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Conservation
Term | Definition |
---|---|
erosion | movement of soil by wind and water |
groundwater pollution | when pollutants seep into particles of rock or soil and collects in aquifers |
smog | created when sunlight reacts with pollutants in the air |
recycle | reuse of a resource that requires changing or reprocessing the resource |
ozone depletion | thinning of Earth's protective ozone layer |
reuse | using items more than once or using for another purpose |
acid precipitation | mist, fog, rain, snow, sleet, or hail with a pH below 5.6 |
reduce | using fewer natural resources |
greenhouse effect | Earth's atmosphere traps heat from the sun; too much can cause global warming |
surface water pollution | chemical pesticides, raw sewage, fertilizer, and garbage that wash into rivers, streams, lakes, etc. |
renewable resource | natural resources that are constantly recycled or being replaced |
nonrenewable resource | natural resources that are used up more quickly than they can be replaced |
petroleum | a fossil fuel formed mainly from the remains of microscopic sized marine organisms buried beneath the ground |
nuclear power | kind of power produced when atomic nuclei from uranium are split apart in a fission reaction |
hydroelectric power | kind of power produced when the energy of flowing water turns a turbine in a generator |
geothermal power | kind of power produced from the heat energy contained in the Earth's crust |
fossil fuels | most of the energy we use; formed in Earth's crust over hundreds of millions of years |
photovoltaic cell | kind of cell used to turn sunlight into electricity |
solar power | energy from the sun that is converted to electricity or in materials that retain heat |
hazardous waste | waste materials that are very harmful to human health or poisonous to living organisms |
natural resources | parts of the environment that are useful or necessary for the survival of living organisms |
pollutant | substance that contaminates the environment |
The 3 R's of Conservation | reduce, reuse, recycle |