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environmental scienc
definitions and descriptions
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| enviromental science | the study of how humans interact with the enviroment. |
| environment | The sum of your surroundings |
| interdisciplinary | the issue that studies are complex |
| renewable resource | A natural resource that can be replaced at the same rate at which the resource is consumed |
| nonrenewable resource | a resource that cannot be replaced |
| pollution | Release of harmful materials into the environment |
| biodegradable pollution | will break down naturally over time |
| nondegradable pollution | does not break down |
| is plastic biodegradable or non-biodegradable? | non-biodegradable |
| Biodiversity | the variety of life in the world or in a particular habitat or ecosystem. |
| Extinction | A term that typically describes a species that no longer has any known living individuals. |
| background rate | The natural rate at which species are lost without humans |
| enviromental ethics | the application of ethical standards to the relationship between people and nonhuman entities |
| Ethics | the principles of right and wrong that guide an individual in making decisions |
| Anthropomorphism | the attribution of human characteristics or behavior to a god, animal, or object. |
| Anthropocentrism | A human-centered view of our relationship with the environment. |
| Ecocentrists | a nature-centered philosophy that places intrinsic value on ecosystems regardless of their usefulness to humans |
| intrinsic | (adj.) belonging to someone or something by its very nature, essential, inherent; originating in a bodily organ or part |
| resource conservationism | Environmental movement; attempted to preserve open land. |
| conservationism | environmental view which stated that land should be protected for carefully managed development, led to the formation of the National Parks System |
| land management | the process of managing the use and development of land resources |
| Commons | land or resources belonging to or affecting the whole of a community. |
| supply and demand | an economic concept that states that the price of a good rises and falls depending on how many people want it (demand) and depending on how much of the good is available (supply) |
| ecological footprint | the impact of a person or community on the environment is expressed as the amount of land required to sustain their use of natural resources. |
| Overshoot | when a population becomes larger than the environment's carrying capacity |
| Sustainability | The ability to keep in existence or maintain. A sustainable ecosystem is one that can be maintained |