SOC 2113 Study Guide - Lithosphere, Niels Bohr, Jacques Ellul
Document Summary
Economics: what people do, how they live together. Increasing the complexity, the biophysical earth-system and human earth-system are deeply interconnected. Long geologic lens: large changes in biophysical spheres results in large changes in life on earth (e. g. mass extinction, speciation); alien to everyday life. Multiple scales, for understanding as well as dealing with problems. Cycling of energy and matter between biophysical spheres. Energy cycle: open system driven by solar energy, governed by thermodynamics. Frequently disruptive of dynamic equilibrium, often accelerating rates of natural change. Human timeframes are much shorter than timeframes for natural cycles (e. g. fossil fuel creation) The quantity of wastes produced by people often exceeds natural global fluxes and absorptive capacity, and often contain toxic manufactured materials. Natural systems contain cultural milieux," local socio-cultural contexts and traditions. These milieux differentiate relations people have with the natural environment, and range from extremely anthropocentric to biocentric.
