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HEI Vocabulary
Human Environment Interactions words
Term | Definition |
---|---|
Global Warming | 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. |
Greenhouse Gases | a gas that contributes to the greenhouse effect by absorbing infrared radiation, e.g., carbon dioxide and chlorofluorocarbons. |
Greenhouse Effect | the trapping of the sun's warmth in a planet's lower atmosphere due to the greater transparency of the atmosphere to visible radiation from the sun than to infrared radiation emitted from the planet's surface. |
Acid Rain | 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 |
Pollution | the presence in or introduction into the environment of a substance or thing that has harmful or poisonous effects. |
Adapt | make (something) suitable for a new use or purpose; modify. |
Depend | be controlled or determined by/rely on |
Modify | make partial or minor changes to (something), typically so as to improve it or to make it less extreme. |
Natural Disaster | any event or force of nature that has catastrophic consequences, such as avalanche, earthquake, flood, forest fire, hurricane, lightning, tornado, tsunami, and volcanic eruption |
Deforestation | the state of being clear of trees |