lOMoARcPSD|51147977

ESS topic 1 notes

Environmental Systems and Societies SL (Colegio Yago School)

Escanea para abrir en Studocu

Studocu no está patrocinado ni avalado por ningún colegio o universidad.

Descargado por Raisa Ahmed ([email protected])
 lOMoARcPSD|51147977

To p 1 C1
FOUNDATION
1 .
1 PERSPECTIVE

how a situation is viewed/understood ,

based on a mix of personal / collective

assumptions/values/beliefs
justified by laws/religious events/experiences
these are

·
An Environmental value system is a model that shows the inputs affecting our perspectives
and the outputs resulting from our perspectives
perspective is situation is viewed I understood individual
-

a how a
by an

- an argument is a statement that supports ones perspective

-values are principles people feel have importance
-
Worldviewsare views people have on certain things through these they
, perceive personal ideas which influence
the way they act within their environment
·
the spectrum of environmental value system
-

different societies have different environmental philosophies

each individual is influenced by culture / religion...., when thinking of the environment

to which is
why we value the environment differently
-

Earth's resources are limited because Earth is finite

since recently humans have been able to control environment
-

our

"terraforming"
The Industrial Revolution of 1800s brought technological development
Humans the first species to change Earths conditions making it unfit for them
-

maybe ,

·
the different environmental philosophies
.
1 The ecocentric worldview : centre of
ecology/nature in humanity
-

deep ecologists
-

less materialistic more self sufficient approach

-

favours small scale , low-technology , restraint in use of natural resources

respects rights of nature

-
life is Earth centred
.
2 The anthropocentric worldview : -
humankind in the centre
most important element of
existence

variety of views

humans are not dependent on nature which is there to benefit humanity

humans must sustainably manage the global system (environmentalreg-
ulations/legislation(
. The techno centric worldview: technological system can develop solutions
3 to environmental problems
there is unlimited economic growth -

·
The environmental movement
-

originated in 1960s but the issue

,
was noticed before

L Romans noted air/water pollution

in 14th/16th century pollution was associated to epidemic diseases

soil conservation was practised 2 000

,
years ago
-

until the last 200 seemed to be infinite of natural resources

years there an
supply
now there are over O billion humans on Earth
-

there is a
gop between ppl who think we should conserve nature 1 . to continue supplying goods to humankind

10 the that rises is "Do nature for sake in sustainable way

question we save our a

"

or for it's sake ? . for

2 spiritual value
who is involved in the environmental movement ?
-

literature/me dialindividuals/ international

Descargado poragreements / technologies /environmental disasters/ scientific
Raisa Ahmed ([email protected])
discoveries
 lOMoARcPSD|51147977

the focus on the environment was

only brought recently
' of behaviour and
norms political choices have already changed
-

human activity in the environment has already affected us

ex . Silent Spring the book explains how pesticides had a strong impact in the world
-

Climate change is the issue of today

there is more understanding than action of it
to ex . we are
pumping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere while knowing it's impact and we keep discussing
about it
-

Some Environmental campaigners :

Greta Thunberg Wanjiku Wowa ,
Gatheru ,
To k a t aIron Eyes ,
Sir

David Attenborough Dame ,

Ellen MacArthur, James Hansen Hans ,

Cosmas
Ngoteya
LoGreta A:
Swedish environmental activist who challenged world leaders

She started the Fridys for future school strike she

, spoke
in high-profile events.
many
L David His TV programmes focused on biodiversity loss defore
:
are ,

estation , plastic in the oceans . He had a large impact

on
educating people .
-

Other influences on the environmental movement

Independent which NGO's

pressure groups are non
governmental organizations
t ex : Friend of the Earth/World Wide Fund for Nature/Greenpeace/Earthjustice
campaigned to ban commercial sued US government over the
trade in ivory 1989 Willow Project I drilling for oil
in public lands)
-

Corporate businesses are involved in the issue

by using resources and having an environmental

impact
but recent campaigns have increased their sustainability
-Governments make policy decisions about the environment

-Inter-governmental bodieslex . UN) bring together NGO's ,

governments corporations
,
to consider

world development issues

1 .
2 SYSTEM S
is set of interrelated together to make
functioning whole
system
-

a a parts working a

the biosphere is all the parts of the Earth where life exists (all ecosystems)
know little about how it self
we
regulates
-

the anthroposphere is the part of the Earth modified by humans (cities

it reduces the habitats
biosphere by degrading land and
damaging
atmosphere (air)
-

geosphere (rocks/soil)
=

Y ↓
lithosphere + pedosphere
hydrosphere (water
-

cryosphere (frozen water

-

systems diagrams
inputs/outputs can be matter/energy
-

-storages are living/non-living their sizes , are relative

-

flows are movements of

matter/energy
·
transfer/transformation
-matter/energy flow through ecosystems as transfers/transformations
-

transfer doesn't change its state/chemicalnature of the matter/energy (phisical change

aDescargado por Raisa Ahmed ([email protected])
ex watermovingfromriver t
 lOMoARcPSD|51147977

-transformation changes the state of

matter/energy /chemical changel
ex . matter to matter

energy to energy /light converted to heat through radiation

matter to energy (burning wood
energy to matter /photosynthesis)
-

both flows require energy

but transfers require less energy
·

open/closed System
-most systems are open

-open systems exchange matter/energy with their environment

-

closed systems exchange energy but not matter with their environment
no natural closed system exists

to but Earth is thought as "almost" closed

an
system
is returned to space
light energy enters the Earth's system and a some as a
long wave

radiation
t since amount of matter closed
a small exchange still occurs it is not a system
most examples for closed systems are artificial (ex sealed aquarium/bottle garden(
.

Equilibrium
·

open systems exist in a state of balance or stable equilibrium

which avoids sudden changes
If chang exists it is limited
-

steady state equilibrium in an open system has flows occurring but the inputs are balanced with outputs
no long-term changes
ex . our
body temperature
the maintenance of steady-state equilibrium is achieved through negative feedback
-

unstable/stable equilibria
system tends to return to the same equilibrium after a disturbance

system returns to a new equilibrium after a disturbance

·
Feedback loops are when informations cause a reaction that can imput more information and another

reaction
-

Negative Feedbacks are when the output of a process inhibits or reverses the operation to reduce change
they stabilize the system and counteract deviation
¡ ¡

body temp . above 37 C bc in the

. sun where temp : 45 C -o
body sweat to lose heat...

rising global temp .

-o
melting ice f more water x evaporation-o more clouds o more radiation reflected by clouds -

falling global temp .

-o

Positive feedback when the disturbance can lead to an amplification of that disturbance

to
they destabilize the system and move away from its equilibrium ,
towards a tipping point
this shifts the system to a new
Albedo is a measure of how much the surface reflects ,
the more reflective equilibrium
the highe the albedo

to to melt more) causing temperaturesto

global temp rising causing . ice so dark soil is exposed (which absorbs ,
rise

and making the albedo drop

-
natural/human systems are
regulated by Feedback mechanisms

negative feedback is usally helpful

positive feedback is
usually undesirable
to however in situations is
some change necessary
·
The Gaia hypothesis
-
1970 ,
James Lovelock put forward the Gaia hypothesis
-

the Earth and it's biological system act as 1 entity

the system has self-regulating negative
Descargado por Raisa loops
feedback to keep conditions on
Ahmed ([email protected]) ,
Earth favorable to life
 lOMoARcPSD|51147977

The name Gaia was used because it is the name of an Ancient Greek Earth goddess
-

the arguments that support the theory :

-

Earth's temp . is constant ,

even
though the sun gives 30 % more
energy
than before

the atmosphere (79 % nitrogen /21 % Oxygen/0 03 %

composition of the
-

. car

bon dioxide) oxygen should react to it doesn't

gas but
-

oceal's salinity is 3 4 % rivers

.

washing salts should increase this

volcanic eruptions/meteor impacts still make Earth habitable

-

Lovelock then wrote a book called "The revenge of Gaia"

explaining how Gaia is an old lady helfway through her

,
existence
o she isn't able to bounce back from changes
to she of positive peace
may be entering aphose , eventually
arriving to a
tipping point
to Lovelock
·
Tipping points are reached suggests that 90% of the population will be reducted

when an
ecosystem experiences a shift to a new state in which there are significant changes to it's biodiver

sity and the service it provides

-characteristics of tipping points :
involves positive feedback

there is threshold
-

changes are long

there is
lasting/hard to reverse

waiting time between the pressure driving the change and the
-

appearence of impacts
creates difficulties in ecological management
·
examples of tipping points
1
. Lake eutrophicationnutrients added to lake is blocked
, plants grow light
excessively o
oxygen
levels fall-vanimals die
2
. Extinction of
keystone speciesI without the system transforms, doesn't revert
. Coral reef death
3 (they cannot regenerate
-

there is a debate whether or not we are reaching a tipping point

but ecosystem is complex to understand that

people think this point wouldn't change much , but once it is reached society could not respond fast

enough
to the best apprach is the precautionary to minimize risk
-

the fact that our

ecosystem is complex makes for a more stable system that can resist change/stress
-

Resilience of systems measures how to respond to disturbance

the ability to return to it's initial state
-

Resilience is good thing it maintains stability

a ,

in managed systems we need agriculture to predict the amount of food

grown each year
-

Resilience good thing when for example (bacterium

is not disease resilient to antibiotics could kill ppl)
-

a causes ,

-
Factors affecting ecosystem resilience
diversity/complexity of ecosystem makes it more resilient

biodiversity of ecosystem (if one species dies another , can replace it

-genetic diversity in species
-

species can move geographically ,

this makes them resilient
the of the
-

largeness Ecosystem giving ,

resilience

fast reproductiverates make fast rates

-

, recovery
-

humans mitigating the threat to the system

but humans can also decrese resilience with industralization

Emergent properties
·
is the property of a system
examples: my face lears eyes mouth...) -bonly together they make my face what it is
-
-

, ,

Chlorine (toxic gast Sodium)

Descargado-opor Raisa Ahmed
together chlorine
([email protected])
sodium =
 lOMoARcPSD|51147977

Honey bees individually can't function only in colony

-

,
a

·
Models of systems
-

a model is a simlified example of reality

it is used to understand how the system works and predict what happens in diff . contexts
-
it can phisical model/a software model/mathematical equasions/data flow diagram
be a

strengths easy to work with /used to predict change effects/applied to diff. Situations / help
:
see patterns
used to visualize very small big things
-

weaknesses : no accuracy (bc . simplified)/ assumptions wrong / predicting inaccurate

1 3 .
SUSTAINABILITY
Sustainability is the measure of the extent to which human activities allow the
-

long-term success

of the
system
the socio-ecological system maintenance
living sustainably means living within the means of nature
-

natural income is the harvest from natural resources

-natural capital is the stock of natural resources on Earth Crocks ,

water, air ,
it's services (photosynthesis)
-

Environmental
sustainability is the responsible management of natural resources by allowing them to ,
regenerate
-

Social
sustainability supports the human- wellbeing Ihealth, education equity..... ,

-Economic sustainability creates structures that support production / consumption of goods , but thinking of
humanity's needs in the future

there is a finite amount of materials on Earth ,

we are using too much of it

I our
economy can't grow outside environmental limits

Renewable natural capital can be regenerated

Non-renewable natural capital is irreplaceable only replaced afte
or a really long lime (fossil fuels
Environmental/Social/EconomicSustainability the 3 pillars that that if balanced
-

are can achieve

Sustainability
-
Gross domestic product (GDP) is the total value of
goods/services produced by a country
Green GDP is an indicator of economic growth with the environment being taken into consideration
-

Sustainable development is the development that meets present needs without compromising the future
generations
-

Reports stated that the critical environmental problems were caused by the enormous poverty of the South
and the non-sustainable patterns of the consumption and production in the North
·
The Ecological overshoot
-

occurs when humanity's annual demand of natural resources exceeds what the Earth can
regenerate
at current consumption rates ecosystems will collapse even before we run out of the resources

Earth's Overshoot Day is the date in

which humanity's demand for ecological

resources/services will exceed what the -
> Since 1970 we have been in
ecological
Earth can regenerate each year overshoot

in 2022 it 28
was
July
to this means humans arent living within
sustainable limits
·
Environmental justice
or distributive justice
regardless of gender/economicstatus/origin to 1 pollution-free environ
-

it is the right all people have race / :

.
live in

risks and benefits of environment are equally distributed ment

-
Environmental injustices examples 2 . have equal access to natural

hazardous wast dumping resources

insufficient safety 3. have fair treatment

measures Descargado por Raisa Ahmed ([email protected]) throug law
 lOMoARcPSD|51147977

10 resource extraction

land appropriation
climatejustice issues
sustainability indicators
·

how we measure sustainability

to scales from local to global
-

the indicators include :

biodiversity / pollution levels/population size, health , income/energy prod ,
cons .
/ecological
,
carbon footprint

Ecological footprint (EF)

·

It is a model used to estimate humans demand

to it takes under account the area/resources required to produce

if the ecological footprintis greater than the available the situation becomes unsustainable
-

area ,

to
examples of measurements amount of greenhouse gases produced the carrying capacity of the environ
-
:

to m .
in carbon dioxide ment is exceeded

water footprint
tom in water
.
use

area of land ( to support population

o hectares per person

the of individuals that unit of land

-

is the maximum number sustainably support

carrying capacity a can

the ecological footprint is the area of land needed to support that population
the is the capacity of resources I to
Biocapacity to
-

a
biologically productive area
generate a supply of renewable absorb
it's waste
Sustainability models simplified versions of
-

are reality
they give us uses of limitations

Sustainable Development
-

examples : -

Goals

planetary boundaries model

↓
-

doughnut economics model

-

Sustainable Development Goals

17 goals formulated by the UN in 2015

1 4
. no
poverty Z . zero
hunger 3. good health/wellbeing quality education 5 .

gender equality
6 .
clean water/sanitation 7 . affordable/clean energy 8 decent work/economic
.

growth 9 .

industry/innovation/infro
structure 10. reduced inequalities 11 sustainable cities and
. communities 12. responsible consumption/production
13 climate action 14 Life below water 15 Life land 16. 17 partnership goals
. .
.
on pecce/justice/stronginstitutions .
x

·
The planetary boundaries model
2009 by Johan Rockstrom and 28 the scientists
-

they identified9 key processes that regulate the stability / resilience of our planet
to then proposed "planetary boundaries" within which continue to develop
they ,
humanity can

-crossing the boundaries increase the risk of irreversible environmental changes

-

the model attempts to answer the question : "until when can Earth absorb human activities without compro
"

mising living conditions

strengths of the planetary boundries: -

identifies limits to human disturbance of Earth
-

focuses on more then dimat change

-

alerts policymakers to need for action

Descargado por Raisa Ahmed ([email protected])

 lOMoARcPSD|51147977

-limitations of the planetary boundaries :

it is a work in progress
-

boundaries are
changing
-

it may not be useful

·
The doughnut economics model is a mode for a
regenerative/distributiveeconomy that meets the needs of the

people/planet
that
-

it ensures no one is left falling short on life essentials

-

it ensures that humanity doesn't overshoot the planetary boundaries

-

it is
ecologically and socially safe
it provides a space in which humanity can thrive

the inner boundary social foundation

S
:
they make
-

together minimum

the outer ecological ceiling conditions for a

-

boundary :
great economy
Regenerative design
-

services/products contribute to the system ,

these renew themselves
-

Distributive design

promotion of equitable distribution of wealth

Strengths of the model supports environmental

doughnut economic
-
:

justice
has popular awareness
-

different scales

supports action sustainability

-

on

Limitation of the doughnut economic model -

a work in
progress
-

won't work unless individuals cooperate

-
dosn't propose specific policies
-
advocates for a broad principle
·
The circular economy model
-

Earth is like a boat ,

it has limited resources I we can't get more
-

our
economy is linear :
take/make/ use/ dispose
it should be circular : take/make/use/reuse/repair/ remake/remove weste/ regenerate natural system
-

3 principles : 1
. Eliminate wastel
pollution
2 . circulate products/materials (butterfly model
o technical cycle
L
biological cycle
3
. Regenerate nature (-o resilience
Strengths of the regeneration of natural
-

circular economy model

:-

system
-

reduction of greenhouse gas emissions

-

improvement of local production

-

reduction of waste
-

change consumer habits

Limitations of circular economy model lack of

by companies/consumer
-
-
:
awareness

lack of regulations enforcing the model

some Waste is not

-

recyclable
-

Lack of finance

Descargado por Raisa Ahmed ([email protected])