Science part 2 Flashcards
What are greenhouse gasses?
A greenhouse gas is any gaseous compound in the atmosphere that is capable of absorbing infrared radiation, thereby trapping and holding heat in the atmosphere. By increasing the heat in the atmosphere, greenhouse gases are responsible for the greenhouse effect, which ultimately leads to global warming.
What is photosynthesis?
Chloroplasts are what make leaves green, and they are also what takes the carbon dioxide, the water, and the light, and turns them into sugar and oxygen. The sugar is then used by the plants for food, and the oxygen if breathed out into the atmosphere.
What are ecosystem services?
Ecological goods and services (EG&S) are the benefits arising from the ecological functions of ecosystems. Such benefits accrue to all living organisms, including animals and plants, rather than to humans alone.
How do humans affect animal extinction?
We overexploit resources, destroy habitats, introduce invasive species, etc…
What is an invasive species?
An invasive species is a plant, fungus, or animal species that is not native to a specific location (an introduced species), and which has a tendency to spread to a degree believed to cause damage to the environment, human economy, or human health.
How do invasive species get into the waterways and our land?
They are transported by cargo ships from other continents, they are carried by birds, and people decide to release old pets into the wild, where it reproduces where it isn’t supposed to.
What is bioaccumulation?
What does it do?
chemicals move up the food chain and increase- by the time it’s at the top the concentration is very high
What is acid precipitation?
Acid precipitation is precipitation made more acidic than usual by chemicals such as sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides combining with water vapour in the atmosphere. This can happen through the burning of fossil fuels
