Unit 9- Global Change

Anthropogenic

Human-induced changes on the natural environment.

Atmospheric circulation

The large-scale movement of air by which heat is distributed on the surface of the Earth.

Background extinction

Normal rate of extinction of various species as a result of changes in local environmental conditions.

Biodiversity

The variety of life in an ecosystem.

Calcium carbonate

CaCO3, substance that makes up coral and shells of aquatic organisms.

Cap and Trade

Market-based system of pollution control whereby individual businesses can buy and sell emission credits even while the total level of industry pollution is capped at some level.

Captive breeding

The mating of animals in zoos or wildlife preserves.

Carbon dioxide

A colorless, odorless gas produced by burning organic compounds and by the biological process of respiration. It acts as a greenhouse gas in the atmosphere.

CFCs

Chlorofluorocarbons. Man made chemicals used as coolants and propellants in aerosols that deplete the stratospheric ozone layer, and are also potent greenhouse gases.

CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora)

1973 treaty facilitated by the United Nations that protects endangered species by banning the international transport of their body parts

Climate change

Change in the overall properties of the climate system when considered over periods of decades.

Coral bleaching

A phenomenon in which mutualistic algae inside corals die, causing the corals to turn white.

Currents

Mass movements of water caused by prevailing winds blowing over the ocean surface, and by differences in density, temperature, and salinity for deeper waters.

Deforestation

The removal of trees faster than forests can replace themselves.

Domestication

The process of changing plants or animals to make them more useful to humans.

Edge effects

Different environmental conditions that occur along the boundaries of two ecosystems.

Endangered species

A species whose numbers are so small that the species is at risk of extinction.

Endangered Species Act

1973 law that identifies threatened and endangered species in the US, and puts their protection ahead of economic considerations

Extinction

When a species that no longer has any known living individuals.

Feedback loop

A circular process in which a system's output serves as input to that same system.

Fitness

Ability of an organism to survive and reproduce in its environment.

Fossil fuels

Coal, oil, natural gas, and other fuels that are formed from the ancient remains of plants and animals.

Generalist species

Organisms with a broad ecological niche, meaning they can live in many different places, eat a variety of foods, and tolerate a wide range of environmental conditions.

Geologic time scale

A record of the events and life forms in Earth's history.

Glaciers

Large areas of slow moving ice over land.

Global warming potential (GWP)

The ability of a substance to warm the atmosphere by trapping thermal energy.

Greenhouse effect

The trapping of the sun's warmth in a planet's lower atmosphere due to gases that absorb infrared radiation emitted from the planet's surface.

Greenhouse gases

Gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, water vapor, and ozone in the atmosphere which trap heat near the surface of the earth.

Habitat corridors

Natural strips of land that allow the migration of organisms from one wilderness area to another.

Habitat fragmentation

Breakup of a habitat into smaller separated pieces such as by roads or canals..

HFCs

Hydrofluorocarbons, chemicals containing hydrogen, fluorine, and carbons, produced as potentially less damaging substitutes for chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).

HIPPCO

Acronym for the main causes of decreasing biodiversity: habitat destruction, invasive species, population growth, pollution, climate change, and overexploitation.

Ice cores

Cylinders of ice drilled from ice caps and glaciers that have build up over thousands of years.

Invasive species

A species that enters new ecosystems and multiplies, harming native species and their habitats.

Jet stream

A narrow belt of strong winds that blow in the upper troposphere.

Kyoto Protocol

2005 agreement among 150 nations requiring greenhouse gas emission reduction in order to control global climate change. Signed but not ratified by the United States.

Mass extinction

An event during which many species die out during a relatively short period of time.

Methane

CH4, the main component of natural gas as well as a powerful greenhouse gas in the atmosphere.

Mitigate

To make less severe.

Montreal Protocol

1987 International agreement to phase-out chlorofluorocarbons (CFC's) and other ozone-depleting substances

Native species

Species that normally live and thrive in a particular ecosystem.

Nitrous oxide

N2O, one of the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, mainly produced by agriculture and the combustion of fossil fuels.

Non-native species

A species that is not naturally found in an area.

Ocean acidification

The decreasing pH of ocean waters due to absorption of excess atmospheric CO2.

Overexploitation

Practice of harvesting or hunting to such a degree that remaining individuals may not be able to replenish the population.

Ozone depletion

Thinning of Earth's stratospheric ozone layer caused by CFC's reacting chemically with ozone molecules, breaking them apart.

Permafrost

Permanently frozen layer of soil beneath the surface of the ground.

Photic zone

Portion of an ocean or lake that is shallow enough for sunlight to penetrate.

Poaching

Illegal killing or removal of wildlife from their habitats.

r-selected species

A species that has a high intrinsic growth rate, reproduces many offspring early in life, and has a short life span.

Sea level

The average level of the ocean's surface at any given time.

Selective breeding

The human practice of breeding animals or plants that have certain desired traits.

Selective pressure

Environmental conditions that make it harder for an organism to survive and reproduce.

Stratospheric ozone

Ozone found in the stratosphere that interacts with UV radiation and prevents 95% of it from reaching the surface.

Sustainable land use

Practices and technologies that aim to use the land's environmental resources to meet human needs while ensuring long-term availability of those resources.

Thermal expansion

An increase in the volume of water in the ocean when the temperature is increased.

Threatened species

A species that is at risk, but not yet endangered.

UV radiation

Energy given off from the sun.

Vectors

An organism that transmits disease by conveying pathogens from one host to another.

Water vapor

Water in the form of a gas, one of the important greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.