Ecology and the environment Flashcards
What is combustion?
The burning of fossil fuels releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
What is decomposition?
The digestion of dead matter releasing nutrients into the soil.
Examples of these organisms are bacteria and fungi.
What is photosynthesis?
The process by which plants use sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide to create oxygen and glucose.
The process has the equation: 6CO2 + 6H2O + (light energy) → C6H12O6 + 6O2
What is respiration?
The process by which living organisms use glucose and oxygen to release useful energy (ATP) and waste carbon dioxide and water.
The process has the equation: C6H12O6 + 6O2 → 6CO2 + 6H2O + (ATP energy)
What is eutrophication?
The increase in mineral ions (nitrate ions) in lakes and rivers, causing an algae bloom, the death of plants, lowering of oxygen concentration (anoxic), and the death of fish due to a lack of aerobic respiration.
What is an algal bloom?
An increase in the population of algae in a lake following leaching.
This leads to eutrophication.
What is leaching?
Mineral ions in fertilizers dissolve in rain water and are carried by waterways into lakes.
What is pollution?
The release of substances into the environment in amounts that cause harmful effects.
What is the Greenhouse Effect?
Short wave radiation is emitted by the sun and reflected from the surface of the Earth as long wave radiation. This long wave radiation is absorbed and reemitted by greenhouse gases, warming the Earth.
