AP Environmental Science Review
Archaebacteria and Eubacteria
What kingdoms do not have a nucleus
Illuviation
When minerals are deposited
extinction
When the environment changes to rapidly for animals to evolve this leads to
Wastewater reuse
When water is collected and treated before being redistributed for use. Israel probably has the most advanced program in the world
N Canada and Siberia
Where might we dig next?
General Electric
between the years of 1947 and 1977, _______ _______ dumped 1.3 million pounds of PCBs into the Hudson River, causing the river to classified as a Superfund Site
T
biodiversity includes species richness (T/F)
methanol, ethanol, 10
biomass can be converted to liquid fuels, especially ______ (methyl alcohol) and _____ (ethyl alcohol), which can then be used in internal combustion engines. Mixing gasoline with _____ percent ethanol produces a cleaner-burning mixture known as gasohol
Desert
biome characterized by an extremely dry climate, rough/infertile soil (sand), drought adapted plants (thick leaves prevent water loss, deep roots, short/scrubs), temperature extremes in the night and day (no moisture to retain/moderate heat creates extremely hot days and cold nights), nocturnal animals (come out when temperatures are cooler), and typically found 30 degrees north or south of the equator (all precipitation in air is dropped over the equator, creating dry conditions)
Taiga
biome characterized by coniferous/boreal forest, extremely cold winters, acidic soil, conifers, patchy permafrost, and drought-resistant plants (cones/needles have minimal surface area for water loss). Yields lumber and pulpwood for paper products
Flowing Water Ecosystem
a freshwater ecosystem such as a river or stream in which the water flows in a current and eventually empties into a larger body of water
Seed Bank
a genetic diversity vault of plant genetic material; allows people to restore decimated areas
Agent Orange
a herbicide used in the Vietnam War to defoliate forest areas. This dioxin is a persistent organic pollutant that causes cancer and birth defects
Spoil Bank
a hill of loose rock created when the overburden from a new trench is put into the already excavated trench during strip mining
spoil bank
a hill of loose rock created when the overburden from a new trench is put into the already excavated trench during strip mining
Biomining
a kind of mining in which microorganisms are used to extract minerals from low-grade ores to be used for something else
Reservoirs
a large natural or artificial lake used as a source of water supply.
Biome
a large region characterized by a specific type of climate and certain types of plant and animal communities regardless of where it occurs in the world. Encompasses many interacting ecosystems
Marcellus Shale
a large shale in North America which provides a lot of natural gas
inherent edge
a long term natural feature of a landscape
mulch
a material (such as decaying leaves, bark, or compost) spread around or over a plant to enrich or insulate the soil.
Turbidity
a measure of the cloudiness of water from sediments, microscopic organisms, or pollutants
microcosm
a miniature world or universe within our planet (Easter island was a microcosm)
Estivation
a period of inactivity and lowered body temperature that some animals undergo in summer as a protection against hot weather and lack of food
Phototrophism
a plant movement in response to light coming from one direction
Tropism
a positive or negative involuntary reaction of a plant to a stimulus
Negative Feedback
a primary mechanism of homeostasis, whereby a change in a variable triggers a response that counteracts the initial fluctuation
Tritium
a radioactive isotope of hydrogen with 1 proton and 2 neutrons; usually man-made
vapor extraction
a technique of soil remediation that involves injecting or pumping air into soil to remove organic compounds that are volatile (evaporate quickly).
Aqueducts
canals or ditches used to carry water from one location to another; used in the arid American Southwest to transport water to an ever-growing population
benzene can cause
cancer and lukemia
k strategy
caring for a few children
vegetable oil
cars can run on waste _______ ______ from restaurants
lightning
causes natural wildfires
H(abitat)I(nvasive)P(ollution)P(oaching)O(verhunting)
causes of species destruction
Anthracite
cleanest-burning and hardest coal, releases the most energy and sulfur, found in Pennsylvania and West Virginia
Final stage in primary succession is
climax community
Lianas
climbing woody vines that drape rainforest trees. Sunlight is blocked out on the rainforest floor, which prevents undergrowth. Many plants have adapted to a lack of sunlight by becoming epiphytes that live on taller trees
Fuel Rods
closed pipes where uranium dioxide pellets are placed in a nuclear reactor
urban heat island
cloud of heat accumulating over a city
same
coal and petroleum are usual found in the _____ places
CO2, mercury
coal releases more _____ than other fossil fuels, and also releases ______, which moves to water and land (harms humans and wildlife)
Subbituminous
coal that is intermediate between lignite and bituminous, relatively low heat value and sulfur content
Estuary
coastal body of water, partially surrounded by land, in which freshwater from a river and salt water from the ocean mix. Salinity fluctuates with tidal cycles, time of year, and precipitation. River entrance is fresh water, brackish in between, and salty at mouth of ocean
Properties of Soil
color, texture, structure, porosity, consistence, moisture,
Fluidized beds
combine limestone and coal before burning them together
Combined Sewer Overflow
combined sewers can cause serious water pollution when combined sewage and surface runoff exceed the capacity of the sewage treatment plant. Results in untreated wastewater being released into waterways
Silverfish and army ants, barnacles and mussels, epithets and trees
commensalism example
The number of landfills are
decreasing causing an increase in tipping fees
UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea)
defines responsibilities and rights for marine resources. Prohibits mining on seafloor but US has not ratifies
In Madagascar
deforestation has led to erosion and desertification
Carboniferous Forest
describes the type of forest that formed the coal and oil that we use today
aridosol
desert, dry (arid), bad agriculture
conservation, efficiency
despite a growing population, California's energy use has stayed the same due to _______ and energy _______ efforts
light, temperature, salinity, flow rate, oxygen, nutrients
determining factors of aquatic ecosystems (6)
developing
developed countries have drastically lower infant mortality rates than _____ countries, such as those in Africa
transitional
developing countries are still in the ______ stage, where lowered death rates and continually high birthrates are causing population explosions. In order to stop this population growth, developed countries should help other countries move through this stage quickly (introduce birth control, women's rights, etc.)
Annie Leonard, from the Story of Stuff video, repeatedly states that "you cannot run a linear system on a __ planet."
finite
taiga, chaparral, savanna
fire adapted biomes
grassland, chaparral, and savanna
fire-adapted biomes (3)
by opening the cones of the conifers and dropping their seeds
fires can help biomes like the taiga
Primary Treatment
first step of sewage treatment; eliminates most particulate material from raw sewage using grates, screens, and gravity (settling)
Grunions
fish that live near coastal California and mate according to the lunar cycle
Standing Water Ecosystems
lakes and ponds; characterized by zonation of depths
derilict lands
lands severely degraded by mining
Xeriscaping
landscaping using native plants, which minimize the need for additional water; way to conserve water in California and other drought-prone areas
Hydrothermal Reservoir
large underground reservoir of hot water and possibly also steam; some of the hot water or steam may escape to the surface, creating hot springs or geysers
Big branch mine disaster
larges mine disaster in recent us history
Bingham Canyon copper mine
largest copper mine in the world
Chesapeake Bay
largest estuary in the US and largest source of blue crabs in the world. Suffers from deteriorating water quality due to agricultural runoff (much of this comes from Pennsylvania farms) and overfishing. Federal and state agencies have joined together to restore the bay to a healthy and productive state and prevent further harm from factory farming
bucketwheel excavator
largest land vehicle, used to mine coal
Yucca Mountain
national geologic depository planned to be built to store radioactive waste in Nevada; chosen due to its geographic isolation and stability. However, it was highly opposed by residents of Nevada and additional problems with transportation of nuclear wastes across the country led to the plan being scrapped
habitat fragmentation
natural areas being broken into sections because of human development and involvement
water and oxygen
natural gas in transportation gives off
transportation
natural gas is beginning to be used for ______; just gives off H2O and CO2 instead of all the other pollutants that gasoline releases and cheaper than gas, but is less commercially available
Methane
natural gas is mostly _____ (CH4)
stabilizing, directional, disruptive
natural selection can be _______ (maintaining "average"), _______ (favoring only one extreme of a characteristic), or _______ (favoring both extremes and resulting in separate species
mineral deposit processes
naturally concentrate mineral
Radon
naturally occurring radioactive gas that is produced in the earth's crust; increases risk of lung cancer if inhaled over long periods of time. Seeps through the basements of homes through groundwater and contaminates homes
threatened
near the cms
isolation
neither terrestrial or aqatic environments exist in
scavenger; herbivore
niche example (water boatman)
Renewable Energy Sources
sources of energy that are replenished by natural processes so that they can be used indefinitely
bleach, drain, 2, 5
special care needs to be taken with individual septic systems: ______ and ______ cleaners should be avoided, as they kill the bacteria that break down waste. The sludge should be taken to a municipal sewage treatment plant for disposal every _____ to _____ years
pre-zygotic, behavioral, habitat, ecological, temporal, mechanical
speciation is maintained by _____-______ (before fertilization) mechanisms: _______ isolation involves courtship or mating rituals that ensure that organisms are the same species and the mate is suitably fit to reproduce, ______ or ______ isolation means that species that live in different habitats will not interbreed (geological barriers), ______ isolation involves differing activity levels in different seasons or times of day, and ______ isolation prevents pollination or copulation
bellwether species
species indicating signals of environmental damage
resilience
species richness provides an ecosystem with ______, the ability to recover from environmental changes or disasters
endemic
species specifically associated with a region
Endemic
species that are only found in that specific geographic area. These organisms are often more vulnerable to extinction because they evolved in isolation from competitors, predators, and disease and have few defenses against such threats
Horseshoe Crabs
species that lives on the east coast in which all individuals mate on the same night
adventitious roots
spread out
New York
state that has banned fracking
scrubbers and fluidized beds
take sulfur out of the air using limestone and chalk
bitumen
tar sands contain
50
tar sands contain ____ percent more petroleum as other world oil reserves
leaching
when materials leave to go to a lower layer from an upper layer. Also known as eluviation
zero population growth
when r=0. equilibrium is reached
1859
when was the first oil well founded?
high
where fertility rate is high, infant mortality rate tends to be ______
desert, tundra, ocean floor
which biomes and ecosystems are slow to recover
temperate-deciduous and grassland
which biomes have fertile soil
Circadian Rhythms
the 24-hour biological cycles found in humans and many other species. Innate sense of time stimulated by light, moisture, and temperature
China, India, USA, Indonesia, Brazil
the 5 most populous nations
Peru
the US is hesitant to decrease the amount of chlorine used to disinfect drinking water because of a cholera outbreak in _______ that happened as a result of a decision to stop chlorinating much of the country's drinking water
pressurized water
the US uses _____ _____ reactors
20
the US uses around ____ million barrels of oil per day
24
the USA uses about _____ times as much energy per person as India
Genetic Diversity
the genetic variety within all populations of a given species
Much oceanic waste ends up in
the great pacific vortex
kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species
the hierarchy sequence (King Philip came over from great Spain)
5-Hour Energy
the inventor of _____ _____ _____ drink wants to secure limitless geothermal energy using graphene cords
Critical Minimum Size
the smallest a population can become and still remain viable (able to reproduce without inbreeding)
Primary Sludge
the solid material that settles out during primary treatment
Schistosomiasis
tropical disease caused by a parasitic worm that can damage the liver, urinary tract, nervous system, and lungs. Reservoirs created by hydropower dams provide a habitat for the worm, which can infect humans during bathing, swimming, walking barefoot along water banks, or drinking infected water; disadvantage of hydropower
an aquifer made of porous rock covered by soil out of which water can easily flow, within the water table
unconfined aquifer
55
under the surface of the earth, it is always ______ degrees; earth-sheltered structures stay at a constant temperature year round, mitigating the need for heating and cooling
wood, coal, oil
until 1890, ___ was the main energy source, ____ was from 1890-1970, now ____ is the main energy source
what do we do with methane
use it to heat homes or burn it off
steel
used in buildings and cars
aluminum
used in cans, planes, cars
copper
used in wiring
sand and gravel
used to make concrete
sulfur
used to make fertilizers and plastics
Phytoremediation
uses plants to remove specific minerals from soil by concentrating them
Canada
uses the most energy per capita
Bacterial Source Tracking
using molecular biological techniques to identify the source of dangerous bacteria in a stream or other body of water
Fracking
using pressurized fluid to create fractures in rock and release natural gas or petroleum; releases everything beneath the surface (radioactive chemicals, etc.) and leaches into groundwater
Energy Efficiency
using technology to accomplish a particular task with less energy
Cogeneration
using waste heat to make electricity/producing two forms of energy at the same time
Symbiosis
A close relationship between two species that benefits at least one of the species.
coke
A form of coal at high head so it has been dried. It burns much easier. 1500 degrees
Coke
A form of coal with water removed
Succession
A series of predictable and orderly changes within an ecosystem over time.
8,000
In India, approximately ________ villages have no local water
Ontario
In ________, Canada, there was a deadly outbreak of rare waterborne E. Coli (usually carried through food, not water)
dragline
In coal mining, huge shovel that takes enormous chunks out of a mountain to reach underground coal seams.
dragline
In coal mining, huge shovel that takes enormous chunks out of a mountain to reach underground coal seams. May cost up to 100 million dollars
Irrigation
Population growth diverts water to ______ to provide food for the growing numbers of people, which decreases the amount of water available for individual use. Also, increased agriculture encourages the removal of natural plant cover that absorbs precipitation (increased runoff). Results in dry, unproductive soil and a cycle of crop failure
strip cropping
Planting regular crops and close-growing plants, such as hay or nitrogen-fixing legumes, in alternating rows or bands to help reduce depletion of soil nutrients.
Plasmolyze
Plants _______ (water moves out of cell) and die in salty soil because the concentration of water outside the cell is lower
acid mine 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.
coal, not minerals
SMCRA only protect ecosystem damage from
45% of California is in what watershed
San Francisco
Rhine river cleanup occurred after the
Sandoz Chemical Spill. It was stated after a fire arose in 1986 by a chemical company.
Desalinization is well under way in this California City
Santa Barbara
what did they do to fix the dust bowl
Soil Conservation Service of 1935 (now called the national resource conservation service), irrigation introduced, shrubs planted, reseeding of native grasses
non-municipal waste
Solid waste generated by industry, agriculture, and mining
habitat fragmentation
Splitting of ecosystems into small fragments
Nile Perch
The chichinds in lake Victoria died out due to the introduction of
Great Green Wall
The giant wall of trees that stop the dust and sand from the Gobi Desert from spreading.
sanitary landfill has
a thick lining and a leachate collecting system
50
We have about __ years of oil left
Industry (42%), Buildings (33%), transport (25%)
We use energy for
Weathering
Weathering is the breaking down of rocks, soil, and minerals
integrated waste management
an approach to waste disposal that employs several waste reduction, management, and disposal strategies in order to reduce the environmental impact of MSW
Freshwater Wetlands
an aquatic biome that is submerged or saturated by water for at least part of each year, but shallow enough to support emergent vegetation. Provide important ecosystem services
Confined aquifer
an aquifer surrounded by a layer of impermeable rock or clay that impedes water flow; the water is trapped and often under pressure. Slow to re-accumulate (thousands of years)
Fukushima Meltdown
an earthquake directly followed by an enormous tsunami caused a nuclear meltdown. Backup systems that were contained within a 5 m wall (despite prior suggestion of an 8 m wall) were knocked out by the wave and emergency systems necessary to cool the reactors were also destroyed (kept in the basement). Ocean currents still carry nuclear radiation to the coast of California (2nd worst disaster in history)
induced edge
an edge created by humans
Fuel Cell
an electrochemical cell similar to a battery; differs from a battery in that it produces power as long as it is supplied with fuel (oxygen and hydrogen) from an external reservoir, whereas batteries store a fixed amount of energy
Kuwaiti Oil Fires
an estimated one to 1.5 billion barrels of oil were released into the environment after Iraqi forces (Occupying Kuwait) set fire to over 650 oil wells and damaged almost 75 more, which then spewed crude oil across the desert and into the Persian Gulf; biggest spill in history
HDVE
2-high density polyethlylene (milk jugs, detergent bottles, water bottles)
avg cost of a single cleanup site
20 million
it takes the same amount of energy to make 1 new can as
20 recycled cans
Loam is composed of __ clay, __ silt, ___ sand
20%, 40%, 40%
PP
5-polypropylene plastic (margarine and yogurt containers caps for containers, medicine bottles, and car seats)
increases, destroys
Tar sands ___ oil production but ___ the environment
150
Tarsands have ___ % times the amount of patroleum on earth
1997 Noranda Company
Was paid 65 million in return for a few hundred to avoid Yellowstone Contamination
What ensure a constant water supply at the cost of an environmental impact
dams
marine snow
dead matter that sink to the bottom and provides nutrients in deep ocean
# of deaths/entire population
deathrate calculation
alfisol
deciduous forest, good soil for farming
N Alaska, artic national wildlife refuge (ANWR)
Lots of oil in suspected in ___ and in the ____ refuge
Exxon Valdez Oil Spill
Major tanker accident in Alaska in 1989, that resulted in a major oil spill in Prince William Sound.
Electrical utilities 88%
Major uses of coal
Lower
Many studies show that ________ the cost of water to reflect the actual cost of extracting, purifying, and transporting the water helps to ______ water consumption
WWII
More minerals have been used since ___ than since all of our previous history
Southwest, Texas, High Plains
Most severe water shortages in three regions of the US
canopy, sunlight
Most species in a tropical rainforest are found in _____ due to ____
Missouri River
Most threatened river in the US. According to environmentalists, the river will continue to deteriorate unless its natural flow is restored and it is reconnected to its flood plain. However, conflicting interests downstream and upstream complicate the rivers restoration
combined
Pittsburgh has a ________ sewer system, despite it being a violation of the Clean Water Act, because building a separate system would be too expensive
habitat
Place where an organism lives
pollutants and the mixing of nutrients at the bottom
Water becomes less oxygenated in streams due to
Sublimation
Water can change directly from a solid to vapor without going through the liquid phase
Reverse osmosis
Water desalination process that involves forcing salt water through a membrane that is permeable to water but not to salt
Polar
Water forms hydrogen bonds because it is ______
Public
Water has always been considered a ________ resource
4, 0
Water is densest at _______ degrees Celsius, and least dense at _________ degrees Celsius, when it is in its solid state. This means that ice floats on the surface of water, allowing organisms to survive beneath it
Universal
Water is often called the ________ solvent. This is a major asset of water. However, it is also a major drawback, as many substances that dissolve in water pollute it
Mekong River Basin
Water source shared by Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam where tensions are rising over water use
Gray water
Water that has already been used in sinks, showers, washing machines, and dishwashers; can be recycled to flush toilets, wash cars, or sprinkle the lawn
Twice
Water use during the 20th century grew at more than ______ the rate of population growth
Total Fertility Rate (TFR)
average number of children born to each woman
mainly to landfills, but scrubber sludge can be used in drywall, fly ash can make concrete, and caso4 can be used in soil conditioner
byproducts of coal production go
life expect of a mineral
calculated by diving the known reserves by the annual production
four types of particles from smallest to largest
clay, silt, sand
Differential reproduction
favorable combos survive
aggregation
grouping of a large number of adults of a species. usually occurs in insects
Fuel Assemblies
groupings of fuel rods within a nuclear reactor
r = (b - d) + (i - e)
growth rate equation
slope mine
has a slanting passage that makes it possible to haul the broken ore out of the mine in cars rather than hoisting it up in buckets
Emerald Ash Bover
invasive beetle larvae that burrows in the bark of ash trees, killing entire forests
Infrared Radiation
invisible waves of heat energy given off by surfaces; cannot penetrate glass like visible light
behavioral isolation
involves courtship or mating rituals
strip mining
involves the removal of the Earth's surface all the way down to the level of the mineral seam.
temporal isolation
isolated by activity in different seasons or times of day
resources
have potential to be used by humans and are naturally occurring. Not economical due to lack of demand/tech.
Russia, China, India
have the most coal
Persistent Organic Pollutant
hazardous chemical that is resistant to environmental degradation (remain in the environment for a long time and bioaccumulate). Ex: PCBs
toxic waste goes to
hazardous landfill
Thomas Malthus
he theorized that the human population will continue to increase without factors like war or famine
natural gas
microscopic organisms under sedimentary rock at higher temperatures form
oil
microscopic organisms under sedimentary rock from
tin
mineral concentrated in China
Sedimentation
minerals flow in fast water deposit in slow water (FE, MN, P, S, CU)
calcium sulfate, drywall, concrete, fertilizer
mixing limestone with sulfur in pollution control devices creates ______ ______, which is used for products like ________, ________, and _______
Biogas
mixture of methane and carbon dioxide produced by bacterial degradation of organic matter and used as a fuel; combustion produces fewer pollutants than coal or biomass. Used primarily in developing countries
Energy Conservation
moderating or eliminating wasteful or unnecessary energy-consuming activities
magmatic
molten rock separates by density (FE, CR, CI, and N)
waste produced in blast furnaces
molten slag, air pollution (CO2 and smoke)
mimicry
morphological adaptation in which one species evolves to resemble another species for protection or other advantages.
external costs
most companies consider environmental costs
LED
most efficient type of lightbulb
immigration
most of the USA's population growth comes from _________
Immigration
movement of individuals into a population
Emigration
movement of individuals out of a population
Zooanthelae and coral, mycorrhizae and plant roots, bees and flowers
mutualism example
pursuit and ambush
name the two types of predatation
what is a deposit fee
in certain states, you can get your money back on recyclable containers
wetlands
in recognition of their ecosystem services, Pennsylvania law bans the development of _______. Farmers are required to allow wetlands to purify agricultural runoff before it enters waterways (cannot farm too close to streams)
pronatalists
in support of birth and population
90000 Americans
in the 20th century ____ died in mining accidents
90,000
in the 20th century, ________ US coal miners died in mining accidents
south
in the Northern Hemisphere, ______ facing windows receive more total sunlight during the day than windows facing other directions; the most energy efficient homes have windows facing in this direction to facilitate passive solar heating
Preindustrial
in the _______ stage, both birth and death rates were high and population growth was stable
Transitional
in the ________ stage, modern medicine and other technologies had caused a drastic decline in death rate, but tradition kept birth rates high. This caused massive population growth
Postindustrial
in the ________ stage, the population may begin to decrease as birthrates decline due to birth control and new social norms
hormones
in vertebrates, internal rhythms are maintained by ______ which can influence blood sugar levels, body temperature, nervous system activity, and sleep cycles
Florida, California, Hawaii
in which three states is declining biological diversity the most serious?
innate behavior
inherent behavioral tendencies
free-running clock
innate sense of time
circadian rhythm
innate sense of time via free-running clock, triggered by stimuli
86 (41% patroleum, 25% coal, 20% natural gas)
percentage of us energy that comes from fossil feuls
mechanical isolation
physical isolation prevents coevolution
toxins can be removed from the soil using plants in a process called
phytoremediation
seed banks
place where plant biodiversity is stored
Allelopathy
plant roots secret chemical to keep others from growing
spines, thick waxes, tough leaves, chemicals
plants protect themselves from herbivores with
coal
plants under sedimentary rock form
hyperaccumulators
plants which accumulate extremely high amounts of heavy metals
in hypertonic solutions, plant cells will
plasmolyze
Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
platform exploded, causing history's largest accidental marine oil spill as of mid-2010. BP was the owner
contour plowing
plowing fields along the curves of a slope to prevent soil loss
having opposite charges at opposite ends
polar covalant bond
Phosphorous, Nitrogen
pollution by ______ and ______ stimulates the growth of plants and algae in a body of water. These nutrients are essential in normal concentrations but are extremely harmful in excess. The contamination of water with human and animal wastes, plant residues, atmospheric deposition, and fertilizer all introduce too much of these nutrients into bodies of water. Create high BOD by causing algae blooms/excessive plant life, which microorganisms use too much oxygen to decompose
Organic Compounds
pollution by _______ usually consists of synthetic chemicals produced by human activities, including pesticides, solvents, industrial chemicals, and plastics. These pollutants seep from landfills, leach downward from the soil, runoff from fields and urban areas, and are dumped directly into waterways. Many of these synthetic chemicals have hormonal impacts (include steroids and birth control pills) and other negative health effects
Disease-Causing Agents
pollution by ________, infectious organisms that cause diseases, results from water being contaminated by the wastes of infected individuals. Diseases carried by water include typhoid, cholera, bacterial dysentery, polio, and infectious hepatitis. Tested by the fecal coliform test
Fluidized Beds
pollution control device in which coal is mixed with limestone to neutralize the sulfur
climate
pollution from fossil fuels is much worse in Asia because there are no ______ controls or regulations to protect air or water quality
Nonpoint-Source Pollution
pollution that comes from many sources rather than from a single, specific site; discharged from a large area due to runoff. Difficult to curb with legislation because it requires cooperation from a number of industries and interest groups
Point-Source Pollution
pollution that enters a body of water from a specific source; discharged into the environment through pipes, sewers, or ditches. Easier to control legislatively
hazardous waste facilities, sanitary landfill, and sewage treatment plants are most likely located near
poor minority landfills
Uniform
population dispersion that occurs in organisms that are repelled by each other; likely territorial or protective of scarce resources (birds nesting on a beach)
Random
population dispersion that occurs in organisms that do not interact or care whether they are close to another member of their species; dandelions
Clumped
population dispersion that occurs with social species that live in groups
crash
populations rarely stabilize at carrying capacity, but shift slightly above and below. Only a huge spike creates a _____
other names for grasslands
praries, pampas, steppe, outback
Runoff
precipitation that flows over land and enters waterways; replenishes surface water
thigmotropism
response to touch stimulus. example: Venus fly trap
A desalinization process that involves forcing salt-water through a membrane permeable to water but not to salt
reverse osmosis
The army and Japan use this filtration type
reverse osmosis
coral atoll
ring-shaped coral island
Dillusion
rinses pollution out of soil but causes polluted water
The three way to manage hazardous waste
source reduction (most effective), conversion to less hazardous materials (high-temp incineration or plasma torch), long term storage
Diapause
seasonal dormancy
Bituminous
second-purest form of coal, highest sulfur content, most common
Population Density
the number of individuals per unit area (or unit volume) at a certain time
Atomic Mass
the number of protons and neutrons
Atomic Number
the number of protons in the nucleus of an atom; characteristic of an element
Doubling Time
the number of years it takes for a population to double
benthic environment
the ocean floor, which extends from the intertidal zone to the deep ocean trenches
abyssal benthic zone
the ocean's benthic environment that extends from a depth of 4000 to 6000 meters
Cogeneration
the production of two useful forms of energy from the same fuel; also known as combined heat and power
municipal waste
the waste materials produced in homes, businesses, schools, and other places in a community
Immigration and Nationality Act
(1965) this law made it easier for entire families to migrate and established "special categories" for political refugees. This act increased the amount of immigration and abolished national quotas
Endangered Species Act
(1973) identifies threatened and endangered species in the U.S. and puts their protection ahead of economic considerations. Law does not compensate land owners who cannot develop their property
other names for taiga
- boreal forest - coniferous forest
Aral Sea problems
-95% of water is diverted to agriculture -24 fish species are gone -Fishing industries dried up -toxic salt storm kill agriculture and cause health problems -Anthrax/biological weapons buried on a island are now accessable
disadvantages of desalinization
-destruction of life at intake -increase brine with discharge -construction damage to land -harmful purification chemicals -high cost
top ways to save water
-full loads of laundry and dishes on economy setting -eat less beef -low flow toilets -don't throw away water
Humans tried to help salmon migrations through
-hatcheries -fish ladders -transport trucks -releasing excess water and turning off turbines
wetlands
-highly productive -provide habitat for migrating birds -filter and retain pollutants from the water -act as resevoirs and minimize flooding
solution to Tragedy of the Commons
-laws -privatize resources
Darwin Theories
-over reproduction -Variation among offspring -survival of fittest -best genetics survive
Avg person recycle to trash ratio
.75 lb (recycle) : 4.5 lbs (trash)
fraction of smolts that make it to the ocean
1 in 5
1 gallon of oil can contaminate
1 million gallons of water
PETE
1-polyethylene terephthalate (commonly used in beverage containers)
Patroleum
1/3 of our energy comes from
Columbia river has ___ dams
100
Lines slant toward
100
O horizon
100% organic material
hectare
10000 square meters measurement. average resources needed per person is 2.1 hectares. the US uses about 10 per person
how many pounds of trash are produced per capita in the us each year
1600
In what percent of electricity and natural gas transport water
19
dust bowl
1930, farm plants couldn't handle drought, died, soil blew it away
Chernobyl
1986 nuclear meltdown in Ukraine. The nuclear power plant 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. Hundreds of thousands of people had to evacuate from the surrounding area and Ukraine's soil will be unable to support agriculture for the next hundred years at least. Radioactive dust spread in wind currents across Europe, causing increased instances of cancers and birth defects. The disaster was caused by flawed design, human error, and a lack of training/understanding of the dangerous materials being handled
soil is composed of
25% air, 25% water, 5% organic materials, 45% minerals
us consumers throw away enough aluminum to rebuild the us commercial airline fleet every
3 months
storage, entombment, decommissioning
3 options for closed nuclear power plants: ______, in which the plant is guarded by the utility company for 50-100 years as the radioactive materials decay (the decline in radioactivity makes it safer to dismantle later); ______, in which the plant is permanently encased in concrete (not a viable option because it would have to stay intact for over 1,000 years, in which a leak would be likely); and _____, in which the plant is dismantled immediately after closure (dangerous for workers and some parts are too radioactive to take apart)
freshwater standing, freshwater moving, salt water
3 types of aquatic ecosystems
PVC
3-polyvinylchloride (food wraps, surgical gloves, piping, blister packaging)
sea water has a concentration of salt of
35 PPT
subbituminous
3rd purest form of coal, between bituminious and lignite
LDPE
4-low density polyethylene (shrink wrap and grocery bags)
runoff percentage in developed areas vs in forests
48% to 10%
water is most dense at
4°C
the plains staves cover __ % of US land and use __ % of irrigation water
6, 30
PS
6-Polystyrene (disposable plastic silverware, egg cartons, fast food packaging, video cassettes, televisions, and styrofoam)
hadal benthic zone
6000m to the bottom of the deepest trenches
average american uses how much water per day
78 gallons
percent of recycled tires
9 percent
J
A ______ curve is associate with exponential growth
inorganic fertilizer
A fertilizer that consists of mined or synthetically manufactured mineral supplements. Washes away quickly.
Bakken shale formation in North Dakota
A large deposit of oil found recently in the US is located in
Sinkhole
A large surface cavity or depression where an underground cave roof has collapsed; occur more frequently when droughts or excessive pumping of water cause a lowering of the water table (common in Florida)
Loam
A mixture of gravel, sand, silt, clay, and organic matter
Pathogen
A parasite that causes disease or death
fringing reef
A reef attached to the shore of a continent or island.
Commensalism
A relationship between two organisms in which one organism benefits and the other is unaffected
Parasitism
A relationship between two organisms of different species where one benefits and the other is harmed
Mutualism
A relationship between two species in which both species benefit
Lignite
A soft, wet, brownish-black coal. Lowest heat value
Minerals
A solid inorganic substance of natural occurrence.
keystone species
A species that influences the survival of many other species in an ecosystem
Threatened Species
A species that is likely to become endangered in the near future (near critical minimum size)
Beijing
A third of the wells in ________, China have gone dry
prokaryote
A unicellular organism that lacks a nucleus and membrane bound organelles
soil depletion across the globe is most common in
Africa and SE asia
Venezuela
After oil was found in dakota, the us stopped imports from
terrestrial (on land)
All biomes are
Succession progresses
As the ecosystem grows more productive and diverse
176 billion barrels
Amount of oil in the canadian tar sands
CERCLA (Superfund Act)
An act that gave EPA the authority to clean up abandoned, leaky hazardous waste sites.
no-till agriculture
An agricultural method in which farmers do not turn the soil between seasons, used as a means of reducing erosion
watershed
An ecosystem where all water runoff drains into a single body of water
Aral Sea
An inland sea in Katzakstan and Uzbekistan that has lost 80 percent of its total volume due to water diversion for irrigation and other uses. Much of its biological diversity has disappeared, and respiratory illnesses and cancers have skyrocketed in the surrounding area. This may be due to toxic salt storms that whip the salt on the receding shoreline into the air or the tons of anthrax bacteria that were buried on an island in the sea by the Soviets
Alaskan Pipeline
An oil pipeline that runs 800 miles from oil reserves in Prudhoe Bay, on the nothern coast of Alaska to the port of Valdez, on Alaska's southern coast, from which the oil can be shipped to markets. Also known as the Trans-Alaska pipeline
niche
An organism's particular role or job in an ecosystem
2040
Antarctica mining is prohibited until
limiting factor
Any biotic or abiotic factor that restricts the existence, numbers, reproduction, or distribution of organisms.
Water budget
Approach to restoring salmon populations along the Columbia River; extra water, simulating spring snowmelt, is released from the dams to help wash the smolts downstream. Some people are opposed to increasing water flow for the salmon (farmers and the hydropower industry do not want water to be wasted on the fish)
40
Approximately _______ percent of the world's population lives in arid or semi-arid lands, primarily in Asia and Africa. These people spend substantial amounts of time and effort obtaining water
Unconfined aquifers
Aquifers in which the layers of rock above the groundwater are porous and allow surface water to seep downward, replacing aquifer contents
Wetlands
Areas of land that are covered with water for at least part of the year
lack of regulation
Asia's coal production and consumption drastically increased due to
Hydrogen bond
Attraction between the positive hydrogen end of a water molecule with the negative oxygen end of another water molecule; the basis for water's unique properties
Anthrax
Bacteria buried on an island in the Aral Sea; infectious deadly disease that was part of highly secretive biological warfare studies conducted by the soviet union
P (positive) silicon photovoltaic cell is doped with
Boron
Farther
Building smaller levees ______ from a river is a more cost-effective and environmentally friendly way of controlling flooding
How do you apply the three R's when purchasing a car
Buy parts (recycle), buy an old (reuse), don'e buy a car (reduce)
50
the world has around _____ years left of oil production
Water shortages are most severe in these states
CA, AZ, TX, KS, OK, NE
Top 5 superfund states
CA, PA, NY, MI, NJ
Wetlands
Can be used to treat acid mine drainage but is not cheap and may take 50-100 years to neutralize
Isle Royale
Canadian island in which moose populations skyrocketed after wolves contracted disease. This caused the moose population to crash
Worm feces
Castings
eukaryotes
Cells that contain nuclei
Plastics with #7
Certain food containers and Tupperware. They cannot be recycled so look for alternatives
ITER
China, EU, India, Japan, Korea, Russia, and the US are pooling resources to get fusion to work feasibly
Static and never in equilibrium
Climax communities are
La and Pheonix divert water from this supply that runs through the Grand Canyon
Colorado River
What waterway is threatened by the radioactive wastes stored at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation?
Columbia River
river system that has extensive changes that adversely affected the fish population
Columbia river
Asia
Continent with the most agricultural land under irrigation
coal liquefaction
Conversion of solid coal to a methane
International Commission for Protection of the Rhine
Cooperation between Switzerland, Germany, France, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands to deal with water issues relating to the Rhine River. The project was sparked by a Swiss chemical spill that contaminated the water from Switzerland to the Netherlands. Due to the ICPR's actions, the river's water is now almost as pure as drinking water and many species of fish have returned
Chile
Country with a lot of copper
Glen Canyon Dam
Dam on the Colorado River that has profoundly affected the river's ecosystem. Scientists have determined from test floods done with this dam that periodic floods may be a way to reduce some of the negative environmental impacts of dams
sessile
Describes an organism that remains attached to a surface for its entire life and does not move
Salt
Desalination poses the problem of what to do with excess _______, which damages marine ecosystems if it is simply put back where the water was taken from
Substrate is rock or sand in primary and soil or organic material in secondary
Difference between primary and secondary succession
Osmosis
Diffusion of water through a selectively permeable membrane
boiling of water and to collect water with brine as a byproduct
Distillation
Difference between dump and landfill
Dump- waste is just "dumped" Landfill- was is disposed of responsibly
What were PCBs used for?
Electrical transformers, electrical capacitors, vacuum pumps, gas-transmission turbines
Metals
Elements that are good conductors of electric current and heat.
Nonmetals
Elements that are poor conductors of heat and electric current
Oil Pollution Act of 1990
Enacted a year after the disastrous Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska's Prince William Sound, this law streamlines federal response to oil spills by requiring oil storage facilities and vessels to prepare spill-response plans and provide for their rapid implementation. The law also increases polluters' liability for cleanup costs and damage to natural resources and imposes measures -- including a phaseout of single-hulled tankers -- designed to improve tanker safety and prevent spills.
RCRA (Resource Conservation and Recovery Act)
Enacted in 1976 to instruct EPA which waste is hazardous and to provide guidelines and standards to states for hazardous waste management programs
What are the two ways to remove PCB's. Which is more desirable
Extraction using solvents (more desirable) and high temperature incineration (less desirable)
Farm
Even though South America has more available water than Asia, it has less potential to support the population because it does not fall on viable _________ land
Clean Water Act
Federal Law setting a national goal of making all natural surface water fit for fishing and swimming; banned polluted discharge into surface water and required the metals be removed from waste. Requires the EPA to set and monitor national emission limitations. Good at regulating point-source pollution, but struggles with curbing non point-source contamination
What is the strategy of encouraging recycling and reducing the amount of waste that people generate by charging them for the amount of trash that they produce?
Fee Per Bag
What two groups compete in the Klamoth and San Joaquin Rivers
Fishermen and Farmers
Floods of 1993
Flood of the Mississippi River that was caused by prolonged rain and exacerbated by drained wetlands, developed flood plains, and levees built to hold back the floodwaters. Pesticides and other agricultural chemicals and zebra mussels were carried by floodwaters to the Gulf of Mexico, where they wreaked havoc on the gulf's ecosystem
zooxanthellae
Forms an endosymbiotic relationship with corals and performs photosynthesis.
coniferous forests 250 million years ago
Fossil fuels come from
80
France uses nuclear energy for around _____ percent of its electricity generation
What is the name of the large landfill that was closed in NY
Fresh kills landfill
Surface water
Fresh water found on earth's surface in streams and rivers, lakes, ponds, reservoirs, and werlands
3, .3
Freshwater makes up less than ____ % of all water, and less than ___% of water available to drink
Who wrote "Tragedy of the Commons"
Garrett Hardin
other natural gases
Gas hydrate reserves may far exceed
paramecium, competitive exclusion
Gause's experiment with _____ showed _____
Lake Erie
Great Lake that was once so severely polluted that nothing could live in it. It is the most susceptible to pollution of all the Great Lakes because it has the highest population on its shores and it is the shallowest. In recent decades, it has been partially restored. However, algae blooms persist, PCBs/Mercury/DDT continue to bioaccumulate, and bacteria make the water unsafe
cation exchange
H+ cations push other cations like MG, K and CA, into plants. If a soil is more soluble, there is less nutrients for plants
that primary succession had occured near the Michigan lakes
Henry Cowles sand dune experiment near Lake Michigan showed
water properties
High heat capacity; polar; adhesion and cohesion; a great solvent; liquid at room temp; frozen water is less dense then liquid water.
fracking
High pressure with steam is used to break rocks
Sand
Holds lots of air, but does not retain minerals or water
2 of each per day
How many high and low tides are cause per day
about 1/3
How much oil is imported
30, 70
Humans can remove perhaps ______ percent of a river's glow without greatly affecting the natural ecosystem. However, it is not unusual for _____ percent or more of surface water to be removed in the American Southwest
54
Humans use around _______ percent of all fresh water flowing in rivers and streams
Salinization
In this process, irrigation of soil over a long period of time causes salt to accumulate from the trace amounts of salt and minerals in the water that remain when it evaporates
Why do earthworms come up during rainstorms
Lack of oxygen
increase
Introduction of predators to an ecosystem does what to biodiversity
68.3, 23.1, 8.6
Irrigation accounts for ______ percent of the world's total water consumption, industry for ______ percent, and domestic and municipal use for _______ percent
Subsurface Drip (Microirrigation)
Irrigation in which pipes with tiny holes bored into them convey water directly to individual plants, reducing the overall water needed significantly
Center pivot
Irrigation system in which a sprinkler sprays a field (sometimes 100 football fields) in a circular motion (used in Nebraska)
who was the author of easter's end
Jared Diamond
What was the name of the Bahamian ship that spent spent years transporting incinerated ash from Philadelphia around the world, eventually dumping it in the Indian Ocean.
Khian Sea
primary succession
Krackatoa is an example of
Mono Lake
Lake that serves as a warning against the diversion of too much water; supplied the water for Los Angeles for many years, but became so salty that it was uninhabitable by native species. Dust storms from the exposed lake bed posed a health concern as well, resulting in an end to water diversions
Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977
Land must be restored while mining is in process to prevent erosion, water pollution, and landslides. Also prohibits mining in parks and refuges.
overburden
Layer of soil and rock overlying a mineral deposit. Surface mining removes this layer.
Soil Profile
Layers of Soil, O, A, B, C, and bedrock
50
Less than ______ percent of the water applied to the soil by flood irrigation is absorbed by plants; the rest usually evaporates into the atmosphere. This makes traditional irrigation extremely inefficient
What are polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)?
Light or clear light yellow oily liquid or waxy solids that were used for a variety of reasons before they were found to be dangerous.
Freshwater-oxygen Desert-water rainforest-organic soil nutrients Tundra-Unfrozen soil Continental shelf-dissolved nutrients
Limiting factor examples
hibernation
Long-term torpor that is an adaptation to winter cold and food scarcity.
wells, tar sands, and oil shales
Methods of obtaining oil include
open pit mine
Mine in which ore is exposed at the surface in a large excavation. A large hole or quarry
flooding in 1993, agriculture pollutes the gulf
Mississippi River
large salty lake in eastern California has shrunk due to excess surface water removal
Mono Lake
methane
NYC collects ______ from sewage treatment plants to create electricity
Smolts
Name for baby salmon that must make the perilous migration along the Columbia River. Often die due to issues caused by the dams along the river
heating and is slowly replacing coal for electricity. It can also be used for transportation. It is cleaner, cheaper, and is used in some national parks and cities
Natural gas is mainly used for
CH4 or methane
Natural gas is mostly
Name one location where benzene and other toxic chemicals were buried in Allegheny County.
Neville Island
The twist flower is used to remove
Nickel
have the most oil
OPEC and the Middle East
Largest aquifer in the world
Ogallala
Colorado River Basin
One of the most serious water supply problems in the US is the _______ ________ ________. This river provides water for an enormous portion of the US (Southwest), but the USA's use of the water is severely restricted by an international treaty with Mexico. With increased population growth in the upper Colorado region, the water supply of the lower Colorado region is threatened, which, in turn, allows insufficient amounts of water to flow to Mexico. This water usage is also increasing the salt concentration of the river
____ lies on top of the soil, ___ on the bottom
Organic Material, Mineral
what toxic chemicals can be ingested by eating fish
PCB, mercury, DDT
1995 ASARCO
Paid $2000 for 2 billion worth of land
Cowbirds, wasps and caterpillars, mosquitoes, ceratotohoa, honey bees and mites
Parasitism example
realized niche
Part of a species fundamental niche that an organism actually uses, limited by competition.
compost
Partially decomposed organic plant and animal matter used as a soil conditioner or fertilizer.
synopsis hypothesis
Parts of a cell were taken up by bacteria and used a plants
Johnstown Flood (1889)
Pennsylvania dam broke, causing damage and loss of 2,200+ lives
N (negative) silicon photovoltaic cells are doped with
Phosphorus
intertidal zone
Portion of the shoreline that lies between the high and low tide lines
Hubbert's Peak
Predicted that peak production would occur in 2019
coevolution
Process by which two species evolve in response to changes in each other
Distillation
Process in which salt water is heated until the water evaporates, leaving behind a crust of salt. The water vapor is trapped and then condensed to produce fresh water
What law was enacted in 1976 that made leaving toxic chemicals in steel drums an unacceptable way to handle hazardous waste?
RCRA
2.8
the worldwide total fertility rate is _____ percent, which is well above replacement level
electrostatic precipitator (esp)
Removes harmful ash from entering environment
43
Removing plant cover from the ground and replacing it with pavement and buildings exacerbates the effect of floods by causing runoff. When an area is developed, surface runoff often increases from 10 to ______ percent
Pollution prevention act
Requires facilities to reduce pollution at its source. Reduction can be in volume or toxicity.
80
The World Health Organization estimates that _______ percent of human illness results from insufficient water supplies and poor water quality
Jordan River
River that supplies water to Israel, Jordan, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip, countries experiencing large population increases that could make their water situation even more critical
Half, 40
Roughly _______ of the US population uses groundwater for drinking water and approximately ________ percent of irrigation water comes from groundwater
G.F. Gause
Russian ecologist that proposed the competitive exclusion principle; experimented with Paramecium to show that exponential population growth cannot be sustained forever (eventually crashes)
Location, Extraction, Refinement, Manufacture
Steps of Mineral Processing
Earth 911
Tells you where you can recycle objects
20-24
The US uses __- __ times as much energy as a person in India
Watershed
The area of land that is drained by a single river or stream
80
The average American consumes around _______ gallons of water per day
35
The concentration of salt in salt water is around _______ parts per thousand
Columbia River
The fourth largest river in North America. There are more than 100 dams within the system that provide inexpensive hydroelectric power and water. However, the dams along the river have greatly reduced fish populations, particularly salmon, due to the impediments to migration along the river
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
pioneer community
The first to habitat in Primary succession. Things that survive on basically nothing (Rocks and Sun alone) lichen and moss
90
The five industries that use _____ percent of industrial water are chemical products, paper and pulp, petroleum and coal, metals, and food processing
6, 15, 40, 30
The high plains cover ______ percent of US land but produce more than ______ percent of its wheat, corn, sorghum, and cotton and almost _____ percent of its livestock. Therefore, it requires approximately _______ percent of the irrigation water used in the US
blast furnace
The huge reaction vessels used in industry to extract iron from its ore
an increase in ticks
The increase in acorns overall led to
producers
The kingdom of plants and protists
Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, and Kuwait.
The largest oil reserves in the Middle East are located in
Saltwater intrusion
The movement of seawater into an underground aquifer; can occur along coastal areas when the groundwater is depleted faster than it can be replenished
fundamental niche
The niche species could potentially occupy.
Stable runoff
The portion of runoff from precipitation that is available throughout the year; can be low despite the fact that the total runoff is quite high. India faces this problem due to most of the precipitation that falls during the wet season drains away into rivers, where it is unavailable for the rest of the year
crop rotation
The practice of rotating use of different fields from crop to crop each year, to avoid exhausting the soil.
Dematerialization
The process in which fewer materials are used in the creation of a product
Dematerialization
The process in which fewer materials are used in the creation of a product (dematerialization is only source reduction if the new product is as durable)
smelting
The process of using high temperature to remove impurities from a mineral
Desalination
The removal of salt to produce drinkable water
leeward
The side of a mountain range that faces away from the oncoming wind and contains the rain shadow
windward
The side of a mountain range that faces the oncoming wind.
anthropology
The study of humans
Valmeyer, Hartsburg
The towns of Valmeyer and Hartsburg represent two different strategies of redevelopment after the Flood of 1993: in ______, the residents decided to relocate the town to allow the land around the Mississippi River to return to its natural state. In ________, the residents decided to stay in their original location and rebuild the levees that had failed them (remains vulnerable to flooding)
ecotone
The transition from one type of habitat or ecosystem to another, such as the transition from a forest to a grassland.
South America and Asia
The two continents with the greatest fresh water supply
Aquifers
The underground caverns and porous layers of sand, gravel, or rock in which groundwater is stored
Water table
The upper limit of an unconfined aquifer, below which the ground is saturated with water; varies in depth depending on the amount of precipitation occurring in an area
Lasers
The use of ______ to level fields reduces water consumption because it ensures that all plants get the same amount of water
Bioremediation
The use of living organisms to detoxify and restore polluted and degraded ecosystems
200 years
The world's coals supply can last another
Ogallala Aquifer
The world's largest groundwater deposit and the source of water for the High Plains region of the US. In some areas it is being depleted as much as 40 times faster than it is being replaced
salt
There is more ___ in the ocean than CO2 in the atmosphere
Water Hyacinth
This invasive species took over Lake Victoria cause the lake to clog
T/F Batteries and fluorescent bulbs are supposed to be handled as hazardous materials instead of being placed in the trash because they contain toxic heavy metals.
True
tailings
Toxic impurities removed from ore
Principle that if everyone acts in their own best inters, the resources will be destroyed and nobody can have the resources
Tragedy of the Commons
General Mining Act of 1872
U.S. law that legalized and promoted mining by private individuals on public lands for just $5 per acre, subject to local customs, with no government oversight.
ethanol
US creation of ______ from corn has resulted in an excess of food products containing high fructose corn syrup and other corn products
increase efficiency and conservation, secure fossil fuel supplies, minimize environmental damage, develop alternate energy sources
US energy stategy
Oil Pollution Act of 1990
Under this law, any onshore or offshore oil facility, oil shipper, vessel owner, or vessel operator that discharges oil into navigable waters or onto an adjoining shore may be liable for clean-up costs, as well as damages for harm to natural resources, private property, and local economies. It also created an oil clean-up and economic compensation fund and required oil tankers using U.S. ports to be double hulled by the year 2011.
University of California Santa Barbara
University that reduced its water use by nearly 50%
euphotic zone
Upper layer of a body of water through which sunlight can penetrate and support photosynthesis. It is the neretic zone in the open ocean to a depth of 150 meters
Phytoremediation
Use of green plants and microbes to clean up soil and groundwater.
alpine and artic
What are the two types of tundras
Diamonds, NW Canadian territory
____ was never found outside the western world were found in ____ in 1989
E. Coli
_____ ______ is tested for in the fecal coliform test because it is not present in nature except for in human and animal feces
oil
_____ is used in solar thermal electric generation because it does not evaporate and is not corrosive
day
_____ length is a major seasonal cue for plant blooming, animal migration and breeding, and seasonal dormancy (diapause)
2/3, 1/4
_____ of water is used for agriculture ______ for industry worldwide
42, 33, 25
_____ percent of energy is used for industry, ____ percent for buildings (heating, cooling, lights, etc.), and ____ for transportation
2.5
_____ percent of the water on earth is fresh
black footed
______ ______ ferrets disappeared when farmers killed off prairie dogs to prevent holes
gas hydrates
______ ______ reserves may exceed all other sources of fossil fuels combined; methane trapped in ice that is currently melting is being released into the atmosphere
frogs
______ and other amphibians are disappearing due to water chemicals (pesticides, fertilizer, and endocrine disrupters), disease, global warming, and possibly UV radiation
rhinos
______ are being hunted to extinction for their ivory. many cultures view the horns as an aphrodisiac and trophy
Tidal
______ changes influence creatures like fiddler crabs
Nitrates
______ contaminate shallow groundwater. This is a huge concern in rural areas, where 80-90 percent of people use groundwater for drinking. Exposure to this pollutant reduces the blood's ability to transport oxygen, which causes Cyanosis (blue baby syndrome), a serious disorder in small children
lakes, ponds
______ have a profundal zone, whereas _____ do not
Oil
______ is formed by microscopic organisms compressed in layers of sediment with time, heat, and pressure. Consists of an assortment of hydrocarbon chains (also called petroleum)
Coal
______ is formed by plants that died in swamps 300 million years ago; created under layers of sedimentary rock with time, heat, and pressure
Arid, semi-arid
______ lands are extremely dry, or desert landscapes in which plant growth is limited by lack of precipitation. ______ lands receive more precipitation than deserts but are subject to frequent and prolonged droughts. Most crops can be grown in these climates with irrigation
1/3, 2/3
______ of world energy and _______ of US energy comes from petroleum
99
______ percent of all species that have ever lived are extinct
60
______ percent of coal come from surface mining
55.5
______ percent of the oil used in the US is imported
Sewage
______ pollution consists of released wastewater from drains or sewers, including human wastes, soaps, and detergents. Introduces disease-carrying agents into waterways, causes the enrichment of water (high levels of nutrients cause algae blooms), oxygen deprivation (micro-organisms use up all the oxygen decomposing the sewage and algal blooms)
Radioactive Substances
_______ contain atoms of unstable isotopes that spontaneously emit radiation. Mining, power plants, nuclear weapons, and medical/scientific facilities produce this type of pollution. May concentrate in sewer sludge
Longwall Mining
a form of underground coal mining where a long wall of coal is mined in a single slice
Groundwater
_______ contamination is pollution that seeps from municipal sanitary landfills, underground storage tanks (petroleum), backyards, golf courses, and agricultural lands. This type of water supplies drinking water to half of the US, making its contamination very dangerous. This type of pollution is extremely difficult, costly, and time-consuming to clean up
lunar
_______ cycles effect mating of certain aquatic species
wind
_______ energy advantages: cheap, small area of land, renewable. Disadvantages: not always available (depends on weather/area), bird deaths (can be prevented by installing away from flight paths/designs that prevent roosting), visual detraction, noise
biodiversity, species richness
_______ is a term that encompasses the variety of species in an area, genetic diversity of individual populations, and ecosystem diversity; _____ _____, on the other hand, only deals with the number of distinct species in an area
Agriculture
_______ is the leading cause of water pollution, making up 72% of water pollution
3/4
_______ of the world's major watersheds are shared between at least two nations
1.97, 0.5, 0.03
_______ percent of freshwater is frozen in ice caps and glaciers (unavailable for human use), _______ percent is groundwater, and _______ percent makes up the earths surface water (rivers, lakes, streams) and other water
Thermal
_______ pollution occurs when heated water produced during certain industrial processes is released into waterways. Many power plants use water to remove excess heat (condensers), and although the water is cooled slightly before it is returned to waterways, it still warms the body of water. This results in less dissolved oxygen in the water (colder water holds more oxygen), which makes it difficult for fish to survive (impacts reproduction, digestion, and respiration rates of fish)
Wildfires
_______ release nutrient minerals, expose soil to stimulate seed germination, and remove plant cover to cause increased soil erosion
Wastewater
_______ undergoes several treatments at a sewage treatment plant to prevent health/environmental problems when it is discharged into lakes/rivers/oceans (primary, secondary, and tertiary treatment)
Belugas
________ are declining in the St. Lawrence River due to increasing temperatures and habitat degradation, along with changes in the availability of prey
Iceland
________ generates a significant amount of its energy from geothermal sources due to its volcanic location
Inorganic Chemicals
________ include acids, salts, and heavy metals, and do not easily break down. Once these chemicals contaminate water, they accumulate through the food chain, making them very dangerous. Contaminate ground/surface water from industry, mining, irrigation runoff, oil drilling, and urban runoff
97
________ percent of the earth's water is salty
Forests
________ protect lowlands with protection from flooding by trapping and absorbing precipitation; clear cutting forests exacerbates floods
Caribou
________ were placed on St. Matthew Island, a location with an abundance of vegetation and no natural predators for the population. The population peaked and exceeded the carrying capacity of the island (consumed all of the grass), which resulted in the majority of the population dying off
Norway
________ will have no gas-powered cars by 2025
nuclear bomb, nuclear energy
a _____ _____ releases energy all at once, whereas a _____ _____ reactions is controlled to produce smaller amounts of heat to be converted into electricity
Aggregation
a behavior in which a species of insects come together from different places in large numbers (monarch butterflies to Mexico in the winter)
Oligotrophic
a condition of a lake or other body of water characterized by low nutrients, low productivity, high oxygen levels, good light penetration, and deep waters. Provides a habitat for larger commercial fish (high oxygen content, depth)
barrier reef
a coral reef running parallel to the shore but separated from it by a channel of deep water or lagoon.
Energy Intensity
a country or regions total energy consumption divided by its gross domestic product; lower indicates that the economy is more energy efficient
CALFED Bay-Delta Program
a department within the government of California resppnsible for protecting the San Francisco Bay and its delta; called for in 1994 after water diversion, exotic species, and salt water intrusion damaged the bay's ecosystem, causing a number of species to become endangered
6
a desert collects _____ times more energy in one day than the whole earth uses in a year
National Conservation Strategy
a detailed plan for managing and preserving the biological diversity of a specific country
Less Developed Countries
a developing country with a low level of industrialization, shortest life expectancies, a very high fertility rate, very high infant mortality rate, and a very low per capital income (Bangladesh, Niger, Ethiopia, Laos, Cambodia)
Nuclear Reactor
a device that initiates and maintains a controlled nuclear fission chain reaction to produce energy for electricity
shaft mine
a direct vertical shaft to the vein of ore
Thigmotropism
a directional growth of a plant in response to touch
Red Tides
a discoloration of seawater caused by a bloom of toxic red dinoflagellates. Produces toxins that lead to massive fish kills and can work their way up the food chain to larger mammals, birds, and people. Likely increasing due to climate change
Emergent Property
a feature that arises when combining multiples of something that does not occur in the individual; includes population density, birth and death rates, growth rates, and age structure
ore
a rock that contains a large enough concentration of a mineral making it profitable to mine
Drain Field
a series of pipes in a septic system that are buried under gravel or crushed rock and are full of small holes that allow wastewater to flow into the gravel or rock, where bacteria break down remaining wastes
Double Hull Tankers
a ship hull design and construction method where the bottom and sides of the ship have two complete layers of watertight hull surface; reduces the likelihood of an oil spill if a ship runs aground
Secondary Sludge
a slimy mixture of bacteria-laden solids that settle out during secondary treatment
Endangered Species
a species in imminent danger of extinction through all or a significant portion of its range; occurs when its numbers are so severely reduced that it is in danger of becoming extinct without human intervention (below critical minimum size)
R-Selected Species
a species that has a high intrinsic growth rate, which often leads to population overshoots and die-offs; characterized by short life span, quick maturation, small size, little parental investment, and a large number of offspring (mosquitos, snails, fish, frogs)
Exotic Species
a species that is not native to a particular region; often transplanted by people
K-Selected Species
a species with a low intrinsic growth rate that causes the population to increase slowly until it reaches carrying capacity; characterized by long life span, larger body size, slower maturation, high parental investment (parents ensure survival of offspring), and less offspring (elephants, kangaroos)
Solar Thermal Electric Generation
a system that captures solar energy directly to generate electricity; the sun's energy is concentrated by mirrors or lenses onto a fluid-filled (oil) pipe (runs along the center of a mirrored parabolic trough), and the heated fluid is used to generate electricity
Solar-Generated Hydrogen
a system that uses PV-generated or wind-generated electricity to produce hydrogen fuel from water through electrolysis (splitting water atoms into their hydrogen and oxygen components)
Cooling Tower
a tall, open-topped, cylindrical concrete tower, used for cooling water or condensing steam from a nuclear power plant
Breeder Nuclear Fission
a type of nuclear fission in which U-238 (the most abundant isotope in uranium ore; often treated as a waste product) is converted to Plutonium-239, a human-made isotope that is fissionable. Creates a chain reaction in which neutrons emitted in the process are used to produce additional Pu-239 from U-238 (makes more fissionable fuel than it uses)
voluntary simplicity
a way of life that involves wanting and spending less
plasticity
ability to be molded and hold shape
Thermocline
abrupt temperature transition that separates warmer, less dense surface waters from colder/denser water at the bottom. Water mixes to a certain depth due to wind disturbance, moderating the temperature slightly. However, the temperature drops drastically past the point where wind no reaches the water
1 acre covered by a foot of water. The average family in California consumes this much in one year
acre foot
22 million
acres are devoid of plants because of mining
endangered species act of 1973
act authorizing protection for endangered species
Wild and Scenic Rivers Act
act that prevents the hydroelectric development of certain rivers to protect their natural beauty and delicate ecosystems
Low-Level Radioactive Policy Act
act that requires all states to have facilities to handle low-level radioactive wastes
Nuclear Waste Policy Act
act that requires the U.S. government to develop a high level nuclear waste site for the nation's nuclear wastes (Yucca Mountain)
Clean Air Act Amendment (1990)
act that set new standards to reduce automobile emissions and established a cap-and-trade program for the reduction of sulfur dioxide emissions
National Appliance Energy Conservation
act that sets national appliance efficiency standards for refrigerators, freezers, washing machines, clothes dryers, dishwashers, room air conditioners, and ovens/ranges and requires appliance manufacturers to provide Energy Guide labels on all new appliances
public, parks, pollution, economic
actions to preserve biodiversity: increase ______ awareness, support the establishment of _____, control ______, _______ incentives to landowners to preserve natural areas
Crepuscular
activity that occurs at twilight or before sunrise
pollution and dams
affect flowing water ecosystems
2/3 of water is used for
agriculture
Aral Sea level water is decreasing due to use for
agriculture
What large appliances once contained ozone-depleting CFC's, also known as chlorofluorocarbons?
air conditioners, refrigerators, freezers, cooling units
UV rays and do not have exterems in day legnth
alpine biomes are different than artic in that
chloramine, charcoal, UV
alternatives to using chlorine to disinfect water include using ______ (disinfectant produced from mixing chlorine and ammonia that creates no harmful byproducts), filtering water through activated ______ to reduce the amount of chlorine needed, or using _____ disinfection (widely adopted in Europe, but more expensive)
Thomas Malthus
an English economist who argued that increases in population would outgrow increases in the means of subsistence (1766-1834); population will grow until limited by war, disease, or poverty
obliquely
an adverb that describes the sharp angle at which the sun strikes the earth
Nuclear Regulatory Commission
an independent federal agency created in 1974 to license and regulate nuclear power plants; cracked down after Three Mile Island to increase safety regulations
Basel Convention
an international treaty to restrict the international transport of hazardous waste
Bellwether Species (sentinel species)
an organism that provides an early warning of environmental damage
Habituation
an organism's decreasing response to a stimulus with repeated exposure to it; ignoring familiar stimuli which are of no value
burrow, contain spines, move in herds, camoflauge
animals protect themselves by
water is diverted to other cities using
aqueducts
A body of rock or sediment that stores groundwater and allows the flow of groundwater.
aquifer
sinkhole occur to
aquifer depletion
rEserve
are know deposits in which minerals can be extracted Economically with existing material
seagrass
are real plants and flower (they include manatee grass, turtle grass, and eel grass)
horse latitudes
are regions of high pressure and gentle winds at about 30 degrees north and south latitude
Gulf of Mexico Dead Zone
area that has very little oxygen, and therefore very little life, due to an excess of nutrients from agricultural waste that runs down from the Midwest. This area extends from the seafloor up as wide as New Jersey, and is the biggest in the world (still expanding)
wet and dry season
areas prone to wildfire have a
biodiversity hotspots
areas with endemic species, typically on islands or in tropics
Wind Farms
arrays of nonpolluting wind turbines
well that collects water from confined aquifers
artesian well
Reservoirs
artificial lakes that store water for human use; produced by building a dam across a river or stream
continent with most agricultural land under irrigation
asia
detritus
at the headwater, most energy derives from
hunting, DDT
bald eagles were threatened by ______ (egged on by the belief that the eagles impacted the availability of commercial fish) and ______ (caused eggshells to be too thin)
20 million
barrels used by the us per day
North America
because of the migration patterns of many birds, mass extinction/the destruction of tropical rainforests has ramifications in ______ ______
less
because oil/natural gas are ______ dense than rock, they move upward through porous rock layers and accumulate beneath impenetrable layers in pools
habituation
being accustomed to stimuli because of frequent exposure
Temperate Deciduous Forest
biome composed of forests of broad-leaf hardwood trees; characterized by hot summers and cold winters, four distinct seasons, nutrient rich soil with clay lower layer (among first biomes to be converted to agricultural use)
Grasslands
biome dominated by grasses and characterized by a temperate climate, fertile soil (nutrients accumulate in layer below topsoil -- best farmland), sod (roots and underground stems form a thick, continuous underground mat), herds of grazing animals, drought/fire adapted plants (deep roots/underground stems), and periodic wildfires
Tundra
biome that occurs in the extreme northern latitudes wherever the snow melts seasonally. The S. Hemisphere has no equivalent (no land at the correct latitude). Characterized by long, harsh winters and very short summers, permafrost, herbaceous plants, and an absence of daylight in midsummer. Long days and nights due to its tilt. Can also occur at high altitudes (alpine)
Temperate Rainforest
biome that occurs mainly in the Pacific Northwest; coniferous forest with high precipitation, mild winters and cool summers, nutrient poor soil with high organic content, epiphytic vegetation, and high species richness. Contains douglas fir, hemolock, cedar
grassland, deciduous forest
biomes with fertile soil (2)
toxins can be removed from the soil using bacteria in a process called
bioremediation
# of births/entire population
birthrate calculation
4
both China and India have about ______ times the amount of people that the US has
Benthos
bottom-dwelling organisms that fix themselves to one spot (sponges, oysters, barnacles), burrow in the sand (worms, clams), or walk along the bottom (crawfish)
Pu-239
breeder nuclear fission uses _____ as its radioactive isotope
water and co2
burning methane makes
incineration
burning of soil for remediation, impractical because it kills the microorgasnisms
Photovoltaic Cells
cells, usually made of specially-treated silicon, that generate electrical energy when solar energy is absorbed (sparks the rapid exchange of electrons between positively and negatively charged layers)
A form of irrigation in Nebraska that can cover a circular area equivalent to 100 football fields
center pivot irrigation
genetic drift
change in gene pool. bottle neck effect on a small population
latitude
changes in elevation produce similar conditions to changes in _______
Life History Characteristics
characteristics of a population that influence reproduction and life cycle; include age and size at sexual maturity, amount and timing of reproduction, survival and mortality rates
Chlorine
chemical used to kill disease-carrying agents in water. Controversial because the byproducts that are formed when it reacts with organic matter is linked to several kinds of cancer, increased miscarriages, and birth defects
b horizon
clay and cations leach from A horizon to this layer. Bad growth lots of clay
interspecific competition
competition between members of different species
intraspecific competition
competition between members of the same species
Eutrophic
condition of a lake or other body of water that is characterized by high nutrient levels, poor light penetration, low dissolved oxygen, shallow waters, and high productivity. This is a natural process by which larger bodies of water slowly turn into wetlands or marshes. However, this process is accelerated by human activity (especially pollution by phosphorous and nitrogen), which causes native fish species to be replaced with smaller warm water fish and can cause dead zones in which a lack of oxygen prevents anything from surviving
groundwater storage area between impermeable layers
confined aquifier
spodosoil
coniferous/boreal forest. Acidic soil, not good for farming
ex situ conservation
conservation outside of the natural habitat
in situ conservation
conservation within the species' home
background extinction
constant loss of diversity occurring
Russia, Iran, Qatar
contain the most natural gas
Organic
contains carbon (not necessarily "natural")
A major problem with hazardous waste disposal is
contaminated groundwater
Background Extinction
continuous, low level extinction that has occurred throughout earth's history as a part of natural selection
OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries)
controls oil prices
oil drilling, overfishing, temperature changes, oil spills, trash
coral reefs are dying due to
CaCo3
coral reefs are made of
What are favorable strategies for dealing with used tires?
coral reefs, burning for energy, playground coverings, rubberized asphalt/make roads, trashcans, rubber hoses
who has the money to influence the political decisions that are made in the US
corporations
US, Russia, China, France, India, Pakistan, Israel, North Korea, UK
countries with nuclear weapons (9)
Germany
country that is moving from fossil fuels to renewable energy
Cuba
country with a signifacant portion of the world supply on Nickel
crown of thorns
crawls over the reefs and eat coral
Terracing
creating flat platforms in the hillside that provide a level planting surface, which reduces soil runoff from the slope.
fractionating tower
crude oil is separated in a
Moderately Developed Countries
developing countries with a medium level of industrialization and average per capita incomes that are lower than those of highly developed countries; declining birth and infant mortality rates (Mexico, Turkey, Thailand, and most South American nations)
environmental sustainability
developing strategies and practices that create a world economy that the planet can support indefinitely
Centrifuge
device to separate substances by spinning them at high speed; used to separate out U-235 by density
Fractioning Tower
device used to break the crude oil down into different parts.
Scrubbers
devices containing alkaline substances that precipitate out much of the sulfur dioxide from industrial plants; remove pollutants from the smoke and use limestone (calcium carbonate) to neutralize the acid
ponds have vegetation at the bottom
difference between ponds and lakes
What hazardous chemical, formed as unwanted byproducts during the combustion of chlorine compounds, causes mutations resulting in birth defects and cancer?
dioxins
limited, station, expensive units at home that take long to charge
disadvantages for natural gas in transportation
solar
disadvantages of ______ energy: not always available (at night, cloudy days), more expensive than traditional energy sources, difficult to store, produces relatively little energy
hydroelectric
disadvantages of ______ power: dams create reservoirs that flood habitats, change the nature of the water ecosystem (decrease oxygen content downstream, slow the flow of water), disrupt fish migration, breed schistosomiasis, create silt deposition upstream (prevent nutrients from flowing downstream)
black lung disease, explosions, cave ins, more expensive
disadvantages of subsurface mining
less coal, damage to land
disadvantages of surface mining
biomass
disadvantages of using ______ as an energy source: potential deforestation, crop wastes removed from the ground allows erosion, crop wastes removed from the ground are unable to return nutrients to the soil
pelagic environment
divided into neritic and oceanic provinces
Inorganic
does not contain carbon
Salt Domes
domelike rock structure that is formed beneath the earth's surface by the upward movement of a mass of salt; used to find oil/natural gas deposits
Kuwait Oil Spills
done on purpose by suddam hussein. It is the largest oil spill. Oil was purposefully dumped into the ocean and lit on fire
aestivation
dormancy in hot and arid seasons
diapause
dormancy in insects over a cold winter
td = 70/r
doubling time equation
Radioactive Decay
during this process, a radioactive element emits radiation until its nucleus changes into the nucleus of a more stable element
ton
each pellet of uranium dioxide in a nuclear reactor contains the energy equivalent of a _____ of coal
facilitation model
early species modify the environment in ways that benefit later species
33 trillion anually
earth's resources are worth
labor and equipment
economic cost of mining
wetlands
ecosystem services of ________ : habitat for migrating birds, filter pollutants from water, act as reservoirs to minimize flooding, highly productive
gar, holes, mounds, vegetation
ecosystem services provided by alligators: maintains smaller fish species by eating the larger fish, _____, that prays on them; dig underwater ______ used by other organisms during drought periods; build nest ______ that trees colonize (become habitats for bird populations); underwater "gator trails" clear out aquatic ______ that might eventually form a marsh
tropical rainforests and coral reefs
ecosystems with high species richness
first organisms to return after the Sandoz Chemical Spill
eel
Hydropower
electricity generated from the energy of moving water; the cycle that drives this movement is a result of solar energy (this type of energy is indirect solar energy)
Demand-Side Management
electricity utilities help consumers save energy to avoid the massive costs associated with building new power plants or purchasing alternative power. Some even offer cash awards to consumers who install energy-efficient technologies
can effect climate
elevation and altitude
strategic patroleum reserve
emergency storage near the gulf of mexico. Contains 700+ million barrels
decreases, diversity
endangered and threatened species represent a decline in biological diversity, because as their numbers decrease, their genetic variability _______. Long-term survival and evolution depend on genetic _____, so its loss adds to the risk of extinction
First Law of Thermodynamics
energy cannot be created or destroyed, only changed in form
Tidal Energy
energy captured from the changes in water level between high and low tides
fuel
energy cost of mining
Geothermal Energy
energy derived from the naturally occurring heat within the earth
Solar Energy
energy that comes from the sun
Dragline
enormous shovel/crane that takes huge chunks out of a mountain to reach underground coal seams
leaks
enviormentalist oppose pipelines due to the risk of
damage and repair
environmental cost of mining
coal
environmental costs of _______ use: acid rain, acid mine drainage, climate change (CO2 emission), air pollution
air pollution, acid rain, acid mine drainage, and climate change
environmental effects of coal use
waste near minority areas is and issue know as
environmental injustice
air pollution and water pollution
erosion causes
Municipalities with less than 500 people are not required to
establish their own recycling program
fish
estuaries act as nurseries for young ______; plant cover offers protection and nutrients
the nutrients gets washed around in tides and creates much turnover
estuaries are productive because
Mass Extinction
event during which many species become extinct during a relatively short period of time
adaptive radiation
evolution of a large number of species from one ancestor
Small organisms with short lifespan
evolve quickly
Sea otters, sea stars, fig trees, wolves
examples of keystone species
Sediment Pollution
excessive amounts suspended soil particles in a body of water; eventually settle out and accumulate on the bottom of a body of water. Caused by erosion of agricultural lands, forest soils exposed by logging, degraded stream banks, overgrazed rangelands, strip mines, and construction. Decreases light penetration (photosynthetic algae and plants decrease, taking out the base of the food chain), covers aquatic organisms, carries insoluble water toxins (toxic chemicals adhere to the particles), fills up waterways
The cost associated with the manufacture, use and disposal of a product that is NOT directly part of the initial price of the product is an
external cost
light, moisture, temperature
external stimuli that maintain the circadian rhythm
Density Dependent
factors that affect population size in relation to the population's density; organic in nature and include food, disease, predation (ex. Isle Royale moose/wolf populations)
Density Independent
factors that limit population size regardless of the population's density; include weather events such as frost, fire, and drought
small, large, islands, reproductive, feeding
factors that make a species vulnerable to extinction: ______ range (only live in certain areas), require ______ territory (tigers), living on ______ (bird species), low ______ success (pandas), specialized ______ habits
nutrients, tidal, light, plant
factors that make estuaries highly productive = 1) _______ are transported from land by rivers, 2) _____ action promotes rapid circulation of nutrients and removal of wastes, 3) shallow water allows ______ to penetrate, 4) ______ density traps nutrients and creates detritus base of the food web
Fall Turnover
falling temperatures in autumn cause a mixing of the layers of the lake (once water reaches 4 degrees C, it becomes more dense and sinks to the bottom); only occurs in temperate lakes. Essential nutrients are brought from the bottom to the surface, oxygen is brought from the surface to the bottom, and the temperature of the lake becomes uniform. Temporary algal blooms and odor result
T/F According to the Story of Stuff video, 50% of the products purchased in the US are still in use six months later.
false
What is the purpose of the neurotoxins that are added to pillows
flame retardants
Natural Gas
flammable gas, consisting largely of methane and other hydrocarbons, occurring naturally underground (often in association with petroleum). Formed the same way as oil but at higher temperatures
Flood plains
flat land near the edges of rivers formed by mud and silt deposited by floods; when these border regions are developed, huge property and life losses result because floods are inevitable here
Secchi Disc
flat, white disc lowered into the water by a rope until it is barely visible. Measures the clarity of the water
pavement runoff allows
flooding
42
for patroleum there are ___ gallons per barrel
percentage
for the doubling time equation, the growth rate must be in a _____
calcium sulfate
formed when sulfur in mixed with limestone/chalk
Isotopes
forms of a single element that differ in atomic mass due to different numbers of neutrons
commercial, licensed, subsistance
forms of hunting/exploitation: ______ harvest (selling parrots or coral reef fish to stores), ______ hunting (income pays for wildlife programs), ______ hunting (taking only what you need to survive -- becoming increasingly rare)
patroleum, coal, natural gas
fossil feuls
Phytoplankton
free-floating photosynthetic algae and cyanobacteria that form the base of most aquatic food webs
Nekton
free-swimming organisms (fish, turtles, whales)
physical ways soil is made
freezing/thawing, erosion, glaciers
Swamps
freshwater wetlands dominated by woody trees and shrubs
The 1985 Farm bill
funded the conservation reserve program to improve soil and water
55
gallons in a barrel
MTBE
gasoline additive that decreases emissions. It is a suspected cause of cancer, and was found in groundwater in Santa Monica, California due to leaks in underground petroleum storage tanks
p2 + 2pq + q2 = 1
gene frequencies are determined using the equation...
roots of native species
go further down, are adapted to drought, bring down water and fire, prevent erosion
top roots
go straight down
cyanide
gold is separated by
100 feet
gold mining in NV lowered the water table ___ feet due to pumping out water to mine
ecological succession
gradual change in living communities that follows a disturbance
slow runoff and the aquifers can be recharged in what biome
grassland
mollisol
grassland, some of the best in the world. Good for agri, organic matter accumulate, but is broken down due to lack of H2O and heat
water that is collected from showers and sinks and used to flush toilets and water lawns
gray water
odors
high BOD, or low oxygen, creates unpleasant ______ produced by anaerobic microorganisms
a horizon
high concentration of Organic Matter
higher biodiversity
higher productivity leads to
Tropical Rainforest
highly productive biome with lots of precipitation, nutrient poor soil (nutrients trapped in forest, but soil is rich in organic materials), high degree of biodiversity, many epiphytes (little sunlight on forest floor), and occurs at the equator (warm all year round)
A major flooding problem near rivers are
homes built in flood plains
90 billion
how many barrels of oil are under the Alaskan Wildlife Reserve?
6
how many kingdoms of life are there
200
how many more years is the world coal supply expected to last for?
habitat, invasive, pollution, poaching, hunting
human activities that contributed to the decrease of biodiversity: ______ destruction, introduction of ______ species, ______, commercial trade (______), over- _______
Prescribed Burns
humans deliberately burn organic litter in controlled conditions to prevent buildup/invasion of fire-sensitive trees in wildfire prone areas; used as a means of lessening the devastation of wildfires
subsistence hunting
hunting for simply what is needed for survival
Hydrogen Fuel
hydrogen gas burned as an energy source; created by the electrolysis of water. Can be used as a clean fuel for cars that is created from renewable resources. However, widespread use would require refueling stations, is dangerous because of hydrogen's explosive qualities, and is not totally efficient because it requires so many energy conversions
Deuterium
hydrogen isotope with 1 proton and 1 neutron, as opposed to the usual 0 neutrons
pore space
ideal is 50%, air affects permeability, aeration, and drainage
100
if all of the U-238 in waste facilities around the US was reprocessed in breeder reactors, it would create enough energy for the next _____ years
20
if fertilizer use was decreased by _____ percent along the Gulf of Mexico watershed, most of the fertilizer would stay on the fields. This would greatly reduce the excess of nutrients creating the dead zone
Blue Baby Syndrome
illness that occurs in small children when there are too many nitrates in well water; nitrates are converted into nitrites in the body, which reduce the blood's ability to transport oxygen
water and soil pollution, damage from drilling and transportation, air pollution from burning, CO2 emmissions
impacts of petroleum
Ecosystem Services
important environmental functions that organisms with ecosystems provide
1973 Oil Embargo
imposed by OPEC and caused long lines at gas stations
Three Mile Island
in 1979, a nuclear power plant located south of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania overheated, causing part of its uranium core to melt. The overheating was caused by human, design, and mechanical errors. Radioactive water and gases were released, but no health or environmental damages to the surrounding area occurred. Nonetheless, the meltdown led to a slowdown in the construction of other reactors, changes in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and increased public awareness of environmental concerns. Largest nuclear meltdown in US history
Dead Zone
in a body of water, an area with extremely low oxygen concentration and very little life
Second Law of Thermodynamics
in any conversion of energy, some of the usefulness of the energy is lost as heat which is unrecoverable as a useful form of energy. Entropy (disorder) increases with each conversion
Permafrost
layer of permanently frozen ground that lies underneath the topsoil of the tundra; causes waterlogged upper layer of soil and prevents deep roots from penetrating (no woody plants)
Thermal Stratification
layering of large temperate lakes caused by how far light penetrates; temperature changes sharply with depth
What do you call the contaminated water that drains to the bottom of a landfill?
leachate
gasoline
lead used to be added to _______ to improve engine performance
territoriality
leading to a uniform dispersion. idea that each organism has a specific area to itself
Prevent water in floodplains but cause water backup upstream
leeves
Summitville company
left $140 million dollars in toxic cleanup for federal government
What percent of water is freshwater? What percent is available to humans?
less than 3%, 0.03%
39, 30
life expectancy for copper is __ years and we have approx __ more years left of copper
Phytochrome
light detecting pigment in plants
pineal, melatonin, SCN
light is considered the dominant influence in crepuscular activity and is sensed by the ______ gland in non mammals, which secretes the hormone ______. In mammals, the ______ (optic nerve) serves this purpose
why are sinkhole common in Florida
limestone bases
competitive exclusion due to lack of a resource
limiting factors create
environmental resistance
limiting factors prohibiting intrinsic rate of growth of populations
Environmental Resistance
limiting factors that prevent populations from reproducing at their biotic potential
20
livestock produce ______ times the feces/urine of humans, yet animal agriculture wastes are not considered under water quality laws (farmers can effectively dump animal wastes straight into waterways/allow rain to carry them into bodies of water)
25% of us land is
losing topsoil
cercla was created after what disaster
love canal
synthetic fuels
made from natural gas, coal, oil shale, tar sands, gas hydrates
1963 clean air ammendment
made to reduce and monitor sulfur emmissions
light and nutrients
main limiting factors of aquatic ecosystems (2)
Coal
main source of energy for electricity
environmental racism
major patroleum companies have shown incidents of
EPS styrofoam can be melted down to
make new things like picture frames or interior moldings
worms
make tunnels and put air into the soil
Cogeneration
making electricity and heat at the same time (associated with natural gas)
Synthetic Fuels
man-made fuels that come form mineral deposits containing oil/natural gas. Extracted from tar sands, oil shale, and gas hydrates (found in ice) and purified to create fossil fuels
safety for fish, soil erosion, filter out saltwater, act as a carbon sink
mangroves provide
Nonrandom Mating
mate selection for specific traits
Humus
material formed from decaying leaves and other organic matter
Spring Turnover
melting ice causes a cooling of surface waters, which results in the sinking and mixing of the layers of water in a lake. Essential nutrients are brought from the bottom to the surface, oxygen is brought from the surface to the bottom, and the temperature of the lake becomes uniform. Temporary algal blooms and odor result
Neurotoxin
mercury is a _______ because it can permeate the blood-brain barrier, causing numerous neurological issues
methyl
mercury is converted into ______ mercury compounds by bacteria in sediments in waterways. This form of mercury accumulates in the food chain
hydrothermal
metals are soluable as chlorides and flourides but are insoluable as sulfides where they precipitate (AG, CU, PB, & ZU)
What is the chemical name for the natural gas that is produced by landfills during the decomposition process?
methane
20
methane is _____ times more potent than CO2 as a natural gas
20
methane traps heat ___ times more effectively than CO2
conservation tillage
method of cultivation in which residues from previous crops are left in the soil, partially covering it and helping to hold it in place until the newly planted seeds are established
in situ, ex situ, restore, protect, seed
methods of conservation: _____ _____ (in natural habitat), _____ _____ (outside natural habitat), ______ damaged habitats, ______ existing habitats, store plant genetic material in ______ banks
1976
no new nuclear power plants have been built in the US since ______ due to their high cost and the lack of reliable waste disposal methods. Regulatory permits are also costly and difficult/time consuming to obtain
competitve exclusion
no two species can occupy the same niche
Which is greater non municipal or municipal waste
non-municipal waste, much comes from agricultural animals
Zooplankton
non-photosynthetic protists that include tiny shrimp like crustaceans and larvae; feed on algae and are consumed by small nekton
NIMBY
not in my backyard
fusion
nuclear _____ is currently impractical because it requires incredibly high temperatures and the plasma it creates cannot touch container walls (uses more energy than it creates for high temps and a magnetic field to contain it)
waste
nuclear energy emits few pollutants into the atmosphere, but it creates radioactive ______ that is difficult/impossible to dispose of and causes severs health and environmental problems
20, 10
nuclear energy makes up _____ percent of US electricity generation and _____ percent of total US energy
40
nuclear power plants are licensed to operate for a maximum of _____ years
100,000
nuclear reactions produce ________ times more energy per atom than chemical reactions
Crude Death Rate
number of deaths per thousand people (if "23" then d = 23/1000 = 0.023 = 2.3%)
Crude Birth Rate
number of people born per thousand (if "23" then b = 23/1000 = 0.023 = 2.3%)
in a balanced ecosystem
nutrient minerals cycle from soil to organisms back to soil
combustion
nutrition and minerals locked in organic matter are freed during
coral reefs
occur in tropics along the coast in shallow water
doldrums
occur near equator where there are not many winds
bleaching
occurs when zooxanthellae leave coral and contribute to loss of color
35 parts per thousand or 35 PPT
ocean salinity is
Black Lung Disease
often called coal miner disease because it is caused by years of inhaling coal dust, resulting in damage to the lungs
1973 Oil Embargo
oil crisis imposed by OPEC; US realized its dependence on the Middle East for oil. Panic ensued, with rationing and conservation efforts to reduce oil usage
plastic, cosmetics, vaseline, medicine, p
oil is used to make products like
Bakken Shale Formation
oil reserve in North Dakota; now the biggest source of US oil
Tar Sands
oil reserves found in Canada; extraction destroys environment
Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
oil spill that occurred when BP neglected safety tests on an offshore rig in the Gulf of Mexico. Destroyed the coast and cost billions to clean up (biggest oil spill in US history)
Exxon Valdez Oil Spill
oil tanker whose 1989 spill off the coast of Alaska sparked deep concern over oil drilling and transportation on the world's oceans; led to the passage of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990
Predatation
one organism eats the other (carnivores, herbivores, omnivores)
oceanic province
open ocean that overlies the ocean floor at depths greater than 200 m
Biomass
organic matter that can be a source of energy; wood, animal wastes, crop wastes, fast-growing plants, sawdust, peat, etc.. Used primarily in developing countries
starfish, shell fish, rockweed
organisms that have adapted to the harsh living conditions of the intertidal zone
benthos
organisms that live attached to or near the ocean floor
OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries)
organization that controls oil prices by restricting production; has less power over the US since the discovery of oil reserves in North Dakota
1993 Milwaukee Outbreak
outbreak of diarrhea cases in which 370,000 people got sick. This was the largest outbreak of waterborne disease in US history, and several immune-compromized people died
chemical can often
outlast their containers
exoparasite
outside host
chemical ways soil is made
oxidation, acid rain, lichens, organic accumulation, roots (release co2 and carbonic acid)
Marcellus
pa natural gas shale
What items should we not throw in a landfill because they can be recycled, reused, or naturally decomposed
paper and paperboard, yard waste, food waste, plastic, metals, rubber, leather, textiles, glass, wood
What items could be burned in a mass incinerator
paper and paperboard, yard waste, food waste, plastics, rubber, leather, textiles, wood
endoparasite
parasite living on the inside of its host
bedrock
parent material, r horizon
flyways
pattern of bird migration
Government
pays for restoration allowing companies to make profit
skin
people should avoid eating the _____ of fish because PCBs and other organic pollutants are non-polar, meaning they dissolve in the fatty tissues of fish
20
percent of U-235 needed for a nuclear bomb
86
percent of US energy that comes from fossil fuels
Hardy-Weinberg theorem
principle indicating that the genome of a population changes can be caused by external factors
Hardy-Weinberg Principle
principle that states that changes in the gene pool of a population can be cause by numerous factors, such as mate selection for specific traits, mutation, environmental pressure, small populations experiencing genetic drift, and significant numbers of immigration or emigration
Coagulation
process in which turbid water is treated with aluminum sulfate, which causes suspended particles to clump together and settle out
What is the concept in which manufacturers assume responsibility for their products from "cradle to grave."
product stewardship
2010
projected year of peak oil production
Iodine-131
radioactive isotope that concentrates in the thyroid gland, causing thyroid cancer
Strontium-90
radioactive isotope that replaces calcium in the body
Cesium-137
radioactive isotope that replaces potassium in the body, accumulating in muscle tissue
Low-Level Radioactive Waste
radioactive wastes that produce low levels of ionizing radiation; the protective clothing, tools, rags, and other items used in routine plant maintenance or lab work
alternatives to save rainwater
rain barrels, rain gardens, retention basins, drainage basins
oxisol
rainforest, low organic material due to rapid decomposition
treated wastewater that in reused in some way
reclaimed water
difference between gray and reclaimed water
reclaimed water has been treated so it is drinkable
Which is the most important of the 3 R's
reduce
3 R's
reduce, reuse, recycle
r strategy
reduce. have lots of babies of which a few will survive
crepuscular
relating to twilight or before sunrise
Biodiversity Hotspots
relatively small areas of land that contain an exceptional number of endemic species and are at high risk from human activities
Aquifer depletion
removal of groundwater more rapidly than it can be recharged by precipitation or melting snow
Causes of the US dust bowl
removal of native grasses and severe drought led to erosion
Remediation
removal of toxins
limestone
removes sulfur from coal forming CACO2
groundwater is
renewable when used sustainably, but not at the rate we use it
2.1
replacement level fertility (takes into account couples who choose not to have children)
Pitt
research at _____ has linked higher levels of lead in children's bones with increased delinquency (breaking the law)
downstream
rivers ________ from headwaters are wider, deeper, cloudy (contain particulates/nutrients), warmer, slower, and less oxygenated
Green Roofs
roof of a building that is partially or completely covered with vegetation and a growing medium, planted over a waterproofing membrane. Offers a more economically sound solution to combined sewer overflow than replacing the entire system by absorbing much of the water that would normally run into drains. The convention center and the Highmark building have these roofs
Shelterbelts
rows of trees planted as a windbreak to reduce soil erosion of agricultural land
Reactor Vessel
safety feature that surrounds the reactor core to prevent the release of radiation into the environment
Containment Building
safety feature that surrounds the the reactor vessel as an additional line of defense against radiation leaks. Built to withstand severe earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, and even planes crashing into them
an increase of salt levels in soil as a result of irrigation is called
salinization
salt accumulation in soil
salinization
road salt leads to
saltier streams and salinization
Movement of saltwater into freshwater aquifers due to overdrawing fresh water
saltwater intrusion
regular trash goes to
sanitary landfill
Name a device that can be installed in a smokestack that removes the fly ash that is produced by incinerators.
scrubber
Chaparral
scrubland biome with rocky/infertile soil, mediterranean climate (cold, rainy winters and hot, dry summers), frequent wildfires, fire/drought adapted plants, small trees with hard leaves, and low plants
yellowstone, farmland
secondary succession examples
fungi
secret digestive enzymes
stabilizing selection
selection in which the average of a trait is preferable
Combined Sewer
sewage collection system designed to simultaneously collect surface runoff and sewage water in a shared system. No longer allowed by the EPA because they are easily overwhelmed by heavy rain, which leads to the release of untreated sewage into waterways
Protist
simple or single celled eukaryotes (algae, slime)
organic fertilizer
slow-acting & long-lasting because the organic remains need time to be decomposed
anaerobic digestion, fertilizer, incineration, ocean dumping, sanitary landfills
sludge from wastewater treatment can be disposed of through _________ _________ (sludge is placed in large circular digesters and kept warm, which allows bacteria to break down organic material into gases), use as _______, _________ (contributes to air pollution), ______ ______ (now banned), and disposal in ______ ______ (becoming less realistic as landfills run out of space)
Schlerophyllous
small durable leaves that resist dessication
Headwater Streams
small streams that are the sources of a river; usually shallow, cold, swiftly flowing, and highly oxygenated. Originate from the melting of mountain snow (no nutrients or suspended particles)
Plankton
small/microscopic organisms that are relatively feeble swimmers (float along with current); two types
critical minimum size
smallest number of a species that can exist and be sustainable
Copper Basin, Tennessee
smelting killed vegetation causing erosion to be prevalent in this mine in this state in 1939. This lead to tree replanting and helicopter reseeding in 1930's and 70's respectively. It may take 100-200 years to recover
Baby salmon are called
smolts
coral crabs
snip off the tubefeet of the crown of thorns to send them off the coral
Lignite
soft brown coal, high water content, formed most recently, produces a lower heat and pollutes more heavily than other types of coal
Southwest
solar energy in the US is concentrated in the ______
Active Solar Heating
solar heating system that captures solar energy directly, primarily for heating water; a liquid heated by the solar collector is pumped to a heat exchanger, where the water is heated. Uses pumps and fans to create a more efficient heating system than solar energy alone
Solar Power Tower
solar plant that focuses solar energy on a receiver (tower) using sun-tracking mirrors, which can concentrate solar energy as much as 1500 times normal intensity of sun
Vitrification
solidifying liquid waste into solid glass or ceramic logs
Population Oscillations
some populations experience recurring cycles of overshoots and die-offs that lead to a pattern of oscillations around the carrying capacity of their environment (ex. Lemmings)
What is the strategy of substituting raw materials that introduce less waste during the manufacturing process and reusing and recycling wastes at the plants where they are generated.
source reduction
water treatment
steps of _______ _______: 1) suspended particles are clumped together and sink to the bottom using aluminum sulfate 2) the water is filtered through sand and gravel to remove remaining particles and microorganisms 3) the water is disinfected using chlorine and fluoride or ozone/UV radiation (rare)
to go from a solid to a vapor without a liquid phase
sublimate
Fluoride
substance that helps prevent tooth decay and is added in small amounts to much of the nation's water supply. Opponents question whether it causes cancer or birth defects, but no research has conclusively linked it to any medical condition. It has, however, resulted in a 50-60 percent decrease in cavities
allows more water near the ground
subsurface drip irrigation or microirrigation
longwall mining
subsurface mining includes
Heavy metals (AS, PB, CA)
sulfuric acid mine drainage makes ____ ____ that are soluable in water
Strip Mining
surface mining that involves the removal of the Earth's surface all the way down to the level of the mineral seam; extremely damaging to the environment
Urban Runoff
surface runoff of rainwater created by urbanization. Hard, non-permeable surfaces, such as concrete and asphalt, replace soil, preventing water from entering aquifers. Rainwater instead flows over the hard surfaces, gathering pollutants and chemicals until it eventually rejoins a water source. Contains road salt, untreated garbage, construction sediment, and traffic emissions (often worse than sewage)
Type III
survivorship curve in which most of the population dies in infancy (frogs, fish)
Type I
survivorship curve in which the likelihood of dying is small until old age (humans)
Type II
survivorship curve in which there is an equal likelihood of dying throughout life (such as birds or small mammals and some lizards)
90 billion
suspected amount of barrels in the artic
PCBs
synthetic chemicals containing chlorine that are used in the manufacture of plastics and other industrial products, become stored in the tissue of animals, and also persist in the environment. Cause cancers, infertility, and liver damage
What are the two main categories of toxic chemicals?
synthetic organics and heavy metals
Biogas Digesters
systems that use the microbial decomposition of household and agricultural wastes to produce biogas used for cooking and lighting in developing countries. When biogas conversion is complete, the solid remains are removed and used as fertilizer
Geothermal Heat Pumps
systems that utilize the difference in temperature between the earth's surface and subsurface at depths from 1 m to 100 m. Made up of an underground arrangement of pipes containing circulating fluids to extract natural heat in winter, when the earth acts as a heat source, and transfer excess heat underground in the summer, when the earth acts as a heat sink. Pipes form a loop that feeds into a heat pump, with direct the flow of heated or cooled air. Estimated to be the most efficient heating system; expensive/complicated installment, but low operating costs, low carbon dioxide emissions, and high efficiency (still not widely used, however)
Concentrated Solar Power
technologies that concentrate solar energy to generate electricity
Direct Solar Energy
technology that makes use of radiant energy from the sun; solar energy that is used to heat water, heat buildings, and generate electricity
Concentrated Photovoltaic
technology which uses optics such as lenses/ curved mirrors to concentrate a large amount of sunlight onto a small area of solar photovoltaic (PV) cells to generate electricity; most effective form of solar electricity generation
Climograph
temperature and precipitation of biomes can be shown on a
algal bloom
temporary population explosion of algae
Hypoxia
term that describes a lack of oxygen both in humans and in waterways. In water, it is caused by rapid algae growth due to inorganic nutrients
Consumer Affluenza
term used by critics of consumerism to point out the escalating and intense desire to gain material possessions. The manufacture and waste of these consumer goods and luxuries (including foods) contribute greatly to climate change
Strategic Petroleum Reserve
the USA's reserve supply of oil (1 billion barrels), which should last for about three months in the event of severe interruptions to imported oil. Stored in underground salt caverns along the Gulf of Mexico
Persian Gulf
the _____ _____ War was partially caused by US dependence on foreign oil
Chisso
the ______ Corporation released millions of tons of wastewater containing methyl mercury into Minamata Bay in Japan. This led to thousands of deaths and adverse health effects
Cuyahoga
the _______ river fire brought attention to the severity of water pollution. Flows into Lake Erie, which was also extremely polluted at the time of the fire
reindeer
the _________ population on the Pribilof Islands of Alaska has helped scientists to better understand the concept of carrying capacity
Industrial
the _________ stage was characterized by lowering birth rates to match the low death rate. Population begins to stabilize
Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC)
the ability of a particular soil to absorb and release cations. Soils closer to clay have a higher level
Meltdown
the accidental melting of the uranium fuel rods inside the core of a nuclear reactor, causing the release of radiation
Territoriality
the acquisition (normally by males) of an are for food, nesting, or attracting a mate
what determines whether it is better to buy reusable or disposable
the amount of material used over the lifetime of the product
Biological Oxygen Demand
the amount of oxygen needed by microorganisms to decompose wastes into co2, water, and minerals (through cellular respiration).; sewage/organic waste is measured in terms of this
day legnth
the angle of the sun determines
Watershed
the area of land that is drained by a water system
total fertility rate
the average number of children born to each woman in her lifetime. currently 2.8
Upper Big Branch Mine Disaster
the biggest coal mine disaster in recent history with 28 dead
Habitat Fragmentation
the breakup of large areas of habitat into small, isolation patches (islands)
Demographics
the characteristics of a population with respect to age, race, and gender
anthracite
the cleanest-burning coal; almost pure carbon. Contains the most energy and least sulfur. Found in NE america
50
the clearing of tropical rainforests presents the most sever threat to biological diversity because, although tropical rainforests make up for only 7 percent of the earth's surface, as many as ______ percent of the earth's species (many of them endemic) inhabit them
Salinity
the concentration of dissolved salts in a body of water; impacts the kinds of organisms present
The edge effect
the condition in which, at ecosystem boundaries, there is greater species diversity and biological density than there is in the heart of ecological communities.
Population Growth Momentum
the continued growth of a population after fertility rates have declined, as a result of a population's young age structure
Extinction
the death of a species that occurs when the last individual member of that species dies. Once a species is extinct, it can never reappear
Ocean Temperature Gradients
the differences in temperature at various ocean depths; can be used to generate electricity
Age Structures
the distribution of individuals in different age-groups; depends on when people die and how many are born
Biotic Pollution
the effect of invasive species that can reduce or wipe out populations of many native species and trigger ecological disruptions.
Electricity Deregulation
the electric industry is changing to one in which companies compete with one another for customers across state lines. Competitive utilities are thought to be more likely than regulated monopolies to adopt technological advances that increase energy efficiency and therefore lower costs. This process is called...
recycle
the electronic's industry uses ion exchange and electrolyte recovery to reclaim and _______ heavy metals
Wind Energy
the energy captured by transforming the motion of air into electrical energy using a turbine; surface air currents are caused by the solar warming of air. Therefore, this type of energy is indirect solar energy
Marjory Stoneman Douglas
the everglades water basin was made a national park by
Adaptive Radiation
the evolution of a large number of related species from an ancestral organism (often due to an extinction event)
wind
the fastest-growing form of energy is ______ energy
DDT and PCB's accumulate in
the fatty tissue making them subject to biological magnification in food webs
Clay
the finest soil, made up of particles that are less than 0.002 mm in diameter. Little space for air and retains water.
Drake Well
the first oil well in Pennsylvania (est. 1859)
imprinting
the first thing a bird sees is its mother
Reactor core, Steam generator, Turbine, Condenser
the four parts of a nuclear power plant: the ______ ______, where fission occurs and heat is produced to create steam from liquid water in the _____ _____. The _____ uses the steam to generate electricity and the ______ cools the steam to convert it back to a liquid
Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion
the generation of electricity from ocean temperature gradients. Warm surface water is pumped into a power plant, where it heats a liquid with a very low boiling point, such as ammonia, to create steam. The steam drives a turbine to generate electricity as the ammonia is cooled by the very cold water brought up from the ocean depths. Could have drastic environmental impacts on marine life due to the large volume of cold water that must be brought to the surface; causes changes in temperature, salinity, nutrients, and other factors that would greatly effect marine life
Coal Gasification
the generation of methane from coal
great barrier reef
the largest coral reef in the world (1200 miles)
Carrying Capacity
the largest number of individuals of a population that a environment can support; determined by the most limiting fact and results in an "s" curve of population growth (population growth levels out)
65
the last mass extinction event was around _____ million years ago
other
the loss of one species often leads to the loss of ______ species because of the interconnected nature of ecosystems
temperature changes
the main contributor to the death of coral reefs are
carrying capacity
the maximum number of a species an ecosystem can support
Biotic Potential (Intrinsic Rate of Growth)
the maximum rate at which a population can increase (two names); determined by life history characteristics
biotic potential
the maximum rate at which a population can reproduce and exist
bike
the most efficient mode of transportation is the ______
Wave Energy
the motion of waves is harnessed and converted from mechanical energy into electricity; devices that collect this energy are susceptible to damage by powerful ocean storms
population dispersion
the movement of individuals between populations
Population Dispersal
the movement of individuals between populations (emigration and immigration)
Hydrologic cycle
the movement of water from the oceans to the atmosphere to the land and back to the ocean; involves evaporation, precipitation, transpiration, run off, and condensation
800, Orlando, Pheonix
the natural water treatment system in Arcata, California has inspired at least ______ towns to follow suit, including _______, Florida and _______, Arizona
replacement level fertility
the number of children a couple must have to replace themselves. currently 2.1
Limnetic Zone
the open water of a lake or pond beyond the littoral zone; extends down as far as sunlight penetration permits photosynthesis. Contains phytoplankton and zooplankton, but little vegetation and animals
neritic province
the part of the pelagic environment that overlies the ocean floor from the shoreline to a depth of 200m
Infant Mortality Rate
the percentage of children who die before their first birthday per thousand
Survivorship
the percentage of members of a group that are likely to survive to any given age; three types of curves
Radioactive Half Life
the period of time required for half of the amount of radioactive substance in a sample to change into a different material
survivorship
the probability that an organism will last till a certain age
Imprinting
the process by which certain animals form attachments during a critical period very early in life
Fission
the process that nuclear power plants use; larger atoms are split into two smaller atoms of different elements. U-235 is bombarded with neutrons to split the atoms into fragments, which split off and bombard other fragments with neutrons. This creates an incredibly energetic chain reaction
Fusion
the process that powers the sun and other stars; two smaller atoms are combined to make one larger atom of a different element
Growth Rate (r)
the rate of change of a population's size, expressed in percent per year; also called natural increase
fuel assemblies, control rod
the reactor core contains the ______ ______. Above each fuel assembly is a _____ _____ made of special metal alloy that is capable of absorbing neutrons
Enrichment
the refining process of Uranium ore to increase the concentration of U-235 to 3%
Profundal Zone
the region of water in a lake where sunlight does not penetrate; no vegetation or algae. Bacteria decompose dead organisms, using up oxygen and nutrients. This creates a mineral rich and anaerobic environment, with few organisms other than bacteria
Tertiary Treatment
the removal of inorganic minerals and plant nutrients after primary and secondary treatment of sewage to prevent environmental degradation; highest form of wastewater treatment (not always performed)
slag
the residue or mass of metal left after smelting; worthless matter
Bituminious
the second-purest form of coal. Contains much sulfur
Littoral Zone
the shallow-water area along the shore of a lake or pond; light penetrates through shallow water, allowing vegetation and animals to thrive
Subsidence
the sinking of regions of the Earth's crust to lower elevations due to aquifer depletion
Phenology
the study of seasonal changes
phenology
the study of seasonal changes
Population Ecology
the study of the number of one species in a certain area at a certain time
population ecology
the study of the number of one species in a certain area at a certain time
Binomial Nomenclature
the system of classification used today developed by Carolus Linnaeus
Periodicity
the tendency of animal or plant activity/behavior to recur at regular intervals
Replacement Level Fertility
the total fertility rate required to offset the average number of deaths in a population in order to maintain the current population size/the number of children a couple must have to replace themselves
20 million
the us produces how many barrels of oil per day
liquid sodium
the use of ______ ______ as a coolant in breeder nuclear fission makes it very dangerous because this type of coolant reacts explosively with water that surrounds the reactor core (leaks would be disastrous)
Energy Efficiency
the use of less energy to accomplish the same task. Seen as a solution to high energy demands
Sustainable water use
the use of water resources in a fashion that does not harm the essential functions of the hydrologic cycle or the ecosystems on which present and future humans depend
Spent Fuel
the used fuel elements that were irradiated in a nuclear reactor
Ecosystem Diversity
the variety of interactions among organisms in natural communities
36.1, Africa, Sub-Saharan
there are ______ million cases of AIDS worldwide. Most cases of AIDS occur in _____, specifically the _____ _____ region. This leaves behind millions of orphans
Producers
there are more ____ downstream
ecosystem services
things an ecosystem does intact
technological and hazardous waste often are shipped to
third world countries
Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (1977)
this law requires mining companies to restore land during and after mining to prevent erosion, water pollution, and landslides. Begins while mining is still in progress. Prohibits mining in parks, refuges, and nature reserves
decreasing
this shape of an age structure would suggest ________ population growth
rapid
this shape of an age structure would suggest ________ population growth
steady
this shape of an age structure would suggest ________ population growth
habitat, disease, pollinator, pesticides
threats to pollinator species: _______ alteration/destruction, _______, introduction of competing _______ species, use of _______ in agriculture
Russia, Iran, Qatar
three nations with the most natural gas
California, Texas, Florida
three states with the greatest number of residents by 2025
What is the word for the cost of dumping trash in a landfill?
tipping fee
the problem with some irrigation systems is that
too much evaporation occurs
Arcata
town in Northern California that took a natural approach to wastewater treatment by restoring/constructing freshwater wetlands to remove contaminants (nitrogen and phosphorous) from wastewater
Mercury
toxic element that can vaporize at room temperature. Mainly released by coal combustion and finds its way into waterways via precipitation. Also released by municipal waste incinerators, medical waste incinerators, smelting of metals, fluorescent lights, thermostats, and industrial wastewater. Settles in sediments in bodies of water and accumulates in the food chain (the fish that humans eat contain high levels of lead). Exposure causes mental retardation, cerebral palsy, developmental delays in fetuses, kidney disorders, and damage to nervous and cardiovascular systems
downside of incineration
toxic fumes are released
Lead
toxic inorganic chemical that used to be found in gasoline, but is now mainly found in paint, batteries, and old pipes. This heavy metal is extremely detrimental to health, as exposure can lead to high blood pressure, miscarriages, premature births, mental/physical impairments in children, lower IQs, learning disabilities, hearing loss, hyperactivity, and attention deficits
30
traditional power plants lose about _____ percent of the energy being transferred to other places
Reclaimed water
treated wastewater that is reused in some way, such as for irrigation, manufacturing processes that require water for cooling, wetland restoration, or groundwater recharge
Secondary Treatment
treating wastewater biologically, by using microorganisms to decompose the suspended organic material; occurs after primary treatment
Savanna
tropical grassland that has enough rainfall to support a limited number of trees; fire adapted plants, dry climate, thin layer of soil with rapid drainage, high biodiversity
adaptive radiation
tropical rainforests have often supplied the base of ancestral organisms from with _____ _____ could occur. The destruction of rain forests could eliminate or reduce nature's ability to replace its species
Mangroves
tropical salt marshes that provide valuable ecosystem services, such as acting as fish nurseries, providing a nesting site for migratory birds, stabilizing the shoreline to reduce erosion, and storm buffering
T/F Burning trash for energy produces less atmospheric carbon dioxide than burning coal does.
true
How big is the great pacific vortex
twice the size of texas and 7 feet deep
New Jersey, Rhode Island
two states with the highest population densities
Alaska, Wyoming
two states with the lowest population densities
uniform dispersion
type of dispersion in which each organism has its own territory and is repelled from each other
clumped dispersion
type of dispersion in which organisms are social and attracted to each other
random dispersion
type of dispersion in which organisms do not interact and are simply scattered
Passive Solar Heating
type of heating in which solar energy is used to heat buildings without the need for pumps or fans to distribute the collected heat or produce electricity; natural convection currents are used instead
Water Penny Beatles
type of organism with a flattened body (sticks to surfaces and water flows over) that is adapted to fast-moving currents; other organisms are adapted to fast currents with suckers and muscular/streamlined bodies
K-Selected
types of animals that must be taught survival skills by parents
commercial, fundamental, complete
types of extinction: _______ extinction (aren't enough for humans to use), _______ extinction (some alive, but recovery is impossible), ______ extinction (none left)
3
typical nuclear power plants have _____ water circuits
Warning colors
warns predator that they are dangerous
Who had the power on Easter Island once the resources became scarce?
warriors
Individual Septic Systems
wastewater treatment used in many private residences, especially in rural areas, where municipal wastewater treatment is unavailable. Household sewage is piped to a septic tank, where particles settle to the bottom. Grease and oils form a layer on top and bacteria decompose most of the organic material. Wastewater flows into a drain field through percolated pipes set in trenches of gravel, where bacteria decompose the remaining organic wastes in well-aerated soil
universal solvent
water
Secondary Water Circuit
water circuit in which the water is converted to steam in the steam generator; the pressurized steam turns the turbine, which spins a generator to produce electricity. After it has gone through the turbine, the steam is converted back into liquid in the condenser
Primary Water Circuit
water circuit in which the water is heated using the energy produced by the fission reaction; closed system that circulates water under high pressure through the reactor core. Due to the high pressure, it never boils (AKA, stays in a liquid state)
Tertiary Water Circuit
water circuit that provides cool water to the condenser As the water in this circuit is heated, it moves from the condenser to a lake or cooling tower
evaporation
water leaves salt deposits behind
Fecal Coliform Test
water quality test that determines the presence of sewage in water supplies. A sample of water is passed through a filter to trap bacteria. The filter is transported to a nutrient-containing petri dish. After an incubation period, the number of greenish colonies on the dish indicates the number of E. Coli. E. Coli is tested for because it is not present in nature except for human/animal feces
The upper level of the saturated zone of groundwater
water table
Groundwater
water that filters through the cracks and spaces in underground soil and rock layers and accumulated underneath an impermeable layer
Population Dispersion
way in which individuals of a population are spread out over an area or volume; three types (uniform, random, clumped)
1/2
we have used approx ___ the oil in the world
C horizon
weathered parent material, broken down rock. Bad growth lots of clay
Bogs
wetlands that are characterized by acidic waters (carnivorous plants), peat deposits, and moss
goats
what animal do people use to reduce undergrowth in chaparrals to decrease wildfire damage?
Canada
what country uses the most energy, putting the USA in second place?
directional selection
when a certain extreme of a trait is preferable and selected
disruptive selection
when both extremes of a trait are preferable and selected, but the middle is selected against
Offshore Wind Farms
wind farms built at sea, away from the coast; can produce much more energy than wind farms on land because wind at sea is more constant/stronger
Indirect Solar Energy
wind, biomass (such as wood, agricultural wastes, and fast-growing plants), and hydropower are examples of this type of solar energy
Riparian Woodland
woodland along the bank of a river or stream; stabilizes shore to reduce soil erosion and shades water to moderate temperature
Radioisotope
word for a radioactive isotope
landscaping with plants that use little water
xeriscaping
Energy Guide Labels
yellow labels that provide estimates of the annual operating costs and efficiency levels of appliances. Consumers who use this information to buy energy-efficient appliances save hundreds of dollars on utility bills
runoff
you should not top off while filling your gasoline tank because the gas can leak onto the ground and ______ into waterways
