Environmental Management: Continents, Ecosystems, and Atmosphere

Vocabulary flashcards covering continents, oceans, socio-economic country classifications, atmosphere structure, hydrological cycle, ecosystems, and chemical cycles.

Pacific Ocean

The largest ocean on Earth, covering $33\%$ of Earth's surface and housing the deepest place on Earth: Mariana Trench ($11\,034\,m$ deep).

Atlantic Ocean

The second largest ocean, covering $20\%$ of Earth, which is divided by equatorial currents into the North Atlantic and South Atlantic.

Indian Ocean

The third largest ocean on Earth.

Southern Ocean

The ocean surrounding Antarctica where the southern circulation takes place.

Arctic Ocean

The smallest ocean, located around the North Pole.

Low Income Countries (LICs)

Countries classified by the World Bank as having a Gross National Income (GNI) per capita of $\$1,086$ or less.

Middle Income Countries (MICs)

Countries classified by the World Bank as having a Gross National Income (GNI) per capita between $\$1,086$ and $\$13,205$.

High Income Countries (HICs)

Countries classified by the World Bank as having a Gross National Income (GNI) per capita of more than $\$13,205$.

Sustainability

The ability to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Renewable resources

Resources that renew themselves within our lifetime (over months, years, or decades), such as wood/timber, soil, and freshwater.

Nonrenewable resources

Resources that exist in limited amounts and could one day be gone, such as fossil fuels (coal, oil, natural gas) and minerals.

Troposphere

The first layer of the atmosphere where air density, air pressure, and temperature decrease with altitude; contains most water vapor and greenhouse gases.

Stratosphere

The second layer of the atmosphere where air density and pressure decrease with altitude while temperature increases with altitude; contains the ozone layer that absorbs UVC light.

Mesosphere

The third and coldest layer of the atmosphere where air density, pressure, and temperature decrease with altitude, and meteors burn up.

Thermosphere

The fourth atmospheric layer where temperature increases with altitude up to $2000\,^\circ\text{C}$, characterized by very low air density and the formation of auroras borealis.

Ozone Layer

A layer located in the Stratosphere composed of $O_3$ that absorbs and blocks harmful shortwave ultraviolet radiation from reaching Earth's surface.

Natural Greenhouse Effect

The warming of the lower atmosphere caused by atmospheric gases and dust absorbing re-emitted infrared radiation (longwave radiation) from Earth's surface.

Hydrological cycle

A global closed system (and local open system) where water moves continuously between land, oceans, and atmosphere without being created or destroyed.

Through-flow

The sporadic horizontal flow of water within the soil layer.

Infiltration

The process of water soaking into porous soil and rock.

Interception

Precipitation trapped on trees, leaf-litter, tree canopies, or buildings before it can reach the soil.

Run-off

Water originating from precipitation that moves downslope across the ground surface.

Evaporation

The process in which water changes from liquid to gas phase by absorbing energy from the sun.

Transpiration

The process by which water vapor moves from a plant into the atmosphere.

Condensation

The process by which a gas changes into a liquid state due to cooling.

Through-fall

Precipitation that collects on plants and falls through leaves and tree canopies to reach the soil.

Groundwater (Aquifer)

Water stored in the pore spaces of permeable rock and sediment layers below Earth's surface.

Food chain

A linear sequence showing the transfer of matter and energy from organism to organism ('who eats who').

Food web

A complex, interconnected network of multiple food chains within an ecosystem.

Biosphere

The global ecological system containing all living organisms on Earth.

Biome

Distinct biological communities adapted to a shared climate, soil, and vegetation spanning over continents.

Ecosystem

A community of living organisms (biotic) interacting with each other and non-living (abiotic) physical components.

Interspecific competition

Competition for shared resources occurring between individuals of different species.

Intraspecific competition

Competition for shared resources occurring between individuals of the same species.

Parasitism

A relationship where one organism (the parasite) depends on another (the host) for nourishment or benefit while harming the host without killing it immediately.

Ectoparasites

Parasites that live on the outer surface of their host's body, such as ticks on a dog.

Endoparasites

Parasites that live inside the body of their host, such as a tapeworm.

Mutualism

A symbiotic relationship in which two or more species interact and mutually benefit each other, such as bees and flowers.

Limiting factors

Abiotic or biotic resources that restrict the development, growth, size, and distribution of a species.

Community

All populations of different species living and interacting together in the same area.

Population

A group of individuals belonging to the same species living and interacting in the same area.

Species

A group of organisms whose individual members can interbreed to produce offspring.

Ecological Niche

The unique role, functional activities, and interactions that a species performs within its ecosystem.

Habitat

The physical environment occupied by a particular species.

Primary Producer (autotroph)

An organism at the 1st trophic level that manufactures its own food through photosynthesis or chemosynthesis.

Apex predator

A top-level consumer positioned at the top of a food chain that has no natural predators.

Decomposer

An organism, such as bacteria or fungi, that breaks down and recycles dead organic matter into nutrient cycles.

10% Rule

The principle stating that only approximately $10\%$ of energy consumed at one trophic level is transferred to the next, while the rest is lost or stored as biomass.

Ecological pyramids

Graphical representations illustrating the energy, biomass, or number of organisms present at each trophic level.

Photosynthesis

A chemical reaction in chloroplasts where solar energy converts water and carbon dioxide into glucose and oxygen: $6H_2O + 6CO_2 \rightarrow C_6H_{12}O_6 + 6O_2$.

Chlorophyll

The pigment located in plant leaves that captures light energy for photosynthesis.

Cellular respiration

An aerobic chemical reaction that breaks down glucose in the presence of oxygen to release ATP (energy), carbon dioxide, and water: $C_6H_{12}O_6 + 6O_2 \rightarrow 6CO_2 + 6H_2O$.

Fossilization

The process where dead organic matter decays slowly or not at all, becoming compressed and heated over millions of years to form fossil fuels (coal, oil, or gas).

Combustion

The burning of fossil fuels that releases stored carbon back into the atmosphere.

Carbon stores

Organic material held in carbon sinks including organisms, soil, fossil fuels, and oceans.

Carbon sinks

Natural reservoirs or systems that absorb more carbon from the atmosphere than they release.