Term
| What is in the environment? |
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Definition
| The environment includes all living and nonliving things around us with which we interact. |
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Term
| What is environmental science? |
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Definition
| Environmental science is the study of how the worl works, how our environment affects us, and how we affect our environment. |
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Term
| What are natural resources? |
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Definition
| Natural resources are the various substances and energy sources we need to survive. |
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Term
| What are renewable natural resources? |
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Definition
| Renewable natural resources are natural resources that are replenished over short periods of time. (ex. sunlight, wind, and wave energy) Other renewable resources such as timber, water and soil take months, years, or even decades to renew themselves. |
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Term
| What are nonrenewable natural resources? |
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Definition
| Nonrenewable natural resources include mineral ores and crude oil. These resources are formed much more slowly than we use them. Once they are depleated, they are no longer available. |
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Term
| What is the agricultural revolution? Why did it help human population growth? |
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Definition
| Around 10,000 years ago humans transitioned from the hunter- gatherer lifestyle to an agricultural society. This helped human population growth because as people began to grow crops and raise animals it was much easier to meet their nutritional needs. |
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Term
| What is the industrial revolution? Why did it help human population growth? |
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Definition
| The industrial revolution began in the mid 1700's. It lead to an urban society powered by fossil fuels. During this time parents felt that in this time the more children they had, the better care they would have in older age. For society this increase in population helped fill the new labor pool. |
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Term
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Definition
| Fossil fuels are nonrenewable energy sources such as oil, coal, and natural gas. |
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Term
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Definition
| Thomas Malthus was a British economist. He felt that during the industrial revolution if the population growth was not controlled by laws or other social strictures, the number of people would outgrow the available food supply. He felt that the population growth would continue until starvation, war, or disease arose and reduced the population. |
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Term
| What is "The Tragedy of the Commons?" |
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Definition
| "The Tragedy of the Commons," is was an essay written by Garrett Hardin. Hardin felt that if resources are open to unregulated exploitation they will eventually be depleated. |
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Term
| What is an ecological footprint? |
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Definition
| An ecological footprint expresses the environmental impact of an individual or population by looking at the total amount of land and water required to provide the raw materials an individual or population needs. |
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Term
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Definition
| Overshoot is a term to describe the fact that we have overshot Earth's capacity to sustainably support us. |
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Term
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Definition
| Biodiversity is the cumulative number and diversity of living things. |
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Term
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Definition
| Sustainability means leaving our future generations with a world as rich and full of natural resources as we have. |
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Term
| What is sustainable development? |
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Definition
| Sustainable development is the use of renewable and nonrenewable resources in a manner that satisfies our current needs, but does not compromise the future availability of resources. |
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Term
| What does the term "triple bottom line"mean? |
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Definition
| The "triple bottom line" stands for the efforts made to generate sustainable solutions that meet environmental, economic, and social goals. |
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Term
Ecology is
a. concerned only with solving environmental problems
b. the study of animal behavior
c. the study of organisms and their interactions with each other and with the environment
d. not a crucial discipline to environmental science
e. a subfield of environmentalism
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Definition
C
Ecology is the study of organisms and their interactions with each other and with the environment |
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Term
In general, natural resources
a. belong only to those on whose property they exist
b. should be conserved
c. are evenly divided among all countries
d. should not be used
e. shoud be used by everyone equally
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Definition
B
In general, natural resources should be conserved. |
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Term
Why was human population growth initially regarded as a good thing?
a. fewer children to support folks in old age
b. greater pool of workers and helpers
c. to spread religion around the world
d. larger armies for conquering new lands
e. to spread democracy through all countries |
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Definition
B
Human population growth was initially regarded as a good thing because, their would be a greater pool of workers and helpers. |
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Term
Sustainable development
a. means consuming resources without compromising future availability
b. is impossible to acomplish
c. is beyond our current technology and attitudes
d. is possible given our increased use of fertilizers and technology for agriculture
e. ensures an economy that will decline over time |
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Definition
A
Sustainable development means consuming resources without compromising future availability |
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Term
Environmental science includes
a. biology
b. geology
c. ethics
d. economics
e. all of the above
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Definition
E
Environmental science includes biology, geology, ethics, economics and much more. |
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Term
The major difference between environmental science and environmentalism is that
a. environmentalism is a social movement and environmental science is an objective scientific pursuit.
b. there is no difference
c. environmentalism tries to save the air and water and environmental science attempts to save all of the organisms
d. environmentalism is a psychological disorder and environmental science attempts to cure it
e. environmentalism concerns itself with biodiversity and environmental science does not |
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Definition
A
The major difference between environmental science and environmentalism is that environmentalism is a social movement and environmental science is an objective scientific pursuit. |
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Term
The cumulative total and kind of living things on Earth is
a. its biodiversity
b. called taxonomy
c. its environment
d. increasing rapidly
e. an abiotic factor
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Definition
A
The cumulative total and kind of living things on Earth is its biodiversity. |
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Term
You have read about the mistakes made on Easter Island. On Tikopia, another small island, the people acted in other ways. When they realized that the pigs they had imported were damaging the environment, they killed them all. They had to have permission from a chief to fish, which prevented overfishing. They practiced contraception. These all indicate that
a. they truly practiced sustainability
b. they believed in full resource utilization
c. they felt that everything was a renewable resource
d. they felt that everything was a nonrenewable resource
e. they were concerned with only one year at a time |
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Definition
A
You have read about the mistakes made on Easter Island. On Tikopia, another small island, the people acted in other ways. When they realized that the pigs they had imported were damaging the environment, they killed them all. They had to have permission from a chief to fish, which prevented overfishing. They practiced contraception. These all indicate that they truly practiced sustainability. |
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Term
Nearly 50% of the land on our planet is currently used for agriculture. If everyone on the planet had an ecological footprint the size of an average citizen of the United States (9.5 ha), then
a. we would have 50% more food to go around
b. about 50% of the people would starve
c. we would be able to provide for everyone with out much difficulty, using the other 50% of land currently not being used
d. we could support 50% more people on our planet
e. we would need at least two more planet Earth's to feed and support everyone |
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Definition
E
Nearly 50% of the land on our planet is currently used for agriculture. If everyone on the planet had an ecological footprint the size of an average citizen of the United States (9.5 ha), then we would need at least two more planet Earth's to feed and support everyone. |
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Term
| What is the difference between renewable and nonrenewable resources? |
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Definition
| Renewable resources are things we use from the environment that can regrow or replenish overtime. It is possible however to turn a renewable resource into a nonrenewable resource by overuse. Nonrenewabel resources are things frmo the environment that once they are used, they cannot come back. |
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