“We need to have vision.

” 
“When asked if we have enough time to prevent catastrophe, she’d always say that we 
have exactly enough time - starting now.” 
1.1 Environmental Value Systems
Environment
● The complex of physical, chemical and biotic factors (such as climate, soil and
living-things) that act upon an organism or an ecological community and ultimately
determine its form and survival.
● The aggregate of social and cultural conditions that influence the life of an individual or
community.
● Intrinsic Value: Value that the environment and life forms have in their own right, and
which is not derived from the human use they can or cannot be put to.

System
● Something that is made from separate parts that are linked together affect each other.
● A group of related natural objects or forces.

Society
● A community, nation, or broad grouping of people having common traditions,
institutions, geographical locations, historical timeframe, religious perspective,
collective activities and interests.

Environmental Value Systems

An environmental value system is a particular world view or paradigm which shape the way
an individual or group of people perceive and evaluate environmental issues.

Your environmental value system will be influenced by your cultural, religious, economic
and socio-political context.

System Approach
An EVS might be controlled as a system in the sense that it may be influenced by education,
experience, culture, and media (inputs), and involves a set of interrelated assumptions,
values, and arguments that can generate decisions and evaluations (outputs).

Social Systems
There are lots of different types of social systems:
● Class based,
● Democratic/Authoritarian based
● Capitalist/Communist
● Patriarchal based (male dominance)
● Matriarchal (female dominance)
● Religious based
● Industrial (industrial based)
● Agrarian (agriculture based)

➔ Ecosystems (trophic levels)

➔ Social Systems (social levels)

The Range of EVS

1. Eco-centric
● Nature-centered
● Distrust modern large-scale technology
● Bio-rights (for the benefit of the nature not because it is beneficial for us)
● Self-restraint in human behavior
● Less materialism
● Believes that only limited resource is available
● Types:
1. Self-reliance soft Ecologist (Integrating everything including work, leisure, and other
stuffs along with making sure that environment is also being taking care of)
2. Deep Ecologist (puts more value on nature than human)

1. Techno-centric
● Technology-centered
● Economic growth improves technology
● Solves problems while increasing living standards
1. Cornucopias: (a belief in the unending resourcefulness of human), (ability to control the
environment), (for the benefit of humanity)
2. Environmental Managers: (Environment and Technology can go hand in hand), (proper
taxes and fees), (legal improvements), ("if we look after the planet, it will look after us")

1. Anthropo-centric
● Human-centered
● Both ecocentric and technocentric view
● Believes humans must sustainably manage the global system
● Taxes and regulations
● "can manage the issues"
What is the value of the environment?
● Value of the environment:
○ Commodities (goods and service)
○ Intrinsic value (ethical, spiritual, philosophical)

Significant Ideas
● Historical events, among other influences, affect the development of environmental
value systems and environmental movements.

A brief History of Environmentalism

● Agriculture Revolution
● Industrial Revolution
● Green Revolution
● Modern Environmental Movement

Stakeholders
● Individuals
● NGO/Independent Groups
● Corporate
● Governments
● Intergovernmental Programs (i.e. UNEP)
1.2 Systems and Models
What Are Systems?
● A system approach can help in the study of complex environmental issues.
● Traditional Scientific Investigation: a reductionist approach divides systems into parts
and each parts is studies separately.
● Modern Ecological Investigation: it is a holistic approach and basically studied as a
whole, with patterns and processes described for the whole system.
● The advantage of using modern technique is that it can show how components within
the whole system is related to each other.

The Systems Concept On A Range Of Scales

● Biosphere refers to the part of the Earth inhabited by organisms that extends from
upper parts of the atmosphere to deep in the Earth's crust.
● An ecosystem is a community of interdependent organisms and the physical
environment they inhabit.
● The range must include a small-scale local ecosystem, a large ecosystem such as a
biome, and Gaia as an example of a global ecosystem.
● On the global scale, ecosystems with similar climatic conditions in different parts of the
world are called biomes (tundra, desert, tropical rainforest).

The Characteristics Of Systems

● A system consists of storages and flows.
● Storages are places where matter or energy is kept in a system.
● Flows provide inputs and outputs of energy and matter.
● The flows are either transfers (a change in location) or transformation (a change in the
chemical nature, state, energy).

Open, Closed, Isolated Systems

● An open system exchanges both energy and matter across its boundary (e.g.,
ecosystem).
● A closed system only exchanges energy across its boundary.
● Closed systems do not naturally occur on Earth, but all the global cycles of matter
approximate to closed systems (e.g., water cycle)
● Closed system can also occur experimentally (e.g., Biosphere II).
● An isolated system is a hypothetical concept in which neither energy nor matter is
exchanged across the boundary (e.g., universe)
Models
● A model is a simplified version of reality and can be used to understand how a system
works and to predict how it will respond to change.
● The use of models and systems simplifies interactions but may provide a more holistic
view than reducing issues to simple processes.
● Strengths:
○ allow scientist to predict/simplify complex systems
○ inputs can be changed and outcomes examined without having to wait for real
events.
○ results can be shown to scientists and the public
● Limitations​:
○ might not be totally accurate
○ environmental factors are very complex
○ different models use slightly different data to calculate predictions
○ rely on the expertise of people making them
○ different people may interpret them in different ways
○ vested interests might hijack them politically
○ any model is only as good as the data goes in and these may be suspect
○ different models may show different effects using the same data

1.3 Energy and Equilibria

● Energy exists in a variety of forms and it can be changed from one form to another but cannot
be created or destroyed.
● The laws of thermodynamics govern the flow of energy in a system and the ability to do work.

First Law Of Thermodynamics

● The law states that energy can neither be created nor be destroyed: it can only change form.
● This means that the total energy in any system, including the entire universe, is constant. This is
known as the law of conservation of energy.
● Although the total amount of energy in a system does not change, the amount of available
energy does.
 ● The available energy is reduced through inefficient energy conversions.

Second Law Of Thermodynamics

● The law states that energy goes from a concentrated form (e.g. the Sun) into a dispersed form
(ultimately heat); the availability of energy to do work therefore decreases and the systems
becomes increasingly disordered.
● Entropy refers to the spreading out or dispersal of energy or disorder in a system.
● As less energy becomes available, entropy increases.

The Nature Of Equilibria

● Open systems tend to have a state of balance among the components of a system- they are in a
state of equilibrium.
● Equilibrium allows systems to return to an original state following disturbance.
● Two types of equilibrium are there:
1. Steady-State
■ A steady-state equilibrium should be understood as the common property of
most open systems in nature.
■ A steady-state equilibrium is the condition of an open system in which there are
not changes over the longer term, but in which there may be oscillations in the
very short term.
2. Static
■ In static equilibrium, there are no inputs and outputs of matter or energy and no
change in the system over time.
■ No natural systems are in static equilibrium because all have inputs and outputs
of energy and matter.
● Stable: the system returns to the same equilibrium after disturbances.
● Unstable: system returns to a new equilibrium after disturbances.

Positive And Negative Feedback

● Feedback refers to the return of part of the output from a system as input, so as to affect
succeeding outputs.
● There are two types of feedback:
1. Negative feedback tends to reduce, neutralize, or counteract any deviation from an
equilibrium, and promotes stability.
■ Predator-prey relationships
2. Positive feedback amplifies or increases change; it leads to exponential deviation away
from an equilibrium.
■ The exponential phase of population growth
● A system may contain both negative and positive feedback loops resulting in different effects
within the system.

Tipping Point
● A tipping point is a critical threshold when even a small change can have dramatic effects and
cause a disproportionately large response in the overall system.
 ● A tipping point is the minimum amount of change within a system that will destabilize it, causing
it to reach a new equilibrium or stable state.
● Systems at threat from tipping points include:
○ Antarctic sea ecosystems ○ ​West African
○ Arctic sea-ice monsoon
○ Greenland ice sheet ○ Amazon rainforest
○ West Antarctic ice sheet ○ boreal forest.
○ ​El-Niño-Southern ○ ​thermohaline
Oscillation (ENSO) circulation (THC)

Reliance And Diversity In Systems

● The resilience of a system, ecological or social, refers to its tendency to avoid such tipping points
and maintain stability.
● Resilience is the ability of a system to return to its initial state after a disturbance.
● High resilience = return to equilibrium
● Low resilience = enter a new state/equilibrium
● Resilience is usually good but can be bad.
● Resilience of a system will depend on its structure:
○ The more diverse/complex an ecosystem, the more resilient it tends to be (more
interactions between species).
○ The greater the genetic diversity within a species, the greater resilience.
○ Species that can shift geographic ranges are more resilient.
○ The climate affects resilience.
○ The faster the rate at which a species can reproduce means recovery is faster.
r-strategists (fast reproductive rate) can recolonize the system better than K-strategists
(slow reproducers).
○ Humans can affect the resilience of systems through reducing these storages and
diversity.

1.4 Sustainability
SUSTAINABILITY
● Sustainability: It is the use and management of global resources that allows full natural
regeneration of the resources exploited and minimizes damage to the environment.
○ It also acknowledges that human civilization takes resources to sustain our modern way
of life.
● Natural Capital: It is a term used for natural resources that can produce a sustainable natural
income of goods and services.
● Natural Income: It is the yield obtained from natural capital.
● There is a strong relationship between natural capital, natural income and sustainability. Natural
income is the amount of natural resources in a particular environment and if it is managed
sustainably it will continue to generate natural income in the future. But if exploitation is greater
 than the natural income and natural capital is reduced then a positive feedback cycle will ensue
(occur) which is unsustainable.
● Sustainability can be encouraged by:
○ ecological land-use to maintain habitat quality and connectivity for all species.
○ sustainable material cycles, (e.g., carbon, nitrogen, and water cycles).
○ social systems that contribute to a culture of sufficiency that eases the consumption
pressures on natural capital.
● Sustainability and Unsustainability: Example, deforestation. If the rate of forest removal is less
than the annual growth of the forest then the forest removal is sustainable. If the rate of forest
removal is greater than the annual forest growth, then the forest removal is unsustainable.
● Ecosystems are affected by global processes, so sustainability needs to be understood as a
global issue (global warming). A global perspective also helps us to understand that our actions
have an impact on others as well.
● But because ecosystems exists on many scales, a more local perspective is sometimes
appropriate.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
● Sustainable Development: It meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of
future generations to meet their own needs.
● Three pillars:
1. Economic Development
2. Social Development
3. Environmental Protection
● Many economists feels like sustainability and Development are in contradictory positions.
Sustainability and Sustainable Development are also different concepts.

THE MILLENNIUM ECOSYSTEM ASSESSMENT (MA)

● A global project by UN.
● In 2001, the UN initiated the MA. The objectives were:
1. Assess links between ecosystem change and human well-being.
2. Establish strategies to achieve sustainable use of ecosystems.
● The report identified three major problems associated with our management of the planet:
1. 60% of the ecosystems studied were being used unsustainably.
2. Changes were becoming so extensive that ecosystems were reaching tipping points and
the consequences were hard to predict.
3. Ecosystem degradation was impacting the poorer countries more.
● Finding 1:​ "Over the past 50 years, humans have changed ecosystems more rapidly and
extensively than in any comparable period of time in human history. This has resulted in a
substantial and largely irreversible loss in the diversity of life of Earth."

● Finding 2:​ "The changes that have been made to ecosystems have contributed t substantial
overall gains in human well-being and economic development, but at the cost of many
ecosystems and the services they provide."

● Finding 3​ "Changes have increased the poverty of some groups of people."

 ● Finding 4​ "The problems, unless addressed, will substantially diminish the benefits that future
generations obtain from ecosystem."

● Finding 5​ "Overall, human actions are depleting Earth's natural capital at a faster rate than it is
being restored, which is putting such strain on the environment."

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENTS (EIA)

● EIA is the process of identifying, predicting, evaluating and mitigating the biophysical, social, and
other relevant effects of development proposals prior to major decisions being taken and
commitments made, according to the International Association for Impact Assessment.
● An EIA is a formal process that is put into action before something major can be changes, for
example a project such as a building, change of land use or mining activity. The aim is to:
1. Identify any impacts (good/bad) that may result from the project.
2. Improve the decision making process that allows or blocks the project.
3. Lessen any potential impact.
● Step of the EIA
1. Scoping
2. Baseline study
3. Predicting and assessing effects
4. Mitigation
5. The environmental statement

​1.5 Human and Pollution

Pollution is an contamination of the Earth and atmosphere to such an extent that natural environmental
processes are adversely affected.
○ Pollutants may be:
■ Organic (living e.g., human sewage, silage)/inorganic substances (non-living e.g.,
plastics)
■ Light/sound/heat energy
■ Biological agents (e.g., cane toad in Australia)
■ Invasive species (e.g., Japanese knotweed in the UK)
■ Point (source can be tracked. e.g., industrial pollution in Bhopal)/non-point
source (more dispersed sources. e.g., release of air pollutants from many
sources like vehicles, industries)
■ Persistent (do not break down easily. e.g., POP persistent organic pollutants,
)/biodegradable (capable of being broken down by natural biological processes.
e.g., food waste, human waste)
■ Acute (occurs suddenly, in large quantities over a short period of time. e.g.,
sudden rupture oil pipe, asthma attack due to sir pollution)/chronic (long-term
release of a pollutant at low concentrations. e.g., lung cancer due to air
pollution)
■ Primary (active on emission, released in the form they are produced. e.g., dust,
ash, CFC's)/secondary (arising from primary pollutants undergoing physical or
chemical change, more toxic. e.g., acid deposition, ground level ozone)
○ DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane)
■ Used during the WWII to control typhus and malaria.
■ After the war it was extensively used in the field of agriculture and daily use by
common public.
■ Swiss chemist Paul Hermann Muller was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology
or Medicine "for his discovery of the high efficiency of DDT as a contact poison
against several arthropods (invertebrate animals)" in 1948.
■ In the 1970s and 1980s, agricultural use of DDT was banned in most developed
countries.
■ It's still used in India and North Korea.
■ India is the largest consumer.
■ Main producers are India, China and North Korea.
■ Effects:
■ Farmers exposed more to DDT are more prone to asthma or diabetes
■ Higher risk of liver, breast pancreatic cancer
■ Early pregnancy loss, premature birth, low birth weight
○ Pollution Management
■ Three levels:
■ EDUCATE- altering human activity; government can participate as in the
education field; awareness campaigns; appreciate people to change
their actions
■ LEGISLATE- a way to control activities; to control the release of
pollutants; involving companies to do this; goes together with
remediation too; using technology;
■ REMEDIATE- cleaning and restoration the environment; where both the
previous levels of management have failed, there comes remediation;
kind of governmental approach
2.1 Species and Population
● Ecology​: study of the interactions between organisms and the environment in which they live in.

biosphere⬇

biomes⬇

ecosystem⬇

communities⬇

population⬇

species⬇

● Ecosystem​: a community of interdependent organisms and the physical environment they

interact with.
○ Made up of biotic and abiotic organisms.
● Species​: basic units of biological classification
○ Same common ancestor
○ Similar physical characteristics
○ Interbreed and produce fertile offspring
● Species live together in a population and they each have a habitat and a niche.
○ Habitat (where they live)
○ Niche (what they do for a living)
● Each habitat has limiting factors and a carrying capacity.
○ Limiting factors (things that control the population size)
○ Carrying capacity (a maximum number of species that it can support at a given time)
● Population​: a group of individuals of the same species living in the same area at the same time.
● Abiotic component can operate as limiting factors.
● Habitat​: the environmet in which a species usually lives
○ physical/biological resources
■ Food, water, shelter, ates, soil, predators
○ Parasite's habitat is the host's body.
● Niche​: the role an organisms plays and the position it holds in the environment. It includes all
the interactions the organisms has with the biotic and abiotic environment
○ Fundamental​: full range of conditions and resources in which a species could survive.
○ Realized​: the actual conditions and resources in which a species exists.
If species A outcompetes species B then B's realized niche will be smaller than its fundamental niche.
Whereas, A's realized will have the same size as the fundamental niche.

● Limiting factors​: the resources in the environment that limit the growth, abundance and
distribution of populations in a ecosystems.
○ Density dependent: affects when population reaches a certain density.
○ Density independent: affects no matter what.
● Carrying capacity​: the maximum number of individual of a species that the environment can
support in a given area.

S-shaped population curve (k-strategists)

​J-shaped population curve (r-strategists)

● Predation​: the predator hunts and kills the prey in order to provide it with the energy for
survival and reproduction

● Herbivory​: the consumption of plant material by herbivores

○ Defence- thorns, pricks, chemicals

● Parasitism​: the parasite takes nutrients from the host.

○ Lives outside or inside
○ Population curve is similar to prey-predator curve
● Mutualism​: two organisms of different species exist in a mutually beneficial relationship.
○ Bacteria in the intestines of cows helps digestion
○ Corals and algae-algae photosynthesis and give off O2 to coral polyp and algae CO2 and
protection.
● Competition​: organisms compete for a resource that is in limited supply
○ Resource must be limited for competition to occur
○ Intraspecific: members of the same species.
○ Interspecific: members of different species.
● Community​: a group of populations living and interacting with each other in a common habitat
2.2 Communities and Ecosystems
● Ecosystem includes abiotic components whereas, the community is just the living components.
● Producers
○ Autotrophs (plants, archaea)
● Consumers
○ Heterotrophs (herbivores, carnivores, omnivores)
● Decomposers/Detritivores
● Photosynthesis:

● Respiration:
Food chain

Food web
 Food chain Food web

DIFFERENCES DIFFERENCES
Simple single line of animals showing what A number of interconnected food chains so it is a complex
eats what. mass of lines.

Only has one arrow to and from each Several arrows point away from an organism to everything it
organism. eats.

Shows only one trophic level for each Can show organisms at different trophic levels.
organism.

Several arrows point towards an organism to show

everything that eats it.

SIMILARITIES SIMILARITIES
Show feeding relationships.

Show the direction of the flow of energy and

matter.

● Only 10% of the energy is passed onto the next trophic level.

ECOLOGICAL PYRAMIDS
● Pyramids of numbers
○ Number of individuals at each trophic level
○ Advantages:
■ Non-destructive method of data collection
■ Good for comparing changes in an ecosystem over time
○ Disadvantages:
■ All organisms are included regardless of their size
■ Numbers can be so big that it is hard to represent them accurately
● Pyramids of biomass
○ Amount of biomass at each trophic level
○ Standing stock of energy storage at each trophic level
○ Measured in mass per unit area or gm-2/Jm-2 for energy
○ Advantages:
■ It overcomes the problem of counting seen in pyramids of numbers.
● Pyramid of productivity
○ Turnover of biomass at each trophic level
○ Flow of energy over a period of time
○ Jm-2yr-1
○ Always pyramid-shaped (due to the 10% rule)
○ Advantages:
■ Most accurate pyramids as the show actual energy available and the rate of
production over a period of time.
■ Ecosystems can be compared.

● Bioaccumulation​: the increase in the concentration of the pollutant in an organism as it absorbs

or it gets it from its environment.
● Biomagnification​: the increase in the concentration of the pollutant in an organism as it moves
up through the food chain.
2.3 Flows of Energy and Matter
● Productivity​: the conversion of energy into biomass for a given period of time.
● Unit- Jm-2yr-1

Productivity

● NPP (Net Primary Productivity)

● GPP (Gross Primary Productivity)
● R (respiratory losses, fecal losses)

NPP = GPP - R

NPP = light - initial

GPP = light - dark

R = initial - dark
● GSP (Gross Secondary Productivity)
○ Gm-2yr-1/Jm-2yr-1
GSP = food eaten - fecal loss

● NSP (Net Secondary Productivity)

NSP = GSP - R
2.4 Biomes, Zonation, and Succession
○ R-strategist and K-strategist

Characteristic r-strategists K-strategists

Example Invertebrates, fish, small mammals, Humans, elephants, trees,

annual plants, bacteria. albatrosses.

Size Small Large

Offspring Vast numbers of small offspring with Very few larger offspring with high
low chances of survival. survival rates.

Parental care None Large amounts of time and energy.

Succession Colonize new unstable habitats early Later stages with stable
in succession (pioneer). environment where they
out-compete r-strategists (climax).

Reproduction Mature young and reproduce quickly Mature late and reproduce slowly –
– multiple offspring/birth. 1 or 2 per birth.

Population Regulated by external factors so Regulated by internal factors so

boom or bust scenario where carrying population numbers stay below
capacity often exceeded. carrying capacity.

Life span Short Long

Growth rate Fast Slow

Niche Generalists Specialists

Food chain Prey/low trophic levels. Predator/higher trophic levels.

○ Succession​: the process in which an area changes through time.

■ Predictable change
■ Stage = seres
■ Leads to higher biodiversity
○ Biomes​: a major association of predominant vegetation that share similar climate
characteristics
■ Aquatic
■ Forest
■ Grassland
■ Desert
■ Tundra

➢ Each biome has a particular set of abiotic, limiting factors, productivity and biodiversity.
➢ Insolation, precipitation, and temperature are the main factors affecting the distribution of
biomes
 ○ Tricellular Model​: explains how thermal energy is distributed around the planet and why
the major biomes are where they are.
■ Three cells:
■ Haldey cell
■ Ferrel cell
■ Polar cell
○ Zonation​: spatial change in vegetation community in response to changing
contributions.

2.5 Investigating Ecosystems

● Estimating non-motile organisms:
○ Use of quadrats for making actual counts.
○ Measuring population density
○ Percentage cover
○ Percentage frequency
● Estimating motile organisms:
○ Direct:
■ Actual counts
■ Sampling
○ Indirect:
■ Capture - mark - recapture (Lincoln index)
Identifying organisms in ecosystems
● Dichotomous key​: a stepwise tool for identification where there are two options based on
different characteristics at each step. The outcome of each choice leads to another pair of
options.
○ Written key
○ Tree diagram
Measuring abiotic components of the ecosystem
● Abiotic factors that can be measured within an ecosystem include:
○ Marine: salinity, pH, temperature, dissolved oxygen, wave action
○ Freshwater: turbidity, pH, temperature, dissolved oxygen, flow velocity
○ Terrestrial: temperature, light intensity, wind speed, particle size, slope, soil moisture,
drainage, mineral content

● Light
○ A light-meter is used to measure the light intensity
○ It is repeated several times to increase reliability
● Temperature
○ An electronic thermometer with probes (datalogger)
● pH
○ Measured using a pH meter or a datalogger pH probe
● Wind
 ○ Measured by observing the effects of wind on objects (related to Beaufort scale)
● Particle size
○ Measured using a series of sieve with increasingly fine mesh size
○ Optical techniques that is examining the properties of light scattered by a suspension of
soil in water
● Slope
○ Calculated using a clinometer
● Soil moisture
○ Weighing samples before and after heating (evaporated water)
● Mineral content
○ The loss of ignition test can determine
● Flow velocity
○ Timing how long it takes a floating object to travel a distance (calibrated propeller)
● Salinity
○ Electrical conductivity (datalogger)
○ Or by the density of water (the higher the slat content, the higher the density)
○ Expressed in parts per thousand (ppt)
● Dissolved oxygen
○ O2 sensitive electrodes connected to a meter can be used to measure it
○ Or a more labour intensive method is Winkler- titration
● Wave action
○ Measured using a dynamometer, which measures the force in the waves because waves
have high levels of O2
● Turbidity
○ Cloudy water clear water
○ Affects the penetration of sunlight into water
○ Measured using a Secchi disc or a nephelometer or a turbidimeter

Measuring biotic components of the ecosystem

● Lincoln index
○ Estimate the total population size of a motile animal
○ Mathematics is also used (formula used)
○ "capture - mark - release - recapture"
N1 X N2 / Nm

N1- caught in the 1st round and marked

N2- caught in the 2nd round
Nm- caught in the 2nd which were previously marked
● Population density:
Population density = total number of a species in all quadrats/area of one quadrat X total
number of quadrats
 ● The sampling system used depends on the areas being sampled
○ Random sampling is used if the same habitat is found throughout the area.
○ Stratified random sampling is used in two area different in habitat quality
○ Systematic sampling is used along transect where there is an environmental gradient
● Estimating the biomass of trophic levels:
○ Measurement of dry mass
○ Controlled combustion
○ Extrapolation from samples
● Biomass​: total energy within a living being or trophic level.
● Extrapolation​: mass of organisms one / average mass of a few organisms, is multiplied by the
total number of organisms.
● Species richness​ if the number of species in a community.
● Species diversity​ is the number of species and their relative abundance in a given area or
sample.

QUESTIONS
➢ How do EVSs influence the choice and implementation of pollution management strategies?
Environment value system is a particular worldview which shapes the mindset and the way one
perceives and evaluate an environment problem. It is not necessary that everyone has a same
perspective and approach a problem in a same way. So people who live in different cultural and
social backgrounds who are provided with different education; who are exposed to different media
outlets; will have different methods and opinions about certain environmental issues.

➢ How does your own value system compare with others we have learned about in chapter I? How
does it influence your opinion and course of action in regards to pollution management?
People from different socio-cultural backgrounds will have different value towards the
environment. So it is not appropriate to expect the same thing from everyone. But some might
have a combination of two value systems or all three of them. I think I am more of a
anthropocentric person because I believe both environment and technology is important for a
sustainable future. They both go hand in hand. But it is up to us how we utilize it. There should be a
balance.

➢ What is a model?
A model is a simplified representation or overview of something. It can be a chart, or a 3D model.

➢ What are the strengths and weaknesses of models?

Strengths:
❏ Allows for predictions
❏ Make complex concepts more simple to understand
❏ Overview of inter-relations
❏ Accessible to diverse audience
❏ Allows us to consult with experts
Limitations:
 ❏ Lack of detail leads to assumptions and hence inaccurate data
❏ Open to interpretation
❏ Rely on skill and experience of model makers

➢ What is your vision for a sustainable future?

If I close my eyes, take a long breath, and get at peace, like Dana Meadows says, I can feel
happiness and calmness. A sense of responsibility towards the nature, and towards yourself. A
future where there is no dispute for land or water, where everyone's need is satisfied and no one is
greedy, where the atmosphere is clean and there is no need to use masks and purifiers, where
people no only think about themselves but they also think about the future as well.

➢ What is global warming? Explain how it happens in as much detail as possible.

Global warming is the increase in the temperature of the earth due to carbon emissions. Earth has
a capacity to capture heat and light from the sun. When the sun sets, it starts to radiate the heat
back to the atmosphere but because there is a layer of carbon-dioxide. The heat stays inside the
atmosphere and thus, it makes the earth's temperature to increase.