Environmental systems and societies

Environmental systems and societies

1. Unit 1

   • Topic 1.1
     • Development of the environmental movement
       • Increased awareness and significance to society in 1960
         • Individuals with power were involved to spread awareness
         • Use of media to create a movement
         • Supplying goods and services for humans at a sustainable rate
       • Who is involved in the environmental movement?
         • Influencial individuals
           • Al Gore: An Inconvenient Truth
           • Aldo Leopold: A Sand County Almanac
         • Independent pressure groups
           • Greenpeace on Artic Exploration
           • World Wildlife Fund on saving tigers
           • Influencing the public, government, businesses, etc.
           • Known as NGO's
         • Corporate businesses
           • Supplying consumer demand
           • Using resources and creating an environmental impact
         • Governments
           • Creating policies and taking decisions to control the environment
         • Intergovernmental bodies
           • The United Nations (UN)
           • Holding summits and meetings to control the environment
     • Case studies
       • Chernobyl (1986)
         • Worst nuclear disaster
         • Radioactive cloud drifted onto Asia and Europe
         • Effect on farms in Wales, United Kingdom
           • Sheeps could not be sold due to radiation
     • Environmental philosophies
       • Ecocentric
         • Ecology and the environment is central to humanity
       • Anthropocentric
         • Humans must sustainably manage the global system
       • Technocentric
         • Technological developments can provide solutions to the environmental problems
   • Topic 1.2
     • Why systems?
       • System
         • Living or non living
         • Large or small
         • Open, closed and isolated systems
       • Types of system
         • Transfer
           • Does not change in any form
         • Transformations
           • Change in form
             • Light to chemical energy
         • Open system
           • Exchanging matter and energy
         • Closed system
           • Exchange of energy not matter
         • Isolated system
           • No exchange of energy or matter