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