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Definition
| the study of how humans interact with the environment |
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| the study of how living things interact with each other and their nonliving environment |
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| the practice of growing, breeding, and caring for plants and animals that are used for food,clothing, housing, transportation, and other purposes |
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| any natural material that humans use |
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| an undesired change in air, water, or soil that adversely affects the health, survival, or activities of humans or other organisms. |
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| the number and variety of species that live in an area |
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| The law of supply and demand |
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Definition
| a basic rule of economics that states that the greater the demand for a limited supply of something, the more that thing is worth |
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| a calculation of the amount of land and resources needed to support one person in a certain country. |
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| the condition in which human needs are met in such a way that a human population can survive indefinately. |
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| everything around us which includes the natural world as well as things produced by humans |
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| how does environmental science compare to ecology? |
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Definition
Env Science - major goal is to understand and solve environmental problems; study of how humans use natural resources (water, plants) and how humans alter the environment;
ecology - study of how living things interact with each other and with their nonliving environment.
Env Science focuses on how humans have impacted the environment, not just how living things work |
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| 5 fields of study that contribute to Env Science |
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Definition
biology
earth science
physics
chemistry
social studies |
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Term
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Definition
study of living organisms; comprised of:
zoology - study of animals
botany - study of plants
microbiology - study of microorganisms
ecology - study of how organisms interact with their environment and each other |
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Definition
study of the Earth's nonliving systems and the planet as a whole; comprised of:
geology - study of the Earth's surface, interior processes, and history
paleontology - study of fossils and ancient life
climatology - study of the Earth's atmosphere and climate
hydrology - study of Earth's water resources |
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Definition
study of matter and energy; comprized of:
engineering - science by which matter and energy are made useful to humans in structures, machines, and products |
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Definition
study of chemicals and their interactions; comprized of:
biochemistry - study of chemistry in living things
geochemistry - a branch of geology, study of the chemisty of materials such as rocks, soil, and water |
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Definition
study of human populations; comprized of:
geography - study of the relationship between human populations and Earth's features
anthropology - study of interactions of the biological, cultural, geographical and historical aspects of humankind
sociology - study of human population dynamics and statistics |
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Term
| What happened to the ancient seaport of Troy? |
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Definition
| The seaport of Troy was located beneath a wooded hillside. The trojans cut down all of the trees on the hillside. Without the roots from the trees to hold the soil in place, the soil eroded into the harbor by heavy rains. So much silt ran into the harbor that the large ships could not enter and Troy's economy collapsed |
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Term
| what are the 2 main types of interactions that environmental scientists study? |
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Definition
1. how humans use natural resources (water, plants)
2. how human actions alter our environment |
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| explain why environmental science is an interdisciplary science |
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Definition
| When humans impact the environment, it can have an effect in many different areas such as air, water, animals, land, etc. Many different sciences are used to study all of the impacts. |
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Term
| For most of human history, humans were what? |
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Definition
| hunter-gatherers - people who obtain food by collecting plants and by hunting wild animals or scavenging their remains |
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| Name ways that hunter gatherers affected their environments |
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Definition
Native American tribes hunted bison, which live in grasslands. Tribes set fire to burn the prairies and prevent the growth of trees. That way, tribes kept the prairies as open grassland where they could hunt bison.
Over hunting may have led to disappearance of giant sloths, giant bison, mastodons, cave bears and saber-toothed cats. |
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Term
| how did the agricultural revolution allow human population to grow rapidly? |
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Definition
| An area of land can support up to 500 times as many people by farming as it can be hunting and gathering. |
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| What are the pros and cons of the industrial revolution on the environment? |
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Definition
pros:
inventions that improved quality of life (lightbulbs, sanitation, nutrition, medical care, lower cost of food)
agricultural productivity increased
new technologies (telephone, portable computer)
cons:
air polution, water polution, beginning of overpopulation |
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Term
| renewable resources examples |
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Definition
| energy from sun, water, wood, soil, air |
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| nonrenewable resources examples |
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Definition
metals such as iron, aluminum, and copper
nonmetallica materials such as salt, sane and clay
fossil fuels |
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Term
| how is Earth a closed system? |
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Definition
| the only thing that enters the Earth's atmosphere in large amounts is energy from the sun, and the only thing that leaves in large amounts is heat. There is a chance that Earth will produce wastes more quickly than it can dispose of them. |
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| How much has the human population increased in the 20th century? |
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Definition
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| What are the main environmental problems? |
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Definition
| resource depletion, pollution, loss of biodiversity |
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Term
| Name the 2 main types of pollutants |
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Definition
biodegradable pollutants (those that can be broken down by natural processes, such as human sewage and food wastes)
non-degradable pollutants (those that cannot be broken down by natural processes, such as mercury, lead, some plastics) |
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Term
| how can environmental problems be local, regional or global scales |
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Definition
local community decides where to put a landfill (local)
drinking water of a region is affected by polluted river hundreds of miles away (regional)
the whole earth is affected by ozone-depleting chemicals that are produced by the most populated areas (global) |
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| example of biodegradable pollutant |
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Definition
| grass clippings, banana peels, apple cores, peach pit |
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Term
| What is the Tragedy of the Commons? |
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Definition
The main difficulty in solving environmental problems is the conflict between short-term interests of individuals and the long-term welfare of society. Commons, where everyone could have their livestock graze, belonged to the whole village. It was in the short-term interest for every farmer to put as many animals on the commons as possible, otherwise, another farmer would use the resource. As a result, the animals destroyed the grass because there were too many. So everyone suffered.
Eventually, commons were divided up and each farmer to care to make sure their portion was not overgrazed. They took responsibility and the resource was protected. |
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Term
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Definition
| balances the cost of the action against the benefits one expects from it. To an industry, the cost of pollution control may outweigh the benefits, but to a nearby community, the benefits may be worth the high price |
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Definition
| lower average incomes, simple and agriculture-based economies, rapid population growth, lower life expectancy |
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Definition
| higher average incomes, slower population growth, diverse industrial economies and stronger social support systems, longer life expectancy (US, Canada, Japan, Western Europe countries) |
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Term
| Rapid population growth results in |
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Definition
not enough natural resources for everyone to live healthy, productive lives
forests stripped bare
topsoil exhausted
animals driven to extinction
malnutrition
starvation
disease |
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Term
| do developing or developed countries use more natural resources? |
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Definition
| developed - use about 75% of world's resources, even though they only make up 20% of the world's population |
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Term
| how can you apply critical thinking to environmental science |
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Definition
listen to many viewpoints
investigate the source of the information you encounter (are they biased?)
gather all the information you can before reaching your conclusion |
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Term
| The ____________ Revolution was characterized by a shift from human and animal power to fossil fuels |
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Definition
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Term
| Resources that can theoretically last forever are called ____________resources |
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