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Chapter 16 Vocab
Term | Definition |
---|---|
nonrenewable resources | natural resource that is used more quickly than it can be formed |
renewable resources | resource that replenishes itself quickly enough so that it will not be used faster than it can be produced |
ecological footprint | amount of land necessary to produce and maintain enough food, water, shelter, energy, and waste |
pollution | anything that is added to the environment and has a negative effect on the environment or its organisms |
smog | air pollution in which gases released from burning fossil fuels form a fog when they react with sunlight |
particulate | microscopic bits of dust, metal, and unburned fuel produced by industrial processes |
acid rain | precipitation produced when pollutants in the atmosphere cause the pH of rain to decrease |
greenhouse effect | normal warming effect produced when gases, such as carbon dioxide and methane, trap heat in Earth's atmosphere |
global warming | worldwide trend of increasing average temperatures |
indicator species | species whose presence in an ecosystem gives clues about the condition of that ecosystem |
biomagnification | condition of toxic substances being more concentrated in tissues of organisms higher on the food chain than ones lower on the food chain |
habitat fragmentation | process by which part of an organism's preferred habitat range becomes inaccessible |
introduced species | species that is not native and was brought to an area as a result of human activity. |
sustainable development | practice of not using natural resources more quickly than they can be replenished |
umbrella species | species whose being protected under the Endangered Species Act leads to the preservation of its habitat and all of the organisms in its community |