Human Sustainability and Earth Systems Practice Flashcards

Vocabulary-style flashcards defining key concepts of human sustainability, ecosystem management, and geologic time divisions as presented in the lecture transcript.

Natural Resources

Materials derived from the environment, such as water, fertile soil, forests, fossil fuels, and mineral ores, which human societies depend on to grow and sustain populations.

Resource Corridors

Paths for infrastructure like pipelines, highways, ports, and transmission lines that are typically established based on the location of resources.

Biodiversity

The variety of life that supports essential ecosystem services, including pollination, water filtration, soil health, and climate regulation.

Technosphere

The sum of all human-built systems, which requires significant energy resources to function.

Lithium Triangle

A region in South America where mining operations for rechargeable battery materials have depleted groundwater and impacted local farming.

Environmental Impact Assessments

Reviews used in land development to identify risks and mitigation strategies related to geological constraints, sensitive habitats, and long-term resilience.

Feedback Loops

Interactions between human and Earth systems where one change triggers another, such as urbanization reducing vegetation, leading to more runoff and higher heat.

Ecosystem Restoration

The practice of repairing degraded environments to return them to a natural, functional state using techniques like reforestation, wetland re-creation, and dam removal.

Bioremediation

A restoration technique that uses microbes or plants to remove pollutants from soil and water.

Remote Sensing

A technology used to monitor vegetation growth and habitat changes over time to measure the success of restoration projects.

Repeated Losses

Resources wasted when projects are rebuilt in high-risk areas like flood zones or unstable slopes only to be damaged again by the same hazard.

Constructed Wetlands

Engineered water systems designed to filter pollutants, recharge groundwater, and reduce flood risk.

Rain Gardens

Shallow, planted depressions that collect and absorb stormwater to reduce runoff and filter pollutants.

Green Roofs

Vegetation-covered rooftops that manage stormwater, improve building insulation, and provide urban wildlife habitats.

Consultation

The ethical best practice of involving affected communities in planning decisions, particularly when development involves culturally or historically significant land.

Paleozoic Era

A major division of geologic time from approximately $541 - 252$ million years ago characterized by the rise of complex marine life and early land plants.

Late Devonian

A mass extinction event occurring $383 - 359$ million years ago, possibly caused by climate change linked to forest expansion.

Silurian Period

A period of geologic time that began approximately $444$ million years ago.

Geologic Time Scale

The division of Earth's $4.6$ billion-year history into eons, eras, periods, and epochs based on significant changes in life and climate.