Unit 1

Question 1

Environment

Answer 1

Everything around you, including all living and non-living things

Question 2

Environmental science

Answer 2

The study of life systems and connect in the natural environment

Question 3

Ecology`

Answer 3

The study of how living organisms interact with the living and non-living parts of their environment

Question 4

Species

Answer 4

A group of organisms who have unique characteristics that set it apart from other groups

Question 5

Ecosystem

Answer 5

A biological community of organisms within a defined area of land or volume of water that interacts with their environment

Question 6

Biodiversity

Answer 6

The variety of genes, species, ecosystems, and ecosystem processes; provides a way for species to adapt to changing environments and for new species to arise

Question 7

Chemical cycling

Answer 7

the circulation of chemicals or nutrients needed to sustain life from the environment through various organisms and back into the environment

Question 8

Natural capital

Answer 8

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

Question 9

Inexhaustable resource

Answer 9

A resource that can be used indefinitely and doesn’t need to be renewed because it is in infinite supply

Question 10

Renewable resource

Answer 10

A resource that can be used indefinitely because it can be replenished through natural processes; it is available as long as it is not used faster than it can be renewed

Question 11

Nonrenewable resource

Answer 11

Resources that exist in a fixed amount on earth’s crust

Question 12

Ecosystem services

Answer 12

Natural services provided by healthy ecosystems that support life and human economies at no monetary cost to us

Question 13

Environmental degradation

Answer 13

Destruction of the environment through depletion of earth’s life-sustaining natural capital; also called natural capital degradation

Question 14

Tragedy of the commons

Answer 14

Depletion or degradation of a potentially renewable resource to which people have free and unmanaged access

Question 15

Ecological footprint

Answer 15

A rough measure of the total environmental impacts of individuals on the environment; measured in land

Question 16

Per capita ecological footprint

Answer 16

The average ecological footprint of an individual in a given population or defined area

Question 17

Biocapicty

Answer 17

The ability of an ecosystem to regenerate the renewable resources used by a population and to absorb the resulting wastes or pollution

Question 18

Affluence

Answer 18

Resource consumption per person, A, within the IPAT equation (Impact
= Population x Affluence x
Technology)

Question 19

Accuracy

Answer 19

How close or far off a set of measurements are to their true value

Question 20

Precision

Answer 20

How close or dispersed a set of measurements are to each other

Question 21

Scientific model

Answer 21

An approximate representation or simulation of a system being studied

Question 22

pH

Answer 22

A measure of acidity

Question 23

Acidity

Answer 23

A chemical characteristic that helps determine how a substance dissolved in water will interact with the earth’s surface

Question 24

Isotope

Answer 24

A form of an element that has the same atomic number (protons) but different mass numbers

Question 25

Kinetic Energy

Answer 25

Energy that matter has because of its mass and speed, or velocity

Question 26

Electromagnetic radiation

Answer 26

Forms of kinetic energy traveling as electromagnetic waves

Question 27

Radiation

Answer 27

Fast-moving particles (particulate radiation) or waves of energy (electromagnetic radiation)

Question 28

Conduction

Answer 28

The transfer of heat from solid substance to another cooler one when they are in physical contact

Question 29

Convection

Answer 29

Movement of fluid matter caused when the warmer or less dense part of a body that matter rises while the cooler, denser part of the fluid sinks due to gravity

Question 30

Potential energy

Answer 30

Energy store in an object because of its position or the position of its parts

Question 31

Positive feedback mechanism

Answer 31

• Feedback loop that causes a system to change further in the same direction • Also called a positive feedback loop

Question 32

Negative feedback mechanism

Answer 32

• Feedback loop that causes a system to change in the opposite direction • Also called a negative feedback loop

Question 33

Atmosphere

Answer 33

Air surrounding the earth

Question 34

Lithosphere

Answer 34

Outer shell of the earth

Question 35

Hydrosphere

Answer 35

Earth's liquid, frozen, or gaseous water

Question 36

Biosphere

Answer 36

The zone of the earth where life is found

Question 37

Greenhouse effect

Answer 37

Natural effect that releases heat in the atmosphere near the earth's surface

Question 38

Weather

Answer 38

Short-term changes in the temperature, precipitation, and other conditions in the troposphere at a given place and time

Question 39

Climate

Answer 39

The long-term pattern of weather conditions in a region, consisting of average precipitation and temperature

Question 40

Global climate change

Answer 40

The changes in weather patterns, ocean cycling, and temperature

Question 41

Global warming

Answer 41

The overall net increases in temperature worldwide

Question 42

Greenhouse warming potential

Answer 42

A gas's ability to warm the atmosphere, scaled against other gases in the atmosphere

Question 43

Anthropogenic

Answer 43

Human-centered

Question 44

Carbon sinks

Answer 44

Immobilized carbon not contributing to global temperatures (forests, fossil fuels, etc.)

Question 45

Tolerance

Answer 45

The ability of an organism to withstand fluctuations in biotic and abiotic environmental factors

Question 46

Coriolis effect

Answer 46

Wind deflection and currents caused by the rotation of the earth

Question 47

Global climate zones

Answer 47

• Caused by the rising and falling of cool or warm, dry or moist air • Three main: Polar cell, Temperate/Mid-latitude cell, Tropical/Hadley cell

Question 48

Abiotic factors

Answer 48

• Temperature • Pressure and gravity • Water (97.5% salt water, 2.5 fresh water) • Biogeochemical cycles (carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus cycles)

Question 49

Biotic factors

Answer 49

• The living components of an ecosystem that affect the ecosystem and all organisms within it • Predators/prey, plants as habitats, soils, microorganisms populations

Question 50

Deciduous

Answer 50

• Leaves drop due to some cue • Temperature cue or drought cue

Question 51

Brackish

Answer 51

Water with a salt concentration of 1-3%

Question 52

Photic

Answer 52

Sunlight penetrates

Question 53

Aphotic

Answer 53

Without light