Vocab terms you need to know to ace the APES exam!
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| 331062588 | Ionizing Radiation | enough energy to knock electrons from atoms forming ions; capable of causing cancer; gamma, X-rays, UV | |
| 331062590 | High Quality Energy | organized and concentrated, can perform useful work (fossil fuel & nuclear) | |
| 331062591 | Low Quality Energy | disorganized, dispersed (heat in ocean or air, wind, solar) | |
| 331062593 | First Law of Thermodynamics | energy is neither created nor destroyed, but may be converted from one form to another | |
| 331062594 | Second Law of Thermodynamics | when energy is changed from one form to another, some useful energy is always degraded into lower quality energy (usually heat) | |
| 331062595 | Natural radioactive decay | unstable radioisotopes decay releasing gamma rays, alpha & beta particles | |
| 331062597 | Half life | the time it takes for ½ the mass of a radioisotope to decay | |
| 331062598 | Approximately 10 half-lives | estimate of how long a radioactive isotope must be stored until it decays to a safe level | |
| 336654506 | Nuclear Fission | nuclei of isotopes split apart when struck by neutrons | |
| 336654507 | Nuclear Fusion | 2 isotopes of light elements (H) forced together at high temperatures till they fuse to form a heavier nucleus. Expensive, break even point not reached yet | |
| 336654508 | Ore | a rock that contains a large enough concentration of a mineral making it profitable to mine | |
| 336654509 | Mineral Reserve vs Organic fertilizer | Mineral Reserve: identified deposits currently profitable to extract Organic fertilizer: slow acting & long lasting because the organic remains need time to be decomposed | |
| 336696270 | Best solution to energy shortage | conservation and increased efficiency | |
| 336696271 | Surface mining | cheaper & can remove more mineral, less hazardous to workers | |
| 336696272 | Humus | organic, dark material remaining after decomposition by microorganisms | |
| 336696273 | Leaching | removal of dissolved materials from soil by water moving downwards | |
| 336696274 | Illuviation | deposit of leached material in lower soil layers (B) | |
| 336696275 | Loam | perfect agricultural soil with equal portions of sand, silt, clay | |
| 336696276 | Solutions to soil problems | conservation tillage, crop rotation, contour plowing, organic fertilizers | |
| 336696277 | Parts of the hydrologic cycle | evaporation, transpiration, runoff, condensation, precipitation, infiltration | |
| 336696278 | Aquifer | any water bearing layer in the ground | |
| 336696279 | Cone of depression | lowering of the water table around a pumping well | |
| 336696280 | ENSO | El Nino Southern Oscillation, see-sawing of air pressure over the S. Pacific | |
| 336696281 | During an El Nino year | N US has mild winters, SW US has increased rainfall, less Atlantic hurricanes, trade winds weaken, and warm water is sloshed back to S. America. These decrease upwelling which disrupts food chains. | |
| 336696282 | During a non El Nino year | Easterly trade winds and ocean currents pool warm water in the western Pacific, allowing upwelling of nutrient rich water off the West coast of South America | |
| 336696284 | Nitrogen fixing | because atmospheric N cannot be used directly by plants it must first be converted into ammonia by bacteria (rhizobium) | |
| 336696285 | Phosphorus does not circulate as easily as N because | it does not exist as a gas, but is released by weathering of phosphate rocks | |
| 336696286 | Ammonification | decomposers covert organic waste into ammonia | |
| 336696287 | Nitrification | ammonia is converted to nitrate ions (NO-3) | |
| 336696288 | Assimilation | inorganic N is converted into organic molecules such as DNA/amino acids & proteins 32. Denitrification: bacteria convert ammonia back into N | |
| 336696289 | Denitrification | bacteria convert ammonia back into N | |
| 336696290 | Sustainability | the ability to meet humanities current needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs | |
| 336696291 | Because soils contain very little phosphorus | it is a major limiting factor for plant growth | |
| 336696292 | Excess phosphorus is added to aquatic ecosystems by | runoff of animal wastes, fertilizer, discharge of sewage | |
| 336696293 | Photosynthesis | plants convert atmospheric C (CO2) into complex carbohydrates (glucose C6H12O6) | |
| 336696294 | Aerobic respiration | oxygen consuming producers, consumers & decomposers break down complex organic compounds & convert C back into CO2 | |
| 336706715 | Largest reservoirs of C | carbonate rocks first, oceans second | |
| 336706716 | Biotic/abiotic | living & nonliving components of an ecosystem | |
| 336706717 | Producer/Autotroph | photosynthetic life | |
| 336706718 | Fecal coliform/Enterococcus | indicator of sewage contamination | |
| 336706719 | The major trophic levels | producers-primary consumer-secondary consumer-tertiary consumer | |
| 336706720 | Energy flow in food webs | producers-primary consumer-secondary consumer-tertiary consumer where only 10% of the energy transfers over to the next trophic level | |
| 336706721 | Chlorine | (good: disinfection of water) ( bad: forms trihalomethanes) | |
| 336706722 | Primary vs secondary succession | 1 - development of communities in a lifeless area not previously inhabited by life (lava) 2 - life progresses where soil remains (clear cut forest, fire) | |
| 336706723 | Cogeneration | using waste heat to make electricity | |
| 336706724 | Mutualism | symbiotic relationship where both partners benefit | |
| 336706725 | Commensalism | symbiotic relationship where one partner benefits & the other is unaffected | |
| 336706726 | Parasitism | relationship in which one partner obtains nutrients at the expense of the host | |
| 336706727 | Biome | large distinct terrestrial region having similar climate, soil, plants & animals | |
| 336706728 | Carrying capacity | the number of individuals that can be sustained in an area | |
| 336706729 | R vs K strategist | R - reproduce early, many small unprotected offspring K - reproduce late, few, cared for offspring | |
| 336706730 | Positive feedback | when a change in some condition triggers a response that intensifies the changing condition (EX: warmer Earth - snow melts - less sunlight is reflected & more is absorbed, therefore warmer earth) | |
| 336706731 | Natural selection | organisms that possess favorable adaptations pass them onto the next generation | |
| 336706732 | Malthus | said human population cannot continue to increase. Consequences will be war, famine & disease | |
| 336706733 | Doubling time | rule of 70 (70 divided by the percent growth rate) | |
| 336706734 | Replacement level fertility | the number of children a couple must have to replace themselves (2.1 developed, 2.7 developing) | |
| 336706735 | World vs US Population | World - 6.98 billion US - 314 million | |
| 336706736 | Preindustrial stage | birth & death rates high, population grows slowly, infant mortality high | |
| 336706737 | Transitional stage | death rate lower, better health care, population grows fast | |
| 336706738 | Industrial stage | decline in birth rate, population growth slows | |
| 336706739 | Postindustrial stage | low birth & death rates | |
| 336706740 | Age structure diagrams | (broad base, rapid growth) (narrow base, negative growth) (uniform shape, zero growth) | |
| 336706741 | 1st & 2nd most populated countries | China (1.35 billion) & India (1.21 billion) | |
| 336706742 | Most important thing affecting population growth | low status of women | |
| 336706743 | Ways to decrease birth rate | family planning, contraception, economic rewards & penalties | |
| 336706744 | Percent water on earth by type | 97.5% seawater, 2.5% freshwater | |
| 336706745 | Salinization of soil | in arid regions, water evaporates leaving salts behind | |
| 336706746 | Ways to conserve water | (agriculture: drip/trickle irrigation) (industry: recycling) (home: use gray water, repair leaks, low flow fixtures) | |
| 336706747 | Point vs non point sources | Point - from specific location such as pipe Non-point - from over an area such as runoff | |
| 336706748 | BOD | biological oxygen demand; amount of dissolved oxygen needed by aerobic decomposers to break down organic materials | |
| 336706749 | Eutrophication | rapid algal growth caused by an excess of N & P | |
| 336706750 | Hypoxia | when aquatic plants die, the BOD rises as aerobic decomposers break down the plants, the DO drops & the water cannot support life | |
| 336706751 | Minamata Disease | mental impairments caused by mercury | |
| 336706752 | Primary air pollutants | produced by humans & nature (CO, CO2, SO2, NO, hydrocarbons, particulates) | |
| 336706753 | Secondary pollutants | formed by reaction of primary pollutants | |
| 336706754 | Negative feedback | when a change in some condition triggers a response that counteracts the changed condition (EX: warmer earth - more ocean evaporation - more stratus clouds - less sunlight reaches the ground - therefore cooler Earth) | |
| 336706755 | Particulate matter | (source: burning fossil fuels & diesel exhaust) (effect: reduces visibility & respiratory irritation) (reduction: filtering, electrostatic precipitators, alternative energy) | |
| 336706756 | Nitrogen Oxides | (Source: auto exhaust) (Effects: acidification of lakes, respiratory irritation, leads to smog & ozone) (Equation for acid formation: NO + O2 = NO2 + H2O = HNO3) (Reduction: catalytic converter) | |
| 336706757 | Sulfur oxides | (Source: coal burning) (Effects: acid deposition, respiratory irritation, damages plants) (Equation for acid formation: SO2 + O2 = SO3 + H2O = H2SO4) (Reduction: scrubbers, burn low sulfur fuel) | |
| 336706758 | Carbon oxides | (Source: auto exhaust, incomplete combustion) (Effects: CO binds to hemoglobin reducing bloods ability to carry O2, CO2 contributes to global warming) (Reduction: catalytic converter, emission testing, oxygenated fuel, mass transit) | |
| 336706759 | Ozone | (Formation: secondary pollutant, NO2 + UV = NO + O, O + O2 = O3, with VOCs) (Effects: respiratory irritant, plant damage) (Reduction: reduce NO emissions & VOCs) | |
| 336718882 | Radon | radioactive gas, formed from the decay of Uranium, causes lung cancer and is a problem in the Reading Prong | |
| 336718883 | Industrial smog | found in cities that burn large amounts of coal | |
| 336718884 | Photochemical smog | formed by chemical reactions involving sunlight (NO, VOC,O2) | |
| 336718885 | Acid deposition | caused by sulfuric and nitric acids resulting in lowered pH of surface waters | |
| 336718886 | Greenhouse gases | (Examples: H2O, CO2, O3, methane (CH4), CFC's) (Effect: they trap outgoing infrared (heat) energy causing earth to warm | |
| 336718887 | Effects of global warming | rising sea level (thermal expansion), extreme weather, droughts (famine), extinctions | |
| 336718888 | Ozone depletion caused by | CFC's, methyl chloroform, carbon tetrachloride, halon, methyl bromide all of which attack stratospheric ozone | |
| 336718889 | Effects of ozone depletion | increased UV, skin cancer, cataracts, decreased plant growth | |
| 336718890 | Love Canal, NY | chemicals buried in old canal and school & homes built over it causing birth defects & cancer | |
| 336718891 | Municipal solid waste is mostly | paper and usually dumped in landfills | |
| 336718892 | True cost / External costs | harmful environmental side effects that are not reflected in a products price | |
| 336718893 | Sanitary landfill problems and solutions | (leachate: liner with collection system) (methane gas: collect gas and burn) (volume of garbage: compact & reduce) | |
| 336718894 | Incineration advantages | volume of waste reduced by 90% & waste heat can be used | |
| 336718895 | Incineration disadvantages | toxic emissions (polyvinyl chloride—dioxin), scrubbers & electrostatic precipitators needed, ash disposal (contains heavy metals) | |
| 336718896 | Best way to solve waste problem | reduce the amounts of waste at the source | |
| 336718897 | Keystone species | species whose role in an ecosystem are more important than others, ex sea otter | |
| 336718898 | Indicator species | species that serve as early warnings that an ecosystem is being damaged ex trout | |
| 336718899 | Endangered species | have a small range, require large territory or live on an island | |
| 336718900 | In natural ecosystems, 50-90% of pest species are kept under control by | predators, diseases, parasites | |
| 336718901 | Major insecticide groups and examples | (chlorinated hydrocarbons, DDT) (organophosphates, malathion) (carbamates, aldicarb) | |
| 336718902 | Pesticide pros | saves lives from insect transmitted disease, increases food supply, increases profits for farmers | |
| 336718903 | Pesticide cons | genetic resistance, ecosystem imbalance, pesticide treadmill, persistence, bioaccumulation, biological magnification | |
| 336718904 | Natural pest control | better agricultural practices, genetically resistant plants, natural enemies, biopesticides, sex attractants | |
| 336718905 | Electricity is generated by | using steam (from water boiled by fossils fuels or nuclear) or falling water to turn a generator | |
| 336718906 | Petroleum forms from | microscopic aquatic organisms in sediments converted by heat & pressure into a mixture of hydrocarbons | |
| 336718907 | Pros of petroleum | cheap, easily transported, high quality energy | |
| 336718908 | Cons of petroleum | reserves depleted soon, pollution during drilling, transport and refining, burning makes CO2 | |
| 336718909 | Steps in coal formation | peat, lignite, bituminous, anthracite | |
| 336718910 | Major parts of a nuclear reactor | core, control rods, steam generator, turbine, containment building | |
| 336718911 | Most serious nuclear accidents | (Chernobyl, Ukraine, 1986, Level 7) (Fukushima, Japan, 2011, Level 7) (Kyshtym, Russia, 1957, Level 6) (Lucens, Vaud, Switzerland, 1969, Level 5) (Three Mile Island, PA, USA, 1979, Level 5) | |
| 336718912 | Alternate energy sources | wind, solar, waves, biomass, geothermal, fuel cells | |
| 336718913 | LD50 | the amount of a chemical that kills 50% of the animals in a test population | |
| 336718914 | Mutagen, Teratogen, Carcinogen | causes hereditary changes, fetus deformities, cancer | |
| 336718915 | Multiple use US public land | National Forest & National Resource lands | |
| 336718916 | Moderately restricted use land | National Wildlife Refuges | |
| 336718917 | Restricted Use lands | National Parks, National Wilderness Preservation System | |
| 336718918 | Examples and cause of endangered species | North spotted Owl (loss of old growth forest), Bald Eagle (thinning of eggs caused by DDT), Piping Plover (nesting areas threatened by development) | |
| 336718919 | LI Exotic species | gypsy moth, Asian Long Horned Beetle | |
| 336718920 | Garret Hardin & the Tragedy of the Commons | Freedom to breed is bringing ruin to all. Global commons such as atmosphere & oceans are used by all and owned by none | |
| 336718921 | Volcanoes and Earthquakes occur | at plate boundaries (divergent, spreading, mid-ocean ridges) (convergent, trenches) (transform, sliding, San Andreas) | |
| 336718922 | Sources of mercury | burning coal, Compact Fluorescent bulbs | |
| 336718923 | Major source of sulfur | burning coal | |
| 336718924 | Threshold dose | the maximum dose that has no measurable effect | |
| 336718925 | Survivorship Curves | [Type I: low mortality at birth, survive to old age, and then die (humans, annual plants)], [Type II: uniform death rates, subject to predation (insects, birds)], [Type III: high mortality at birth but long lifespan otherwise (turtles, trees)] | |
| 336725139 | Density dependent vs. density-independent factors | DD - competition, parasitism, predation DI - fires, floods, extreme cold | |
| 336725140 | Biotic potential | maximum amount of offspring a species can have | |
| 336725141 | Effects of Global Warming | bleaching of coral reefs, animals and plants forced out of their current range, melting glaciers, rising sea level, droughts, spread of infectious diseases and more extreme weather conditions | |
| 336725143 | Exotic species are often also invasive species because | they often can grow at an uncontrolled rate because they have no natural predators, disrupt the balance of the ecosystem and have no competition because they kill off many natural inhabitants | |
| 336725144 | Clear cutting is bad because | it increases soil erosion dramatically, increases nitrate runoff into water bodies, makes it hard for an area to recover, leaves animals no place to live and can lead to extinctions | |
| 336725145 | Selective Cutting | harvesting only mature trees of certain species and size. More expensive but less disruptive to wildlife than clear cutting | |
| 336725146 | Utilitarianism | the belief that something is right if it produces the greatest good for the greatest number of people for the longest time | |
| 336725147 | Conservation | the management of a resource to make certain it produces the greatest benefit to humans in the future | |
| 336725148 | Preservation | the concept that the land should be kept in its natural state - never touched or developed | |
| 336725149 | NIMBY | Not In My BackYard. Public protests cause wastes and other pollutants to be dumped in someone else's backyard. Mostly hurts the poor who cannot pay for representation to fight against potential pollution | |
| 336725150 | Range of Tolerance | minimum and maximum levels of conditions in which organisms can survive | |
| 336725151 | 1.5 billion vs 3 billion people | 1.5B - lack access to clean drinking water 3B - lack good sanitation | |
| 336725152 | 75% of water pollution in the US come from | soil erosion, atmospheric deposition and surface run off | |
| 336725153 | 95% of water pollution in developing countries come from | raw sewage (high population growth without the money for treatment plants) | |
| 336725154 | How much pesticide the US uses | 77% of all pesticides used in world | |
| 336725155 | Troposphere vs. Stratosphere | troposphere contains weather and stratosphere contains the ozone | |
| 336725156 | The atmosphere contains | 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and a small amount of argon, carbon dioxide, water, salt and dust | |
| 336725157 | Weather moves | from west to east across America and winds are named for the direction they come from | |
| 336725158 | Bioaccumulation | the selective absorption and storage of a great variety of molecules | |
| 336725159 | Biomagnification | a continued increase in the concentration of pollutants in higher levels of a food chain | |
| 336725160 | Acute effects | caused by a single exposure to a toxin and results in an immediate health crisis of some sort | |
| 336725161 | Chronic effects | long lasting and can result from a single exposure of a very toxic substance or a continuous exposure to the toxin | |
| 336725162 | Salt water intrusion | the movement of salt water into freshwater aquifers in coastal areas where groundwater is withdrawn faster than it's replenished | |
| 336725163 | Watershed | land surface and groundwater aquifers drained by a particular river system | |
| 336725164 | Forests cover | 32% of the land surface, 11% is used for crops and 26% is range and pasture | |
| 336725165 | 99% of all the species that ever existed | are now extinct but the average rate of extinction was one species per decade | |
| 336725166 | Humans have caused extinction rates | of hundreds to thousands of species per YEAR. If these trends continue, 1/3 to 2/3 of all current species will be lost by the year 2050 |
