APES Study Guide (2023/2024) Already Graded A

APES Study Guide (2023/2024) Already Graded A Sustainabiliy The ability of a system to support itself Gaia Hypothesis proposes that organisms interact with their inorganic surroundings on Earth to form a self-regulating, complex system that contributes to maintaining the conditions for life on the planet. Spaceship Earth 1968 Picture of Earth from Space Precautionary Principle The precautionary principle or precautionary approach states that if an action or policy has a suspected risk of causing harm to the public or to the environment, in the absence of scientific consensus that the action or policy is harmful, the burden of proof that it is not harmful falls on those taking an action. Tragedy of the Commons Some shithead is dumping shit into the environment and screws up everybody else's shit Preservationalist People who want to protect the environment for its own sake (not as a resource for humans). Conservationalist an environmentalist who wanted to meet present economic needs and conserve natural resources for future generations Feedback Loop Occurs when an output of matter, energy, or information is fed back into the system as an input and leads to changes in that system. (Can be positive or negative) Perpetual Energy Natural resources such as sunlight and wind that are widely available and in no danger of being used up. Non Renewable Energy a source of energy that exsists in limited quantities and once used, cannot be replaced except over the course of millions of years Renewable Energy Any source of energy that can be continually produced and is inexhaustible given current conditions. (Needs effort like trees) Absolute Energy Anything that provides energy Relative Scarcity imbalance in the distribution of a resource rather than insufficiency of the total supply High Quality Energy organized and concentrated; can perform useful work (fossil fuel and nuclear) Low Quality Energy disorganized, dispersed (heat in ocean or air wind, solar) Neo Malthusian View Point Gonna be a giant disaster because we overshot the carrying capacity Cornucopia View Point There are plenty of available resources and there is nothing to worry about Hard Path refers to use of large centralized power plants; may be coupled with energy conservation and cogeneration. (Fossil fuels) Soft Path Energy policy that relies on renewable energy resources and other sources that are diverse, flexible, and matched to end-use Biomagnification accumulation of pollutants at successive levels of the food chain Ecological efficiency Ecological efficiency describes the efficiency with which energy is transferred from one trophic level to the next Primary Succession An ecological succession that begins in an area where no biotic community previously existed Secondary