Environmental Science Modules 1-5 Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards reviewing core terms and definitions from Environmental Science Modules 1 through 5, covering foundational fields, historical revolutions, planetary spheres, atmospheric processes, and hydrological systems.

Environmental Science

The study of the interaction of man with nature or the environment, encompassing ecological principles, resource use, and human impacts.

Ecology

The study of how organisms interact with each other and with their nonliving environment.

Environmentalism

A social movement that seeks to protect the environment and people.

Geology

The study of Earth's interior processes, materials, and history.

Paleontology

The study of fossils and ancient life.

Climatology

The study of Earth's atmosphere and climate.

Hydrology

The study of Earth's water resources.

Agricultural Revolution

A major turning point in human history beginning around 10,000 years ago when people learned to grow crops and raise animals rather than only hunting and gathering.

Industrial Revolution

A period beginning in the middle of the 1700s characterized by a shift from human and animal muscle energy to fossil fuels and machinery.

Natural Resource

Any natural material that is used by humans.

Renewable Resource

A natural resource that can be replaced relatively quickly by natural processes, such as solar energy, fresh water, air, soil, trees, and crops.

Nonrenewable Resource

A resource that forms at a much slower rate than the rate at which it is consumed, such as minerals and fossil fuels.

Pollution

An undesired change in air, water, or soil that adversely affects the health, survival, or activities of humans or other organisms.

Biodegradable Pollutants

Pollutants that can be broken down by natural processes, such as human sewage and food wastes.

Nonbiodegradable Pollutants

Pollutants that cannot be broken down by natural processes and accumulate to dangerous levels, such as mercury, lead, and some plastics.

Biodiversity

The number and variety of species that live in an area.

Geosphere

The solid part of Earth consisting of all rock, soil, and loose rocks on Earth's surface, located mostly in Earth's interior.

Atmosphere

The mixture of gases surrounding Earth, nearly all of which are found within the first $30\,\text{km}$ above the surface.

Hydrosphere

All of the water on or near Earth's surface, including oceans, lakes, rivers, icecaps, soil, rock layers, and clouds.

Biosphere

The thin layer near Earth's surface where life exists, extending from about $9\,\text{km}$ above the surface down to the ocean floor.

Crust

Earth's thin, outermost compositional layer, composed almost entirely of light elements and making up less than $1\%$ of Earth's mass.

Mantle

The compositional layer beneath the crust that makes up $68\%$ of Earth's mass and is approximately $2,900\,\text{km}$ thick.

Core

Earth's innermost compositional layer with a radius of approximately $3,400\,\text{km}$, composed of high-density elements like nickel and iron.

Lithosphere

The cool, rigid, outermost physical layer of Earth ($15\,\text{km}$ to $300\,\text{km}$ thick) consisting of the crust and rigid upper mantle, divided into tectonic plates.

Asthenosphere

The solid, plastic layer of the mantle ($250\,\text{km}$ thick) made of rock that flows very slowly, allowing tectonic plates to move on top of it.

Mesosphere

The middle physical layer of the mantle ($2,550\,\text{km}$ thick) located between the asthenosphere and the outer core.

Outer Core

The outer shell of Earth's core, $2,200\,\text{km}$ thick, composed of liquid nickel and iron.

Inner Core

A solid sphere of nickel and iron at Earth's center with a radius of $1,228\,\text{km}$.

Tectonic Plates

Huge pieces of the lithosphere that glide across the underlying asthenosphere.

Fault

A break in Earth's crust along which blocks of the crust slide relative to one another.

Earthquake

Vibrations of Earth's crust caused by sudden slippage along a fault.

Magma

Melted rock located in Earth's interior.

Lava

Magma that has reached Earth's surface.

Physical Weathering

The process of breaking rocks into smaller pieces without changing their chemical composition.

Chemical Weathering

The breakdown of rock that alters its mineral composition through chemical reactions like oxidation, carbonation, and hydrolysis.

Biological Weathering

Rock breakdown caused by living organisms, such as plant roots splitting rocks or burrowing animals.

Troposphere

The atmospheric layer nearest Earth's surface (extending to about $18\,\text{km}$) where almost all weather occurs and temperature decreases as altitude increases.

Stratosphere

The atmospheric layer extending from $18\,\text{km}$ to about $50\,\text{km}$, where temperature rises with altitude as ozone absorbs solar UV energy.

Ozone

A molecule composed of three oxygen atoms ($\text{O}_3$) concentrated in the stratosphere that absorbs harmful ultraviolet radiation.

Mesosphere

The atmospheric layer above the stratosphere extending to about $80\,\text{km}$, identified as the coldest atmospheric layer.

Thermosphere

The atmospheric layer farthest from Earth's surface where nitrogen and oxygen absorb solar radiation, creating temperatures exceeding $2,000\,^\circ\text{C}$.

Ionosphere

The lower region of the thermosphere ($80\,\text{km}$ to $550\,\text{km}$) containing electrically charged particles called ions.

Radiation

The transfer of energy across space and through the atmosphere.

Conduction

The transfer of energy as heat between warmer and colder objects in direct physical contact.

Convection

The transfer of energy through variations in temperature that move matter, creating circular currents in fluids like air.

Greenhouse Effect

The process in which greenhouse gases absorb and reradiate infrared radiation near Earth, trapping heat to keep the planet warm enough for life.

Water Cycle

The continuous movement of water into the air, onto land, and back into water sources.

Evaporation

The process by which liquid water is heated by the sun and rises into the atmosphere as water vapor.

Condensation

The process by which water vapor forms droplets on dust particles in the air to form clouds.

Precipitation

Water droplets falling from clouds to Earth's surface as rain, snow, sleet, or hail.

World Ocean

The single, interconnected body of water covering over $70\%$ of Earth's surface, comprising the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Southern, and Arctic oceans.

Salinity

The total concentration of dissolved salts contained in ocean water, averaging $3.5\%$ by weight.

Thermocline

A layer of ocean water between $300\,\text{m}$ and $700\,\text{m}$ deep where temperature drops rapidly with depth.

Surface Currents

Wind-driven, stream-like movements of water occurring at or near the ocean surface.

Deep Currents

Stream-like movements of water flowing slowly along the ocean floor, formed when cold, dense water sinks near the poles.

River System

A network of streams that drains an area of land, including a main river and all its tributaries.

Groundwater

Water from rain and melted snow that trickles into the ground and collects in underground rock layers, making up less than $1\%$ of Earth's water.

Phytoplankton

Tiny, free-floating marine algae that live near the ocean surface and convert sunlight into food.

Closed System

A system in which energy enters and leaves, but matter does not exchange with its surroundings.

Open System

A system in which both matter and energy are exchanged between the system and the surrounding environment.