iSpot: Sharing nature
This free course, iSpot: Sharing nature, provides a valuable resource for anyone with an interest in nature. It will give you the opportunity to learn more about wildlife, and to share your interest with a wider community.
First published on Wed, 21 Jun 2017 as Author(s):
Living without oil
Crude oil is currently our most important global source of energy. It is vital in the manufacture of many modern materials. But the worlds supply of oil is finite, its price is unstable and our reliance on oil has damaging environmental consequences. This free course, Living without oil, explains why developing alternatives to oil is an essential and urgent task for humanity.
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Surviving the winter
In this free course, Surviving the winter, we study one aspect of the fluctuating nature of an organisms environment. We consider how organisms living in a temperate climate, such as that in Britain, are adapted to cope with winter. You will see that there is much diversity of adaptations among organisms, with different species coping with the demands of a fluctuating environment in quite different ways. As cyclic variations are a widespread feature of environments, the range of adaptations to t
2.8 End of course question The writer and campaigner George Monbiot wrote the following (in The Guardian Weekly, 10 February 2000): 'Every time someone in the West switches on a kettle, he or she is helpting to flood Banglades Learning outcomes After studying this course, you should be able to: understand the physical basis of the natural greenhouse effect, including the meaning of the term radiative forcing know something of the way various human activities are increasing emmissions of the natural greenhouse gases, and are also contributing to sulphate aerosols in the troposphere demonstrate an awareness of the difficulties involved in the detection of any unusual global warming ‘signal Acknowledgements Except for third party materials and otherwise stated (see terms and conditions), this content is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 Licence Grateful acknowledgement is made to the following sources for permission to reproduce materia 2.4.2 Ecological restoration The changing science of ecology, coupled with a greater awareness and development of alternative styles of managing natural resources, continues to influence our notion of what is good and what is right for nature. One of the first and most influential formal expressions of an environmental ethic that arose from early organic and ecosystems models of ecology was that of Aldo Leopold. Leopold’s argument is regarded as an environmental ethic because it explicitly gives moral consideration to, 2.4.1 The emergence of ecology To help you gain a better perspective on the general progress of scientific development, Table 4 provides a schematic potted history of some of the major ideas coming from science that have sought to guide our actions. It includes both social and natural sciences, though the former really only became distinct ‘scienc 2.2.2 Environmental economics and green consumerism In economic terms, green consumerism is typically expressed using measures based on the willingness to pay (WTP) principle. As mentioned above, this takes two main forms: eco-taxation, in which environmental costs are estimated and added to the price of commodities (e.g. vehicles with high carbon emissions); and eco-labelling, in which products are labelled with relevant environmental information, such as is now required by the food industry and governments in many industrialised count 1.1 Entitlements and obligations Informal conversation with nature invokes intuitive ideas about human understanding and appreciation of value. The conversation develops practical ideas about how our entitlements affect our access to, and our relationships with, other constituents of the natural world. It also helps us to develop a sense of obligation towards the natural world. These less formalised aspects of responsibility are shaped by, and give shape to, the more codified rights and duties that provide guidance on our re Learning outcomes After studying this course, you should be able to: describe environmental matters regarding obligation and entitlements from a ‘caring’ perspective appreciate the significance of environmental consequentialist ethics in conversations around developing care identify and compare formal and less formal expressions of environmental responsibility understand ‘accountability’ in the context of environmental issues ide 5.3 Emergency planning as a formal requirement Several pieces of legislation make the preparation of emergency plans a statutory requirement. The European Directive on the control of major accident hazards (Council of the European Union, 1996a), the ‘Seveso II Directive’, outlines the planning requirements for industrial sites with large inventories of hazardous substances. In the UK, the requirements of this directive have been incorporated into the Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations (Health and Safety Executive, 1999a). I 1 Safety, health and environmental management – a risky business! While views on management differ, Safety, Health and Environmental (SHE) management is merely a subset of management to which the same generalities apply. Indeed, at the end of this free course we will see indications of the integrating concepts being promoted by organisations. However, for the present we can translate the key actions of management into: Plan – anticipate problems before they occur, and plan for prevention rather than remedy 3.1 Habitat The environment in which any organism lives is known as its habitat. It will share its habitat with other organisms, that are themselves part of the habitat. A habitat has distinctive physical and chemical features. 3.2.2 The protection of intellectual property: the costs of TRIPS Apart from the internal redistribution of income resulting from greater exposure to the world economy, the effects of one of the UR agreements in particular have achieved a certain notoriety because the agreement clearly imposes huge costs on farmers and consumers in developing countries, to the benefit of corporations in developed countries. This is the agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), which strengthens international rules governing patents, tradema The fascination with crime Tackling noise pollution Finite Element Analysis Noise Pollution Innovation Design: Sustainable Communities
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Whether it's literature, television or film, crime has always been a popular genre with wide-appeal; but why is this source of fear such a fascinating subject to us? This four track audio album strives to answer this question through interviews with key figures such as criminologists and crime authors, with members of the general public also offering their definitions of crime. This material forms part of The Open University course T214 Understanding systems: making sense of complexity.
Noise is one of the forms of pollution that characterises industrial societies. Many forms of noise in the urban environment, including traffic and aircraft noise, can cause significant harm in varying degrees. So just how much noise are you exposed to? The tracks in this album explain the measurement and control of noise and look at how motor engineers and road researchers are trying to cut down on noise pollution from transport. Lastly, two audio tracks featuring Dr Shahram Taherzadeh and Dr S
Formula 1 is the ultimate motor sport. It demands the highest level of skill from both drivers and the engineers behind the cars. So what are the secrets of good car design? How are Formula One cars engineered for maximum performance? This album takes a behind the scenes look at Red Bull Racing, a front-runner on the F1 grid. Using thrilling archive and expert testimony, the tracks explore how the techniques of Finite Element Analysis are used to optimize the performance of different elements of
How do your ears work and what kind of sound levels can damage your hearing? The five video tracks in this album explain basic concepts such as units of noise, sound insulation and noise control. Car manufacturers like Lexus have developed the quiet car, but this kind of technology benefits the driver, not the people living beside busy roads. Locals from a Derbyshire village explain how the construction of the A50 has affected their lives. The Transport Research Laboratory analyses tyre noise on
Can you picture the future in a world without fossil fuels? Perhaps you think that living an "alternative" lifestyle has to mean painful and radical changes to the way you live now. This album looks at various small scale initiatives which show that living sustainably may not be as unpalatable as you might imagine. Bedzed, Findhorn, Hockerton, Samsoe Island; these are all decentralised communities at the forefront of a major social and technological experiment. In our world of finite resources a
