Environmental Science and Sustainability: Key Concepts and Processes, Exams of Nursing

Download Environmental Science and Sustainability: Key Concepts and Processes and more Exams Nursing in PDF only on Docsity! APES Final Exam Review Rated 100% Correct!! abiotic - Answer Pertaining to factors or things that are separate and independent from living things; nonliving. acid - Answer Any compound that releases hydrogen ions when dissolved in water. Also, a water solution that contains a surplus of hydrogen ions. A layer - Answer a soil horizon; the layer below the O layer is called the A layer. The A layer is formed of weathered rock, with some organic material; often referred to as topsoil. alkaline - Answer a basic substance; chemically, a substance that absorbs hydrogen ions or releases hydroxyl ions; in reference to natural water, a measure of the base content of the water. aquifer - Answer an underground layer of porous rock, sand, or other material that allows the movement of water between layers of nonporous rock or clay. Aquifers are frequently tapped for wells. arable - Answer land that's fit to be cultivated. asthenosphere - Answer the part of the mantle that lies just below the lithosphere. atmosphere - Answer the gaseous mass or envelope surrounding a celestial body, especially the one surrounding the Earth, which is retained by the celestial body's gravitational field. barrier island - Answer a long, relatively narrow island running parallel to the mainland-built up by the action of waves and currents and serving to protect the coast from erosion by surf and tidal surges. biological weathering - Answer any weathering that's caused by the activities of living organisms. biotic - Answer living or derived from living things. B layer - Answer a soil horizon; B receives the minerals and organic materials that are leached out of the A horizon. chemical weathering - Answer the result of chemical interaction with the bedrock that is typical of the action of both water and atmospheric gases. C layer - Answer a soil horizon, horizon C is made up of larger pieces of rock that have not undergone much weathering. clay - Answer the finest soil, made up of particles that are less than 0.002 mm in diameter. APES Final Exam Review Rated 100% Correct!! convection - Answer the vertical movement of a mass of matter due to heating and cooling; this can happen in both the atmosphere and Earth's mantle. convection currents - Answer air currents caused by the vertical movement of air due to atmospheric heating and cooling. convergent boundary - Answer a plate boundary where two plates are moving toward each other. coral reef - Answer an erosion-resistant marine ridge or mound consisting chiefly of compacted coral together with algal material and biochemically deposited magnesium and calcium carbonates. Coriolis effect - Answer The observed effect of the Coriolis force, especially the deflection of an object moving above the Earth, rightward in the Northern Hemisphere, and leftward in the Southern Hemisphere. crop rotation - Answer the practice of alternating the crops grown on a piece of land - for example, corn one year, legumes for two years, and then back to corn. delta - Answer a usually triangular alluvial deposit at the mouth of a river. divergent boundary - Answer a plate boundary at which plates are moving away from each other. This causes an upwelling of magma from the mantle to cool and form new crust. doldrums - Answer a region of the ocean near the equator, characterized by calms, light winds, or squalls. drip irrigation - Answer a method of supplying irrigation water through tubes that literally drip water onto the soil at the base of each plant. earthquake - Answer the result of vibrations (often due to plate movements) deep in the Earth that release energy. They often occur as two plates slide past one another at a transform boundary. El Nino - Answer a climate variation that takes place in the tropical Pacific about every three to seven years, for a duration of about one year. erosion - Answer the process of soil particles being carried away by wind or water. Erosion moves the smaller particles first and hence degrades the soil to a coarser, sandier, stonier texture. estuary - Answer the part of the wide lower course of a river where its current is met by the tides. fault - Answer the place where two plates abut each other. APES Final Exam Review Rated 100% Correct!! topsoil - Answer the A layer of soil is often referred to as topsoil and is most important for plant growth. trade winds - Answer the more or less constant winds blowing in horizontal directions over the Earth's surface, as part of Hadley cells. transform boundary - Answer also known as transform faults, boundaries at which plates are moving past each other, sideways. tropical storm - Answer a cyclonic storm having winds ranging from approximately 48 to 121 km (30 to 75 miles) per hour. upwelling - Answer a process in which cold, often nutrient-rich, waters from the ocean depths rise to the surface. volcanoes - Answer an opening in the Earth's crust through which molten lava, ash, and gases are ejected. watershed - Answer the region draining into river system or other body of water. water-scarce - Answer countries that have a renewable annual water supply of less than 1,000 m3 per person. water-stressed - Answer countries that have a renewable annual water supply of about 1,000,2,000 m3 per person. weather - Answer the day-to-day variations in temperature, air pressure, wind, humidity, and precipitation mediated by the atmosphere in a given region. weathering - Answer the gradual breakdown of rock into smaller and smaller particles, caused by natural chemical, physical, and biological factors. wetlands - Answer a lowland area, such as a marsh or swamp, that is saturated with moisture, especially when regarded as the natural habitat of wildlife. assimilation - Answer the process in which plants absorb ammonium (NH3), ammonia ions (NH4+), and nitrate ions (NO3) through their roots. autotroph - Answer an organism that obtains organic food molecules without eating other organisms or substances derived from other organisms. autotrophs use energy from the sun or from the oxidation of inorganic substances to make organic molecules from inorganic ones. bioaccumulation - Answer the accumulation of a substance, such as a toxic chemical, in various tissues of a living organism. biomagnifications - Answer the process by which the concentration of toxic substances increases in each successive link in the food chain. APES Final Exam Review Rated 100% Correct!! biosphere - Answer the part of the Earth and its atmosphere in which living organisms exist or that is capable of supporting life. carnivore - Answer an animal that only consumes other animals. chemotroph (chemoautotroph) - Answer an organism such as a bacterium or protozoan, that obtains its nourishment through the oxidation of inorganic chemical compounds, as opposed to photosynthesis. climax community - Answer a stable, mature community in a successive series that has reached equilibrium after having evolved through stages and adapted to its environment. combustion - Answer the process of burning. community - Answer formed from populations of different species occupying the same geographic area. competitive exclusion - Answer the process that occurs when two different species in a region compete and the better adapted species wins. consumer - Answer an organism that must obtain food energy from secondary sources, for example, by eating plant or animal matter. decomposer - Answer bacteria or fungi that absorb nutrients from nonliving organic matter like plant material, the wastes of living organisms, and corpses. They convert these materials into inorganic forms. denitrification - Answer the process by which specialized bacteria (mostly anaerobic bacteria) convert ammonia to NOy NO2, and N2 and release it back to the atmosphere. detritivore - Answer organisms that derive energy from consuming nonliving organic matter. ecological succession - Answer transition in species composition of a biological community, often following ecological disturbance of the community; the establishment of a biological community in any area virtually barren of life. edge effect - Answer the condition in which, at ecosystem boundaries, there is greater species diversity and biological density than there is in the heart of ecological communities. energy pyramid - Answer the structure obtained if we organize the amount of energy contained in producers and consumers in an ecosystem by kilocalories per square meter, from largest to smallest. APES Final Exam Review Rated 100% Correct!! evaporation - Answer to convert or change into a vapor. evolution - Answer change in the genetic composition of a population during successive generations as a result of natural selection acting on the genetic variation among individuals and resulting in the development of new species. extinction - Answer being extinct or the process of becoming extinct. food chain - Answer a succession of organisms in an ecological community that constitutes a continuation of food energy from one organism to another as each consumes a lower member and, in turn, is preyed upon by a higher member. food web - Answer a complex of interrelated food chains in an ecological community. Gross Primary Productivity - Answer the amount of sugar that the plants produce in photosynthesis and subtracting from it the amount of energy the plants need for growth maintenance, repair, and reproduction. habitat - Answer the area or environment where an organism or ecological community normally lives or occurs. habitat fragmentation - Answer when the size of an organism's natural habitat is reduced, or when development occurs that isolates a habitat. heterotrophy - Answer an organism that cannot synthesize its own food and is dependent on complex organic substances for nutrition. indigenous species - Answer species that originate and live, or occur naturally, in an area or environment. invasive species - Answer an introduced, normative species. keystone species - Answer a species whose very presence contributes to an ecosystem's diversity and whose extinction would consequently lead to the extinction of other forms of life. law of conservation of matter - Answer states that matter can neither be created nor destroyed. mutualism - Answer a symbiotic relationship in which both species benefit. natural selection - Answer the process by which, according to Darwin's theory of evolution, only the organisms best adapted to their environment tend to survive and transmit their genetic characteristics in increasing numbers to succeeding generations, while those less adapted tend to be eliminated. net Primary Productivity (NPP) - Answer the amount of energy that plants pass on to the community of herbivores in an ecosystem. APES Final Exam Review Rated 100% Correct!! logistic population growth - Answer when populations are well below the size dictated by the carrying capacity of the region they live in, they will grow exponentially, but as they approach the carrying capacity, their growth rate will decrease and the size of the population will eventually become stable. population density - Answer the number of individuals of a population that inhabit a certain unit of land or water area. replacement birth rate - Answer the number of children a couple must have in order to replace themselves in a population. r-selected - Answer organisms that reproduce early in life and often and have a high capacity for reproductive growth. total fertility rate - Answer the number of children an average woman will bear during her lifetime; this information is based on an analysis of data from preceding years in the population in question. agroforestry - Answer when trees and crops are planted together, creating a mutualistic symbiotic relationship between them. Aquaculture - Answer the raising of fish and other aquatic species in captivity for harvest. bottom trawling - Answer a fishing technique in which the ocean floor is literally scraped by heavy nets that smash everything in their path. by-catch - Answer any other species of fish, mammals, or birds that are caught that are not the target organism. capture fisheries - Answer fish farming in which fish are caught in the wild and not raised in captivity for consumption. clear-cutting - Answer the removal of all of the trees in an area. conservation - Answer the management or regulation of a resource so that its use does not exceed the capacity of the resource to regenerate itself. consumption - Answer the day-to-day use of environmental resources as food, clothing, and housing. contour farming a process in which rows of crops are plowed across the hillside; this prevents the erosion that can occur when rows are cut up and down on a slope. - Answer ... deforestation - Answer the removal of trees for agricultural purposes or purposes of exportation. APES Final Exam Review Rated 100% Correct!! driftnets - Answer nets that are dragged through the water and indiscriminately catch everything in their path. ecosystem capital - Answer the value of natural resources. fishery - Answer the industry or occupation devoted to the catching, processing, or selling of fish, shellfish, or other aquatic animals. greenbelt - Answer open or forested areas built at the outer edge of a city. intercropping (also called strip cropping) - Answer is the practice of planting bands of different crops across a hillside. long lining - Answer in fishing, the use of long lines that have baited hooks and will be taken by numerous aquatic organisms. malnutrition - Answer poor nutrition that results from an insufficient or poorly balanced diet. mineral deposit - Answer an area in which a particular mineral is concentrated, mining,the excavation of the Earth for the purpose of extracting ore or minerals. natural resources - Answer biotic and abiotic natural ecosystems. nonrenewable resources - Answer resources that are often formed by very slow geologic processes, so we consider them incapable of being regenerated within the realm of human existence. no-till - Answer refers to when farmers plant seeds without using a plow to turn the soil. old growth forest - Answer one that has never been cut; these forests have not been seriously disturbed for several hundred years. overgrazed - Answer when grass is consumed by animals at a faster rate than it can regrow. preservation - Answer the maintenance of a species or ecosystem in order to ensure their perpetuation, with no concern as to their potential monetary value renewable resources - Answer refers to resources, such as plants and animals, which can be regenerated if harvested at sustainable yields. second growth forests - Answer areas where cutting has occurred and a new, younger forest has arisen. selective cutting - Answer the removal of select trees in an area; this leaves the majority of the habitat in place and has less of an impact on the ecosystem. APES Final Exam Review Rated 100% Correct!! shelter-wood cutting - Answer when mature trees are cut over a period of time (usually10,20 years); this leaves mature trees, which can reseed the forest, in place. silviculture - Answer the management of forest plantations for the purpose of harvesting timber. slash-and-burn - Answer when an area of vegetation is cut down and burned before being planted with crops. surface fires - Answer fires that typically burn only the forest's underbrush and do little damage to mature trees. Surface fires actually serve to protect the forest from more harmful fires by removing underbrush and dead materials that would burn quickly and at high temperatures. tailings - Answer piles of gangue, which is the waste material that results from mining. traditional subsistence agriculture - Answer when each family in a community grows crops for themselves and rely on animal and human labor to plant and harvest crops. terracing - Answer creating flat platforms in the hillside that provide a level planting surface, which reduces soil runoff from the slope. tree farms - Answer also known as plantations, these are planted and managed tracts of trees of the same age that are harvested for commercial use. Uneven-aged management - Answer the broad category under which selective cutting and shelter-wood cutting fall; selective deforestation. active collection - Answer the use of devices, such as solar panels, to collect, focus, transport, or store solar energy. anthracite - Answer the cleanest-burning coal; almost pure carbon. barrels - Answer the unit used to describe the volume of fossil fuels. bituminous - Answer the second-purest form of coal. crude oil - Answer the form petroleum takes when in the ground. energy - Answer the capacity to do work. fission - Answer a nuclear reaction in which an atomic nucleus, especially a heavy nucleus such as an isotope of uranium, splits into fragments, usually two fragments of comparable mass, releasing from 100 million to several hundred million electron volts of energy. APES Final Exam Review Rated 100% Correct!! dose-response analysis - Answer a process in which an organism is exposed to a toxin at different concentrations, and the dosage that causes the death of the organism is recorded. dose-response curve - Answer the result of graphing a dose-response analysis. ED50 - Answer the point at which 50 percent of the test organisms show a negative effect from a toxin. global warming - Answer an intensification of the Greenhouse Effect due to the increased presence of heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere. gray smog (industrial smog) - Answer smog resulting from emissions from industry and other sources of gases produced by the burning of fossil fuels, especially coal. hazardous waste - Answer any waste that poses a danger to human health; it must be dealt with in a different way from other types of waste. heat islands - Answer urban areas that heat up more quickly and retain heat more than do nonurban areas. high-level radioactive waste - Answer radioactive wastes that produce high levels of ionizing radiation. industrial smog (gray smog) - Answer smog resulting from emissions from industry and other sources of gases produced by the burning of fossil fuels. Infection - Answer the result of a pathogen invading a body. LD50 - Answer the point at which 50 percent of the test organisms die from a toxin. leachate - Answer the liquid that percolates to the bottom of a landfill. low-level radioactive waste - Answer radioactive wastes that produce low levels of ionizing radiation. noise pollution - Answer any noise that causes stress or has the potential to damage human health. non-point source pollution - Answer pollution that does not have a specific point of release, open,loop recycling,when materials are reused to form new products. ozone holes - Answer the thinning of the ozone layer over Antarctica (and to some extent, over the Arctic). pathogens - Answer bacteria, virus, or other microorganisms that can cause disease. APES Final Exam Review Rated 100% Correct!! photochemical smog - Answer when photochemical smog, NOx compounds, VOCs, and ozone combine to form smog with a brownish hue. point source pollution - Answer a specific location from which pollution is released; an example of a point source location is a factory where wood is being burned. poison - Answer any substance that has an LD50, of 50 mg or less per kg of body weight. physical treatment - Answer in a sewage treatment plant, the initial filtration that is done to remove debris such as stones, sticks, rags, toys, and other objects that were flushed down the toilet. primary pollutants - Answer pollutants that are released directly into the lower atmosphere. primary treatment - Answer when physically treated sewage water is passed into a settling tank, where suspended solids settle out as sludge; chemically treated polymers may be added to help the suspended solids separate and settle out. risk assessment - Answer calculating risk, or the degree of likelihood that a person will become ill upon exposure to a toxin or pathogen. risk management - Answer using strategies to reduce the amount of risk (the degree of likelihood that a person will become ill upon exposure to a toxin or pathogen). secondary pollutants - Answer pollutants that are formed by the combination of primary pollutants in the atmosphere. secondary treatment - Answer the biological treatment of wastewater in order to continue to remove biodegradable waste. sick building syndrome - Answer when the majority of a building's occupants experience certain symptoms that vary with the amount of time spent in the building. sludge - Answer the solids that remain after the secondary treatment of sewage. sludge processor - Answer a tank filled with aerobic bacteria that's used to treat sewage. solid waste - Answer can consist of hazardous waste, industrial solid waste, or municipal waste. Many types of solid waste provide a threat to human health and the environment. stationary sources - Answer non-moving sources of pollution, such as factories. APES Final Exam Review Rated 100% Correct!! Superfund Program - Answer a program funded by the federal government and a trust that's funded by taxes on chemicals; identifies pollutants and cleans up hazardous waste sites. threshold dose - Answer the dosage level of a toxin at which a negative effect occurs. toxicity - Answer the degree to which a substance is biologically harmful. toxin - Answer any substance than is inhaled, ingested, or absorbed at dosages sufficient to damage a living organism. tropospheric ozone - Answer ozone that exists in the trophosphere. U.S. Noise Control Act - Answer gave the EPA power to set emission standards for major sources of noise, including transportation, machinery, and construction. vector - Answer the carrier organism through which pathogens can attack. wastewater - Answer any water that has been used by humans. This includes human sewage, water drained from showers, tubs, sinks, dishwashers, washing machines, water from industrial processes, and storm water runoff. Waste-to-Energy (WTE) program - Answer when the energy released from waste incineration is used to generate electricity. green tax - Answer a fiscal policy that lowers taxes on income, including wages and profit, and raises taxes on consumption, particularly the unsustainable consumption of non-renewable resources. market permits - Answer when companies are allowed to buy permits that allow them a certain amount of discharge of substances into certain environmental outlets. If they can reduce their amount of discharge, they are allowed to sell the remaining portion of their permit to another company.