| A | B |
|---|
| The study of Earth’s natural systems and how humans and the environment affect one another | What is environmental science? |
| The environment includes: | All living and nonliving things with which organisms interact. |
| Natural Resources are | materials and energy sources found in nature that humans need to survive. |
| Non-renewable resources | Finite resources such as fossil fuels (coal, oil & natural gas) |
| Renewable resources | solar, wind, water, etc. that can be used again |
| Sustainability | Using resources at a rate that we can continue to use them for the foreseeable future |
| Tragedy of the Commons | A situation in which individuals act in their own self-interest to deplete a shared resource, ex: overfishing, water pollution, climate change |
| A major event resulting from natural processes of Earth | Natural Disaster ex: Hurricane |
| Ethics: | A set of moral principles or values held by a person or society |
| Anthropocentrism: | Humans and human welfare most important |
| What was a the effect of the Industrial Revolution on human population growth rate? | After the Industrial Revolution, the human population has increased exponentially! |
| Current world population is | 8.2 billion |
| Ratio of males to females in a population | Sex Ratio: |
| Fukushima Nuclear Disaster | three nuclear meltdowns and the release of radioactive material. |
| Exxon-Valdez Oil Spill | oil tanker struck a reef off the coast of Alaska, killing countless wildlife |
| BP Oil Spill | Blowout on the Deep Horizon rig killed 11 men and caused an oil leak spilling millions of gallons of oil into the ocean for 90 days, killing turtles, fish and birds. |
| Love Canal | Canal turned into a chemical dump-site and the people living there experienced miscarriages and birth defects |
| Dust Bowl | A period of severe dust storms that greatly damaged the ecology and agriculture of the US and Canadian prairies during the 1930s; |
| Great Pacific Garbage Patch | This island of floating garbage in the Pacific Ocean is roughly the size of Texas. |
| Biome | A large geographic area with the same climate conditions, vegetation and animal life |
| Climate | Average conditions, including temperature and precipitation, over long periods of time in a given area |
| Weather | Day-to-day conditions in Earth’s atmosphere |
| Net Primary Activity | The rate at which all the autotrophs in an ecosystem produce net useful chemical energy |
| Which biome has the highest Net Primary Production? | Warm/Wet Biomes |
| Biome characterized by permafrost | Tundra |
| Types of trees in the Taiga (Boreal Forest) | Coniferous trees (adapted to cold) |
| Which Biome has varied temperatures (hot summers, cold winters) Trees (oak, maple, etc) are broad-leafed and change color/drop in the fall | Temperate Deciduous Forest |
| Which Biome has droughts and fires often and not enough precipitation to support large trees? | Grasslands |
| Which BiomeVery little precipitation Temperatures vary widely from day to night Low net productivity | Desert |
| Biome with: Year-round very warm temperatures and a lot of precipitation per year, HIGH BIODIVERSITY | Tropical Rainforest |
| Marine biomes are saltwater ecosystems that include estuaries, coral reefs and zones of the ocean | Marine Biomes |
| Flowing water Fast moving water= high ____ content | High Oxygen Content |
| Biome with marshes swamps and bogs | Wetlands |
| Area where freshwater meets saltwater (brackish- varying degrees of salinity) | Estuaries |
| All of the different types of life living in an area | Biodiversity |
| Why is Biodiversity Important? | **Stability: High biodiversity increases stability of ecosystems. Stable ecosystems are resistant and resilient |
| Greatest causes of Biodiversity Loss | **Habitat change & loss |
| Patches of suitable habitat surrounded by unsuitable habitat | Habitat Fragmentation |
| A strip of natural habitat connecting populations of wildlife otherwise separated by roads, etc. (Habitat fragmentation) | Wildlife Corridors |
| U.S. law that protects biodiversity | **The Endangered Species Act** |
| **Treaties to Protect Biodiversity** | Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES, and Convention on Biological Diversity |
| Single-Species Approaches to Conservation include Captive breeding programs which- | involves raising and breeding organisms in controlled conditions, such as zoos or aquariums |
