Key term 4 Flashcards
Renewable resource
Produced by nature more rapidly than it is consumed by humans
Resource
A substance in the environment that is useful to people, is economically and technologically feasible to access, and socially acceptable to use.
Nonrenewable resource
Produced by nature more slowly than it is consumed by humans
Conservation
Sustainable management of a natural resource
Preservation
The maintenance of resources in their present condition, with as little human impact as possible
Biotic system
Composed of living organisms
Abiotic system
Composed of nonliving or inorganic matter
Atmosphere
A thin later of gases surrounding earth
Hydrosphere
All of the water on and near Earth’s surface
Lithosphere
Earth’s crust and a portion of upper mantle directly below the crust
Biosphere
All living organisms on earth, including plants and animals as well as microorgamisms
Cultural ecology
Geographic study of human-environment relationships
Environmental determinism
A ninteenth and early twentieth century approach that argued that geography was therefore the study of how the physical environment caused human activities
Possibilism
The theory that the physical environment may set limits on human actions, but people have the ability to adjust to the physical environment and choose a course of action from many alternatives
Polder
Land created by the Dutch by draining water from an area
