Chapter 1: Science and Sustainability: An Introduction to Environmental Science – Lecture Outlines

Set of fill-in-the-blank flashcards covering key concepts from Chapter 1: Science and Sustainability.

Environmental science is the study of how the natural world works, how the environment affects us, and how we __ it.

affect

Renewable natural resources can replenish over short periods of time. Nonrenewable natural resources are in finite supply — they form far more slowly than we use them. The term for resources that replenish over time is __ resources.

renewable

Fossil fuels are nonrenewable energy sources, like coal, oil, and natural gas. They are examples of __ energy sources.

nonrenewable

Some renewable resources, like sunlight, are inexhaustible, because they are constantly renewed. Others, such as timber, water, or soil, renew over months, years, or decades and are __.

exhaustible

Ecosystem services include the purification of water and air, cycling of nutrients, recycling water flow, flood prevention, and reducing erosion. These arise from normal ecosystem function and can be __ or degraded.

depleted

During the agricultural revolution, people grew crops, domesticated animals, and settled in villages. Population growth rate began to __.

increase

The __ revolution shifted to an urban society powered by fossil fuels.

industrial

An ecological footprint expresses this consumption by the area of land and water needed to provide the resources a person consumes or the waste they generate. The measure is called the __.

ecological footprint

We are using 64% more of the planet’s renewable resources than are sustainably available. This is called an __, because we are surpassing Earth’s capacity to sustainably support us.

overshoot

Earth’s natural capital includes all of its resources and ecosystem services. Living sustainably means to not take more of the Earth’s renewable resources than can be replenished. This is like living off the __ produced by a savings account.

interest

Environmental science is __; multiple academic disciplines are included.

interdisciplinary

Environmental science programs focus more on the natural sciences aspect. Environmental studies focus more on the __ sciences aspect.

social

Science is a __ process for learning about the world and testing our understanding of it.

systematic

Some scientific work is descriptive science, where scientists gather basic information about organisms, materials, or systems. Deeper explanations require the use of __-driven science.

hypothesis

The scientific method is a technique for testing ideas with a formalized series of logical steps. First, an __ is made of a phenomenon.

observation

Observations lead to questions. A testable, attempted explanation to the question called a __ is generated.

hypothesis

The hypothesis is used to generate a __ — a specific statement that can be directly tested.

prediction

Experiments manipulate conditions that can change called variables. The variable that the scientist manipulates is called the __ variable.

independent

The variable that is directly affected by the independent variable is the __ variable.

dependent

In a controlled experiment, two identical groups are tested for the effects of the independent variable. The __ is not changed, and serves as a comparison.

control

Researchers try to obtain __ data, which is expressed using numbers.

quantitative

Graphs are used to make patterns and trends in the data visually apparent. Line graphs often show change over a period of time. Pie charts show __.

proportions

Statistical tests may also be used to analyze data for the strength and reliability of patterns observed. __ between two variables.

Correlation

Data and analysis may disprove a hypothesis, causing it to be rejected and the design of a new one. A hypothesis may also be supported, but it is never considered __.

proven

The scientific process includes submitting findings to a scientific journal where other scientists read and critique the research, a process called __.

peer review

Science goes through paradigm shifts. A dominant scientific view is called a __.

paradigm

The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, conducted in 2005, concluded that over the past 50 years, people have altered ecosystems more rapidly and extensively than ever. Changes to ecosystems have contributed to net gains in human well-being, but at the cost of ecosystem __.

degradation

We can reverse ecosystem degradation, but we must significantly __ policies, institutions, and practices.

modify

Achieving sustainable solutions involves conserving resources for future generations, developing long-term solutions, and maintaining fully-functional ecological __.

systems

The wealthiest 10% of the United States own more than __ of its total wealth.

70%

The ecological footprint of an average U.S. citizen is much greater than that of someone in a __ country.

developing

Campus sustainability involves reducing their ecological __.

footprints