Good Science Stage 5 Textbook: Chapter 4 - Environmental Science

Greenhouse Gas Emission

The production of a greenhouse gas.

Ecosystem Service

A benefit to humans provided by an ecosystem.

Sustainable

Able to be maintained at a certain rate or level.

Dominion

To have power or control over another thing.

Climate

Trends in weather over a period of at least 30 years.

Climate Zone

A region with a specific climate.

Meteorologist

A scientist who studies the atmosphere and its effects on Earth, including weather patterns.

Ocean Circulation

The movement of water in the oceans due to major currents.

Atmosphere

The layer of gas that surrounds Earth and is 600km thick.

Greenhouse Effect

The trapping of the Sun's heat by Earth's atmosphere.

Greenhouse Gas

A gas that traps the Sun's heat energy in Earth's atmosphere.

Enhanced Greenhouse Effect

An increase in the greenhouse effect due to human greenhouse gas emmisions.

Industrial Revolution

A period in the late 1700s when manufacturing transformed to large-scale factories that were powered by the burning of fossil fuels.

Carbon Sequestration

The process of capturing and storing atmospheric carbon dioxide.

Energy Efficiency

How much usable energy is produced compared to how much energy has been supplied.

Net Zero Emissions

The greenhouse gas emissions that are produced are balanced out by those that are absorbed by other processes.

Precipitation

Liquid or solid water that forms in the atmosphere and falls to Earth's surface.

Thermal Expansion

The increase of volume of a substance due to an increase in temperature.

Water Cycle

The cycle of processes by which water circulates between Earth's oceans, atmosphere, land, and biosphere.

Alpine

Areas of high elevation.

Carbon Cycle

The natural cycling of carbon through ecosystems.

Ocean Acidification

A decrease in the pH of the oceans due to the absorption of more carbon dioxide.

Coral Bleaching

A phenomenon where corals lose their colour due to the absence of symbiotic algae.

Biodegrade

To degrade naturally through the action of microorganisms.

Eutrophication

An excess of nutrients in a water body that leads to excessive algal growth.

Photosynthesis

The chemical reaction that occurs in the chloroplasts of plants and algae where through sunlight, carbon dioxide and water is converted into glucose and oxygen.

Crude Oil

A naturally occurring liquid fossil fuel that can be refined to produce many different chemicals.

Landfill

Disposal of waste by burning it.

Symbiotic Relationship

An ecological relationship where both parties cannot survive without the other.

Zooxanthellae

Algae that live in coral polyps.

Biodiversity

The variety of organisms in an ecosystem.

Country

A complex concept that can include the natural world as well as First Nations' cultures and knowledge.

Megafauna

The large mammals and marsupials which roamed the continent of Australia and became extinct during the latter part of the Pleistocene period.

Weather

What is happening in the atmosphere at a specific place and time.

Glacier

A slowly moving mass of ice formed by the accumulation of snow.

Coral Atoll

A ring-shaped island formed by a coral reef.

Groundwater

Water that flows underground in spaces between rocks and within soils.

Dreaming

A complex term that describes the ways that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples relate to themselves, each other, and the human and more-than-human realms.

Tuber

The rhizome part of a plant, which forms underground and is often nutrient rich.

Polymer

A long-chain molecule (usually carbon based) made up of many small repeating units known as monomers.

Recycle

To convert waste into reusable materials.