Ch. 1 Review Flashcards
A nonrenewable natural resource, such as crude oil, natural gas, or coal, produced by the decomposition and compression of organic matter from ancient life
fossil fuel
hydraulic fracturing, a method of oil and gas extraction that uses high-pressure fluids to force open cracks in rocks deep underground
fracking
The sum total of our surroundings, including all of the living things and non-living things with which we interact
environment
Is the study of how the natural world works, how our environment, affects us, and how we affect our environment
environmental science
a particular location of Earth with interacting biotic and abiotic components
ecosystem
living
biotic
nonliving
abiotic
A social movement dedicated to protecting the natural world, and by extension, people
environmentalism
the field of study that includes environmental science and additional subjects such as environmental policy, economics, literature, and ethics
environmental studies
An essential service an ecosystem provides that supports life and makes economic activity possible
ecosystem services
an indicator that describes the current state of an environmental system
environmental indicator
the diversity of life forms in an environment
biodiversity
a measure of the genetic variation among individuals in a population
genetic diversity
a group of organisms that is distinct from other groups in its morphology (body form and structure), behavior, or biochemical properties
species
the number of species in a region or in a particular ecosystem
species diversity
the evolution of new species
speciation
the average rate at which species become extinct over the long term
background extinction rate
gases in earth’s atmosphere that trap heat near the surface
greenhouse gases
derived from human activities
anthropogenic
amount per each person in a country or unit of population
per capita
improvement in human well-being through economic advancement
development
A guiding principles of environmental science, entailing conserving resources, maintaining functional ecological systems, and developing long-term solutions, such that a earth can sustain our civilization and all life for the future, allowing our descendants to live at least as well as we have lived
sustainability
development that balances current human well-being and economic advancement with resource management for the benefit of future generations
sustainable development
love of life
biophilia
The cumulative area of biological productive 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
ecological footprint
A formalized method for testing ideas with observations that involves a more-or-less consistent series of interrelated steps
scientific method
A statement that attempts to explain a phenomenon or answer a scientific question
hypothesis
In an experiment, a condition that can change
variable
The variable that the scientist manipulates in an experiment
independent variable
The variable that is affected by manipulation of the independent variable in an experiment
dependent variable
a prediction that there is no difference between the groups or conditions that are being compared
null hypothesis
the data collection procedure of taking repeated measurements
replication
the number of times a measurement is replicated in data collection
sample size (n)
how close a measured value is to the actual or true value
accuracy
how close the repeated measurements of a sample are to one another
precision
an estimate of how much a measured or calculated value differs from a true value
uncertainty
A widely accepted, well-tested explanation of one or more cause-and-effect relationships that has been extensively validated by a great amount of research
theory
The portion of an experiment in which a variable has been left unmanipulated, to serve as point of comparison with the treatment
control
An experiment in which the research cannot directly manipulate the variables and therefore must observe nature, comparing conditions in which variables differ, and interpret the results
natural experiment
Any of various substances and energy sources that we take from our environment and that we need in order to survive
natural resources
Natural resources that are virtually unlimited or that are replenished by the environment over relatively short periods (hours to weeks to years)
renewable natural resources
Natural resources that are in limited supply and are formed much more slowly than we use them
nonrenewable natural resources
is a period of transition from the pre-agricultural period characterized by a Paleolithic diet, into an agricultural period characterized by a diet of cultivated foods; or a further transition from a living form of agriculture into a more advanced and more productive form of agriculture, resulting in further social changes
Agricultural revolution
The shift beginning in the mid-1700s from rural life, animal-powered agricultural, and manufacturing by craftsmen to an urban society powered by fossil fuels
Industrial revolution
The amount by which humanity’s resource use, as measured by its ecological footprint, has surpassed earth’s long-term capacity to support us
overshoot
A field that borrows techniques from multiple traditional fields of study and brings together research results from these fields into a broad synthesis
interdisciplinary field
Academic disciplines that study the natural world
natural sciences
(1) An systematic process for learning about the world and testing our understanding of it. (2)The accumulated body of knowledge that arises from this dynamic process
science
Research in which science gather basic information about organisms, materials, systems or processes that we are not yet well known
Observational/descriptive science
A specific statement, generally arising from a hypothesis, that can be tested directly and unequivocally
Predictions
An activity designed to test the validity of a hypothesis by manipulating variables.
experiment
In an experiment, a condition that can change
variable
An experiment in which a treatment is compared against a control in order to test the effect of a variable
controlled experiment
The portion of an experiment in which a variable has been manipulated in order to test its effect
treatment
Information, generally quantitative information
data
An experiment in which the researcher actively chooses and manipulates the independent variable
manipulative experiment
The process by which a manuscript submitted for publication in an academic journal is examined by specialists in the field, who provide comments and criticism and judge wether the work merits publication in the journal
peer review
Problems complex enough to have no simple solution and whose very nature changes over time
wicked problems
A dominant philosophical and theoretical framework within a scientific discipline
paradigm
Earth’s accumulated wealth of resources
natural capital
