Environmental Issues test 2
In the US, what sectors use the most energy, and what are their primary energy sources?
(From most to least): -electrical power (natural gas, cold, nuclear) -transportation (oil/ petroleum) -industrial (natural gas, oil) -residential (natural gas) -commercial (natural gas)
Tragedy of the commons: biologist Garret Hardin
-"Freedom in a commons brings ruin to all" if a resource is held in common for use by all, then ultimately that resource will be destroyed. To avoid the ultimate destruction, we must change our human values and ideas of morality. -held in common means the resource is owned by no one, or owned by a group, all of whom have access to the resource. -a tragedy in this context means inevitable ruin of commons. The two general types of ruin. The first is depleting the commons resources (taking them out of the environment due to too much freedom) including deforestation and over hunting or fishing. The other is depleting the capacity of the commons to handle wastes (overwhelms the commons and ruins them, putting something into the commons), including smog and liter in the ocean. -examples of a common resource include air, water, and fish of the sea. -4 general premises related to tragedy of the commons: 1. The earth is finite, and has a limited stock of renewable fuels, minerals, biological resources, energy, and sink for processing wastes. 2. Although human activity very often does occur on privately owned lands which are not a common, that and all other human activities take place in some larger natural commons. 3. Now for the first time on the global scale, human beings are exceeding the land and resource use which the earths bio system can sustain. 4. Individuals who seek to maximize their material consumption contribute to the ever increasing exploitation of the worlds commons. -underlying causes of tragedy: overpopulation, self interest/ greed, unrestricted growth in a finite earth system -consequences and solutions: The atmosphere, rivers, land, and ocean may be ultimately destroyed because they are held in common for use by all. Tragedy is inevitable, and there is no technical solution. But, we can change our values, with mutual coercion. The two distinct elements that may solve common's problems include restricting access and creating incentives for users to invest in the resource instead of over exploiting it. -examples are over extraction (over fishing a pond, over hunting a land), air pollution (overwhelming the air), over polluting an area (trash in the ocean or forest)
Rachel Carson
-"conservation hero" -famous book: "Silent Spring" 1962 (wrote other books first, not as famous) -perspective: mix of egocentric and anthropocentric. Miss use of technology is not right, as we harm ourselves and we harm nature. Humans do not have the right to devastate nature -specific concern: pesticides=biocides (life-killing) -ecocentric and anthropocentric -general concern: all environmental issues (be more careful) -"biocides" is more honest because it can kill unintended organisms through biomagnification -relation to PA: Pittsburgh for college, homestead in Springdale, PA -work: marine-biologist, chief of US Fish and Wildlife Forestrt -meaning of "Silent Spring": DDT killed birds in the spring and weakened eagle eggs, no song birds in the spring -various reactions to book: positive- people found out things about DDT that they didn't know. The federal government made her testify and support her work, and they agreed, and banded DDT in 1972. Negative- attacks on her by the DDT industry and others discrediting her. -DDT/eagles/biomagnification and bioaccumulation: DDT first developed in 1920s, used in World War II to combat disease carrying insects. Shifted to agricultural and household use for pests. Farmers would spray their crops with DDT, it would poison insects, fish and water fowl would eat those insects, and eagles would eat the fish and waterfowl. Thus, the Eagles were poisoned. This is called bio accumulation. Bioaccumulation focuses on organisms. It is the increase in concentration of a pollutant in an organism. Biomagnification focuses on an entire food chain. It is the increase in contraction of a pollutant and a food chain. It is very magnified at the top -DDT controversy today: can DDT combat malaria? Can DDT combat the Zika virus?
How much fossil fuel is consumed for energy in the US, and what are the types?
-80% of energy consumption in the US is from fossil fuels -The four types are oil/petroleum (37%), coal (11%), and natural gas (32%). -renewable energy is 11%, and is 43% biomass (wood, biofuels).
What are the AAAS and the IPCC?
-AAAS: American Association for the advancement of science. What we know. Around 97% of climate scientist agree that human cause climate change is happening. -IPCC: inter-governmental panel on climate change. Gather data, inform us on climate change. Won the Nobel peace prize in 2007. Increase in global average temperature most likely due to the increase of anthropogenic greenhouse gas concentrations according to their fourth assessment report in 2007. In 2013, their fifth report changed it to extremely likely that human influence is the dominant cause. They have uncertainty in where, when, and how much change? Also, what personal and structural solution should be done.
Early decades of 1900s up to around 1950
-Aldo Leopold's writings were prominent among the many issues occurring, including WWII, the Great Depression, the Spanish flu, and the dust bowl
Modern environmental movement
-Began in 1960s/1970s (Vietnam War, Great Acceleration, Civil Rights Movement, Space Race, hippies) -Rachel Carson -first Earth Day April 22, 1970 -environmental laws passed (DDT banned in 1973, wilderness act of 1964, endangered species act, clean air act, clean water act) -main stream environmental groups created
Gifford Pinchot
-Conserve/ conservationist -background: leader of conservation movement. Established Yale school of forestry. Forester. Chief of US Forest Service from 1898-1910. Served 2 terms as governor of PA. -ethical perspective: weak-anthropocentric (human centered). Resources used by humans must be conserved. Viewpoint: we should only use what we need. -involved in Hetch Hetchy Valley controversy
What are environment, ethics, and environmental ethics?
-Environment: us in our surroundings -ethics: The study of reasons for right and wrong actions -environmental ethics: natural resources must be used thoughtfully and safely, and overuse can harm both the environment in which we live and human health
John Muir
-Preserve/ preservationist -background: influential naturalist, writer, "university of the wilderness" -ethical perspective: ecocentric (nature centered) -viewpoint: primacy of nature and wilderness protection -involved in Hetch Hetchy Valley controversy
What is the one approach to an ethical analysis of a dilemma?
-Step one: Who? What? When? Where? -Step two: decide if it's right vs. right or wrong vs. right -Step three: utilize the four ways of ethically thinking
Early 1900s
-Theodore Roosevelt, John Muir, Gifford Pinchot (see descriptions of each at top) -all three involved in Hetch Hetchy Valley controversy
What are the three major challenges to ethical action, ethical issues related to trajectory of future emissions, and ethical issues related to who should bear the burden of unavoided impacts?
-Three major challenges to ethical issues: 1. The first challenge stems from the fact that climate change is a truly global phenomenon 2. The second challenge is that current emissions have profoundly intergenerational effects 3. The third challenge is that our theoretical tools are underdeveloped in many of the relevant areas, such as international justice, intergenerational ethics, scientific uncertainty, and the appropriate relationship between humans and the rest of nature. -ethical issues related to the tragedy of future emissions: 1. It would probably be better for future generations and vulnerable species if emissions are substantially reduced quickly to minimize future damage, but may be unfair for our generation to pay so much with little benefit to us 2. It may be unfair to demand poor nations to limit their emissions for future generations when they already emit so little as it is 3. Climate change affects non-human living things as well, and lowering the climate will bring new species into ecosystems, affecting them. -questions and ethical issues related to who should bear the burden of "unavoided impacts" 1. Can harmfulness be lessened through adaptation? 2. Who will compensate the harmed? 3. Will global, intergenerational, and ecological justice be served?
What are the six principles and their applications of the declaration of ethical principles in relation to climate change (UNESCO)?
-UNESCO= United Nations educational, scientific, and cultural organization -6 principles (related to ethical concepts): 1. Prevention of harm 2. Precautionary approach 3. Equity and justice (fair treatment to all people) 4. sustainable development 5. Solidarity (assist the vulnerable) 6. Scientific knowledge and integrity in decision making -application of principles: it is recommended that states and pertinent actors develop and use scientifical technologies and innovations, risk assessment and management, gift priority to vulnerable groups, promote education on the topic, promote public awareness, take responsibility, cooperate with international researchers, and promote/use the UNESCO.
What four anthropogenic gases mostly caused the enhanced greenhouse effect?
-carbon dioxide (65% fossil fuels and industrial processes, 11% forestry and other land uses) -methane (16%) (livestock, landfills, petroleum systems) -nitrous oxide (6%) (agricultural soil management, stationary combustion) -f-gases (2%) (industrial, refrigeration) Without trees, more carbon stays in the atmosphere.
Conservation vs. preservation
-conservation: greatest good for greatest number (wise use) -preservation: duty to protect from use. Intrinsic value of nature. Value by itself. Leave it alone.
What is the "Drawdown"?
-drawdown: The point in the future when levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere stop climbing and start to steadily declined, thereby stopping catastrophic climate change as quickly, safely, and equitably as possible -who: drawdown research fellows come from diverse fields and universities around the world -solutions: Solutions include reducing sources and bringing omissions to zero, supporting sinks and uplifting natures carbon cycle, and improving society by fostering equality for all. Examples are electric cars, green and cool roofs, and abandoned farmland restoration
George Perkins Marsh
-early influencer (mid 1800s) -book "Man and Nature" 1864 -weak-anthropocentric -warning: there are consequences to destroying natural resources (forests, birds, soil, water, cattle) -"prophet of modern conservation"
Henry David Thoreau
-early influencer (mid 1800s) -book "Walden" 1854 (about his simple life in the woods) -message: simplify! Use as little as you need
Aldo Leopold
-education: forestry degree @ Yale University -viewpoint: ecocentric ethic (in some cases), expanded viewpoint to include preservation goals. Initially was conservation, later questioned those principals, and thought wilderness should be preserved in some cases. -green fire: saw "green fire" leave the wolf's eyes after he shot her. It represents life force. Changed his perspective towards roles of humans in the environment. -wrote the sand county almanac -land ethic- a thing is right when it preserves, wrong when otherwise. "Land ethic" is an example of "moral extensionism", because people need to realize there's more to a community than just the humans. -wilderness: helped get the Wilderness Act of 1964 passed (SEP3), even though he was passed away by that point -began as conservationist, developed more into a preservationist perspective -his land ethic is a good example to moral extensionism because the ethical responsibility boundary was stretched to include the land and things among just people. -his idea of community included people, land, water, plants, animals, rocks, etc. the land ethic represents how we should respect all aspects of the community.
What are the evidence, causes, effects, scientific consensus, and vital signs of global climate change?
-evidence: warming oceans, shrinking ice sheets, glacial retreat, decreased snow covers, sea level rising, declining Arctic sea ice, extreme events, ocean acidification, and global temperature rise. -causes: The greenhouse effect: warming that results when the atmosphere traps heat radiating from earth toward space, including water vapor, methane, nitrous oxide, and carbon dioxide. Humans are changing the natural greenhouse, warming the earth. -effects: glaciers have shrunk, ice on rivers and lakes is breaking up earlier, plants and animal ranges have shifted, and trees are flowering sooner. There has also been a loss of sea ice, accelerated sea level rise. And more intense heat waves. In the future, temps will continue to rise, frost free season/growing season will lengthen, changes and precipitation patterns, more droughts and heat waves, stronger hurricanes, arctic will likely become ice free, and sea level rise 1 to 8 feet by 2100. -scientific consensus: 97% of scientists agree that climate warming trends over the past century are extremely likely due to human activity -vital signs: The most vital signs are carbon dioxide, global temperature, Arctic sea ice minimum, ice sheets, and sea level.
Who has responsibility for the environment?
-government: regulations, limits, contracts, land ownership (protect areas). -businesses/corporations: value the environment over cost efficiency, produce environmentally friendly products -individuals: recycle, walk, ride your bike, day-to-day choices with effort. Hold an environmental citizenship
Goldman environmental prize
-honors grassroots environmental heroes from roughly the worlds six inhabited continental regions. It recognizes individuals for sustained and significant efforts to protect and enhance the natural environment, often at great personal risk -The prize is awarded every April to coincide with Earth Day. Six people receive it every year, one from each region (South and central America, North America, islands and island nations, Europe, Asia, and Africa). -not all prize winners are professionals, but they are all environmental activists. They come from all over, and range in age -The trophy symbolizes natures power of renewal. It is a serpent biting its tail (ouroboros).
Late 1800s/ Early 1900s (hetch hetchy valley controversy)
-industrial revolution -population distribution changing: rural to urban -conflict about role of nature: natural resources needed to support cities vs. nature needed for spatial rejuvenation -famous controversy in early 1900s: location Hetch Hetchy Valley, CA -controversy= conserving and protecting it for its natural values and beauty or dam the river to supply water to San Francisco -controversy split the Early Environmental Movement into two views: conservation vs. preservation. -the dam was built. -today, some people think the dam has outlived its usefulness and should be restored and unflooded. - conservationists were anthropocentric, preservationists were ecocentric -Muir= preservation, pinchot=conservation
What do difficult decisions depend on?
-information available (is it reliable and accurate?) -values and ethical judgments. People have different opinions, for example, an anthropocentric person versus an ecocentric person have different opinions of right versus wrong
What is a natural resource, a common and sustainability?
-natural resource: something from the environment that is useful to humans. Examples include trees made into lumber, water, and metal -commons (common pool resources): natural resources that are shared by everyone. For example air/atmosphere, water (river or lake), wildlife/fish, forest (not privately owned), ocean, and public parks -sustainability: meeting the needs of the present without limiting the ability of the future generations to meet their needs
Theodore Roosevelt
-president 1901-1909 -contemporary of John Muir and Gifford Pinchot -established wildlife refugees and forest reserves (Erie national wildlife refuge) -involved in Hetch Hetchy Valley controversy -conservation approach, appointed pinchot to forest service (Allegheny National Forest is a part of it)
Pre-environment movement in the US
-time period: around 1600 to the mid 1800s -prevailing views: 1. Humans superior to nature source: "dominion thesis," Old Testament. 2. Natures value for human use only. Humans should/ can "conquer" nature. 3. Natural resources- super abundance/ plentiful. Thought resources would never run out
Early environmental movement in the US
-time period: around 1850-1950 (mid 1800's- mid 1900's) -emerging views 1. Humans: part of nature. "Stewardship" responsibilities 2. Natures value: intrinsic; not just for humans. Humans should coexist with nature 3. Natural resources: can be degraded/depleted. "Super-abundance"= myth.
How is the global climate changing?
-warmer than "normal" -wetter than "normal" -drier than "normal"
Elinor Ostrom (1933-2012)
-won the Nobel peace prize in economics in 2009 (political economist) -challenged the theory of the "tragedy of the commons". Book= governing the commons. Research by Ostrom and her colleagues has demonstrated the existence of communities across the world which engaged in communication and deliberations to develop a fascinating variety of adaptive rules to conserve the environment, ensuring a sustainable harvest of natural resources. -Ostrom proposed A set of eight design principles for managing common-pool resources, including that people are much more likely to follow a set of rules if they have had some say in formulating them, monitoring to find out when people break rules and sanctioning especially of especially and penitent repeat offenders is very important for these groups to be successful in the long term, and mechanisms for conflict resolution need to be low cost. -In her childhood, she grew vegetables and knitted scarves for the troops while buying clothes in a charity store. The principles of cooperation and resource conservation were engrained into her at an early age, and an important part of her world view. She had to learn how to work hard abs be independent. -she challenged the establishment, including conventional ideas about the tragedy of the commons promoted by economists,and had a different view about how to manage the commons. -during her case study approach, she talked to people on the ground, traveled to investigate communal irrigation systems, forests, and mountain villages, in order to find patterns of the world. She found that people solve problems very well through self organizing property institutions. -she collaborated with researchers not just in economics, but also ecology, computer science, and psychology to inform her research and findings. -she was led to believe that environmental problems involving commons could be solved by small groups. People have found ways of agreeing on their own rules and extracting themselves from the problem. Group norms and rules apply at the local level and scale and solve a lot of environmental problems. -solutions to manage commons include cooperation, collective action, appropriate rules, monitoring, sanctions, and conflict resolution. (More social solutions/ cooperation)
What are the three types of value?
1. Absolute: unconditional value, it should never be harmed in any way 2. Intrinsic: valued for its own sake, just because it exists (no use) 3. Instrumental: value what we can use it for or what we can exchange it for
What are the three ways to measure climate change?
1. Direct sampling: since 1958, the Mauna Loa observatory in Hawaii has measured temperature and atmospheric CO2, and represents this data on a Keeling curve graph. In 1958, there was 315 ppm (parts per million). In 2020, there is 410 ppm. 2. Proxy (indirect) sampling: this was used early on when there was little technology. Examples are tree rings and ice cores. When using ice cores, gases in the air bubbles at that time are observed. The CO2 and temperature show a positive correlation. The graph shows CO2 and temperature over the last 800,000 years by using the ice cores. Wide temperature fluctuations are from natural glacial cycles. The max CO2 concentration during the pre-industrial time period was 300 ppm, while today it is greater than 410 ppm. 3. Computer models: GCM= general circulation models. Scientists use them to study global climate change. Various processes that are important for understanding global climate are represented mathematically and these computer models. Climate scientists can't conduct true experiments on our global climate, so GCMs are useful tools for studying observe changes and making predictions about future climate changes. There are two types of models, one with natural sources only and one with both natural and human sources. Models with both natural and human sources are the most accurate call mom and predict known climate well. Scientists try various CO2 concentrations to predict the future climate.
What are NASAs two approaches to solutions to climate change?
1. Reducing and stabilizing the levels of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere (mitigation). 2. Adapting to the climate change already in the pipeline (adaptation).
What are the time frames for nature and the environment?
1. Short term: current, near future. Historically, our focus has been on this timeframe 2. Long term: environmental issues challenge us to consider the cumulative affects over longer time periods. Sustainability principles encourage us to think about future generations as well as our own. Another example, based on native American Iroquois Confederacy declaration: " in our every deliberation we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations" Decisions are more important long term for the next generations
What are the five tests to determine right vs wrong ethical dilemmas, and the four paradigms to analyze right vs right ethical dilemmas?
5 tests to asses right vs. wrong: 1. Legal 2. Gut-feeling 3. Front-page 4. Role-model 5. Professional standards 4 paradigms to analyze right vs. right: 1. Truth vs loyalty 2. Self vs community 3. Short-term vs long-term 4. Justice vs mercy
What happened to carbon emissions and temperature around the 1950s?
Around 1950, fossil fuel global carbon emissions began to increase at a very fast rate. The temperature increase also began to be more rapid at that time. It was during the great acceleration. Since 1880, the global average temperature increased 1.78°F. There has been a more drastic increase near the northern hemisphere. Over the last 150 years, carbon and temperature have increased with a positive correlation.
What are climate vs. weather?
Climate is the long term average, typically over several decades. Weather is short term and varies from day to day.
What are the four ways of thinking to ethically determine the best right/most ethical decision? (Ethical reasoning)
Ethical reasoning: commands Underlying ethical principle: duty Goal: Live by a general rule; what we ought to do, regardless of the consequences Ethical reasoning: consequences Underlying ethical principle: utility Goal: make a choice that provides the greatest good for the greatest number Ethical reasoning: care for others Underlying ethical principle: justice Goal: equals should be treated equally; share benefits and burdens fairly Ethical reasoning: character Underlying ethical principle: virtues Goal: being a good person
Early influences (mid-1800s)
Henry David Thoreau and George Perkins Marsh (see descriptions of each at the top)
What are the predictions of the IPCC and the US Environment Program Press Release?
IPCC- even tiny temperature increases severely alter our planet. We are expected to rise 1.5°C by 2052, and have already rose 1.0°C. At 2.0°C, the arctic ocean ice would completely melt, and all coral reefs would die. US Environment Program Press Release- even with COVID-19, greenhouse gas concentrations are at Record high levels and continue to increase. 410 ppm during the first half of 2020. CO2 omissions in 2020 will fall by 4 to 7% due to COVID-19 confinement policies. They dropped 17% in April due to lock down. The average global temperature between 2016 and 2020 what is the warmest on record, 1.1°C above 1850 to 1900. Between 2016 to 2019, the greatest glacial ice loss occurred as a five-year period since 1950. By 2050, 1.6 billion people will be at flood risk. What are stressed regions will increase. Now, 12% of the world drinks from unsafe sources.
What are the geographic scales for nature and the environment?
Local, regional, national, and global. Interconnections are at different geographic scales. What happens at a local scale may have impacts on larger areas beyond the immediate environment. For example, air and water pollution are not stationary and may have an effect far from the original sources
What are the specific views on moral standing?
Moral standing is a moral duty, responsibility, or obligation to beings or things. They have a right to be treated with respect and are worthy of ethical concern. 1. (Strong) anthropocentric: extends moral standing to humans only 2. Weak-anthropocentric: Full blown rights to humans only, but some non-humans should be treated with respect; they have intrinsic value, but not necessarily rights (pinchot) 3. Biocentric: extends moral standing to humans and other living things. Some living beings have more standing than others. Example being mammals have some standing, people have more. Mice have some standing, wolves have more. Trees have some standing, Eagles have more. 4. Ecocentric: extends moral standing to humans, other living beings, and nonliving things (leopold)
Quotes of Gifford Pinchot
Notice his anthropocentric views that emphasize "conservation"(i.e., "wise use"). -"The first great fact about conservation is that it stands for development. There has been a fundamental misconception that conservation means nothing but the husbandingof resources for future generations. There could be no more serious mistake. Conservation does mean provision for the future, but it means also and first of all the recognition of the right of the present generation to the fullest necessary use of all the resources with which this country is so abundantly blessed. Conservation demands the welfare of this generation first, and afterward the welfare of the generations to follow." -"In the second place conservation stands for the prevention of waste." -"Conservation means the greatest good to the greatest number for the longest time." -"Conservation advocates the use of foresight, prudence, thrift, and intelligence in dealing with public matters, for the same reasons and in the same way that we each use foresight, prudence, thrift, and intelligence in dealing with our own private affairs. It proclaims the right and duty of the people to act for the benefit of the people. Conservation demands the application of common-sense to the common problems for thecommon good." -"Conservation means the wise use of the earth and its resources for the lasting good of men." -"The earth and its resources belong of right to its people." -"The outgrowth of conservation, the inevitable result is national efficiency."
Quotes of John Muir
Notice his passion for the natural values of Hetch Hetchy Valley and his ecocentric / preservation views.The third quote is his very strong criticism of his opponents in the Hetch Hetchy Valley controversy. Muir sees "Nature" as having spiritual value, and he criticizes those who want to build the dam for "worshiping"money. -"Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where Nature may heal and cheer and give strength to body and soul alike." -"It appears . . . that Hetch Hetchy Valley, far from being a plain, common, rockbound meadow, as many who have not seen it seem to suppose, is a grand landscape garden, one of Nature's rarest and most precious mountain temples. As in Yosemite, the sublime rocks of its walls seem to glow with life, whether leaning back in repose or standing erect in thoughtful attitudes, giving welcome to storms and calms alike, their brows in the sky, their feet set in the groves and gay flowery meadows, while birds, bees, and butterflies help the river and waterfalls to stir all the air into music -thinks frail and fleeting and types of permanence meeting here and blending, just as they do in Yosemite, to draw her lovers into close and confiding communion with her." -"These ... devotees of ravaging commercialism seem to have a perfect contempt for Nature, and, instead of lifting their eyes to the God of the mountains, lift them to the Almighty Dollar. .
Quotes of George Perkins Marsh (from Man and Nature)
Notice the references to manydifferent natural resources, as well as his warning about the harm that comes from degrading those resources. -"He [civilized, modern man] has felled the forests whose network of fibrous roots bound the mould to the rocky skeleton of the earth; but had he allowed here and there a belt of woodland to reproduce itself by spontaneous propagation, most of the mischiefswhich his reckless destruction of the natural protection of the soil has occasioned would have been averted. He has broken up the mountain reservoirs, the percolation of whose waters through unseen channels supplied the fountains that refreshed his cattle and fertilized his fields; but he has neglected to maintain the cisterns and the canals of irrigation which a wise antiquity had constructed to neutralize the consequences of its own imprudence. While he has torn the thin glebe [that is, soil] which confined the light earth of extensive plains, and has destroyed the fringe of semi-aquatic plants which skirted the coast and checked the drifting of the sea sand, he has failed to preventthe spreading of dunes by clothing them with tribes of animated nature whose spoil he could convert to his own uses, and he has not protected the birds which prey on the insects most destructive to his own harvests. . . ." -"The ravages committed by man subvert the relations and destroy the balance which nature had established between her organized and her inorganic creations . . . . When the forest is gone, the great reservoir of moisture stored up in its vegetable mould is evaporated, and returns only indeluges of rain to wash away the parched dust into which that mould has been converted. The well-wooded and humid hills are turned to ridges of dry rock, which encumbers the low grounds and chokes the watercourses with its debris, and-except in countries favored with an equable distribution of rain through the seasons, and a moderate and regular inclination of surface-the whole earth, unless rescued by human art from the physical degradation to which it tends, becomes an assemblage of bald mountains, of barren, turfless hills, and of swampy and malarious plains"
Quotes of Henry David Thoreau (from Walden)
Notice the underlying messagein all of these quotes: "simplify". -"A man is rich in proportion to the number of things which he can afford to let alone." -"My greatest skill in life has been to want but little." -"Every morning was a cheerful invitation to make my life of equal simplicity, and I may say innocence, with Nature herself." - A long quote, but message is similar: "Our life is frittered away by detail. An honest man has hardly need to count more than his ten fingers, or in extreme cases he may add his ten toes, and lump the rest. Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity! I say, let your affairs be as two or three, and not a hundred or a thousand; instead of a million count half a dozen, and keep your accounts on your thumb-nail. In the midst of this chopping sea of civilized life, such are the clouds and storms and quicksands and thousand-and-one items to be allowed for, that a man has to live, if hewould not founder and go to the bottom and not make his port at all, by dead reckoning, and he must be a great calculator indeed who succeeds. Simplify, simplify. Instead of three meals a day, if it be necessary eat but one; instead of a hundred dishes,five; and reduce other things in proportion.
What has happened to the ocean due to global warming?
Sea level in 2018 was 2 to 3 mm higher than 2017. 90% of energy trapped by greenhouse gases goes into the ocean. The ocean heat content in 2018 was the highest on record at that point in time. Absorbing carbon dioxide affects it's PH, causing ocean acidification. PH has decreased in the last 30 years. See ice levels are at an all time low.
How do you calculate the rate of temperature increase?
Temperature change/ time ex. +0.6°C/ 30 years= 0.02°C/year *recently, temperature increase has moved at a much faster rate!
Quotes of Aldo Leopold (from A Sand County Almanac)
The first quote addresses the "green fire" that was so significant in the development of Leopold's viewpoint. Other quotesinclude: his definition of "right", his ideas about the role of humans in the "land ethic"(an example of "moral extensionism"), and his broadened definition of"community". -"I was young then and full of trigger itch; I thought that because fewer wolves meant more deer, that no wolves would mean hunters' paradise. But after seeing the green fire die, I sensed that neither the wolf nor the mountain agreed with such a view..... In wildness is the salvation of the world. Perhaps this is the hidden meaning in the howl of the wolf, long known among mountains, but seldom perceived among men." -"A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it does otherwise." -"In short, a land ethic changes the role of Homo sapiensfrom conqueror of the land-community to plain member and citizen of it." -"All ethics so far evolved rest upon a single premise:that the individual is a member of a community of interdependent parts.... The land ethic simply enlarges the boundaries of the community to include soils, waters, plants, and animals, or collectively: the land."
Quotes of Rachel Carson (from Silent Spring)
The first quote refers to the huge increase in our use of chemicals during the 20thcentury. In the second quote, noticethat she is making the case that chemical "pesticides" should really be considered "biocides". The third and fourth quote speaks to her advocating that we be more careful with our use of pesticides / biocides. Important to note:She did notadvocate an outright ban ofall chemical pesticides; any decision to impose a banshould bebased on specifics about the pesticide (see the last part of the third quote below). In general, she wanted us to be much more careful and much better informed so that we make good decisions about whether and how to usethem. -"Only within the moment of time represented by the present century has one species -man -acquired significant power to alter the nature of the world." -"These sprays, dusts, and aerosols are now applied almost universally to farms, gardens, forests, and homes -nonselective chemicals that have the power to kill every insect, the "good" and the "bad," to still the song of birds and the leaping of fish in the streams ... though the intended target may be only a few weeds or insects." -"A Who's Who of pesticides is therefore of concern to us all. If we are going to live so intimately with these chemicals eating and drinking them, taking them into the very marrow of our bones -we had better know something about their nature and their power." -"It is not my contention that chemical insecticides must never be used. I do contend that we have put poisonous and biologically potent chemicals indiscriminately into the hands of persons largely or wholly ignorant of their potentials for harm."
What is global climate change?
The global climate changing very rapidly, including temperature increase and precipitation increasing and decreasing.
Is the greenhouse effect caused by a hole in earths atmosphere?
The greenhouse effect is not caused by a hole in earths atmosphere. Ozone depletion is caused by the hole, but doesn't have to do with global warming.
Eco-ethical mountain
The three levels help us make good decisions about environmental problems. It also is a tool that helps us to understand the beliefs and actions of people whom which we disagree. -Appreciation (bottom): lots of ideas. Based on values/viewpoints (Absolute, intrinsic, instrumental, anthropocentric, biocentric, ecocentric.) -ecology/ ecological understanding (middle): some ideas. Research, empirical data. Scientific principles -responsibility (top): few ideas. Based on the major ethical principles, including duty, utility, justice, and virtues.
Why are they called fossil fuels?
The use of fossil fuels began in the 1850s, and before that it was wood. Fossil fuels are non renewable, and found deep in the ground where fossils are. They are extracted through pumping and mining.
Is the greenhouse effect important? (Normal greenhouse vs. enhanced greenhouse)
We need the greenhouse effect to an extent to stay warm, but the enhanced greenhouse affect us too much greenhouse gas being trapped and less escapes, causing over warming. That was on there and UV radiation or not part of the diagram of greenhouse effect.
What are stakeholders?
individuals or things who are affected by the environment. Can be living or non living depending on your moral standing.