CH 1: Studying the state of our Earth

These flashcards cover key vocabulary terms and definitions related to environmental science, essential for understanding the topics discussed in the lecture.

Environment

A sum of all the conditions surrounding us that influence life.

Environmental Science

The field that looks at interactions among humans and nature.

Biotic

The living part of the Earth, including animals, plants, and microorganisms.

Abiotic

The non-living part of the Earth, including soil, air, water, and sunlight.

Ecosystem

the living and non living components of a particular place on earth

Sustainability

The practice of living on Earth in a way that allows humans to use resources without depriving future generations of those resources.

Biodiversity

The variety of life forms in an environment, including genetic, species, and ecosystem diversity.

Ecosystem Services

Environments provide life-supporting services such as clean water, timber, fisheries, and crops.

Greenhouse Gas Pollution

Gases in the atmosphere that act like a blanket, trapping heat near Earth’s surface.

Anthropogenic

Changes or effects caused by human activities.

what is biological diversity?

The variety of life forms in an environment, biological diversity includes:

Genetic diversity

Species diversity

Ecosystem diversity

what is genetic diversity?

a measure of the genetic variation found among individuals in a population

which populations respond better with to environmental changes, populations with high genetic diversity or low genetic diversity

high genetic diversity

what is economic diversity

it is the measure of the variety of ecosystems or habitats that exist in a particular region

what is species diversity

the number of species in a region or in a particular type of habitat

what is a species?

a group of organism that is DISTINCT from other groups in form, behavior, or biochemical properites . Individuals in a species can breed and produce fertile offspring

describe food production as an economic indicator.

its our ability to grow food to nourish the entire human population. science and agricultural technology to increase the amount of food we can produce on a given area of land

describe average global surface temperatures and carbon dioxide

talks about the rising temperature and concentrations of carbon dioxide

what is greenhouse Gas Pollution

gasses in the atmosphere that act like a blanket trapping heat near earth’s surfaces

what is the most important greenhouse gas

carbon dioxide

what does the word Anthropogenic mean ?

caused by human activities

what is the current human population

8.2 billion. over 1 million people are added to that number every 5 days

describe resource depletion

As out human populations increase our resources for survival become more scarce

do developed or developing countries use more resources

developed

As economic development goes up resource consumption…

up

what is is development?

improvement in humans well being through economic advancement.

As economies develop resource consumption also increase

what is sustainable development?

the development that balances current human well being and economic advancement with resource management for the benefit of future generations

In order to live sustainably what must be true

1. environmental systems must NOT be damaged beyond their ability to recover

2. renewable resources must not be depleted faster than they can regenerate

3. nonrenewable resource must be used sparingly

what is an ecological footprint?

a measure of how much a person consumes, expressed in are of land

list the steps in the scientific method

1. Observation

2. hypothesis

3. collecting data

4. interpreting results

5. disseminating findings

if initial hypothesis is rejected after interpreting results, form another different hypothesis

what is a theory

a hypothesis that has been repeatedly tested and confirmed by multiple groups of researchers and is widely accepted . example Theory of relativity

what is a natural law

when a theory has been tested multiple times and there are no known exceptions. like law of gravity

what is a controlled experiment ?

an experiment conducted in controlled conditions such as a laboratory

what is a natural experiment

when a natural event such as a volcano acts as an experimental treatment in an ecosystem

what unique challenges present itself in environmental science

1. There is not control group/planet to compare to the earth so its difficult to decided whether one thing is better or worse for the environment than something else

2. there are a lot of interacting parts in environmental science so its not easy to apply one system to another

3. Human well-being is a concern for moral reasons, and because people that are unable to meet their basic needs are less likely to be interested in saving the environment.

4. Environmental issues are really complex and poorly understood

5. political and social barriers for science to overcome

what is an environmental indicator

describe the current state of the environment