Flashcards (Environmental science)
vocab words
Continents
North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Oceania and Antarctica
Gross national income (GNI) per capita is US$1086 or less
Low-Income Countries(LICs)
GNI per captia is more than US$1086 but less than US$13205
Middle-income countries(MICs)
GNI per capita of more than US$13205
High-income countries (HICs)
Prevents the depletion or degradation of Earth’s natural resources, thus ensuring that the environment and the needs of future generations are protected
Sustainability
Our natural resources (water, air, soil, oil, coal, natural gas, rocks, minerals, and society
Ecosystem
Rubbish and waste being disposed into the environment
Pollution
Variety of all living things
Biodiversity
The continuous movement of water on, above, the surface of earth
Water cycle
The amount of water in a specific ecosystem
Open system
Constant amount of water on the planet
Closed system
water changing from liquid to the gaseous phase
Evaporation
Water falls back to the surface of Earth as rain, snow, hail, sleet, or fog.
Precipitation
Process in which water vapour moves through and out of a plant
Transpiration
Water changes from gas to liquid
Condensation
Precipitation being blocked from reaching the ground by plant foliage/canopy, or even leaf litter.
Interception
The process of raindrops that intercepted by plants collecting on the leaves and fall through and onto the soil below
Through-fall
when water trickles along the branches and the trunk of the tree to the ground
Stem-flow
Water from precipitation collects on the surface of the land and flows over the ground.
Run off
Water being absorbed by the soil.
Infiltration
Water flowing through the soil
Through-flow
concentration of water vapour in the air
Humidity
Water below Earth’s surface
Groundwater
Layer of gases, vapour, and dust particles
Atmosphere
Layer of the atmosphere found closest to earth’s surface (also referred as the “weather zone”)
Troposphere
above the troposphere
ozone layer
Stratosphere
above the stratosphere
ozone molecules absorb UV radiation
Mesosphere
water vapour and carbon dioxide
Variable gases
natural process that causes the warming of the earth’s surface and surrounding atmosphere
Natural green house effect
the life-supporting zone where the atmosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere meet
Biosphere
living components( plants, animals, and bacteria)
Biotic
non-living components( temperature, soil, water, salinity, etc…)
Abiotic
group of organisms where individual breed to produce offsprings
Species
group of individuals of the same species living in an ecosystem
population
the place where an organism lives
Habitat
What a particular habitat needs
ecological niche
biotic components are made up of producers and consumers
food chain
Uses light energy to carry out photosynthesis and produce their own food source
producers
only eats primary producers as their diet(herbivores)
primary consumers
eats either producers or primary consumers ( omnivores)
secondary consumers
usually eats secondary consumers ( carnivores)
tertiary consumers
organisms that breaks down organic material (fungi and bacteria)
decomposers
Resources that restrict development, growth, size, and distribution of a species within an ecosystem
(can be biotic or abiotic )
Limiting factor
measures how acidic or basic
pH
Measurement of salt in water or soils
Salinity
Organisms capture energy from the sun and convert it into stored energy
Photosynthesis
oxygen gas to produce energy from food
Aerobic respiration
Green pigment in the leaves, which absorbs light to provide energy for photosynthesis to occur
Chlorophyll
Series of process which carbon is reused in nature
Carbon cycle
release of stored carbon from fossils, oil, and coal
combustion
