Summary of the substance for the selection test for GSS. I achieved the 8th highest rank out of 380 applicants.
Samenvatting van de stof voor de selectietoets voor GSS. Ik heb de 8ste plaats gehaald van de 380 sollicitanten.
,1. The Environment and Sustainability
Sustainability= capacity of natural systems to adapt to changing environmental conditions indefinitely.
Biomimicry= understand, mimic, catalog natural processes. Pioneered by Janine Benyus.
1.1 Key principles of sustainability
1A Life has been sustained by solar energy/biodiversity/chemical cycling.
1B We depend on energy from the sun/natural resources/ecosystem services.
1C We could live more sustainably by following six principles of sustainability:
- Dependence on solar energy
- Biodiversity
- Chemical cycling
- Full-cost pricing
- Win-win solutions
- Responsibility to future generations
Environmental science is a study of connections in nature
Environment= everything around you.
Environmental science= study of connections nature. Interdisciplinary study of:
- how the earth works
- how humans interact with the environment
- how we can live more sustainably.
Ecology= branch of biology, focuses on interaction living organisms - living/nonliving environment.
Species= group of organisms with unique set of characteristics that set it apart from other groups.
Ecosystem= set of organisms within a defined are of land or volume of water that interact with one
another and with their environment.
Environmentalism/environmental activism= social movement dedicated to protecting life/resources.
Focused towards politics/ethics instead of science.
Learning from the earth: three scientific principles of sustainability (see top 3
of 1C)
- Dependence on solar energy= the sun’s energy warms the planet and provides energy for plants to
produce nutrients= chemicals that plants& animals need to survive.
- Biodiversity= variety of genes/species/ecosystems/ecosystem processes.
- Chemical/ nutrient cycling= circulation needed to sustain life from the environment back to the
environment. In nature, waste = useful resources. It is a ecosystem service.
Key components of sustainability
1. Natural capital= natural resources& ecosystem services. Natural resources= materials& energy
provided by nature. Three categories:
- inexhaustible (solar, wind, geothermal energy)
- renewable (trees, topsoil, freshwater)
- nonrenewable/exhaustible resources (fossil fuels, iron and copper).
, Sustainable yield= highest rate of indefinite renewable resource use without available supply reduction.
Ecosystem services= natural services provided by healthy ecosystems that support life and human
economies at no monetary cost.
2. Human activities can degrade natural capital.
3. Creating solutions to environmental problems.
4. Individuals matter
Three additional principles of sustainability
- Full-cost pricing= including harmful environmental/health costs in market prices.
- Win-win solutions
- Responsibility of future generations
Countries differ in their resource use and environmental impact
More-developed countries (17% of world population) use 70% of the earth’s natural resources.
Less-developed countries (83% of world population) use 30% of the earth’s natural resources.
1.2 How are our ecological footprints affecting the earth?
1.2A Humans dominate the earth with the power to sustain/add to/degrade natural capital.
1.2B As our ecological footprints grow, we deplete/degrade more of the earth’s natural capital that
sustains us.
Good news: many people have a better quality of life
Life spans increasing, infant mortality decreasing, rising education, diseases conquered, population
growth rate slowed and poverty decreased.
We are living unsustainably
Environmental / natural capital degradation= waste/depletion of life-sustaining natural capital.
Degrading commonly shared renewable resources: the tragedy of the
commons
Degradation caused by lack of responsibility when using open-access renewable resources. Solutions:
- Reducing usage to level below the sustainable yield.
- Converting shared renewable resources to private ownership.
Our growing ecological footprints
Amount of biologically productive land and water needed to supply a population with renewable
resources and to absorb and recycle the wastes and pollution such resource use produces.
Biocapacity= ability of ecosystems to regenerate used renewable resources + absorb resulting wastes
and pollution indefinitely. Per capita ecological footprint= average footprint of an individual in a given
country/area. We need 1,5 earths to sustain rate of renewable resource use indefinitely.
IPAT is another environmental impact model
Impact (I) = Population (P) x Affluence (A) x Technology (T)
China’s growing number of affluent consumers
Shows that their growing economy has immense pollution as a side effect.
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