Environmental Science and Climate Change Lecture Review

Flashcards based on lecture notes covering environmental science fundamentals, ecology, climate systems, and energy resources.

Quantitative data

Data that is considered numerical in nature.

Black Death (bubonic plague)

A significant event in human history during which the human population experienced a notable decrease despite an overall history of growth.

Scientific Theory

A grand scheme that relates and explains many observations and is supported by a great deal of evidence.

Major themes of environmental science

The core areas of study including human population growth, an urbanizing world, and sustainability.

Population

A group of individuals of the same species that live and interbreed in the same area.

Residence time

A measure of how long a substance remains in the atmosphere; for example, Nitrogen has a higher value than water vapor because it cycles much more slowly.

Positive feedback

An environmental mechanism that amplifies an initial change and has a destabilizing effect, such as exponential growth.

Alberta, Canada vs. Tallahassee, Florida

Both locations receive more solar radiation in the summer, but the difference between incoming radiation during summer and winter is greater in Alberta than in Tallahassee.

Latent heat

The energy released when water vapor in warm moist air condenses into water droplets, which serves to sustain hurricanes.

Gulf Stream

An ocean current that transports warm water from equatorial regions toward the north pole.

Divergent plate boundary

A type of plate boundary that occurs along mid-ocean ridges.

Convergent plate boundary

A type of plate boundary found in trenches and subduction zones.

Ionic bonds

Chemical bonds in which compounds do not share electrons, distinguishing them from covalent bonds.

Denitrification

A part of the Nitrogen cycle that reduces the amount of Nitrogen available to plants, acting as a solution for eutrophication and a method for pollution clean-up.

Nitrogen gas ($N_2$)

The specific form of Nitrogen that is unavailable to plants.

Ecosystems

Functional units of the environment that all cycle chemical elements.

Niche differentiation

An ecological phenomenon where species using similar resources coexist by hunting at different times, such as hawks hunting by day and owls by night.

Secondary succession

The process of ecological change following a disturbance in an ecosystem that already contains an established community, such as phytoplankton responding to a storm.

Primary succession

Ecological development that occurs in a brand-new environment lacking organic material or soil, such as a cooling lava flow or a retreating glacier.

Island Biogeography (Species Count)

The principle that islands tend to have fewer species than continents, with smaller or more distant islands hosting even fewer species.

Convergent evolution

An evolutionary process where organisms develop similar features despite not having a common ancestor.

Climate proxies ($1100s$ – $1500s$)

Historical records such as extreme droughts, frozen river events, and crop yields used to reconstruct past climates.

Radiative forcing

The change in net downward radiative flux at the top of the atmosphere, measured in units of $W\,m^{-2}$.

Climate Modeling

A technique where scientists perturb a system by keeping specific variables, like $CO_2$ concentrations, at preindustrial levels to assess drivers of climate change.

Sea level rise drivers

The two primary reasons for rising sea levels: thermal expansion of seawater and melting glaciers.

Renewable energy

Globally, the fastest-growing form of energy in terms of percent per year.

Sandstone

A coarse and porous sedimentary rock that often acts as a reservoir where oil and gas are trapped.

$4$ Giga tons

The amount of $CO_2$ that builds up in the atmosphere each year from fossil fuel use and other human activities.

Cap rock

An impermeable rock layer that overlies a coarse, porous reservoir rock to trap oil.

Sedimentary rocks

A category of rocks that includes shale, sandstone, and limestone.

Weapons-grade Uranium

Uranium that has been enriched to a level of $90\%$ $U\text{-}235$.

Reactor-grade Uranium

Uranium used for energy production that contains only $3\%$ to $4\%$ $U\text{-}235$.

Ethanol

A biofuel that makes up about $10\%$ of standard gasoline by volume.

Corn production ($2021$ stats)

In the year $2021$, approximately $33\%$ of this crop was used to produce ethanol.

Photovoltaics

A solar technology that generates electricity directly without the use of a solar-powered turbine.