ENSC002 Vocab

Nonrenewable Resource

Type of resource that when natural processes don’t renew fast enough to be replace within a human lifetime

Renewable Resource

Type of resource that natural processes replaces fairly rapidly and can be used forever as long as its not overexploited in the short term

Consumption

Human use of materials and energy

Unsustainable Consumption

When the level of demand on a country’s resources begins to damage the environment or depletes resources to the extent that future generations will suffer

Ecological Footprint

The average amount of productive land, water, and ocean that is required to provide a person with all the resources they consume

IPAT, I=PxAxT

A measure of three factors that calculate environmental impact

Environmental Sustainability

The ability to meet current human need for natural resources without compromising the ability of the environment for needs of future generations

Tragedy of the Commons

An economic concept that describes a situation where individuals, acting independently and rationally in their own self-interest, deplete or degrade a shared resource

Sustainable Development

Economic development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising future generations

System

A set of components that interact and function as a whole

Ecosystems

A natural system consisting of a community of organisms and its physical environment

Negative Feedback

When change triggers a response that counteracts the changed condition

Positive Feedback

When change triggers a response that intensifies the changing condition

Variable

A factor that influences a process and can be altered to then affect the outcome

Control

A factor that is not altered and is used as a comparison

Theory

An explanation of many hypotheses that are each supported by a large body of observations, experiments, and peer reviews

Surface Water

Precipitation that remains on the surface and doesn’t seep into soil

Runoff

Movement of surface water into lakes, rivers, etc.

Watershed / Drainage Basin

Land area that delivers water into a stream or river system

Groundwater

Freshwater under the Earth’s surface stored in aquifers

Aquifers

The porous layers of sand, gravel, and rock in which ground water is stored

Residence Time, T=V/l

A measure of on average how long a molecule of water spends in a reservoir before moving onto another reservoir

Confined Aquifer

An aquifer that is confined by an impermeable layer and is recharged from a distant source

Unconfined Layer