Chapter 6

Front 1

agriculture

Back 1

the science or practice of farming, including cultivation of the soil for the growing of crops and the rearing of animals to provide food, wool, and other products

Front 2

monoculture

Back 2

the cultivation of a single crop in a given area

Front 3

green revolution

Back 3

a large increase in crop production in developing countries achieved by the use of fertilizers, pesticides, and high-yield crop varieties

Front 4

renewable resource

Back 4

a resource which can be used repeatedly because it is replaced naturally. Examples are: oxygen, fresh water, solar energy, timber, and biomass. Renewable resources may also include goods commodities such as wood, paper and leather

Front 5

nonrenewable resource

Back 5

a resource of economic value that cannot be readily replaced by natural means on a level equal to its consumption. Most fossil fuels, such as oil, natural gas and coal are considered this type of resource in that their use is not sustainable because their formation takes billions of years.

Front 6

sustainable development

Back 6

economic development that is conducted without depletion of natural resources.

Front 7

soil erosion

Back 7

a naturally occurring process that affects all landforms. In agriculture, it refers to the wearing away of a field's topsoil by the natural physical forces of water and wind or through forces associated with farming activities such as tillage.

Front 8

desertification

Back 8

the process by which fertile land becomes desert, typically as a result of drought, deforestation, or inappropriate agriculture.

Front 9

deforestation

Back 9

the permanent destruction of forests in order to make the land available for other uses. An estimated 18 million acres (7.3 million hectares) of forest, which is roughly the size of the country of Panama, are lost each year, according to the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).Mar 4, 2015

Front 10

aquaculture

Back 10

is the farming of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, molluscs and aquatic plants. This practice involves cultivating freshwater and saltwater populations under controlled conditions, and can be contrasted with commercial fishing, which is the harvesting of wild fish.

Front 11

smog

Back 11

we have a lot of it here in Bakersfield.

fog or haze combined with smoke and other atmospheric pollutants.

Front 12

pollutant

Back 12

a substance that pollutes something, especially water or the atmosphere

Front 13

acid rain

Back 13

rainfall made sufficiently acidic by atmospheric pollution that it causes environmental harm, typically to forests and lakes. The main cause is the industrial burning of coal and other fossil fuels, the waste gases from which contain sulfur and nitrogen oxides, which combine with atmospheric water to form acids.

Front 14

biodiversity

Back 14

the variety of life in the world or in a particular habitat or ecosystem.

Front 15

ecosystem diversity

Back 15

refers to the variety of ecosystems in a given place. Within any broader landscape there is a mosaic of interconnected ecosystems. To conserve biodiversity, conservation at the landscape level is critical.

Front 16

species diversity

Back 16

refers to the number of different species in the biosphere

Front 17

genetic diversity

Back 17

refers to the sum total of all the different forms of genetic information carried by all organisms living on Earth today.

Front 18

extinction

Back 18

is the end of an organism or of a group of organisms (taxon), normally a species. It is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and recover may have been lost before this point.

Front 19

endangered species

Back 19

a species of animal or plant that is seriously at risk of extinction.

Front 20

habitat fragmentation

Back 20

is the process by which habitat loss results in the division of large, continuous habitats into smaller, more isolated remnants.

Front 21

biological magnification

Back 21

refers to the process whereby certain substances such as pesticides or heavy metals move up the food chain, work their way into rivers or lakes, and are eaten by aquatic organisms such as fish, which in turn are eaten by large birds, animals or humans.

Front 22

invasive species

Back 22

is a plant, fungus, or animal species that is not native to a specific location (an introduced species), and which has a tendency to spread to a degree believed to cause damage to the environment, human economy or human health.

Front 23

conservation

Back 23

preservation, protection, or restoration of the natural environment, natural ecosystems, vegetation, and wildlife.

Front 24

ozone layer

Back 24

is a region of Earth's stratosphere that absorbs most of the Sun's ultraviolet (UV) radiation. It contains high concentrations of ozone (O3) in relation to other parts of the atmosphere, although still small in relation to other gases in the stratosphere.

Front 25

global warming

Back 25

a gradual increase in the overall temperature of the earth's atmosphere generally attributed to the greenhouse effect caused by increased levels of carbon dioxide, chlorofluorocarbons, and other pollutants.