Term
| Global Distillation Effect |
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Definition
| transporting toxins through global processes like wind currents |
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Term
| POPs (persistent organic pollutants) |
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Definition
| very stable chemicals, usually man-made which can be redeposited in any environment; travel pole-ward with atmospheric circulation easily b/c they can take gas form |
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Term
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Definition
accumulation of toxin as it is consumed up the food chain
fish --> seal--> bear |
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Term
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Definition
| DDT, solvents, pharmaceuticals, PCBs and PBDs |
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Term
| Stockholm Convention (UNEP 2001) |
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Definition
international environmental treaty that aims to eliminate/reduce POPs
US has not ratified |
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Term
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Definition
| harms immune system, reproductive system, and increases risk of cancer |
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Term
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Definition
| bodies of water that appear crystal clear b/c they lack nutrients |
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Term
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Definition
| bodies of water with excess nutrients (N & P) which eventually leads to a dead zone |
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Term
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Definition
7=neutral
<7 = acidic
>7 = basic |
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Term
| Why are lakes in Norway and Sweden severely affected by acidification? |
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Definition
| westerlies/icelandic lows - wind currents from industrial Europe travel north and are pulled over Norway due to low pressure (high to low pressure) |
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Term
| Solution to oligotrophic/eutrophic lakes? |
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Definition
| Clean Air legislation (European Union) regulate allotment industries can release of SO2 and NO2 |
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Term
| Where is Hanford and What happened at there? |
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Definition
| Washington State; leakage of stored radioactive waste, Pu, into ground (70 of 177 tanks/1mgal) |
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Term
| Why is Hanford where it is? |
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Definition
Columbia River provided a coolant
very isolated |
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Term
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Definition
| aerated zone of the soil above the water table |
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Term
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Definition
| water around the river but underground; exchanges between this and the river |
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Term
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Definition
| making glass from radioactive waste and storing it as glass rods |
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Term
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Definition
| proposed storage site by the NWPA for toxic waste; isolated, low water table, low population |
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Term
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Definition
| establishes procedures to evaluate and select sites for geologic repositories and for the interaction of state and federal governments |
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Term
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Definition
| not in my backyard; no one wants a nuclear power plant or storage center near their home |
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Term
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Definition
| the species that is super important to the ecosystem; keeps the ecosystem going |
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Term
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Definition
| the amount of organisms an ecosystem can support |
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Term
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Definition
| hunted to near extinction around Yellowstone; reintroduced 66 wolves in 1966 --> increased biodiversity |
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Term
| Examples of Keystone Species |
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Definition
| sea otter, bees, polar bears |
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Term
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Definition
| a species population falling so low from hunting or competition that it cannot recover |
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Term
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Definition
| northeast focus area of wolf reintroduction; Great Lake region |
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Term
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Definition
reintroduction of wolves to VT, NH, NY, ME
76% supported; not yet passed |
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Term
| Elk Reintroduction to NYS |
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Definition
| Hunters lobby for it, Farmers lobby against |
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Term
| Why did Elk go extinct East of the Mississippi |
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Definition
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Term
| Why did Elk reintroduction work in Pennsylvania |
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Definition
| 1913 because of strip mining and low population |
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Term
| Surface Mining Control Act 1977 |
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Definition
| concerned about environmental impact of strip mining; must show they can restore the land |
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Term
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Definition
| lottery for hunters to kill Elk to control population; receives million in revenue |
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Term
| Multiple Use Sustained Yield Act 1960 |
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Definition
| authorizes and directs the Secretary of Agriculture to develop and administer the renewable resources of timber, range, water, recreation and wildlife on the national forests for multiple use and sustained yield of the products and services |
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Term
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Definition
good on hills; clear cut a 250' section then leave a 100' section untouched then clear cut a 250' section etc.
pros: reduces erosion, leaves trees, easier for regrowth |
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Term
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Definition
cutting down an entire 40 ac section of a forest
pros: creates niches & biodiversity
cons: habitat destruction (of possibly endangered species), contributes to global warming, desertification, extensive soil compaction (inc. erosion & flooding) |
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Term
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Definition
| transition zone where 2 ecosystems mingle (grass meeting forest) |
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Term
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Definition
| the drying out of land; affects 2 in 6 of the world's populations |
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Term
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Definition
only cutting down a specific type of tree
cons: requires more money, less profitable, dec. genetic diversity and vigor of forest over time, could eliminate all one species
pros: leaves habitat, preserves species, reduces erosion |
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Term
| National Forest Management Act 1974 |
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Definition
| Multiple uses and sustainable yield of forests |
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Term
| Roadless Area Conservation Rule 2001 |
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Definition
no timber harvesting in places where there are no roads
mostly applies to Alaska |
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Term
| Why have song birds declined? |
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Definition
| habitat destruction from agriculture and the rise of coffee plantations --> inc deforested land |
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Term
| Why is shade grown coffee more sustainable? |
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Definition
no pesticides
supports local goods
doesn't detroy forest--> food and habitat for birds |
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Term
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Definition
diet of chemicals
habitat destruction
erosion
monoculture
locals out of work |
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Term
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Definition
| includes components of agriculture but can still sustain natural life and act as on ecosystem; classified as a forest |
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Term
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Definition
| engineered to be sun tolerant, high yield coffee, genetically decaffeinated |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| higher yields, no difference in taste, longer shelf-life, less pesticide use, drought resistant, solution to world hunger |
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Term
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Definition
removes diversity
not as healthy b/c of possible chemicals
unknown affect on humans
more expensive
not told if its a GMO on label
competition btwn modified and natural |
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Term
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Definition
| the GM genes will get into the environment; these fish are genetically bigger and will out compete the native fish |
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Term
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Definition
| 1986 14000 tones of ash from Philadelphia sailed around looking for someone to take it, Haiti bought some but the rest was "lost" in the Indian Ocean |
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Term
| What waste do we throw away the most? |
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Definition
| paper, yardwaste, metal, glass, other, food, plastic |
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Term
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Definition
| moving waste from producer country to be dumped somewhere else |
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Term
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Definition
UNEP set up to control shipment of toxic waste to international borders
1995 US signed that only 'recyclable' materials were to be shipped but it did not ratify Bassel or support it |
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Term
| Marine Protection Research Sanctuaries Act |
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Definition
| 1992 prevented the unreasonable degradation of human/ecosystem health; permits |
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Term
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Definition
| syringes were found on beaches of NY and Jersey --> a billion in beach closes |
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Term
| 12 Mile Dumping Ground & Mud Dump |
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Definition
| Dredge spoils NY Harbor with PCBs, dioxin, petrochemicals, closed historic area remediation site 1997 |
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Term
| London Convention Protocol |
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Definition
| allows sewage sludge structures, organics, but not municipal waste to be dumped in waters; mostly dredge |
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Term
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Definition
| dioxin is released when plastic and waste that contains chlorine chemicals are burned |
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Term
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Definition
| NY burning on trash in barrels; hard to enforce |
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Term
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Definition
used by many underdeveloped countries
leachate pollutes water
illegal in US but it still does occur |
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Term
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Definition
area is dug out, a liner is placed in (usually clay and plastic), filled and then capped
produces methane, leachate is collected and purified
costly method |
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Term
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Definition
| Environmental Impact (I) = population (P)x affluence (A)x technology (T) |
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Term
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Definition
| max reproductive rate given unlimited resources, recruitment, and reproduction |
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Term
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Definition
| space, competition, predators, resources, climate, density, availability of food, and disease |
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Term
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Definition
species overshoot carrying capacity and die back; r-strategists
high biotic potential |
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Term
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Definition
adapt to niche; stability with environment near CC; competition diminishes; r-strategists
more prone to extinction |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| an example of what could become of the world |
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Term
| Who discovered Easter Island? |
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| permeable volcanic soil Rani Kau crater; remote source |
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Term
| Depletion of the Colorado River |
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Definition
| Colorado River Compact 1923 was created in a high rainfall year allocating 17.5 maf for agriculture and such while the flow is usually only 13.6 maf |
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Term
| Depletion of the Aral Sea |
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Definition
| complete environment and cultural collapse; shrinking, now almost non-existent b/c of use for agriculture; fishing industry almost gone |
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Term
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Definition
| 80% of Greece has been deforested because of advanced civilization now only pyrophytes exist |
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Term
| How can trees survive in Greece? |
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Definition
| precipitates in the winter and doesn't evaporate easily |
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Term
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Definition
| 50% covered to 9% covered |
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Term
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Definition
| British economist who maintained that increasing human population would eventually deplete the available food supply until starvation, war, or disease arose and reduced the population |
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Term
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Definition
| an ethicist who maintains that ethics do and should vary with social context |
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Term
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Definition
| an ethicist who maintains that there exist objective notions of right and wrong that hold across cultures and situations |
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Term
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Definition
| the criteria that helps differentiate right from wrong |
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Term
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Definition
| the application of ethical standards to environmental questions |
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Term
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Definition
| a human-centered view of our relationship with the environment |
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Term
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Definition
| a philosophy that acribes relative values to actions, entities, or properties on the basis of their effects on all living things or on the integrity of the biotic realm in general. Evaluates an action in terms of its overall impact on living things |
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Term
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Definition
| a philosophy that considers actions in terms of their benefit or damage to the integrity of the whole ecological systems, including both biotic and abiotic elements; focuses on ecosystem as a whole |
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Term
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Definition
| associated with preservation ethic. Nature deserves protection for its own inherent values but also claimed that nature plays a large role in human happiness and fulfillment |
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Term
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Definition
| The first professionally trained American forester; helped establish US forest Service; conversation ethics |
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Term
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Definition
| book - The Land Ethic argued that humans should view themselves and the land itself as members of the same community and that humans are obligated to treat the land ethically |
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Term
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Definition
| a movement based on moral sense of fairness and equality that seeks to expand society's domain of ethical concern from rich to poor, and from majorities to minorities |
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Term
| Millennium Ecosystem Assessment |
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Definition
| the most comprehensive scientific assessment of the present condition of the world's ecological systems and their ability to continue supporting our civilzation |
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Term
| Describe the Scientific Method. What is its typical sequence of steps? What needs to occur before a researcher's results are published? Why is this process important? |
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Definition
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Term
| What does the study of ethnic encompass? Describe 3 classical ethical standards |
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Definition
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Term
| Describe Aldo Leopold's land ethic. How did Leopold define the community to which ethical standards should be applied? |
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Definition
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Term
| Differtiate between the preservation ethic and the conservation ethic. Explain the contributions of John Muir and Gifford Pinchot in the history of environmental ethics |
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Definition
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Term
| What is sustainable development and why is it important? What is meant by the triple bottom line? |
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Definition
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Term
| centrally planned economies |
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Definition
| an economy in which a nation's government determines how to allocate resources in a top-down manner |
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Term
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Definition
| Adam Smith; the study of the behavior of buyers and sellers in a free-market economy |
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Term
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Definition
| a theory of economics that explains market prices in terms of consumer preferences for units of particular commodities; buyers desire to buy low whereas sellers want to sell high |
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Term
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Definition
| an economy that does not grow or shrink but remains stable |
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Term
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Definition
| a value that is not usually included in the price of a good or service |
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Term
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Definition
| a party that fails to invest in controlling pollution or carying out other environmentally responsible activities and instead relies on the efforts of other parties to do so |
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Term
| National Environmental Protection Agency |
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Definition
| created in 1970; charged with conducting and evaluating research, monitoring environmental qualities, setting and enforcing standards, and educating the public |
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Term
| Environmental Impact Statement |
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Definition
| a report of results from detailed studies that assess the potential effects on the environment that would likely result from development projects or other actions undertaken by the government |
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Term
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Definition
| high biotic potential; produce lots of offspring in a short time; young fend for themselves; usually regulated by density independent factors |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| a levy on environmentally harmful activities and products aimed at providing a market-based incentive to correct for market failures |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| natural selection conducted under human direction |
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Term
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Definition
| species formation due to the physical separation of populations over some geographic distance |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| study of the quantitative dynamics of how individuals within a species interact with one another; why populations of some species decline while other increase |
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Term
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Definition
| the study of interactions among species from one to one interactions to complex interrelationship involving entire communities |
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Term
| population distribution and dispersion |
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Definition
| the spatial arrangement of organisms within a particular area |
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Term
| age structure and distribution |
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Definition
| the relative number of organisms of each age within a population |
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Term
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Definition
a model of economic and cultural changes that explains the declining death and birth rates that occur in industrialized societies
lessen need for large families therefore parents who invest in quality of life thus lowering mortality rate |
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Term
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Definition
| first stage in demographic transition model; high birth and death rates |
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Term
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Definition
| 2nd stage in demographic transition model; declining death rates but still high birthrates |
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Term
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Definition
| 3rd stage in demographic transition model; characterized by falling birth and death rates and reduced population |
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Term
| Name 2 key ways in which human economies are linked to the natural environment |
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Definition
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Term
| Describe 4 ways in which critics hold that neoclassical economic approaches can negatively affect the environment |
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Definition
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Term
| Compare and contrast the views and approaches of neoclassical economists, environmental economists, and ecological economists |
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Definition
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Term
| describe and critique 3 common justifications for environmental policy. Explain the concept of external costs, and state why it is relevant to environmental policy |
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Definition
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Term
| summarize the differences between the first, second, and third waves of environmental policy in US history. What approach appears to be the fourth wave? |
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Definition
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Term
| What did the national environmental policy act accomplish? |
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Definition
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Term
| How does customary law differ from conventional law? What special challenges do transboundary environmental problems present? |
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Definition
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Term
| List the steps of the environmental policy process from identification of a problem through enactment of a federal law |
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Definition
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Term
| Differentiate between a green tax, a subsidy, a tax break, and an emissions permit |
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Definition
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Term
| how do allopatric speciation occur? |
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Definition
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Term
| what is the difference between a species and a population and a community? |
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Definition
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Term
| contrast the concepts of habitat and niche |
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Definition
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Term
| list and describe each of the 5 major population characteristics. Explain how each shapes population dynamics |
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Definition
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Term
| can any species undergo exponential growth forever? explain |
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Definition
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Term
| Why has the human population continued to grow in spite of environmental limitations? |
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Definition
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Term
| How can technology either increase or decrease environmental impact? |
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Definition
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Term
| Why have fertility rates decreased in many countries |
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Definition
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Term
| how does the demographic transition model explain the increase and decrease in population growth rates? |
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Definition
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Term
| Why are the empowerment of women and pursuit of gender equality viewed as being important to controlling population growth? |
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Definition
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Term
| How does poverty affect the environment? |
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| low biotic potential; small amount of offspring; long gestation period; take care of young; regulated by density dependent factors |
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