Definitions Test 1

Question 1

negative feedback

Answer 1

If global climate change leads to more low-lying clouds, they would reflect some of the incoming sun- light and decrease the amount of warming

Question 2

positive feedback

Answer 2

if global climate change leads to more high, thin cirrus clouds, they would only reflect a little more solar radiation but would trap a lot more infrared radiation, inten- sifying the warming

Question 3

radiative forcing

Answer 3

The capacity of a gas to affect the balance of energy that enters and leaves Earth’s atmosphere; measured in units of power per unit area, usually watts per square meter (W/m2).

Question 4

albedo

Answer 4

The proportional reflectance of solar energy from Earth’s surface, commonly expressed as a percentage.

Question 5

stratosphere

Answer 5

• The layer of the atmosphere found directly above the troposphere
• there is a steady wind but no turbulence
• Little water is found in the stratosphere, and the temperature is more or less uniform (–45oC to – 75oC)
• commercial jets fly here
• extends from 12 km to 50 km (7.5 mi to 30 mi) above Earth’s surface
• contains a layer of ozone critical to life because it absorbs much of the sun’s damaging ultraviolet radiation
• The absorption of ultraviolet radiation by the ozone layer heats the air, and so temperature increases with increasing altitude

Question 6

troposphere

Answer 6

• the layer of the atmosphere closest to Earth’s surface
• extends to a height of approximately 12 km (7.5 mi)
• the temperature of the troposphere decreases with increasing altitude by about – 6oC (–11oF) for every kilometer
• Weather, including turbulent wind, storms, and most clouds, occurs here

Question 7

rain shadow

Answer 7

Dry conditions, often on a regional scale, that occur on the leeward side of a mountain barrier; the passage of moist air across the mountains removes most of the moisture.

Question 8

ocean conveyer belt

Answer 8

• transports heat around the globe

- delivers heat from the tropics into the northern part of the North Atlantic Ocean

Question 9

greenhouse effect

Answer 9

the natural trapping of heat in the atmosphere Because CO2 and other gases slow the loss of heat generated by the incoming solar radiation in a manner parallel to how the glass enclosure reduces energy loss in a greenhouse

Question 10

Geographic information systems (GIS)

Answer 10

computer-based maps that contain site- or area-specific information

Question 11

ecological footprint

Answer 11

an amount of productive land, fresh water, and ocean required on a continuous basis to supply that person with food, wood, energy, water, housing, clothing, transportation, and waste disposal

Question 12

renewable resources

Answer 12

• trees, fishes, fertile agricultural soil, and fresh water. Nature replaces these resources fairly rapidly (on a scale of days to decades)
• they can be used forever as long as they are not overexploited in the short term

Question 13

Nonrenewable resources

Answer 13

• minerals (such as aluminum, tin, and copper) and fossil fuels (coal, oil, and natural gas)
• present in limited supplies and are depleted by use.
• Natural processes do not replenish nonrenewable resources within a reasonable period on the human time scale

Question 14

sustainable development

Answer 14

Economic development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Question 15

ecosystem

Answer 15

• A natural system consisting of a community of organisms and its physical environment
• biological processes (such as photosynthesis) interact with physical and chemical processes to modify the composition of gases in the atmosphere, transfer energy from the sun through living organisms, recycle waste products, and respond to environmental changes with resilience

Question 16

Tragedy of the Commons

Answer 16

our inability to solve many environmental problems is the result of a struggle between short-term individual welfare and long-term environmental sustainability and societal welfare

Question 17

birth rate (b)

Answer 17

the number of births per 1000 people per year

Question 18

death rate (d)

Answer 18

the number of deaths per 1000 people per year

Question 19

natural increase

Answer 19

• also called growth rate (r)
• growth rate (r) of a population is equal to the birth rate (b) minus the death rate (d).
• g=b-d

Question 20

carrying capacity (K)

Answer 20

The maximum number of individuals of a given species that a particular environment can support for an indefinite period, assuming no changes in the environment

Question 21

Ecology

Answer 21

the branch of biology that studies the interrelationships between organisms and their environment

The study of systems that include interactions among organisms and between organisms and their abiotic environment.

Question 22

Population

Answer 22

A group of organisms of the same species that live in the same area at the same time

Question 23

community

Answer 23

A natural association that consists of all the populations of different species that live and interact within an area at the same time

Question 24

landscape

Answer 24

A region that includes several interacting ecosystems

Question 25

biome

Answer 25

A large, relatively distinct terrestrial region with similar climate, soil, plants, and animals, regardless of where it occurs in the world

Question 26

biosphere

Answer 26

The parts of Earth’s atmosphere, ocean, land surface, and soil that contain all living organisms.

Question 27

ecosystem

Answer 27

A community and its physical environment

Question 28

trophic level

Answer 28

An organism’s position in a food chain, which is determined by its feed- ing relationships.

Question 29

food web

Answer 29

A representation of the inter- locking food chains that connect all organ- isms in an ecosystem

Question 30

net primary productivity (NPP)

Answer 30

• Productivity after respiration losses are subtracted
• Energy in plant tissues after cellular respiration has occurred
• the amount of biomass found in excess of that broken down by a plant’s cellular respiration

Question 31

gross primary productivity (GPP)

Answer 31

• the rate at which energy is captured during photosynthesis. (Gross and net primary productivities are referred to as primary because plants occupy the first trophic level in food webs.)
• The total amount of photosynthetic energy that plants capture and assimilate in a given period.