Sustainability Flashcards
(30 cards)
Which vertebrates have had the highest extinction rate worldwide in the 20th century?
Freshwater fish
How many people depend on coral reefs for protection against storm surge and waves?
Nearly 200 million people
What percentage of the Amazon rainforest has disappeared in the last 50 years?
Almost 20%
How much has the global average temperature risen in the last 50 years?
At a rate 170 times the background rate
What percentage of new small molecule drugs introduced over the past 25 years have come from natural sources?
At least 70%
How many tonnes of fish and seafood have been taken from the oceans since 1950?
Almost 6 billion tonnes
What percentage of the world’s seabirds are estimated to have plastic fragments in their stomachs?
90%
Define sustainability according to the Brundtland definition.
Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs
What has artificial control of the environment allowed in terms of human population?
Increased supplies of food and resources, allowing populations to rise above natural carrying capacity
What role do negative feedback mechanisms play in natural systems?
They resist change and help maintain stable conditions
Provide an example of a positive feedback mechanism in global climate change.
Melting of permafrost
What tends to happen when human activities overwhelm negative feedback mechanisms?
They can lead to tipping points and new equilibria
Which ecosystems are more likely to be resistant to change?
High diverse systems like tropical rainforests and coral reefs
List some natural processes driven by solar power.
- Hydrological cycle
- Carbon cycle
- Nitrogen cycle
- Atmospheric circulation
- Thermohaline circulation
Describe how natural processes create cycles.
Waste products of one process become raw materials for others
What is a circular economy?
An economic system aimed at minimising waste and making the most of resources
Name some principles of the circular economy.
- Land use that supports natural ecosystems
- Water supply management
- Mineral resource management
- Waste management
- Pollution control
- Energy supplies
- Food production
What are catch quotas?
Limits on the amount of fish that can be caught to ensure sustainability
Define ecological footprint.
A measure of how much biologically productive land and resources an individual or population requires
What is Earth Overshoot Day?
The day in a year when humanity’s demand for ecological resources exceeds what the Earth can regenerate in that year
What does carbon footprint refer to?
The part of the ecological footprint related to CO2 emissions and other greenhouse gases
What is the Living Planet Index (LPI)?
A measure of global biological diversity based on population trends of vertebrate species
What is the significance of global hectares (gha)?
They allow reporting of biocapacity and demand on biocapacity
What does ecological overshoot mean?
When human demand exceeds the Earth’s capacity to regenerate resources
