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Planetary boundaries

21 important questions on Planetary boundaries

Which three goals need countries achieve simultaneously to achieve sustainable development?

1. Economic growth
2. Broad-based social inclusion
3. Environmental sustainability

What did Malthus say about living standards in his essay on the principle of population?

He warned humanity about the population pressures would tend to undermine improvements in living standards. If the humanity would rise in living standards, then the population would expand accordingly, until the rise of population would put strains on the food supply and thereby reverse the gain in living standards - pessimistic view on sustainable development

How much has the earth warmed compared to before the industrial revolution?

0,9 degrees

How does the greenhouse effect work?

Greenhouse gases allow incoming solar radiation, in the form of UV-radiation, to pass through the atmosphere to earth, thereby warming the planet. The earth in return, reradiates that heat as infrared radiation until the point that the incoming UV radiation is exactly balanced by the outgoing infrared radiation, the GHG's however, trap some of the outgoing infrared radiation, thereby making the earth warmer than the atmosphere.

Which of the GHG's is most important and how?

Carbon dioxide (Co2), comes from burning coal, oil and gas. The carbon atoms combine with oxygen to release energy + Co2, in this way, it is the inevitable by-product of burning fossil fuels.

2nd SDG: Ocean acidification

The oceans become more acidic as the atmospheric concentrations of Co2 increase. The Co2 in the atmosphere dissolves in the ocean, producing Carbonic acid (H2Co3). Carbonic acid dissociates to a hydrogen ion (H+) and bicarbonate (HCo3). The rise of H+ signifies the increased acidity of the oceans.

Ocean acidification, What is the ph scale and what is the problem with a rising PH?

Ph scale: 0 (most acidic) to 14 (least acidic). A decline of 0,1 signifies an increase of protons in the ocean of 10 to the power of 0,1, or about 0,26 - a 26 percentage increase of acidity in the oceans.

3th SDG: Ozone depletion: how does it work?

Chlorofluorcarbons (CFC's) tended to rise into the upper atmosphere and dissociate (split into smaller molecules). The chlorine in the CFS's, when dissociated from the rest of the molecule, attacked the ozone (O3) in the upper atmosphere (stratosphere)

3th SDG: Ozone depletion: What does it cause

The ozone in the upper atmosphere protects humans from receiving too much uv-radiation from the sun, causing skin cancers.

What is the main problem of climate change?

The world economy has become very large relative to the finite planetary resources - humanity is pushing against the limits of the environment.

What is the shared property of GHG's?

They warm the planet. The greater the concentration of GHG's in the atmosphere, the warmer on average is planet earth.

1. Climate change; Why is the climate change threatening? (4)

- It threatens the global food supply
- It threatens the survival of other species
- It threatens to cause much more intense storms
- It threatens a significant rise of ocean levels (which could disrupt life in many parts of the world)

4. Nitrogen cycle/phosphorus cycle (biochemical flow boundary)

Polluting caused by excessive flows of nitrogen and phosphorous, especially as the result of the heavy use of chemical fertilisers by the world's farmers.

Why do farmers use nitrogen, phosphorus and other nutrients into farm soil?

To ensure decent yields (opbrengst) on their crops, and produce more/bigger crops)

What is the problem with nitrogen/phosphorous?

Much of it is not taken up by the crops, but returns to the air and is carried downwind to other locations. It enters the groundwater and rivers, and it flows in the oceans. It leads to dangerous ecological changes in estuaries. The nutrients give rise to algal blooms

What is the problem with algal blooms?

When they die they are consumed by bacteria, which in turn deplete the oxygen in the water, giving rise to hypoxic (low-oxygen) dead zones and killing fish and other marine life.

5: Overuse of freshwater resources

70 % humanity uses is used for agriculture. 20% by industry, 10 % by households. Societies are depleting their most critical sources of freshwater. - groundwater (faster than rain can refill it) - loss of production - food scarcity.

What is the result of trespassing on the environmental boundaries?

Human pressures on the environment become greater than the ability of the earth's natural systems to absorb those human pressures, the result is a major change in the function of the earth's ecosystems.

What are consequences of trespassing the environmental boundaries?

- Rising of the temperature
- rising frequency of extreme heat waves.

Why will the environmental pressure increase instead of decrease in the future?

Because the world population and gross domestic product (GDP) per capita both continue to grow.

What is pent-up growth?

The amount of economic growth that we might expect as the result of poorer countries catching up with the richer countries, even if the richer countries do not grow rapidly in the future.

The question on the page originate from the summary of the following study material:

The Age of Sustainable Development | 9780231539005 | Jeffrey D Sachs

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Topics that are related to Planetary boundaries

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Planetary boundaries

21 important questions on Planetary boundaries

Which three goals need countries achieve simultaneously to achieve sustainable development?

What did Malthus say about living standards in his essay on the principle of population?

How much has the earth warmed compared to before the industrial revolution?

How does the greenhouse effect work?

Which of the GHG's is most important and how?

2nd SDG: Ocean acidification

Ocean acidification, What is the ph scale and what is the problem with a rising PH?

3th SDG: Ozone depletion: how does it work?

3th SDG: Ozone depletion: What does it cause

What is the main problem of climate change?

What is the shared property of GHG's?

1. Climate change; Why is the climate change threatening? (4)

4. Nitrogen cycle/phosphorus cycle (biochemical flow boundary)

Why do farmers use nitrogen, phosphorus and other nutrients into farm soil?

What is the problem with nitrogen/phosphorous?

What is the problem with algal blooms?

5: Overuse of freshwater resources

What is the result of trespassing on the environmental boundaries?

What are consequences of trespassing the environmental boundaries?

Why will the environmental pressure increase instead of decrease in the future?

What is pent-up growth?

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Planetary boundaries - The case of energy

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