Chapter 1-2

Nuclear changes

Matter can undergo three types of nuclear changes: natural radioactive decay, nuclear fission, and nuclear fusion.

Worlds population stops

Over population, famine, pollution problems still remain, the lack of economic growth can lead to the deterioration of some countries with a weak economy

The earth's main resources are perpetual resources like solar energy, renewable resources like forests and fresh water, and nonrenewable resources like oil and gas. The resources can be depleted or degraded by overuse, by waste, by pollution, and by man's increasing "ecological footprint."

resources

Distinguish between a time delay and a synergistic interaction in a system and give an example of each.

A time delay is how long a system input takes to become a system output, a synergistic interaction is when two or more processes combine and yield more than if they were separate. An example of time delay is searching for something on google, and the delay is how long it takes the page to load, (how long it takes to get the product). example of synergistic interaction is mixing alcohols into one drink and it gets much stronger.

How are our ecological footprints affecting the earth?

A. Natural capital/natural resources are those in the environment or those obtained from the environment: food, water, air, shelter petroleum, etc. B. Material resources we get from the environment are classified as perpetual, renewable, or nonrenewable. 1. A perpetual resource is renewed continuously, like solar energy. 2. Sustainable yield is the highest rate of use on an indefinite scale without degradation or depletion. 3. Environmental degradation occurs when use of resources exceeds rate of replacement. C. The Tragedy of the Commons describes the overuse or degradation of freely available resources such as ocean pollution, abuse of national parks, air pollution, etc. No one individual owns these free-access resources. D. What is our ecological footprint, our impact on the environment? 1. The per capita ecological footprint is the biologically productive land and water needed to supply renewable resources and absorb waste for each individual. 2. Humanity's ecological footprint exceeds by about 39% the earth's ecological capacity (or biocapacity) to replenish its renewable resources and absorb the resulting waste products and pollution. E. What are nonrenewable resources? 1. Nonrenewable resources are those that exist in fixed quantity or stock in the earth's crust. The resource is economically depleted when it costs too much to obtain what is left. 2. These resources include energy resources (oil, coal, natural gas), metallic mineral resources (copper, iron, aluminum, etc.), and nonmetallic minerals like salt, clay, sand, and phosphates. 3. There are solutions for an economically depleted resource. a. Try to find more of the resource. b. Recycle the resource. c. Waste less. d. Use less. e. Try to develop a substitute for the resource.

natural sustainability

A. There are four major components of earth's natural sustainability 1. Reliance on solar energy. 2. Reserve biodiversity. 3. Population control. 4. Nutrient recycling

The basic causes of today's environmental problems are population growth, wasteful use of resources, the tragedy of the commons, poverty, poor environment accounting, and ecological ignorance. They are interconnected because of political and economic practices that are not equitable for various populations, in resource consumption and in technological applications.

Cause of today's enviormental issues

If there is no way where organisms can get rid of their wastes, why is the world not filled with waste matter?

Decomposers would decompose the organic material and initiate the nutrient cycle.

How can environmentally sustainable societies grow economically?

Economic growth provides people with the goods and services needed. 1. Gross domestic product (GDP) is the market value for goods and services produced within the country. 2. Standard of living is the GDP divided by total population at midyear. B. Economic development is improving living standards through growth. Most developed countries have high industrialization and high per capita income. Developing countries have moderate to low income. 1. Economic developments reflect good and bad economic news. a. Poverty produces harmful environmental effects. 2. Developed countries enjoy a higher standard of living. a. Longer life expectancy. b. Decrease in infant mortality. 3. Environmentally sustainable development rewards sustainable activities and discourages harmful activities.

The world's current course is not sustainable. Environmental sustainable development encourages environmentally beneficial forms of economic growth and discourages environmentally harmful growth

Environmental sustainability

Concept 1-5A 1-6

Five major causes of environmental problems: Population growth, wasteful resource use, poverty, poor environmental accounting, ecological ignorance. 1-6= 4 major principles of sustainability: Reliance on solar energy, reserve biodiversity, population control, nutrient recycling.

The major forms of energy are kinetic energy and potential energy. Energy is useful to us as a resource because it moves matter.

Forms of energy

What is a question you might ask in order to start a scientific process to evaluate the effects of this change

Hownthe cahbge impacted resource quality and quantity

Someone wants you to invest money in an automobile engine, claiming that it will produce more energy than the energy in the fuel used to run it. What is your response? Explain.

I would say no bc we use the natural resources anyways and using a biofuel would be much more efficient.

Two environmentally beneficial forms of exponential growth

Reliance on solar power for energy instead of natural resources, and living completely off renewable resources like biofuel.

All life depends on energy from the sun, solar capital, and the resources and ecological services of the earth, natural capital, to survive. An environmentally sustainable society provides for the current needs of its people without undermining the ability of future generations to do the same.

Solar Dependability

Law of Thermodynamics

The First Law of Thermodynamics states that in all physical and chemical changes, energy may be converted from one form to another but it is neither created nor destroyed. The Second Law of Thermodynamics states that when energy is changed from one form to another, there is always less usable energy left.

Law of Conservation of Matter

The Law of Conservation of Matter states that matter is neither created nor destroyed when a physical or chemical change occurs.

Matter

The basic forms of matter are elements and compounds. Matter is useful to us as a resource because it makes up every material substance.

Environmental components

The major components of complex systems are environmental inputs, flows within the system, and outputs to the environment.

What is a tipping point?

The threshold level that would cause a shift in the behaviors, procedures, and outcome of a system.

Law of Thermodynamics continued

These laws, then, show that energy goes from a more useful to a less useful form and that high-quality energy cannot be recycled. So, the quality as well as the quantity of our resources and our environment will be reduced.

The principle types of pollution are air, water, soil, and food pollutants. We can prevent pollution or clean up pollution. Prevention is far preferable because cleaning up pollution often causes additional pollutants in another part of the environment.

Types of pollution

A. Environmental science studies how the earth works, our interaction with the earth, and the methods/procedures we use to deal with environmental problems. B. Environmental science considers everything that affects a living organism. C. Ecology studies relationships between living organisms and their environment. D. Environmentalism is a social movement dedicated to protecting life support systems for all species. E. A path toward sustainability includes five subthemes that are addressed throughout the text: 1. Natural capital—natural resources and services that keep us and other species alive. 2. Natural capital degradation—when human activities use renewable resources unsustainably. 3. Solutions—are sought to degradation of natural resources. 4. Trade-offs—or compromises are made to resolve conflicts. 5. Individuals matter—to search for solutions to environmental problems. F. Life and economies depend on solar capital (energy from the sun) and natural capital.

What is an environmentally sustainable society?

Science is an attempt to discover the natural world's order and use that in describing what is likely to happen in nature. Scientists ask a question or identify a problem to investigate. Then, they collect scientific data through observation and measurement. Experiments may be used to study specific phenomena.

What is science

A tree grows and increases mass. Why is it not a violation of the law of conservation of matter.

When matter undergoes physical change no atoms are created or destroyed.

Distinguish between a positive feedback loop and a negative feedback loop in a system, and give an example of each.

a positive feedback loop develops on a minor disturbance, a negative feedback loop is when something out of system is introduced into the system. An example of positive feedback loop is the ice caps melting, a negative loop example is if the increase in temperature increases the amount of cloud cover, and then reduces temperatures somewhere else.

Use the second law of thermodynamics to explain why a barrel of oil can be used only once as a fuel, or in other words, why we cannot recycle high-quality energy?

according to the second law of thermodynamics once a high quality resource is used it will become a low quality resource meaning it is non-renewable.

The world's population is growing about 1.2% per year, which adds about 77 million people per year. Economic growth increases a country's capacity to provide goods and services to its people. Economic development uses economic growth to improve standards of living. Globalization is a process of increasingly interconnecting people through social, economic, and environmental global changes.

economic development