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ECONOMY AND THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT - Coggle Diagram
ECONOMY AND THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT
ENVIRONMENT, ECOSYSTEM, GEOSYSTEM AND ECONOMIC SYSTEM
environment
> a set of relationship and conditions that allow the life of living beings a certain space on the Earth's surface
ecosystem
> collection of plants and animals, linked to each other and to their physical environment (rocks, soil, climate, water) by a web of relationships necessary for their survival
geosystem
> a whole of our planet, whose parts (lithosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere) are linked by flaws of matter and energy and function as a system, maintained in equilibrium by a series of cycles
economic system
> a subset of the geosystem, as economy is living in geosystem and puts together man and nature
feeds a circulation of matter and energy at different times and in different ways than the ecosystem itself
it causes
alterations
to the environment
reversible
> they can be reabsorbed by rebalancing feedback
irreversible
> they move the environment away from its equilibrium permanently and therefore have destructive effects on it, either in the short or long time
geosystem cycles
the
rock cycle
follows geological timescales > i.e. on the order of tens or hundreds of millions of years
the
organic matter cycle
has annual to decadal timescales
the
water cycle
is completed in timescales of the order of years
times of human societies
the long timescale of
human history
is of the order of several thousand years at most
human life spans
are short in tens of years
the
timing of the economy
is even shorter, because it's linked to the economic balance sheets of the companies on which the market economy is based
ECOLOGICAL PROBLEMS
most problematic
global change
> global warming (the Earth is a hole, and the temperature is ruing up in a global perspective
pollutions
> soil pollution is important as it's connected to water and water cycle because water penetrates in soil and brings together all the pollution going to the see
depletion of natural resources
> natural components become important for human economy
loss of biodiversity
> reduction of biodiversity in some areas of the world
resources
renewable
> when used reform (agricultural products, water, wind)
non-renewable
> which are found in the Earth's crust in limited quantities and once utilized don't reform (minerals) or like oil and coal can reform, but over geological timescales very long compared to human history
ecological footprint
> indicator of the area of land and sea needed to produce all the resources each country consumes and to absorb the waste it produces
SUISTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
development
suistainable when meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to satisfy them
something qualitative, giving a better context of life for all inhabitants
based on 3 fundamental principles
economic efficiency
system integrity
social equity
intra-generational
> refers to someone moving up or down the social ladder within their own lifetime
inter-generational
> looks at the changes in social class across generations, comparing parents to their children
sustainability
environmental, between nature and human beings
economic
demographic, different component of humankinds (woman, man, younger, older)
social, relationships between the different stakeholders
geographical, different distribution of the development process
cultural, it has to do with the different levels of schoolarization
AGENDA 21
main problems for which
common action
is needed at international level
consumption
distribution of income
sustainability of agriculture in countries with commercial economies and in the Global South
protection of forests
preservation of the genetic heritage
aid to the poorest countries
water management
regulation of gaseous emissions that affect the climate
green economy
> proposes a new type of relationship between
economic activities
and the natural
ecosystem