Counterpoints 2 Chapter 13 Vocabulary

Front 1

biosphere

Back 1

regions of Earth occupied by living organisms, made up of all the ecozones

Front 2

stewardship

Back 2

careful management of resources to ensure that they are sustainable

Front 3

permafrost

Back 3

subsoil that remains frozen all year long

Front 4

carrying capacity

Back 4

the largest population that an environment can support

Front 5

deforestation

Back 5

the process of destroying a forest and replacing it with something else

Front 6

World Scientists' Warning to Humanity

Back 6

the warning that 1700 concerned scientists from around the globe signed in 1992

Front 7

global warming

Back 7

the observed and projected increase in the earth's average temperature due to burning of fossil fuels and deforestation

Front 8

ecology

Back 8

the science concerned with the relationship between living things and their environment

Front 9

acid precipitation

Back 9

any form of precipitation that is high in sulfuric and nitric acids as a result of pollution in the air

Front 10

sustainable development

Back 10

a way to maintain economic growth without damaging the environment

Front 11

Earth Summit

Back 11

a meeting of world leaders, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1992, to discuss environmental changes and sustainable development

Front 12

Agenda 21

Back 12

a statement of environmental action, produced at the 1992 Earth Summit, that outlines actions that should be taken to protect the planet and achieve sustainable development

Front 13

herbicides

Back 13

substances used to kill plants

Front 14

pesticides

Back 14

substances used to kill pests such as unwanted plants and animals

Front 15

organic

Back 15

grown or produced without chemical fertilizers or pesticides

Front 16

carbon dioxide emissions

Back 16

emissions of carbon dioxide caused by burning of fossil fuels; largest contributor to global warming

Front 17

biodiversity

Back 17

having a variety of life forms

Front 18

ecotourism

Back 18

tourism to threatened areas that tries to be low-impact and small-scale

Front 19

Our Common Future

Back 19

the report published by the United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development in 1987, asking people in the developed world to reduce resource consumption and develop a sustainable lifestyle

Front 20

factory farms

Back 20

terms often used to refer to unsustainable agricultural practices of large-scale farming operations

Front 21

genetically modified (GM) seeds

Back 21

seeds developed by multinational corporations, such as Monsanto and DuPont, that have tried to control markets for their seeds, fertilizers and pesticides

Front 22

Protected Areas Strategy (PAS)

Back 22

a plan to preserve approximately 12 percent of B.C.'s provincial land for parks, recreation, and wilderness

Front 23

watersheds

Back 23

river basins drained by a river and flowing into the same large body of water

Front 24

Great Bear Rainforest

Back 24

one of the last remaining tracts of unspoiled temperate rainforest left in the world; home to thousands of species, including Kermode (spirit) bear; part of the rainforest is to be conserved by First Nations communities, environmentalists, and logging companies

Front 25

Simon Jackson

Back 25

a man who founded the Spirit Bear Youth Coalition (SBYC) at the age of 13

Front 26

Spirit Bear Youth Coalition (SBYC)

Back 26

a coalition founded by Simon Jackson to unite young people to save British Columbia's endangered white bear

Front 27

groundwater

Back 27

water beneath Earth's surface in underground streams and other forms

Front 28

surface water

Back 28

water that is readily available on Earth's surface in streams, rivers, lakes, wetlands, and oceans

Front 29

wastewater

Back 29

water that has been used in homes or industries and, as a result, contains waste products

Front 30

watermilfoil weed

Back 30

a plant that grows tha spreads quickly, choking out native plants, affecting spawning areas for fish, and posing a safety problem if it grows around public beaches

Front 31

aquifer

Back 31

an underground layer of rock, gravel, etc., from which water can be drawn for wells and which is a source of springs

Front 32

carbon footprint

Back 32

the total amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases emitted over the full life cycle of a product or service

Front 33

troposphere

Back 33

the lowest level of Earth's atmosphere

Front 34

greenhouse gases (GHG)

Back 34

various gases in the atmosphere that absrob and emit radiation, including carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone

Front 35

ultraviolet radiation (UV)

Back 35

invisible rays from the sun that can cause skin cancer

Front 36

ozone layer

Back 36

a thin layer of ozone in the atmosphere 15 to 30 kilometres above Earth; the ozone layer filters the sun's ultraviolet (UV) rays

Front 37

CFCs (chloroflurocarbons)

Back 37

chemicals used in coolants, solvents, and aerosol cans that damage the ozone layer

Front 38

Montreal Protocol

Back 38

an international agreement signed in 1987 to phase out the ozone-depleting chemicals CFCs

Front 39

HCFCs (hydrochlorofluorocarbons)

Back 39

the less-harmful replacement for CFCs

Front 40

Federation of Canadian Municipalities

Back 40

federation that called on cities in 2009 to promote municipal drinking water to reduce the consumption of bottled water

Front 41

ozone

Back 41

an oxygen triatom molecule that is the only gas in the atmosphere that blocks the sun's ultraviolet rays

Front 42

peatlands

Back 42

wetlands with soil formed mostly from decomposing plants

Front 43

greenhouse effect

Back 43

greenhouse gases trap heat in the atmosphere, causing Earth's temperature to rise

Front 44

Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)

Back 44

the report that summarized the state of global climate change

Front 45

carbon sink

Back 45

a reservoir that can absorb and store carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, including forests, peat, and oceans

Front 46

International Union of Forest Research Organizations

Back 46

organizations that claimed in 2009 that, as a result of global warming, trees might someday spread to Canada's Arctic where only tundra now exists

Front 47

meltwater

Back 47

melted snow or ice, including ice from glaciers

Front 48

runoff

Back 48

water from rain and melting snow that cannot be held in the soil so makes its way into streams, rivers, lakes, and oceans

Front 49

Himalayan glaciers

Back 49

Asia's "water towers", currently melting due to global warming

Front 50

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)

Back 50

the UN's plan the keep greenhouse gas concentrations from increasing, created at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Front 51

Kyoto Protocol

Back 51

an international agreement that sets binding targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions; the average target is 5 percent of 1990 levels by 2008-2012

Front 52

carbon credit

Back 52

if an organization produces more greenhouse gases than it is allowed, it can purchase a credit from an organization that is below its target emission levels