Buzz Words Flashcards
Bioaccumulate
Gradual buildup of synthetic and organic chemicals in living organisms
Birth Dearth
Declining birth rates
Green Revolution
Development of higher-yield and fast-growing crops through increased technology, pesticides and fertilizers
Chronic
Disease that persists for a long time, lasting three months or more
Pandemic
An epidemic that is geographically widespread
Emergent
New properties that arise in each step upward in the hierarchy of life
GMO
genetically modified organisms, food derived from organisms whose DNA has been modified
Rehabilitate
Process of restoring a person to his or her highest possible level of physical, psychological, social or economic function
Reclamation
Turning former mine land into usable land
First law of thermodynamics
States that Energy cannot be created nor destroyed in an isolated system
Second law of thermodynamics
The entropy of any isolated system always increases
NIMBY
“Not in my backyard,” describes an opposition by residence to a proposal for new development
IPM
integrated pest management, used methods such as traps, disease-resistant plants, etc. to control pests
Exotic organism
When an organism occupies an area in which it did not evolve
Grasshopper affect
Pollutants evaporate into warmer climates air and travel on wind to cold areas
Non-point source
Source spread over an area where the origin cannot be identified
Primary air standards
Protect human health with adequate margin of safety
Secondary air standards
Protect public welfare from adverse effects of pollen
Fugitive emissions
Release of gas and vapor from pressurized equipment due to a leak
Effluent
Flowing out of water or gas from a natural body of water or human made structure
Oxygen sag
Oxygen levels decline downstream from a pollution source as decomposers metabolize waste materials
Criteria pollutant
Common pollutants
Greenhouse gases
Gases such as carbon dioxide, methane that are in the atmosphere that absorb and emit radiation
Biomagnification
Increased concentration of toxic chemicals in the tissues of organisms that are on the high end of the food web
