Earth Systems, Climate Change, Biodiversity, and Environmental Policy Vocabulary

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering Earth systems, climate history, climate policy, environmental justice, biodiversity, conservation law, and logical reasoning.

Fermi paradox

The contradiction between the likelihood of extraterrestrial life existing and the lack of evidence that we have detected it.

Discipline

A specific field of study, such as biology or economics.

Interdisciplinary

Combining knowledge from multiple fields to understand a problem.

Epistemology

The study of knowledge and how we know what is true.

Earth System Science

The study of how Earth's physical, chemical, biological, and human systems interact.

Six spheres

Six interconnected Earth systems: atmosphere (air), hydrosphere (water), geosphere (solid Earth), cryosphere (ice), biosphere (life), and anthroposphere (human systems).

Scale

The size, level, or time period at which something is studied.

Global climate model

A computer simulation of Earth's climate used to understand and project climate changes.

Ensembles

Groups of model simulations used to compare results and understand uncertainty.

Feedbacks (+/−)

Positive feedback amplifies a change; negative feedback counteracts a change.

Teleconnections

Climate connections between geographically distant regions.

Homeostasis

The regulation of a system to maintain relatively stable conditions.

Gaia Hypothesis

The idea that living organisms interact with Earth's environment in ways that influence conditions for life.

El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO)

A recurring climate pattern involving Pacific Ocean temperatures and atmospheric circulation, including El Niño and La Niña.

Stable states

Conditions in which a system tends to remain or to which it returns after small disturbances.

Thresholds

Critical levels at which a system may change significantly.

Tipping points

Critical points beyond which a system may undergo a major, potentially self-reinforcing change.

Evidence

Information or observations used to support or challenge a claim.

Justified true belief

The traditional definition of knowledge as a belief that is true and supported by good reasons.

Primary sources

Original records or evidence from the time or event being studied.

Pluralism

Recognizing that different perspectives, values, and forms of knowledge can coexist.

PETM

Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum: a major global warming event about 56 million years ago caused by a large release of carbon.

Holocene

The current geological epoch, beginning about 11,700 years ago after the last major glacial period.

Anthropocene

A term describing the period in which human activity has become a major influence on Earth's systems; it is not an officially adopted geological epoch.

Medieval Warm Period

A period of relatively warm conditions in many regions, approximately 950–1250 CE.

Little Ice Age

A period of relatively cool conditions in many regions, roughly from the 14th to 19th centuries.

Troposphere

The lowest layer of Earth's atmosphere, where most weather occurs.

Carbon dioxide ($\text{CO}_2$)

A greenhouse gas released naturally and through human activities that absorbs and emits infrared radiation.

Infrared (heat) energy

Invisible electromagnetic radiation emitted by Earth's surface; greenhouse gases absorb and emit some of it.

Atmospheric aerosols

Tiny solid particles or liquid droplets suspended in the air that can affect climate and air quality.

Timescale

The length of time over which an event or process occurs.

Kelvin wave

A wave in the ocean or atmosphere influenced by gravity and Earth's rotation; equatorial oceanic Kelvin waves help redistribute heat during ENSO.

Thermal expansion

The increase in a substance's volume as it warms; ocean thermal expansion contributes to sea-level rise.

Specific heat

The energy required to raise the temperature of a unit mass of a substance by one degree.

$1.5^\circ\text{C}$ target

The goal of pursuing a limit of $1.5^\circ\text{C}$ of global warming above pre-industrial temperatures.

Paris Agreement of 2015

International climate treaty in which countries submit plans to reduce emissions and limit global warming.

Total emissions

The overall amount of greenhouse gases emitted by a person, organization, country, or the world.

Per capita emissions

Total emissions divided by population; the average emissions per person.

Jevons paradox

When greater efficiency lowers costs and leads to increased use that can offset the resource savings.

Carbon budget

The maximum additional $\text{CO}_2$ humanity can emit while retaining a specified chance of meeting a temperature target.

Renewables

Energy sources that naturally replenish, such as solar, wind, and hydropower.

Electrification of everything

Replacing fossil-fuel-powered equipment with electric alternatives, ideally powered by clean electricity.

Carbon capture and storage (CCS)

Capturing $\text{CO}_2$ from an emissions source and storing it, usually underground.

Carbon dioxide removal (CDR)

Removing $\text{CO}_2$ that is already in the atmosphere and storing it.

Geoengineering

Deliberate, large-scale interventions intended to alter Earth's climate system.

Solar Radiation Modification (SRM)

Proposed methods to reflect more sunlight into space to reduce warming without removing atmospheric $\text{CO}_2$.

Glacial geoengineering

Proposed interventions intended to slow glacier or ice-sheet loss.

Adaptation

Adjusting to climate impacts to reduce harm.

Mitigation

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions or increasing carbon removal to limit climate change.

Suffering

Harm experienced when climate impacts cannot be avoided or adequately managed; related to loss and damage.

Policy

A rule, plan, or course of action used to address a problem.

Collective action problem

A problem requiring cooperation when individuals or groups have incentives to prioritize their own interests.

Tragedy of the Commons

When individuals overuse a shared resource, harming the group overall.

Climate policy tools

Methods such as carbon taxes, regulations, subsidies, emissions standards, and public investment used to address climate change.

Cap and trade

A policy that limits total emissions and allows regulated entities to buy and sell emissions allowances.

California AB 32

California's 2006 law establishing a framework to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, including an original target of returning emissions to 1990 levels by 2020.

California AB 1279

California's 2022 law setting goals for net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045 and at least an 85% reduction below 1990 levels by then.

Montreal Protocol

International treaty to phase out ozone-depleting substances.

Kyoto Protocol

International climate treaty establishing binding emissions-reduction targets for participating developed countries during specified periods.

Paris Agreement

International treaty adopted in 2015 to limit global warming through national climate plans and international cooperation.

Free rider problem

When someone benefits from a shared effort without contributing fairly to its costs.

Discounting

Assigning lower present value to future costs or benefits when comparing outcomes over time.

Inflation Reduction Act

U.S. law enacted in 2022 that included major clean-energy and climate incentives.

Industrial policy

Government actions intended to encourage the development of particular industries or technologies.

Economies of scale

Lower average production costs as the quantity produced increases.

Environmental history

The study of how humans and the environment have influenced one another over time.

Contexts/catalysts

Contexts are surrounding conditions that explain an event; catalysts are factors that trigger or accelerate change.

Climate justice

Fairness in who causes, experiences, and responds to climate change.

Environmental justice

Fair treatment and meaningful participation for all people in environmental decisions and protection.

Risk multiplier

A factor that worsens existing risks, such as climate change intensifying food insecurity.

Five dimensions of climate justice

Commonly: distributive (fair distribution), procedural (participation), recognitional (respect for identities and knowledge), restorative (repairing harm), and intergenerational (fairness to future generations).

Five barriers to climate justice

Common examples: unequal power, unequal resources, limited representation, historical inequalities, and competing interests or free riding.

Biodiversity

The variety of life, including genetic, species, and ecosystem diversity.

Endemic species

A species naturally found only in a particular geographic area.

Hot spots

Biodiversity hotspots: regions with high numbers of endemic species that have lost much of their original habitat.

Sixth mass extinction

The current human-driven acceleration of species extinction, often described as a potential sixth mass extinction.

Age of Mammals

Informal name for the Cenozoic Era, which began about 66 million years ago.

Pleistocene Epoch

An epoch lasting from about 2.58 million to 11,700 years ago, characterized by repeated glacial cycles.

Pleistocene megafauna

Large animals that lived during the Pleistocene, such as mammoths and giant ground sloths.

Pleistocene (Quaternary) extinctions

Widespread extinctions, particularly of large animals, during the late Pleistocene and early Holocene.

Late Quaternary extinctions

Extinctions near the end of the Pleistocene and into the early Holocene, involving interacting human and climate influences.

Blitzkrieg hypothesis (paleontological)

The hypothesis that rapid human expansion and intense hunting contributed to rapid megafauna extinctions.

Populations

Groups of individuals of the same species living in a particular area at the same time.

Species

A basic unit of biological classification; under the biological species concept, a group that can interbreed naturally and produce fertile offspring.

Genus (genera)

A classification group containing closely related species.

Biological species concept

Defines species by their ability to interbreed naturally and produce fertile offspring, with reproductive isolation from other groups.

Hybridization

Reproduction between genetically distinct populations or species, producing hybrid offspring.

Speciation

The evolutionary process through which new species form.

Background extinction rate

The typical rate of extinction outside major mass-extinction events.

Mass extinctions (five)

The five major events: end-Ordovician, Late Devonian, end-Permian, end-Triassic, and end-Cretaceous.

The five main threats to biodiversity

Commonly: habitat loss, invasive species, overexploitation, pollution, and climate change.

IUCN

International Union for Conservation of Nature; assesses species' extinction risk through the IUCN Red List.

Indigenous-led conservation

Conservation governed or directed by Indigenous peoples, respecting their rights, knowledge, and relationships with their lands.

Conservation

Protecting, managing, and restoring nature and biodiversity.

Utilitarianism

An ethical approach that evaluates actions by their consequences, often seeking the greatest overall well-being.

CITES

International treaty regulating trade in listed wild animals and plants to help ensure their survival.

EU Habitats Directive

European Union law protecting natural habitats and wild species through conservation measures and protected areas.

Costa Rica's Biodiversity Law No. 7788

A 1998 law establishing a framework for biodiversity conservation, sustainable use, and benefit-sharing.

U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA)

A 1973 federal law protecting endangered and threatened species and the ecosystems they depend on.

ESA Section 9

Establishes prohibitions on certain activities involving listed species, including specified forms of taking endangered wildlife.