Ecosystems, Environmental Challenges, and Sustainable Practices
Ecosystems
An ecosystem encompasses all living beings in a given area, their interactions, and their environment. Large ecosystems are called biomes. These extensive regions are characterized by specific environmental conditions and inhabited by relatively homogeneous living beings. All ecosystems together constitute the biosphere.
For an ecosystem to survive, it must achieve a balance that sustains its populations and allows recovery from disturbances. These situations are not permanent.
Carrying Capacity
A load-limited ecosystem has a maximum number of individuals it can stably support.
Resource Exhaustion
Resources can be renewable or non-renewable.
- Renewable Resources: (wind, solar, water) These can be replaced after exploitation. If consumption exceeds renewal, overexploitation occurs.
- Non-Renewable Resources: These cannot be replenished once exploited.
Environmental Impacts
This section outlines the impacts, causes, and consequences of various environmental issues.
- Air Pollution: Accumulation of gases can create toxic fog in densely populated areas.
- Acid Rain: Gas emissions cause acidification of lakes and rivers, destroying forests.
- Ozone Layer Depletion: Fluorocarbon emissions reduce ozone’s UV filtering, increasing ultraviolet radiation.
- Greenhouse Effect: Carbon dioxide emissions trap excess heat, preventing it from radiating into space.
- Desertification: Conversion of forests to intensive agriculture, fertilizer use, erosion, and aquifer depletion lead to arid land.
- Biodiversity Loss: Ecosystem degradation due to environmental impacts disrupts ecological balance, causing species extinction and reduced ecosystem resilience.
- Climate Change: Global warming, ozone depletion, air pollution, and acid rain contribute to worldwide climate change.
Environmental Risks
Risks are categorized by their causes:
Natural Hazards
- Geological: Volcanic eruptions, earthquakes.
- Atmospheric: Storms, wind.
- Biological: Pests, epidemics.
- Cosmic: Meteorite impacts, increased solar radiation.
Anthropic Risks (Human-Caused)
- Conflict-Related: Loss of life, refugees, famine, disease.
- Industrial/Technological: Industrial accidents, gas emissions, explosions, chemical or nuclear accidents.
- Other Human-Related: Forest fires, dam failures, introduction of invasive species.
Development Models
Development can be defined based on different factors:
- Human Development: Improving well-being for oneself and close relations.
- Social Development: Improving quality of life and welfare for the general population.
- Economic Development: Accumulating wealth to improve material well-being.
Uncontrolled Development
This model, prevalent since the Industrial Revolution, prioritizes economic growth, encourages production and consumption, avoids economic regulation, and downplays environmental degradation.
Zero Growth (Conservationist)
This model, emerging in the 1970s, proposes halting economic growth, equalizing income between countries, reducing resource consumption, preventing population growth, and promoting collective over individual values.
Sustainable Development
Introduced in the 1980s, this model balances social and economic growth with long-term resource preservation and environmental quality. It promotes rational resource management, considers environmental costs, ensures equitable resource allocation, and emphasizes environmental education for future generations.
Sustainable Management
Resource Management Principles
- Renewable resource exploitation should not exceed recovery rates.
- Non-renewable resource use should be slower than their replacement by renewables.
- Pollutant emissions should be within the environment’s absorption capacity.
This includes waste reduction, reuse, and recycling.
Controlling Environmental Impacts
- Environmental Impact Assessment: Studies to estimate a project’s environmental effects.
- Land Use Planning and Protected Areas: Determining appropriate activities based on land suitability and impact absorption capacity.
- Waste Management: Landfills, energy production from waste, and separate collection for recycling.
Risk Prevention and Correction
- Prediction: Identifying potential risks through risk mapping.
- Prevention: Minimizing risks through preventative actions.
- Correction: Repairing damage after it has occurred.
Alternative Production and Consumption
- Alternatives to Traditional Economy: The global justice movement advocates for fairer resource distribution. Measures include:
- Ethical Banking: Financial institutions avoiding investments in harmful industries and promoting development in deprived areas.
- Fair Trade: Promoting equitable relationships between producers in developing countries and consumers in developed countries.