Environmental Glossary

Vocabulary terms

Acid Rain

• Acid rain is rain or snow with a pH below 5.6 (it is acidic)

• Kills plants and can change the pH of lakes and ponds (which can kill the animals)

Air Pollution

• Smoke, dust and exhaust fumes that pollute the air

Biotic Potential

• Biotic potential – the number of individuals each female of a population can produce under the best possible conditions

Carrying Capacity

Carrying capacity – the largest number of individuals an environment can support and maintain for a long period of time

Competition

• Competition – contest among organisms to obtain the resources they need to survive and reproduce

Conservation

• the wise use of natural resources to prevent resources from being used up; to maintain the balance of ecosystems

Eutrophication

when there are too many nutrients (usually from pollution) in water, which causes algae to overgrow and eventually destroy thewater ecosystem

Fossil fuels

• Fossil Fuels include coal, natural gas, oil, gasoline, heating oil and kerosene.

Groundwater

• Groundwater is water contained in the soil or trapped in underground pockets formed by nonporous rock.

Greenhouse Effect

• Atmosphere is trapping heat , known as the green house effect

• Greenhouse gases – carbon dioxide. • By-product of burning fossil fuels

Global warming

• Global warming – potential warming of Earth – will disrupt weather patterns

• Melt polar ice caps, flooding, stronger storms

Geothermal energy

• Geothermal Energy – energy from Earth

Hazardous wastes

• Hazardous wastes – waste material that is harmful to organisms

• Examples: pesticides, nuclear waste, chemicals, batteries, paint and household cleaners

Hydroelectric power

• Hydroelectric power is electricity produced by the energy of flowing water

Limiting factor

• Limiting factor – any biotic or abiotic factor that restricts the number of individuals in a population

• - examples: food, temperature, living space, other resources

• Nuclear energy is produced when billions of uranium nuclei are split apart in a nuclear fission reaction.

Nonrenewable resource

• A nonrenewable resource is a natural resource that cannot be replaced once they are gone

Natural Resources

• Natural resources are parts of the environment used by living organisms for food, shelter, and all other needs.

Recycle

• to reprocess a waste material for use in a new product

Population ecology

• Populations can be described according to certain characteristics.

- size of population - spacing (how organisms are arranged in a given area) - density – how many individuals there are in a specific area

Population density

• The size of a population occupying an area of a specific size is called population density

Pollutant

• Pollutant – any substance that contaminate the environment and causes pollution

Photovoltaic cells

• Photovoltaic cells are wafers made of the mineral silicon covered with thin layers of metal

Smog

• Smog – a form of air pollution that is created when sunlight reacts with pollutant chemicals produced by burning fuels.

Wind Power

• Wind power – a wind mill is a turbine that is rotated by the wind and created energy (electricity)

Renewable resource

• Renewable resource is a natural resource that is recycled or replaced by ongoing natural processes.