Environmental crisis and climate change Flashcards
(23 cards)
In a general sense, how can we understand the environmental crisis?
1) As an imbalance between the way humans live and the natural environment
2) A clash between the permanent uncontrolled growth of global capitalism and the finite resources of the planet.
What metaphor helps us to understand the permanent need for capitalism to grow and expand?
Riding a bicycle: you have to pedal all the time if you don’t want to fall off.
What does the ecological footprint analyse?
The impact of our way of life on the planet from the point of view of resources used and waste produced.
What causes global warming?
The emission of greenhouse gases
In December 2015, the world’s governments signed the
Paris Agreement to confront climate change. What is its goal?
Avoiding a global temperature increase of more than 2ºC above the preindustrial era
The severity of climate change means that the situation can be defined as a
climate emergency
What are tipping points?
Critical thresholds in a system that, when exceeded, can lead to a significant change in the state of the system.
They are a line once crossed there is no turning back.
What are the most important climate tipping points?
Greenland ice sheet
Permafrost
Ocean circulation and temperature (AMOC)
Monsoons
Amazon Rainforests
Antarctic ice sheets
Coral reef die-offs
What is permafrost?
is a permanently frozen layer on or under Earth’s surface that is starting to melt
What is the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC)?
a large system of ocean currents that acts as a conveyor belt, redistributing heat throughout the Earth’s climate system
What is The Great Pacific Garbage Patch?
a kind of huge plastic soup that is the largest accumulation of ocean plastic in the world
What is the main difference between the sixth extinction and the previous ones?
That this time the cause of the mass extinction is not natural but human action itself.
What do we mean by Anthropocene?
The most recent period in Earth’s history when human activity started to have a significant impact on the planet’s climate and ecosystems.
What is the diffetence between Anthropocene and Capitalocene?
Anthropocene puts more emphasis on the impact of humanity in general on the planet while Capitalocene specifies that the problem is not humanity in general but the economic model, capitalism.
What does the term Great Acceleration refer to?
That the human footprint on the planet has intensified in an extraordinary way specially since the second half of the 20th century
What is the definition of sustainability?
meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs
What does Just (or Fair) Transition mean?
That the greening of the economy has to be done in a way that is fair and inclusive
What do we mean by Climate Justice?
that the countries, industries, businesses, and people that have become wealthy from emitting large amounts of greenhouse gases have a responsibility to help those affected by climate change, particularly the most vulnerable countries and communities
What is Ecoanxiety?
Distress related to worries about the effects of climate
change
Which people are most affected by eco-anxiety?
Young people.
People affected by catastrophes
Activists or scientists
Adults with small kids
Women (due to the traditional association between women and caregiving).
In particular, young women are the most affected group.
What is Eco (or Green) Social Work and Social Education?
A view of the profession that assumes that human well-being is related to the environment and that integrates environmental aspects into social relations and the goals of the profession.
How climate change affects the daily work of social educators and social workers?
It creates new problems and the worsening of traditional problems that affect vulnerable people.
How climate change broadens the perspective of social work and social education?
1) Expands the conception of human well-being and understands that it cannot be disconnected from the environment.
2) Expands the areas of intervention of social educators and social workers towards new problems (effects of pollution, floods, anxiety caused by environmental issues, etc.).
