Apes - Chapter 1 vocab

Affluence

Wealth that results in high levels of consumption and unnecessary waste of resources, based mostly on the assumptions that buying more and more material goods will bring fulfillment and happiness

biodegradable

capable of being broken down by decomposers

biodegradable pollutant

Material that can be broken down into simpler substances (elements and compounds) by bacteria or other decomposers. Paper and most organic wastes such as animal manure are biodegradable but can take decades to biodegrade in modern landfills. Compare non degradable pollutants

biodiversity

variety of different species (species diversity), genetic variability among individuals within each species (genetic diversity), variety of ecosystems (ecological diversity), and functions such as energy flow and matter cycling needed for the survival of species and biological communities (functional diversity)

common-property resource

Resource that is owned jointly by a large group of individuals. One example is the roughly one– third of the land in the United States that is owned jointly by all U.S. citizens and held and managed for them by the government. Another example is an area of land that belongs to a whole village and that can be used by anyone for grazing cows or sheep. Compare open access renewable resource. See tragedy of the commons.

culture

whole of a society’s knowledge, beliefs, technology, and practices

developed country

more-developed country

developing country

less-developed country

doubling time

Time it takes (usually in years) for the quantity of something growing exponentially to double. It can be calculated by dividing the annual percentage growth rate into 70.

ecological footprint

Amount of biologically productive land and water needed to supply a population with the renewable resources it uses and to absorb or dispose of the wastes from such resource use. It is a measure of the average environmental impact of populations in different countries and areas. See per capita ecological footprint.

ecological tipping point

point at which an environmental problem reaches a threshold level, which causes an often irreversible shift in the behavior of a natural system

ecology

biological science that studies the relationships between living organisms and their environment; study of the structure and functions of nature

economic development

improvement of human living standards by economic growth. Compare economic growth, environmentally sustainable economic development.

economic growth

increase in the capacity to provide people with goods and services; an increase in GDP. Compare economic development, environmentally sustainable economic development.

economic resources

natural resources, capital goods, and labor used in an economy to produce material goods and services.

ecosystem

One or more communities of different species interacting with one another and with the chemical and physical factors making up their nonliving environment

ecosystem services

natural services or natural capital that support life on the earth and are essential to the quality of human life and the functioning of the world’s economies. Examples are the chemical cycles, natural pest control, and natural purification of air and water

energy conservation

reducing or eliminating the unnecessary waste of energy

environment

all external conditions, factors, matter, and energy, living and nonliving, that affect any living organism or other specified system

environmental degradation

Depletion or destruction of a potentially renewable resource such as soil, grassland, forest, or wildlife that is used faster than it is naturally replenished. If such use continues, the resource becomes nonrenewable (on a human time scale) or nonexistent (extinct).

environmental ethics

Human beliefs about what is right or wrong with how we treat the environment

Environmental science

Interdisciplinary study that uses information and ideas from the physical sciences (such as biology, chemistry, and geology) with those from the social sciences and humanities (such as economics, politics, and ethics) to learn how nature works, how we interact with the environment, and how we can help deal with environmental problems

environmental scientist

scientist who uses info from the physical sciences and social sciences to understand how the earth works, learn how humans interact with the earth, and develop solutions to environmental problems

environmental wisdom worldview

Worldview holding that humans are part of and totally dependent on nature and that nature exists for all species, not just for us. Our success depends on learning how the earth sustains itself and integrating such environmental wisdom into the ways we think and act. Compare frontier worldview, planetary management worldview, stewardship worldview.

Environmental worldview

Set of assumptions and beliefs about how people think the world works, what they think their role in the world should be, and what they believe is right and wrong environmental behavior (environmental ethics).

environmentalism

social movement dedicated to protecting the earth’s life support systems for us and other species

environmentally sustainable society

society that meets the current and future needs of its people for basic resources in a just and equitable manner without compromising the ability of future generations of humans and other species from meeting their basic needs

exhaustible resource

nonrenewable resource

exponential growth

Growth in which some quantity, such as population size or economic output, increases at a constant rate per unit of time. An example is the growth sequence 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, and so on, which increases by 100% at each interval. When the increase in quantity over time is plotted, this type of growth yields a curve shaped like the letter J.

free-access resource

open access renewable resource

Gross domestic product (GDP)

Annual market value of all goods and services produced by all firms and organizations, foreign and domestic, operating within a country.

hunter-gatherers

people who get their food by gathering edible wild plants and other materials, and by hunting wild animals or catching fish

input pollution control

pollution prevention

J-shaped curve

curve with a shape similar to that of the letter J; can represent prolonged exponential growth

Less-developed country (LDC)

country that has low to moderate industrialization and low to moderate per capita GDP. Most are locates in Africa, Asia, and Latin America

linear growth

Growth in which a quantity increases by some fixed amount during each unit of time. An example is growth that increases by 2 units in the sequence 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and so on.

maximum sustainable yield

sustainable yield

more-developed country (MDC)

country that is highly industrialized and has a high per capita GDP

multiple use

use of an ecosystem such as a forest for a variety of purposes such as timber harvesting, wildlife habitat, watershed protection, and recreation

natural capital degredation

environmental degredation

natural income

renewable resources such as plants, animals, and soil provided by natural capital

natural resources

materials such as air, water, and soil and energy in nature that are essential or useful to humans

natural services

processes of nature, such as purification of air and water and pest control, which support life and human economies

nonpoint sources

Broad and diffuse areas, rather than points, from which pollutants enter bodies of surface water or air. Examples include runoff of chemicals and sediments from cropland, livestock feedlots, logged forests, urban streets, parking lots, lawns, and golf courses.

Nonrenewable resource

Resource that exists in a fixed amount (stock) in the earth’s crust and has the potential for renewal by geological, physical, and chemical processes taking place over hundreds of millions to billions of years. Examples include copper, aluminum, coal, and oil. We classify these resources as exhaustible because we are extracting and using them at a much faster rate than they are formed.

nutrient

any chemical an organism must take in to live, grow, or reproduce

nutrient cycling

the circulation of chemicals necessary for life, from the environment (mostly from soil and water) through organisms and back to the environment

open access renewable resource

Renewable resource owned by no one and available for use by anyone at little or no charge. Examples include clean air, underground water supplies, the open ocean and its fish, and the ozone layer

organism

any form of life

output pollution control

pollution cleanup

per capita ecological footprint

Amount of biologically productive land and water needed to supply each person or population with the renewable resources they use and to absorb or dispose of the wastes from such resource use. It measures the average environmental impact of individuals or populations in different countries and areas

per capita GDP

Annual gross domestic product (GDP) of a country divided by its total population at midyear. It gives the average slice of the economic pie per person. Used to be called per capita gross national product (GNP). See gross domestic product.

perpetual resource

essentially inexhaustible resource on a human time scale, because it is renewed continuously. Solar energy is example

Planetary management worldview

Worldview holding that humans are separate from nature, that nature exists mainly to meet our needs and increasing wants, and that we can use our ingenuity and technology to manage the earth’s life–support systems, mostly for our benefit. It assumes that economic growth is unlimited.

point source

Single identifiable source that discharges pollutants into the environment. Examples include the smokestack of a power plant or an industrial plant, drainpipe of a meatpacking plant, chimney of a house, or exhaust pipe of an automobile.

pollution

undesirable change in the physical, chemical, or biological characteristics of air, water, soil, or food that can adversely affect the health, survival, or activities of humans or other living organisms.

pollution cleanup

Device or process that removes or reduces the level of a pollutant after it has been produced or has entered the environment. Examples include automobile emission control devices and sewage treatment plants.

pollution prevention

Device, process, or strategy used to prevent a potential pollutant from forming or entering the environment or to sharply reduce the amount entering the environment.

poverty

inability of people to meet their basic needs for food, clothing, and shelter.

precautionary principle

When there is significant scientific uncertainty about potentially serious harm from chemicals or technologies, decision makers should act to prevent harm to humans and the environment.

recycle

To collect and reprocess a resource so that it can be made into new products; one of the three R’s of resource use. An example is collecting aluminum cans, melting them down, and using the aluminum to make new cans or other aluminum products.

renewable resource

Resource that can be replenished rapidly (hours to several decades) through natural processes as long as it is not used up faster than it is replaced. Examples include trees in forests, grasses in grasslands, wild animals, fresh surface water in lakes and streams, most groundwater, fresh air, and fertile soil. If such a resource is used faster than it is replenished, it can be depleted and converted into a nonrenewable resource.

resource

anything obtained from the environment to meet human needs and wants. It can also be applied to other species.

reuse

to use a product over and over again in the same form. An example if collecting, washing, and refilling glass beverage bottles. One of the 3 Rs.

rule of 70

doubling time (in years) = 70 / (percentage growth rate).

social capital

Result of getting people with different views and values to talk and listen to one another, find common ground based on understanding and trust, and work together to solve environmental and other problems.

solar energy

Direct radiant energy from the sun and a number of indirect forms of energy produced by the direct input of such radiant energy. Principal indirect forms of solar energy include wind, falling and flowing water (hydropower), and biomass (solar energy converted into chemical energy stored in the chemical bonds of organic compounds in trees and other plants–)—none of which would exist without direct solar energy.

Species

Group of similar organisms, and for sexually reproducing organisms, they are a set of individuals that can mate and produce fertile offspring. Every organism is a member of a certain species

Stewardship Worldview

Worldview holding that we can manage the earth for our benefit but that we have an ethical responsibility to be caring and responsible managers, or stewards, of the earth. It calls for encouraging environmentally beneficial forms of economic growth and discouraging environmentally harmful forms

sustainability

Ability of earth’s various systems, including human cultural systems and economies, to survive and adapt to changing environmental conditions indefinitely.

Sustainable living

Taking no more potentially renewable resources from the natural world than can be replenished naturally and not overloading the capacity of the environment to cleanse and renew itself by natural processes.

sustainable yield (sustained yield)

Highest rate at which a potentially renewable resource can be used indefinitely without reducing its available supply.

Tragedy of the commons

Depletion or degradation of a potentially renewable resource to which people have free and unmanaged access. An example is the depletion or more factors or processes so that the of commercially desirable fish species in the open ocean beyond areas controlled by coastal countries.