Term
| positive feedback mechanism |
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Definition
| a situation in which a change in some condition triggers a response that intensifies the changing condition |
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Term
| negative feedback mechanism |
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Definition
| a situation in which a change in some condition triggers a response that counteracts, or reverses, the changed condition |
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Definition
| the rate of change in one direction is the same as the rate of change in the opposite direction |
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| the hypotheses that Earth's organisms adjust the environment to keep it habitable for life |
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| the study based on the gaia theory |
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Definition
| cycles involving biological, geological, and chemical interactions (carbon, nitrogen, phosphorous, sulfur and hydrologic cycles) |
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Definition
| the global circulation of carbon from the environment to living organsims and back to the environment |
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Definition
| vast deposits of carbon compounds - the end products of photosynthesis that occurred millions of years ago |
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Definition
| carbon cycle interacts with the silicon cycle |
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Definition
| returns CO2 back to the atmosphere |
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Definition
| plants, algae, and certain bacteria remove CO2 from the air and fix it into chemical compounds (C6H12O6 = glucose = sugars) |
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Definition
| return of CO2 back to the atmosphere |
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Term
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Definition
| the process of burning by which organic molecules are rapidly oxidized, converting them into CO2 + H2O with accompanying release of heat and light |
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Definition
| the global circulation of nitrogen from the environment to living organims and back to the environment |
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Term
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Definition
| step 1 of NC: conversion of gaseous nitrogen to ammonia |
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Term
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Definition
| step 2 of NC: conversion of ammonia/ammonium to nitrate |
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Term
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Definition
| step 3 of NC: 1) biological conversion of nitrates, and ammonia/ammonium into proteins and other nitrogen-containing compounds by plants 2) conversion of plant proteins into animal proteins |
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Term
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Definition
| step 4 of NC: conversion of organic nitrogen to ammonia and ammonium ions |
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Definition
| step 5 of NC: converts nitrate to nitrogen gas |
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Definition
| the enzyme bacteria emply to split atmospheric nitrogen and combine resulting nitrogen atoms with hydrogen |
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Definition
| the global circulation of phosphorus from the environment to living organisms and back to the environment (NO BIOLOGICALLY IMPORTANT GASEOUS COMPOUNDS) |
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Definition
| the global circulation of sulfur from the environment to living organsims and back to the environment - driven by bacteria |
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Definition
| the global circulation of water from the environment to living organisms and back to the environment |
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Definition
| a method by which water enters the atmosphere |
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Definition
| a method by which water enters the atmosphere |
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Definition
| a method by which water leaves the atmosphere |
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Definition
| water stored in underground caverns and porous layers of rock |
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Definition
| the movement of surface water from land to rivers, lakes, wetlands, and the ocean |
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Definition
| human impact on the sulfur cycle - tiny particles of pollution produced from fossil fuel combustion (enhance aborption of sunlight in the atmosphere and brighter clouds) |
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Definition
| proportional reflectance of solar energy from Earth's surface (usually in a percentage) |
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Definition
| the layer of the atmosphere closest to the Earth's surface |
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Definition
| contains ozone that absorbs much of the sun's ultraviolet radiation => the layer of the atmosphere directly above the troposphere |
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Term
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Definition
| lowest temps in the atmosphere => the layer of the atmosphere directly above the stratosphere |
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Term
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Definition
| steadily rising temps => after the mesosphere |
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Term
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Definition
| the last layer of the atmosphere => converges with space |
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Definition
| complex horizontal movements that result in part from differences in atmospheric pressure from the Coriolis effect |
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Definition
| major surface winds that blow continually |
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Term
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Definition
| prevailing winds that blow NE near the north pole and SE near the south pole |
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Definition
| prevaililng winds that blow in the midlatitudes, SW in the northern hemisphere and NW in the southern hemisphere |
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Definition
| the influence of Earth's rotation which deflects fluids toward the right in the northern hemisphere and left in the southern hemisphere |
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Definition
| (prevailing) tropical winds that blow from the NE in the northern hemisphere and SE in the southern hemisphere |
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Definition
| result from prevailing winds |
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Definition
| large circular ocean current systems that often encompass an entire ocean basin |
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Definition
| El Nino-Southern Oscillation - periodic warming of surface waters (in the tropical eastern Pacific Ocean), temporarily alters ocean and atmospheric circulation |
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Term
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Definition
| surface waters in the eastern Pacific becomes unusually cool |
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Definition
| the average weather conditions that occur in a place of a period of years (TEMP AND PRECIPITAION determine climate!!!) |
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Definition
| conditions in the atmosphere at a given place and time (temperature, atmospheric pressure, precipitation, cloudines, humidity, and wind) |
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Definition
| dry conditions, that occur on the leeward side of a mountain barrier; the passage of moist air across the mountains removes most of the moisture from the air |
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Term
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Definition
| a rotating funnel of air associated with severe thunderstorms |
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Term
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Definition
| a giant, rotating tropical storm with high winds |
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