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Env Studies Ex 1
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| What are the levels of the energy solutions pyramid? And explain them. | 1 - Energy Conservation (reduce energy use by adjusting behaviors, social engineering). 2 - Energy Efficiency (potentially reduces energy through using tech that requires less energy to perform same function - Jevon's Paradox). 3 - Renewable energy |
| What is Jevon's Paradox? | When efficiency increases, use increases (ex more efficient car → drives more or further → more gas OR more efficient car → save on petrol bills → goes on holiday → more energy used) |
| What are the trends in the US energy mix related to renewable energy? | US Energy consumption - Wind and solar are growing US Electricity mix - Wind #1 renewable energy source. Solar = fastest growing energy source overall |
| What are the trends in the US job creation of clean energy vs fossil fuel industries? | California ~5x more jobs in clean energy industries than fossil fuel industry Rural midwest - projected less fossil fuel jobs and increasing clean energy jobs |
| What are the top three energy sources for electricity in the US? | Oil (36%), natural gas (32%), renewable energy (12%) |
| What percent of an energy bill is vampire energy? | 10% |
| What is vampire energy? | Invisible (vampire) energy- standby, sleeping, charged (laptop 100% - energy still coming from socket) |
| What is indirect vs direct energy? | Direct - visible energy (active when using ex lights, laptop) and invisible (vampire) energy (standby, sleeping, charged). Indirect - embodied energy, full life cycle energy costs (energy to get materials, to manufacture, to transport) |
| Promises of nuclear power plants? | Abundant and cheap energy. A "good" use for nuclear. |
| Reality of nuclear power plants? Pros and cons. | Pros: No air pollution while using, no carbon dioxide (no GHGS/climate change), high net useful energy. Cons: Most expensive energy source, national security concerns (nuclear weapons), risks of meltdowns, env life cycle costs - radioactive wastes |
| What are the four energy problems? | 1. Source/supply. 2. Demand (population and economic growth) and distribution. 3. Global policy/geopolitics. 4. Sink (environmental/health impacts) |
| What percent of the population live in conditions of hunger? | ~10% |
| What's the definition of a food desert? | urban or rural areas where the availability of affordable, healthy, fresh food is limited. |
| What are the three views of explaining world hunger? | Agricultural modernization. Ecological neo-malthusian. Inequality and Political Economy |
| Explain agricultural modernization | (not enough food due to poor productivity in LDCs - MDCs sell tech to LDCs - not historically accurate) |
| Explain ecological neo-malthusian. | (population is an issue and puts stress on agricultural resources - LDCs feel its blaming them for having children) |
| Explain inequality and political economy | Social inequalities and poverty cause hunger. More than enough food - food entitlement issue |
| What are the three solutions to world hunger (how will we feed more people)? | Continue current practices (prob: env and soc probs), biotechnology, genetic engineering, GMOs (promise grow more food, use less resources - not current focus), sustainable agriculture (agro-ecology - can't grow enough w/o change diets and urban ecology) |
| Three world population problem (do we have too many people) views | 1. Neo-Malthusian (population issue = big deal). 2. Economist (focus on market allocation and tech, population = no big deal). 3. Inequality (distribution issue, unequal structural arrangements) |
| What is the environmental impact formula and explain what each variable stands for? | I = P x A x T I = environmental impact. P = population. A = Affluence. T = Technology. |
| What is Urbanization? | The movement of people from countryside to cities? |
| How is Urbanization in LDCs different from MDCs? | Push, but no pull. Lack of jobs and opportunities. Faster pace of urbanization create urban slums. |
| What percent of LDC residents live in urban slums? | 33% or 1/3 |
| What is the Demographic Divide? | Differences in fertility rates between MDCs and LDCs |
| What is the replacement rate of fertility? | 2.1 kids per person who can get pregnant |
| Describe Stage 2 of the Demographic Transition Model | Early transitional. Death rates decrease, birth rates stay high. Population growth explodes. People live longer, less infant mortality. Due to medical advances, public health initiatives |
| Describe Stage 3 of the Demographic Transition Model | Later transitional. Death rates stay low, birth rates decrease. Population growth slows. Children not assets, burdens. Incr edu and opps for women. Family planning programs |
| Describe the Circle of Toxins | US bands herbicide/pesticide (hp). US companies still manufacture. Sells hp to other countries. Other countries use hp on their crops. Crops sold to US. People in US eat those crops. |
| Since the 1950s describe herbicide/pesticide use | More quantity, more potent chemicals and for non-agricultural uses |
| What is the effect of inorganic chemical fertilizers? Short term and long term | Boosts crop yield in short term, but nitrates and phosphates wash into surface water -> cultural eutrophication -> Dead Zone in Gulf of Mexico |
| What are the human causes of declining biodiversity? | Habitat fragmentation/loss. Invasive species. Population growth. Pollution. Climate change (change faster than species adapt). Over exploitation (poaching). |
| Benefits of ecosystems/biodiversity? | Direct (provisioning) - food, water, shelter, medicine. Indirect (regulating, support) - ecosystem services to support systems (food chains) ex sharks as top predator. Aesthetic (cultural) - meaning, identity, history (bald eagles) |
| What are the three most biodiverse areas? | Tropical forests, wetlands, coral reefs. |
| What are the three types of forests? | Boreal, temperate, tropical |
| Describe what's happening to boreal forests and where | Decreasing in size, commercial logging (Russia and Canada) |
| Describe what's happening to temperate forests and where | (US and Europe) - Stable size, secondary growth. Fragmented and less biodiverse. |
| Describe what's happening to tropical forests and where | (Global South - Brazil, Indonesia, Peru, Democratic Republic of the Congo) - decreasing size. Pressure from ranchers and farmers. Connect to cows, coffee, palm oil. |
| What percent of the earth's surface is tropical forest and how much of all terrestrial species? | 6% and over half. |
| What are planet boundaries? | Safe operating space for humanity |
| What is the Anthropocene Epoch? | defined by human activity being the dominant influence on climate and the environment |
| How much of original forests are gone? | 2/3 |
| Define biodiversity | All of the earth’s species, their genetic diversity, the ecosystems they inhabit which sustain all life on earth. |
| What are the basic ecological principles/components | Biosphere, biome, ecosystem, community, population, organism |
| What's a system | Network of interconnected and interdependent parts |
| Three different types of ecosystems | Natural -terrestrial. Natural - aquatic. Artificial or manmade. |
| What is a biosphere | Part of Earth that contains all ecosystems, portion of Earth where life is found. |
| What is a biome | Large region with same plant life and climate |
| What is an ecosystem | Community and its nonliving surroundings |
| What is a population | Group of organisms of one type that live in the same area |
| What is an organism | Individual living thing |
| Whats the difference between a habitat and niche? | Habitat - physical space Niche - functional role in a place |
| What is Liebig's Law? | Too much or too little of one thing can tend to harm more than help |
| What's a keystone species? | Species which other species in ecosystem rely on so much if they were removed from that ecosystem it would drastically change, ex otters |
| What is carrying capacity? | Number and quality of living organisms being able to survive in an ecosystem |
| What is an ecosystem dynamic | Determined by competition among species for energy. Natural selection - species with most effective energy capture skill = biggest advantage |
| Duality of human life - describe | Humans exist within and depend on the biosphere, but humans tend to consider themselves as the superior species |
| Describe neo-classical economics | Prioritize the economy, belief env exists w/in economy. Unsustainable in long term. |
| Describe ecological economics | Prioritize the env, the economy and people exists within the environment. Sustainable in long term. |
| Major themes of industrial societies | Low eval of nature for nature's sake. Compassion mainly for those near and dear. Assumpt max wealth is impt and risks doing so worth it. Assmpt no phys lims of economic growth that can't be overcome by tech adv. Assmpt modern soc, culture, politics are ok |
| What is the cognized environment | Environmental beliegs are based more on what we think about nature and the environment than on our reality and actual experiences AKA what we think of nature based more on secondhand (articles, documentaries) than lived experiences |
| Describe agricultural societies | People controlling nature - more ppl, more tech, growing surpluses, greater scale, intensive agriculture |
| Describe industrial society | The world is a resource. Advanced tech, industrial revolution, population explosion, most inequality |
| How many times is soil being used faster than it can form? | 16 |
| Future land and soil problems | Degradation of land from overuse, diversion of land for housing - less good land for food production. Rise in global meat production. Social class/gender/race issues. Global land grabbing |
| 3 land and soil problem solutions | Agro-ecology (farm as its own eco-system), policies to preserve/protect soil, land use reforms |
| Describe land use reforms | Break up huge corporate farms into smaller, privately owned ones |
| World water use breakdown | Agriculture 69%, Industry 19%, personal/household 12% |
| Water resource issues and describe | Physical scarcity (there is no water in location) and economic scarcity (don't have the infrastructure to get water to people) |
| Three types of wealth | Material, social, ecological |
| Percentage of grain worldwide that feeds cows | 40% |
| Describe sink problems | Worsening environmental consequences of fossil fuel combustion or usage. Includes generation of CO2, CH4, SOx, Nox, oil spills, mountaintop removal for coal extraction, etc |
| Why is there so much solid waste? | Consumerism (think Amazon truck) and Throwaway society (single use items) |
| Problems with e-waste | Fastest growing waste stream, contain persistent toxic substances able to pollute air, water, soil, and pose serious health risks. Environmental justice issue - those who generate don't XP the problems |
| US Municipal Solid Waste Management percents | 53% landfill, 26% recycling, 13% incineration |
| Problems with landfills | Running out of them. Leachate can contaminate GW and soil |
| Problems with incinerators | While reducing V of waste and generates energy, very expensive to build and creates concentrated toxic ash |
| Addressing solid wastes (3 Rs) | Reduce, reuse, recycle |
| What differentiates humans from other species | Culture |
| What is culture | Total way of life for entire society. Material - things. and Symbolic - symbols, language, behavior patterns. |
| As we move up the food chain: | Loss of energy in conversion and bioaccumulation (toxic/chemical substances moving up food chain over time) |
| What do we only recycle 9% in the US? | Plastics |
| What is leachate? | Contaminated water which has seeped through solid waste (comes from landfills) |
| What is bioaccumulation | Accumulation of a toxin/chemical in a living creature as you go up the food chain |
Created by:
kls4587