| Definition | Term |
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| a rigid section of the lithosphere beneath the ocean, consisting primarily of granite, that due to density, rides on top of the asthenosphere and is able to move slowly over the Earth’s surface. | |
| an atmospheric condition in which the air temperature rises with increasing altitude, holding surface air down and preventing dispersion of pollutants. | |
| the process of minimizing risk that entails consideration of political, social, economic, and engineering information with risk-assessment information by developing systems to identify and analyze potential hazards to prevent accidents, injuries, and other adverse occurrences. | |
| the qualitative or quantitative estimation of the likelihood of adverse effects that may result from exposure to specified health hazards. | |
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| a law that sets the maximum period that one can wait before filing a lawsuit, depending on the type of case or claim. | |
| analytical thinkers including Rene Descartes, Francis Bacon, and Isaac Newton who believed that universal laws of morality could be derived from science, Understanding science would allow understanding of nature and mankind. | |
| a process whereby organisms that possess inheritable adaptive traits that offer an advantage to an organism’s survival achieve a higher rate of reproduction, thereby influencing the makeup of the gene pool. | |
| clouds that form in cold, polar stratospheric winters where, despite the dryness of the stratosphere, the temperature drops low enough for condensation to occur. | |
| storm that occurs primarily in the middle latitudes (between 30° and 60° north and south latitudes) and within the boundary of a Ferrel cell, which is caused by a drop in pressure in a large body of warmer air with colder air moving counterclockwise (northern hemisphere) into that area. | |
| the state of the atmosphere at a given time and place, | |
| large open pits carved out of the Earth to extract mineral resources. | |
| the Sophists who were proponents of a philosophy that states that moral principles are relative to a particular person, society, or situation. No transcendent or absolute principles apply, regardless of circumstances. | |
| steps that occur for public policies to be enacted. | |
| rehabilitated land in which garbage and trash have been buried. Of all MSW in the United States, 54% is buried in sanitary landfills. This compares to 90% in the United Kingdom and 80% in Canada. | |
| international agricultural project that began in 1967 with the introduction of fast-growing dwarf varieties of rice and wheat that were bred for tropical and subtropical climates, Output of new genetically-modified plants that can produce up to three crops per year can increase agricultural output up to five times over traditional varieties. | |
| generally refers to nitric oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2). Both gases are natural components of the Earth’s atmosphere. Both gases are involved in acid precipitation and the production of photochemical smog. | |
| any garbage, or refuse, sludge from a wastewater treatment plant, water supply treatment plant, or air pollution control facility and any other discarded material, including solid, liquid, semisolid, or contained gaseous material resulting from industrial, commercial, mining, and agricultural operations, and from household or community activities. it does not include solids or dissolved material in domestic sewage or other significant pollutants in water resources, such as silt, dissolved or sus | |
| agricultural practices and procedures that attempt to maintain the productivity of the land for the future. | |
| mixtures of synthetic organic chemicals that are non-flammable and chemically stable and that have high boiling points and electrical insulating properties. | |
| a hydrocarbon with the formula CH4. A major greenhouse gas. | |
| the fastest seismic waves produced by an earthquake, They oscillate the ground back and forth along the direction of wave travel. Also known as a primary wave, compressional wave, or longitudinal wave. | |
| responsibility to manage and care for a particular place. The role of humans is to be a caretaker. Intrinsic value is represented by humans and nature whereas the instrumental values are tools. | |
| an area where oceanic lithosphere is carried downward under an island are or continent at a convergent plate boundary. The place where two lithosphere plates come together, one riding over the other. Most volcanoes on land occur parallel to and inland from the boundary between the two plates. | |
| a philosophy that claims that something is right if it produces the greatest good for the greatest number of people as seen in the works of Jeremy Bentham, Socrates, and Aristotle. It equates goodness with happiness and happiness with pleasure. The good life is the one that gives the greatest pleasure; it can be totally hedonistic or modified as by John Stuart Mill. | |
| the ratio of the minimum available work needed to perform a particular task compared to the actual work used to perform the task, expressed as a percentage. | |
| | Definition | Term |
|---|
| catch that can be removed over an indefinite period without causing the stock to be depleted. | |
| broad and narrow spectrum agents that kill insects by deactivating the chemical in their nervous system that transmits nerve impulses. | |
| molten rock. | |
| the physical and functional location of an organism within an ecosystem; where a living thing is found and what it does there. | |
| a population size grows over time to its carrying capacity, which is when the rates of births and deaths exist in a dynamic equilibrium and the population grows no further. As a population grows, its rate of change in size increases, but at a decelerating rate. When the population size is half as large as the carrying capacity, the population’s rate of change is at its maximum and declines thereafter, reaching zero when the population reaches carrying capacity. | |
| small organisms that reproduce many offspring, have a short life span, and generally do not reach carrying capacity. | |
| a decentralized economic system wherein buyers and sellers interact to set prices and demand. | |
| a heating system that uses direct solar radiation for space heating. | |
| a close, prolonged association between two or more different organisms of different species that may, but does not necessarily, benefit each member. | |
| a number that ranges from 0.01 to 1.0 and that refers to the amount of ozone depletion caused by a substance. It is the ratio of the impact on ozone of a chemical compared to the impact of a similar mass of CFC-11. | |
| a country having an annual gross national product per capita equivalent to $9361 or greater in 1998. | |
| a principle, standard, or quality considered worthwhile or desirable; the ultimate worth of actions or things. | |
| a group of people who believed that all large-scale human endeavors eventually fail, and that science and technology cause more problems than they solve, They believe in going back to a low-tech pastoral or hunter-gatherer society. | |
| the gradual and orderly process of ecosystem development. | |
| a wind from the southwest or south that brings heavy rainfall to southern Asia in the summer. Created by temperature gradients that exist between ocean and land surfaces. | |
| law that states that if all molecular motion within a sample ceased, wherein the kinetic energy would be equal to zero, then a state known as absolute zero would result. | |
| freshwater surface water runoff including infiltration of water into underground aquifers that is usable and accessible for human use. | |
| an association between organisms of two different species in which each member benefits. | |
| the philosophy that states that the fundamental principles of ethics are universal, unchanging, and eternal. The basic rules of right and wrong are true regardless of human interest, attitudes, feelings, or preferences. Some believe universal truth is revealed by God; others believe it is derived through human knowledge and reason. | |
| the largest volcanoes on Earth that have broad, gentle slopes and that were built by the eruption of fluid basalt lava. | |
| belief system that reflects predominant feelings of a culture about ethical issues. It emphasizes the distinction between right and wrong. | |
| system of thought based on the separation of nature from society and the related proposition that social organization should be modeled on the laws of nature, and that we should live by the laws of nature. | |
| small parcels of land that families use to produce food. The agricultural output is often barely sufficient to feed a family and the purchase of seed and fertilizer is often too expensive. Even if a surplus can be produced, it is difficult to transport it to markets. | |
| a unit of power equal to one joule per second. | |
| an atmospheric layer that occurs 11 to 16 miles above the surface of the Earth, in the stratosphere. The concentration is ~12 ppm. | |
| seismic waves that oscillate the ground perpendicular to the direction of wave travel. They travel about 1.7 times slower than P waves. | |
| | Definition | Term |
|---|
| developed in 1935 by Charles F. Richter of the California Institute of Technology as a mathematical device to compare the size of earthquakes. The magnitude of an earthquake is determined from the logarithm of the amplitude of waves recorded by seismographs. | |
| a theory that states that the surface of the Earth is divided into massive sections known as plates. They move slowly over time, sinking in areas of volcanic island chains, folded mountain belts, and usually trenches and rising up from ridges and rift valleys. | |
| the process by which nitrogen gas (N2), which cannot be utilized by plants, is converted to ammonium ion (NH4+). | |
| a stream of fast-moving air in the upper atmosphere existing in the midlatitudes (between 30° and 60° north and south latitudes). This stream of air flows from west to east in the northern hemisphere. | |
| pollution can be seen as good for the economy. | |
| the principle that states that when an activity raises threats of harm to human health or the environment, safety should prevail and control measures should be initiated even if cause-and-effect relationships are fully established. | |
| system of thought that human population would soon exceed food supplies. The result would be catastrophic famine, Today proponents believe in a pessimistic view that limits on natural resources will result in catastrophic consequences in the world economy. | |
| an animal that feeds on smaller plant-eating animals in a food chain. | |
| the number of children an average women would have assuming that she lives her full reproductive lifetime. | |
| storage deposit. | |
| an agreement signed in 1993 between the United States, Mexico, and Canada reducing trade barriers between the three countries. | |
| condition that occurs on leeward (side of mountain away from ocean) side. Moist air from ocean rises when it hits mountains. As air rises, it cools and loses its moisture as rain and snow on windward side. On leeward side, air is dry, and semiarid to arid conditions exist. | |
| garbage or trash generated from residential, commercial, institutional, and industrial sources. | |
| a ridge of high land dividing two areas that are drained by different river systems or the region draining into a river, river system, or other body of water. | |
| the quality of being poisonous, especially the degree of virulence of a toxic microbe or of a poison. More chemicals are produced than there is time to test their toxicity or interaction effects. | |
| the planned upgrading of a deteriorating urban area, involving rebuilding, renovation, or restoration. It frequently refers to programs of major demolition and rebuilding of blighted areas. | |
| rock that forms from the accumulation of smaller rocks under pressure or from compacted shells and/or remains of organisms. | |
| a step in the nitrogen cycle in which ammonia is converted by aerobic bacteria to nitrite ions (NO2—), which are then converted to nitrate ions (NO3-) through bacterial action. | |
| philosophers including Jacques Derrida, Jean-Francois Lyotard, and Michael Foucault, who believed there is no universal philosophy, Nobody can ever know anything for sure. There is no universal truth, reality, or meaning. They focus on marginalized, disempowered groups and local, contingent knowledge. No one viewpoint has more validity than another. | |
| a philosophy that states that the world makes no sense at all and that everything is arbitrary. The only principle or truth is the instinct to survive. Morals do not exist. | |
| pertaining to the banks of a stream. | |
| monetary assistance granted by a government to a person or group in support of an enterprise regarded as being in the public interest. | |
| an attempt to bring about a peaceful settlement or compromise between disputants through the objective intervention of a neutral party. | |
| a branch of the U.S. Department of Commerce whose mission is to promote global environmental stewardship to conserve and wisely manage the nation’s marine and coastal resources, and to describe, monitor, and predict changes in the Earth’s environment to ensure and enhance sustainable economic opportunities. | |
| law that states that when energy is changed from one form to another, some of the useful energy is always degraded to lower-quality, more-dispersed (higher-entropy), and a less-useful form of energy. | |
| a man-made facility for the storage, regulation, and controlled release of water. | |
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