Foundational Concepts

What is exponential growth?

Exponential growth refers to an increase that occurs at a constant percentage rate over time, resulting in a rapid and accelerating rise in value. This concept is often illustrated by populations or investments that grow by a fixed percentage each period.

What is sustainability?

Sustainability is the practice of preserving what’s currently available so future generations have equal access to resources.

What are some causes and implications of freshwater salinization and nitrogen pollution (from lecture)

Freshwater salinization is caused by unregulated road salts, which melt into drinking water basins and lead to unhealthy water quality.

Nitrogen pollution is caused by the algae and bacteria created from nitrogen and phosphorus in water, which decompose to suck up oxygen

Hypoxia: a dead zone in water with little oxygen

What are residence times?

Residence times: the amount of time a substance (water, carbon, nutrients) remains in a reservoir/pool before relocating

What are mass balance approaches?

Mass balance approaches: a method to analyze how a substance moves through a system by considering inputs, outputs, and internal changes

What are pools?

Pools: place where substances (water, carbon, nutrients) can subside / storage locations where matter accumulates in a system

What are fluxes?

Fluxes: the movements of materials between pools

What are steady states?

Steady state: a system is in steady state when inputs and outputs are balanced, meaning there is no net accumulation of depletion in the pools

What is Earth System Science?

Studies the earth as a whole and its components through the lens that the earth is a interconnected system

What is uniformitarianism vs. catastrophism?

Uniformitarianism: the earth’s processes are continuous and have been so throughout history to shape our earth today

Catastrophism: the earth has had a couple rapid changes (asteroid, etc) that changed it

What is Earth System Science and the 5 spheres?

1. Atmosphere: weather, climate, greenhouse effect

2. Lithosphere/geosphere: plate tectonics, minerals, rocks

3. Hydrosphere: water bodies (ocean, river, lake, groundwater, etc)

4. Anthroposphere: human activity (pollution, climate change, urbanization)

5. Biosphere: biodiversity and all living organisms and ecosystems

How have humans altered the nitrogen cycle and what are consequences?

1. Fertilizer

   1. Synthetic nitrogen fertilizer → extra nitrogen in soil → runoff of nutrients into water body

2. Fossil fuel combustion

   1. Burning coal, oil, and gas has contributed to pollution of atmosphere → SMOG and acid rainHow have humans altered the nitrogen cycle and what are consequences?

What is the scientific method?

Observation → Hypothesis → test → validify → repeated one is a theory

Why is population growth an environmental problem?

There is a natural resource depletion in order to accomodate for population growth