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ESS Topic 1
2026 Syllabus Topic 1
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Perspective | how a particular situation is viewed and understood by an individual. It is based on a mix of personal and collective assumptions, values and beliefs. |
| What are Perspectives informed and Justified by | sociocultural norms, scientific understandings, laws, religion, economic conditions, local and global events, and lived experience, among other factors. |
| Values | qualities or principles that people feel have worth and importance in life. |
| How do values relate to perspectives? | The values that underpin our perspectives can be seen in our communication and actions in the wider community. The values held by organizations can be seen in advertisements, media, policies and actions. |
| What is the purpose of a Values Survey? | used to investigate the perspectives shown by a particular social group towards environmental issues. |
| Can Values Surveys be biased? | The effective design of values surveys for a particular social group accommodates various perspectives towards a particular environmental issue, and assesses how these are likely to impact the issue. |
| Worldviews | the lenses shared by groups of people through which they perceive, make sense of and act within their environment. They shape people’s values and perspectives through culture, philosophy, ideology, religion and politics |
| Environmental Value Systems | a model that shows the inputs affecting our perspectives and the outputs resulting from our perspectives. Will be influenced by cultural, religious, economic and socio-political contexts. |
| Categories of Environmental Perspectives/Worldviews | can be classified into the broad categories of technocentric, anthropocentric and ecocentric. These are not exclusive categories; a variety of alternative schemes exist. These models are useful but imperfect. |
| Technocentric | assumes all environmental issues can be resolved through technology |
| Anthropocentrism | views humankind as being the central, most important element of existence, and it splits into a wide variety of views. |
| Ecocentrism | sees the natural world as having pre-eminent importance and intrinsic value. |
| Are perspectives set for life? | Perspectives and the beliefs that underpin them change over time in all societies. They can be influenced by government or non-governmental organization (NGO) campaigns or through social and demographic change. |
| NGO's | Non-governmental organisations. Examples responsible for developments in the Environmental Movements including Friends of the Earth (FoE), Greenpeace, Earthjustice, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). Known for taking radical action and moving quickly. |
| GO's | Government Organisations. e.g United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Known for being slower to take action and more diplomatic when interacting with individual countries. Will sometimes allow concessions for less developed countries. |
| The Environmental Movement | The development over time has been influenced by individuals, literature, the media, major environmental disasters, international agreements, new technologies and scientific discoveries. |
| Argument | statement or statements made to support a personally held perspective or to counter a different one. |
| Discuss an example of two different perspectives on the same Environmental Issue. | Examples include: Just Stop Oil, Sheep Live Export, the Gwi’chin People vs the US Government |
| Describe your Environmental Value System and provide some examples of what has influenced your decision. | Possibities include ecocentric, technocentric, anthropocentric or a mixture of two or all three. Your justification of the decision is very important. |
| Describe 3 major examples of developments in the Environmental Movement. | Includes individuals such as Rachel Carson, Greta Thunberg and Sir David Attenborough; organisations such as WWF, Greenpeace, Earthjustice; Governmental e.g. Rio Earth Summit, Kyoto Protocol, Montreal Protocol; or disasters e.g.Minamata, Phopal, Chernobyl |
| Describe a 'system' | sets of interacting or interdependent components. System components are organized to create a functional whole. |
| What is a 'systems approach'? | holistic way of visualizing a complex set of interactions, and it can be applied to ecological or societal situations |
| Identify the parts of a system | storages and flows, with flows providing inputs and outputs of energy and matter. |
| In a systems diagram, how are storages usually represented? | rectangular boxes |
| In a systems diagram, how are flows usually represented? | arrows, with the direction of the arrow showing the direction of the flow |
| Distinguish between transfers and transformations | Transfers involve a change in location of energy or matter; transformations involve a change in the chemical nature, a change in state or a change in energy. |
| Describe an open system | Exchanges both energy and matter across its boundary. A local ecosystem is an example. |
| Describe a closed system | Exchanges only energy across its boundary. Biosphere 2 and geochemical cycles are examples. |
| Name the spheres encompassed in the Earth system | the biosphere, the hydrosphere, the cryosphere, the geosphere, the atmosphere and the anthroposphere. |
| Describe the Gaia hypothesis | James Lovelock described the Earth as a single integrated system. The theory was introduced to explain how atmospheric composition and temperatures are interrelated through feedback control mechanisms. |
| Explain how systems can be applied at a range of scales | Examples include: small-scale local ecosystem, such as a bromeliad in a rainforest; a large ecosystem, such as a rainforest; and the Gaia hypothesis or atmospheric circulation as an example of a global system. |
| Describe Negative Feedback Loops | when the output of a process inhibits or reverses the operation of the same process in such a way as to reduce change. They are stabilizing as they counteract deviation and return to equilibrium. |
| Describe what the Daisyworld model demonstrates | how temperature regulation can occur due to the presence of life on a planet in contrast with a dead one - through radiation and reflection of heat. |
| In open systems, what equilibrium is experienced? | A stable equilibrium, either as a stead state or an equilibrium that develops over time (for example succession), which is maintained by stabilising negative feedback loops. |
| Describe a stable equilibrium | the condition of a system in which there is a tendency for it to return to the previous equilibrium following disturbance. |
| Describe a steady-state equiliabrium | the condition of an open system in which flows are still occurring but inputs are constantly balanced with outputs. When depicted on a graph, it is shown as an oscillating line centred around the stable equilibrium. |
| Describe positive feedback loops | when a disturbance leads to an amplification of that disturbance, destabilizing the system and driving it away from its equilibrium. 'Amplifying' the change. |
| Define 'tipping points' | the minimum amount of change that will cause destabilization within a system. The system then shifts to a new equilibrium or stable state. They result in regime shifts between alternative stable states. |
| Describe a Global Geochemical Cycle | The carbon, nitrogen or hydrological cycle are examples. The flows in the cycles can be transfers or transformations but the total amount on Earth is finite - no matter enters or leaves the system. It is an example of a closed system. |
| Provide an example where positive feedback in an ecosystem was beneficial | one example was the reintroductions of wolves into Yellowstone National Park in the US. Wolves controlled the Elk Popultion. Open Valleys were protected from overgrazing. This allowed Aspen and Willow to Regrow. This provided Willow for the Beavers. |
| What is Eutrophication | a process where a body of water becomes overly enriched with nutrients, leading to excessive algal growth and depletion of oxygen levels within the ecosystem. A positive feedback loop occurs when fish die due to low oxygen, as decomposers use more oxygen |
| Why are models used to represent systems and processes | They are a simplified representation of reality; it can be used to understand how a system works and to predict how it will respond to change. |
| What are some of the disadvantages to using a model? | The simplification of a model can make it less accurate. Leaving parts out changes the functionally of the whole (emergent properties) |
| Describe a Keystone Species | an organism that plays a disproportionately large role in maintaining the balance of an ecosystem, meaning its removal would drastically alter the entire community of species present. |
| Describe Emergent Properties in a Model | properties that are not evident viewing the individual components of a system, but show up when combining those components. E.g. predator-prey oscillations |
| Describe the resilience of a system | refers to its tendency to avoid tipping points and maintain stability. These can be ecological or social and is the capacity of the system to resist damage and recover from, or adapt efficiently to, disturbance. |
| Name some examples of resilience in a system: | Ecological Resilience: Biodiversity, Size of ecosystems, Complex Ecosystems and Food webs rather than Food chains Social Resilience: Resources and livelihoods, Health and Culture Economic Resilience: Rules and Regulations, Inclusion, Leadership |
| Describe some properties of a system that contribute to their resilience | Diversity and the size of storages within systems can affect their speed of response to change (time lags). |
| Recall an example of resilience | The stability of a puddle compared to a lake. The North American prarie systems with monoculture crops. |
| How do humans affect the resilience of ecological systems | Usually through reducing storage and diversity, for example - deforestation reduces the size of storages and loss of diversity. Other examples include fracking, pesticide use, destructive fishing methods. |
| Describe the Planetary Boundaries Model | defines a set of critical thresholds for key Earth system processes, signifying the limits beyond which human activities could trigger irreversible and potentially catastrophic environmental changes |
| Recall the 9 planetary boundaries contained in the Planetary Boundaries Model | Climate Change, Novel Entities, Stratospheric Ozone Depletion, Atmospheric aerosol loading, Ocean Acidification, Modification of Biogeochemical Flows, Freshwater Change, Land System Change and Biosphere Integrity |
| Name the 3 planetary boundaries that are within the safe operating space/have not yet been crossed | Stratospheric Ozone Depletion, Ocean Acidification and Atmospheric Aerosol Loading as of 2023 |
| Define Sustainability | a measure of the extent to which practices allow for the long-term viability of a system. It is generally used to refer to the responsible maintenance of socio-ecological systems such that there is no diminishment of conditions for future generations. |
| What can we do to an ecological system to improve resilience? | Resource Replacement: ensures future availability of natural resources. Ecosystem Recovery and Regeneration : enhance biodiversity and resilience. Pollution Reduction: focuses on minimizing and mitigating environmental impacts. |
| Define Natural Income | The yield or harvest from natural resources |
| Define Natural Capital | the stock of natural resources on Earth. Including rocks, soil, water, air, and all living things. It also includes natural services that support life such as photosynthesis and the water cycle. |
| Recall the three pillars of sustainability | environmental, social (sometimes referred to as equity) and economic (sometimes referred to as financial) domains. |
| Define Renewable Natural Capital | can be generated or replaced as fast as it is being used. This includes all life and ecosystems as well as non-living systems such as the ozone layer or groundwater. |
| Define non-renewable Natural Capital | is either irreplaceable or can only be replaced over geological timescales (e.g. fossil fuels, soil, water in aquifers and minerals). |
| Recall some factors influencing environmental sustainability | climate change, caused by the excessive amount of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere due to human activities; The loss of biodiversity; The overexploitation of natural resources; Economic models that involve unsustainable consumption. |
| Describe the relationship between sustainability and resilience | All activity is embedded in a system and, in general, enhancing system resilience increases sustainability. |
| Distinguish between a strong or weak model of sustainability | Strong sustainability models show the economy embedded in society, and both society and economy embedded in the natural environment. Weak sustainability models only show an overlap in the three pillars. |
| Describe Environmental Sustainability | the use and management of natural resources that allows replacement of the resources, and recovery and regeneration of ecosystems. In this context focuses on resource depletion, pollution and conserving biodiversity. |
| Describe Social Sustainability | Focuses on creating the structures and systems, such as health, education, equity, community, that support human well-being. In this context focuses on the survival of societies and their cultures. |
| Describe Economic Sustainability | Focuses on creating the economic structures and systems to support production and consumption of goods and services that will support human needs into the future. In terms of resource use to meet human needs. |
| Describe Sustainable Development | meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It applies the concept of sustainability to our social and economic development. |
| Describe the SDG's | The Brundtland report of 1987 introduced the social and economic aspects of sustainability to sustainable development. A framework guiding further development while maintaining economic stability, social equity and ecological integrity. |
| What is the main cause of ecosystem collapse? | Unsustainable use of natural resources. Often due to human overexploitation including overfishing, deforestation, and urbanisation |
| Define GDP | a measure of the monetary value of final goods and services produced and sold in a given period by a country. |
| Why is focussing on GDP and environmental issue? | Common indicators of economic development neglect the value of natural systems and may lead to unsustainable development. |
| Describe Green GDP | measures environmental costs of economic development and subtracts these from GDP. |
| Describe Environmental Justice | the right of all people to live in a pollution-free environment, and to have equitable access to natural resources, regardless of issues such as race, gender, socio-economic status, nationality. |
| Provide some examples of environmental injustice | Deepwater Horizon oil spill, Gulf of Mexico (2010); landfills located in low-income areas; Union Carbide gas release in Bhopal, India (1984); Maasai land rights in Kenya and Tanzania; plastic waste disposal by developed to developing countries. |
| Describe the scales at which sustainability and environmental justice can be applied | at the individual to the global operating scale. e.g. individual decisions on how to live, business, community (religious, cultural, political, indigenous), country (policies, laws and socio-economic systems) or global (for example, the (UNSDGs) |
| Identify and describe some sustainability indicators | quantitative measures of biodiversity, pollution, human population, climate change, material and carbon footprints |
| Describe ecological footprints | the area of land and water required to sustainably provide all resources at the rate of consumption and absorb all generated waste at the rate of production for a specific population. A sustinability indicator that can be used to measure sustainability. |
| If an individual or country has a large EF, what does this indicate? | If these footprints are greater than the area or resources available to the population, this indicates unsustainability. |
| Describe the Carbon Footprint | measures the amount of greenhouse gases (GHGs) produced, measured in carbon dioxide equivalents (in tonnes). A sustinability indicator that can be used to measure sustainability. |
| Describe the Water Footprint | measures water use (in cubic metres per year). A sustinability indicator that can be used to measure sustainability. |
| Describe Biocapacity | the capacity of a given biologically productive area to generate an ongoing supply of renewable resources and to absorb its resulting wastes. A sustinability indicator that can be used to measure sustainability. |
| Describe the relationship between Biocapacity and EF | Unsustainability occurs if the area’s ecological footprint exceeds its biocapacity. |
| Describe Citizen Science | Information gathered is relevant to local problems and conditions, and can be used in research on global issues, such as climate change. Plays a role in monitoring Earth systems and whether resources are being used sustainably. |
| Describe a sustainability framework or model | SDG's, Planetary Boundaries Model, Doughnut Economics, Circular Economy |
| Desribe the uses and Limitations for SDG's | U: Common ground for policy; relates to developed and developing countries; galvanises international community on economic and social inequality. L: Goals not going far enough; goals being bureaucratic; tend to ignore local contexts; lacking in data. |
| Desribe the uses and Limitations for Planetary Boundaries | U: science-based limits to human disturbance of systems; highlights more than climate change. L: Focuses only on ecological systems and doesn't consider action for environmental justice; the model is a work in progress—boundaries change as data available |
| Desribe the uses and Limitations for Doughnut Economics | U: includes both ecological and social elements, so it supports the concept of environmental justice; it has reached awareness and is being used at different scales L:s work in progress—different groups are trying to apply the model for action |
| Desribe the uses and Limitations for Circular Economy | U: Regeneration of natural systems; reduction of greenhouse emissions; improvement of local food networks and support of local communities; reduction of waste L: lack of regulations enforcing recycling, some waste is not recyclable |
Created by:
DrLeeAGS
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