APES Unit 1
solar energy
suns energy warms planet/provides energy plants use to produce nutrients
chromosome
thousands of genes make up a single chromosome
thinking critically
three steps: be skeptical, evaluate evidence, evaluate personal assumptions
element
type of matter with a set of properties that cannot be broken to simpler substances
way to deal with tragedy of commons
use shared resources at a rate well below estimated sustainable yield, or convert shared ownership to private ownership
waste
useful resource, wastes/decayed bodies of organisms become nutrients/materials for other organisms
high quality matter
useful, found near earths surface
biodiversity
variety of genes, species, ecosystems, and ecosystem processes, provides ways for species to adapt to changing environmental conditions
scientific law
well tested and accepted description of observations
scientific theory
well tested and accepted scientific hypothesis
ecosystem
biological community of organisms within defined area of land or volume of water that interact w/ one another and w/ the nonliving chemical/physical factors
sustainability
capacity of earths natural system (support life and human economic systems in order to be able to survive/adapt to changing environmental conditions)
energy
capacity to fo work/transfer heat (work=force x distance)
Nucleus
center of the atom, contains one or more protons
genes
certain sequences of nucleotides, each coded unit of info leads to a trait
chemical change
chemical reaction takes place to change chemical composition
chemical cycling
circulation of nutrients from the environment through various organisms and back to environment
compounds
combinations of two or more different elements held together in fixed proportions
poverty's effect on environment
degraded forests, topsoil, and grasslands; depleted fisheries and wildlife populations
biomimicry
describes rapidly growing scientific effort to understand, mimic, and catalog ways nature has sustained life for 3.8 billion years
science
field of study on discovering how nature works and using that to describe what will happen in nature, base on assumption that events follow cause and effect patterns
ecological deficit
footprint is larger than biological capacity for replenishment
polymers
form when number of simple organic molecules are linked by chemical bonds (carbs, proteins, and nucleic acids)
ecology
key component of environmental science, branch of bio that focuses on how living organisms interact with living/nonliving parts of their environment
sustainability revolution
learning how to reduce our ecological footprints and live more sustainably
Living sustainably
living on natural income: renewable sources provided by natural capital
win-win solutions
look for win-won solutions to environmental problems, ones that will benefit the largest number of people and environment
natural resources
materials/energy provided by by nature that is essential to us
Biocapacity
measure of sustainability/ability of ecosystems to renew renewable resources used by a population in given time period and to absorb resulting waste/pollution
natural capital
natural resources and ecosystem services that keep humans/other species alive and that support human economics
ecosystem services
natural services produced by ecosystems to support life and economies at no monetary cost (forests help purify water/air, regulate climate, and recycle nutrients)
hydroxide ions
negative ions of OH--; can be produced when bases are dissolved in solution
physical change
no change in chemical composition
Nature Deficit Disorder
not having enough contact with nature
low quality matter
not highly concentrated, is often located deep underground or dispersed in the ocean or atmosphere, and usually has little potential for use as a resource
high quality energy
organized & concentrated, can perform useful work (ex. fossil fuels & nuclear).
potential energy
stored energy that results from the position or shape of an object
environmental science
study of connections in nature
commercial energy
1% of the energy we use, comes from burning nonrenewable mineral resources
fullcost pricing
2 ways to implement; shift from harmful subsidies to beneficial subsidies, and increase taxes on income/wealth
life-centered worldview
All species have value in fulfilling their particular role within the biosphere regardless of their potential use in society.
ion
An atom or group of atoms that has a positive or negative charge.
organic compounds
Compounds that contain at least 2 carbon atoms
reliable science
Data, hypothesis, models, theories, and laws widely accepted by experts
rule of 70
Doubling time (in years) = 70/(percentage growth rate).
model
another way to study nature, approximate physical/mathematical behavior of complex natural system
matter
anything with mass that takes up space
IPAT
Impact = Population x Affluence x Technology
Law of conversation of energy
Energy cannot be created or destroyed, when energy converts from one form to another, it ends up with lower quality energy
affluence and unsustainable resource use
as total resource consumption and average resource consumption per person increase so does degration/waste/pollution
Law of Conservation of Matter
Matter is not created nor destroyed in any chemical or physical change
feedback loop
Occurs when an output of matter, energy, or information is fed back into the system as an input and leads to changes in that system.
industrial-medical revolution
People invented machines for large scale production of goods in factories
atom
basic building blocks of matter, smallest unit of matter an element can be divided into
Tradegy of the Commons
The idea that where there is no clear ownership of rights to a natural resource, the users of the resource are likely to overexploit it. This becomes an argument either for strong government intervention or for privatization of rights to the resource.
agricultural revolution
The time when human beings first domesticated plants and animals and no longer relied entirely on hunting and gathering
information and globalization revolution
Use of new technologies to enable people to have increasingly rapid access to much more information on a global scale, resulted in pollution and more resource use
LDC (Less Developed Country)
all other nations, some with middle income and some with less, 83% of population, uses 30% of resources
human-centered worldview
Worldview that sees the natural world as a support system for human life.
molecule
a combination of two or more atoms held together by chemical bonds
electromagnetic radiation
a form of energy that exhibits wavelike behavior as it travels through space
energy quality
a measure of the capacity of a type of energy to do useful work
nonrenewable resource
a resource that exists in a fixed amount in various places in Earth's crust and can be replaced only by geological, physical, and chemical processes that take hundreds of millions of years (oil, gas, coal, metallic mineral resources, salt, clay, sand)
species
each organism belongs to a species, group of organisms having a unique set of characteristics that set it apart from other groups
sustainable system
earth is a sustainable system that has experienced many catastrophic changes
low quality energy
energy that is dispersed and has little ability to do useful work
environment
everything around us
economic depletion
exhaustion of about 80% of nonrenewable resources
inexhaustible resources
expected to last forever on human timescale (solar energy)
full cost pricing
gives customers info about harmful environmental impacts of the good and services they use
sustainable yeild
highest rate renewable resource can be used indefinitely without reducing available supply
cell theory
idea that all living things are composed of cells, cells are the basic units of structure and function in living things, and new cells are produced from existing cells
peer review
important part of scientific process, scientist publish details of methods, results, and reasoning behind hypothesis
MDC (more developed country)
industrialized nations with high average income per person (US, Japan, Canada, Australia, Germany, most European countries) includes 17% of worlds population, uses 70% of natural resources
planet's life support system
our lives depend on clean air and water, food, shelter, energy, soil, and a livable climate
human activities
overused 60% of earths ecosystem services since 1950
natural capital degration
people waste, deplete, and degrade much of earths life sustaining natural capital
scientific methods
practice to advance knowledge of natural world
tentative science
preliminary scientific results not gone under testing/peer review
environmentally sustainable society
protects natural capital and lives on its income
key ecosystem services
purification of air/water, renewable of topsoil, pollination, pest control, nutrient cycling
open access resources
renewable resources not owned by anyone (atmosphere/ocean)
renewable resources
resource that can be reused because its replenished through natural processes as long as it is not used faster than nature can renew it (forests, grasslands, clean air, fresh water)
unreliable science
results/hypothesis not hone under review
pH scale
scale with values from 0 to 14, used to measure the concentration of H+ ions in a solution; a pH of 0 to 7 is acidic, a pH of 7 is neutral, and a pH of 7 to 14 is basic
science has limits
scientific research cannot prove a theory is 100% true
scientific hypothesis
testable explanation of collected data
per capita ecological footprint
the average ecological footprint of an individual in a given country or area
kinetic energy
the energy an object has due to its motion
atomic theory
the idea that everything is made of small particles
atomic number
the number of protons in the nucleus of an atom
ecological tipping point
the point at which we reach an irreversible shift in behavior of a natural system.
mass number
the sum of the number of neutrons and protons in an atomic nucleus