AP EXAM REVIEW Part 1 :)

environment

environment

everything living and nonliving around us which we interact in a complex web of relationships that connect us to one another and to the world we live in.

environmental science

an interdisciplinary study of how humans interact with the living and nonliving parts of their environment.

ecology

the biological science that studies how organisms interact with one another and with their environment.

natural resources or capital

materials and energy in nature that are essential or useful to humans. Ex. water, soil, wildlife, minerals, forests

natural services

processes in nature, such as purification of air and water and renewal of topsoil, which support life and human economies. Ex. recycling, purification, pest control

resource

anything that we can obtain from the environment to meet our needs and wants.

perpetual resource

a resource that has a continuous supply that can last at least 6 billion years. Ex.: the sun

renewable resource

a resource that takes anywhere from several days to several hundred years to be replenished through natural processes, as long as we do not use it up faster than nature can renew it. Ex.: fish populations, forests

sustainable yield

the highest rate at which we can use a renewable resource indefinitely without reducing its available supply.

nonrenewable resource

resources that exist in a fixed quantity, or stock, in the earth's crust. It takes millions to billions of years to renew. Ex.: copper, coal

reuse

using a resource over and over in the same form.

recycling

involves collecting waste materials and processing them into new materials.

economic growth

an increase in a nation's output of goods and servicese. Percentage of change in a country's GDP.

gross domestic product (GDP)

the annual market value of all goods and services produced by all businessees, foreign adn domestic, operating within a country.

per capita GDP

the GDP divided by the total population.

economic development

an effort to use economic growth to improve living standards.

pollution

any presence with the environment of a chemical or other agent such as noise or heat at a level that is harmful to the health, survival, or activities of humans or other organisms.

Point sources

single, identifiable sources of pollution. Ex.: drainpipe of a factory.

non-point sources

dispersed and often difficult to identify sources of pollution. Ex.: runoff from fertilizers.

pollution cleanup or output pollution control

involves cleaning up or diluting pollutans AFTER we have produced them.

pollution prevention or input pollution control

reducing or eliminating the production of pollutants.

Tragedy of the Commons

when many common-property and open-access renewable resources are degraded. Ex.: depleting the world's oceans of fish.

ecological footprint

the amount of biologically productive land and water needed to provide the people in a particular country or area with an indefinite supply of renewable resources and to absorb and recycle the wastes and pollution produced by such resource use.

IPAT

a simple model showing how population size, affluence, and the beneficial and harmful environmental effects of technologies help to determine the environmental impact of human activities.

exponential growth

when a quantity such as the human population increases at a fixed percentage per unit of time, such as 2% per year. It starts off slowly, but eventually doubles again and again.

environmental worldview

your set of assumptions and values reflecting how you think the world works and what you think your role in the world should be.

environmental ethics

beliefs about what is right and wrong with how we treat the environment.

planetary management worldview

holds that we are separate from and in charge of 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 to our benefit, indefinitely.

environmental wisdom worldview

holds that we are part of, and dependent on, nature and that nature exists for all species, not just for us.

environmentally sustainable society

a society that meets the current and future basic resource needs of its people in a just and equitable manner without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their basic needs.

ecologist

biological scientists studying the relationships, between living organisms and their environment

conservation biologist

investigate human impacts on the diversity of life found on the earthand develop practical plans for preserving such diversity.

preservationist

concerned primarily with setting aside or protecting undisturbed natural areas from harmful human activities.

conservationist

concerned with using natural areas and wildlife in ways that sustain them for current and turture generations of humans and other forms of life.

restorationist

devoted to the partial or complete restoration of natural areas that have been degraded by human activities

gross national income (GNI)

the market value in current dollars of all goods and services produced within and outside a country during a year

gross national income in perchasing power parity (GNI PPP)

the market value of a country's GNI in terms of goods and services it would buy in the US (a way to compare the standards among countries)

gross world product (GWP)

the market value in current dollars of all goods and services produced during a year

per capita GNI

the GNI divided by total population at mid-year (way to make comparison's of people's economic welfare among countries)

rule of 70

70/percentage of growth rate=doubling time in years

doubling time

the number of years (base on specified growth rate) it take a population to double in size

economically depleted

when the costs of extracting and using what is left exceed its economic value

atom

the smallest component of an element having the chemical properties of the element

proton

positively charged subatomic particles, found in the nucleus of an atom

neutron

a subatomic particle that has the same mass as a proton but no electric charge

electron

a negatively charged subatomic particle

atomic number

the number of protons in the nucleus of an atom

compounds

two or more different elements held together in fixed proportions by attractive forces called chemical bonds.

chlorofluorocarbons

compounds of carbon, chlorine, and fluorine atoms

complex carbohydrate

made by linking a number of simple carbohydrate molecules like glucose

electromagnetic radiation

radiation consisting of waves of energy associated with electric and magnetic fields resulting from the acceleration of an electric charge

covalent bond

formed when atoms in the molecule share one or more pair(s) of their electrons; a.k.a. nonmetal-nonmetal

elements

simple substances that cannot be broken down into simpler substances

energy

The capacity to do work or to produce heat

energy efficiency

the amount of useful energy that can come from a system

energy quality

A measure of an energy's source's ability to do useful work.

feedback loop

Occurs when an output of matter, energy, or information is fed back into the system as an input and leads to changes in that system.

flows

a throughput of matter and energy within the system at certain rates, and outputs to the environment.

high quality energy

energy concentrated at a high capacity to do useful work

high quality matter

highly concentrated, found near the earth's surface and has great potential as a resource

gene

consist of specific sequences of nucleotides in a DNA molecule, each gene carries the codes required to make various proteins

gamma ray

a form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation

inorganic compounds

compounds that do not contain carbon

inputs

resources such as energy, matter and information from the environment entering a system

isotopes

atoms of the same element that differ in the number of neutrons they contain

kinetic energy

the energy an object has due to its motion

law of conservation of energy or first law of thermodynamic

the law that states that energy cannot be created or destroyed but can be changed from one form to another

law of conservation of matter

the idea that matter is neither created nor destroyed in only changes form

low-quality energy

Energythat is dispersed and has little ability to do useful work. Ex: low temp heat

mass number

the sum of the numbers of protons and neutrons in the nucleus of an atom

matter quality

a measure of how useful a substance is, based on availability, accessibility, and concentration

molecule

the smallest particle (one or more atoms) of a substance that has all the properties of that substance

natural radioactive decay

a nuclear change in which unstable isotopes spontaneously emit fast moving particles, high energy radiation, or both at a fixed rate

negative feedback loop

A feedback loop that causes a system to change in the opposite direction from which it is moving

nuclear change

Occurs when nuclei of certain isotopes spontaneously change or are made to change into nuclei of different isotopes.

nuclear fission

A nuclear reaction in which a massive nucleus splits into smaller nuclei with the simultaneous release of energy

nuclear fusion

the combination of the nuclei of small atoms to form a larger nucleus; releases energy

organic compounds

carbon-based molecules (most abundant compound besides water)

pH

a value that indicated the acidity or alkalinity of a solution on a scale of 0-14, based on the proportion of H+ ions.

physical change

one in which the form or appearance of matter changes, but not its composition

positive feedback loop

Causes a system to change further in the same direction.

potential energy

stored energy that is latent but available for use. A rock poised at the top of a hill or water stored behind a dam are examples.

proteins

produced in cells by linking different sequences of about twenty different monomers known as alpha-amino acids

nucleic acids

made by linking hundreds of thousands of five different types of monomers called nucleotides, each nucleotide is made of a phosphate group, a sugar molecule with five carbon atoms, and one of the four different nucleotide bases

radioisotopes

heavier isotopes that are unstable and tend to decompose to become more stable

second law of thermodynamics

any conversion of heat energy to useful work, some of the initial energy input is always converted to low quality, more dispersed, less useful energy.

synergistic interaction

Interaction of two or more factors or processes so that the combined effect is greater than the sum of their separate effects

synergy

the interaction of two or more agents or forces so that their combined effect is greater than the sum of their individual effects

system

a collection of structures, cycles, and processes that relate to and interact with each other

throughputs

rate of flow of matter, energy and information into a system - a process that allows input to be changed so it is useful to system (text example: gasoline to car)

time delays

Time lag between the input of a stimulus into a system and the response to the stimulus

sinks

where pollutants and wastes end up and can accumulate to harmful levels

ionic bond

strong forces of attraction between oppositely charged ions

alpha particles

fast-moving, positively charged chunks of matter that consist of two protons and two neutrons

half-life

the time needed for one-half of the nuclei in a radioisotopes to decay and emit their radiation to form a different isotope

lipid

biologically important molecules that are not polymers including fats, oils, waxes, phospholipids, and various steroids

atom

the smallest component of an element having the chemical properties of the element

proton

positively charged subatomic particles, found in the nucleus of an atom

neutron

a subatomic particle that has the same mass as a proton but no electric charge

electron

a negatively charged subatomic particle