Chapter 4: People and Nature

Question 1

acid rain

Answer 1

is the wet deposition of acids upon Earth through the natural cleansing properties of the atmosphere. The term acid rain also includes acid mists, acid fogs, and smog. Acid rain occurs as the water droplets in clouds absorb certain gases that later fall back to Earth as acid precipitation.

Question 2

anthropocene

Answer 2

the current geological era in Earth’s history in which the extent of human activities from agriculture to industrialization to urbanization have had far-reaching effects on Earth’s ecosystems.

Question 3

biopiracy

Answer 3

is the commercial exploitation of biological materials, that is living matter, including anything from genetic cell lines to plant or animal substances, and patenting that material without compensating the peoples whose knowledge revealed the value of them or on whose territory it was discovered.

Question 4

biomass

Answer 4

the total mass of organisms in a given area of volume

Question 5

bioprospecting

Answer 5

the scientific or commercial practice of searching for a useful application, process, or product in nature, often in extreme environments such as deserts, rain forests, and cold places like the Arctic and Antarctic.

Question 6

climate change

Answer 6

a change in the state of the climate that can be identified (e.g., using statistical tests) by changes in the mean and/or the variability of its properties, and that persists for an extended period, typically decades or longer

Question 7

columbian exchange

Answer 7

the interaction between the Old World (Europe) and the New World (the Americas) initiated by the voyages of Columbus.

Question 8

conservation

Answer 8

holds that natural resources should be used thoughtfully and that humans should serve as stewards, not exploiters, of the natural world.

Question 9

cultural ecology

Answer 9

is the study of how human society has adapted to environmental challenges like aridity and steep landscapes through technologies such as irrigation and terracing and organizing people to construct and maintain these systems.

Question 10

deep ecology

Answer 10

is an approach to nature revolving around two key components: self-realization and biospherical egalitarianism.

Question 11

deforestation

Answer 11

The permanent clearing and destruction of forests.

Question 12

demographic collapse

Answer 12

the phenomenon of near genocide of native populations

Question 13

desertification

Answer 13

is the spread of desert conditions resulting from deforestation, overgrazing, and poor agricultural practices, as well as reduced rainfall associated with climatic change.

Question 14

ecofeminism

Answer 14

holds that patriarchy—a system of social ideas that values men more highly than women—is at the center of our present environmental malaise. Because patriarchy has equated women with nature, it has promoted the subordination and exploitation of both.

Question 15

ecological imperialism

Answer 15

The introduction of exotic plants and animals into new ecosystems

Question 16

ecosystem

Answer 16

a community of different species interacting with each other and with the larger physical environment that surrounds it

Question 17

ecotheology

Answer 17

a reevaluation of the Western relationship to nature. The term came into prominence in the late twentieth century—mainly in Christian circles, though it has since spread across religious boundaries—in association with the scientific field of ecology. Ecotheology recognizes the value of other creatures and God’s intent for the cosmos as the basis for developing ethical models that take into account politics, economics, and practical issues in the quest for intelligent environmental policies

Question 18

ecotourism

Answer 18

responsible travel that conserves or improves the local environment as well as supports the well-being of the people who inhabit it.

Question 19

environmental ethics

Answer 19

is a philosophical perspective that prescribes moral principles as guidance for our treatment of nature.

Question 20

environmental justice

Answer 20

considers the pollution of neighborhoods by, for example, factories and hazardous waste dumps to be the result of a structured and institutionalized inequality that is pervasive in both the capitalist core and the periphery.

Question 21

global warming

Answer 21

an increase in world temperatures and change in climate associated with increasing levels of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane and other trace gases.

Question 22

greenhouse gases

Answer 22

result from human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels, cement production, and deforestation.

Question 23

greening

Answer 23

adding biomass including grasses as well as trees—due to increasing rainfall.

Question 24

nature

Answer 24

is a social creation as much as it is the physical universe that includes human beings.

Question 25

political ecology

Answer 25

stresses that human–environment relations can be adequately understood only by relating pat- terns of resource use to political and economic forces, particularly the way that national states and capitalist economic practices can lead to, as well as exacerbate, environmental degradation.

Question 26

preservation

Answer 26

advocates that certain habitats, species, and resources should remain off- limits to human use, regardless of whether the use maintains or depletes the resource in question.

Question 27

romanticism

Answer 27

a philosophy that emphasized the interdependence of humans and nature

Question 28

society

Answer 28

is the sum of the inventions, institutions, and relationships created and reproduced by human beings across particular places and times

Question 29

sustainable development

Answer 29

seeks a balance among economic growth, environmental impacts, and social equity.

Question 30

technology

Answer 30

physical objects or artifacts (e.g., the plow);
■ activities or processes (e.g., steelmaking);
■ knowledge or know-how (e.g., biological engineering).

Question 31

transcendatalism

Answer 31

A branch of American romanticism. It encouraged people to attempt to rise above nature and the limitations of the body to the point where the spirit dominates the flesh and a mystical and spiritual life replaces a primitive and savage one.

Question 32

virgin soil epidemics

Answer 32

the population at risk has no natural immunity or previous exposure to the disease within the lifetime of the oldest member of the group

Question 33

virtual water

Answer 33

The water embedded in the production of the food or other things we consume