Chapter 3 Flashcards
(21 cards)
What is a Happy Planet?
How well-off people are, life expectancy and carbon footprint (over a country)
Happy Planet Index measures well-being and environmental impact.
What are the 2 things the socio-economic system relies on?
Energy and resources (throughputs) and a sink for waste (outputs)
Throughputs refer to the flow of materials and energy.
What are throughputs?
Amount of material passing through a system or process, how much is used for something.
What is the Anthropocene?
Current geological modern age, period in which human activity has been viewed as the dominating influence on climate and environment.
When did the Anthropocene begin?
Around 1950.
What are the 3 priorities of the World Conservation Strategy?
- Maintenance of ecological processes
- Sustainable use of resources
- Maintenance of genetic diversity
What is the overall message of the Brundtland Commission?
Developing meeting needs of the present generation without compromising future generations.
Why might the Brundtland Commission be vague?
What exactly is considered a need? Needs may vary over time. Ability to meet needs varies over time.
Compare Strong vs. Weak sustainability.
Weak sustainability depends on the ability to generate income for future generations. Strong sustainability depends on the preservation of the natural environment on which life depends.
What are the 3 guiding principles of sustainable development?
- Continued support of human life
- Continued maintenance of environment quality and long-term stock of bio resources
- Right of future generations to the same resources used today
What are the 4 precautionary principles towards environmental issues?
- Uncertainty is unavoidable
- Any existing uncertainty is not an excuse for inaction
- Anticipate and prevent rather than simply react
- Burden of proof should be on those that cause it, not those affected
What are the issues with the precautionary principles?
The fact that uncertainty is unavoidable means the harmful impacts of an action are not known until after it happens. No common definition on how to implement the principles.
What is the life-cycle analysis (LCA)?
Analyze the energy/environmental impact of a product/resources from start to finish (cradle to the grave). Helps to identify where most damage is done in the process.
What are the typical measures of growth and what are the issues with this?
They are economic (GDP, GNP). The problems are they do not account for depletion of natural resources or impacts on the environment.
How should the typical measures of growth be adjusted?
New economic development should balance throughput and ecosystems’ ability to regenerate/deal with waste. Include costs of degradation when measuring growth.
What are the two responses to a call for more sustainable development?
- Growth as usual, but at a slower rate
- Growth within limits of environmental capacity, considering throughputs and outputs
What are the issues with the IPAT formula?
It assumes linearity of thresholds and environmental characteristics. Assumes small populations with low tech and limited affluence are harmful. No account of different cultures, beliefs and attitudes. Assumes affluence ALWAYS causes damage. Assumes a fixed carrying capacity, even though it is dynamic.
Explain the Kuznet curve.
Theoretically, income/capita rising causes inequality to rise. But on the environmental scale, pre-industrial decay will reach a point where pollution begins to fall as incomes continue to rise.
Who causes environmental issues, and who sees the consequences?
The rich/most affluent cause many of the environmental issues in the world, but are well protected so they are scarcely affected by it.
What are the 3 main approaches to viewing the relationship between humans and the environment?
- ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINISM: Human society is controlled by the natural environment
- SOCIAL DETERMINISM: Social facts can only be explained by social drivers, no reliance on the physical world
- OTHER: The environment does not dictate a particular way of life, but offers a number of different possibilities to follow
Can the socio-economic system expand indefinitely?
No, it is limited by the finite global biosphere.
