Topic 1 – Foundations of Environmental Systems and Societies Review SheetName:Period:

  1. Describe two historical events and explain how they have influenced the modern environmental movement.
  1. Define intrinsic value, and discuss two ways that the environment can have intrinsic value.
  1. Each year there are more and more green house gases. Explain how two different environmental value systems would deal with this problem, and then justify which method would be more effective.
  1. Justify your personal viewpoint on environmental issues.
  1. Evaluate the use of models for climate change predictions.
  1. Explain the first two laws of thermodynamics and what they mean for the ecosystem.
  1. Human beings can be seen as systems at equilibrium. State what type of system we are, how we continue to function, and a negative feedback system involved with us.
  1. Explain the difference between stable and unstable equilibrium, and give an example of each.
  1. As more and more green house gases are released, more permafrost melts which releases more green house gases. If this continues, eventually we will pass the tipping point. The consequences of such would include things such as the arctic sea ice melts, Greenland becomes ice free, the west Antarctic ice sheet disintegrates, El Nino becomes a permanent climate fixture, the Amazon rainforest becomes a savannah or grasslands, boreal forests are cut in half.
  2. What type of feedback mechanism is being described?
  1. Give two reasons justifying which of the six would be the worst consequence.
  1. Draw a system based on the following statement: “It takes a lot of water, sunlight and carbon dioxide to ensure that a plant thrives. However if they do have these in large enough quantities, then it will have a healthy body, and may produce things such as flowers or fruit.”
  1. A fishing village off the coast of Alaska houses just over 300 people. Their primary source of protein is Salmon. The current catch is around 600 tons per year. A scientific study has recently determined that the bay is currently being fished beyond capacity, and the fish population is one third its former size. Due to this, sanctions have been put into place to ensure that no more than 200 tons of salmon are caught per year to help the population recover. It takes 100 tons of Salmon to just barely reach basic, but not healthy protein goals. In addition, most of the fishermen in the area state that they will not be able to survive on that small of a catch at the current price. There are other fish in the area, but the fishermen are not currently equipped to catch them. You represent the governor of Alaska and have to make decisions and push forward legislation based on this information.
  2. Justify how many tons you would have the fishermen catch.
  1. Justify how you would keep the fishermen in the local area.
  1. Justify how you would have the people make up for the loss of protein.
  1. The lumber mill industry cuts down vast amounts of trees every year. If left unchecked, this would lead to massive amounts of deforestation so extensive that it could never be reversed.
  2. What is the natural capital in this scenario?
  1. List two types of natural income from this natural capital in this scenario, and justify what makes them so valuable.
  1. Justify the best way to ensure that this is a sustainable system.
  1. There are many things in our ecosystem that we can not put a price on. Give two services of our ecosystem, and justify why they are so important to preserve.
  1. Central Electric has decided to start diversifying their company to become more competitive. They want to be greener, and so look at a number of green energy options, and decide upon hydroelectric. There is a large river in there district that, if they put a large dam on, could double their current output. The river itself flows through a vast forest, and is reasonably close to a number of farming communities. Due to the scope of the project, when the county is approached with the plan, they are told that an Environmental Impact Assessment will need to be furnished. It is determined that the assessment will take 6-8 months, and cost $350,000 in order to have the appropriate number of experts deal with the assessment. Evaluate the Environmental Impact Assessment for this project.
  1. Explain the relationship between Environmental Footprints and Sustainability – think about your own footprint and whether it is sustainable or not
  1. Construct a System diagrams to show the impact of polluting system – be sure to include inputs, outputs, transfers, transformations and storage (where applicable)
  1. The three levels of pollution are human activity creating the pollutant, release of the pollutant into the environment, and long term damage of the pollutant. Look in your notes and evaluate the effectiveness of each of the three different levels of intervention with pollution. Justify which you would support as the main way to fight pollution.
  1. Look in your notes and evaluate the use of DDTs. Be sure to give at least one strength and one weakness to the ban on DDT. Justify whether you support the ban or not.