Ochrona środowiska - słownictwo , Notatki z Geografia

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UNIT 1: FOUNDATIONS OF ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS AND SOCIETIES

1. Environmental value system (EVS)- a worldview that shapes the way an individual or a group of people perceive and evaluate environmental issues.
2. TNCS - transnational corporations
3. MNCs - multinational corporations
4. Ecocentric worldview - puts ecology and nature as central to humanity and emphasizes a less materialistic approach to life with greater self-sufficiency in societies. Respects the rights of nature and the dependence of humans on nature.
5. Anthropocentric worldview – believes that humans must sustainably manage the global system. Nature is there to benefit humankind.
6. Technocentric worldview- believes that technological developments can provide solutions to environmental problems.
7. Cornucopians- extreme technocentrists that see the world as having infinite resources to benefit humanity.
8. Environmental managers- see Earth as a garden that needs tending-stewardship point of view.
9. Biocentric- thinkers see all life as having an inherent value- value for its own sake, not just for humans.
10. Deep ecologists- put more value on nature than humanity.
11. The Quaran- states that the Earth has been given to humans for their sustenance.

12. Buddhism - they believe that all sentient beings share the conditions of birth, old age, suffering and death.
13. Systems approach- is a way of visualizing a complex set of interactions which may be ecological or societal.
14. Transfers- change in location
15. Transformations- change in the chemical nature, a change in state, or change in energy.
16. Open system- exchanges both energy and matter across its boundary.
17. Closed system- exchanges only energy across its boundary.
18. Isolated system- hypothetical concept in which neither energy nor matter is exchanged across the boundary.
19. Model- simplified version of reality and can be used to understand how a system works and predict how it will respond to change. It can be divided into physical model and software model.
20. Biosphere- fragile skin on the planet Earth. It includes the air, rocks, and water within which life occurs.
21. First law of thermodynamics- principle of conservation of energy which states that energy is isolated system that can be transformed but cannot be created or destroyed.
22. Second law of thermodynamics- states that the entropy of a system increases over time.
23. Entropy - measure of the amount of disorder in a system.

34. Millenium Ecosystem Assessment- gave a scientific appraisal of the condition and trends in the world’s ecosystems and the services they provide using environmental indicators.
35. Environmental Impact Assessment (EIAs)- incorporate baseline studies before a development project is undertaken.
36. Ecological Footprint – area of land and water required to sustainably provide all resources at the rate they are being consumed by a given population.
37. Pollution - is the addition of a substance or an agent to an environment by human activity, at a rate at which it can be rendered harmless by the environment, and which has an appreciable effect on the organisms in the environment.
38. Pollutants - can be organic or inorganic, light, sound or heat, energy or biological agents.
39. Primary pollutants - active on emission e.g. carbon monoxide from the incomplete combustion of fossil fuels, which causes headaches and fatigue and can kill.
40. Secondary pollutants - which are formed by primary pollutants undergoing physical or chemical changes
41. Photochemical smog - mixture of primary and secondary pollutants.
42. Non-point pollution - release of pollutants from numerous origins.
43. Point pollution - release of pollutants from a single, identifiable site.
44. POPs (persistent organic pollutants)- were often manufactured as pesticides in the past. They are resistant to breaking down and remain active in the environment for a long time.

45. Biodegradable pollutants - do not persist in the environment and break down quickly.
46. Acute pollution - large amounts of pollutant are released, causing a lot of harm.
47. Chronic pollution - results from the long-term release of a pollutant but in small amounts. UNIT 6: ATMOSPHERIC SYSTEMS AND SOCIETY
48. Atmosphere- dynamic system that has undergone changes through geological time.
49. Human activities impact- the atmospheric composition through altering inputs and outputs of the system.
50. Abiotic factors influencing climate - temperature and precipitation.
51. Biotic factors influencing climate - plants and animals.
52. Greenhouse effect - caused by gases in the atmosphere reducing heat losses by radiation back into space. They trap the heat energy that is reflected from the Earth’s surface and reradiate it- some back to the space and some back to Earth.
53. Greenhouse gases - water vapor, carbon dioxide, and methane.
54. Ozone depleting substances - are used in aerosols, gas-blown plastics, pesticides, and refrigerants. They contribute to the destruction of the ozone layer.
55. Ultraviolet radiation - reaching the surface of the Earth damages human living tissues.

22. Precombustion techniques - aim at reducing SO2 emissions by removing the Sulphur from the fuel before combustion.
23. End of pipe measures - remove the Sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides from the waste gases. **UNIT 7: CLIMATE CHANGE AND ENERGY PRODUCTION
24. Fossil fuels** – contribute to the majority of human energy supply and these vary widely in the impacts of their production and their emissions. For example: gas, coal. 2. Renewable energy sources - sources of energy with lower carbon dioxide emissions such as solar, biomass, hydropower. 3. Nuclear power - low-carbon low emission non-renewable resource. 4. Energy security- depends on the affordable supply of energy that provides the degree of independence. 5. Energy choices - made by society and depend on many factors such as availability of supply, technological developments, and politics. 6. Energy conservation - can limit growth in energy demand and contribute to energy security. 7. Non-renewable sources of energy - decomposed remains of organic life from millions of years ago. Now humans extract and burn them to release energy. 8. Hydrogen economy - hydrogen is the fuel that provides energy for transport, industry, and electrical generation.

9. Nuclear fusion - involves extracting heavy water from the water and fusing two hydrogen atoms to make helium. 10. Coal - burned to provide heat directly or electricity by burning. 11. Oil - fossilized plants that are compressed to a liquid and found in porous rocks. 12. Natural gas - methane has and other hydrocarbons trapped between seams of rock. 13. Nuclear fission - uranium is the raw material and radioactive. 14. Hydroelectric power - energy harnessed from the movement of water through rivers to power turbines. 15. Biomass - decaying organic plant that is used to produce methane in biogas generators. 16. Wood - from felling trees. 17. Solar-photovoltaic cells - conversion of solar radiation into electricity via chemical energy. 18. Concentrated solar power – mirrors are arranged to focus solar energy on one point where heat energy generated drives a stream turbine to make electricity. 19. Solar - using panels to capture and store heat. 20. Wind - turn wind energy into electricity. 21. Tidal - the movement of sea water in and out drives turbines.

34. Global dimming - reduction in solar radiation reaching the surface of the Earth. 35. Mitigation - involves reduction and/or stabilization of greenhouse gas emissions and their removal of atmosphere. 36. Adaptation strategies - used to reduce adverse effects and maximize any positive effects. 37. Adaptive capacity - varies from place to place and can be dependent on financial and technological resources. 38. Geo-engineering - using technology and substitutions that reduce or stabilize GHG emissions and remove GHGs from the atmosphere. 39. Carbon capture and storage (CCS)- removal of carbon dioxide is more easily done before released to the atmosphere. It means capturing it in emissions from power stations and other industries. 40. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)- established by United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Its main activity is to provide at regular intervals an assessment of the state of knowledge on climate change. 41. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)- signed by 154 governments and its goal is to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations. 42. NAPA (a National Programme of Action)- decides how to meet the most urgent needs to adapt to climate change. 43. The Kyoto Protocol- calls for commitment to reduce carbon dioxide and five other greenhouse gas emissions.

UNIT 8: HUMAN SYSTEMS AND RESOURCE USE:

1. Demographic tools - include tools for quantifying human population and include the crude birth rate, crude death rate, total fertility rate, doubling time, and natural increase rate.
2. A ge/sex pyramids and demographic transition models (DTM)- predict human population growth.
3. Exponential curve- population follows an accelerating rate of growth which is proportional to the population size.
4. Crude birth rate (CBR)- number of births per thousand individuals in a population per year.
5. Crude death rate (CDR)- number of deaths per thousand individuals in a population per year.
6. Natural increase rate (NIR)- rate of human growth expressed as a percentage change per year.

16. Stage 3 of DTM- declining birth rate, low death rate, more people living to old age.
17. Stage 4 of DTM - low birth rate, low death rate, higher dependency ration, longer life expectancy.
18. Renewable natural capital – can be generated as fast as it is being used. It includes living species and ecosystems.
19. Non-renewable natural capital - irreplaceable or only replaced over geological timescales.
20. Use valuation – natural capital that we can put price on.
21. Non-use valuation - natural capital that is almost impossible to put a price on.
22. Intrinsic value - has a right to exist.
23. Solid domestic waste- also municipal solid waste which is out trash, garbage, rubbish from residential and urban areas.
24. Circular economy - sustainable model that aims to be restorative of the environment, uses renewable energy sources, and eliminated toxic wastes.
25. Linear economy – traditional economic model where resources are extracted, used to create products, and then discarded as waste after their use, without much consideration for recycling, or reusing materials.
26. Incinerators - burn the waste at high temperatures. This practice can cause air pollution but the ash from incinerators can be used in road building.

27. Anaerobic digestion - is when biodegradable matter is broken down by microorganisms in the absence of oxygen.
28. Domestic organic waste - can be composted or put into anaerobic biodigesters.
29. Carrying capacity - maximum number of people/species that can be sustainably supported by a given area.
30. Reusing - object is used more than once.
31. Recycle - the object’s material is used again to manufacture a new product.
32. Remanufacturing - the object’s material is used to make a new object of the same type.
33. Absolute reductions - it means that we can simply use fewer resources.
34. EarthShare - the amount of land each person would get if all the ecologically productive land on Earth were divided evenly among the present world population.