| Front | Back | | --- | --- | | Why does Qatar have one of the highest ecological footprints per capita in the world, and what does this demonstrate about wealth and sustainability? |

Causes: High energy consumption for air conditioning/cooling, and heavy reliance on energy-intensive desalination for fresh water.
Lesson: High GDP and economic wealth do not automatically translate to environmental sustainability.

| | Why does New Delhi's Air Quality Index (AQI) regularly reach hazardous levels during winter, and what are the societal consequences? |

Causes: A combination of vehicle emissions, industrial smoke, and agricultural crop-residue burning.
Consequences: Increased respiratory illness, reduced outdoor human activity, and local economic losses.

| | Why is the Air Quality Index (AQI) considered an effective sustainability indicator from a systems perspective? | It directly links human industrial and transport inputs to immediate feedbacks in both environmental quality and public health outcomes. | | Contrast the ecological footprints of the USA (~8 gha/person) and Bangladesh (~0.7 gha/person) in terms of resource consumption. |

USA: High footprint due to rapid industrialisation, fossil fuel reliance, and high-consumption lifestyles.
Bangladesh: Low footprint due to low industrial output and simpler, subsistence-based lifestyles.

| | Why are ecosystems with high biodiversity indicators considered more sustainable and resilient to environmental shocks? | They possess redundant ecological pathways; if one species is lost, other species can maintain essential nutrient cycles and system functions. | | How do environmental scientists use "indicator species" to monitor pollution levels in aquatic ecosystems? | They monitor the presence, absence, or health of specific organisms that react predictably to changes in water chemistry (e.g., using a Biotic Index). | | How does rapid human population growth create positive feedback loops that degrade local carrying capacity? |

Increased population drives rapid resource depletion (deforestation, water overdraft).
This degrades the local environment, which lowers the carrying capacity, accelerating resource scarcity further.

| | Explain how a diet high in meat and dairy increases an individual's carbon and water footprints compared to a plant-based diet. |

Carbon: Livestock farming produces high levels of methane (a potent greenhouse gas).
Water: Raising animals requires massive volumes of water for growing feed crops and animal consumption (e.g., 15,400L per kg of beef).

| | Why is a country's carbon footprint considered a major component of its overall ecological footprint? | The ecological footprint calculates the forested land area required to sequester the carbon dioxide emissions generated by that country's fossil fuel consumption. | | Distinguish between the "blue" and "grey" components of a water footprint. |

Blue water: Surface and groundwater consumed during irrigation, industry, or domestic use.
Grey water: The volume of freshwater required to dilute pollutants to safe water quality standards.

| | Why does growing crops in arid regions dramatically increase their water footprint compared to growing them in temperate regions? | Arid regions lack sufficient rainfall (green water), forcing heavy reliance on groundwater or surface water irrigation (blue water), which is highly subject to evaporation. | | Why must climate change indicators (like mean global temperature or sea-level rise) be measured over long-term records rather than short-term fluctuations? | To distinguish long-term anthropogenic climate trends from natural, short-term seasonal or annual meteorological variability. | | An ecological footprint compares human resource demand against Earth's biocapacity, and is expressed in global hectares (gha) per person. | An ecological footprint compares human resource demand against Earth's biocapacity, and is expressed in global hectares (gha) per person. | | A carbon footprint standardises the warming effects of different greenhouse gases by expressing emissions in tonnes of CO2-equivalent per year. | A carbon footprint standardises the warming effects of different greenhouse gases by expressing emissions in tonnes of CO2-equivalent per year. | | The three components of a water footprint are blue water (surface/groundwater), green water (rainwater stored in soil), and grey water (dilution water for pollutants). | The three components of a water footprint are blue water (surface/groundwater), green water (rainwater stored in soil), and grey water (dilution water for pollutants). | | The Air Quality Index (AQI) monitors key atmospheric pollutants, including ozone, carbon monoxide, and particulate matter down to PM2.5. | The Air Quality Index (AQI) monitors key atmospheric pollutants, including ozone, carbon monoxide, and particulate matter down to PM2.5. | |

Based on this historical climate indicator graph, what is the relationship between atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations and average Antarctic temperatures?

| They are strongly positively correlated; peaks in atmospheric CO₂ directly align with peaks in average temperature over hundreds of thousands of years. | |

How do municipal governments in major cities use this color-coded Air Quality Index (AQI) system to manage urban systems during "hazardous" events?

| They use it to trigger emergency public health warnings and temporarily restrict industrial activities or transport to reduce emission loads. | |

| Stonefly Nymph | |

| Mayfly Nymph | |

| Freshwater Shrimp | |

| Bloodworm | |

| Tubifex Worm | |

| No Invertebrate Life | |

| Crash phase | |

| Exponential growth phase | |

| Lag phase | |

| Population overshoot | |

| Carrying capacity (K) |

IB Environmental systems and societies 1.3F Sustainability Indicators Flashcards

Topic 1: Foundation 3 subtopics

Topic 2: Ecology5 subtopics

Topic 3: Conservation and biodiversity3 subtopics

Topic 4: Water4 subtopics

Topic 5: Land2 subtopics

Topic 6: Atmosphere and climate change4 subtopics

Topic 7: Natural resources3 subtopics

Topic 8: Human populations and urban systems3 subtopics