Week 3: Chapters 10 & 11 Flashcards
(29 cards)
Ecosystem
A single, unified natural system
Sustainable Development
Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
Ecological Footprint
The amount of land and water a human population needs to produce the resources it consumes and to absorb its waste, given prevailing technology.
Commons
A shared resource, such as land air or water that aa group of people use collectively.
Ozone
Bluish gas, composed of 3 bonded oxygen atoms, that floats in a thin layer in the stratosphere between 9 and 28 miles above the planet.
Montreal Protocol
Deal that included cutting CFC production; the agreement was later amended to ban CFCs, along with several other ozone-depleting chemicals.
Kyoto Protocol
Deal with the purpose to stabilize the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous interference with the climate system.
Biodiversity
Refers to the number and variety of species and the range of their genetic makeup.
Life-cycle analysis
Involves collecting information on the lifelong environmental impact of a product, from extraction of materials, design, manufacturing, distribution, use, and disposal.
Industrial ecology
Designing factories and distribution systems as if they were self-contained ecosystems.
Extended product responsibility
Refers to the idea that companies have a continuing responsibility for the environmental impact of their products and services, ever after they are sold.
Carbon Neutrality
When an organization or individual produces net 0 emissions of greenhouse gases.
Carbon offsets
Investments in projects that remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Environmental Protection Agency
Coordinates most of the government’s efforts to protect the environment.
Acid Rain
Is formed when emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, by-products of the burning of fossil fuels by utilities, manufacturers, and motor vehicles, combine with water vapor.
Environmental Justice
Effort to prevent inequitable exposure to risk, such as from hazardous waste.
Source Reduction
Aims to reduce pollution at the source, rather than treat and dispose of waste at the end of the pipe.
Environmental Standards
Standard allowable levels of various pollutants are established by legislation or regulatory action.
Command and Control Regulation
The government commands business firms to comply with certain standards and often directly controls their choice of technology.
Market-based Mechanisms
This approach is based on the idea that the market is a better control than extensive standards that specify precisely what companies must do.
Cap-and-Trade
Approach that allows businesses to buy and sell the right to pollute.
Clean Economy
Sectors of the economy that produce goods and services with an environmental benefit.
Greening of Management
The process of moving toward more proactive environmental management.
Ecologically Sustainable Organization
A business that operates in a way that is consistent with the principle of sustainable development.
