1.
1 Environmental Value Systems
EVS: paradigm that shapes how individuals/groups perceive & evaluate environmental issues.
Conservationist: conserve so that nature can continue to supply goods & services sustainably
Preservationist: conserve nature unconditionally for its spiritual value
Environmental Movement Timeline:
Neolithic Agricultural Industrial Green Revolution Modern Environmental Environmentalism
Revolution Revolution Movement
10,000 yrs ago Early 1800s 1940s-1960s 1960s onwards Research
pop began to rise Pop growth Technology applied to Greenpeace (1971) Climate Change
Humans became Resource use ↑ agriculture 1972: 1st Earth Summit Encourage
farmers Medical revolution Food production ↑ Rise of NGOs sustainability
3 billion people GW, deforestation, fish ↓ Tech vs Eco
Ecocentric (nature centred) Anthropocentric (people centred) Technocentric
Ecology central to humanity “Use not abuse” Technology to solve issues
Intrinsic value Strong regulation by authorities Resource replacement to solve
Self-sufficiency of societies Human health necessary in decision making resource depletion
Economic growth is important
Rachel Carson (marine biologist/conservationist)
- Silent Spring (1962)
- Indiscriminate use of pesticides
Environmental Landmarks:
1987: Montreal Protocol 2006: Inconvenient Truth (Al Gore): yet to reach tipping point
1992: Kyoto Protocol 2015: COP 21 Paris Agreement on Climate Change
Case Studies & Video Links:
1. Bhopal (1984): pesticide plant explosion, released MIC gas, worst industrial disaster
2. Minamata Bay (Japan): mercury poisoning in human body (accumulated)
3. Should I Eat Meat?: religious value systems (hindus, muslims, 7th day adventists)
4. Seed Hunter: chickpea vulnerable to disease, genetic engineering (ancient to modern)
5. Vanishing Lions: anthropocentric solution, indingeous live with lions (tourism)
1.2 Systems & Models
System: a set of interrelated parts working together to make a complex whole.
- Living or nonliving
- Open, closed, isolated
- Transfers & transformations
Models: simplified version of reality
+ Easy to work with - Garbage in Garbage out
+ Show patterns - Missing details
+ Can be applied to other situations - Accuracy lost if long term predictions
Transfers: energy/matter flows and changes location, but not state
Transformations: energy/matter flows and changes state (chemical nature)
Open system: exchanges energy and matter with its surroundings (most living systems)
Closed system: exchanges energy but not matter with its environment (hydrological, carbon,
nitrogen cycles are closed)
Isolated: exchanges none (universe)
Biosphere: fragile skin on planet Earth; includes air (atmosphere), rocks (lithosphere), and
water (hydrosphere)
Case Studies & Video Links:
1. Biosphere 2: prototype space city, attempt to create closed system on Earth, failed
because of lack of enough food and low oxygen levels
2. Hans: human population models (2000= age of peak child)
3. Climate Change By The Numbers: models to predict climate change data
1.3: Energy & Equilibria
1st: energy is an isolated system that can be transformed but not destroyed or created
2nd: entropy (dispersal of energy) of an isolated system not in equilibrium increases over time
- Measure of disorder (more entropy=less order)
- Energy conversions are never 100% efficient
- Some energy is always dissipated as waste heat
Solar Energy to Sugars = 1-2% efficiency
Herbivores assimilate only 10% of the total plant energy they consume
- Rest lost in metabolic processes + escaping from carnivore
Carnivore 10% too as rest is lost in catching the herbivore
HIGH COMPLEXITY = HIGH STABILITY
Efficiency: work/energy produced/energy consumed
Tundra:simple (population fluctuates widely), low biodiversity but still stable
Monoculture: one crop, vulnerable to disease, Potato Blight Ireland (3/4th ruined in 7 yrs)
Equilibrium: the tendency of a system to return to original state following disturbance
- Steady state: continuous inputs and outputs of energy and matter but system still
remains in a constant state (eg: body temperature (sweat/shiver to cool/warm body)
- Static: no change over time (pile of books that does not move): NON LIVING
- Unstable & Stable: system does not return to original vs system returns to original
➕feedback: amplify changes & drive systems toward a tipping point (new equilibrium adopted)
- Albedo Effect: rising global temp→melting ice caps→dark soil exposed→more solar
radiation absorbed→drop in albedo→rising global temp
➖
- Poverty Cycle: poverty→illness→poor education→bad fam planning + hygiene→illness
feedback: stabilizes steady-state equilibrium; counteract deviation from equilibrium
- Global Dimming: global temp↑ → ice caps melt→more water in atmosphere→more
clouds→more solar radiation reflected by clouds→global temp fall
Resilience: ability of a system to return to initial state after disturbance
- More diverse+complex= more resilient due to more interactions between species
- ↑ species diversity= greater chance that another species can replace this if it dies
- ↑ genetic diversity= ↑ resilience (unlike monoculture)
- Faster rate of reproduction= faster recovery (r strategists)
Tipping points: when an ecosystem experiences a shift to a new state (significant changes to
its biodiversity and services it provides)
- Positive feedback
- Long-lasting changes
- Hard to reverse
- Threshold point cannot be predicted precisely
Examples:
1. Lake Eutrophication
2. Extinction of Keystone Species
3. Coral Reef Death
4. Permafrost loss
Case Studies & Video Links:
1. Fight for Sharks: apex predators (maintain marine biodiversity), shark-fin
overconsumption (disequilibrium in ecosystem)
2. Greater Barrier Reef: Cyclone Yasi (drowned reef) 80% repaired (resilience)
3. Climate Change: tipping point: Greenland ice melting 2x faster (high disorder)
1.4: Sustainability
Sustainability: management of resources that allows full natural replacement of resources
emploited & full recovery of ecosystems affected by their extinction and use
Sustainable development: meet needs of present without compromising ability of future
generations to meet their own needs.
Natural Capital: natural resources producing a sustainable natural income
Natural Income: yield obtained from natural resources
Millenium Ecosystem Assessment (2001): funded by UN (change in ecosystem: predictions)
Facts:
- 25% of all fish stock overharvested.
- Species extinction rates are 100-1000 x above background rate.
- 50% of corals lost and degraded.
Tragedy of the Commons:
- Acting in one's own self interest (max utility)
- Destroys long term future of that resource
- Eg: hunting endangered animals makes them
extinct
Environmental Impact Assessment (1969 US):
- Baseline study (assess env, soc, econ impacts)
- Pros+cons of a development (mitigation)
- Eg: dams/reservoirs, housing projects
- Con: hard to compare across countries, hard to
determine boundary of investigation
CAFO: concentrated animal feeding operation
+ Pollutants reduced
+ Concentrated wastage
- Poor living conditions (high pop density)
- Feces+urine+160 gases (pollutants)
Ecological footprint: area of land & water required to
sustainably provide all resources at the rate at which they are
being consumed by a given population.
EF>Area = unsustainability
Case Studies & Video Links:
1. MASDAR: self steering pod car (baseline study on a large scale), renewable energy
(zero carbon footprint): SDG
2. End of the Line: overfishing: maximum sustainable yield, trawling (unsustainable): peak
fish (tragedy of the commons)
3. Should I Eat Meat: CAFO reduces 40% emissions, methane 25x more harmful than co2
1.5 Humans & Pollution
Pollution: addition of a substance to the environment by human activity at a rate greater than
which it can be rendered harmless.
- Matter (solid, liquid, gas)
- Energy (light, sound, heat)
- Living organisms (invasive species)
Primary pollutants: active on emission (carbon monoxide)
Secondary pollutants: formed by primary undergoing phy/chem changes (SO3→ acid rain)
Point source: single identifiable source (waste disposal pipe), easy to manage
Non-point source: numerous widely dispersed origins, gases from vehicles, cannot detect
Acute: large amount of pollutant released (a lot of harm): Bhopal Disaster 1984
Chronic: long-term release in small amounts (Beijing air): spreads widely, diff to clean up
Persistent Organic Pollutants: pesticides resistant to breaking down (remain active for long)
Eg: DDT (bioaccumulate in animal/human tissues & biomagnify in food chains)
PCBs: cancers, hormone functions (polar bears in Arctic)
Biodegradable Pollutants: don’t persist in the environment,
break down easily
Eg: soap, domestic sewage
Microbeads: small, solid, manufactured plastic particles that
are less than 5mm and don't degrade or dissolve in water.
- Bioaccumulation & Biomagnification (aquatic animals)
Direct detection of pollution:
- pH, DO (record, measure amount)
Indirect detection of pollution:
- record changes in biotic/abiotic factors (BOD, fecal coli
bacteria, lichen, mayfly)
