APES Chapter 1

sum of all conditions surrounding us that influence life

the field that looks at interactions among human systems and those found in nature

any set of interacting components that influence one another by exchanging energy or materials

particular location on Earth whose interacting components including biotic and abiotic components

living

nonliving

a person who participates in environmentalism (a social movement that seeks to protect the environment through lobbying, activism, and education

the field of study that includes environmental policy, economics, literature, and ethics, among others

the process by which natural environments provide life-supporting resources

an indicator that describes the current state of an environmental system

living on Earth in a way that allows us to use its resources without depriving future generations of those resources

the diversity of life forms in an environment

includes genetic, species, and ecosystem diversity

a group of organisms that is distinct from other groups in its morphology (body form and structure), behavior, or biochemical properties

evolution of new species

the average rate at which species go extinct over the long term

a gas in the Earth's atmosphere that traps heat near the surface

derived from human activities

improvement in human well-being through economic advancement

development that balances current human well-being and economic advancement with resource management for the benefit of future generations

love of life

a measure of how much that person consumes, expressed in area of land

an objective way to explore the natural world, draw inferences from it, and predict the outcome of certain events, processes, or changes

a testable conjecture about how something works

statement of idea that can be falsified, or proved wrong

the data collection procedure of taking repeated measurements

the number of times a measurement is replicated

how close a measured value is to the actual or true value

how close to one another the repeated measurements of the same sample are

an estimate of how much a measured or calculated value differs from a true value

the process of making general statements from specific facts or examples

the process of applying a general statement to specific facts or situations

the process of questioning the source of information, considering the methods used to obtain the information, and drawing conclusions; essential to all scientific endeavor

a hypothesis that has been repeatedly tested and confirmed by multiple groups of researchers and has reached wide acceptance

a theory to which there are no known exceptions and which has withstood rigorous testing

a group that experiences exactly the same conditions as the experimental group except for the single variable under study

a natural event that acts as an experimental treatment in an ecosystem

social movement and field of study that works toward equal enforcement of environmental laws and the elimination of disparities, whether intended or unintended, in how pollutants and other environmental harms are distributed among the various ethnic and socioeconomic groups within a society