Ch. 1 - An Introduction to Environmental Science

Question 1

environment

Answer 1

The sum total of our surroundings, including all of the living things and nonliving things with which we interact.

Question 2

biotic

Answer 2

Refers to any living component of the environment.

Question 3

abiotic

Answer 3

Refers to any nonliving component of the environment.

Question 4

Environment Canada

Answer 4

The department of the federal government that is mandated to preserve and enhance the quality of the natural environment; conserve Canada’s renewable natural resources; conserve and protect Canada’s water resources; forecast weather and environmental change; enforce rules relating to boundary waters; and coordinate environmental policies and programs; created in 1971 by the Department of the Environment Act.

Question 5

environmental science

Answer 5

The study of how the natural world works and how humans and the environment interact.

Question 6

science

Answer 6

A systematic process for learning about the world and testing our understanding of it.

Question 7

interdisciplinary (field)

Answer 7

A field that borrows techniques from several more traditional fields of study and brings together research results from these fields into a broad synthesis.

Question 8

environmentalism

Answer 8

A social movement dedicated to protecting the natural world.

Question 9

natural resources

Answer 9

Any of the various substances and energy sources we need in order to survive and to lead our lives.

Question 10

renewable natural resources

Answer 10

A natural resource that is virtually unlimited or that is replenished by the environment over relatively short periods (hours to weeks to years) so that it can be replenished at a rate that is faster than the rate of withdrawal by people.

Question 11

resource management

Answer 11

Strategic decision-making about who should extract resources and in what ways, so that resources are used wisely and not wasted.

Question 12

stock

Answer 12

The harvestable portion of a resource.

Question 13

nonrenewable natural resources

Answer 13

A natural resource that is in limited supply and is formed much more slowly than we use it.

Question 14

goods

Answer 14

Something material (such as a resource or a product) that has ­economic utility.

Question 15

services

Answer 15

Something that is of economic value, but is not a tangible or material product; in economics, the intangible equivalent of goods.

Question 16

carrying capacity

Answer 16

The maximum population size that a given environment can sustain. The maximum population size that a given environment can sustain.

Question 17

tragedy of the commons

Answer 17

The scenario in which each individual withdraws whatever benefits are available from an unregulated or poorly regulated common property resource, as quickly as possible, until the resource becomes overused and depleted.

Question 18

IPAT model

Answer 18

A relationship that expresses human impact on the environment (I) as a function of population (P), affluence (A), and technology (T).

Question 19

ecological footprint (EF)

Answer 19

The cumulative amount of land and water required to provide the raw materials a person or population consumes and to dispose of or recycle the waste that is produced.

Question 20

biocapacity

Answer 20

The capacity of a terrestrial or aquatic system to be biologically productive and to absorb waste.

Question 21

sustainability

Answer 21

A guiding principle of environmental science that requires us to live in such a way as to maintain Earth’s systems and its natural resources for the foreseeable future.

Question 22

sustainable development

Answer 22

Development that satisfies our current needs without compromising the future availability of natural resources or our future quality of life.

Question 23

biodiversity (or biological diversity)

Answer 23

The sum total of all organisms in an area, taking into account the diversity of species, their genes, their populations, and their communities.

Question 24

Earth system science

Answer 24

The scientific study of the entire Earth system as an integrated whole, including how its component parts and their interactions have evolved, how they function, and how they may be expected to continue to evolve on all timescales.