1.1 Environmental Value Systems
puts ecology and nature as central to humanity and emphasizing a less materialistic approach to life with greater self-sufficiency of societies
ecocentric
a movement into or out of a system and between stores in a system (energy or matter)
Flow
The tendency of a system to avoid tipping points and maintain stability.
Resilience (of a system)
Designed to limit the impact of the project and protect the environment.
Mitigation Strategy
capable of being broken down by natural biological processes
Biodegradable
argues that humans must sustainably manage the global system
anthropocentric
The part of the Earth in habitated by organisms that extends from the upper parts of the atmosphere to deep within the Earth's crust.
Biosphere
Destabilizing feedback which will tend to amplify changes and drive the system toward a tipping point where a new equilibrium is adopted.
Postive Feedback loop
the area of land and water required to sustainably provide all resources at the rate at which they are being consumed and the assimilation of all wastes by a given human population.
Ecological Footprint
Pollution arising from a single clearly identifiable site
Point Source Pollution
argues that technological developments can provide solutions to environmental problems
technocentric
a way of visualizing a complex set of interactions which may be ecological or societal.
System Approach
the minimum amount of change within a system that will destabilize it, causing it to reach a new equilibrium or stable state
Tipping Point
is the yield obtained from natural resources (not financial)
Natural Income
one that is not biodegradable and continues to exist in the environment without intervention from humans
persistent pollutant
a world view or paradigm that shapes the way an individual or group of people perceive and evaluate environmental issues, influenced by cultural, religious, economic and socio-political contexts
environmental value system
A hypothetical concept in which neither energy nor matter is exchanged across the boundary
Isolated System
the condition of a system in which there is a tendency
for it to return to the previous equilibrium following disturbance
Stable equilibrium
the use and management of resources that allows full natural replacement of the resources exploited and full recovery of the ecosystems affected by their extraction and use
Sustainability
arising from the long lasting release of a pollutant with the effects lasting for a long time
chronic pollution
an arbitrary group of individuals who share some common characteristics such as geographical location, cultural background, historical timeframe, religious perspective, etc.
society
A simplified version of reality that can be used to understand how a system works and to predict how it will respond to change
Model
the principle of conservation of energy, which states
that energy in an isolated system can be transformed but cannot be created or
destroyed.
First law of thermodynamics
Anything that the Earth supplies which can be used by humans, e.g. coal, iron ore, forests, water, air
Natural Resources
arising from primary pollutants undergoing physical or chemical change e.g. tropospheric ozone in photochemical smog
Secondary pollutants