Efnisyfirlit

• Contents
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Foundations of ESS
• 1.1: Environmental value systems
• What is ESS?
• The development of the environmental movement
• Environmental value systems
• The range of EVSs
• Contrasting EVSs
• Decision-making and EVSs
• Intrinsic value
• 1.2: Systems and models
• What are systems?
• The systems concept on a range of scales
• The characteristics of systems
• Open, closed, and isolated systems
• Models
• 1.3: Energy and equilibria
• Laws of thermodynamics and environmental systems
• The nature of equilibria
• Positive and negative feedback
• Tipping points
• Resilience and diversity in systems
• 1.4: Sustainability
• What is sustainability?
• Sustainable development
• Natural capital (resources) and natural income
• The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
• Environmental Impact Assessments
• Ecological footprints
• 1.5: Humans and pollution
• What is pollution?
• Point-source pollution and non-point source pollution
• Primary vs. secondary pollution
• Acute vs. chronic effects of pollution
• Persistent vs. biodegradable pollutants
• Pollution management
• Chapter 2: Ecosystems and ecology
• 2.1: Species and populations
• Species, habitat, and niche
• Abiotic factors
• Population interactions
• Population growth
• Limiting factors
• 2.2: Communities and ecosystems
• Communities and ecosystems
• Photosynthesis and respiration
• Feeding relationships
• Trophic levels, food chains and food webs
• Efficiency of energy transfers through an ecosystem
• Pyramids of numbers, biomass, and productivity
• 2.3: Flows of energy and matter
• Transfer and transformation of energy
• Primary and secondary productivity
• Maximum sustainable yields
• Nutrient cycles
• The impact of human activities on energy flows and matter cycles
• 2.4: Biomes, zonation, and succession
• Biomes
• Investigating different biomes
• The effect of climate change on biome distribution
• Spatial and temporal changes in communities
• Climax communities
• r- and K-strategist species
• The impact of human activities on succession
• 2.5: Investigating ecosystems
• Studying ecosystems
• Identifying organisms in ecosystems
• Measuring abiotic components of the ecosystem
• Measuring biotic components of the ecosystem
• Methods for estimating the biomass of trophic levels
• Species richness and diversity
• Measuring changes in ecosystems
• Chapter 3: Biodiversity and conservation
• 3.1: An introduction to biodiversity
• What is biodiversity?
• Species diversity
• Habitat diversity
• Genetic diversity
• Overview of biodiversity
• Conservation of biodiversity
• 3.2: Origins of biodiversity
• How biodiversity arises from evolutionary processes
• The role of isolation in forming new species
• Plate tectonics
• Mass extinctions
• 3.3: Threats to biodiversity
• How many species are there on Earth?
• What are the current rates of species loss?
• Causes of species loss
• Threats to tropical biomes
• Determining conservation status
• Extinct, critical, and back from the brink
• Threats to an area of biological significance
• 3.4: Conservation of biodiversity
• Arguments for preserving biodiversity
• Conservation organizations
• International conventions on biodiversity
• In situ vs. ex situ conservation
• Designing protected areas
• Evaluating the success of a protected area
• Species-based conservation strategies
• Comparing different approaches to conservation
• A mixed approach
• Chapter 4: Water, aquatic food production systems, and societies
• 4.1: Introduction to water systems
• The hydrological cycle
• Global water stores
• Human influences on the hydrological cycle
• Ocean circulation
• 4.2: Access to fresh water
• Access to fresh water
• Changes in demand and supply
• 4.3: Aquatic food production systems
• Aquatic food production systems
• Managing fisheries
• Fish farming (aquaculture)
• 4.4: Water pollution
• Water pollution
• Water quality
• Biochemical oxygen demand
• Trent Biotic Index
• Eutrophication
• Management strategies for eutrophication
• Dead zones and red tides
• Chapter 5: Soil systems, terrestrial food production systems, and societies
• 5.1: Introduction to soil systems
• Soil profiles
• Soil systems
• Soil-forming processes
• Soil structures and properties
• 5.2: Terrestrial food production systems
• Sustainability of terrestrial food production systems
• Inequalities in global food supply
• Food waste
• Links between social systems and food production systems
• Availability of land for food production
• Efficiency of terrestrial production systems
• Inputs, outputs, and environmental impacts of terrestrial food production systems
• Increasing sustainability
• 5.3: Soil degradation and conservation
• Soil ecosystems
• Reduced soil fertility
• Commercialized food production systems
• Results of reduced fertility
• Soil conservation methods
• Chapter 6: Atmospheric systems and societies
• 6.1: Introduction to the atmosphere
• Our atmosphere is a dynamic system
• The Earth’s energy budget
• Human activities and atmospheric composition
• The greenhouse effect
• 6.2: Stratospheric ozone
• UV radiation and ozone
• Ozone-depleting substances
• Effects of ultraviolet radiation on human health
• Reducing ozone-depleting substances (ODSs)
• National and international organizations and the reduction of ODSs
• 6.3: Photochemical smog
• Source and impact of tropospheric ozone
• The effects of tropospheric ozone
• Pollution management strategies
• 6.4: Acid deposition
• The formation of acid deposition
• Direct effects of acid rain
• Distribution of acid deposition
• Pollution management strategies
• Chapter 7: Climate change and energy production
• 7.1: Energy choices and security
• Range of energy resources
• Advantages and disadvantages of fossil fuels
• Fossil fuel consumption and shale gas
• Renewable and alternative energy sources
• Energy security
• The potential for conflict
• The scramble for the Arctic
• Factors which affect the choice of energy generation
• 7.2: Climate change: causes and impacts
• Climate and weather
• Ocean circulatory systems
• Atmospheric circulatory systems
• Greenhouse gases and human activities
• The effects of global warming
• Arguments about global warming
• Complexity of the problem
• 7.3: Climate change – mitigation and adaptation
• Mitigation and adaptation
• The politics of carbon dioxide mitigation and adaptation
• Chapter 8: Human systems and resource use
• 8.1: Human population dynamics
• Demographic variables
• Human population growth
• 8.2: Resource use in society
• Renewable natural capital
• Sustainable and unsustainable use of renewable natural capital
• Dynamic nature and concept of a resource
• 8.3: Solid domestic waste
• Types of solid domestic waste
• Disposal options for SDW
• Strategies for managing SDW
• The Great Pacific Garbage Patch
• 8.4: Carrying capacity and ecological footprints
• Carrying capacity
• Optimum-, over-, and under-population
• Population growth and food resources
• Changing carrying capacities
• Ecological footprints
• Theory of Knowledge
• 1: Foundations of environmental systems and societies
• 2: Ecosystems and ecology
• 3: Biodiversity and conservation
• 4: Water, aquatic food production systems, and societies
• 5: Soil systems, terrestrial food production systems, and societies
• 6: Atmospheric systems and societies
• 7: Climate change and energy production
• 8: Human systems and resource use
• Assessment objectives
• Internal assessment
• Internal Assessment criteria
• Advice for your IA
• Advice on the extended essay
• RPPF (Reflections on planning and progress form)
• Bibliography (references)
• Detail specific to Environmental systems and societies
• Focus
• Assessment criteria
• Examination strategies
• Paper 1
• Paper 2
• Tips for exams
• Command terms
• Mathematical requirements
• Index
• Back Cover