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sustainability and environmental issues > sustainability, climate change, ecosystems, and biodiversity > Flashcards

sustainability, climate change, ecosystems, and biodiversity Flashcards

1
Q

Definition of sustainability

A

the quality of not being harmful to the environment or depleting natural resources, and thereby supporting long-term ecological balance

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2
Q

Pillars of sustainability

A

social, economic, and environmental

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3
Q

Principles of sustainability

A

the economy, society, and the environment

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4
Q

Natural capital

A

Resources and ecosystem services that keep humans and other species alive and that support human economies

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5
Q

Definition of environment

A

the surroundings or conditions in which a person, animal, or plant lives or operates

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6
Q

Environmental activism

A

social movements dedicated to protecting earth’s life and resources

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7
Q

Categories of resources

A

(inexhaustible, renewable, nonrenewable)

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8
Q

Ecosystems

A

a biological community of interacting organisms and their physical environment.

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9
Q

Regional uses of resources

A

the resources used in certain regions resource richness.

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10
Q

Human impacts on earth, broadly and how its measured

A

Humans impact the physical environment in many ways: overpopulation, pollution, burning fossil fuels, and deforestation. Changes like these have triggered climate change, soil erosion, poor air quality, and undrinkable water. and IPAT equation’ human impact (I) on the environment is a result of multiplicative contributions of population (P), affluence (A) and technology (T).

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11
Q

Environmental worldviews

A

collective beliefs and values that give people a sense of how the world works, their role in the environment, and right and wrong behaviors toward the environment

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12
Q

The Commons

A

private ownership, we enclose the commons, making it unavailable to those who do not own it. This limits who can benefit from these renewable resources.

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13
Q

Conservation and preservation

A

Conservation-: All public lands should be managed wisely and scientifically, primarily to provide resources for people and preservation- Wilderness areas on some public lands should be left untouched so they could be preserved indefinitely.

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14
Q

Scientific method and theory

A

a method of procedure that has characterized natural science since the 17th century, consisting in systematic observation, measurement, and experiment, and the formulation, testing, and modification of hypotheses. and a theory is a well-tested and widely accepted hypothesis.

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15
Q

Systems

A

any set of components that function and interact in some regular way.

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16
Q

positive and negative feedback loops

A

feedback loops -Positive feedback loops: cause a system to change further in the same
direction. Negative feedback loops: cause a system to change in the opposite direction.

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17
Q

Climate

A

Long-term average for patterns of atmospheric conditions

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18
Q

weather

A

Short-term atmospheric conditions

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19
Q

Types of major weather patterns and natural disasters

A

El nino, la nina, tornados, and tropical cyclones

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20
Q

green house gases Their impacts and duration in atmosphere

A

-The warming of the earth via greenhouse gasses (GHGs) that absorb and release heat- naturally occurring , but Humans are emitting more GHGs into the atmosphere, which is causing additional warming leading to climate change

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21
Q

Causes of (human caused) climate changes

A
  • GHG
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22
Q

Climate change - debate or not?

A

No

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23
Q

Climate change models

A

*to help project the effects of increasing GHGs on future atmospheric temperatures.

24
Q

Carbon footprints

A

-they are the greenhouse gasses (carbon) emitted from industrialism along with use of fossil fuels

25
Q

Impacts of climate change

A
  • increasing at a accelerated rate On food production- growing, rearing, farming, processing, and shipping all affect the planet
26
Q

Sea level rises

A

-the melting of arctic ocean ice and glaciers Oceans expand when they warm, causing sea level rise

27
Q

Ecosystems and vulnerability

A
  • droughts, floods, loss in biodiversity, and food growth loss
28
Q

Difficulties addressing climate change

A

-it is a global issue and it can be slowed but never stopped, impacts are not spread evenly.

29
Q

Importance of rainforests-

A

rainforests are the most diverse ecosystems in the world .

30
Q

Components of earth’s life-support system-

A

atmosphere, hydrosphere, geosphere, and the biosphere

31
Q

Factors sustaining life on earth

A

-One-way flow of energy from the sun, Cycling of nutrients through the biosphere, Gravity enabling the above movements

32
Q

Levels of organization of matter in nature levels of matter:

A

Organism, Populations, Communities Ecosystems, Biosphere

33
Q

Aerobic respiration

A

-consumers convert glucose and oxygen back into water, carbon dioxide, and the energy needed to live.

34
Q

Photosynthesis

A

-Carbon dioxide + water + solar energy → glucose + oxygen

35
Q

Soil horizons-

A

the layers of mature soils
Soil health and impact of agriculture- if soil doesn’t have a healthy soil layer thn the things that that soil is able to produce is a lot less

36
Q

Trophic levels

A

-Level 1: Plants and algae make their own food and are called producers. Level 2: Herbivores eat plants and are called primary consumers. Level 3: Carnivores that eat herbivores are called secondary consumers. Level 4: Carnivores that eat other carnivores are called tertiary consumers.

37
Q

Net primary productivity-

A

how much carbon dioxide vegetation takes in during photosynthesis minus how much carbon dioxide the plants release during respiration

38
Q

Nutrient cycles

A
  • the water cycle, the nitrogen cycle and the carbon cycle
39
Q

Anthropocene

A
  • the new era that scientists say we are in/ going into.
40
Q

Different ways to study ecosystems

A
  • through field research and laboratory research
41
Q

Laws of ecology

A

-Everything is connected to everything else (interdependence)Everything must go somewhere (there is no “away”), There is no free lunch (everything costs something), and Nature knows best Ground water - the water that seeps into the ground creating water aquifers ex- a well

42
Q

what are amphibians?

A

Amphibians are an indicator species

43
Q

Taxonomic classification

A

-A group of living organisms with characteristics that distinguish it from other groups of organisms - a species

44
Q

Determinants of ecosystem diversity

A
  • the physical characteristics of the environment, the diversity of species present, and the interactions that the species have with each other and with the environment
45
Q

Benefits of biodiversity

A
  • it helps keep the ecosystem balanced with a a lot of different things it doesn’t have so much of an effect of the food web
46
Q

Niches and related categories of species

A

the role an organism plays in a community

47
Q

Natural selection

A
  • how some organisms survive and become altered through natural selection while other die off
48
Q

Evolution-

A

the advancement and the changes that a species makes to adapt to and become accustomed to the environment

49
Q

Speciation

A

-The creation of new species through natural selection

50
Q

Extinction

A

-Occurs when an entire species ceases to exist

51
Q

Monarch butterflies

A

dont know

52
Q

Types of aquatic organisms

A

Plankton: the producers that make up the base of most aquatic food chains and webs, Nekton: strongly swimming consumers, Benthos: bottom-dwellers, Decomposers: you should know about

53
Q

Layers in lakes

A
  • the limnetic zone, has animals and fish, the profundal zone which has deep vegetation and silt and mud and in the berothid there are blood worms
54
Q

Nutrition levels in lakes

A

-Oligotrophic lake nutrients, have low NPP)Eutrophic lakes: Lakes with a large supply of nutrients, have high NPP Cultural eutrophication: Human inputs of nutrients into a watershed accelerates a lake’s eutrophication.

55
Q

Stream zones

A

-the portion of the stream channel that restricts the lateral movement of water.

56
Q

Benefits of wetlands

A

-protect from flooding, freshwater, a lot of nutrients, good place for nursery, and act as a sponge

57
Q

Genetically modified organisms

A

are things like corn help to change and take out the bad stuff that you don’t want in something and make it better, and also helps grow things faster.

sustainability and environmental issues (1 decks)

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