Terms : Hide Images
| 8087043028 | Freshwater | water that is relatively pure, holding only a few dissolved salts | 0 | |
| 8087044263 | Floodplain | the region of land over which a river has historically wandered and periodically floods | 1 | |
| 8087045749 | wetlands | a system that combines elements of freshwater adn dry land. These are biologically productive systems. | 2 | |
| 8087049778 | groundwater | water held in aquifers underground | 3 | |
| 8087052133 | aquifers | a body of permeable rock that can contain or transmit groundwater | 4 | |
| 8087054296 | water table | the upper limit of ground water held in an aquifer | 5 | |
| 8087055888 | artesian aquifer | a water-bearing, porous layer of rock, sand or gravel that is trapped between an upper and lower layer of less permeable substrate. | 6 | |
| 8087057548 | unconfined aquifer | a water-bearing, porous layer of rock, sand, or gravel that lies atop a less-permeable substrate. | 7 | |
| 8087280565 | Consumptive Use | Freshwater use in which water is removed from a particular aquifer or surface water body and is not returned to it. | 8 | |
| 8087285258 | Nonconsumptive use | Freshwater use in which the water from a particular aquifer or surface water body either is not removed or is removed only temporarily and then returned. | 9 | |
| 8087290661 | Dam | any obstruction placed in a river or stream to block the flow of water so that water can be stored in a reservoir | 10 | |
| 8087291718 | Sinkhole | 11 | ||
| 8087291719 | Desalination | removal of salt from sea water | 12 | |
| 8087292875 | Point Source | a specific spot- such as factory smoke stacks- where large quantities of pollutants are discharged | 13 | |
| 8087292876 | Non-point source | A diffuse source of pollutants, often consisting of many small sources | 14 | |
| 8087292877 | Waste water | any water that is used in households, businesses, industries, or public facilities and is drained or flushed down pipes, as well as the polluted runoff from streets and storm drains. | 15 | |
| 8087294111 | Septic System | a wastewater disposal method, common in rural areas, consisting of an underground tank and series of drain pipes. | 16 | |
| 8087294112 | Primary Treatment | a stage of wastewater treatment in which contaminants are physically removed. Wastewater flows into tanks in which sewage solids, grit, and particulate matter settle to the bottom. Greases and oils float to the surface and can be skimmed off. | 17 | |
| 8087295791 | Secondary Treatment | a stage of wastewater treatment in which biological means are used to remove contaminants remaining. | 18 | |
| 8126570342 | Affluenza | term coined by social critics to describe the failutre of material goods to bring happiness to people who have the financial means to afford them. | 19 | |
| 8126574045 | allopatric speciation | species formation due to physical separation of populations over some geographic distance | 20 | |
| 8126575894 | alpine tundra | occurs at the top of mountains | 21 | |
| 8126577800 | anthropocentrism | a human centers view of our relationship with the environment | 22 | |
| 8126579564 | artificial selection | natural selection conducted under human direction | 23 | |
| 8126581569 | autotroph | an organism that can use the energy from sunlight to produce its own food. | 24 | |
| 8126583401 | bedrock | the continuous mass of solid rock that makes up the Earth's crust | 25 | |
| 8126585104 | benthic | (or relating to) living on the bottom of a body of water | 26 | |
| 8126588159 | biodiversity | the sum total of all organisms in an area, taking into account the diversity of species, their genes, their populations, and communities | 27 | |
| 8126590683 | biodiversity hotspot | an area that supports an especially great diversity of species, particularly species that are endemic to the area | 28 | |
| 8126593922 | biological weathering | weathering that occurs when living things break down parent material by physical or chemical means | 29 | |
| 8126595327 | biomass | organic material that makes up living organisms | 30 | |
| 8126596461 | biome | a major regional complex of similar plant communities, defined based on climate. | 31 | |
| 8126601923 | biotic potential | an organisms capacity to produce offspring | 32 | |
| 8126602474 | carbon footprint | the cumulative amount of carbon that a person or institution emits | 33 | |
| 8126608701 | carnivore | an organism that consumes animals | 34 | |
| 8126611450 | carrying capacity | the maximum population size than an environment can sustain | 35 | |
| 8126613650 | chaparral | a biome consisting of mostly densely thicketed evergreen shrubs occurring in limited small patches- mediterranean. mild, wet winters with warm, dry summers. | 36 | |
| 8184281765 | chemical weathering | weathering that results when water or other substances chemically interact with parent material | 37 | |
| 8184298499 | Chloroplast | a cell organelle containing chlorophyll in which photosynthesis occurs | 38 | |
| 8184309386 | Clear-cutting | the harvesting of timber by cutting all the trees in an area leaving only stumps. | 39 | |
| 8184336460 | climate | the pattern of atmospheric conditiona found across large geographic regions over long periods of time. | 40 | |
| 8184348154 | climatograph | a visual representation of a region's average monthly temperature and precipitation | 41 | |
| 8184354141 | climax community | in the traditional view of ecological succession, a community that remains in place with little modification until disturbance restarts the successional process. | 42 | |
| 8184365015 | clumped distribution | distribution pattern in which organisms arrange themselves in patches, generally according to the availability of the resources they need | 43 | |
| 8184405297 | coevolution | a process by which two or more species evolve in response to one another | 44 | |
| 8184425850 | command and control | an approach to protecting the environment that sets strict legal limitation and threatens punishment for violations of those limits. | 45 | |
| 8184440094 | commensalism | a relationship between members of different species in which one organism benefits and the other is unaffected | 46 | |
| 8184450890 | community | an assemblage of populations of organisms that live in the same place at the same time | 47 | |
| 8184459066 | competition | a relationship in which multiple organisms seek the same limited resource | 48 | |
| 8184466995 | competitive exclusion | an outcome of interspecific competition in which one species excludes another species from resource use entirely | 49 | |
| 8184478163 | conservation biology | a scientific discipline devoted to understanding the factors, forcesm and processes that influence the loss, protection, and restoration of biological diversity within and among ecosystems | 50 | |
| 8184511174 | control | the portion of an experiment in which a variable has been left unmanipulated, to serve as a point of comparison with the treatment. | 51 | |
| 8184538195 | CITES | A 1973 treaty facilitated by the United Nations that protects endagered species by banning the international transport of their body parts. | 52 | |
| 8184549886 | convergent plate boundary | area where tectonic plates collide- can result in subduction or mountain range formation | 53 | |
| 8184576008 | deciduous | term describing trees that lose their leaves each fall and remain dormant during winter, when hard freezes would endanger leaves | 54 | |
| 8184584644 | decomposer | an organism, such as a fungus or bacterium, that breaks down leaf litter and other nonliving matter into simple constituent that can be taken up by plants | 55 | |
| 8184598285 | deforestation | the clearing and loss of forests | 56 | |
| 8184706789 | demand | the amount of a product people will buy at a given price if free to do so | 57 | |
| 8184717520 | denitrifying bacteria | bacteria that convert the nitrates in soil of water to gaseous nitrogen and release it back to the atmosphere | 58 | |
| 8184766100 | density-dependent factor | a limiting factor whose effects on a population increase or decrease depending on the population density | 59 | |
| 8184775859 | density-independent factor | a limiting factor whose effects on a population are constant regardless of population density | 60 | |
| 8184790210 | dependent variable | the variable that is affected by manipulation of the independent variable | 61 | |
| 8184797650 | desert | the driest biome on Earth, with annual precipitation of less than 25 cm. | 62 | |
| 8184826396 | dynamic equilibrium | the state reached when processes within a system are moving in opposing directions at equivalent rates so that their effects balance out. | 63 | |
| 8188418827 | ecosystem | all organisms and nonliving entities that occur and interact in a particular area at the same time | 64 | |
| 8188447294 | ecosystem diversity | the number and variety of ecosystems in a particular area. | 65 | |
| 8188452525 | ecosystem service | an essential service an ecosystem provides that supports life and makes economic activity possible | 66 | |
| 8188459780 | ecotone | a transitional zone where ecosystems meet | 67 | |
| 8188462708 | ecotourism | visitation of natural areas for tourism and recreation. Most often involves tourism by more-affluent people, which may generate economic benefits for less affluent communities near natural areas and thus provide economic incentives for conservation of natural areas. | 68 | |
| 8188500207 | emigration | the departure of individuals in a population | 69 | |
| 8188500208 | Endangered Species Act | the primary legislation, enacted in 1973, for protecting biodiversity in the United States. It forbids the government and private citizens from taking actions that would destroy endangered species or their habitats and it prohibits trade in products made from endangered species. | 70 | |
| 8188508293 | Endemic | native or restricted to a particular geographic region, occuring in one area and nowhere else on Earth | 71 | |
| 8188515554 | Entropy | the degree of disorder in a substance, systemm or process | 72 | |
| 8188515555 | Environment | the sum total of our surroundings, including all of the living things and nonliving things with which we interact. | 73 | |
| 8188519684 | Environmental Impact Statement | a report of results from detailed studies that assess the potential effects on the environment that would likely result from development projects or other actions undertaken by the government | 74 | |
| 8188525431 | Environmental Protection Agency | An administrative agency created by executive order in 1979, charged with conducting and evaluating research, monitoring environmental quality, setting standards, enforcing those standards, assisting the states in meeting standards and goals, and educating the public. | 75 | |
| 8188535726 | Erosion | the removal of material from one place and its transportation to another by the action of wind or water | 76 | |
| 8188544494 | evolution | genetically based change in the appearance, functioning, and/or behavior of organisms across generations, often by the process of natural selection | 77 | |
| 8188556956 | Exotic species | non-native to an area | 78 | |
| 8188561021 | exponential growth | the increase of a population (or of anything) by a fixed percentage each year | 79 | |
| 8188566477 | extinction | the disappearance of an entire species from the face of the earth | 80 | |
| 8188571636 | extirpation | the disappearance of a particular population from a given area, but not the entire species globally | 81 | |
| 8188580165 | factory fishing | a highly industrialized approach to commercial fishing | 82 | |
| 8188585490 | feedback loop | a circular process in which a systems output serves as input to that same system. | 83 | |
| 8237461031 | Currents | the flow of a liquid in a certain direction | 84 | |
| 8237462537 | Upwelling | In the ocean, the flow of cold, deep water toward the surface | 85 | |
| 8237464420 | Downwelling | in the ocean, the flow of warm surface water toward the ocean floor | 86 | |
| 8237471014 | Continental Shelf | the gently slopping underwater edge of a continent | 87 | |
| 8237474598 | Photic zone | in the ocean of freshwater body, the well lit top layer of water where photosynthesis occurs. | 88 | |
| 8237474599 | Pelagic | of, or relating to, living between the surface and floor of the ocean. | 89 | |
| 8237474600 | Benthic | of, relating to, or living on the bottom of a water body. | 90 | |
| 8237475690 | Coral Reef | A mass of calcium carbonate composed of the skeletons of tiny colonial marine organisms. | 91 | |
| 8237475702 | Intertidal | of, relating to, or living along shorelines between the highest reach of the highest tide and the towest reach of the lowest tide. | 92 | |
| 8237477169 | Littoral | the region ringing the edge of water body. | 93 | |
| 8237477170 | Tide | the periodic rise and fall of the ocean's height at a given location, caused by the gravitational pull of the moon and sun. | 94 | |
| 8237477171 | Salt Marshes | flat land that is intermittently flooded by ocean where the tide reaches inland. occur along temperate coastlines that are thickly vegetated with grasses, shrubs, and other herbaceous plants. | 95 | |
| 8237478272 | Mangroves | a tree with a unique type of roots that curve upward to obtain oxygen, which is lacking in the mud in which they grow, and that serve as stilts to support the tree in changing water levels. Mangrove forests grow on the coastlines of the tropics and subtropics | 96 | |
| 8237478273 | Estuaries | An area where a river flows into the ocean, mixing freshwater with salt water. | 97 | |
| 8237478274 | Methane Hydrate | an ice-like solid consisting of molecules of methane embedded in a crystal lattice of water molecules. These are being investigated as a potential new source of energy from fossil fuels. | 98 | |
| 8237479910 | Red tide | A harmful algal bloom consisting of algae that produce reddish pigments that discolor surface waters. | 99 | |
| 8237479911 | By-catch | that portion of commercial fishing consisting of animals caught unintentionally. | 100 | |
| 8237482142 | Marine Protected Areas | An area of ocean set aside to protect marine life from fishing pressures. This area may be protected from some human activities but be open to others. | 101 | |
| 8237484277 | Marine Reserves | An area of the ocean designated as a "no-fishing" zone, allow no extra activities. | 102 | |
| 8370993440 | Troposphere | the bottom most layer of the atmosphere | 103 | |
| 8411872176 | Stratosphere | the layer of the atmosphere above the troposphere and below the mesosphere | 104 | |
| 8411876684 | Ozone Layer | a portion of the stratosphere, responsible for absorbing UV rays | 105 | |
| 8411885562 | Atmospheric Pressure | the weight per unit area produced by a column of air. | 106 | |
| 8411891988 | Relative Humidity | the ratio of water vapor contained in a given volume of air to the maximum amount the air could contain, for a given temperature | 107 | |
| 8411897537 | Conductive Circulation | a circular current driven by temperature differences. In the atmosphere warm air rises into regions of lower atmospheric pressure, where it expands and cools and then descends and becomes denser, replacing warm air that is rising. the air picks up heat nad moisture near ground level and prepares to rise again, continuing the process. | 108 | |
| 8411932077 | weather | the local physical properties of the troposphere such as temperature, pressure, humidity, cloudinessm and wind over a relatively short time period | 109 | |
| 8411940608 | Warm front | the boundary where a mass of warm air displaces a mass of colder air | 110 | |
| 8411951779 | Cold front | the boundary where a mass of cold air displaces a mass of warmer air | 111 | |
| 8411959176 | high pressure system | an air mass with elevated atmospheric pressure contianing air that descents, typically bringin fair waeather | 112 | |
| 8411967314 | low pressure system | an air mass in which the air moves toward the low atmospheric pressure at the center of the stustem and spirals upward typically bringin clouds and precipitation | 113 | |
| 8411978427 | Inversion layer | in a temperature inversion, the band of air in which temperature rises with altitude | 114 | |
| 8411982724 | Hadley Cells | one pair of cells of convection circulation between the equator and 30 degrees north and south latitude that influence global climate patterns | 115 | |
| 8412006904 | Ferrel Cells | one pair of cells of convection circulation between 30 degrees and 60 degrees noth and south latitude that influence global climate patterns | 116 | |
| 8412014525 | Polar Cells | one pair of cells of convection circulation between the poles and 60 degrees north and south latitude that influence global climate patterns. | 117 | |
| 8427925651 | Coriolis Effect | the apparent deflection of north-south air currents to a partly east-west direction, caused by the faster spin of regions near the equator than of regions near the poles as a result of Earth's rotations | 118 | |
| 8427939231 | Air pollution | the act of polluting the air, of the condition of being polluted by air pollutants | 119 | |
| 8427945600 | Outdoor air pollution | air pollution that occurs outdoors | 120 | |
| 8427947208 | Indoor air pollution | air pollution that occurs indoors | 121 | |
| 8427953337 | Aerosols | very fine liquid droplets or solid particles alotft in the atmosphere | 122 | |
| 8427966291 | Primary Pollutants | a hazardous substance, such as soot or carbon monoxide, that is emitted into the troposphere in a form that is directly harmful | 123 | |
| 8427980774 | Secondary Pollutants | a hazardous substance produced through the reaction of substances added to the atmosphere with chemnicals normally found in the atmosphere. | 124 | |
| 8427992269 | Clean Air Act of 1970 | revision of prior congressional legislation that stengthened regulations pertaining to air qualitiy standards, imposed limits on emissions from new stationary and mobile sources, provided funds for pollution control research and enabled citizens to sue parties violating the standards. | 125 | |
| 8472802194 | Clean Air Act of 1990 | Congressional legislation that stengthened regulations pertaining to air quality standards, auto emissions, toxic air pollution, acific deposition, and depletion of the ozone layer, while introducing marke-based incentives to reduce pollution | 126 | |
| 8472808895 | carbon monoxide | a colorless, odorlessgas oriduced orimarily by the incomplete combustion of fuel. | 127 | |
| 8472815266 | Sulfur dioxide | a colorless, odorless gas resulting in part from the combustion of coal. In the atmospheer, it may react to form sulfuiric acid, which may return to Earth in acidic deposition | 128 | |
| 8472819332 | Nitrogen dioxide | a foul smelling reddish brown gas that contributes to smog and acid deposition. It results when atmospheric nitrogen and oxygen react at the high tempertures created by combustion engines. | 129 | |
| 8472826574 | Tropospheric Ozone | ozone that occurs in the troposphere, where it is a secondary pollutant created by the interaction of sunlight, heat, nitrogen oxides and VOC chemicals It can injure living tissues and cause respiratory problems. | 130 | |
| 8472832833 | particulate matter | solid or liquid particles small enough to be suspended in the atmosphere and able to damage respiratory tissues when inhaled. examples include dust and soot as well as some secondary pollutants such as sulfates and nitrates. | 131 | |
| 8472837669 | Lead | a heavy metal that may be ingested through water or paint, of that, may enter the atmosphere as a particulate pollutant through combustion of leaded gasoline or other processes. Atmospheric lead deposited on land and water can enter the food chain, accumulate within body tissues, and cause lead poisoning in animals and people. | 132 | |
| 8472847920 | Volatile Organic Compound | one of a large group of potentially harmful organic chemicals used in industrial processes. | 133 | |
| 8472855810 | Scrubbers | technology to chemically treat gases produced in combustion to remove hazardous components and neutralize acidic gases such as sulfur dioxide and hydrochloric acid, turning them into water and salt, in order to reduce smokestack emissions | 134 | |
| 8472863639 | Toxic Air Pollutant | air pollutant that is known to cause cancer, reproductive defects, or neurological, developmental, immune system, or respiratory problems in humans, and/or to cause substantial ecological harm by affecting the health of nonhuman animals and plants | 135 | |
| 8472869975 | Industrial Smog | gray air smog caused by the incomplete combustion of coal or oil when burned. | 136 | |
| 8472873238 | Photochemical Smog | Brown-air smog caused by light driven reactions of primary pollutants with normal atmospheric compounds that produce a mix of over 100 different chemicals, ground-level ozone often being the most abundant among them | 137 | |
| 8472881691 | Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) | One of a group of human-made organic compounds derived from simple hydrocarbons, such as ethane and methane, that are responsible for the depletion of the stratospheric ozone layer. | 138 | |
| 8472886538 | Montreal Protocol | International Treaty in which 180 signatory nations agreed to restrict production CFCs in order to forestall stratospheric ozone depletion. Because of its effectiveness in decreasing global CFC emission, it is considered the most successful effort to date in addressing a global environmental problem. | 139 | |
| 8472898448 | Acidic Deposition | the settling of acidic or acid-forming pollutants from the atmosphere onto Earth's surface. This can take place by precipitation, fog, gases, or the deposition of dry particles | 140 | |
| 8472903875 | Atmospheric deposition | the wet or dry deposotion on land of a wide variety of pollutants, including mercury, nitrates, organochlorines, and others | 141 | |
| 8472907829 | Indoor Air Pollutant | Pollution that occurs indoors | 142 | |
| 8475689429 | Global Climate Change | Any change in aspects of Earth's climate, such as temperature, precipitation, and storm intensity | 143 | |
| 8475716448 | Global Warming | An increase in Earth's average surface temperature. The term is most frequently used in reference to the pronounced warming trend of recent years and decades. | 144 | |
| 8475732823 | Greenhouse gas | a gas that absorbs infrared radiation released by Earth's surface and then warms the surface and troposphere by emitted energy, thus giving rise to the greenhouse effect. Examples include carbon dioxide, water vapor, ozone, nitrous oxide, halocarbon gases and methane. | 145 | |
| 8475784498 | Radiative Forcing | the amount of change in energy that a given factor (such as aerosols, albedo, or greenhouse gases) exerts over Earth's energy balance. Positive radiative forcing warms the surface, whereas negative radiative forcing cools it. | 146 | |
| 8478145132 | Milankovitch Cycles | One of three types of variations in Earth's rotation and orbit around the sun that result in slight changes in the relative amount of solar radiation reaching Earth's surface at different latitudes. | 147 | |
| 8478174883 | El Nino | the exceptionally strong warming of the easter Pacific Ocean that occurs every 2 to 7 years and depresses local fish and bird populations by altering the marine food web in the area. | 148 | |
| 8478194980 | El Nino- Southern Oscillation (ENSO) | A systematic shift in atmospheric pressure, sea-surface temperatrue, and ocean circulation in the tropical Pacific Ocean | 149 | |
| 8478199357 | la Nina | An exceptionally strong cooling of surface water in the equatorial Pacific Ocean that occurs every 2 to 7 years and has widespread climatic consequences | 150 | |
| 8478215621 | thermohaline circulation | a worldwide system of ocean currents in which warmer, fresher water moves along the surface and colder, saltier water (which is more dense) moves deep beneath the surface. | 151 | |
| 8478224904 | Proxy indicator | a type of indirect evidence that serves as a proxy for substitute for direct measurement, and that sheds light on conditions of the past. | 152 | |
| 8478232795 | Kyoto Protocol | An agreement draft in 1997 that calls for reducing emissions of six greenhouse gases to levels lowers. US did not sign in agreement. | 153 | |
| 8478247030 | Carbon offset | a voluntary payment to another entity intended to enable that entity to reduce the greenhouse gas emission that one is unable or unwilling to reduce oneself. | 154 | |
| 8478253579 | Carbon footprint | the cumulative amount of carvon, or carbon dioxide, that a person or institution emits, and is indirectly responsible for emiting into the atmosphere contributing to global climate change. | 155 |
