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ENSP 2000 > Exam 1 > Flashcards

Exam 1 Flashcards

1
Q

Environmental Science

A

The study of the interactions between the biological, chemical, and physical components of the environment

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2
Q

Sustainability

A

The ability to carry out an activity indefinitely into the future

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3
Q

Developed Countries

A

A country with a highly developed economy. Developed countries are typically members of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development

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4
Q

Developing Countries

A

A country that is not a member of the Organization for Economic Co=operation and Development

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5
Q

Sustainable Development

A

The ability to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs

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6
Q

Renewable Resources

A

A naturally occurring resource that is replenished on a human timescale

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7
Q

Nonrenewable Resources

A

A natural material that is available on the planet only in fixed amounts or that cannot be regenerated on a human timescale

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8
Q

Scarcity

A

The inability to satisfy all human needs or wants

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9
Q

Economics

A

The social science that studies the decisions that govern the distribution of scarce resources, the incentive structures that influence these decisions, and the societal rules or arrangements that influence the allocation of resources

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10
Q

Microeconomics

A

The study of how individuals and businesses make decisions and allocate scarce resources

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11
Q

Macroeconomics

A

The study of the effects of individual and governmental decisions on the function of the national and global economy

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12
Q

Economic System

A

The collection of all human interactions involving the exchange of goods and services

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13
Q

Market

A

A place where buyers and sellers willingly come together to exchange goods or services

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14
Q

Natural Resources

A

Materials or physical/ biological systems that occur in nature and can be used in the production of goods and services

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15
Q

Labor

A

The time and effort that people apply to the production

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16
Q

Captial

A

The tools, infrastructure, and other built resources that can be used in the creation of goods and services

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17
Q

Recoverable Reserves

A

Nonrenewable resource deposits that are measured. legally extractable, and cost effective to produce

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18
Q

Discounting

A

An economic technique used to estimate the present value of an asset based on the future value determined from standard interest rates

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19
Q

Policy

A

Principle, rule, or set of guidelines chosen to guide decisions under specific circumstances

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20
Q

Environmental Policy

A

The principles, rules, and guidelines focused on humans’ relationship with the environment

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21
Q

Decision Process Framework

A

A formal approach to decision making that provides a specific set of guidelines to obtain and evaluate input from stakeholders

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22
Q

Stakeholders

A

The people and institutions that may be affected by a decision

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23
Q

Risk

A

A measure of the probability and severity of some adverse effects on the biological or physical components of the environment

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24
Q

Scientific Method

A

A process by which scientists construct an accurate and objective representation of natural phenomenon

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25
Q

Hypothesis

A

A testable explanation of physical phenomena

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26
Q

Scientific Theory

A

An explanation for an aspect of the natural world that has been extensively tested and supported under a wide range of conditions by a large number of scientists

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27
Q

Observations

A

A careful measurement of some aspect of the natural world

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28
Q

Experiments

A

A controlled study involving a deliberate change in some factor in a physical or biological system and the measurement of responses

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29
Q

Statistics

A

A field of mathematics focused on the analysis and interpretation of data

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30
Q

Model

A

In environmental science, a conceptual or quantitative representation of a set of processes that occur in nature

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31
Q

Peer Review

A

The process of examination of scientific work by external expert evaluators

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32
Q

Pseudoscience

A

Claims that are presented using scientific language but that lack the rigorous testing and evaluation associated with true science

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33
Q

Emergent Property

A

A response that arises from the behavior of a complex system as a whole rather than from a predictable combination of individual pieces.

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34
Q

Positive Feedback Loop

A

A cycle that occurs when a part of a system responds to a change in a way that accelerates or amplifies the change

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35
Q

Negative Feedback Loop

A

A cycle that occurs when a part of a system responds to a change in a way that slows the change

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36
Q

Scientific Uncertainty

A

The lack of certainty in the outcome of a specific process or set of processes

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37
Q

Probability

A

A measure of the statistical likelihood that something will occur

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38
Q

Externalities

A

Actions by producers or consumers that affect others but that are not accounted for in the market price of a good service

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39
Q

Market Failure

A

When a market, left alone, does not achieve an efficient allocation of resources

40
Q

Common Pool Resource

A

A natural or human-made resource for which one person’s use decreases its availability to other people, and for which preventing someone from using it is difficult or costly

41
Q

Environmental Economics

A

The study of how environmental problems emerge from economic activity and how best to address those problems

42
Q

Economic Valuation

A

The process of making decisions about how much to pay for different items

43
Q

Direct Use Value

A

The direct monetary value of resource use

44
Q

Indirect Use Value

A

A measurement of the indirect impacts of a resource

45
Q

Option Value

A

The potential future benefit and economic value of a resource

46
Q

Existence Value

A

A valuation of something that is not directly used for human benefit

47
Q

Cost-benefit Analysis

A

A technique used to estimate all the economic costs and benefits of an activity or proposed action

48
Q

Gross Domestic Product

A

The value of all the goods and services produced in a country over a specific time period

49
Q

Instrumental Value

A

A value assigned to objects and organisms that are useful to humans for some specific purpose

50
Q

Intrinsic Value

A

A moral value of objects and organisms independent of their utility to humans

51
Q

Intergenerational Equity

A

The idea that future generations of humans have intrinsic moral value

52
Q

Anthropocentrism

A

The notion that only humans have intrinsic value

53
Q

Biocentrism

A

The idea that other living organisms have an intrinsic value equivalent to that of humans

54
Q

Ecocentrism

A

The idea that ecosystems have intrinsic value

55
Q

Consequential Ethics

A

An ethical perspective based on evaluation of the outcome of an action

56
Q

Utilitarianism

A

An ethical perspective that justifies actions or decisions based on an evaluation of what will provide the greatest good to the greatest number of people

57
Q

Deontological Ethics

A

An ethical perspective that focuses on the rightness or wrongness of an action based on rules and duties

58
Q

Virtue Ethics

A

An ethical perspective that defines ethical decisions or actions as those that are motivated by virtues

59
Q

Administrative Law

A

The form of law that governs the actions of the various agencies of the government and the entities that operate under these agencies

60
Q

Criminal Law

A

The form of law that addresses individual activities that cause harm to other individuals and break specific laws passed by federal or state governments

61
Q

Civil Law

A

The form of law that governs the relationships between individuals and between individuals and private institutions

62
Q

Free Market

A

A system by which buyers and sellers exchange goods or services and in which prices and wages are determined through competition among private businesses

63
Q

Cap and Trade

A

A two-stage approach to environmental policy in which the government sets a limit on the amount of pollutant that can be emitted in a region and then creates a marketplace in which emissions can be bought or sold

64
Q

Legislative Branch

A

The branch of the US government responsible for making laws, regulating interstate and foreign commerce, developing taxing and spending policies, and declaring war

65
Q

Executive Branch

A

The branch of the US government led by the president and responsible for enforcing federal laws, commanding the US military, negotiating foreign treaties, and designating new national parks and monuments

66
Q

Judicial Branch

A

The branch of the US government responsible for determining the constitutionality of laws and ruling on cases involving the laws of US treaties, disputes between states, and a handful of other issues

67
Q

National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA)

A

A federal law that mandates that all decisions regarding projects involving the expenditure of federal funds or permits issued by a federal agency are made with full consideration of the impact to the natural environment

68
Q

Environmental Assessment

A

A process used by a federal agency to determine whether an activity is likely to have significant environmental impacts

69
Q

Environmental Impact Statement

A

A document that provides a detailed analysis of the environmental impacts of a proposed action, alternative approaches that could reduce impacts, and the implications of taking no action at all

70
Q

Clean Air Act

A

A federal law that sets limits on the maximum allowable levels of atmospheric pollutants

71
Q

Clean Water Act

A

A federal law that sets limits on the maximum allowable contaminant levels for freshwater bodies such as rivers and lakes

72
Q

Endangered Species Act

A

A federal law that focuses on the conservation of plants and animals at risk of extinction and the preservation of their habitat

73
Q

Lobbying

A

The process in which special interests, including corporations, attempt to influence the decisions of a public official or politician

74
Q

Nongovernmental Organization

A

A nonprofit, voluntary citizens’ group that is involved in the development of national and international policies

75
Q

Treaty

A

A formal agreement between two or more countries

76
Q

Antarctic Treaty

A

An international agreement that designates that Antarctic shall only be used for peaceful purposes and provides open access to it for scientific research

77
Q

Montreal Protocol

A

An international treaty that establishes a process to end the use of chemical compounds responsible for the destruction of stratospheric ozone

78
Q

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species

A

An international treaty governing the worldwide trade in endangered and threatened species

79
Q

Kyoto Protocol

A

An international agreement to reduce the emission of gases responsible for human-caused climate change

80
Q

Paris Agreement

A

An international agreement signed in 2016 that commits countries to reducing greenhouse gas emissions in order to limit climate warming to 2 degrees C

81
Q

Traditional Biomass Fuels

A

Fuel that is derived from living or recently living plants or from animal waste

82
Q

Fossil Fuel

A

Fuel that comes from the remains of ancient plants, plankton, or algae that have been compressed and heated under layers of sediments accumulating over millions of years

83
Q

Energy Density

A

The amount of energy in a volume or mass of fuel

84
Q

Energy Quality

A

The ability of a unit of fuel to do useful work

85
Q

Primary Energy Sources

A

A raw fuel used to generate energy

86
Q

Secondary Energy Sources

A

Energy that has been converted from one form to another for use by humans

87
Q

Energy Intensity

A

The amount of energy used to produce a specific quantity of goods and services

88
Q

Path Dependency

A

A concept that explains how a range of possible decisions in the present depends on choices made in the past

89
Q

Recoverable Reserves

A

Nonrenewable resources deposits that are measured, legally extractable, and cost effective to produce

90
Q

Marginal Reserves

A

Fossil fuel deposits that are known to exist but are too expensive to produce at current fossil fuel prices

91
Q

Subeconomic Resources

A

Fossil fuel deposits that are known to exist but are far too expensive to produce

92
Q

Undiscovered Resources

A

An estimate of all the fossil fuels that might exist in all locations around the world

93
Q

Conventional Oil and Gas

A

Large deposits of oil and gas that can be extracted using well-established technologies

94
Q

Unconventional Oil and Gas

A

Non-traditional deposits of oil and gas extracted with new technologies

95
Q

Carbon Sequestration

A

An experimental technology that focuses on capturing CO2 during coal combustion and trapping it under the oceans or deep underground

96
Q

Dewatering

A

A technique for extracting coalbed methane that pumps water out and creates space for the gas to flow to the well

ENSP 2000 (1 decks)

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