Environmental Change And Management

Question 0

What is global warming?

Answer 0

‘Global warming’ refers to the increasing temperatures that the earth is currently experiencing. Naturally. The earth has gone through stages of becoming extremely hot and cold, in accordance to changes in earths orbit and thus distance from sun. However this occurs over a large time frame, whereas in the past few hundred years, earths temperature has been rapidly rising, and the popular belief is that this is thanks to the greenhouse gas effect. The earth’s atmosphere acts like a giant heater by regulating the earths temperature by trapping radiation from the sun with natural gases, like carbon, water molecules, nitrogen, oxygen and more. However thanks to the recent hike in carbon being released in the atmosphere as a result of human activities like burning fossils fuels, and burning large sections of forests, which releases mass amounts of carbon back into the atmosphere, unbalancing the carbon cycle, and making the greenhouse effect stronger, hearing up the earth, and as a result we have global warming.

Question 1

What is the carbon cycle?

Answer 1

The movement of carbon, in its many forms, between the biosphere, atmosphere, oceans and geosphere. Carbon is important in the process of photosynthesis in plants, that results in plants soaking up carbon and releasing oxygen, for humans to breathe. The cycle is balanced with different events and and life forms storing, using, releasing and converting carbon.

Question 2

What is a ‘sink function’

Answer 2

The safe absorption of wastes and pollution caused by human activities, is referred to as the earth’s sink function. Humans rely on the earth to breakdown recycle, or safely store their waste, rubbish, gas emissions form cars, fertiliser run offs, industrial wastes and effluent.

Question 3

What is a ‘source function’

Answer 3

Earth’s source function refers to the supplying of naturally made materials such as timber, fish, water, minerals, soils, fossil fuels and more. How quickly the earth can naturally replace these materials classify them into one of there categories: renewable (can quickly replace itself in a short period of time, for example, a human lifetime), non-renewable (takes longer than a human lifetime to renew itself) or perpetual or constant (are unlimited in supply such as wind and solar radiation)

Question 4

What is a ‘service function’

Answer 4

The provision of environmental or ecosystem services that support life with human action. These natural processes and cycles include; the green house effect, water cycle, carbon cycle, photosynthesis. A budget and more.

Question 5

What is a ‘spiritual function’.

Answer 5

Earths intrinsic recreational, psychological, aesthetic and spiritual valueless environments, which vary in meaning, importance and value with the beliefs and values or those who use this environment.

Question 6

What are ecological services?

Answer 6

What nature provides for humanity-biological and physical processes that occur in natural or semi-natural ecosystems and maintain the habitability and livelihood of people on the planet

Question 7

What is stewardship?

Answer 7

An ethic that embodies the responsibility humans take about caring for the land-such as responsible planning and management of resources

Question 8

What is biocapacity?

Answer 8

The amount of resources the environment can produce and the amount of waste it can absorb.

Question 9

What is the definition of sustainability?

Answer 9

The ability or capacity of something to be maintained or sustain itself.

Question 10

What is global warming?

Answer 10

A type of climate change, which is the gradual increase in the overall temperature of the earth generally attributed to the greenhouse effect.

Question 11

What is an ecological footprint?

Answer 11

The impact of a person or community on the environment, expressed as the amount of land required to sustain their use of natural resources.

Question 12

What is the definition of climate change?

Answer 12

The steady change in the earths overall climate level large periods of time (natural influxes of climate occur over time, with the earth having gone through both ice ages and warm periods)

Question 13

What is an increased greenhouse effect?

Answer 13

A term developed to show that heating of the atmosphere is moving at a rate that is above what could be expected by naturally processed change.

Question 14

In this context, what is the definition of space?

Answer 14

A continuous area or expanse which is free, available or unoccupied.

Question 15

In this context, what is the definition of place?

Answer 15

1. A particular position, point or area in a space; a location.
2. A portion of space designed or available for or being used by someone.

Question 16

What is the definition of interconnection?

Answer 16

A state of being connected or interrelated.

Question 17

What is the definition of change?

Answer 17

To make or become different, or the act or process of doing so.

Question 18

What is the definition of environment?

Answer 18

1. The surroundings or conditions in which a person, animal or plant lives and operates.
2. the natural world, as a whole or in a particular geographical area, especially as affected by human activity.

Question 19

In this context, what is the definition of scale?

Answer 19

The relative size or extent of something.

Question 20

What is a system?

Answer 20

A set of interconnected parts that operate as a whole.

Question 21

What are the systems that control the environment?

Answer 21

The atmosphere (gases), the lithosphere (the earths surface), the hydrosphere (water in all its forms), and the biosphere (all living organisms)

Question 22

Definition of biodiversity

Answer 22

The variety of life

Question 22

What is the definition of native species?

Answer 22

A species that has been established in an ecosystem for thousands of hers. Is best adaptive for its environment.

Question 22

What is the definition of introduces species?

Answer 22

A species that is brought into an ecosystem intentionally or unintentionally that are helpful or neutral to the new ecosystem.

Question 23

What is an invasive species?

Answer 23

An introduced species that is harmful tot eh ecosystem in which they are introduced to. They will often cause harm to the native species already there or to human systems.

Question 23

What is the definition of an ecosystem?

Answer 23

A community of organisms and their interactions with each other.

Question 24

What is a mandate?

Answer 24

An official order to do something.

Question 25

What is the definition of a species?

Answer 25

A group of organisms that can mate and produce fertile offspring.

Question 26

What is the definition of ‘plant’

Answer 26

A living organism of the kind exemplified by trees, shrubs, herbs, grasses, ferns and moss, typically growing in a permanent site, absorbing water and inorganic substances through its roots, and synthesising nutrients in its leaves by photosynthesis using the green pigment clorophyll.

Question 27

What is the definition of an animal?

Answer 27

A living organism which feeds on organic matter, typically having specialised sense organs and nervous systems able to respond rapidly to stimuli.

Question 28

Define the term endangered species

Answer 28

Any species which is in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range. A species whose numbers are so small that the species is at risk of extinction.Where the population of a species is dangerously low, so much that their gene pool diversity is adversely affected while there is a risk of the species being wiped out all together, usually a consequence from human gain.

Question 29

Define the term Giant Panda’s

Answer 29

A large bear-like mammal with characteristic black-and-white markings, native to certain mountain forests in China. It feeds almost entirely on bamboo and has become increasingly rare.

Question 30

Define the term ‘causes’

Answer 30

A person or thing that acts, happens, or exists in such a way that some specific thing happens as a result; the producer of an effect: You have been the cause of much anxiety. What was the cause of the accident?