Chapter 1

Question 1

systems perspective

Answer 1

a complex system made of smaller interrelated systems

Question 2

Homo sapiens

Answer 2

scientific term for humans

Question 3

poverty

Answer 3

1. A condition in which people cannot meet their basic needs for adequate food, clothing, shleter, education, or health;
2. Having a per capita of less than $2 per day

Question 4

highly developed countries

Answer 4

1. countries with complex industrialized bases, low rates of population growth, and high per capita incomes.
2. the rich countries or the “haves”.

Question 5

moderately developed countries

Answer 5

developing countries with a medium level of industrialization and average per capita incomes that are lower than those of highly developed countries.

Question 6

less developed countries (LCD)

Answer 6

1. developing countries with a low level of industrialization, a high fertility rate, a high infant mortality rate, and a low per capita income
2. poor countries

Question 7

nonrenewable resources

Answer 7

1. resources that are limited and are depleted by use; natural processes do not replenish them in a short time.
   i. e. metals, minerals, fossil fuels

Question 8

renewable resources

Answer 8

1. resources that are replaced fairly quickly and can be used forever as long as they are not overexploited in a short amount of time
   i. e. tress, fish, fertile soil, solar energy, winds, tides flowing water, air, etc

Question 9

subsistence farmers

Answer 9

farmers who harvest just enough food so that they and their families can survive

Question 10

sustainable way

Answer 10

in a manner that gives them time to replace or replenish themselves

Question 11

consumption

Answer 11

the human use of materials and energy; both an economic and social act; provides the consumer with a sense of identity as well as status among others.

Question 12

overpopulated

Answer 12

the level of demand on its resource base is damaging to the environment.

Question 13

people overpopulation

Answer 13

when there are too many people in a given geographic area; occurs when the environment is worsening because of too many people

Question 14

consumption overpopulation

Answer 14

when a person in a population consumes too much of a share of resources

Question 15

ecological footprint

Answer 15

the concept that an amount of productive land, fresh water, and ocean required to supply a person food, wood, energy, water, housing, clothing, transportation, and waste disposal.
developed by Mathis Wackernagel

Question 16

ecological deficit

Answer 16

humans overshot our allotment

Question 17

model

Answer 17

1. a formal statement that describes the behavior of a system
2. a representation of a system; describes the system as it is and predicts how changes in one part of a system will affect the rest of the system

Question 18

environmental sustainability

Answer 18

1. the ability to sustain the natural resources without it depleting
2. humans can manage natural resources indefinitely without the environment getting hurt from things imposed by human society
3. the ability to meet the current human need for natural resources without compromising the ability of future generations

Question 19

ecosystems

Answer 19

system of living things

Question 20

global commons

Answer 20

1. another name for modern-day commons

2. the parts of our environment available to everyone but no single person has responsibility over

Question 21

green roof

Answer 21

1. another name for eco-roofs

2. a roof that is completely or almost covered by vegetation and soil

Question 22

stewardship

Answer 22

shared responsibility for the sustainable care of our planet

Question 23

Agenda 21

Answer 23

an action plan in which future economic development will be reconciled with environmental protection

Question 24

sustainable development

Answer 24

1. economic development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs
2. goals are to improve living conditions for all people wile sustaining a healthy environment

Question 25

environmental science

Answer 25

the study of humanity's relationship with other organisms and the nonliving physical environment deals with issues of human population, natural resources and pollution

Question 26

ecology

Answer 26

1. the branch of biology that studies the interrelationships between organisms and their environment 2. a basic tool of environmental science

Question 27

systems

Answer 27

a set of components that interact and function as a whole

Question 28

ecosystem

Answer 28

a natural system consisting of a community of organisms and its physical environment

Question 29

dynamic equilibrium

Answer 29

1. a steady state in which many aspects of Earth systems are in 2. the rate of change in one direction is the same as the opposite direction

Question 30

feedback

Answer 30

occurs when a change in one part of a system leads to a change in another part can be negative or positive

Question 31

negative feedback mechanism

Answer 31

a change in which some condition triggers a response that reverses the changed condition keeps an untouched system in dynamic equilibrium

Question 32

positive feedback mechanism

Answer 32

a change in some condition that triggers a response that intensifies the changing condition; leads to greater change from original condition

Question 33

science

Answer 33

1. a body of knowledge 2. a collection of facts about the natural world and a search for relationships among these facts 3. a dynamic process

Question 34

process

Answer 34

a systematic way to investigate the natural world

Question 35

data

Answer 35

the information that science works

Question 36

repeatability

Answer 36

a requirement of science; repeating an experiment over and over again to see if it produces consistent results

Question 37

self-correcting

Answer 37

corrects it self or corrected by itself

Question 38

scientific method

Answer 38

1. the way a scientist approaches a problem by formulating a hypothesis and then testing it by experimenting it

Question 39

hypothesis

Answer 39

an educated guess

Question 40

variable

Answer 40

a factor that influences a process

Question 41

control

Answer 41

the variable that is not changed or altered

Question 42

theory

Answer 42

an integrated explanation of numerous hypotheses supported by many observations and experiments and evaluated by others. condenses and simplifies data that appeared unrelated 2. always used in scientific sense, referring to a broadly conceived, logically coherent, and well supported explanation

Question 43

inductive reasoning

Answer 43

discovering general principles by carefully examining specific cases

Question 44

deductive reasoning

Answer 44

known from generals to specifics doesn't add anything someone didn't know only make relationships between them more noticeable.