1.1 Environmental Value Systems
1.2 Systems and Models
1.3 Energy and Equilibria
1.4 Sustainability
1.5 Humans and Pollution
100

puts ecology and nature as central to humanity and emphasizing a less materialistic approach to life with greater self-sufficiency of societies

ecocentric

100

a movement into or out of a system and between stores in a system (energy or matter)

Flow

100

The tendency of a system to avoid tipping points and maintain stability.

Resilience (of a system)

100

Designed to limit the impact of the project and protect the environment.

Mitigation Strategy

100

capable of being broken down by natural biological processes

Biodegradable

200

argues that humans must sustainably manage the global system

anthropocentric

200

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

200

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

200

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

200

Pollution arising from a single clearly identifiable site

Point Source Pollution

300

argues that technological developments can provide solutions to environmental problems

technocentric

300

a way of visualizing a complex set of interactions which may be ecological or societal.

System Approach

300

the minimum amount of change within a system that will destabilize it, causing it to reach a new equilibrium or stable state

Tipping Point

300

is the yield obtained from natural resources (not financial)

Natural Income

300

one that is not biodegradable and continues to exist in the environment without intervention from humans

persistent pollutant

400

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

400

A hypothetical concept in which neither energy nor matter is exchanged across the boundary

Isolated System

400

the condition of a system in which there is a tendency
for it to return to the previous equilibrium following disturbance

Stable equilibrium

400

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

400

arising from the long lasting release of a pollutant with the effects lasting for a long time

chronic pollution

500

an arbitrary group of individuals who share some common characteristics such as geographical location, cultural background, historical timeframe, religious perspective, etc.

society

500

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

500

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

500

Anything that the Earth supplies which can be used by humans, e.g. coal, iron ore, forests, water, air

Natural Resources

500

arising from primary pollutants undergoing physical or chemical change e.g. tropospheric ozone in photochemical smog

Secondary pollutants