...A drought can be described as being an ecosystem disturbance meteorologically, however hydro logically it’s portrayal misleading (Bond, Lake & Arthington 2008). A universal definition for a drought is not known but a meteorological drought can be defined as a lack of rainfall for an extended period of time whether it is several years or a season relative to the arithmetic mean for that region (Bond, Lake & Arthington 2008). As a drought is able to have a substantial impact on the natural marine ecosystems, the outcomes that come with it are aggravated both by indirect and direct anthropogenic adjustments to hydro areas such as rivers and the catchments (Bond, Lake & Arthington 2008). Major impacts in rivers are generally the decline of the amount of water and habitation accessibility for the surrounding animals (Bond, Lake & Arthington 2008). Droughts are a frequently occurring matter in Australia with it being a regular element on the climate with most said to have had an affect by the El Nino phase (Bond, Lake & Arthington 2008). As a drought is classified as a natural hazard it’s able to cause a great amount of destruction socially and economically (Bond, Lake & Arthington 2008). The millennium drought is sought to be one of the biggest to leave an impact on the environment (Bond, Lake & Arthington 2008). The millennium drought has had a severe impact on most of the South-Eastern Australia region with most of the rivers undergoing a record low water capacity during this...
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...it is just merely a number of species within an ecosystem. However this is not the case, as majority aspects of our lives solely depend on biodiversity. Water, food and air are produced directly by different species and the quality of these resources depend on other species activities. According to the convention of biological diversity "Biological diversity means the variability among living organisms from all sources including, inter alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part; this includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems” The important question however, is can we put a value on biodiversity? The total value in many ways is infinite. Earth’s economies “would grind to a halt, without the services of ecological life-support systems” (Costanza et al 97). According to Freeman. (1998) to understand the true value of something, one must first define what that thing is and what the world would possibly be like without that particular entity. The following essay will review the methods available to assign value to biodiversity. This will be done in terms of its ecosystem services,...
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...Ecosystems and Economics Paper BIO/280 Ecosystems and Economics Paper Our society has come to a point in time where we are more concerned about having the latest thing. While humans choose to consume natural resources our ecosystems are diminishing. In this paper I will discuss degradation, loss, effecst humans have on our planet, and the cost and benefits of human enterprise in terms of ecosystems. Degradation and Loss In past years, people have reshaped ecosystems, faster and more ample than in any time in history. While meeting fast growing request on food, fresh water, timber, and fuel. Resulting in a permanent loss in diversity of life on this planet. “These alteration we have made to our ecosystem have contributed to considerable net gain in human well-being and economic development, these gains have been achieved at growing cost in the form of the degradation of many ecosystem services” (Leemans, 2003). Effects of human activity on ecosystems Humans and technologies are disturbing the trophic structure, energy flow and the chemical balance of ecosystems worldwide. Humans move nutrients from one place to another in an ecosystem. Example; Soil from a farm can be transported into streams, and lakes, diminishing nutrients in an area causing excess to develop in another area, and disturbing chemical cycles in both areas. Introduction of toxic chemicals by humans into ecosystems have caused these chemicals to be consumed and metabolized by organisms. These chemicals...
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...The Employment Outlook for Youth: Building Entrepreneurial Ecosystems as a Way Forward ---- An Essay --- Peter Vogel College of Management of Technology, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Odyssea 4.15 Station 5, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland, peter.vogel@epfl.ch Since the outbreak of the recent financial crisis we have experienced some of the highest rates of youth unemployment in history. If we want to avoid branding the young people as a “Lost Generation”, we need to act quickly. One important active labor market strategy to solve the youth unemployment crisis is entrepreneurship, helping them turn into job creators rather than job seekers. Entrepreneurship has received significant attention over the past decade with a rapid and often uncoordinated increase in entrepreneurship support programs. These constitute a major part of entrepreneurial ecosystems. In order to build effective entrepreneurial ecosystems, we need to understand the components and assessment indices of such ecosystems. This essay proposes a new conceptual framework describing entrepreneurial ecosystems. The proposed framework is expected to support policymakers and practitioners in setting up new entrepreneurial ecosystems and serve as a basis for future research. Keywords: Entrepreneurial Ecosystems, Youth Unemployment, Next Generation Introduction An economic and labor market crisis has plagued the world since 2008. The labor market slowdown is dramatic with a current deficit of...
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...THE ECONOMIC VALUE OF THE ENVIRONMENT: CASES FROM SOUTH ASIA ECONOMIC VALUATION OF THE MANGROVE ECOSYSTEM ALONG THE KARACHI COASTAL AREAS Samina Khalil Applied Economics Research Institute, Karachi January, 1999 This paper is forthcoming in Joy E. Hecht, ed., The Economic Value of the Environment: Cases from South Asia, to be published by IUCN in 1999. This paper is copyrighted by IUCN/US. It may be reproduced in whole or in part and in any form for educational or non-profit uses, without special permission from the copyright holder, provided acknowledgement of the source is made. All four papers in the forthcoming volume are available on the web at http://www.iucnus.org/publications.html. ECONOMIC VALUATION OF THE MANGROVE ECOSYSTEM ALONG THE KARACHI COASTAL AREAS Samina Khalil Applied Economics Research Institute, Karachi ABSTRACT The mangroves of the Indus River Delta in the Karachi, Pakistan coastal areas provide a wealth of goods and services to people who live and work among them. However, these products are not sold in established markets, so their economic importance goes unrecognized. As a result, the expansion of regional industry, agriculture, and population are permitted to threaten the sustainability of the mangrove ecosystems. This study describes the broad array of goods and services provided by the mangroves, and uses market data to estimate the economic value of a few of them. It then argues for the importance of more thorough ...
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...balance Marginal Abatement costs are used because they reflect the additional future damage from small changes in current emission and they always rely on the discount rate (Tol, 2005). The Social Cost of Carbon has been estimated at £70/tC with a range of £35 to £140/tC (Clarkson and Deyes 2002). Mangroves provide a number of benefits they are associated with various functions that include conservation of natural ecosystems. Through photosynthesis, mangroves ecosystems distribute soil nutrients and transport oxygen to living organism with their environment. Mangrove biomes bridge the ecosystems environments of the land and sea, their importance in stabilizing and reserving the peripheral ecosystems is unquestionable (e.g. every hectare of mangroves can feed 12 tons of living organisms. Placing an economic value on Carbon Sequestration is appropriate because like other ecosystems, mangroves have economic consequences application of monetary valuation is...
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...Review the Contention that the Science of Ecosystem Service Has Transformed the Way which we Value Nature and Conserve It. The way we value and conserve nature has dramatically changed over the course of time and the concept of preserving the natural environment which surrounds us is and old one while also still a relatively new one. During the time of pre-industrial evolution the benefits that were received by humans from natural ecosystems were often regarded as sacred and were entrenched into the way society lived (Costanza, 1987). After the industrial revolution much of western society adopted the ideology that nature was just something to be enjoyed if you could afford the time and cost to do so, all else was focused on the growth of the economy. Conservation came at a cost and the subject of environment vs economy was often used to describe the argument (Costanza, 2011). Today the science of ecosystem service is being developed, is rapidly becoming more widely accepted and is helping shape the way we think about nature today. With many global initiatives being ran such as the United Nations Environment Program: Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity the science of ecosystem service is rapidly gaining mass media coverage (Sukhdev, P, 2011). This is important because whoever we are and where ever we are our lives are influenced by the ecosystems that surround us. The benefits they provide to humans can be loosely defined as ecosystem services, they can be spilt into four general...
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...Executive Summary For the last five decades the pursuit of economic growth has been the single most important policy goal across the world. The global economy is almost five times the size it was half a century ago (Tim Jackson, Published by the Sustainable Development Commission © March 2009, P1). Economic growth is supposed to deliver prosperity. Better investment return could indicate excellent corporation development, and higher incomes should mean better choices, richer lives, and an improved quality of life for us all. However, the banking crisis of 2008 forced us to confront our inability to manage the financial sustainability of the global economy and the ecological sustainability as well. In addition, led the world to the brink of financial disaster and shook the dominant economic model based on economic growth to its foundations. The aim of this report is to define sustainable economy in terms of six themes: ecology and sustainability; population and demographics; science and technology; economy; geopolitics and security; society and culture. Also, analyze the effects of issues of sustainable economy on management’s governance of the Colourful Corporation. Based on these analyses, this report will provides recommendations about future vision and strategy top management could consider for a sustainable Colourful Corporation. Based on these analyses, the following recommended visions and strategis will be given for Management to keep the Colourful Corporation’s sustainability: ...
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...Adam Weaver Bio280 Ecosystems and Economics 08/04/13 The Human impact on any ecosystem is usually a negative impact. When I think about the situations that surround our influence on ecosystems the most poignant example that comes to mind is that of the strip mining industry. In this industry we see the largest amount of economic gain go head to head with the worst ecologic destruction. I grew up in West Virginia where mining was a way of life and the local economies still bend to whims of the coal mining industry. Today I live in South Dakota, home of the Homestake Mine, the longest running gold mine in the country which is almost 8,000 feet deep. (Homestake,2013) Coal mining is billion dollar industry here in the United States and the economic upside of it is hard to deny. Whole towns are still in existence due to the support that coal brings to their economies. Mining traditionally however brings many problems with it. Mining in general is associated with the following ecological problems: Saltiness, aridity and scarcity of water caused by the waste of enormous amounts of fresh water during the extraction process, heavy metals which are liberated and migrate into the ecosystem, the dislocation of thousands of tons of ore causes for sedimentation in rivers and susceptibility to both geologic and water erosion, migration of highly toxic cyanide into the subsoil and surface waters as well as the whole ecosystem, and acid drainage. (Shipirt, 2006) Finally, and most...
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...James Hansen, Amory Lovins, Gene Likens, James Lovelock, Suki Manabe, Bob May, Hal Mooney, Karl-Henrik Robert, Emil Salim, Gordon Sato, Susan Solomon, Nicholas Stern, MS Swaminathan, Bob Watson, Barefoot College, Conservation International, International institute of Environment and Development, and International Union for the Conservation of Nature, This paper is a synthesis of the key messages from the individual papers written by the Blue Planet Laureates (Annex I describes the Blue Planet Prize), and discusses the current and projected state of the global and regional environment, and the implications for environmental, social and economic sustainability. It addresses the drivers for change, the implications for inaction, and what is needed to achieve economic development and growth among the poor, coupled with environmental and social sustainability, and the imperative of action now. The paper does not claim to comprehensively address all environment and development issues, but a sub-set that are deemed to be of particular importance. Key Messages We have a dream – a world without poverty – a world that is equitable – a world that respects human rights – a world with increased and improved ethical behavior regarding poverty and natural resources - a world that is environmentally, socially and economically sustainable, where the challenges such as...
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...Importance of hunting for ecosystem and human beings In today’s world, everyone likes to have fun and entertainments in various styles. Some loves music, sports, reading news, whereas some chose writing, computer games, visiting new places and so on. Hunting is a good way to get entertainment. Beside fun, there are also various purposes of hunting such as for foods, peculiar designed clothes, and business. Also, it has good impact to our environment. Hunting is essential for balancing ecosystem and economic development. Hunting is very important for balancing the ecosystem. We can balance the ecosystem by shooting animals that are excessively large in population. The large population of an animal also harms other animals that are endangered and transfer dieses to human beings. So, hunting is a best way to balance the ecosystem. First, overpopulation of animals in an area destroy the ecosystem and make resources limited for other animals, so hunting is a great way for controlling the populations of numerous different animals. Doris Lin itemized that “Hunting is an effective form of deer management because it will remove a number of individual deer from a population and prevent those individuals from reproducing” (1). Hunting is an operative way to kill animals and harmonizing the ecosystem. As we all know, deer are causing many traffic calamities in United States that can cause an accidental death including lost of properties. Approximately 1,050 people died in vehicle-animal...
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...The coral bleaching from different perspectives Introduction Coral reefs are highly productive ecosystem that also habitats for coastal animals and offer services to human communities (Kubicek, Muhando and Reuter 2012, p. 1). Coral reefs are places for many fishes and other living creatures in the sea to hide and live. Coral reefs also have a huge impact to human communities. Coral reefs and the beauty of living creatures that live within them have become major attraction for tourist and income for local communities. Unfortunately, human activities have caused coral reefs destroyed because of activities such as overfishing, diving, chemical pollution, reef mining and many other things (Carey 2000, p. 147). This activities lead to coral bleaching, which will become danger for many creatures that live in it. The Great Barrier Reef has lost half of its half coral reef in the last 27 years, and 10 per cent of the damage is caused by coral bleaching (De'ath 2012). Coral bleaching however impact many perspectives. From science perspective, coral bleaching has been a threat for many coral species and fishes that lives in it for they are becoming extinct and destroyed (Kubicek, Muhando and Reuter 2012, p. 1). This will leads to the less variety of the coastal ecosystem riches and incur social and economic loss to its social community. Coral bleaching also have impacts to the indigenous people. Indigenous people have used coral reef and its resources as dependence for their food supply...
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... Multiple Choice Questions 1. An area of land in which there is little or no human development is referred to as a A. tract development. B. reserve. C. wilderness. D. multiple land use. 2. Environmental science is an interdisciplinary area of study that deals with all of the following except A. politics. B. economics. C. ethics. D. All of these are correct. 3. An ecosystem is A. the transition zone between grassland and desert. B. a group of interactive species and their environment. C. a body of freshwater. D. the lowland area on either side of a river. 4. The major benefit of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem Management Plan is A. the creation of large regions of wilderness for animals such as bison and grizzly. B. the increase of cattle grazing on park land. C. the increase of mining and old-growth logging on park land. D. None of these are correct. 5. In the wilderness North much of the land A. is owned by individuals. B. has little economic value. C. is characterized by a long growing season. D. is owned by the government. 6. In which region has the original, natural ecosystem been replaced by agriculture? A. the Middle U.S. B. Northeastern Canada C. the Southwest U.S. D. the Pacific Northwest 7. Before 1993, the U.S. Forest Service sold timber-cutting rights A. only to foreign investors. B. at below cost. C. at a high profit. D. only in old-growth forests. 8. One of the major...
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...Marine aquatic ecosystems are considered to be the largest of the aquatic ecosystems on Earth. They have a high salinity and include bodies of water such as the ocean, lagoon, the deep sea, and sea floors. Once of the marine ecosystems that has been a central focus, especially recently, is the Gulf of Mexico. The Gulf of Mexico is located off of the Atlantic Ocean, and it is considered to have a tropical climate. According to epa.gov, The Gulf of Mexico is the ninth largest body of water in the world. Some of the species or habitants that dwell in the gulf are different types of whales, dolphins, sea turtles, and sea-birds. Along the sea floor there are coral reef situated. There are also large birds The Gulf of Mexico produces a variety of resources that we use. One of the main resources is the fisheries provided in the gulf. Fisheries in the gulf are considered one of the most productive in the world. In 2010, the estimated shellfish and commercial fish harvest from the gulf fisheries was estimated to be about 1.3 billion pounds (epa.gov). Agriculture is definitely affected by the Gulf of Mexico. There is currently an area that is called the dead zone. Within this area of the gulf, there is an excessive supply of nitrogen in this area due to fossil fuel combustion, crop cultivation, and synthetic nitrogen fertilizers. With the increase of nitrogen, there is a process that is called hypoxia that will occur. Many people believe that the species in the fisheries will be...
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...Engineering ISSN 2348-0157, Vol. 02, No. 01, January 2014 The dynamics of social and ecosystem for the sustainable development of mankind: a system dynamics perspective B. GIRIDHAR KAMATH, VASANTH VASUDEVA PANDUBETTU KAMATH, LEWLYN L.R RODRIGUES Department of Humanities and Management, Manipal University, Manipal, Karnataka, India Email: giridharbk@yahoo.com, kamath.vasanth@manipal.edu, rodrigusr@gmail.com Abstract: Human beings depend on the ecosystems for material and energy sources. Human-ecosystem interaction is closely related with the growing demands placed by people on ecosystems. Human activities have always had an impact on the ecosystem as a whole and over a period of time, this has had an irreversible impact on the ecosystem and the imbalance caused in the ecosystem have started to take its toll on the flora and fauna. The challenge now ahead of mankind is to focus on sustainable development and fight against issues like global warming and delayed rainfalls. Both the renewable and nonrenewable resources are under the threat of depletion. Issues like growing human population, deforestation, acute fuel shortage, and food production crisis drives our attention to sustainable development. The concept of sustainable development is making rounds ever since its inception in 1987. This paper proposes to build a conceptual model that relates social system and ecosystem with social, economic and environmental factors so as to build a System Dynamics model highlighting sustainable...
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