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IB ESS Key Terms (ALL)
Environmental Value System (EVS) - -A
worldwide view that shapes the way an individual or
group of people perceive and evaluate environmental
issues.
Cornucopians - -See the world as having
infinite resources to benefit humanity
Environmental Managers - -See the earth as a
garden that needs tending to
Ecocentric - -Believes that the views on earth
are to simplistic. They also believe in preserving the
earth
Biocentric - -All life has an inherent value, a
value for themselves, not just of humans
Deep Ecologists - -More value on nature than
humans
Anthropocentric - -Says that humans must
sustainably manage the world
Technocentric - -Technology can fix all of our
problems
A system approach - -Way of visualizing a
complex set of interactions which may be ecological
or societal
Open system - -Exchanges both energy and
matter across the boundary
Closed system - -Only exchanges energy
across a boundary
Isolated system - -Hypothetical concept in
which neither energy nor matter is exchanged
Transfers - -Occur when energy or matter flows
and changes location but does not change its state
Transformations - -Occur when energy or
matter flows and changes its state
First law of thermodynamics - -Energy cannot
be created nor destroyed
Second law of thermodynamics - -Entropy of a
system increases overtime
Entropy - -A measure of the amount go
disorder in a system
Negative Feedback loop - -stabilizing
Positive Feedback loop - -destabilizing
Resilience - -tendency to avoid such tipping
points and maintain stability
Steady State equilibrium - -Characteristic of an
open system where there are continuous inputs and
outputs of energy and matter. (usually occurs in a
climax ecosystem)
Natural Capital - -Natural resources; wood,
water, oil
Natural income - -Goods and services
Species - -Group of organisms sharing
