ESS

• environmental value system


  a world view or paradigm that shapes the way an individual or group of people perceive and evaluate environmental issues, influenced by cultural, religious, economic and socio-political contexts.
• ecocentric


  integrates social, spiritual and environmental dimensions into a holistic ideal
• ecocentric


  puts ecology and nature as central to humanity and emphasizing a less materialistic approach to life with greater self-sufficiency of societies
• ecocentric


  prioritises biorights and emphasizes the importance of education and encourages self-restraint in human behaviour
• anthropocentric


  argues that humans must sustainably manage the global system
• anthropocentric


  uses taxes, environmental regulation and legislation
• anthropocentric


  debate is encouraged to reach a consensual, pragmatic approach to solving environmental problems
• technocentric


  argues that technological developments can provide solutions to environmental problems
• technocentric


  largely optimistic view of the role humans can play in improving the lot of humanity
• technocentric


  scientific research is encouraged in order to form policies and to understand how systems can be controlled, manipulated or changed to solve resource depletion
• technocentric


  a pro-growth agenda is deemed necessary for society's improvement
• deep ecologist


  place intrinsic importance on nature for the humanity of man and believe ecological laws should dictate human morality
• cornucopian


  believe that man will always find a way out of any difficulties, either political, scientific or technological and believe resource replacement will solve resource depletion
• society


  an arbitrary group of individuals who share some common characteristics such as geographical location, cultural background, historical timeframe, religious perspective, etc.
• System Approach


  a way of visualizing a complex set of interactions which may

  be ecological or societal.
• Store


  Usually rectangles in a diagram and represent a temporary or permanent store of matter in a system, e.g. a glacier in the water system/cycle
• Flow


  a movement into or out of a system and between stores in a system (energy or matter)
• Transfer


  a flow with a change in location (water entering a lake)
• Transformation


  a flow with a change in the chemical nature or state of matter, e.g. condensation in the water cycle (water vapour to water liquid)
• Open System


  Exchanges both energy and matter across its boundary
• Closed System


  Exchanges only energy across its boundary
• Isolated System


  A hypothetical concept in which neither energy nor matter is exchanged across the boundary
• Model


  A simplified version of reality that can be used to understand how a system works and to predict how it will respond to change
• Biosphere


  The part of the Earth in habitated by organisms that extends from the upper parts of the atmosphere to deep within the Earth's crust.
• First law of thermodynamics

  the principle of conservation of energy, which states

  that energy in an isolated system can be transformed but cannot be created or

  destroyed.
• Second law of thermodynamics

  the entropy of a system increases over

  time. Entropy is a measure of the amount of disorder in a system. An increase in

  entropy arising from energy transformations reduces the energy available to do work.
• Stable equilibrium


  the condition of a system in which there is a tendency

  for it to return to the previous equilibrium following disturbance
• Steady-state equilibrium


  the condition of an open system in which there

  are no changes over the longer term, but in which there may be oscillations

  in the very short term.
• Tipping Point


  the minimum amount of change within a system that will destabilize it, causing it to reach a new equilibrium or stable state
• Negative feedback loop


  Feedback which is stabilizing and occurs when the output of a process inhibits or

  reverses the operation of the same process in such a way as to reduce change — it

  counteracts deviation.
• Postive Feedback loop


  Destabilizing feedback which will tend to amplify changes and drive the system toward a tipping point where a new equilibrium is adopted.
• Resilience (of a system)


  The tendency of a system to avoid tipping points and maintain stability.
• Time lag


  The speed of response to a change in a system.
• Natural Resources


  Anything that the Earth supplies which can be used by humans, e.g. coal, iron ore, forests, water, air
• Sustainability


  the use and management of resources that allows full natural replacement of the resources exploited and full recovery of the ecosystems affected by their extraction and use
• Natural Capital


  natural resources that can supply a natural income of goods or services
• Natural Income


  is the yield obtained from natural resources (not financial)
• Goods


  They are physical items, e.g. timber, fibre, food, minerals. These may include renewable,such as timber or ozone and non-renewable resources such a fossil fuels or metal ores.
• Services


  Ecosystems may provide life-supporting services such as water replenishment, flood and erosion protection.
• REDD+


  a mechanism that has been under negotiation by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change since 2005, to mitigate climate change by enhancing forest management in developing countries.