: reflecting ability of a surface

  • Resilience: the ability of a system to return to its initial state after a disturbance

    • If a system has low resilience it will enter a new state

    • Generally considered a good thing, for example, bacterium will not be affected from antibiotics which is not good

  • Factors affecting ecosystem resilience:

    • Biodiversity increases resilience

    • Species that can shift their geographical range → more resilient

    • Fast reproductive rate means faster recovery

  • An ecological tipping point: is a reached when an ecosystem experiences a shift to a new state

    • Significant changes occur in biodiversity and services it provides

    • Changes are long lasting and hard to reverse

  • Lake eutrophication: nutrients added to a lake may not change much until enough nutrients are added to change its state

    • Occurs when bodies of water are overly enriched with minerals and nutrients which promotes the growth of algae

  • Extinction of a keystone species: A keystone species within an ecosystem is fundamental to keeping the ecosystem stable and supported

    • Their extinction can negatively affect the ecosystem

  • Coral reef death: if ocean acidity rises enough the reef coral dies and cannot regenerate

1.4 - sustainability

  • Sustainability: the use of resources that allows full natural replacement of the resources used and full recovery of the ecosystems affected by their extraction

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

  • Ecological overshoot: when a sustainable resource is exploited to its maximum

    • Replenishing the resources will take longer

    • This increased demand is due to level of overall consumption, per capita consumption

  • Natural capital: natural resources that can produce a sustainable natural income of goods or services

    • Economics use the world “capital” ro describe the means of production. For example: Factories, tools, machines…

    • Used to create goods which provide income

  • Environmental impact assessments (EIA): is a report prepared before a development project changes the use of lans. It weighs up the advantages and disadvantages of the development

    • Will qualify changes to microclimate, biodiversity, scenic and amenity value resulting from the changes

    • These measurements represent the “baseline study”

  • Baseline study: an analysis of a current situation to identify the starting points for a project

  • Ecological footprint (EF): the area of land and water required to sustainability provide all resources at the rate which they are being consumed by a given population

    • A model used to estimate the demands that human populations place on the environmental

      Fig. 5 Ecological Footprint

1.5 - Humans and Pollution

  • Pollution: the introduction/addition of a substance to the environment by human activity. This addition is considered harmful to the environment

    • Pollutants released by human activities: matter, energy, living organisms

    • Matter (gasses, liquids, solids) which is organic (contains carbon atoms) or inorganic

    • Energy (sound, light, heat)

    • Living organisms

  • Primary pollutants: are active on emission (carbon monoxide) from the incomplete combustion of fossil fuels

    • Causes headaches, fatigue, and can kill

  • Secondary pollutants: are formed by primary pollutants undergoing physical or chemical changes

  • Point source and nonpoint source pollutants:

    1. Nonpoint course (NPS):

      • Release of pollutants from dispersed origins, example: exhaust gases from vehicles

      • Has many sources (hard to detect its origin)

      • Rainwater can collect nitrates which are used as fertilisers

      • Air pollution can be blown and mix with other chemicals

    2. Point source (PS):

      • Release of pollutants from a single site

      • Easier to locate pollution

      • Easier to manage and can be found more easily

  • Persistent organic pollutant (POPs): a toxic environmental contaminant which requires special handling and disposal

    • Resistant to breaking down and remain active in the environment for a long time

    • Can cause significant harm, Health wise, due to the heavy pollution we are inhaling

    • High molecular weight

    • Not soluble in water

    • Highly soluble in fats and liquids (can pass through cell membranes)

  • Biodegradable pollutants: do not persist in the environment and break down quickly. May be broken down by decomposer organisms or physical processes. Example: Light, heat

  • Acute pollution: when large amounts of pollutants are released causing a lot of harm

  • Chronic pollution: long term release of a pollutant but in small amounts

    • Often goes undetected for a long time

    • More difficult to clean up

    • Often spreads widely

  • Pollution:

    1. Direct measurements of air pollution:

      • acidity of rainwater

      • amount of gas in the atmosphere

      • amount of particles emitted by a diesel engine

      • amount of lead in the atmosphere

    2. Direct measurements of water or soil pollution:

      • nitrates and phosphates

      • amount of organic matter or bacteria

      • heavy metal concentrations

    3. Indirect measurements of pollution:

      • Measuring abiotic factors that change as a result of the pollutant (oxygen content of water)

      • Recording the presence of indicator species, only found if the water is polluted or unpolluted

  • How can pollution be managed?

    • By changing the human activity which produced it

    • By working to restore or clean up damaged ecosystems

    • By regulating or preventing the release of the pollutant

  1. Human activity: promoting alternative technologies through

    • Controlling release of pollutant/release of pollutant into environment

    • Impact of pollution on ecosystems

    • Campaigns, education, community groups, governmental legislation, economic incentives/disincentives

  2. Controlling release of pollutant/release of pollutant into environment:

    • Legislating and regulating standards of emission

    • Developing/applying technologies for extracting pollutant from emissions

  3. Impact of pollutant on ecosystems: Clean up and restoration of damaged systems:

    • Extracting and restoration of damaged systems

    • Replanting/restocking lost or depleted populations and communities

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