| A | B |
|---|
| climate | long term weather patterns for an area |
| temperate | area of moderate temperatures |
| tropical | area with generally warm temperatures year round |
| polar | area of nearly always cold temperatures |
| heat island | an area where the climate is warmer than its surrounding due to presence of concrete and asphalt |
| el nino | short-term climatic change of warm area in southeast Pacific disrupting trade winds |
| la nina | short-term climate effect that produces cooler than average area off South America |
| greenhouse effect | natural heating of Earth's surface caused by greenhouse gases (CO2) |
| biosphere | all of Earth's organisms and the environments in which they live |
| biodiversity | variety of different species |
| ecosystem | a system formed by the interaction of a community of organisms with their environment |
| biomes | a large, naturally occurring community of flora and fauna occupying a major habitat |
| abiotic | nonliving factors of an environment such as light, termperature and stmospheric gases |
| habitat | the natural home or environment of an animal, plant or other organism |
| deforestation | clearing of forested lands |
| desertification | process by which productive land becomes desert |
| ore | natural resource that can be mined at a profit |
| pollutant | substances that can adversely affect organisms |
| carrying capacity | number of organisms that any given environment can support |
| urbanization | an increase in populations of cities and towns versus rural areas |
| industrialization | the periodof social and economic change that transforms a society from agricultural to industrial |
| normals | 30 years averaged climate information |
| Koeppen classification system | climate classification system based on temperature, precipitation and vegetation |
| microclimate | localized climate that differs from the main regional climate |
| global warming | increase in Earth's average surface temperature |
| renewable resources | natural resources possible to use without using them up - solar energy, fresh air |
| desalination | process of removing salt from saltwater to get fresh water |
| fossil fuels | energy sources that formed over geologic time from organic matter |
| biomass | the amount of living matter in a given habitat |
| sustainable energy | managing natural resources to meet current and future energy needs without causing environmental damage |
| flora | plants |
| fauna | animals, including insects |
| biotic | a living thing such as an animal, plant, or bacteria |
| rural | the countryside (vs. the town) |
| urban | the city (vs. the countryside) |
