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AP Env Science (Bob) > Environmental Sustainability (Chapter 1) > Flashcards

Environmental Sustainability (Chapter 1) Flashcards

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Biology 101 flashcards
1
Q

Environment

A

Everything around us including all living and non-living things with which we interact

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2
Q

Environmental Science

A

Interdisciplinary study of how humans interact with the environment of living and non-living things

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3
Q

Ecology

A

Biological science that studies how organisms interact with their environment and with each other

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4
Q

Species

A

A group of organisms, with distinctive traits, and, for sexually reproducing organisms, can mate and produce fertile offspring

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5
Q

Ecosystem

A

A set of organisms interacting with one another and with their environment of nonliving matter and energy with a defined area or volume

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6
Q

Environmentalism

A

Social movement dedicated to protecting the earth’s life-support systems for us and all other forms of life – practiced more in the political and ethical areans than in the realm of science

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7
Q

Sustainability

A

Ability of the earth’s various natrual systems and human cultural systems and economies to survive and adapt to changing environmental conditions indefinately

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8
Q

Natural Capital

A

The natural resources tath keep us and other forms of life alive and support our economies

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9
Q

Natural Resources

A

Materials and energy in nature that are essential or useful to humans

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10
Q

Natural Services

A

Functions of nature, such as purification of air and water, which support life and human economies

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11
Q

Nutrient Cycling

A

A natural service that involves the circulation of chemicals necessary for life from the environment through organisms and back to the environment

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12
Q

Solar Capital

A

Energy from the sun

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13
Q

Photosynthesis

A

Complex chemical process that plants use to provide food for themselves and for humans and most other animals

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14
Q

Major Components of Sustainability

A

Natural capital; Sustainability; Solutions; Trade-offs

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15
Q

Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

A

Annual market value of all goods and services produced by all firms and organizations, foreign and domestic, operating within a country.

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16
Q

Per Capital GDP

A

GDP divided by the total population at mid-year

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17
Q

Per Capita GDP PPP

A

Per Capita GDP adjusted by the Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) which is a mesure of the amount of goods and services that a country’s average citizen could buy

18
Q

Developed Countries

A

Countries with higher Per Capita GDP PPP and industrialization; includes United States, Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, much of Europe

19
Q

Developing Countries

A

Not Developed; includes middle-income moderately developed countries like China, India, Brazil, Turkey as well as low-income, least developed countries like Angola, Congo, Belarus, Jordan

20
Q

Resource

A

Anything obtained from the environment to meet our needs and wants

21
Q

Conservation

A

Management of natural resources with the goal of minimizing resource waste and sustaining resource supplies for current and future generations

22
Q

Renewable Resource

A

Resource that can be replenished fairly quickly through natural processes as long as it is not used up faster than it is renewed – fisheries, freshwater, fresh air, fertile soil

23
Q

Sustainable Yield

A

Highest rate that a renewable resource can be used indefinately without reducing its available supply is called its sustainable yield

24
Q

Environmental Degradation

A

Process in which the available supply of a resource begins to shrink due to exceeding the replacement rate

25
Q

Tragedy of the Commons

A

Individuals and groups use common property or open access renwable resources at a rate faster than the sustainable yield.

26
Q

Nonrenewable Resources

A

Resources that exist in a fixed quantity, or stock, in the earth’s crust and cannot be renewed on a human time scale. Examples include coal, oil, copper, aluminum, salt, sand.

27
Q

Reuse

A

Using a resource over and over again in the same form

28
Q

Recycling

A

Involves collecting waste materials and processing them into new materials

29
Q

Ecological Footprint

A

For a particular area, the amount of biologically productive land and water needed to supply the peoplewith resources and to absorb and recycle wates and pollution produced by resource use

30
Q

Culture

A

Whole of society’s knowledge, beliefs, technology, and practices, and human cultural changes

31
Q

Pollution

A

Anything the in environment that is harmful to the health, survival, or activities of humans or other organisms

32
Q

Point Sources of Pollutants

A

Single, identifiable source – smokestack of a coal-burning plant

33
Q

Biodegradeable Pollutants

A

Harmful materials that can be broken down by natural processes

34
Q

Nondegradeable Pollutants

A

Harmful materials that natural processes cannot break down. Examples include lead, mercury, arsenic

35
Q

Side Effects of Pollutants

A

Disrupt or degrade life support systems for humans and other species; damange wildlife, human health, and property; create nuisances such as noise or smells

36
Q

Poverty

A

Condition whereby people are unable to meet their basic needs for adequate food, water, shelter, health, and education

37
Q

Environmental Worldview

A

Set of assumptions and values reflecting how you think the world works and what you think your role in the world should be; includes environmental ethics

38
Q

Planetary Management Worldview

A

Worldview that holds: we are separate from nature; nature exists mainly to meet our needs and increasing wants; we can use ingenuity and technology to manage the earth’s life-support systems

39
Q

Stewardship Worldview

A

Worldview that holds we should manage the earth for our benefit but that we have a ethical responsibility to be caring and responsible managers, or stewards

40
Q

Environmental Wisdom Worldview

A

Worldview that holds we are part of and wholly dependent on nature and that nature exists for all species, not just for humans

41
Q

Scientific Principles of Sustainability

A

Reliance on Solar Energy; Biodiversity; Population Control; Nutrient Cycling

AP Env Science (Bob) (3 decks)

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