Unit 4 - Definitions Flashcards
Sustainability
Meeting the needs of current and future generations through simultaneous environmental, social and economic adaption and improvement
Natural biome
Biomes that have not sustained, direct human interactions.
Anthropogenic biome
Biomes that are a result of sustained direct human interactions
Ecosystem
A community of plants and animal in a non-living environment
Climate change
A long-term change in statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods, in a specific region. Human activities being a primary cause.
Biodiversity loss
The extinction (plant or animal), and the local reduction or loss of species in a certain habitat
Urban heat island
An urban city (city or metropolitan area) that is significantly warmer than its surrounding rural areas due to human activities.
Urban Sprawl
Refers to the outward spread of typically low-density residential and urban development on the periphery of urban areas.
Heat budget
The eventual balance between heat energy reaching Earth as short-wave radiation (also known as insolation) with the amount of heat energy emitted by Earth into space as long-wave terrestrial radiation.
Carbon cycle
The continuous movement of carbon compounds between the land, oceans and atmosphere and living organisms in its various states.
Liveability
The quality of space and the built environment. The concept is linked to a range of factors such as quality of life, health, sense of safety, access to services, cost of living, comfortable living standards, mobility and transport, air quality and social participation.
Invasion
gradual invasion of one land use type into an area dominated by a different land use.
Succession
Succession has occurred when the invading land use has almost completely transformed the land use in that area.
Inertia
Resistance to movement
