LIFEBOAT ETHICS

Lifeboat ethics is a metaphor for resource distribution proposed by the ecologist Garrett

Hardin in 1974. In his metaphor, he describes that a lifeboat bearing 50 people, with room for ten

more. The lifeboat is in an ocean surrounded by a hundred swimmers. The “ethics” of the

situation stem from the dilemma whether (and under what circumstances) swimmers should be

taken aboard the lifeboat. He compared the lifeboat metaphor to the spaceship earth model of

resource distribution, which he criticized by a single leader – a captain – which the earth lacks.

The lifeboat ethics presents individual lifeboats as rich nations and the swimmers as poor

nations. The other issues can be raised in the metaphor includes: Is it acceptable to deny an

obviously dying passenger food and water to save it for others with a better chance to make it? ;

Is it acceptable, if it is a certain they are going to die in a day or two, to murder them in order to

commit cannibalism of their corpse when this allow the survivors to survive for additional

weeks?. Lifeboat ethics is closely related to environmental ethics, utilitarianism, and issues of

resource depletion. Hardins uses this ethics to question policies such as foreign aid, immigration,

and food banks.

TRAGEDY OF THE COMMON

The tragedy of the common is a term used in social science to describe a situation in a

SHARED resource system where individual users acting independently according to their own

self-interest behave contrary to the common good of all users by depleting or spoiling that

resource through their collective actions. In this modern economic context, common is taken to

mean any shared and unregulated resource such as atmosphere, oceans, rivers, fish stocks, or

even an office refrigerator. The tragedy of the common is often cited connection with the
sustainable development, meshing economic growth and environmental protection, as well as the

debate over global warming. Although common resource systems have been known to collapse

due to overuse, many examples have existed and still exist where members of a community with

access to a common resource to co-operate or regulate to exploit those resource prudently

without collapse.

END OF THE PIPE

It is an approach to which concentrates upon effluent treatment or filtration prior to

discharge into environment, as opposed to making changes in process giving rise to the wastes.

Or it could be a solution that describes a pollution control approach that cleans up contaminated

flows of water or air at the point where that the effluent enters the environment.

CRADLE – TO – CRADLE
Is a biomimetic approach to the design of products and systems that models human

industry on nature’s processes viewing materials as nutrients circulating in healthy, safe

metabolisms. The term itself is a play on the popular corporate phrase “Cradle- to – Grave”,

implying that the C2C model is sustainable and considerate of life and future generation. It

suggests that industry must protect and enrich ecosystems and nature’s biological metabolism for

the high quality used and circulation of organic and technical nutrients. It is a holistic economic

and social framework that seeks to create systems that are not only efficient but also essential

waste free.

EUTROPHICATION
Eutrophication or more precisely hypertrophication, is the enrichment of a water body

with nutrients, usually with an excess amount of nitrogen. This process induces growth of plants
and algae and, due to the biomass load, may result in oxygen depletion of the water body. One

example is the “bloom” or the great increase of phytoplankton in a water body as a response to

increased level of nutrients. Eutrophication is always induced by the discharge of nitrate or

phosphate contains detergents, fertilizers, or sewage into an aquatic system. Eutrophication

occurs naturally over centuries as lakes age and is filled in the sediments. However, human

activities have accelerated as the rate and extent of eutrophication through both point-source

discharges and non-point loadings of limiting nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus into

aquatic nutrients. The most conspicuous effect of cultural eutrophication is the creation of dense

blooms and noxious, foul smelling phytoplankton that reduce water clarity and harm water

clarity. Furthermore, high rates of photosynthesis associated with eutrophication can deplete

dissolved inorganic carbon and raise pH to extreme levels during the day. Hypoxia and anoxia as

a result of eutrophication continue to threaten lucrative commercial and recreational fisheries

worldwide.

BIOMAGNIFICATION
Biomagnification also known as biological magnification is the increasing concentration

of a substance, such as toxic chemical, in the tissues of organisms at successively higher levels in

a food chain. This increase can occur as a result of : Persistence – where the substance cannot be

broken down by environment process; Food chain energies- where the substance’s

concentration increases progressively as it move up a food chain; low or non- extent of internal

degradation or excretion of a substance – often due to water- insolubility. Biological

magnification often refers to the process whereby certain substances such as pesticides or heavy

metals work their way into lakes, rivers and the ocean, and then move up the food chain in
progressively greater concentrations as they are incorporated into the diet of aquatic organisms

such as zooplankton , which in turn are eaten perhaps by fish, which then may be eaten by bigger

fish, large birds, animals, or human. The substances become increasingly concentrated in tissues

or internal organs as they move up the chain. Bioaccumulants are substances that increase in

concentration in living organisms as they take in contaminated air, water, or food because the

substances are very slowly metabolized or excreted.

CONTINENTAL DRIFT THEORY

Continental Drift Theory is the movement of the Earth’s continents relative to each other,

thus appearing to “drift across the ocean bed. The speculation that continents might have drifted

was first put forward by Abraham Ortellus in 1596. The concept was independently and more

fully developed by Alfred Wegener in 1912, but his theory was rejected by some for lack of a

mechanism. The idea of continental drift has been subsumed by the theory of plate tectonics,

which explains how the continents move. Continental drift also explained why look-alike animal

and plant fossils, and similar rock formations, are found on different continents. Though most of

Wegener’s observations about fossils and rocks were correct, he was outlandishly wrong on a

couple of key points. For instance, Wegener thought the continents might have plowed through

the ocean crust like icebreakers smashing through ice. There’s an irony that the key objection to

continent drift was there is no mechanism,” to move the continents, said Henry Frankel, emeritus

Professor at the University of Missouri- Kansas City and the author of the four volume “The

Continental Drift Controversy”.

THEORY OF ISOSTACY
 Isostacy is the state of gravitational equilibrium between the Earth’s crust and mantle

such that the crust “floats” an elevation that depends on its thickness and density. This concept is

invoked to explain how different topographic heights can exist at Earth’s surface. When a certain

area of Earth’s crust reaches the state of Isostacy, it is said to be an isostatic equilibrium. Isostacy

does not upset equilibrium but instead restores it. It is generally accepted that Earth is a dynamic

system that responds to load in many different ways. However, isostacy provides an important

‘view’ of the processes that are happening in areas that are experiencing vertical movement

In the simplest example, Isostacy is the principle of Bouyancy wherein an object

immersed in a fluid. On a geological scale, isostacy can be observed where Earth strong crust or

lithosphere exerts stress on the weaker mantle or asthenosphere, which, over geological time,

flows laterally such that the load is accommodated by height adjustments.

RED TIDE PHENOMENON

Red tide is a phenomenon caused by algal blooms during which algae become so

numerous that they discolour coastal waters. The algal bloom may also deplete oxygen in the

waters and/or release toxins that may cause illness in humans and other animals. Many factors

causing red tides include warm ocean surface temperature, low salinity, high nutrient content,

calm seas, and rain followed by sunny days during the summer months. In addition, algae related

to red tide can spread or be carried long distances by winds, currents, storms, or ships. Red tide

is a global phenomenon . However, since the 1980’s harmful red tide events have become more

frequent and widespread. Detection of a spread is thought to be influenced by higher awareness

of red tide, better equipment for detecting and analysing red tide, and the nutrients loading from
farming and industrial runoff. Countries affected by red tide events include: Argentina, Australia,

Brazil, Canada, Chile, Denmark, England, France, Guatemala, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Italy,

Japan, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Romania,

Russia, Scotland, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, and the United States.

Red tide algae make potential natural toxins. It is unknown why these toxins are created,

but some can be hazardous to larger organisms thought the process of biomagnification and

bioaccumulation. Technological advancements such as satellite imagery have allowed scientists

to better track and monitor harmful algal blooms. Tracking and monitoring red tide algae helps

reduce harmful effects of the algae by providing warnings against eating infected shellfish and

against swimming in infected waters.

THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT

Greenhouse Effect is the process by which radiation from the planet’s atmosphere warms

the planet’s surface to a temperature above what it be without its atmosphere.if a planet’s

atmosphere contains radioactive gases ( greenhouse gases ) they will radiate energy in all

directions. Part of this radiations is directed towards the surface, warming it. The intensity of the

downward radiation- that is, the strength of the greenhouse effect – will depend on the

atmosphere’s temperature and on the amount of greenhouse gases that the atmosphere contains.

Earth’s natural greenhouse effect is critical to supporting life. Human activities, mainly the

burning of fossil fuels and clearing of forests, have strengthened the greenhouse effect and

caused global warming. The term ‘greenhouse effect’ arouse from the fault analogy with the

effect of sunlight passing through glass and warming a greenhouse. The way a greenhouse

retains heat is fundamentally different, as a greenhouse works mostly by reducing airflow so that
warm air kept inside. Greenhouse gases include the following: Carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous

oxide, water vapour, and chloroflourocarbons.

GLOBAL WARMING
Global warming also referred to as climate change, is the observed century scale rise in

the average temperature of the Earth’s climate system and its related effects. Multiple lines of

scientific evidence show that the climate system is warming. Many of the observed changes

since the 1950s are unprecedented in the instrumental temperature record which extends back to

the mid- 19th century, and in paleoclimatic proxy records covering thousand of years. In 2013,

the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( IPCC ) Fifth Assessment report concluded

that “ it is extremely likely that human influence has been the dominant cause of the observed

warming since the mid-20th century. The largest human influence has been the emission of

greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. The global surface

temperature is likely to rise a further 0.3 to 1.7 C in the lowest emission scenario, and 2.6 to 4.8

C is the highest emission scenario.

Future climate change and associated impacts will differ from region to region. Anticipated

effects include increasing global temperatures, rising sea levels, changing precipitation, and

expansion of deserts the subtropics. Warming is expected to be greater over land than over the

oceans and greatest in the arctic, with the continuing retreat of glaciers, permafrost and sea ice.

Other likely changes include more frequent extreme weather events such as heat waves,

droughts, heavy rainfall with floods and heavy snowfall. Effects significant to human include the

threat to food security from decreasing crop yields and the abandonment of populated areas due

to rising sea level. Because the climate system has a large “ inertia” and greenhouse gases will
remain in the atmosphere for a long time, many of these effects will persists for not only decades

or centuries, but for tens of thousands of years to come.

DESERTIFICATION
Desertification is a type of land degradation in which a relatively dry area of land

becomes increasingly arid, typically losing its bodies of water as well as vegetation and wildlife.

It is caused by a variety of factors, such as through climate change( particularly the current

global warming) and through the overexploitation of soil through human activity. When deserts

appear automatically over the natural course of planet’s life cycle, then it can be called natural

phenomenon; however, when desert emerge due to the rampant and unchecked depletion of

nutrients in soil that are essential for it to remain arable, then a virtual soil death can be spoken

of, which traces its cause back to human overexploitation. Desertification is global ecological

and environmental problem.

OZONE LAYER
The ozone layer or ozone shield is a region of Earth’s stratosphere that absorbs most of

the Sun’s ultraviolet (UV) radiation. It contains high concentrations of ozone (O 3 ) in relation to

other parts of atmosphere, although still small in relation to other gases in the stratosphere. The

ozone layer contains less than ten parts per million of ozone, while the average ozone

concentration in Earth’s atmosphere as a whole is about 0.3 parts per million. The ozone layer is

mainly found in the lower portion of the stratosphere, from approximately 20 to 30 kilometers

above the sea level, although its thickness seasonally and geographically.
 The ozone layer was discovered in 1913 by the French physicists Charles Fabry and

Henri Buisson. Measures of the sun showed that the radiation sent out from its surface and

reaching the ground on Earth is usually consistent with the spectrum of a black body with a

temperature in the range of 5,500 – 6,000 K, except that there was no radiation below a

wavelength of about 310 nm at the ultraviolet end of the spectrum. The ozone layer absorbs 97 –

99 percent of the Sun’s medium – frequency ultraviolet light. Which otherwise would

potentially damage exposed life forms near the surface. In 1976 atmospheric research revealed

that the ozone layer was being depleted by chemicals released by industry, mainly

chlorofluorocarbons ( CFCs ). Concerns that increased UV radiation due to ozone depletion

threatened life on Earth led to bans on chemicals, and the latest evidence is that ozone depletion

has slowed or stopped.

FINAL

EXAMI
(SED 420 Earth and Environmental Science)

FERNANDO N. ABUAN
MaEd- Science
SILVESTRE C. ESCUETA, Ph.D.
Professor I