APES acronyms

practice your acronyms so that you know what all the random letters mean on the AP test

GDP

Gross Domestic Product: The total value of goods produced and services provided in a country during one year.

CBR

Crude Birth Rate: The number of live births occurring among the population of a given geographical area during a given year, per 1,000 mid-year total population of the given geographical area during the same year.

UN

United Nations: An international organization founded in 1945 after the Second World War by 51 countries committed to maintaining international peace and security, developing friendly relations among nations and promoting social progress, better living standards and human rights.

NAAQS

National Ambient Air Quality Standard: Standards established by the EPA for pollutants considered harmful to public health and the environment.

WHO

World Health Organization: A specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health.

WWF

World Wildlife Foundation: An international non-governmental organization founded in 1961, working in the field of the wilderness preservation, and the reduction of human impact on the environment.

EPA

Environmental Protection Agency: An agency of the U.S. federal government which protects human and environmental health.

OPEC

Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries: An intergovernmental organization of 13 countries. It coordinates and unifies the petroleum policies of its member countries and ensures the stabilization of oil markets.

BOD

Biological Oxygen Demand: The amount of dissolved oxygen needed by biological organisms to break down organic material present in a given water sample at certain temperature over a specific time period.

DO

Dissolved Oxygen: The amount of oxygen present in water. It is essential for the survival of fish and other aquatic organisms.

CDR

Crude Death Rate: The number of deaths occurring among the population of a given geographical area during a given year, per 1,000 mid-year total population of the given geographical area during the same year.

ACAP

Annapurna Conservation Area Project: A large protected area in the Annapurna mountain range of north-central Nepal.

IPCC

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: An intergovernmental body of the United Nations that evaluates climate change science.

LDC

Less Developed Country: A nation with a lower living standard, less advanced technological infrastructure, and lower Human Development Index compared to other nations.

MDC

More Developed Country: A sovereign state that has a highly developed economy and advanced technological infrastructure relative to other less industrialized nations.

GPP

Gross Primary Productivity: The total rate at which the ecosystem's producers convert solar energy into chemical energy.

NPP

Net Primary Productivity: The rate at which an ecosystem's producers convert solar energy into chemical energy, minus the rate at which producers use some of this stored chemical energy through aerobic respiration.

MAB

Man and the Biosphere Program: An intergovernmental scientific program that aims to establish a scientific basis for the improvement of relationships between people and their environment.

UNESCO

United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization: A specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture.

VOCs

Volatile Organic Compounds: Organic chemicals that have a high vapor pressure at ordinary room temperature. High vapor pressure results from a low boiling point, which causes large numbers of molecules to evaporate or sublimate from the liquid or solid form of the compound and enter the surrounding air.

IUCN

International Union for Conservation of Nature: An international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources.

USAID

United States Agency for International Development: An independent agency of the U.S. Federal Government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance.

CBD

Convention on Biological Diversity: A multilateral treaty. The Convention has three main goals: the conservation of biological diversity (or biodiversity); the sustainable use of its components; and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from genetic resources.

CITES

Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species: An international agreement between governments. Its aim is to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten the survival of the species.

ESA

Endangered Species Act: The primary law in the United States for protecting imperiled species.

US NCEAS

US National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis: A research center that synthesizes existing ecological data to address major environmental issues.

NMFS

National Marine Fisheries Service: The federal agency responsible for the stewardship of national marine resources.

USFWS

US Fish and Wildlife Service: A federal government agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats.

HIPPCO

Habitat destruction, Invasive species, Pollution, Population dynamics, Climate change and Overexploitation: An acronym summarizing the most important causes of premature extinction of species.

FSC

Forest Stewardship Council: An international non-profit, multi-stakeholder organization established in 1993 that promotes responsible management of the world's forests.

MSY

Maximum Sustainable Yield: The theoretical maximum level at which a natural resource can be routinely exploited without long-term depletion.

OSY

Optimal Sustainable Yield: The yield that results in the largest difference between total revenue and total cost.

US MMPA

US Marine Mammal Protection Act: Enacted in 1972, this act prohibits the take of marine mammals in U.S. waters and by U.S. citizens on the high seas, and the importation of marine mammals and marine mammal products into the U.S.

K

Carrying Capacity: The maximum number of individuals in a population that the environment can support.

FIFRA

Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act: A United States federal law that set up the basic U.S. system of pesticide regulation to protect applicators, consumers, and the environment.

GMO

Genetically Modified Organism: An organism whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques.

FAO

Food and Agriculture Organization: A specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger.

FDA

Food and Drug Administration: A federal agency responsible for regulating and supervising the safety of food, drugs, and medical devices.

USDA

US Department of Agriculture: The federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food.

IPM

Integrated Pest Management: An ecosystem-based strategy that focuses on long-term prevention of pests or their damage through a combination of techniques such as biological control, habitat manipulation, modification of cultural practices, and use of resistant varieties.

FQA

Food Quality Act: A law that amended the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, changing the way the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates pesticides.

BPA

Bisphenol A: An industrial chemical that has been used to make certain plastics and resins since the 1950s.

POPs

Persistent Organic Pollutants: Organic chemical substances that persist in the environment, bioaccumulate through the food web, and pose a risk of causing adverse effects to human health and the environment.

PCB

Polychlorinated Bisphenol: A class of persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic chemicals.

HAA

Hormonally Active Agent: Chemicals that can interfere with endocrine (or hormone) systems at certain doses. These disruptions can cause cancerous tumors, birth defects, and other developmental disorders.

TRI

Toxic Release Inventory: A publicly available database containing information on toxic chemical releases and other waste management activities reported annually by certain industries as well as federal facilities.

LD

Lethal Dose: An indication of the toxicity of a chemical or substance. It refers to the amount of the substance required to cause death.

REACH

Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals: A European Union regulation concerning the registration, evaluation, authorization and restriction of chemical substances.

MSW

Municipal Solid Waste: Commonly known as trash or garbage; includes everyday items such as product packaging, grass clippings, furniture, clothing, bottles, food scraps, newspapers, appliances, paint, and batteries.

MRF

Materials Recovery Facility: A specialized plant that receives, separates and prepares recyclable materials for sale to end-user manufacturers.

RCRA

Resource Conservation and Recovery Act: The public law that creates the framework for the proper management of hazardous and non-hazardous solid waste.

CERCLA

Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act: Commonly known as Superfund, a United States federal law designed to clean up sites contaminated with hazardous substances as well as broadly define "liable parties" for cleanup costs.

ENSO

El Nino Southern Oscillation: A periodic variation in winds and sea surface temperatures over the tropical eastern Pacific Ocean, affecting much of the tropics and subtropics.

CFC

Chlorofluorocarbon: An organic compound that contains only carbon, chlorine, and fluorine, formerly used extensively as refrigerants and aerosol propellants. Because of their harmful effect on the ozone layer, their production has been curtailed.

CHP

Combined Heat and Power: An efficient technology that generates electricity and captures the heat that would otherwise be wasted to provide useful thermal energy—such as steam or hot water—that can be used for space heating, cooling, domestic hot water and industrial processes.

CAFO

Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation: An animal feeding operation (AFO) in which over a certain number of animals are confined for at least 45 days in a 12-month period, and there is no grass or other vegetation in the confinement area during the normal growing season.

NCEAS

National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis: A research center that advances ecological knowledge and solutions to environmental problems.

DDT

Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane: A colorless, tasteless, and almost odorless crystalline chemical compound, an organochlorine insecticide.