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29 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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environment
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the sum of all the conditions surroundings us that influence life (includes living and nonliving components)
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environmental science
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field of science that looks at interactions among humans systems and those found in nature
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system
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any set of interacting components that influence one another by exchanging energy or materials
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ecosystem
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particular location on Earth whose interacting components including living and nonliving components
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biotic
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living
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abiotic
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nonliving
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environmental indicators
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describe the current state of a environmental system
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examples of environmental indicators
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human population, ecological footprint, average global surface temperature, etc
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sustainability
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living on Earth in a way that allows us to use its resources without depriving future generations of those resources
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biodiversity
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biological diversity
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three scales of biodiversity
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genetic, species, and ecosystem
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genetic diversity
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a measure of the genetic variation among individuals in a population
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species diversity
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the number of species in a region or particular type of habitat
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species
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a group of organisms that is distinct from other groups in its morphology (body form and structure), behavior, or biochemical properties
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speciation
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the evolution of new species (typically happens slowly)
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background extinction rate
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the average rate at which species go extinct over the long term (about one species in a million every year so should be about 2 species a year)
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the major causes of extinction today
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mainly habitat destruction and degradation (not excluding however climate change, over-harvesting, and pressure from introduced species.
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ecosystem diversity
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a measure of the diversity of ecosystems or habitats that exist in a given region
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the number of acres in 1 hectare
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2.47 acres/ha
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five global-scale environmental indicators
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biological diversity, food production, average global surface temperature and carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere, human population, and resource depletion
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greenhouse gases
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carbon dioxide and methane
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anthropogenic
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derived from human activities
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two major sources of anthropogenic CO2
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he combustion of fossil fuels and the net loss of forests
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net result of new inhabitant on Earth each day
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212,000 or over a million in 5 days
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development
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improvement in human well-being through economic advancement
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sustainable development
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development that balances current human well-being and economic advancement with resource management for the benefit of future generations
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biophilia
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the need to "the connections humans subconsciously seek with the rest of life"
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living sustainably means
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acting in a way such that activities that are crucial to human society can continue
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ecological footprint
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a measure of how much a person consumes, expressed in area of land
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