Ap Environmental Science Ch. 1

Front 1

Define 'environment'.

Back 1

all external conditions and factors that affect living organisms

Front 2

Define 'ecology'.

Back 2

the study of relationships between living organisms and their environment

Front 3

Define 'environmental science'.

Back 3

the interdisciplinary study that examines the roles of humans on earth

Front 4

Define 'solar capital'.

Back 4

energy from the sun which provides 99% of the earth's total energy

Front 5

Define 'earth capital'.

Back 5

the planet's air, water, soil, wildlife, minerals, natural purification, recycling, and pest control processes

Front 6

Define 'sustainability'.

Back 6

the ability to satisfy basic needs without degrading or depleting the resources

Front 7

Define 'carrying capacity'.

Back 7

the maximum number of organisms that an environment can support over a specified time period

Front 8

Define 'linear growth'.

Back 8

a quantity increases by a constant amount per unit of time

Front 9

Describe a graph with linear growth.

Back 9

a straight line sloping upwards

Front 10

Describe a graph with exponential growth.

Back 10

a j-shaped curve

Front 11

Define 'doubling time'.

Back 11

the amount of time it takes to double resource use, population size, or money in a savings account

Front 12

What is the rule of 70?

Back 12

70/percentage growth rate = doubling time (in years)

Front 13

Define 'economic growth'.

Back 13

an increase in capacity to provide goods and services

Front 14

What does GNP stand for?

Back 14

Gross National Product

Front 15

Define 'Gross National Product'.

Back 15

the market value of all goods and services produced within a country by the country's buisnesses during a year

Front 16

What does GDP stand for?

Back 16

Gross Domestic Product

Front 17

Define 'Gross Domestic Product'.

Back 17

the market value of all goods and services produced by all businesses within a country

Front 18

Define 'per capita GNP'.

Back 18

the GNP divided by the total population

Front 19

What are the characteristics by which the UN declares a country to be DEVELOPED?

Back 19

1) highly industrialized, 2) usually have per capita GNPs above 4,000$

Front 20

What three countries account for half of the world's economic output?

Back 20

United States, Japan, and Germany

Front 21

Developing countries account for _____% of the population, but only have ____% of the world's wealth and income.

Back 21

80, 15

Front 22

What is a renewable resource?

Back 22

resources that are essentially inexhaustible

Front 23

What is a potentially renewable resource?

Back 23

resources that can be replaced rapidly through natural processes

Front 24

Solar energy, winds, tides, and flowing water are all examples of what type of resource?

Back 24

Renewable

Front 25

Define 'sustainable yield'.

Back 25

the highest rate at which a potentially renewable resource can be used indefinitely without reducing its available supply

Front 26

What is environmental degradation?

Back 26

it is when the rate at which you are using a resource exceeds the rate at which it can be replaced

Front 27

What is a non-renewable resource?

Back 27

resources that are fixed in quantity and can be completely used up

Front 28

What is an economically depleted resource?

Back 28

a resource where the cost of exploting what is left exceeds the economic value

Front 29

Define 'pollution'.

Back 29

any addition to air, water, soil, or food that harms living organisms

Front 30

Define 'point source'.

Back 30

type of pollution that comes from a single, identifiable source

Front 31

Define 'non point source'.

Back 31

pollution that comes from dispersed and difficult to identify sources

Front 32

What three factors determine the harmfull effects of pollution?

Back 32

1. Chemical Nature
2. Concentration
3. Persistence

Front 33

Which is more effective in reducing pollution: pollution prevention or pollution clean up?

Back 33

pollution prevention

Front 34

What are the three major problems of pollution clean up?

Back 34

1. Temporary
2. Usually transfers the pollutant
3. Too costly

Front 35

What three factors does environmental impact depend on?

Back 35

1. Population
2. Per Capita Consumption
3. The amount of degradation produced for each unit or resource used

Front 36

What is the formular for environmental impact?

Back 36

Environmental Impact = Population x Consumption x Technology

Front 37

What is the concept we use to study human population?

Back 37

exponential growth

Front 38

How many people live on earth?

Back 38

6 billion

Front 39

Why are environmental scientists concerned about economic growth?

Back 39

Can lead to higher levels of resource use

Front 40

How much of the world's resources do developed nations use?

Back 40

88%

Front 41

What is globalization?

Back 41

an increasingly integrated world

Front 42

The amount of land needed to produce the resources used by the average person in a country is called...

Back 42

Ecological footprint

Front 43

What two categories is pollution divided into?

Back 43

Point and non-point

Front 44

The world population reached six billion in...

Back 44

the late 20th century

Front 45

The tragedy of the commons refers to the overuse of

Back 45

common property or free-access resources

Front 46

And ecological footprint of the United States is __ times that of India.

Back 46

3

Front 47

Which is more expensive: pollution prevention or clean up?

Back 47

clean up

Front 48

Give an example of when polluton comes from natural resources

Back 48

volcanic eruption