Sustainability

Question 1

where does the word sustainability come from?

Answer 1

The word sustainability comes from a Latin word ‘sustinere’ meaning ‘to maintain’ or ‘to support’

Question 2

sustainability definition

Answer 2

sustainability is the conservation of balance in the world’s ecology indefinitely.

Question 3

What does sustainability mean for the earth?
What must we avoid and maintain?
What does sustainability involve?
What is a sustainable activity?

Answer 3

sustainability means that the earth will continue to provide fresh air, food and clean water, and ensure a good quality of life for ourselves and for all future generations.
We must avoid damage to the environment and maintain our natural resources at a certain level so that they do not become completely used up.
sustainability involves using what we need to live at the present time without damaging people’s ability in the future to satisfy their needs.
A sustainable activity is not harmful to the environment and supports long-term balance in the world’s ecology.

Question 4

Sustainable development definition

Answer 4

Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Question 5

What do our well-being and survival depend on and what must we do for it?

Answer 5

Everything that we need for our well-being and survival depends on our natural environment.
We must maintain the conditions under which humans and nature can exist in harmony.

Question 6

List the three pillars of sustainability

Answer 6

Environmental pillar
Economic pillar
Social pillar

Question 7

List and explain the environmental pillar

Answer 7

This includes the area of environmental protection, protection of resources and protection of biodiversity. An example of environmental sustainability involves using natural resources sparingly.

Question 8

List and explain the economic pillar

Answer 8

This includes planning economic development, developing facilities to provide goods and services in a planned way.
An example of economic sustainability involves avoiding the transportation of food over long distances throughout the world.

Question 9

List and explain the social pillar

Answer 9

This involves social sustainability in the areas of international and national laws, careful planning for future developments in cities and towns and planning transport systems.
An example of social sustainability is providing better education and training opportunities to help people choose sustainable lifestyles.

Question 10

What do the three pillars of sustainability do together?

Answer 10

The three pillars are not ‘stand alone’ but reinforce each other.

Question 11

How is sustainability challenged by population increase?

Answer 11

Sustainability is challenged by a combination of high population increase in the developing world and high levels of consumption in the developed world.

Question 12

What does the increase in population result in?

Answer 12

The growth in population increases the demand for clean air, clean water and food.
An increased population puts greater pressure on land and raw materials. More land is needed for building new houses and for increasing the sizes of towns and cities.

Question 13

How is the increase in life expectancy caused?

Answer 13

The increased life expectancy is caused by factors such as the improvement in medical care, the fall in infant mortality, the development of new medicines, the improvement in water quality, the availability of good food, and the overall improvement in living conditions.

Question 14

fuel definition

Answer 14

A fuel is any substance that burns in oxygen to produce heat

Question 15

Fossil fuels definition

Answer 15

Fossil fuels are fuels that were formed from the remains of plants and animals that lived millions of years ago.

Question 16

How are fossil fuels formed?

Answer 16

Fossils are the remains of plants or animals that lived a long time ago. The pressure exerted by the earth and the sea on these remains has turned them into our supply of coal, oil and natural gas.

Question 17

Give examples of fossil fuels in each state

Answer 17

Solid: coal, turf
Liquid: petrol, diesel, paraffin oil (kerosene)
Gas: natural gas (mainly methane),

Question 18

Hydrocarbon definition

Answer 18

Hydrocarbons are compounds consisting of hydrogen and carbon only

Question 19

What happens when fossil fuels are burnt?

Answer 19

Since fossil fuels contain hydrocarbons, when these fuels are burned, carbon dioxide and water are always formed.

Question 20

Chemical formula to prove that fossil fuels from carbon dioxide and water when burnt.

Answer 20

Fossil fuel e.g. methane + oxygen —> carbon dioxide + water
CH^4 + 2O^2 —> CO^2 + 2H^2O

Question 21

What is happening as more fossil fuels are being burnt?

Answer 21

As more fossil fuels are burned, increased levels of carbon dioxide gas are building up in the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is one of the main greenhouse gases.

Question 22

What is the greenhouse effect?
What is the enhanced greenhouse effect?
What is global warming?

Answer 22

This natural trapping of the sun’s energy by the atmosphere is called the greenhouse effect.
The increasing concentrations of carbon dioxide are causing the earth to get warmer. This is called the enhanced greenhouse effect.
The extra warming that results from the enhanced greenhouse effect is called global warming.

Question 23

Explain what a green fuel is and what they do to make them ‘green’. What are they also referred to as, why?

Answer 23

Biofuels can be used alone or mixed with other fuels such as petrol and diesel. These fuels often are described as ‘green fuels’ and are better for the environment. Although these fuels produce carbon dioxide when they burn, they absorb carbon dioxide when they te growing. Therefore, these fuels ate said to be ‘greenhouse neutral’.

Question 24

What must we do in order to have sustainable development?

Answer 24

In order to have sustainable development, we must reduce our dependence on fossil fuels.

Question 25

What are biofuels and give an example of some.

What what is a big advantage of them?

Answer 25

Biofuels are fuels made from plants e.g. rapeseed oil and sunflower oil.
One of the big advantages of biofuels is that more plants can be grown to produce more fuel. Therefore, biofuel is called a renewable fuel.

Question 26

List 2 materials that are extracted from the earth and list their uses. List the rest too.

Answer 26

Crude oil: It is extracted from the ground. Many useful products are obtained from it (petrol, diesel and central heating oil) when refined. The crude oil is heated and various parts (fractions) are separated from it by distillation. Therefore this process is called fractional distillation.
Timber:
Many forests are disappearing as trees are cut down to produce timber. The timber is used to build homes and to make furniture. It is also used as fuel. Efforts are made to make sure that forests are sustainable, that is, no more timber is cut than can be regrown. This is an example of sustainable practice. Also, sustainable forests are managed to make sure that:
Soil erosion is kept to a minimum, threatened species and habitats are protected, some trees are allowed to remain in order to provide seeds so that the forest can regrow naturally.
Coal, Natural gas, metal ores

Question 27

What happens as the population of the world continues to rise? (chained answer)

Answer 27

The demand for raw materials increases.
This results in increased amounts of waste being produced.
this leads to increased pollution. Pollution is the addition of harmful substances to the environment in quantities greater than can be dealt with by the environment itself.

Question 28

List some examples of pollutants

Answer 28

Sewage, fertilisers, toxic substances, air pollution, landfill.
Sewage contains human waste, industrial water and different kinds of debris and if humans come in contact with this, the microorganisms present can cause various diseases.
Air pollution. This type of pollution commonly arises from the burning of fossil fuels. As well as forming carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide is formed, which causes acidic rain, which is very harmful to the environment.

Question 29

List the reasons why the recycling of plastics is important

Answer 29

1. It saves one of our most important natural resources - oil.
2. It helps keep the cost of plastics low.
3. It keeps down the cost of waste disposal (plastic materials make up about 20% by volume of domestic refuse.
4. It helps reduce litter. Since most plastics are non-biodegradable, discarded plastics are among the worst forms of litter.
5. It helps create employment for workers with a wide variety of skills.

Question 30

For sustainability to be successful, what must we make sure of?

Answer 30

For sustainability to be successful, we need to make sure that:
For renewable resources, the rate of harvest should not exceed the rate at which these resources can be regenerated.
For non-renewable resources, the depletion of non-renewable resources should require development of renewable substitutes for these resources.
For waste disposal, the rate of waste generation should not exceed the capacity of the environment to absorb this waste.

Question 31

How can we as individuals contribute to sustainability?

Areas of our lives > examples of contributions to sustainability

Answer 31

Travel and leisure:
Walk or cycle rather than drive.
Use public transport.
Use a car share system and a car of economical size.
Take holidays nearer home to reduce demand for air travel.
Live near your workplace.

At home:
Insulate your home to conserve heat energy.
Turn off lights and other appliances when not needed.
Use low-energy bulbs.
Recycle as many materials as possible.
Take showers rather than baths to conserve water.
Do not allow taps to run continuously.
Use low-water flushing systems for toilets.
Use natural ventilation rather than air-conditioning.

Purchasing goods:
Reuse shopping bags.
Purchase products that ate made locally.
Repair rather than replace items when broken.

At school/work:
Treat your consumption of water, heat and electricity as if you were paying for them.
Encourage the authorities at school and at work to implement initiatives that encourage sustainability.