Env Science Final

  1. The environment is described as ______
    interactions between the physical, living, and the human world
  2. Paradigm shift
    a major change in scientific thinking based on new discoveries and observations
  3. What piece of the scientific process is critical to ensuring results are valid?
    Peer review
  4. Describe Linear change
    linear change remains constant
  5. An important characteristic of exponential change is _________.
    Exponential change is not sustainable
  6. Human consumption of crude oil has changed ______ over the last 100 years.
    Exponentially
  7. Thomas Malthus
    Issued a warning in the late 1700s concerning the potential threat of unchecked population growth on civilization.
  8. What are the major reasons Malthus' predictions have not come to pass?
    advances in agriculture and health care
  9. "Tragedy of the Commons"
    individuals acting independently and rationally consulting their own self interest will ultimately deplete a shared resource.
  10. In poor countries, ____ is usually low, and ____ is usually high.
    per capita income ... infant mortality rate.
  11. Why is poverty such a problem?
    poor people make decisions for a short term survival and not long term sustainability
  12. What are the two most powerful countries in terms of income, economics, industrialization, and technology?
    Japan, and the United States
  13. What does a tool allow humans to do?
    Manipulate
  14. Describe hunter- gatherer cultures
    intimate interactions with the environment
  15. Describe the Industrial Revolution
    • -Increased average per capita consumption 
    • -Increased ability to utilize the Earth's resources
    • -Increased economic growth
  16. iPods and cell phones are associated with...
    The information revolution
  17. Environmental Sustainability
    The ability to meet humanity's current needs without compromising the ability of future generations
  18. Ecocentrists
    would state nature deserves to exist for its own sake, regardless of its usefulness to us.
  19. Silent Spring
    Rachel Carson started the Modern Environmentalism movement assessing the problems associated with increasing pollution from chemicals and the resulting effects on the environment
  20. Gifford Pinchot
    first scientifically- trained forester to head the US forest service
  21. During which point in the history of environmentalism would laws like the Clean Water Act have been passed?
    Pollution, Health, and Ecology
  22. Which country require the most land per person to support the average citizen?
    Japan
  23. Subatomic particles
    protons, neutrons, and electrons
  24. Ion
    molecule in which the total number of electrons is not equal to the total number of protons
  25. solid
    atoms with strict and specific interactions between them
  26. When a substance is heated, it expands. How does this affect the density?
    density decreases
  27. Organic compound
    compound that contains carbon
  28. Law of Conservation
    • -We can't throw anything away, because there is no away
    • -There will always be waste of some sort
    • -Everything must go somewhere
  29. Entropy
    The natural tendency of matter to deteriorate from high quality to low quality
  30. Example of low- quality energy
    heat from your computer monitor
  31. In an energy transformation, some of the energy always ends up as
    heat energy that flows into the environment
  32. Matter_____ and energy ____ in the environment
    cycles... flows
  33. Photosynthesis converts ____ energy into ___ energy
    solar.... kinetic
  34. Cellular respiration
    releases energy from the food we eat
  35. Post Consumer Content
    Is an indication of how many times and item has been recycled
  36. ______ always results from use of resources
    Waste
  37. Emissions testing of cars tests for what type of pollutant
    Nonpoint source
  38. Environmental impact is....
    the product of population, resource use and environmental effects.
  39. What is the highest point in N.America?
    Mt. McKinley
  40. What is the asthenosphere?
    a plastic region in the mantle
  41. Layers of the Earth in order
    crust, mantle, outer core, inner core
  42. The most common element in the crust is..
    oxygen
  43. Oceanic
  44. Mineral
    material from the crust that is inorganic, has specific properties, and a crystal structure
  45. Igneous
    cooled molten rock
  46. Tectonic proceesses
    processes that produce metamorphic rocks like marble and slate
  47. Chemical Weathering
    the breakdown of rocks that results from acid
  48. Erosion
    the movement of sediments
  49. Mass wasting
    Landslides, mudslides, subsidence
  50. Subsidence
    mass wasting event that involves the sinking of relatively flat areas of the crust
  51. Richter scale
    measures the strength of an earth quake
  52. Modified Mercalli
    measures the intensity of an earthquake
  53. Epicenter
    Place on the earth that is directly above the actual release of an earthquake
  54. Tsunamis
    large ocean waves
  55. Most common gas in the troposphere
    nitrogen
  56. Barometric pressure is higher when the air is..
    warm and moist
  57. Front
    relatively cool, sinking air
  58. Cold front
    widespread thunderstorms followed by clearing skies and cooler temperatures
  59. Fujita scale
    indication of strength of tornadoes
  60. Saffir- Simpson scale
    based on anticipated storm surge, wind speed, and minimum barometric pressure
  61. Wetlands
    natural control system for floods
  62. Climate
    the 30 year average of temperature and precipitation
  63. "greenhouse effect"
    trapping of heat energy in the troposphere
  64. What do scientists say about global warming
    it is a problem now , and is likely to intensify in the future
  65. Community
    all interacting population a given area at a given time
  66. Energy does what through the ecosystem
    flows
  67. source
    the place where organic forms of matter are found in the living part of the ecosystem
  68. Transpiration
    the role of vegetation in the cycling of water in the ecosystem
  69. Monera
    kingdom of organism key to the nitrogen cycle
  70. Limiting factor
    factor furthest from the optimum
  71. net primary productivity
    gross photosynthesis - plant respiration
  72. Competitive exclustion
    happens when niches overlap
  73. mutualism
    both species in a symbiotic relationship benefit from the relationship
  74. optimal foraging theory
    looking for the easiest possible way to hunt
  75. climate
    the main limiting factor affecting the distribution of biomes
  76. the distribution of forest, grassland, and desert biomes is determined by
    sunlight
  77. temperate deciduous forest
    soil rich in organic matter, deciduous trees, shrubs, and small mammals
  78. tundra
    permafrost and a short growing season
  79. abyssal zone
    ocean zone in total darkness
  80. source zone
    in a river ecosystem, the nutrient level will be the lowest in the source zone
  81. negative feedback
    keeps most populations in balance with their environments
  82. a high biotic potential can potentially lead to
    exponential growth
  83. cockroaches reproduce early and often, the population can increase rapidly if conditions are favorable, this is typical of organisms that are
    r strategists
  84. secondary succession
    area that has been disturbed, but the soil is still intact
  85. population growth equation
    births+immigration - deaths+ emigration
  86. pull factor
    high availability of jobs in an urban movement
  87. urban sprawl
    in the U.S has been encouraged by cheap gasoline and cars
  88. does response curves are used to determing
    ED50 of a toxin
Author
cbraswe1
ID
229453
Card Set
Env Science Final
Description
environmental science final
Updated