People and Environment Ecosystem Review

These flashcards cover fundamental concepts of environmental science, ecosystem components, types of pollution (air, water, noise, soil, nuclear), climate change mechanisms, and international environmental protocols.

Ecosystem

A geographic area where plants, animals, and other organisms, as well as weather and landscape, work together to form a bubble of life.

Biotic factors

The living parts of an ecosystem, including plants, animals, and other organisms.

Abiotic factors

The nonliving parts of an ecosystem, including rocks, temperature, and humidity.

Biosphere

The total sum of all the ecosystems that exist on Earth, made up of the lithosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, and atmosphere.

Lithosphere

The solid, outer part of Earth, including the brittle upper portion of the mantle and the crust.

Hydrosphere

The total amount of water on a planet, including water on the surface, underground, and in the air in liquid, vapor, or ice forms.

Atmosphere

A mixture of gases surrounding the Earth that shields life from UV radiation and helps maintain temperature.

Troposphere

The lowest part of the atmosphere where humans live and where most weather phenomena like clouds, rain, and snow occur.

Stratosphere

The layer extending upwards from the tropopause to about $50\,km$, containing much of the ozone that absorbs solar UV radiation.

Primary Air Pollutant

An air pollutant emitted directly from a source into the atmosphere.

Secondary Air Pollutant

A pollutant that forms in the atmosphere when primary pollutants react with each other or other atmospheric components.

Particulate Matter (PM)

Solid particles and liquid droplets in the air; larger particles ($PM_{10}$) are visible, while smaller ones ($PM_{2.5}$) require an electron microscope.

Nucleation mode particles

Extremely small ultrafine particles, typically less than $0.01\,\mu m$ ($10\,nm$) in diameter, which cause atmospheric haze.

Carbon Monoxide (CO)

A colorless, odorless, tasteless, poisonous, and flammable gas that binds to hemoglobin $200-300$ times more than oxygen.

Carboxyhemoglobin

A harmful compound formed when carbon monoxide binds to hemoglobin in the blood.

Sulfur Oxides ($SO_x$)

Pollutants from burning fossil fuels that contribute to particulate pollution and the formation of sulfuric acid or acid rain.

Nitrogen Dioxide ($NO_2$)

A gas that causes atmospheric discoloration and Blue Baby Syndrome.

Photochemical SMOG

A brown haze formed when nitrogen oxides ($NO_x$) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) react to sunlight.

Acid Rain

Precipitation with a pH level ranging from $4$ to $5$ on average, resulting from $SO_2$ and $NO_x$ reacting with water and oxygen in the air.

Ground Level Ozone (Bad ozone)

An allergenic gas and strong oxidant in the troposphere that serves as a surrogate for eye irritation and is a major component of smog.

Peroxyacyl nitrates (PAN)

A family of compounds resulting from photochemical reactions between $NO_x$ and VOCs that cause reduced respiratory function and eye irritation.

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs)

Carbon-containing gases that easily evaporate at room temperature, emitted from solids or liquids like paints, solvents, and cosmetics.

Aerosols

Tiny solid or liquid particles suspended in a gas, ranging in size from a few nanometers to several micrometers.

Air Quality Index (AQI)

A tool for reporting daily air quality focusing on health effects, measuring pollutants like $PM_{10}$, $PM_{2.5}$, $NO_2$, $CO$, $O_3$, $SO_2$, $NH_3$, and $Pb$.

Sick Building Syndrome

Acute discomfort experienced by building occupants, characterized by symptoms like headache, nausea, and fatigue linked to indoor air quality.

Positive feedback

A process in climate science that amplifies initial change, such as ice melting exposing darker surfaces that absorb more heat.

Negative feedback

A process that counteracts initial climate change, such as Earth emitting more infrared radiation back into space as it warms.

Radiative forcing

The difference between incoming solar radiation absorbed by Earth and outgoing thermal radiation emitted; positive causes warming, negative causes cooling.

Greenhouse Effect

The trapping of heat (Infrared Radiation) close to Earth's surface by specific gases acting as a thermal blanket.

Global Warming Potential (GWP)

The ability of an atmospheric gas to absorb and radiate energy, used to determine its strength as a greenhouse gas.

Atmospheric Lifetime

The average amount of time a gas molecule remains in the atmosphere before being removed by chemical or physical processes.

Bioaccumulation

The gradual accumulation of substances, such as pesticides or mercury, in a single organism's body.

Biomagnification

The process where chemical concentrations increase as they transfer from lower trophic levels to higher trophic levels within a food web.

Dissolved oxygen (DO)

The amount of oxygen dissolved in water, essential for fish survival and reduced by high temperature or excessive nutrients.

Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD)

The amount of oxygen consumed by microorganisms to break down organic matter in water, comprising carbonaceous (CBOD) and nitrogenous (NBOD) components.

Eutrophication

The process by which a water body becomes enriched with minerals and nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus, leading to excessive algae growth.

Aerobic digestion

The decomposition of organic sludge solids in the presence of oxygen, delivered as fine air bubbles.

Anaerobic digestion

The breakdown of organic matter by microorganisms in the absence of oxygen, producing biogas (methane, carbon dioxide, and water).

Kyoto Protocol

An international treaty extending the $1992$ UNFCCC that commits state parties to reduce six specific greenhouse gases.

Paris Agreement

An international treaty aiming to hold global temperature increase to well below $2^{\circ}C$ and pursuit of $1.5^{\circ}C$ above pre-industrial levels.

National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC)

India's strategy launched in $2008$ consisting of eight missions to promote sustainable development and address climate change.

International Solar Alliance (ISA)

An alliance headquartered in Haryana, India, aimed at efficient solar energy consumption to reduce fossil fuel dependence.