Finals Flashcards
(23 cards)
Variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome or for the entire Earth
Used as a measure the health of the biological systems
Biodiversity
Defined area in which a community lives with interactions taking place among organisms between the community and its nonliving physical environment
Formed by the interactions between all living and nonliving things
Ecosystem
Large region characterized by a specific kind of climate and certain kinds of plant and animal communities
They can be freshwater, marine (saltwater), terrestrial, temperate, tropical, etc.
Biomes
Diversity of all living organisms, habitats, and ecosystems on land, in freshwater, in the ocean and in the air
UN Biodiversity convention
different habitats, niches, species interaction
Ecological and functional diversity
Each species occupies a _____ in the community
The role the species plays, and includes the type of food it eats, where it lives, where it reproduces, and its relationships with other species
Niche
Different kinds of organisms, relationships among species
Species Diversity
Different genes and combinations of genes
Genetic Diversity
How much Biodiversity?
1.7 - 2.0 million species
Estimate: 100 million
A thin envelope of gases surrounding the earth
Atmosphere
The __________ is the atmospheric layer closest to the earth’s surface extending only about 17 kilometers (11 miles) above sea level at the equator and 8 kilometers (5 miles) over the poles.
troposphere
The atmosphere’s second layer is the __________, which extends from about 17 to about 48 kilometers (from 11 to 30 miles) above the earth’s surface.
stratosphere
__________ consists of short-term changes in atmospheric variables, such as the temperature and precipitation in a given area over a period of hours or days.
Weather
__________ is determined by the average weather conditions of the earth or of a particular area, especially temperature and precipitation, over periods of at least three decades to thousands of years.
Climate
Weather: __________
Climate: __________
short term
long term
A natural process called the _______________ occurs when some of the solar energy absorbed by the earth radiates into the atmosphere as infrared radiation (heat).
greenhouse effect
The _______________ was established in _____ to document past climate changes and project future changes; its network includes more than 2,500 climate scientists and scientists in disciplines related to climate studies from more than 130 countries
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
1988
The IPCC issued a report based on more than 29,000 sets of data in _____
2007
Much of Alaska’s Muir Glacier in Glacier Bay National Park melted between _____ and _____
1948 and 2004
Data from the _______________ show that the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide rose from a level of 285 parts per million (ppm) around 1850 at the start of the Industrial Revolution, to 390 ppm in 2010, a 37% increase.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
Atmospheric warming will __________ the incidence and intensity of extreme weather events.
increase
Cut fossil fuel use (especially coal)
Shift from coal to natural gas
Improve energy efficiency
Shift to renewable energy resources
Transfer energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies to developing countries
Reduce deforestation
Use more sustainable agriculture and forestry
Put a price on
greenhouse 9as
emissions
Reduce poverty
Slow population growth
Prevention
Remove COz from smokestack and vehicle emissions
Store (sequester)
COz by planting
tree5
Sequester CO2 in soil by using no-till cultivation and taking cropland out of production
Sequester CO2
deep underground (with no leaks allowed)
Sequester COz in the deep ocean (with no leaks allowed)
Repair leaky natural
gas pipelines and
Use animal feeds that reduce CHa emissions from cows (belching)
Cleanup
