Ecological EconomicsEcological Energetics Ecological Humanities

Prepared by:BAI SAGUIRA M.

ABDULAHMAST-BIO

ECOLOGICAL ECONOMICS

ECOLOGICAL ECONOMICS

• Ecological economics refers to both a transdisciplinary and interdisciplinary field of academic research that aims to address the interdependence and coevolution of human economies and natural ecosystems over time and space.

• Ecological economics was founded as a modern movement in the works of and interactions between various European and American academics

• Ecological economist Malte Faber, ecological economics is defined by its focus on nature, justice, and time.

Nature

• The Earth's carrying capacity is a central issue in ecological economics

• Global wild fisheries are believed to have peaked and begun a decline, with valuable habitat such as estuaries in critical condition

• Global warming is now widely acknowledged as a major issue, with all national scientific academies expressing agreement on the importance of the issue

The three nested systems of Sustainability

ECOLOGICAL ENERGETICS

Ecological Energetics

• is the quantitative study of the flow of energy through ecological systems.

• It aims to uncover the principles which describe the propensity of such energy flows through the trophic, or 'energy availing' levels of ecological networks.

• ecosystem energy flows or "ecosystem laws" (i.e. principles of ecological energetics) are considered formally analogous to the principles of energetics.

Principle of Energetics 1.The First Law of Thermodynamics (Conservation) - states that energy is always conserved, it cannot be created or destroyed. In essence, energy can be converted from one form into another.

2. Second Law of Thermodynamics states that "in all energy exchanges, if no energy enters or leaves the system, the potential energy of the state will always be less than that of the initial state." This is also commonly referred to as entropy.

3. The third law of thermodynamics states that the entropy of a system approaches a constant value as the temperature approaches absolute zero

“Ecological energetics provides information on the energetic interdependence of organisms within ecological systems and the efficiency of energy transfer within and between organisms and trophic levels”

ECOLOGICAL HUMANITIES

Ecological Humanities

• The ecological humanities (also environmental humanities) is an interdisciplinary area of research, drawing on the many environmental sub-disciplines that have emerged in the humanities over the past several decades.

• The ecological humanities aim to help bridge traditional divides between the sciences and the humanities, and between Western, Eastern and Indigenous ways of knowing the natural world and the place of humans in it (Rose 2004).

the ecological humanities are characterized by a connectivity ontology and a commitment to two fundamental axioms relating to the need to submit to ecological laws and to see humanity as part of a larger living system.

Connectivity Ontology

• One of the fundamental ontological presuppositions of ecological humanities is that the organic world and its inorganic parts are seen as a single system whereby each part is linked to each other part.

Axioms of ecological humanities

• The axiom of submission to ecosystem laws;• The axiom of ecological kinship, which

situates humanity as participant in a larger living system; and

• The axiom of the social construction of ecosystems and ecological unity, which states that ecosystems and nature may be merely convenient conceptual entities (Marshall, 2002).

• “ The world has enough for everyone’s need, but not enough for everyone’s greed” –Mahatma Gandhi

References

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecological_economics

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecological_humanities

• McGraw-Hill Concise Encyclopedia of Bioscience. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

• http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/ecological+energetics