Environmental Milestones and Challenges

'Land ethic'

It linked environmental hazards directly to human health, raising awareness about pesticide effects.

It presents Earth as a self-regulating system, highlighting the interconnectedness of all life forms.

<p>It posits that well-defined property rights and low transaction costs enable private negotiation for solutions.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Subsidies can reduce the price for consumers.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Hardin assumed that people act purely out of self-interest, leading to the overexploitation of common resources.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Changes in government funding could affect the sustainability of these subsidies.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Ostrom believed that people can cooperate, establish norms, and build trust to manage commons effectively under the right conditions.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Hardin suggested privatization and government regulation as the only two solutions.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Climate change is a tragedy of the commons because the atmosphere is shared, but individual actions lead to pollution and overuse. Successful management requires global cooperation, strong rules, and incentives to reduce emissions.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Equilibrium climate sensitivity (ECS) is the expected long-term global temperature increase resulting from a doubling of CO₂ concentrations. It is influenced by climate feedbacks, such as positive feedback from water vapor and ice-albedo, which can amplify the temperature response.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>The main factors include scenario uncertainty from varying greenhouse gas emissions, model uncertainty in handling clouds and aerosols, and natural variability from short-term events like volcanic eruptions.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>It reframes the environment as a provider of essential services vital for human life, such as clean air and food.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Positive feedback mechanisms, such as the water vapor feedback and ice-albedo feedback, enhance the effect of warming by increasing the overall sensitivity of the climate system to initial forcings like CO₂ concentration increases.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Exceeding these thresholds may result in severe environmental impacts, including more extreme weather events, ecosystem disruptions, and significant sea-level rise, necessitating urgent reductions in CO₂ and other greenhouse gases.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Natural variability, influenced by events like volcanic eruptions and solar cycles, can cause fluctuations in climate patterns and complicate short-term climate projections.</p> Signup and view all the answers