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APES Test 1
AP Environmental Science Units 1-3
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Sustainability | The capacity of the earth's natural systems to survive with changing environmental conditions |
| Ecology | The biological science that studies how organisms interact with one another and their environment |
| Three principles of sustainability | Solar energy, biodiversity, chemical cycling |
| Natural Capital | The natural resources and services that keep life alive |
| Natural capital formula | Natural capital = Natural resources + natural services |
| 5 Chemical Cycles | Nitrogen, carbon, sulfur, phosphorus, water |
| Renewable source | Supply is continuous, nature can replenish it with in a life cycle |
| Natural Services | Processes in nature which support life and human economies |
| Pollution | Any presence within the environment that is harmful to the health or activities of life |
| Point source | An identifiable source of pollution, you can see it |
| Biodegredable | Substances that can break down back into the Earth |
| Output pollution control | Clean up pollution after it has occured |
| Input pollution control | Prevent pollution from happening at all |
| Ecological tipping point | Irreversible shift in the behavior of a system like extinction, climate change, and overfishing |
| Causes of environmental pollution | Population growth, wasteful resource use, poverty, poor education |
| Scientific Law | Well tested, widely accepted fact |
| Organic compounds | Have at least two carbon atoms |
| High quality matter | Highly concentrated, has great potential use as a resource for humans |
| Matter quality | A measure of how useful a form of matter is to humans as a resource |
| Kinetic Energy | Energy associated with motion, heat |
| Potential Energy | Energy that is stored and potentially available for use |
| Fossil Fuels | Burning oil, coal, and natural gas |
| First Law of Thermodynamics | Energy cannot be created or destroyed |
| Second Law of Thermodynamics | Energy becomes lower quality after physical or chemical transfers |
| Systems | A set of components that function and interact in some regular way |
| Feedback Loops | An output of matter, energy, or information, is fed back into the system as an input |
| Positive feedback loop | Causes a system to change further in the same direction |
| Negative feedback loop | Corrects itself, a system changes in the opposite direction from which it is moving |
| Albedo | Fraction of solar energy reflected into space |
| Synergy | When two or more processes interact so that the combined effect is greater than the sum of their separate effects |
| Greenhouse Effect | Sun radiates heat towards Earth, Earth tries to radiate it back out but heat is trapped by greenhouse gases |
| Producers | Undergoes photosynthesis, autotrophs |
| Trophic level | Feeding level assigned to every organism |
| Consumers | Heterotrophs, eat producers |
| Food chain | Flow of energy to the next trophic level where it retains 10% of energy each time |
| Biomass | Dry weight of all organic matter contained in its organisms |
| Gross Primary Productivity | The rate at which ecosystems convert solar energy into chemical energy |
| Net Primary Productivity | Gross Primary Productivity minus the rate they use energy via respiration |
| The Water Cycle | Condensation, precipitation, runoff, percolation, evaporation, transpiration |
| How do humans affect the water cycle | Over-pumping aquifers, water pollution, increased runoff from cutting forests |
| Carbon Cycle | Respiration, photosynthesis, decomposition |
| How do humans affect the carbon cycle | Excess CO2 in atmosphere from forest fires, deforestation, transportation, fossil fuels |
| Carbon Sink | A reservoir that accumulates and stores carbon-containing compounds |
| Carbon Sequestration | The act of carbon sinks removing CO2 from the atmosphere |
| Phosphorous Cycle | Doesn't involve atmosphere- phosphorus in deep ocean sediments goes through ocean food web, ends up in rocks, dissolves back into water |
| How do humans affect the phosphorous cycle | Phosphates in mining waste, sewage, and fertilizer |
| Sulfur Cycle | Volcanoes release SO2, deposited as acid rain, sulfur in ocean sediments, dimethyl sulfide released back into atmosphere |
| How do humans affect the sulfur cycle? | Mining, extraction, burning coal, fossil fuels |
| Nitrogen Cycle | Nitrogen in atmosphere, bacteria undergoes nitrification to create nitrate in soil, nitrogen in ocean sediments,evaporation |
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lopiegabby
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