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1 - ESS 103 || Chapter One
1 - ESS 103 || Chapter One
48
Environmental Studies
Undergraduate 4
08/20/2018

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Cards

Term
Define the Field of Environmental Science
Definition
Study of the interactions among human dominated systems and natural systems and how those interactions affect environments.
Term
Why is Environmental Science Important?
Definition
It helps us identify, understand and respond to changes caused by human interaction to the environment.
Term
Identify Ways In Which Humans Have Altered the Environment in the past?
Definition
Early humans hunted large animals to extinction.
Term
Identify Ways In Which Humans Continue To Alter Our Environment
Definition
Technology and population growth have dramatically increased the rate and the scale of human induced change.
Term
What are the key environmental indicators that help us evaluate the health of the planet?
Definition
Biological Diversity

Food Production

Average Global Surface Temperature

Atmospheric CO2 concentrations

Human Population

Resource Depletion
Term
Define Sustainability
Definition
Use of Earth's resources to meet our current needs without jeopardizing the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
Term
Define Ecological Footprint
Definition
Land area required to support a person or country's lifestyle.
Term
How can Sustainability can be measured using the ecological footprint?
Definition
You can use the information provided to say something about how sustainable that lifestyle would be if adopted globally.
Term
What is the scientific method?
Definition
Process of observation, hypothesis generation, data collection, analysis of results and dissemination of findings.
Term
Why is the repetition of measurements or experiments critical to the scientific method?
Definition
It helps to determine their validity.
Term
Before being accepted, what normally happens to a hypothesis?
Definition
It is often modified, before being accepted.
Term
What are the challenges of Environmental Science?
Definition
Lack of a control to compare to the Earth

There is no single measure of environmental quality.

Environmental systems are complex and poorly understood
Term
What may have just as much of an effect on the environment as natural laws?
Definition
Human Preferences and Policies
Term
Define Anthropogenic
Definition
Adj. derived from human activities
Term
Define Environment
Definition
Sum of all conditions surrounding us that influence life.
Term
Define System
Definition
Any set of interacting components that influence one another by exchanging energy or materials.
Term
Define Ecosystem
Definition
Particular location on Earth whose interacting components include living components and non living components.
Term
Define Biotic
Definition
Living components
Term
Define Abiotic
Definition
Nonliving components
Term
Define Environmentalist
Definition
A person who participates in environmentalism.
Term
Define Environmental Studies
Definition
A broad field that includes the study of environmental science, policy, economics, literature and ethics.
Term
Define Ecosystem Services
Definition
The processes by which life supporting resources are produced.
Term
List examples of life supporting resources
Definition
Clean Water

Timber

Fisheries

Agricultural Crops
Term
Define Environmental Indicators
Definition
Describe the current state of an environmental system.
Term
Define Biodiversity
Definition
Diversity of life forms in an environment.
Term
Define Species
Definition
Defined as a group of organisms that is distinct from other groups in its morphology, behavior, or biochemical properties.
Term
Define Speciation
Definition
The evolution of a new species.
Term
Define Background Extinction Rate
Definition
Average rate at which species go extinct over the long term.
Term
Define Greenhouse Gases
Definition
Heat trapping gases in Earth's atmosphere.
Term
What is an example of a Greenhouse Gas?
Definition
CO2
Term
Define Development
Definition
Improvement in human well being through economic advancement.
Term
Define Sustainable Development
Definition
Development that balances current human well-being and economic advancement with resource management for the benefit of future generations.
Term
Define Biophilia
Definition
Love of life
Term
Define Hypothesis
Definition
Testable conjecture about how something works.
Term
Define Null Hypothesis
Definition
Statement or idea that can be falsified or proven wrong.
Term
Define Replication
Definition
Scientists taking several sets of measurements.
Term
Define Sample Size
Definition
The number of times a measurement is replicated.
Term
Define Accuracy
Definition
How close a measured value is to the actual true value.
Term
Define Precision
Definition
How close to one another the repeated measurements of the same sample are.
Term
Define Uncertainty
Definition
Estimate of how much a measured or calculated value differs from a true value.
Term
Define Inductive Reasoning
Definition
The process of making of making general statements from specific facts or examples.
Term
Define Deductive Reasoning
Definition
The process of applying a general statement to specific facts or situations.
Term
Define Critical Thinking
Definition
Question the source of information, consider the methods or processes that were used to obtain the information, and draw your own conclusions.
Term
Define Theory
Definition
Hypothesis that has been repeatedly tested and confirmed by multiple researchers and has reached wide acceptance.
Term
Define Natural Law
Definition
Theory to which there are no known exceptions and which has withstood rigorous testing.
Term
Define Control Group
Definition
Group that experiences exactly the same conditions as the experimental group, except for the single variable under study.
Term
Define Natural Experiment
Definition
Occurs when a natural event acts as an experimental treatment in an ecosystem.
Term
Define Environmental Justice
Definition
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.
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