unit 1 vocab

Question 1

Affluence

Answer 1

The rapid unsustainable consumption of resources that is associated with the lifestyles of citizens in developed countries.

Question 2

Aldo Leopold

Answer 2

Known for the land ethic, stating that humans are only one member of a complex community and should not abuse nature as if it belongs to them.

Question 3

Anthropogenic

Answer 3

Manmade chemicals in the environment.

Question 4

Closed system

Answer 4

Systems that exchange energy but not matter across their boundaries. The global water cycle is one example of a closed system since no matter (water) enter or leaves the system.

Question 5

Controlled experiment

Answer 5

A test where the person conducting the test only changes one variable at a time in order to isolate the results.

Question 6

Dependent variable

Answer 6

What is measured during the experiment.

Question 7

Developed nations

Answer 7

Highly industrialized and has a high per capita GDP.

Question 8

Developing nations

Answer 8

Low to moderate industrialization and low to moderate per capita GDP. Most are located in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

Question 9

Ecological footprint

Answer 9

The amount of biologically productive land and water needed to supply a population with the renewable resources it uses and to absorb the wastes from such resource use. It is a measure of the average environmental impact of populations in different countries and areas.

Question 10

Ecosystem services

Answer 10

Natural services that support life on the earth and are essential to the quality of human life and the functioning of the world’s economies.

Question 11

Environmental ethics

Answer 11

Human beliefs about what is right or wrong with how we treat the environment.

Question 12

First law of thermodynamics

Answer 12

Also known as the law of the conservation of energy, establishes that energy cannot be created or destroyed, only converted from one form to another.

Question 13

Gross domestic product (GDP)

Answer 13

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

Question 14

Half-life

Answer 14

The time it takes for one-half of a sample to decay. (Radioactive elements)

Question 15

Heat

Answer 15

A form of energy associated with movement.

Question 16

Independent variable

Answer 16

Variable manipulated during an experiment.

Question 17

Input

Answer 17

Matter, energy, or information entering a system.

Question 18

Isolated system

Answer 18

Systems that exchange neither energy nor matter across their boundaries.

Question 19

Negative feedback loop

Answer 19

Feedback loop that causes a system to change in the opposite direction from which it is moving.

Question 20

Nonpoint source

Answer 20

A pollution source that introduces pollutants into the environment over a large area rather than at a single point.

Question 21

Nonrenewable resource

Answer 21

Resources for which a fixed quantity is available for human use; they are not renewed in a viable period of time for human reuse. (coal, crude oil, copper, iron, and gold)

Question 22

Open system

Answer 22

Systems that exchange both energy and matter across their boundaries.

Question 23

Output

Answer 23

Matter, energy, or information leaving a system.

Question 24

Per capita

Answer 24

By or for each person.

Question 25

pH

Answer 25

Numeric value that indicates the relative acidity or alkalinity of a substance on a scale of 0 to 14, with the neutral point at 7. (Acid = lower than 7, Base = greater than 7)

Question 26

Point source

Answer 26

Single identifiable source that discharges pollutants into the environment.

Question 27

Positive feedback loop

Answer 27

When the initial change to a component of the system is amplified by the series of changes within the feedback loop.

Question 28

Poverty

Answer 28

Inability of people to meet their basic needs for food, clothing, and shelter.

Question 29

Power

Answer 29

The rate at which energy is used.

Question 30

Renewable resource

Answer 30

Resource that can be replenished rapidly through natural processes as long as it is not used up faster than it is replaced.

Question 31

Second law of thermodynamics

Answer 31

States that in all energy conservations, some low-quality heat (waste heat) must always be produced.

Question 32

Sustainability

Answer 32

The practice of using a resource at a rate that is less than or equal to the rate at which it is naturally replenished.

Question 33

Tragedy of the commons

Answer 33

Depletion or degradation of a potentially renewable resource to which people have free and unmanaged access.