All 23 AP Environmental Chapters

NIMBY

"Refers to the idea that, while people may be aware of the necessity of some unpleasant realities, such as prisons, landfills, or chemical plants, they insist theses place be located away from where they live"- NOT IN MY BACK YARD

Longlining

A central fishing line plus smaller ones are strung with thousands of baited hooks extending up to 80 km. Can catch fish near the surface or near the bottom. Mainly used for tuna and swordfish.

Mutagens

A chemical or physical agent that interacts with DNA and causes a mutation.

La Nina

A climate event in the eastern Pacific Ocean in which surface waters are colder than normal

Metapopulation

A collection of populations that have regular or intermittent gene flow between geographically separate units.

Carbon monoxide

A colorless, odorless, and poisonous gas. , Sources include incomplete combustion of fossil fuels. Can bind irreversibly to hemoglobin and reduce bloods ability to carry O2. Reduction accomplished by catalytic converters, oxygenated fuel, mass transit (reduction).

Integrated Pest Management

A combination of pest control methods that, if used in the proper order and at the proper times, keep the size of a pest population low enough that it does not cause substantial economic loss. (IPM)

Dutch Elm Disease

A fungus that has seriously diminished or eliminated a very popular shade tree in Europe and North America. Transmitted by 2 species of elm bark beetles. They transfer the fungus to other trees that they borrow into.

greenhouses gases

A gas that absorbs longwave radiation and thus contributes to the greenhouse effect when present in the atmosphere; includes water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxides, and ozone.

Estuaries

A general term for intermediate, brackish, and salt water marshes; found where ocean water mixes with fresh water from rivers

Starlink Corn

A genetically manufactured crop that was only approved for animals but was detected in Taco Bell shells.

subduction

A geological process in which one edge of a crustal plate is forced sideways and downward into the mantle below another plate

Kelp

A giant brown alga, up to 100 meters long, that forms extensive undersea forests on continental shelves. Are a keystone species in the ocean.

Bureau of Land Management

A governmental agency that is part of the U.S Department of the interior. It's purpose is to administer public lands owned by the federal government. The nations single largest landowner, its inexpensive fees may encourage overgrazing.

Unconfined aquifer

A groundwater storage area located above a layer of impermeable rock. - Water in an unconfined aquifer is replaced by surface water that drains from directly above it

Population

A group of organisms of the same species in a given area

Species

A group of organisms so similar to one another that they can breed and produce fertile offspring

Organ system

A group of organs that work together in performing vital body functions.

Plowpan

A hard layer resulting from repeated plowing that resists water infiltration and root penetration

external cost

A harmful side effect of production or consumption of a product that is borne by people not directly involved in the market exchange for that product; usually not reflected in a product's price.

Nitrogen dioxide

A highly poisonous brown gas, produced by vehicle emissions, contributes to photochemical smog and acid precipitation.

ecolabeling

A labeling system that tells consumers which brands are made w/ processes that do not harm the environment.

Lake Baikal

A lake in the Russia: the deepest freshwater lake in the world. Holds up to 20% of the world's freshwater.

International Polar Year

A large international scientific program coordinating research in the Artic and Antarctica.

Caspian Sea

A large saltwater lake between Iran and Russia fed by the Volga River, world's largest inland body of water located between Europe and Asia

Sinkholes

A large surface crater caused by the collapse of an underground channel or cavern; often triggered by groundwater withdrawal

Environmental Justice

A legal strategy based on claims that racial minorities are subjected disproportionately to environmental hazards

green taxes

A levy on environmentally harmful activities and products aimed at providing a market-based incentive to correct for market failure

Deep ecology

A life-centered, philosophical, ethical, and political perspective that places the welfare of human beings on a par with other species and the conditions that nurture and sustain them.

Red list

A list of worldwide threatened species maintained by the International Union for Conservation of Nature

Sand

A loose material consisting of grains of rock or coral 0.05 to 2.0 mm in diameter

Turbine

A machine for producing power in which a wheel or rotor is made to revolve by a fast-moving flow of water, steam, gas, or air.

Asian brown cloud

A massive dark brown cloud of mostly industrial smog stretching nearly continuously across much of India, Bangladesh, industrial China, and the surrounding ocean.

Genuine Progress Indicator

A measurement of quality of life that combines economic measures with indicators of social well-being introduced in 1995 by the organization Redefining Progress. (GPI)

Secondary consumer

A member of the trophic level of an ecosystem consisting of carnivores that eat herbivores.

Living Planet Index

A metric that summarizes trends in the populations of over 1,100 species that are well enough monitored to provide reliable data. Developed by scientists at the World Wildlife Fund and the United Nations Environment Programme to give an overall idea of how natural populations are faring. Between 1970 and 2000 this index fell by roughly 30%.

Thalidomide

A mild tranquilizer that, taken early in pregnancy, can produce a variety of malformations of the limbs, eyes, ears, and heart.

landfill gas

A mix of gases that consists of roughly half methane produced by anaerobic decomposition deep inside landfills, and which can be captured and used as a source of energy.

Natural Gas

A mixture of hydrocarbon gases that occur with petroleum deposits. Fastest growing fossil fuel in terms of use.

Compost

A mixture of various decaying organic substances, as dead leaves or manure, used for fertilizing soil

magma

A molten mixture of rock-forming substances, gases, and water from the mantle

subsidy

A money payment or other form of aid that the government gives to a person or organization.

Solar Decathlon

A national event where teams of students bring materials for solar powered homes that they had designed. They then erect these homes on the National Mall in Washington D.C.

Biome

A natural community of plants and animals, its composition being largely controlled by climatic conditions. Tend to occur at similar latitudes worldwide.

Nuclear fission

A nuclear reaction in which a massive nucleus splits into smaller nuclei with the simultaneous release of energy

Biocentrism

A philosophy that ascribes relative values to actions, entities, or properties on the basis of their effects on all living things or on the integrity of the biotic realm in general.

Ecocentrism

A philosophy that considers actions in terms of their damage or benefit to the integrity of whole ecological systems, including both biotic and abiotic elements. The belief that the well-being of an individual organism is less important than the long-term well-being of a larger integrated ecological system.

Hugh Bennett

A soil scientist in the 1920s and 1930s for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He spoke about the danger of soil erosion. Became director of SCS.

Umbrella Species

A species selected for making conservation related decisions, typically because protecting these species indirectly protects the many other species that make up the ecological community of its habitat.

Keystone Species

A species that is critical to the functioning of the ecosystem in which it lives because it affects the survival and abundance of many other species in its community

Ecosystem

A specific biological community and its physical environment interacting in an exchange of matter and energy.

Catalytic Convertor

A stainless steel pollution-control device shaped like a muffler and located under the frame of a vehicle; converts poisonous gases from the vehicle's exhaust into less harmful substances.

Dynamic equilibrium

A state of balance in which opposing processes occur at the same rate

Inbreeding depression

A state that occurs in a population when genetically similar parents mate and produce weak or defective offspring as a result

risk management

A strategy developed to reduce or control the chance of harm or loss to one's health or life; the process of identifying, evaluating, selecting and implementing actions to reduce risk to human health and to ecosystems

Corridors

A strip of natural habitat that connects two adjacent nature preserves to allow migration of organisms from one place to another

Greenways

A strip of parkland that connects parks or neighborhoods; often located along rivers, streams. or canals. Helps protect water quality, boost property value, and serve as corridors for the movement of birds and wildlife.

Dam

A structure built across a river or stream that restricts the flow of water traveling downstream.

Nucleoside

A structure composed of a ribose molecule linked to one of the aromatic bases. In a deoxynucleoside, the ribose is replaced with deoxyribose.

Coral Reef

A structure of calcite skeletons built up by coral animals in warm, shallow ocean water. They are found in the coastal zones of warm tropical and subtropical oceans. Protect shorelines by absorbing energy.

Terminator Seeds

Genetically modified seeds that produce plants which kill their own seeds. This results in farmers having to purchase seeds on a yearly basis, rather than saving the seeds created by the plants they harvest.

GIS

Geographic Information Systems, collection and display of data in an interactive and collaborative way to help organize for scientists to analyze and notice trends.

Fritz Haber

German Chemist. He won the 1918 Nobel Prize in chemistry for the development of the process used for synthesizing ammonia from its elements.

Mount Pinatubo

Part of a chain of composite volcanoes on the west coast of Luzon, Philippines; in June 1991, it erupted for 9 hours; vented sulfuric dioxide into the atmosphere. Cooled global temperatures by 0.5 degrees celsius.

Photochemical Smog

The brown haze that develops in sunny cities. it is formed by the action of sunlight on pollutants such as hydrocarbons and nurtogen oxides. these chemicals react to form a brownish muzture of ozone and other pollutants.

Eutrophication

The buildup over time of nutrients in freshwater lakes and ponds that leads to an increase in the growth of algae, usually due to an excess of nitrogen or phosphate.

Biopower

The burning of biomass energy sources to generate electricity.

Incineration

The burning of solid waste can reduce volume of waste rby 90% and waste heat can be used for other purposes. However it may have toxic emissions (polyvinyl chloride, dioxin), scrubbers and electrostatic precipitators needed, ash disposal.

Cation exchange capacity

The capacity of a soil for ion exchange of cations between the soil and the soil solution. CEC is used as a measure of fertility, nutrient retention capacity, and the capacity to protect groundwater from cation contamination

Core

The central part of Earth below the mantle

Pyrolysis

The chemical decomposition of a compound into one or more other substances by heat alone to produce liquid petroleum(Think Oil Shalt). Often precedes combustion.

Subtidal Zone

The coastal life zone that remains underwater and includes the area of heavy wave impacct and the sandy area beyond that

Genome

The complete instructions for making an organism, consisting of all the genetic material in that organism's chromosomes

Sustainability

The concept of using the earth's resources in such they provide for people's needs in the present without diminishing ability to provide for future generations.

Competitive exclusion

The concept that when populations of two similar species compete for the same limited resources, one population will use the resources more efficiently and have a reproductive advantage that will eventually lead to the elimination of the other population.

Weather

The condition of Earth's atmosphere at a particular time and place.

Biophilia

The connections that human beings subconsciously seek with the rest of life

Air pollution

The contamination of the atmosphere by the introduction of pollutants from human and natural sources

Nutrient cycle

The cyclic movement of a nutrient between organisms and the physical environment.

Weathering

The decomposition and disintegration of rocks and minerals at the earth's surface by a mechanical and chemical process into smaller particles.

NADW

The deep portion of the Thermohaline circulation, consisting of dense, cool water that sinks; interrupting it could trigger rapid climate change.

Mariana Trench

The deepest part of the world's oceans, and the deepest location on the surface of the Earth's crust. It has a maximum depth of about 10.9 km

toxicity

The degree of producing adverse bodily effects due to poisonous qualities

Acidic Deposition

The deposition of acid, or acid-forming pollutants, from the atmosphere onto Earth's surface, can cause respiratory disease, decrease atmosphere visibility, deplete soil, harm crops, seen mostly in high power generating areas.

Extirpation

The disappearance of a particular population from a given area, but not the entire species globally

Uniform distribution

The distribution characteristic of a population with a relatively regular spacing of individuals, commonly as a result of territorial behavior

Resource partitioning

The division of environmental resources by coexisting species such that the niche of each species differs by one or more significant factors from the niches of all coexisting species. Can lead to character displacement

Legislative Branch

The division of the government that proposes bills and passes them into laws

Biomass

The dry weight of tissue and other organic matter found in a specific ecosystem

Transpiration

The emission of water vapor from the leaves of plants

Tidal Energy

The energy captured by transforming the wave motion of water into electrical energy using a turbine

Solar output

The energy output from the Sun, as Earth's primary energy source. Changes in an 11 year sunspot cycle.

Solar Energy

The energy received by Earth from the sun in the form of radiation

Utilitarianism

The ethical doctrine and idea that the goal of society should be "the greatest happiness for the greatest number" of its citizens. Proposed by Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill.

Coevolution

The evolution of two or more species that is due to mutual influence, often in a way that makes the relationship more mutually beneficial

Coral bleaching

The extended exposure to unusually high water temps and pollution in coral reefs then corals eject the zooxanthellae which causes loss of color and eventually leads to the death of a coral reef.

Overshoot

The extent to which a population exceeds the carrying capacity of its environment, Wackernagel and Rees estimated that it is at 30%.

Relative abundance

The extent to which numbers of individuals of different species are equal or skewed.

Mass extinction events

The extinction of a large proportion of the worlds species in a very short time period due to some extreme and rapid change or catastrophic event. There has been five of these in the bast half billion years.

precipitation

The falling to earth of any form of water (rain or snow or hail or sleet or mist)

Bagasse

The fibrous matter that remains once sugarcane has been crushed. Converted into ethanol.

Clay

The finest soil, made up of particles that are less than 0.002 mm in diameter.

pre-industrial stage

The first stage of the demographic transition model, characterized by conditions that defined most of human history, birth & death rates high, population grows slowly, infant mortality high.

Topsoil

The first true layer of soil; layer in which organic material is mixed with mineral particles.

Waste stream

The flow of solid waste that is recycled, incinerated, placed in a solid waste landfill, or disposed of in another way

Recombination

The formation of new combinations of the different alleles of each gene on a chromosome; the result of crossing over.

post-industrial stage

The fourth and final stage of the demographic transition model, in which both birth and death rates have fallen to a low level and remain stable there, and populations may even decline slightly

Fundamental niche

The full potential range of the physical, chemical, and biological factors a species can use if there is no competition from other species.

Niche

The full range of physical and biological conditions in which an organism lives and the way in which the organism uses those conditions

Latitudinal gradient

The general increase in species richness or biodiversity that occurs from the poles to the tropics. May be caused by greater amounts of heat, energy, and humidity at the equator.

Paradigm

The generally accepted perspective of a particular discipline at a given time.

Evolution

The genetic changes in populations of organisms through generations by means of natural selection.

Continental rise

The gently sloping section of the continental margin located between the continental slope and the abyssal plain

Succession

The gradual and orderly process of change in an ecosystem brought about by the progressive replacement of one community by another until a stable climax is established.

Genetic drift

The gradual changes in gene frequencies in a population due to random events

Net Economic Welfare

The gross national product adjusted by subtracting the "bars" such as pollution and by adding the value of beneficial, nonmarket activities such as leisure. (NEW).

Net Primary Production

The gross primary production of an ecosystem minus the energy used by the producers for respiration

net primary productivity

The gross primary productivity minus the energy used by the producers for cellular respiration; represents the storage of chemical energy in an ecosystem available to consumers.

nacelle

The housing on top of a wind turbine that contains the generator and other equipment

Law of conservation of matter

The idea that matter is neither created nor destroyed in only changes form

Heterotrophic hypothesis

The idea that the first living things were heterotrophs and fed on organic molecules in the primitive seas(Primordial Soup Theory)

externality

The impact of one person's actions on the well-being of a bystander

Primary extraction

The initial drilling and pumping of available oil, removes about 30% of oil.

Conservation Biology

The integrated study of ecology, evolutionary biology, physiology, molecular biology, and genetics to sustain biological diversity at all levels.

Carrying capacity

The largest number of individuals of a population that a given environment can support at a given time.

Law of conservation of energy

The law that states that energy cannot be created or destroyed but can be changed from one form to another

Mantle

The layer of hot, solid material between Earth's crust and core

Mesosphere

The layer of the atmosphere between the stratosphere and the thermosphere and in which temperature decreases as altitude increases. Pressure is extremely low.

Fuel rods

The pellets of uranium or other fissionable material that are placed in tubes, which, together with the control rods, form the core of the nuclear reactor

Relative Humidity

The percentage of water vapor in the air compared to the maximum amount of water vapor that air can contain at a particular temperature

John Muir

The pioneer of the preservation ethic and originator of modern conservation movement.. He founded the Sierra Club in 1892. Main reason Yosemite became a national park. Fought unsuccessfully to prevent the damming of the Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National Park.

Habitat

The place or set of environmental conditions in which a particular organism lives.

Peak oil

The point at which half the oil supply is used up and extraction/use begins to decline; World has either already reached or will very soon reach this point (depending on use of lower or upper estimates)

permit trading

The practice of buying and selling government-issued marketable emissions permits to conduct environmentally harmful activities

Captive breeding

The practice of capturing members of threatened and endangered species so that their young can be bred and raised in controlled environments and subsequently reintroduced into the wild

Energy conservation

The practice of finding ways to use less energy or to use energy more efficiently.

Agriculture

The practice of raising of raising crops and livestock for human use and consumption.

Crop Rotation

The practice of rotating use of different fields from crop to crop each year, to avoid exhausting the soil.

Equilibrium theory of island biogeography

The theory that the biodiversity on islands is governed by rates of colonization and extinction, which in turn are controlled by island isolation and island size

industrial stage

The third stage of the demographic transition model, characterized by falling birth rates that close the gap with falling death rates and reduce the rate of population growth

Half life

The time required for one half of the atoms of a radioisotope to emit radiation an decay products

Gross Primary Production

The total amount of energy fixed by all the autotrophs in an ecosystem

mass number

The total number of protons and neutrons in the nucleus of an atom

Reserves to production ratio

The total remaining reserves of a fossil fuel divided by the annual rate of production (extraction and processing)

Nitrogen Cycle

The transfer of nitrogen from the atmosphere to the soil, to living organisms, and back to the atmosphere

Ecotone

The transition from one type of habitat or ecosystem to another, such as the transition from a forest to a grassland.

Wave Energy

The transport of energy by ocean surface waves, and the capture of that energy to do useful work.

Globalization

The trend toward increased cultural and economic connectedness between people, businesses, and organizations throughout the world. Has made sustainable practices within the United States harder to maintain but may spread these values to developing nations.

Response

The type or magnitude of negative effects the animal exhibits as a result of the dose.

water table

The upper surface of underground water in an aquifer; the upper boundary of the zone of saturation

Splash Zone

The uppermost area of a rocky shore that is covered by only the highest tides and usually is just dampened by the spray of crashing waves (supralittoral fringe)

Consumptive use

The use of a resource that reduces the supply (removing water from a source like a river, lake or aquifer without returning an equal amount). Examples include the intake of water by plants, humans, and other animals and the incorporation of water into the products of industrial or food processing.

Biodiversity

The variety of organisms in a given area, the genetic variation within a population, the variety of species in a community, or the variety of communities in an ecosystem

Eluviation

The washing out of fine soil components from the A horizon by downward-percolating water.

Municipal solid waste

The waste materials produced in homes, businesses, schools, and other places in a community

Hydrosphere

The watery areas of the earth, including oceans, lakes, rivers, and other bodies of water

Affluenza

The way material goods often fail to bring contentment to people affluent enough to afford them.

Atmospheric deposition

The wet or dry deposition on land of a wide variety of pollutants, including mercury, nitrates, organochlorines, and others.

Atmosphere

The whole mass of air surrounding the earth

Water mining

The withdrawal of water at a rate faster than it can be replenished, often lowering the water table so drastically that further extraction is no longer economically feasible.

Rafflesia arnoldii

The world's largest flower with a blossom 3 feet wide. Found only in Asia it looks and smells like rotting meat.

zone of saturation

The zone below the zone of aeration where all open spaces in sediment and rock are completely filled with water.

Chemoautrophic Hypothesis

Theory that first forms of life on Earth originated in deep sea vents, where sulfur was abundant.

Paper parks

These sites represent a failure of efforts to protect resources and ecosystem. "A legally established protected area where experts believe current protection activities are insufficient to halt degradation.

Survivorship curves

They show the likelihood of survival at different ages throughout the lifetime of the organism. Type 1 (high probability of death at old age - humans, elephants). Type 2 ( straight equal probability of death at all age - birds). Type 3( high probability of death at young age -Toads)

Cuyahoga River

This Ohio river was so polluted that in 1959 and again in 1969 it caught fire and burned for several days as it flowed through Cleveland. Lead to Clean Water Act

C Horizon

This horizon lies on a base of unweathered parent material, which is often bedrock. (Below B and above R)

Ambient air pollution

This is another term used to describe outdoor air pollution

Electronic Waste

This is the fastest growing type of solid waste. Includes TV's, cell phones, computers, etc.

K-T Mass extinction

This mass extinction event was the most recent and occurred approximately 65 million years ago. Killed off 70% of all living species including dinosaurs. Proposed meteorite origin was proposed by the Alvarez scientists by comparing iridium levels.

Downwelling

This occurs when surface currents converge which makes surface water sink and transports warm water with in dissolved gas for deep water life.

Pesticide drift

This refers to the unintentional diffusion of pesticides and the potential negative effects of pesticide application.

Exploratory drilling

This takes place after a fossil fuel deposit has been identified, in order to gauge how much of the fuel exists and whether extraction will prove worthwhile. Small in circumference drilling but long in depth.

Passive solar

This type of solar involves no moving parts nor expensive equipment to buy - it involves the sun heating building materials to keep a space warm. Involves heat absorbing constructions called thermal mass

Yom Kippur War

This was a war fought by Israel and neighboring Arab nations where the Arabs launched a surprise attack. U.S. support for Israel during the war led to OPEC boycotting the U.S., creating an energy crisis.

Relativist

Those that believe ethics should vary with social context.

Universalist

Those who believe that there exists objective notions of right and wrong that hold across all cultures and situations.

Freedom to Farm Act

To assist farmers and replace the program adopted during FDR's New Deal. This 1996 Law ended the Depression-Era subsidies that were paid to farmers when prices dropped below certain levels. Law guaranteed farmers fixed annual payments. Farmers themselves could now decide what to plant. Law moved farming away from government controls and toward the free market approach.

Flavr Savr tomato

Tomatoes that were genetically engineered to produce much less of the enzyme that makes them become soft. They could be picked red and flavorful but still hard.

A Horizon

Topsoil layer(below O horizon), is a porous mixture of the partially decomposed bodies of dead plants/animals called "humus" and inorganic materials such as clay, silt, and sand. Very fertile soil that produces high crop yields.

Net Energy

Total amount of useful energy available from an energy resource or energy system over its lifetime, minus the amount of energy used (the first energy law), automatically wasted (the second energy law), and unnecessarily wasted in finding, processing, concentrating, and transporting it to users.

Neurotoxins

Toxic substances, such as lead or mercury, that specifically poison nerve cells.

Pollination

Transfer of pollen from the male reproductive structure to the female reproductive structure, may rely on animals like bees for transport.

Bt Crops

Transgenic crops that contain a gene from the bacterial species Bacillus thuringiensis that allows a natural insecticide to be produced in the crop.

Secondary Treatment

Treating wastewater biologically, by using microorganisms to decompose the suspended organic material; occurs after primary treatment. Approximately 90% clean.

Tundra

Treeless arctic or alpine biome characterized by cold, harsh winters, a short growing season, and potential for frost any month of the year; vegetation includes low-growing perennial plants, mosses and lichens

Second Growth

Trees that have sprouted and grown to partial maturity after old growth timber has been cut.

Savanna

Tropical or subtropical grassland, either treeless or with occasional clumps of trees. Most extensive in sub-Saharan Africa but also present in South America.

Mangroves

Tropical trees that grow with their roots in salt water and are important because marine life lives among their roots.

Noise pollution

Type of pollution characterized by unwanted or potentially damaging sound.

Mountaintop removal

Type of surface mining that uses explosives, massive shovels, and even larger machinery called draglines to remove the top of a mountain to expose seams of coal underneath a mountain.

Proxy indicators

Types of indirect evidence that substitute for direct shed of light on past climate.

Prokaryotes

Unicellular organisms lacking a nucleus and other membrane-bound organelles; circular DNA

Affluenza

Unsustainable addiction to overconsumption and materialism exhibited in the lifestyles of affluent consumers in the united states and other developed countries.

zone of aeration

Upper region of groundwater between the water table and the earth's surface. Pores are only partially filled with water.

Water table

Upper surface of the zone of saturation, in which all available pores in the soil and rock in the earth's crust are filled with water.

New Urbanism

Urban design originating in the US during the 1980s to work against sprawl; characterized by organized urban planning, suburban infill (filling in unused space), and are designed to be walkable.

Nuclear reactors

Use enriched uranium formed into pellets and puts into metal cylinders; control rods slow down neutrons so they collide with the Uranium, releasing heat thats heats water, which turns a turbine to generate electricity

Biocontrol

Use of one kind of organism that is a predator or parasite of a pest species in order to reduce or eliminate populations of the pest. Classical example is introduction of cactus moth in Australia(Pg.270)

Nonconsumptive use

Use of water for such purposes as washing and rinsing, wherein the water, albeit polluted, remains available for further uses. Such water may be recycled infinitely.

Industrialized Agriculture

Using large inputs of energy from fossil fuels (especially oil and natural gas), water, fertilizer, and pesticides to produce large quantities of crops and livestock for domestic and foreign sale.

Epidemiological Studies

A study that involves large-scale comparisons among groups of people, usually contrasting a group known to have been exposed to some toxicant and a group that has not. Need to be conducted over many years.

Kerogen

A substance derived from deeply buried organic matter that acts as a precursor or source material for both natural gas and crude oil.

compound

A substance formed by chemical union of two or more elements or ingredients in definite proportion by weight

contingent valuation

A survey-based economic technique for the valuation of non-market resources, typically ecosystems and environmental areas and services. It involves directly asking people, in a survey, how much they would be willing to pay for specific environmental services.

Waste to energy

A system in which heat generated by incineration is used as an energy source rather than released into the atmosphere

Baghouse

A system of large filters that physically removes particulate matter from incinerator emissions

Wetlands

A system that combines elements of both fresh water an dry land which are enormously rich and productive. Includes freshwater marshes and swamps

Genera

A taxonomic group containing one or more species.

Homeostasis

A tendency to maintain a balanced or constant internal state.

Environmental resistance

All the limiting factors that tend to reduce population growth rates and set the maximum allowable population size or carrying capacity of an ecosystem

Environment

All the living and nonliving things around us with which we interact.

Biosphere

All the parts of the planet that are inhabited by living things; sum of all earth's ecosystems

Artesian aquifer

Also called a confined aquifer, a water-bearing, porous layer of rock, sand, or gravel that is trapped between an upper and lower layer of less permeable substrate, such as clay. the water in a confined aquifer is under pressure because it is trapped between two impermeable layers

Phylogenetic trees

Also called cladograms, a treelike diagram that represents the history of divergence of species or other taxonomic groups of organisms

Swidden Agriculture

Also called slash and burn agriculture, it is a form of cultivation in which forrested or brushy plots are cleared of vegetation burned then planted to crops only to be abandoned a few years later when soil fertility declines. Prevalent in rain forests.

B Horizon

Also called, "subsoil" (right below the E Horizon) and usually consists of clay and other particles washed down from the topsoil layer(A Horizon).

Population dispersion

Also known as distribution, the way in which individuals of a population are spread in an area or volume; the three types are clumped, uniform, and random

Edwin Drake

American oil driller, popularly credited with being the first to drill for oil in the United States.

Convention on Biological Diversity

An 1992 international treaty that aims to conserve biodiversity, use biodiversity in a sustainable manner, and ensure the fair distribution of biodiversity's benefits.

Center pivot irrigation

An irrigation system comsisting of a spray arm several hundred meters long supported by wheels pivoting around a central well from which water is pumped.

Radon

An odorless, tasteless naturally occurring gas found in certain types of soil and rock that can cause lung cancer if present in large quantities.

Ecosystem engineers

An organism that causes changes in the physical environment sufficient to influence the structure of landscapes, ecosystems, or communities.

Heterotroph

An organism that obtains organic food molecules by eating other organisms or their by-products.

Parasitiods

An organism that spends a significant portion of its life attached to or within a single host...ultimately kills host

Environmental economists

Believe that economies are unsustainable if population growth is not reduced and resource use is not made more efficient but believe that steady-state economics are not required.

Lipids

Biochemicals that do not dissolve in water (fats, oils, and waxes) make up cell membranes, store energy

Biodiversity

Biological diversity; the sum total of the variety of organisms in the biosphere, has been in decline.

Temperate Grasslands

Biome covering huge areas with low annual rainfall or uneven seasonal rainfall, not good for forests. Grazing animals. Also known as steppes or prairies.

Fredrick Clements

Botanist who attempted to understand community structure and the first to write about succession. He claimed communities developed and grew mature like a living organism.

Habitat heterogeneity

Describing a habitat or community that has a complex physiognomy or structure, including in the distribution, density, and relative heights of plants within it.

Biosphere Reserves

Designated by the UN, these are regions intended to maintain biodiversity and evaluate techniques for sustainable human development while maintaining local cultural values.

Fredrick Olmsted

Designed Central Park in New York City, and Prospect Park. First person to use the term Landscape Architect as a profession, , leader of the "City Beautiful" movement".

Overgrazing

Destruction of vegetation when too many grazing animals feed too long and exceed the carrying capacity of a rangeland or pasture area.

Scrubbers

Desulfurization systems that are used in smokestacks to decrease the amount of sulfur released in the air by 90% or more.

risk assessment

Determining the damage that would result from an attack and the likelihood that the vulnerability is a risk to the organization.

Ecological Footprint

Developed by Mathis Wackernagel and William Rees, it expresses the environmental impact of an individual or population in terms of biologically productive land(in terms of surface area) and water.

Sparse street network

Development in which roads are far enough apart to remain undeveloped but not far enough apart to function.

Leapfrog development

Development that occurs well beyond the limits of the current urbanized area, usually to take advantage of less expensive land

Photovoltaic cells

Devices that capture the energy from light and convert it into electricity. Ex: some calculators, the sun.

Overnutrition

Diet so high in calories, saturated (animal) fats, salt, sugar, and processed foods and so low in vegetables and fruits that the consumer runs high risks of diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, and other health hazards.

Extinction

Disappearance of a species from all parts of its geographical range

Taxonomy

Discipline of classifying organisms and assigning each organism a universally accepted name

Oil Shale

Fine-grained rock containing various amounts of kerogen, a solid, waxy mixture of hydrocarbon compounds. Heating the rock to high temperatures converts the kerogen into a vapor that can be condensed to form a slow-flowing heavy oil.

Gifford Pinchot

First chief of the US Forest Service under Teddy Roosevelt.; advocated managing resources for multiple use using principles of sustainable yield, founder of conservation ethic.

Pioneer Species

First species to populate an area during primary succession. Usually lichen.

Primary Treatment

First step of sewage treatment; eliminates most particulate material from raw sewage through mainly physical methods using grates, screens, and gravity (settling).

Disruptive selection

Form of natural selection in which a single curve splits into two; occurs when individuals at the upper and lower ends of a distribution curve have higher fitness than individuals near the middle

Directional selection

Form of natural selection in which the entire curve moves; occurs when individuals at one end of a distribution curve have higher fitness than individuals in the middle or at the other end of the curve

Stabilizing selection

Form of natural selection in which the entire curves area begins to form in the middle. Favors intermediate types of the species.

Command and control

Forms of regulation that depend on government laws and agencies to enforce rules, including such things as regulated limits on pollution or fuel efficiency standards; contrasts with market-based or incentive-based approaches.

cold front

Forms when cold air moves under warm air which is less dense and pushes air up (produces thunderstorms heavy rain or snow).

Coal

Fossil fuel consisting of carbonized vegetable matter deposited in the Carboniferous period, the most abundant fossil fuel. 25% in the United States.

Macromolecules

Four main classes of large biological molecules (carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, nucleic acids) are called this because of their large size.

FCCC

Framework convention on climate change, Outlined a plan for reducing freenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by the year 2000 throiugh a voluntary, nation-by-nation approach.

Green manure

Freshly cut or still-growing green vegetation that is plowed into the soil to increase the organic matter and humus available to support crop growth.

Biofuels

Fuels, such as ethanol or methanol, that are created from the fermentation of plants or plant products.

Solar panels

Generally consisting of dark-coloured, heat-absorbing metal plates mounted in flat boxes covered with glass panes, often installed on rooftops to harness solar energy.

Bottleneck effect

Genetic drift resulting from the reduction of a population, typically by a natural disaster, such that the surviving population is no longer genetically representative of the original population.

Golden Rice

Genetically modified rice that produces edible beta-carotene, which the body can turn into vitamin A.

Target size effect

More species tend to colonize colonize larger islands (more food/resources, more habitat area for different characteristics).

Thermohaline Circulation

Movement of ocean water caused by density difference brought about by variations in temperature and salinity. As ocean water freezes at the poles it concentrates salt, and the colder, denser water sinks.

Conservation concession

Nations get money in exchange for not using/selling the resources associated with biodiversity hotspots like tropical rain forests.

Renewable natural resources

Natural resources that are replenished over short periods.

ecosystem services

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

greenhouse effect

Natural situation in which heat is retained in Earth's atmosphere by carbon dioxide, methane, water vapor, and other gases

Driftnets

Nets that drift free in the water and indiscriminately catch everything in their path, used for schools of herring, sardines, mackerel.

Food Web

Network of complex interactions formed by the feeding relationships among the various organisms in an ecosystem (Just look at Pg.151)

Control Rods

Neutron-absorbing material inserted into spaces between fuel assemblies in nuclear reactors to regulate fission reactions.

Emergent properties

New properties that arise with each step upward in the hierarchy of life, owing to the arrangement and interactions of parts as complexity increases.

Food Security Act

Nicknamed the Swampbuster; Discouraged conversion of wetlands to nonwetlands; 1990 federal legislation denied federal farm supplements to those who converted wetlands to agriculture; provided restoration of benefits to those who unknowingly converted lands-->wetlands

Land Trusts

Nonprofit organizations that are dedicated to conserving land for the protection of biodiversity and ecosystem services

Doomsday vault

North of Norway and near the North Pole, a tunnel carved into a mountain that will contain numerous seed varieties of crops and plants that are predicted for possible extinction.

Breeder Reactors

Nuclear fission reactors that produce more nuclear fuel than they consume by converting nonfissionable uranium into fissionable plutonium. Most are out of commission.

closed cycle approach

OTEC approach where warm surface water evaporates chemicals which spin turbines and generate electricity.

Open cycle approach

OTEC approach where warm surface water is evaporated in a vacuum and its steam turns turbines.

Harmful algal blooms

Occurs when a unicellular species experiences rapid pop. growth and reaches high densities in an aquatic environment. Due to photosynthetic protists called Dinoflagellates.

feedback loop

Occurs when an output of matter, energy, or information is fed back into the system as an input and leads to changes in that system.

Thermal Inversion

Occurs when weather conditions trap a layer of cool, dense air under a warm air layer. This has been the cause of major air pollution disasters. Example is the 1952 "Killer Smog" disaster in London.

OTEC

Ocean thermal energy conversion uses the difference between cooler deep and warmer shallow or surface ocean waters to run a heat engine and produce useful work , usually in the form of electricity.

One Child Policy

Official policy launched by China in 1979 to induce married couples to have only one child in an effort to control population growth, some exceptions.

Passenger pigeon

Once most abundant bird in N. America; more than all other N.A. birds combined. Last flock destroyed in 1896; last one died in 1914 in a Cincinnati Zoo. Humans killed species in just 50 years

Cassandra

One who predicts disasters or negative results; the predictions are often disregarded

Yucca mountain

Only candidate for permanent underground storage site for 70,000 tons of high-level radioactive wastes from commercially operated power plants

Plastics

Organic compounds produced by polymerization, that can be molded, cast into shapes or drawn into fibers.

Autotroph

Organism that can capture energy from sunlight or chemicals and use it to produce its own food from inorganic compounds; also called a producer

Detritivores

Organisms that feed on the detritus and decomposing organic material of living organisms. Recycle nutrients and make soil richer.

r selected

Organisms that reproduce early in life and often and have a high capacity for reproductive growth(biotic potential). Populations usually fluctuate greatly.

k selected

Organisms that reproduce later in life, produce fewer offspring and devote significant time and energy to the nurturing of their offspring. Populations usually stabilize at carrying capacity.

Eukaryotes

Organisms whose cells contain a nucleus and other membrane bound organelles.

OPEC

Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries; international cartel that inflates price of oil by limiting supply; Venezuela, Saudi Arabia and UAE are prominent members

Political Action Committees

Organizations that collect money to distribute to candidates who support the same issues as the contributors

effluent

Outflow of water from a treatment process

negative feedback loop

Situation in which a change in a certain direction provides information that causes a system to change less in that direction.

Convective Circulation

Situation where air rises and once it cools, it forms clouds and precipitates. Cool dry air then descends and the process repeats.

Divergent plate boundaries

Situation with tectonic plates spreading apart, new crust being formed (ex. mid-ocean ridges, rift valleys).

Tributary

Small river or stream that flows into a large river or stream; a branch of the river

Gully Erosion

Soil erosion produced by running water and resulting in the formation of gullies, Occurs when rivulets of fast-flowing water join together to cut wider and deeper ditches or gullies.

Silt

Soil with particles between 0.002 and 0.05 mm in diameter.

Bedrock

Solid unweathered rock lying beneath surface deposits of soil.

Allopatric Speciation

Speciation due to organisms of a species being separated by geographical barriers so that eventually they become so different that they cannot interbreed.

Sympatric Speciation

Speciation that occurs within one area - some factor other than geographical separation has prevented free interbreeding between members of the species.

Generalists

Species with a broad niche who are able to live in a large variety of habitats or use a wide variety of resources.

Specialists

Species with a narrow niche and thus having very specific requirements to survive in their ecosystem.

Transgenes

Specific genes from other organisms genetically engineered into them.

Point sources

Specific locations of highly concentrated pollution discharge, such as factories, oils wells, etc.

Regulations

Specific rules based on more broadly written statuary laws

George Bissell

Started the commercial industry for oil in Western PA when he showed it could be used for lamps. Also he showed it could yield in some products like paraffin, naphtha, and lubricating oil. He raised money and began drilling in 1859.

Environmental Impact Statement

Statement required by Federal law from all agencies for any project using Federal funds to assess the potential affect of the new construction or development on the environment. Consequence of NEPA.(EIS)

Polluters-pay principle

States that whoever is responsible for the damage to the environment should bear the costs associated with it

second law of thermodynamics

States that with each successive energy transfer or transformation in a system, less energy is available to do work. Entropy increases.

Trophic level

Step in the movement of energy through an ecosystem; an organism's feeding status in an ecosystem. Each successive level only contains approximately 10% of previous level.

Mimicry

Structural adaptation that enables one species to resemble another species; may provide protection from predators or other advantages

Toxicology

Study of poisonous substances and their effects upon body parts

Carcinogens

Substances known to produce or promote the development of cancer.

Allergens

Substances that overactivate the immune system and cause an allergic response.

Aquifers

Subterranean, porous, water-holding rocks that provide millions of wells with steady flows of water.

aquifers

Subterranean, porous, water-holding rocks that provide millions of wells with steady flows of water.

zooxanthellae

Symbiotic dinoflagellates that live within the tissues of cnidarians, Forms an endosymbiotic relationship with corals and performs photosynthesis.

Lichens

Symbiotic organism between a fungus and a photosynthetic organism

Mutualism

Symbiotic relationship in which both organisms benefit, example is pollination

Commensalism

Symbiotic relationship in which one member of the association benefits and the other is neither helped nor harmed. Example is facilitation

Parasitism

Symbiotic relationship in which one organism(parasite) lives in or on another organism (the host) and consequently harms it

PBDEs

Synthetic compunds that provide fire retardant properties and are used in a diverse array of consumer products including computers tvs plastics and furniture. Hormone disruptor and can affect infant nervous system development.

net metering

System of metering and billing that allows on-site generators to send excess electricity flows to the regional power grid; these electricity flows offset a portion of the electricity flows drawn from the grid.

Nichomachean ethics

Ta Ethika, is a work by Aristotle on virtue and moral character which plays a prominent role in defining Aristotelian ethics. It consists of ten books based on notes from his lectures at the Lyceum and were either edited by or dedicated to Aristotle's son, Nicomachus. Tells of the life of moderation that dictates reason for humans.

Salt Marshes

Temperate-zone estuary dominated by salt-tolerant grasses above the low-tide line, and by seagrasses under water

Resistance

Term given to a community that resists change and remains stable despite a disturbance.

Green Revolution

Term used to describe the transformation of agriculture in many developing nations that led to significant increases in agricultural production between the 1940s and 1960s.

Ames Test

Test used to determining whether a particular substance is mutagenic, based on its ability to induce mutations in auxotropheric bacteria

Cap and trade

The "cap" sets a nationwide limit on emissions, which is lowered over time to reduce the amount of pollutants released into the atmosphere. The "trade" creates a market for carbon allowances, helping companies innovate in order meet, or come in under, their allocated limit. The less they emit, the less they pay, so it is in their economic incentive to pollute less.

Criteria Pollutants

The 1970 amendments to the Clean Air Act required EPA to set National Ambient Air Quality Standards for certain pollutants known to be hazardous to human health. EPA has identified six of them: sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, lead, nitrogen oxides, ozone, and particulate matter.

Percy Schmeiser

The Canola Case , Monsanto sued him for using their GMO seeds. Later on he sued Monsanto for contaminating his plants.

Global Warming potential

The ability of a substance to warm the atmosphere by absorbing and emitting thermal energy

Sustainability

The ability to meet humanities current needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs

Bioaccumulation

The accumulation of a substance, such as a toxic chemical, in various tissues of a living organism.

Bioremediation

The act of treating waste or pollutants by the use of microorganisms (as bacteria) that can break down the undesirable substances, like in the aftermath of Exxon Valdez Oil Spill.

Dose

The amount of a chemical to which one is subjected

effective dose

The amount of a drug, or dose, that produces a desired effect only if the amount of the test drug causes a defined effect in 50% of the animals that receive it (ED50)

Proven recoverable reserve

The amount of any fossil fuel in a deposit that is technologically and economically feasbile to remove under current conditions.

Radiative forcing

The amount of change in energy that a given factor (auch as aerosols, albedo, or greenhouse gases) exerts over Earth's energy balance. Positive=warming, negative=cooling

Secondary production

The amount of chemical energy in consumers' food that is converted to their own new biomass during a given time period

Heat Capacity

The amount of heat required to raise the temperature of a specified amount of a substance by 1°C or 1 K. Reason for low variability in Ocean temperatures as water has a very high value.

Genetic diversity

The amount of variation in the genetic material within all members of a population.

Coriolis Effect

The apparent curving of the path of a moving object from an otherwise straight path due to the earth's rotation. Causes surface water to move away from the coast and aids in upwelling off of California's coast.

Landscape Ecology

The application of ecological principles to the study of land-use patterns; the scientific study of the biodiversity of interacting ecosystems

Environmental Ethics

The application of ethical standards to relationships between humans and their environment.

Watershed

The area of land that is drained by a river

Pelagic Zone

The area of the ocean past the continental shelf and between the ocean floor, with areas of open water often reaching to very great depths.

Deposition

The arrival of eroded material at its new location.

Nitrogen fixation

The assimilation of atmospheric nitrogen by soil bacteria and its release for plant use on the death of the bacteria

Front

The atmospheric phenomenon created at the boundary between two different air masses

Ecosystem based management

The attempt to supervise the harvesting of resources in ways that minimize impact on the environment and the ecological process that provide the resources.

Life Expectancy

The average number of years an individual(usually a newborn infant) can be expected to live, given current social, economic, and medical conditions.

Background extinction rate

The average rate at which species go extinct over the long term. Approximately 10 per year.

residence time

The average time a given particle will stay in a given system

Climate

The average weather conditions in an area over a long period of time

Genes

The biochemical units of heredity that make up the chromosomes; a segment of DNA capable of synthesizing a protein. Basic building blocks of heredity.

Tropical Rainforest

The biome characterized by highest rainfall and high temperatures throughout the year; believed to contain at least half of Earth's biomes, poor acidic soils. Most nutrients in plants.

Temperate deciduous forest

The biome characterized by warmer temperatures than the boreal forest and plenty of precipitation thats huge forests of broadleaf trees; covers regions in southeastern Canada, and eastern United States

Statutory Law

The body of law enacted by legislative bodies (as opposed to constitutional law, administrative law, or case law).

Judicial Branch

The branch of government, including the federal court system, that interprets the nation's laws

Ethics

The branch of philosophy that involves the study of good and bad, of right and wrong. Consist of relativists and universalists.

Tropopause

The region of discontinuity between the troposphere and the stratosphere where temperature remains constant.

Littoral

The region of the shore of a lake or sea or ocean

Tides

The regular rise and fall of the ocean's surface influenced by the moon's gravity pulling on earth, occur every 6 hours.

Upwelling

The rising of cold water from deeper layers to replace warmer surface water that has been moved away, the site of very high primary productivity.

Light pollution

The scattering of human made light that obscures our view of the sky and so hinders astronomical observations

Forestry

The science of planting and caring for forests and the management of growing timber

Calvin cycle

The second of two major stages in photosynthesis (following the light reactions), involving atmospheric CO2 fixation and reduction of the fixed carbon into carbohydrate.

transitional stage

The second stage of the demographic transition model, which occurs during the transition from the pre-industrial stage to the industrial stage. , death rate lower, better health care, population grows fast

Artificial selection

The selective breeding of domesticated plants and animals to encourage the occurrence of desirable traits.

Secondary Succession

The series of changes that occur in an area where the ecosystem has been disturbed, but where soil and organisms still exist

Littoral Zone

The shallow zone of a lake or pond where light reaches the bottom and nurtures plants

Terracing

The shaping the land to create level shelves of earth to hold water and soil; requires extensive hand labor or expensive machinery, but it enables farmers to farm very steep hillsides.

Industrial Revolution

The shift from rural life, animal powered agriculture, and manufacturing by craftsmen to an urban society powered by fossil fuels that began in England in the mid 1700s. (Picture of Slater's Mill in RI).

molecule

The simplest structural unit of an element or compound

Cogeneration

The simultaneous production of electricity and steam or hot water in the same plant. May double efficiency.

Plasmids

The smalll, circular segments of DNA that are found in bacteria and that stay sparate from the bacterial chromosomes; used in genetic engineering.

Lithosphere

The solid, outer layer of the earth that consists of the crust and the rigid upper part of the mantle

Sprawl

The spread of low-density urban or suburban development outward from an urban center. Can also be defined as the physical spread of development faster than the rate of population growth.

carbon neutrality

The state in which an individual, business, or institution emits no net carbon to the atmosphere.

Demography

The statistical study of human populations

Continental Slope

The steeply inclined section of the continental margin located between the continental rise and the continental shelf

Light reactions

The steps in photosynthesis that occur on the thylakoid membranes of the chloroplast and that convert solar energy to the chemical energy of ATP and NADPH, evolving oxygen in the process.

Competition

The struggle between organisms to survive in a habitat with limited resources

Environmental Health

The study and management of environmental conditions that affect the health and well-being of humans

Ecosystem Ecology

The study of energy flow and the cycling of chemicals among the various biotic and abiotic factors in an ecosystem.

Community Ecology

The study of how interactions between species affect community structure and organization.

Environmental Science

The study of how the natural world works, how our environment effects us, and how we effect the environment.

Population ecology

The study of populations in relation to the environment, including environmental influences on population density and distribution, age structure, and variations in population size.

Environmental toxicology

The study of toxicants that come from or are discharged into the environment, including the study of health effects on humans, other animals, and ecosystems

carbon capture

The technique of capturing CO2 from coal or oil fired power plants and burying it deep underground, to keep it out of the atmosphere

Character displacement

The tendency for characteristics to be more divergent in sympatric populations of two species than in allopatric populations of the same two species.

Maquiladoras

The term given to zones in northern Mexico with factories supplying manufactured goods to the US market

Panspermia Hypothesis

The theory that life was seeded on Earth and other planets from outer space, term coined by Tyndall, but originally meant that the air on earth was full of microscopic organisms riding on tiny particles of dust

Plate tectonics

The theory that pieces of Earth's lithosphere are in constant motion, driven by convection currents in the mantle

Boreal Forest

A broad band of mixed coniferous and deciduous trees that stretches across northern North America (and also Europe and Asia); its northernmost edfe, the taiga, intergrades with the artic tundra

Global Climate Change

A broad term that refers to changes in the earth's climate mostly as a result of changes in temperature and precipitation.

Superfund

A fund created by Congress in 1980 to clean up hazardous waste sites. Money for the fund comes from taxing chemical products.

CITES

(Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) An international agreement between 175 governments that aims to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival.

O Horizon

(Organic) top layer, Surface plant and animal litter forms hummus. Able to retain water and nutrients. Has an organic composition from 20%-30%

UNEP

(United Nations Environment Program) An intergovernmental organisation that aims to "provide leadership and encourage partnership in caring for the environment"

Mineral Lands Act

1866 act that provided land for $5 per acre to promote mining and settlement. It also allowed the mining to occur under local customs with no governmental oversight.

General Mining Law

1872 act that grants free access to individuals and corporations to prospect for minerals in public domain lands and allows them, upon making a discovery, to stake a claim on that deposit

Timber Culture Act

1873 Act of Congress which added to the Homestead Act stating a person who planted 40 acres of trees and maintained timber for 10 years were granted 160 acres of land.

Taylor Grazing Act

1934 United States federal law that regulates grazing on federal public land(140 million acres). The Secretary of the Interior has the authority to handle all of the regulations, and he became responsible for establishing grazing districts. Before these districts are created there must be a hearing held by the state.

Soil Conservation Act

1935 Act that established the soil conservation service, which deals with soil erosion problems, carries out soil surveys, and does research on soil salinity., Also appropriated funds for soil conservation paymnets to farmers who would remove land from production.

Wilderness Act

1964 Act that authorized the government to protect undeveloped tracts of public land as part of the national wilderness system.

Wilderness Act

1964 act that authorized the government to protect underdeveloped tracts of public land as part of the National Wilderness System unless Congress decides they are needed for the national good.

National Environmental Protection Act

1970 Act which was passed nearly unanimously by Congress in 1970, and signed by Nixon. Established the Commission on Environmental Quality, in the Executive branch. Requires an assessment of environmental impact for any project undertaken by any agency of the federal government.(NEPA)

Boomer v. Atlantic Clement Company

1970 New York court case that considered whether permanent damages were appropriate in lieu of a permanent injunction. Effectively ended tort laws viability as a tool for preventing pollution.

Clean Air Act

1970 law that established national standards for states, strict auto emissions guidelines, and regulations, which set air pollution standards for private industry.

Clean Water Act

1972 law that aimed to control pollution caused by the discharge of industrial and municipal wastewater, and provided for grants to build better sewage-treatment facilities.

Endangered Species Act

1973 Act which prohibits importing or trading products made from threatened or endangered species from being bought, sold, captured, or killed. Also requires the development of plans to save endangered species.

National Forest Management Act

1976 Act that stated that every National Forest must have a specific amount of sustainable resources. These plans were to derived from the concepts multiple use & sustainable development. Must also comply with NEPA.

Montreal Protocol

1987 meeting where 160 nations met in Canada and agreed to take steps to fight against Ozone Depletion-CFC's banned.

Montreal Protocol

1987 treaty requiring reductions in use of CFCs and, later, almost all ozone-depleting substances.

Organic Food Protection Act

1990 Act that established national standards for organic products ... food can be labled organic.

Radiation Exposure Compensation Act

1990 Act which would act to compensate $150,000 to former miners who are eligible for negligence on the part of the US Gov. in informing Navajo miners of radiation for over 30 years. RECA.

Lucas v. South Carolina Coastal Council

1992 case in which the Supreme Court of the United States established the "regulatory takings" test for evaluating whether a particular regulatory action constitutes a regulatory taking that requires compensation.

National Invasive Species Act

1996 Act that directed the Coast Guard to ensure that ships dump their water ballast at sea and exchange it with salt water before entering the Great Lakes.

Millennium Ecosystem Assessment

2005 United Nations Report concluding irreversible loss of biodiversity and acting as a blueprint for future sustainable development - Our current path of resource consumption and alterations to ecosystems will threaten sustainability and exacerbate poverty; however, sustainable practices will improve standard of living

RecycleMania

A 10 week competition among Ohio colleges to see which one can recycle the most.

John Wesley Powell

A U.S. soldier, geologist, and explorer of the American West. He is famous for his 1869 Geographic Expedition, a three-month river trip down the Green and Colorado rivers that included the first passage through the Grand Canyon. He warned that traditional agriculture could not succeed west of the 100th meridian.

Norman Borlaug

A US scientist who worked on wheat in Mexico during the 1940s and 1950s; is credited with beginning the green revolution. Won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work.

Desert

A barren biome with less than 10 inches of precipitation each year with little rainfall, extreme temperatures, and sparse vegetation.

Predation

An interaction between species in which one species, the predator, eats the other, the prey.

Talloires Declaration

A commitment of College and University presidents to pursue and foster sustainability. Signed by 437 university presidents including 37 Canadian universities/colleges campuses are microcosms of society with their own impacts, outlines ten steps of social, economic, and environmental goals for sustainability with specific targets and timelines.

Soil

A complex mixture of weathered mineral materials from rocks, partially decomposed organic molecules, and a host of living organisms

Thermal Mass

A component of a building (such as concrete) that absorbs and stores heat or thermal energy during the day and releases it slowly at night, used in passive solar.

Breakdown products

A compound that can result from the break down of a toxicant. Often, it is less harmful than the original substance, but it can also be just as toxic.

Coupled general circulation models

A computer program that combines what is known about weather patterns, atmospheric circulation, atmosphere-ocean interactions, and feedback mechanisms to simulate climate process

Categorical imperative

A concept developed by the philosopher Immanuel Kant as an ethical guideline for behavior. In deciding whether an action is right or wrong a person should evaluate the action in terms of what would happen if everybody else in the same situation, or category, acted the same way.

Demographic fatigue

A condition characterized by a lack of financial resources and an inability to deal effectively with threats.

Oxbow Lake

A crescent-shaped lake (often temporary) that is formed when a meander of a river is cut off from the main channel

Meltdown

A dangerous condition caused by overheating inside a nuclear reactor which melts the metal around fuel rods and releases radiation.

deep-well injection

A deep well is drilled and the waste is injected into it, below the water table to prevent contamination.

Crypsis

A defense against predators in which prey species have a shape or coloration that provides camouflage and allows them to avoid detection.

Reverse osmosis

A desalinization process that involves forcing salt-water through a membrane permeable to water but not to salt.

Solar cookers

A device which uses sunlight as its energy source. Because they use no fuel and they cost nothing to run, humanitarian organizations are promoting their use worldwide to help slow deforestation and desertification, caused by using wood as fuel for cooking.

Biodiesel

A diesel-equivalent, processed fuel derived from biological sources (such as vegetable oils), that can be used in unmodified diesel-engine vehicles.

Endemic

A disease that is constantly present to a greater or lesser degree in people of a certain class or in people living in a particular location

Particulate matter

A diverse mixture of fine particles, both solid and aerosol, that impact human health. Shortened term is "PM.", Sources include burning fossil fuels and car exhaust. Effects include reduced visibility, respiratory irritation. Methods of reduction include filtering, electrostatic precipitators, alternative energy).

Organic fertilizer

A fertilizer made up of natural materials (largely the remains or wastes of organisms), including animal manure, crop residues, fresh vegetation, and compost.

Inorganic fertilizer

A fertilizer that consists of mined or synthetically manufactured mineral supplements. Generally more susceptible than organic fertilizers to leaching and runoff and may be more likely to cause unintended off-site impacts.

bottom trawling

A fishing technique in which the ocean floor is literally scraped by heavy nets that smash everything in their path. This is very detremental to the ecosystem.

Primary Forest

A forest in its more natural state, and undergoing only normal ecological processes

Seed tree approach

A forestry strategy that leaves a few mature trees to produce seeds for next generation leave behind trees that will make seeds so you can come back and get many years later (lead to even-aged stands) Little ecological value of forest (--Many of the same impacts as clear cutting)

Sustainable forestry certification

A form of ecolabeling that identifies timber products that have been produced using methods the consider sustainable.

Kwashiorkor

A form of protein deficiency, most often seen in starving children, characterized by retarded growth and abdominal distention caused by liver enlargement.

Intensive agriculture

A form of subsistence agriculture in which farmers must expend a relatively large amount of effort to produce the maximum feasible yield from a parcel of land.

Biotechnology

A form of technology that uses living organisms, usually genes, to modify products, to make or modify plants and animals, or to develop other microorganisms for specific purposes.

Ecotourism

A form of tourism that supports the conservation and sustainable development of ecologically unique areas.

Policy

A formal set of general plans and principles that are intended to address specific problems and guide decision making in specific instances.

IPAT Model

A formula that represents how humans' total impact (I) on the environment results from the interaction among three factors: population (P), affluence (A), and technology (T). Proposed by "Population Bomb" Ehrlich. Sometimes includes sensitivity factor(S).

warm front

A front along which a warm air mass overrides a retreating mass of cooler air

Organ

A fully differentiated structural and functional unit in an animal that is specialized for some particular function

ecofeminism

A pluralistic, nonhierarchical, relationship-oriented philosophy that suggests how humans could reconceive themselves and their relationships to nature in nondominating ways as an alternative to patriarchal systems of domination. Basically men are the root of all social and environmental problems.

New source review

A policy whereby old polluting facilities were exempted from pollution requirements introduced in 1977, as long as they installed the "best available" current technology for pollution control when upgrading their plants in the future

Sinks

A pool(Reservoir) that accepts more nutrients than it releases

Logistical growth curve

A population graph that initial shows exponential growth and then plateaus because the population maxes out the ecosystems carrying capacity.

Stabilization triangle

A portfolio of strategies, each one feasible in itself, that could stabilize CO2 emissions. Divided into 7 wedges and a total of 15 strategies. (Pg.533)

Wind Farm

A power plant that uses wind turbines to generate electricity, Cluster of small to medium-sized wind turbines in a windy area to capture wind energy and convert it into electrical energy.

Drip irrigation

A process by which precisely controlled amounts of water drip directly onto plants from pipes, thus preserving precious water resources in dry areas

co-firing

A process in which biomass is combined with coal in coal-fired power plants; can be a relatively easy and inexpensive way for fossil-fuel-based utilities to expand their use of renewable energy

Cation exchange

A process in which positively charged minerals are made available to a plant when hydrogen ions in the soil displace mineral ions from the clay particles.

Peer Review

A process in which the procedures used during an experiment may be repeated and the results are evaluated by scientists who are in the same field or are conducting similar research

Life cycle analysis

A process that attempts to identify the effect a product has on resources over its entire lifetime.

Haber-Bosch process

A process to synthesize ammonia on an industrial scale. The process has enabled humans to double the natural rate of nitrogen fixation on Earth and thereby increase agricultural productivity, but also altered the nitrogen cycle.

Green Scissors Report

A project o 22 nongovernmental organizations that advocates the use of subsides to solve environmental problems.

Material recovery facilities

A recycling facility where items are sorted, cleaned, shredded, and prepared for reprocessing into new items

Red tides

A red, orange, or brown coloration of water caused by a bloom, or population explosion of algae; many cause serious environmental harm and threaten the health of humans and animals

Profundal Zone

A region of water where sunlight does not reach, below the limnetic zone in very deep lakes.

Convergent plate boundary

A region where plates are pushing together and where a mountain range, island arc, and/or trench will eventually form; often a site of much seismic and volcanic activity.

Biodiversity hotspot

A relatively small area with an exceptional concentration of endemic species, at least 0.5 % of the worlds total plant species.

Climax community

A relatively stable long-lasting community reached in a successional series; usually determined by climax and soil type

Stern Review

A report written by British economist Sir Nicholas Stern in 2006 about the economics of climate change. The main conclusion was that was that the cost to the world's economy of not acting immediately to fight climate change is far greater than the cost of taking action now.

Containment building

A safety feature of nuclear power plants that provides an additional line of defense against any accidental leak of radiation. Reinforced with concrete

Chaparral

A scrubland biome of dense, spiny evergreen shrubs found at midlatitudes along coasts where cold ocean currents circulate offshore; characterized by mild, rainy winters and long, hot, dry summers.

Trophic cascade

A series of changes in the population sizes of organisms at different trophic levels in a food chain, occurring when predators at high trophic levels indirectly promote populations of organisms at low trophic levels by keeping species at intermediate trophic levels in check. Trophic cascades may become apparent when a top predator is eliminated from a system. Also gives evidence for the existence of keystone species.

Northwest Forest Plan

A series of federal policies and guidelines governing land use on federal lands in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It covers areas ranging from Northern California to western Washington. Basically allowed limited logging and let science guide management.

Smart growth

A set of principles for community planning that focuses on strategies to encourage the development of sustainable, healthy communities. Aims to create "walkable" neighborhoods, preserve open space, and strengthen existing communities.

Malnutrition

A shortage of nutrients that are essential. Some diseases that may result are maramus or kwashiorkor

Undernourished

A situation in which a human receives less than 90% of their daily caloric needs. Mainly occurs in the developing world.

Atoll

A small island the shape of a ring or horseshoe formed by deposits of coral sea animals

Environmentalism

A social movement dedicated to protecting the earth's life support systems for us and other species.

Peat

A soft, brown material made up of partly decayed plants; first stage of coal formation

Biopiracy

A term describing the ways that corporations from the developed world allegedly claim ownership of, free ride on, or otherwise take unfair advantage of, the genetic resources and traditional knowledge and technologies of developing countries

Tropical Dry Forest

A terrestrial biome characterized by relatively high temperatures and precipitation overall but with a pronounced dry season lasting around 7 months.

Ozone hole

A thinning of stratospheric ozone that occurs over the poles during the spring.

Siberian tiger

A tiger of a large and threatened race with a long thick coat, found in southeastern Siberia and northeastern China. Also called the Amur Tiger it is the largest cat in the world.

Fossil

A trace of an ancient organism that has been preserved in rock

Basel Convention

A treaty developed in 1989 by the UN Environment Program to restrict the international transport of hazardous waste. It allows couries to export hazardous waste only with the prior informed consent of the importing country as well as of any countries that the waste passes through in transit.

Ethanol

A type of biofuel produced from plant materials; flammable, colorless chemical compound

intrusive

A type of ingneous rock that generally contains large crystals and forms when magma cools slowly beneath Earth's surface. Best example is Granite

Batesian mimicry

A type of mimicry in which a harmless species looks like a species that is poisonous or otherwise harmful to predators

Thermogenic gas

A type of natural gas created by the compression and heat deep underground; contains methane and small amounts of other hydrocarbon gases

RNA

A type of nucleic acid consisting of nucleotide monomers with a ribose sugar and the nitrogenous bases adenine (A), cytosine (C), guanine (G), and uracil (U); usually single-stranded; functions in protein synthesis and as the genome of some viruses.

Asbestosis

A type of pneumoconiosis that develops from collection of asbestos fibers in the lungs; may lead to the development of lung cancer.

Metamorphic rock

A type of rock that forms from an existing rock that is changed by heat, pressure, or chemical reactions

igneous rock

A type of rock that forms from the cooling of molten rock at or below the surface.

sedimentary rock

A type of rock that forms when particles from other rocks or the remains of plants and animals are pressed and cemented together

Sheet Erosion

A type of surface water erosion caused by runoff that occurs when water flowing as sheets picks up sediments and carries them away

hydrogen bond

A type of weak chemical bond formed when the slightly positive hydrogen atom of a polar covalent bond in one molecule is attracted to the slightly negative atom of a polar covalent bond in another molecule.

Freshwater marsh

A type of wetland in which shallow, fresh (non-saline) water allows plants such as cattails to grow above the water's surface.

Soil profile

A vertical section through a soil showing its succession of horizons and the underlying parent material.

Climatographs

A visual representation of a region's average monthly temperature and precipitation

El Nino

A warm ocean current that flows along the equator from the date line and south off the coast of Ecuador at Christmas time

Ecological Footprint

A way of measuring how much of an impact a person or community has on the earth. Someone who uses more natural resources will have a bigger footprint than someone who uses less.

Age Pyramids

A way to display information about the number of organisms alive in particular age groups of a population.

Polar Cells

A weak, anticyclonic, thermally produced pressure system positioned roughly over each pole; the region of the lowest temperatures on Earth.

Naphthalene

A white aromatic compound with 10 carbon atoms and 8 hydrogen atoms; 2 benzene fused-ring structure; used in moth balls, C₁₀H₈

Shelterbelts

A wider area than a windbreak that contains trees as well as shrubs to help reduce wind erosion, retain soil moisture, provide habitats for wildlife and fuel.

Maramus

A widespread human protein deficiency disease caused by a diet low in calories and protein or imbalanced in essential amino acids.

Agricultural revolution

About 10,000 years ago when human beings first domesticated plants and animals and no longer relied entirely on hunting and gathering. Huge effect on population growth.

Beach Sewage Cleanup Act

Act passed in 2000 that along with the Tijuana River Valley Estuary Act helped fund the treatment of sewage flowing into the US from the Tijuana River.

Healthy Forest Restoration Act

Act which allows timber companies to cut down medium and large trees in 71% of the country's forests in return for clearing away smaller, more fire prone trees and underbrush

Teratogens

Agents, such as chemicals and viruses, that can reach the embryo or fetus during prenatal development and cause harm.

An Inconvenient Truth

Al Gore made the documentary about global warming and its affects on ocean temperature, permafrost thawing, and temperatures

Nutrients

All the chemical substances that an organism needs to sustain life

Watershed

All the land from which water drains into a river.

Kyoto Protocol

An 1997 international treaty according to which developed countries that signed the treaty agree to reduce their emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases that may contribute to global warming by 2012. Started to take place in 2005 after Russia ratified.

Three Mile Island

An accident at the nuclear plant at this location that caused a radiation leak and forced the evacuation of 140,000 people near the site. The story made headlines around the world and seemed to confirm people's fears about nuclear power.

Environmental Protection Agency

An agency of the federal government created in 1970 and charged with administering all the government's environmental legislation. It also administers policies dealing with toxic wastes. It is the largest federal independent regulatory agency.

Intercropping

An agricultural method in which two or more crop species are planted in the same field at the same time to promote a synergistic interaction and reduce erosion.

No till agriculture

An agriculture process where weeds are killed, usually with chemicals, without tilling the land to reduce erosion.

Floodplain

An area along a river that forms from sediments deposited when the river overflows its banks.

Patches

An area of habitat that differs from its surroundings and has sufficient resources to allow a population to persist

Low Pressure Systems

An area of lower than normal atmospheric pressure, usually associated with frontal systems and cloudy or rainy weather. Wind circulates around low pressure cells, or lows, in a counterclockwise direction..... tend to have unstable and quickly changing weather

Wilderness areas

An area of undeveloped land affected primarly by the forces of nature where man is a visitor who does not remain,most areas meeting these standards are in the Western US and Alaska.

National Wildlife Refuge

An area set aside to serve as a haven for plants and animals and also sometimes to encourage hunting, fishing, photography, environmental education, and other public uses

Single use development

An area where only one land use is allowed, such as a residential development OR a commercial development (but not both at the same time).

Carpooling

An arrangement by two or more people to travel to and from work, school or other activities together in one automobile. Helps decreases air pollution

primary producers

An autotroph, usually a photosynthetic organism. Collectively, autotrophs make up the trophic level of an ecosystem that ultimately supports all other levels.

Primary Succession

An ecological succession that begins in an area where no biotic community previously existed or no vegetation or soil life remains.

Paul Ehrlich

An ecologist who wrote "The Population Bomb" in (1968) and predicted that rapidly increasing human population would unleash famine and conflict that would consume civilization by the end of the 20th century.

capitalist economy

An economy in which buyers and sellers interact to determine which goods and services to produce, how much of them to produce, and how to distribute them.

Steady-state economics

An economy that is seen as stable and does not fluctuate too much and are intended to mirror ecological systems.

Strategic Petroleum Reserve

An emergency supply of up to one billion barrels of oil that is stored in underground salt caverns along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, as mandated by the U.S. Energy Policy and Conservation Act.

Phytoremediation

An emerging nondestructive technology that seeks to cheaply reclaim contaminated areas by taking advantage of the remarkable ability of some plant species to extract heavy metals and other pollutants from the soil and to concentrate them in easily harvested portions of the plant.

Xeriscaping

An environmentally friendly form of landscaping that uses a variety of indigenous and drought-tolerant plants, shrubs, and ground cover.

conservation ethic

An ethic holding that humans should put natural resources to use but also have a responsibility to manage them wisely, espoused by Gifford Pinchot

preservation ethic

An ethic holding that we should protect the natural environment in a pristine unaltered state, espoused by John Muir.

Focus the Nation

An event held on January 31, 2008, at over 1,900 schools across the US, to educate students & campus & community members about global climate change

Growth rate

An expression of the increase in the size of an organism or population over a given period of time. (Sorry but this time I'm too lazy to add the formula)

Primary consumer

An herbivore; an organism in the trophic level of an ecosystem that eats plants or algae

Thermogram

An image that shows regions of different temperatures in different colors.

Anthropocentrism

An inclination to evaluate reality exclusively in terms of human values, especially by measuring costs and benefits exclusively on their impact on people.

Global Warming

An increase in the average temperature of the earth's atmosphere (especially a sustained increase that causes climatic changes)

Urbanization

An increase in the percentage and in the number of people living in urban settlements.

Cornucopian

An individual whose point of view on world population growth is that technological advances will rescue us from exceeding the world's carrying capacity. People who are optimists about world population growth.

PCB

An industrial compound that accumulates in animal tissue and can cause harmful effects and birth defects;banned in 1977.

Methane hydrate

An unconventional gas trapped in icy, cagelike structures of molecules. Deposits of these icy crystals are buried under arctic permafrost and deep beneath the ocean bottom. Currently, it is costs too much natural gas from these sources, but technology is rapidly developing for ways to safely tap this ample energy supply and prevent potential environmental hazards.

Tar Sands

An underground sand deposit permeated with a thick, asphalt-like oil known as bitumen. The bitumen can be separated from the sand by heating.

Tertiary consumers

Animals that feed on animal-eating animals. They feed at high trophic levels in food chains and webs. Examples are hawks, lions, bass, and sharks.

Vector

Any agent (person or animal or microorganism) that carries and transmits a disease.

Marine protected areas

Any area of the marine environment that has been reserved by Federal, State, territorial, tribal or local laws or regulations to provide lasting protection for part or all of the natural and cultural resources therein.

aquifer recharge zone

Any area where water infiltrates earth's surface and reaches an aquifer below

limiting factors

Any biotic or abiotic factor that restricts the existence, numbers, reproduction, or distribution of organisms

Source reduction

Any change in design, manufacture, purchase, or use of materials or products to reduce their amount of toxicity before they become municipal solid waste

Adaptive trait

Any heritable trait that enables an organism to survive through natural selections and reproduce better under prevailing environmental conditions

Biological Hazards

Any living organisms or its properties that can cause an adverse response in humans.

Run of river approach

Any of several methods used to generate hydropower without greatly disrupting the flow of water.

element

Any of the more than 100 known substances (of which 92 occur naturally) that cannot be separated into simpler substances and that singly or in combination constitute all matter

Pesticides

Any one of various substances used to kill harmful insects (insecticide), fungi (fungicide), vermin, or other living organisms that destroy or inhibit plant growth, carry disease, or are otherwise harmful.

By-catch

Any other species of fish, mammals, or birds that are caught that are not the target organism.

Genetic engineering

Any process that involves the direct manipulation of genes for practical purposes.

Aerosols

Any small (microscopic) liquid or solid particle coming from land or water surfaces that are carried into the atmosphere. Reflect sunlight back into space and cool atmosphere.

Fertilizer

Any substance such as manure or a mixture of nitrates used to make soil more fertile.

Waste

Any unwanted material or substance that results from a human activity or process.

Hazardous Waste

Any waste that poses a danger to human health; it must be dealt with in a different way from other types of waste.

Restoration ecology

Applying ecological principles in an effort to return ecosystems that have been disturbed by human activity to a condition as similar as possible to their natural state.

Organic agriculture

Approach to farming and ranching that avoids the use of herbicides, pesticides, growth hormones, and other similar synthetic inputs.

Plan of Chicago

Architect Daniel Burnham's 1909 plan that is recognized as the first thorough plan for an American city. It expanded parks and playground, improved living conditions, and cleared industry and railroads from the shores of Lake Michigan. Also called the Burnham Plan.

carbon offsets

Are projects that compensate for all or part of a company's greenhouse gas emissions by eliminating the CO2 equivalent of those emissions from another source. Sometimes with the goal of carbon neutrality.

Benthic Zone

Area along the ocean floor that consists of sand, silt, and dead organisms.

Bogs

Areas of water-saturated ground usually composed of deep layers of undecayed vegetation, called peat.

Continental Shelves

Areas where continental surfaces extend under the shallow ocean water around the continents.

polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

Aromatic compounds with 2 or more aromatic rings that fused together. Highly volatile and carcinogenic. (PAHs)

isotopes

Atoms of the same element with different numbers of neutrons.

Thomas Malthus

Author of "An Essay on the Principle of Population" (1798) who claimed that population grows at an exponential rate while food production increases arithmetically and therefore population growth would outpace food production.

E.O Wilson

Author of Sociobiology. Talks about the 'selfish gene' i.e. natural selection favors those genes that increase the expected relative reproductive success of their bearers. (guppy experiement)

E.O Wilson

Author of Sociobiology. Talks about the 'selfish gene' i.e. natural selection favors those genes that increase the expected relative reproductive success of their bearers. Applied the principles of evolutionary biology to the study of social behavior in animals, also coined " biophilia", which he says is innate.

nitrogen fixing bacteria

Bacteria that convert nitrogen in the air into forms that can be used by plants and animals.

denitrifying bacteria

Bacteria which often live in damp soil, and which convert nitrates into nitrogen gas

Parent material

Basic geological material in a particular location from which soil is made through the weathering process.

Henry Gleason

Botanist who disagreed with Clements and believed in the individualistic hypothesis. He argued that communities were not cohesive units, but temporary associations of individual species that can reassemble into different combinations.

Benthic zone

Bottom of an aquatic ecosystem; consists of sand and sediment and supports its own community of organisms

Moho discontinuity

Boundary between the crust and the mantle where seismic waves speed up

John Ruskin

British art critic, poet and writer who criticized industrialized cities and their pollution. Believed that people no longer appreciated the environments spiritual or aesthetic benefits.

Arthur Tansley

British ecologist who counted the term "ecosystem", particular portion of the world which forms a home for the organisms which inhabit it

Our Stolen Future

By Theo Colburn in 1996 it widely promoted idea that synthetic chemicals may be altering hormones and integrated scientific work from various fields as proof.

Doldrums

Calm, windless part of the ocean near the equator.

Burgess Shale

Canadian fossil formation that contains Cambrian soft-bodied organisms as well as organisms with hard parts. Fossils date from approximately 530 million years ago.

Bisphenol A

Chemical building block in certain plastics used in a variety of products such as dental fillings, baby bottles, and beverage cans. Now banned.

Hadley Cells

Circulation cells exist at the equator,warm air rises and cools dropping rains at equator, cooled air is pushed polewards, dense, dry air descends warms and absorbs moisture

Regional Planning

City planning done on broader geographic scales, generally involving multiple municipal governments

Stern Review

Climate change will happen, but if we wait to reverse it, then climate change will be more costly. 20% change in world GDP caused by climate change by 2050.1-8% of world GDP to mitigate climate change now.

Currents

Cold or warm stream of seawater that flows in the oceans, generally in a circular pattern

Recycling

Collecting and reprocessing a resource or product to make into new products

Polyculture

Complex form of intercropping in which a large number of different plants maturing at different times are planted together. Seen mainly in traditional agriculture.

Carbohydrates

Compound made up of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms; major source of energy for the human body.

Volatile organic compounds

Compounds including hydrocarbons, produced by combustion of gasoline, from surface coatings and from electric utility combustion; participates in the production of PAN through reactions with nitric oxides.

Organic compounds

Compounds that contain carbon

CERCLA

Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (Superfund) 1980; To facilitate the cleanup of any abandoned or uncontrolled sites containing hazardous substances and to impose strict liability for cleanup costs on potentially responsible parties

Soil Conservation Service

Conducted research into controlling wind and water erosion, set up demonstration project and technical assistance to farmers. Now called the Natural Resources Conservation Service.

neo-malthusians

Contemporary believers in Thomas Malthus's original ideas. They call for sustainable population growth to be achieved through birth control teachings and regional attention to birth patterns. Examples are the Club of Rome and the "Ehrlichs"

CAFE standards

Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards enacted into law in 1975, established fuel efficiency standards for passenger cars and light trucks. The fuel economy ratings for a manufacturer's entire line of passenger cars must currently average at least 27.5 mpg for the manufacturer to comply with the standard.

Biogenic gas

Created at shallow depths by bacterial anaerobic decomposition of organic matter "swamp gas"

National forest system

Created in part by Pinchot. Expanded by Roosevelt as a way to protect the landscape for continued, rational lumbering. Contains 155 national forests and 22 national grasslands which are managed by the US Forest Service. Approximately 8% of nation's land area,

Recombinant DNA

DNA produced by combining DNA from different sources.

Soil degradation

Damage to soil - for example, as a result of deforestation or the removal of topsoil from bare land by water and wind erosion.

Bjorn Lomborg

Danish statistician and author of " The Skeptical Environmentalist". Argues that general conditions of human life are increasing despite environmental problems.

SLOSS Dilemma

Debate over whether its better to make reserves large in size and few in number or many in number but small in size

Fresh Water

Defined as water having a low salt concentration (less than 1%). Includes ponds and lakes, streams and rivers, and estuaries.

Desertification

Degradation of land which results in a loss of 10% or more in productivity, especially in semiarid areas, primarily because of human actions like excessive crop planting, animal grazing, and tree cutting.

Triple Bottom Lineo

Demand that our current human population limit its environmental impact while also promoting economic well-being and social equity.

DNA

Deoxyribonucleic acid; the genetic material that carries information about an organism and is passed from parent to offspring.

cellulosic ethanol

Derived from inedible cellulose of plants; possibly has less negative aspects than conventional ethanol, more net energy production.

Sanitary landfills

Disposal sites for non-hazardous solid waste that is spread in layers and compacted to the smallest practical volume. The sites are typically designed with floors made of materials to treat seeping liquids and are covered by soil as the wastes are compacted and deposited into the landfill.

Random distribution

Distribution in which the location of members in a population is totally random, location of each individual is determined by chance.

Zoning

Dividing an area into zones or sections reserved for different purposes such as residence and business and manufacturing

threshold dose

Dose below which, little effect is seen, but after which the effects begin to show.

Horizon

Each layer of soil is termed a __________.

command economy

Economic system in which a central authority is in command of the economy; a centrally planned economy

mixed economies

Economic systems in which some allocation of resources is made by the market and some by the government.

ENSO

El Nino Southern Oscillation, trade winds weaken & warm surface water moves toward South America. Diminished fisheries off South America, drought in western Pacific, increased precipitation in southwestern North America, fewer Atlantic hurricanes.

Revolving Door

Employment cycle in which individuals who work for government agencies that regulate interests eventually end up working for interest groups or businesses with the same policy concern.

Active Solar

Energy collection, which makes use of technological devices to focus, move, or store solar energy.

Biomass energy

Energy derived from burning organic material such as wood, alcohol, and garbage.

Geothermal energy

Energy from steam or hot water produced from hot or molten underground rocks.

kinetic energy

Energy in motion

Nuclear Energy

Energy released when atomic nuclei undergo a nuclear reaction such as the spontaneous emission of radioactivity, nuclear fission, or nuclear fusion.

potential energy

Energy that is stored and held in readiness

Lobbying

Engaging in activities aimed at influencing public officials, especially legislators, and the policies they enact.

John Stuart Mill

English Philosopher who wrote "On Liberty" also predicted that resources would become increasingly hard to extract and find.

Alfred Russell Wallace

English naturalist who proposed, independently of Charles Darwin, the concept of natural selection as a mechanism for evolution and as a way to explain the great variety of living things

Charles Darwin

English naturalist. He studied the plants and animals of South America and the Pacific islands(Galapagos), and in his book On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection (1859) set forth his theory of evolution.

Terry Erwin

Entomologist who used "bug bombing" to estimate 30 million unknown insect species in a rainforest.

Endocrine disruptors

Environmental contaminants that mimics hormones and interferes with endocrine functioning in animals.

Splash erosion

Erosion caused by the direct force of falling drops of rain on bare soil. Causes splashing in which soil particles are lifted and then dropped into a new position.

Rill Erosion

Erosion where numerous small channels are formed serveral inches deep, occcurs mainly in recently cultivated soils. May later form gullies.

Flagship Species

Especially interesting or attractive organisms that people respond to emotionally. Motivate public to preserve biodiversity and contribute to conservation. EX: giant panda (youtube.com: panda sneezing)

Mullerian mimicry

Evolution of two species both of which are unpalatable and have poisonous stingers or some other defense mechanism to resemble each other.

neoclassical economics

Examines the psychological factors underlying consumer choices, explaining market prices in terms of consumer preferences for units of particular commodities

Surface impoundments

Excavated depressions sucH as ponds, pits, or lagoons into which liquid hazardous wastes are drained and stored.

Storm surge

Excess seawater driven landward by wind during a storm; the low atmospheric pressure beneath the storm allows sea level to rise locally, increasing the surge.

chronic exposure

Exposure for long periods of time to a toxicant occurring in low amounts.

acute exposure

Exposure to a hazardous substance over a short period of time or at a high dose

Subsurface mining

Extraction of a metal ore or fuel resource such as coal from a deep underground deposit.

Sustainable agriculture

Farming methods that preserve long-term productivity of land and minimize pollution, typically by rotating soil- restoring crops with cash crops and reducing in-puts of fertilizer and pesticides.

Monoculture

Farming strategy in which large fields are planted with a single crop, year after year. Seen mainly in industrialized agriculture.

Alvarez

Father/son team that first proposed that a giant asteroid caused the K-T extinction.

Clean Water Act

Federal Law setting a national goal of making all natural surface water fit for fishing and swimming by 1983, banned polluted discharge into surface water and required the metals be removed from waste.

extrusive

Fine-grained igneous rock that forms when magma cools quickly at or near Earth's surface. Best example is Basalt.

Albert Bierstadt

German painter known for his large landscapes of the American west, foremost painter of Westward Expansion scenes, part of Hudson River School, "Storm in the Rocky Mountains", "Looking Down Yosemite Valley", "The Oregon Trail"

Crude oil

Gooey liquid consisting mostly of hydrocarbon compounds and small amounts of compounds containing oxygen, sulfur, and nitrogen. Extracted from underground accumulations, it is sent to oil refineries, where it is converted to heating oil, diesel fuel, gasoline, tar, and other materials.

Sludge

Gooey mixture of toxic chemicals, infectious agents, and settled solids removed from wastewater at a sewage treatment plant.

Bitumen

Gooey, black, high-sulfur, heavy oil extracted from tar sand and then upgraded to synthetic fuel oil. See tar sand.

Regulatory Taking

Government regulation of property so extensive that government is deemed to have taken the property by the power of eminent domain, for which it must compensate the property owners.

Population Pyramids

Graphs showing the percentages of males and females by age group in a country's population

Tropospheric ozone

Ground level ozone; is considered bad because it is closer to the earth making it more likely for someone to breathe it in. It is also more dangerous because it is made up of particulate matter.

CFCs

Group of compounds that contain carbon, fluorine and chlorine that absorb infrared energy so they are greenhouse gases that destroys ozone

Exponential Growth

Growth of a population that multiplies by a constant factor at constant time intervals(geometric increases). Forms J-shaped curve.

Fifth Amendment

Guarantees the requirements of a grand jury indictment; Cannot be compelled to be a witness against oneself; Must be given due process. No private property can be taken without "just compensation"; One cannot be punnished more than once for the same crime. Used as argument against "regulatory taking".

Salvage logging

Harvesting timber killed by fire, disease, or wind throw. May increase erosion and lead to soil damage.

Aldo Leopold

He wrote the 1949 essay "The Land Ethic" and the book "A Sand County Almanac. Was a pioneer in the conservation movement. He was the founder of the wilderness society, created in 1935.

sick-building syndrome

Headaches, allergies, chronic fatigue and other symptoms caused by poorly vented indoor air contaminated by pathogens or toxins.

Factory fishing

Highly industrialized, huge vessels use powerful technologies to capture fish in huge volumes. Even process and freeze their catches while at sea

Easter Island

Highly populated and successful culture until they overused their limiting factors and cut down their trees to create farmland which collapsed their civilization

Roderick Nash

Historian who in 1989 wrote "The Rights of Nature" which illustrated the historical expansion of ethics from living to non-living things.

Ecological economists

Hold view that economics is a sub-system of the Earth and that resources, goods, services, and money flow impact not only homes and businesses but all of Earth's systems. Advocate sustainability(some steady-state economics) and argue that growth paradigm will eventually fail.

Soil Structure

How the particles that make up a soil are organized and clumped together.

Cultural hazards

Human health hazards that result from the place we live, our socioeconomic status, our occupation, or our behavioral choices, include smoking, unsafe working conditions, poor diet, drugs, drinking, driving, criminal assaults, unsafe sex, and poverty.

Storage technique

Impounding water in reserviors behind concrete dams that block the flow of river water and then letting that water pass through the dam

Thomas Kuhn

In 1962 he published "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions" which argued that science goes through periodic revolutions, in which a scientific paradigm is abandoned for another.

Limnetic zone

In a lake, the well-lit, open surface waters farther from shore. Within this zone sunlight intensity and water temperature decrease with depth.

Facilitation

In ecological succession, the phenomenon in which early-arriving species make conditions more favorable for later-arriving species

Hypoxia

In ecology a low concentration of dissolved oxygen in the bottom waters of a lake or ocean.

Distance effect

In island biogeography theory, the pattern that islands far from a mainland host fewer species because fewer species tend to find and colonize it.

Area effect

In island biogeography theory, the pattern that large islands host more species than smaller islands, because larger islands provide larger targets for immigration and because extinction rates are reduced.

Rudolf Diesel

In late 1800's, developed an oil-burning internal-combustion engine that could run factories, ships, and locamotives. This would soon usher in the invention of the motor car.

Surface Zone

In the open ocean this is only zone that has enough sunlight to grow algae. Approx 2% by volume.

Aerobic decomposition

In the presence of air, bacteria and other organisms that use oxygen break down plant and animal remains into simpler molecules that are recycled through the ecosystem.

Biomagnification

Increase in concentration of certain stable chemicals (for example, heavy metals or fat-soluble pesticides) in successively higher trophic levels of a food chain or web

Fossil Record

Information about past life, including the structure of organisms, what they ate, what ate them, in what environment they lived, and the order in which they lived.

Septic systems

Installed in homes that do not have access to municipal sewers. Used to dispose of wastewater. Wastewater runs into a underground tank, the solids precipitates out while the water proceeds downhill to gravel fill trenches and microbes decompose the remaining waste

Seed Banks

Institutions that preserve seed types as a kind of living museum of genetic diversity

IPCC

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, panel of scientists and researchers has been one of the main bodies in environmental control and standards in the international community

Cartegena Protocol

International agreement that states countries have the right to decide on safe transfer, handling and use of living modified organism resolution from modern biotechnology(Including GM)

Customary Law

International law that arises from long-standing practices held in common by most cultures

Conventional Law

International law that arises from treaties that nations agree to enter into.

Golden Toad

Is now extinct, used to live in the Costa Rican cloud forests; could be due to El Nino, fungus or Global climate change, restricted range of its habitat, airborne pollution, lower pH levels

Radioisotopes

Isotopes that have unstable nuclei and undergo radioactive decay

Rangeland

Land that supplies forage or vegetation (grasses, grasslike plants, and shrubs) for grazing and browsing animals and is not intensively managed. Also known as pasture

Cropland

Land used to raise plants for human use

Safe harbor agreements

Landowners voluntarily agree to take specified steps to restore, improve, or maintain habitat for threatened or endangered species located on their land

Polymers

Large compound formed from combinations of many monomers.

Non-point sources

Large or dispersed land areas such as crop fields, streets, and lawns that discharge pollutants into the environment over a large area

Bottle bills

Laws that mandate that consumers get money back fro returing bottles & cans to retail locations

Ozone Layer

Layer of the stratosphere with a high concentration of ozone; absorbs most of the Sun's harmful ultraviolet radiation

LEED

Leadership in energy and environmental design builds "green" buildings to reduce energy use and protect the environment

density independent factors

Limiting factor that affects all populations in similiar ways, regardless of population size.

density dependent factors

Limiting factors (such as competition, predation, parasitism, and disease) that are affected by the number of individuals in a given area

Shelf slope break

Line marking a change from the gently inclined continental shelf to the much steeper depth gradient of the continental slope.

Lava

Liquid magma that reaches the surface; also the rock formed when liquid lava hardens.

Symbiosis

Living together in mutually helpful association of two dissimilar organisms.

Species area curves

Lnear number of species to area on log-log axes; Shows that as area increases by 10 , species double.

pH scale

Logarithmic measurement system used to indicate the concentration of hydrogen ions (H+) in solution; ranges from 0 to 14.

Atlantic Cod

Long lived species that people overfished. Killed almost all of the adults and caused the fish to start maturing earlier. Resulted in a stock collapse. Probably one of the most important fish species in history.

Proteins

Macromolecules that contains carbon, hydrogen, oxyge, and nitrogen. Source of energy and needed by tissue for repair and growth. Made up of 20 amino acids.

Controlled burns

Managed fires that are set periodically to control the amount of vegetation underneath the dominant forest tree species

Marine Reserves

Marine area where no extraction of any resources are allowed, biotic or abiotic.

Natural Resources

Materials that humans can take from the environment to survive and satisfy their needs

Tidal Creeks

Meandering creek-like channels within salt marshes and mud flats, through which seawater enters and leaves as the tide rises and falls.

Food security

Means that every person in a given area has daily access to enough nutritious food to have an active and healthy life. The goal of agricultural scientists and policymakers.

Wind turbines

Mechanical assemblies that convert wind's kinetic energy, or energy of motion, into electrical energy

Murchison Meteorite

Meteorite that broke up in Australia in 1969 that demonstrated the same components in the same proportions as Miller-Urey, with several amino acids and with similar oily organic goo like used in Miller's apparatus

Coalbed methane

Methane trapped in strata too deep to be reached by mining. Retrieving the methane requires drilling.

Ferrel Cells

Mid-latitude convection cells that create westerlies between 30 and 60 degrees latitude.

Asbestos

Mineral used extensively in insulation; inhaling fibers can cause sever respiratory diseases; particularly dangerous if friable, i.e., easily crumbled.

Adaptive management

Monitoring and assessing a project over time to determine relevant policies and regulations as impacts may arise. Examples include Forest Service management plans or other plans involving wildlife habitat that require monitoring.

Dust Bowl

Parts of Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas that were hit hard by dry topsoil and high winds that created blinding dust storms; this area of the Great Plains became called that because winds blew away crops and farms, and blew dust from Oklahoma to Albany, New York.

Homestead Act

Passed in 1862, it gave 160 acres of public land to any citizen who paid a $16 fee who would also farm the land for five years.

Antiquities Act

Passed in 1906, this act allows the President to protect areas of scientific or historical interest on federal lands as national monuments

Resource Conservation and Recovery Act

Passed in 1976, enabled the EPA to have a "cradle to the grave" control over hazardous waste. Pertained to generation, transportation, treatment, storage, and disposal of hazardous waste. The act also created a framework for the proper management of non-hazardous waste materials. Led to development of "Sanitary Landfills".

Loam

Perfect agricultural soil with equal portions of sand, silt, and clay.

Mass extinction

Period of time when global environmental changes lead to the elimination of a large number of species throughout Earth. 5 have passed.

Milankovitch cycles

Periodic variations in tilt, eccentricity, and wobble in the earth's orbit, possibly responsible for cyclic weather changes.

transform plate boundary

Places where crustal plates shear laterally past one another. Crust is neither produced nor destroyed at this type of junction.

Feedlots

Places where livestock are concentrated in a very small area and raised on hormones and hearty grains that prepare them for slaughter at a much more rapid rate than grazing; often referred to as factory farms.

Rosy Periwinkle

Plant found to be effective in treating some forms of leukemia, especially childhood leukemia and Hodgkin's disease. Active components are the alkaloids vinblastine and vincristine. These inhibit cell division and slow tumor growth

Invasive Species

Plants and animals that have migrated to areas where they did not originate; often displace native species by outcompeting them for resources

Cover crops

Plants such a rye, alfalfa, or clover, that can be planted immediately after harvest to hold an protect the soil.

p-type layer

Plate of a PV cell that is electron poor and frequently doped with boron. (positive)

n type layer

Plate of a PV cell with added electrons by doping with arsenic or phosphorous (negative charge).

Dose response curve

Plot of data showing effects of various doses of a toxic agent on a group of test organisms.ne approach is to determine the lethal dose—the amount needed to kill an animal.

Contour Farming

Plowing and planting across the changing slope of land, rather than in straight lines, to help retain water and reduce soil erosion.

Nuclear fuel cycle

Pocesses involved with producing nuclear power from the mining and processing of uranium to control fission, reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel, decommissioning of power plants, and disposal of radioactive waste

Lead poisoning

Poisoning caused by an elevated level of lead in the human body that can result in damage to the brain, nervous system, kidneys, and blood.

Public Policy

Policy made by government. Consists of laws, regulations, orders, incentives, and practices intended to advance social welfare.

Environmental Policy

Policy that pertains to human interactions with the environment.

Primary pollutants

Pollutants that are put directly into the air by human or natural activity, (CO, CO2, SO2, NO, hydrocarbons, particulates).

toxic air pollutants

Pollutants that cause serious illness or death to humans, must be identified by EPA and sets standards for their emmision; asbestos, mercury, lead, benzene, lead, etc

Secondary pollutants

Pollutants that form from chemical reactions that occur when primary pollutants come in contact with other primary pollutants or with naturally occuring substances, such as water vapor.

Leachate

Polluted liquid produced by water passing through buried wastes in a landfill.

Acid drainage

Pollution caused when sulfuric acid and dangerous dissolved materials such as lead, arsenic, and cadmium wash from coal and metal mines into nearby lakes and streams.

Sources

Pools(Reservoirs) that release more nutrients than they accept.

Photic Zone

Portion of the marine biome that is shallow enough for sunlight to penetrate. Most productive, generally near or continental shelves.

Hydroelectric power

Power that is derived from a moving body of water, such as a river or waterfall.

Resource Management

Practice of harvesting potentially renewable resources in ways that do not deplete them.

Liquified natural gas

Pressurized natural gas that is highly volatile but helps in transport or storage.

Westerlies

Prevailing winds that blow from west to east between 30 degrees and 60 degrees latitude in both hemispheres.

Trade Winds

Prevailing winds that blow northeast from 30 degrees north latitude to the equator and that blow southeast from 30 degrees south latitude to the equator

tort law

Prior to the passage of federal legislation, pollution problems were subject to this kind of law which addresses harm caused by one entity to another, and individuals suffering external costs from pollution were limited to seeking redress through lawsuits.

Adaptive radiation

Process by which a single species or small group of species evolves into several different forms that live in different ways; rapid growth in the diversity of a group of organisms. Example of this is birds with different beaks adapted to different beaks.

Photosynthesis

Process by which plants and some other organisms use light energy to convert water and carbon dioxide into oxygen and high-energy carbohydrates such as sugars and starches

Chemosynthesis

Process in which certain organisms (mostly specialized bacteria) extract inorganic compounds(like hydrogen sulfide) from their environment and convert them into organic nutrient compounds without the presence of sunlight. Compare photosynthesis.

Strip mining

Process in which rock and soil are stripped from earths surface to expose the underlying materials to be mined

Leaching

Process in which various chemicals in upper layers of soil are dissolved and carried to lower layers and, in some cases, to groundwater.

Salinization

Process that occurs when soils in arid areas are brought under cultivation through irrigation. In arid climates, water evaporates quickly off the ground surface, leaving salty residues that render the soil infertile.

Physical Hazards

Processes that occur naturally and pose health hazards include discrete events such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions.

Sulfur dioxide

Produced by chemical interacting between sulfur and oxygen. Contributes to acid rain. Harm plant life, irritates respiratory system.

Traditional agriculture

Producing enough food for a farm family's survival and perhaps a surplus that can be sold.

classical economics

Promotion of free enterprise and capitalism regulated by the market, not the government. Also known as Laissez-faire.

Differential extinction effect

Proportionately fewer species go extent on larger islands (small islands - more likely to go extinct)

Garrett Hardin

Published "The Tragedy of the Commons" in 1968; Argued that resources that are open to unregulated exploitation would be eventually depleted. According to neo-keynesian economic theory it can be resolved by Coase theorem.

Brundtland Report

Published in 1987 in the influential report "Our Common Future" and created by World Commision on Environment and Development of the UN. Discusses sustainable development and the triple bottom line for the first time.

Silent Spring

Rachel Carson wrote in this 1962 about her suspicion that the pesticide DDT, by entering the food chain and eventually concentrating in higher animals, caused reproductive dysfunctions. In 1973, DDT was banned in the U.S. except for use in extreme health emergencies.

Mutations

Random errors in gene replication that lead to a change in the sequence of nucleotides; the source of all genetic diversity

Temperate Rainforest

Rare biome characterized by abundant moisture, mild climate, think and rish soil, and the growth of shrubs and small trees; currently found only in British Columbia, Alaska, and Chile, and parts of pacific north.

Triple Bottom Line

Recognition of the need for organizations to improve the state of people, the planet, and profit simultaneously if they are to achieve sustainable, long-term growth

Benthic

Relating to the bottom of a lake or sea or the organisms that live there.

Amensalism

Relationship between two species in which one is inhibited or harmed, while the other is unaffected, an example may be allelopathy

Green tags

Represent a validation that renewable energy was produced and made available on the electric grid, commit energy producers and consumers alike to renewable zero commission energy

Suburbs

Residential areas surrounding a city.

Nonrenewable natural resources

Resources in finite supply that are formed much slower than we use them. Like Oil/ Natural Gas.

Humus

Rich, dark organic material formed by decay of vegetable matter, essential to soil's fertility.

High Pressure Systems

Rotating body of air that exerts high pressure on surface of earth because air descends towards the surface in the centre, usually signifying dry and stable conditions

Waterlogging

Saturation of soil with irrigation water or excessive precipitation so that the water table rises close to the surface which then makes plant roots unable to make adequate gas exchanges and ultimately leads to plant death.

Ecology

Scientific study of interactions among organisms and between organisms and their environment.

Adam Smith

Scottish political economist and philosopher. His Wealth of Nations (1776) laid the foundations of classical free-market economic theory, government should not interfere with economics. Advocates Laissez Faire and founder of "invisible hand"

Aral Sea

Sea east of the Caspian sea, in the heart of Central Asia. It was the fourth largest inland sea until the 1960's and it supported a healthy fishing community. It has lost over 80% of its volume in 45 years because of irrigation projects.

Industrial Ecology

Seeks to redesign industrial systems to reduce resource inputs and to maximize both physical and economic efficiency.

World heritage sites

Sites receiving designation from the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in recognition of their high cultural or biological significance.

positive feedback loop

Situation in which a change in a certain direction provides information that causes a system to change further in the same direction. For example erosion and population growth.

Stratosphere

The layer of the atmosphere that is above the troposphere and in which temperature increases as altitude increases. Pollutants that enter this zone tend to remain for a very long time because of a lack of vertical mixing. Contains Ozone layer.

Gestation period

The length of time between fertilization and birth

Nitrogen

The limiting nutrient go marine systems.

Phosphorous

The limiting nutrient of freshwater systems.

Deforestation

The loss or destruction of forests, mainly for logging or farming. Adds carbon dioxide to environment and can result in a rapid decrease in biodiversity in an area.

R Horizon

The lowermost layer of pure parent material.

Troposphere

The lowest layer of the atmosphere. Air movement in this layer is largely responsible for the planet's weather. Although thin it contains 75% of the atmospheres mass.

GDP

The market value of all final goods and services produced within a country in a given period of time

Moderator

The material used to slow down the fast neutrons produced by fission

Maximum sustainable yield

The maximum level at which a natural resource can be routinely exploited without long-term depletion. A guideline in resource management. (At the inflection point -Pg.331).

Biotic potential

The maximum reproductive rate of an organism, given unlimited resources and ideal environmental conditions

Bathymetry

The measurement of ocean depths and the charting of the shape or topography of the ocean floor

Turbidity

The measurement of water cloudiness; it may be affected by such things as sediment and plankton concentrations

Pycnocline

The middle zone of the ocean in which density increases rapidly with depth. Temperature falls and salinity rises in this zone. Approx. 18% of ocean water by volume.

Atmosphere

The mixture of gases that surrounds Earth

Clumped distribution

The most common type of population distribution where many members of the population live close together(usually near resources), humans for example. Also called patchy.

Cellular respiration

The most prevalent and efficient catabolic pathway for the production of ATP, in which oxygen is consumed as a reactant along with the organic fuel.

Flux

The movement of nutrients between different reservoirs.

Immigration

The movement of organisms INTO a population

Emigration

The movement of organisms OUT of a population

Phosphorous cycle

The movement of phosphorus from the nonliving environment into living things and then back into the nonliving environment

Plasmodium

The multinucleate cytoplasm of a slime mold that is surrounded by a membrane and that moves as a mass, causes malaria

New Forestry

The name for a new variety of timber harvesting practices to increase the likelihood of sustainability, including recognition of the dynamic characteristics of forests and of the need for management within an ecosystem context .

Chernobyl

The nuclear power plant in the Ukraine that suffered two large explosions which released massive amounts of radioactive materials. It is the worst nuclear accident in history and thousands were and continue to be impacted by the disaster.

Age structure

The number and proportion of people at each age in a population

Species diversity

The number and relative abundance of species in a biological community.

Replacement fertility

The number of children a couple must have to replace themselves (averages 2.1 in more developed nations, 2.7 in less developed nations).

Total Fertility Rate

The number of children born to an average woman in a population during her entire reproductive life

Crude death rate

The number of deaths in a given time span per 1,000 organisms.

Minimum viable population size

The number of individuals needed for long-term survival of rare and endangered species

Crude birth rate

The number of live births in a given period of time per thousand organisms.

Population density

The number of organisms per unit area.

Species richness

The number of species in a biological community

Rotation time

The number of years that pass between the time a forest stand is cut for timber & the next time it is cut

Subsistence economy

The oldest economy, one in which people meet most of their needs directly from nature and do NOT purchase or trade for most of life's nessecities.

Crust

The outer layer of the Earth

Thermosphere

The outermost shell of the atmosphere, between the mesosphere and outer space, where temperatures increase steadily with altitude.

nitrification

The oxidation of ammonium compounds in dead organic material into nitrates and nitrites by soil bacteria (making nitrogen available to plants)

ground water

The part of the subsurface water that is in the zone of saturation, including underground streams.

Hydrological Cycle

The paths water take through its various states-vapor, liquid, solid- as it moves throughout the oceans, atmosphere, groundwater, streams, etc...

Hubbert's Peak

The prediction that U.S. oil production would reach its peak in the early 1970's. The methodology is now being used to predict the timing of a downturn in global annual oil production as well as to forecast when we could run out of oil.

Atmospheric pressure

The pressure exerted by the atmosphere on all objects within it.

Free Rider Problem

The problem faced by interest groups when citizens can reap the benefits of interest group action without actually joining, participating in, or contributing money to such groups.

coal gasification

The process behind the concept of "clean coal," and is designed to remove carbon dioxide from the emissions produced by burning coal and turn coal into liquid gas fuel

Speciation

The process by which a new species evolves from a prior species, the most basic process in macroevolution.

Habitat selection

The process by which organisms actively select habitats in which to live

Natural Selection

The process by which traits that enhance survival and reproduction are passed on more frequently to future generations than those that do not, thus altering the genetic makeup of populations through time.

Evaporation

The process by which water changes from liquid form to an atmospheric gas

Erosion

The process by which wind, water, ice, or gravity transports soil and sediment from one location to another

Carbon cycle

The process in an ecosystem in which producers take in carbon dioxide from the atmosphere during photosynthesis and consumers, having eaten producers, release carbon into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide

Electrolysis

The process in which an electric current is used to produce a chemical reaction, such as the decomposition of water

Nuclear Fusion

The process in which two atomic nuclei combine to form a larger nucleus, forming a heavier element and releasing huge amounts of energy.

Ecological Restoration

The process of altering a site or area with the objective of reestablishing indigenous, historical ecosystems

Habit Restoration

The process of bringing a damaged habitat back to a healthy condition

Demographic Transition

The process of change in a society's population from a condition of high crude birth and death rates and low rate of natural increase to a condition of low crude birth and death rates, low rate of natural increase, and a higher total population. (Just look on Pg. 220 and 221)

Clear cutting

The process of cutting down all the trees in an area at once.

Composting

The process of mixing decaying leaves, manure and other nutritive matter to improve and fertilize soil.

Debeaking

The process of removing chickens beaks with a hot blade to aviod cannibalism between the starving chickens.

Desalination

The process of removing salt from seawater so that it can be used for drinking and irrigation, can be accomplished through distillation or reverse osmosis.

selective breeding

The process of selecting a few organisms with desired traits to serve as parents of the next generation.

Irrigation

The process of supplying water to areas of land to make them suitable for growing crops.

lithification

The process that converts sediments into solid rock by compaction or cementation.

Allelopathy

The production of chemicals by plants that inhibit the growth of neighbouring plants.

Bioluminescence

The production of light by means of a chemical reaction in an organism

City Planning

The professional pursuit that attempts to design cities in such a way as to maximize their efficiency, functionality, & beauty

Sex ratio

The proportion of males to females. To maximize population growth needs to be 50/50.

Albedo

The proportional reflectance of Earth's surface; glaciers and ice sheets have high values of this and reflect most of the sunlight hitting their surfaces, whereas the ocean and forests have low values.

Coase Theorem

The proposition that if private parties can bargain without cost over the allocation of resources, they can solve the problem of externalities on their own

greenwashing

The public relations practice of covering up environmental problems by associating a client with beneficial environmental actions

Toxic Substances Control Act

The purpose of this law was to give the Environmental protection agency the ability to report, record, and testing requirements of chemical substances. The law also allows the environmental protection agency to say how they are produced, their importance and how the chemicals are to be disposed.

Aquaculture

The raising of plants or animals, such as fish or shellfish, in or at the bottom of the sea, a lake, a river, or other body of water

Realized niche

The range of resources and conditions a species actually uses or can tolerate at optimal efficiency; smaller than fundamental niche

Resilience

The rate at which an ecosystem returns to its original state after a disturbance

Natural rate of population change

The rate of change in a population's size resulting from birth and death rates alone, excluding migration

EROI

The ratio of the energy return to the energy invested and it sands for energy returned on investment. ER/EI

isotopic signature

The ratios of different isotopes that allow scientists to date events.

Indoor Air Pollution

Usually is a much greater threat to human health than outdoor air pollution. The four most dangerous indoor air pollutants in developed countries are tobacco smoke, formaldehyde found in a variety of building materials and household products, radioactive radon-222 gas that can seep into houses from underground rock deposits, and very small fine and ultra fine particles.

Subspecies

Variations of a species that live in different geographic areas

Ecosystem diversity

Variety of habitats, communities, and ecological processes in the biosphere

flexible fuel vehicles

Vehicles that run on 85% ethanol. But very few gas stations offer this fuel

nucleic acids

Very long organic compounds made up of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and phosphurous, contain instructions that cells need to carry out all the functions of life. Direct protein synthesis.

Industrial solid waste

Waste from production of consumer goods, mining, agriculture and petroleum extraction and refining

Groundwater

Water found in the spaces between soil particles and cracks in rocks underground (located in the saturation zone).

Runoff

Water that flows over the ground surface rather than soaking into the ground.

Wastewater

Water that runs into drains that may contain sewage and chemicals from homes and businesses or pollutants from industry

Swamps

Wetlands occurring where freshwater collects in shallow pools in an especially forested area.

Selection System

When only some of the trees in a forest are cut at once. They include single tree selection in which trees are spaced widely apart are cut at one time and group selection in which small patches of trees are cut at once. Results in uneven aged stands.

anaerobic decomposition

When oxygen is gone in the water and breakdown of matter is turned into noxious gases, including hydrogen sulfide, and methane. May create fossil fuels over time.

Secondary Extraction

When solvents are used and underground rocks are flushed with water or steam to remove additional oil. More costly than primary extraction.

Uneven aged

When stands of trees in timber plantations that are of different ages; this type of stands more closely approximate a natural forest.

Even aged

When trees in a stand are planted at the same time, they are all trees with the same age. Seen more as crop agriculture than ecologically functional forests.

Shelterwood approach

Where smalls numbers of trees were left in place to provide shelter for seedlings as they grow. Similar to Seed tree approach.

Ogallala Aquifer

World's largest aquifer; under parts of Wyoming, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas (the Midwest). Holds enough water to cover the U.S. with 1.5 feet of water. Being depleted for agricultural and urban use. Also called the High Plains aquifer.

Tokyo

World's largest city and capital of Japan, Population of 35 million people.

E Horizon

Zone of Leaching, Light in color, composed of coarse silt. Fine particles are removed by eluviation, which is materials being removed by sinking downward.

Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare

adjusts the per capita GNP according to inequalities in income distribution, resource depletion, loss of wetlands, loss of farmland, and the cost of air and water pollution. (ISEW)

matter

anything that occupies space and has mass

Wise use movement

favors extracting more resources from public lands, obtaining greater local control of lands, and obtaining greater motorized recreational access to public lands.

Herbivory

interaction in which one animal (the herbivore) feeds on producers (such as plants)