Ch. 1 Envir. Problems, Causes, Sustainability Flashcards
Renewable
Resource that takes anywhere from several days to several hundred years to be replenished through natural process
Biodegradable pollutants
Material that can be broken down into simpler substances by bacteria/ other decomposers.
Nonrenewable
Resources that exist in a fixed quantity or stock, in the earths crust
Natural capital
The natural resources and natural services that keep us and other forms of life alive and support our human economies.
Natural capital degradation
Using normally renewable resources faster than the earth can replenish them
Sustainablility
Ability of earths various systems, including human cultural systems and economies, to survive and adapt to changing environmental conditions indefinitely
Perpetual resource
Never going to run out
Suns energy
Ecological footprint
An idea to supply people in an area with what they need
Per capita
Per person
Pollution
Anything harmful to the environment
Environmental worldview
How people think the world works and what they believe their role in the world should be.
Biodiversity
The variety of life in the world or in a particular habitat or ecosystem
Tipping points
Crossing a point that is irreversible, could last for thousands of years and nothing can save us from it
Commons
Resources belonging to or affecting the whole of a community.
3 principals of sustainability
-reliance on solar energy
-biodiversity
-nutrient cycling
(Population control also)
