AP HuG - Unit 5 Ch 13 Vocab

Acid Rain

a growing environmental peril whereby acidified rainwater severely damages plant and animal life; caused by the oxides of sulfur and nitrogen that are released into the atmosphere when coal, oil and natural gas are burned, especially in major manufacturing zones

Oxygen Cycle

cycle whereby natural processes and human activity consume atmospheric oxygen and produce carbon dioxide dioxide and produce oxygen.

Soil Erosion

the wearing away and removal of rock and soil particles from exposed surfaces by agents such as moving water, wind, or ice

Sanitary Landfills

Disposal sites for non-hazardous solid waste that is spread in layers and compacted to the smallest practical volume

Solid Waste

Non-liquid, non-soluable materials ranging from municipal garbage to sewage sludge; agricultural refuse; and mining residues.

Vienna Convention

The first international convention aimed at addressing the issue of ozone depletion (held in 1985, was the predecessor to the Montreal Protocol)

Pleistocene

The most recent epoch of the late Cenozoic ice age, beginning about 1.8 million years ago, marked by as many as 20 glaciations and interglaciations

Climate Change

a change in global or regional climate patterns, in particular a change apparent from the mid to late 20th century onwards and attributed largely to the increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide produced by the use of fossil fuels

Mass Extinctions

Mass destruction of most species

Interglacials

Warm periods during the ice age

Wisconsin Glaciation

The most recent glacial period of Pleistocene, enduring about 100,000 years and giving way to the current interglacial starting 18,000 years ago, the Holocene

Chlorofluorocarbons

Synthetic organic compounds first created in the 1950s and used primarily as refrigerants and as propellants

Atmosphere

the blanket of gasses surrounding the earth and located some 350 miles above the earth's surface

Radioactive Waste

Hazardous-waste-emitting radiation from nuclear power plants, nuclear weapon factories, and nuclear equipment in hospitals and industry

Anthropocence

geological epoch defined by atmospheric chemist Paul Crutzen to acknowledge the central role humans play in shaping the earth's environments

Montreal Protocol

international agreement signed in 1987 by 105 countries and the European Community (aka EU). Called for a reduction in production and consumption of CFCs of 50% by 2000

Greenhouse Effect

blanket-like effect of the atmosphere in the heating of the earth's surface

Environmental Stress

The threat to environmental security by human activity \

Holocene

The current interglaciation period, extending from 10,000 years ago to the present on the geologic time scale.

Rare Earth Elements

17 chemical elements that are common but hard to deprecate. Used in technology.

Little Ice Age

Temporary but significant cooling period between the fourteenth and the nineteenth centuries

Hydrologic Cycle

the system of exchange involving water in its various forms as it continually circulates among the atmosphere, the oceans, and above and below the land surface

Pangaea

The primeval supercontinent, hypothesized by Alfred Wegener, that broke apart and formed the continents and oceans as we know them today

Pacific Ring of Fire

Zone of crustal instability, volcanism, and earthquakes resulting from the tectonic activity along plate boundaries in the region

Nonrenewable Resources

Resources that are present in finite quantities because they are not self-replenishing or take an extraordinarily long time to replenish

Aquifers

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

Tectonic Plates

large pieces of rock that form portions of the earth's mantle and crust, and are in motion

Ozone Layers

The layer in the upper atmosphere located between 30 and 45 kilometers above the Earth's surface where stratosperic ozone is most densely concentrated

Renewable Resources

Resources that can regenerate as they are exploited.

Biodiversity

The diversity of plant and animal life in a particular habitat (or in the world as a whole)

Glaciation

A period of global cooling during which continental ice sheets and mountain glaciers expand

Toxic Waste

Hazardous waste that causes danger from chemical and infectious organisms

Photosynthesis

the formation of carbohydrates in living plants from water and carbon dioxide, through the action of sunlight on chlorophyll in those plants

Deforestation

The clearing and destruction of forests to harvest wood for consumption, clear land for agricultural uses, and make way for expanding settlement frontiers