Ch. 1 - An Introduction to Environmental Science Flashcards
environment
The sum total of our surroundings, including all of the living things and nonliving things with which we interact.
biotic
Refers to any living component of the environment.
abiotic
Refers to any nonliving component of the environment.
Environment Canada
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.
environmental science
The study of how the natural world works and how humans and the environment interact.
science
A systematic process for learning about the world and testing our understanding of it.
interdisciplinary (field)
A field that borrows techniques from several more traditional fields of study and brings together research results from these fields into a broad synthesis.
environmentalism
A social movement dedicated to protecting the natural world.
natural resources
Any of the various substances and energy sources we need in order to survive and to lead our lives.
renewable natural resources
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.
resource management
Strategic decision-making about who should extract resources and in what ways, so that resources are used wisely and not wasted.
stock
The harvestable portion of a resource.
nonrenewable natural resources
A natural resource that is in limited supply and is formed much more slowly than we use it.
goods
Something material (such as a resource or a product) that has economic utility.
services
Something that is of economic value, but is not a tangible or material product; in economics, the intangible equivalent of goods.