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26 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
- 3rd side (hint)
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Environment |
Biological & physical sorroundings in which any given living organism exists. |
Sorroundings |
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Environmental Science |
An interdisciplinary field of research that draws on natural and social sciences and the humanities in order to understand the natural world and our relationship to it. |
Interdisciplanery Field |
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Empirical Science |
A scientific approach that investigates the natural world through systematic observation and experimentation. |
Approach |
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Applied Science |
Research whose findings are used to help solve practical problems. |
Research - Practical |
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Environmental Literacy |
A basic understanding of how ecosystems function and of the impact of our choices on the environment. |
Understanding - ecosystems function |
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Trade-offs |
The imperfect and sometimes problematic responses that we must at times choose between when addressing compress problems. |
Responses- choose |
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Triple Bottom Line |
The Combination of the Environmental, social, and economic impacts of our choices. |
Combination - Env, Soc, Econ |
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Sustainable Development |
Development that meets present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to do the same. |
Meets needs - no compromise |
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Carrying Capacity |
The population size that a particular environment can support indefinitely. |
Population size |
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Ecological Footprint |
The land needed to provide the resources and assimilate the waste of a person or population. |
Land needed |
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Anthropogenic |
Caused by or related to human action. |
Human |
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Sustainable |
A method of using resources in such way that we can continue to use them indefinitely. |
Method - resources |
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Renewable Energy |
Energy that comes from an indefinitely available or easily replenished source. |
Energy - replenished |
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Biodiversity |
The variety of species on Earth. |
Species |
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Non-renewable resources |
Resources whose supply is finite or not replenished in a timely fashion. |
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Social Traps |
Decisions by individuals or groups that seem good at the time and produce a short-term benefit but that hurt society in the long run. |
Decisions -short term - hurt long run |
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Tragedy of Commons |
The tendency of an individual to abuse commonly held resources on order to maximize his or her own personal interest. |
Tendency - individual - abuse- resources |
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Time Delay |
Actions that produce a benefit today and set into motion events that cause problems later on. |
Actions - benefit today - problems later |
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Sliding Reinforcer |
Actions that are beneficial at first but that change conditions such that their benefit declines over time. |
Actions benefitial at first - benefit declines over time |
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Worldview |
The window through which one views one's world and existence. |
Window - Existence |
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Environmental Ethic |
The personal philosophy that influences how a person interacts with his or get natural environment and thus affects how one responds to environmental problems. |
Philosophy - influence - interacts - responds |
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Antropocentric WorldView |
A human- centered view that assigns intrinsic value only to humans. |
Human centered |
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Instrumental value |
The value or worth of an object, an organism, or a species, based on its usefulness to humans. |
Value - based usefulness |
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Biocentric WorldView |
A life -centered approach that views all life as having intrinsic value, regardless of its usefulness to humans. |
Life-centered |
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Intrinsic Value |
The value or worth of an object, an organism, or a species, based on mere it's existance. |
Value - Existence |
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Eccentric worldview |
A system - centered view that values intact ecosystems not just the individual parts. |
System Centered |
