Flashcards
Terms in environmental science 3
Cards in this deck (16)
- 1Physical Environment:• Lithosphere: made of rocks that are classified by their modes of formation(igneous, metamorphic, sedimentary)
• Atmosphere: manifested at the earths surface by a typical distribution of climates
• Biosphere: made up of flora and fauna
• Hydrosphere: subdivided into its chemical constituents (fresh water, saline) (ice, liquid, vapor) - 2Factors determining environmental productivity:• Availability of Nutrients
• Climate (warmer = more productivity than colder ones)
• Poles to the equatorial regions - 3Natural CyclesWater
Carbon
Nitrogen - 4Food chain.
- 5Threshold.
- 6The Traps of Progress:o Longest life expectancy
o Most polarized
Large gap between rich and poor
Distance from the natural environment - 7• Two Realms: Physical Geography: Human Geography One convergence: • Environmental geography: Biogeography, hydrology, climatology, geology etc
Political geography, cultural geography, demography, population geography,
Deals with where these two divisions meet - 85 characteristics of the food chain: at each level potential energy is lost
animals are bigger at each trophic levels
avoid being eaten by the thing organism bellow you
there is fewer as you go up trophic levels
humans have huge impact on the trophic level
things that happen on one level affect all levels - 9Equilibrium: is dynamic • Dynamic vs Fixed:o Ecosystems are always changing
o Balance is achieved through the interaction of the biotic (atmosphere) and abiotic components (rocks)
o Self Regulating- Gala Hypothesis – James Lovelock (1988)
Self regulating living things - 10Feedbacks: LOOPS • Positive: • Negativeo enhance original effects
o upset to equilibrium
o keeps feeding back on itself and increases the warming
:
o Dampen original effects
o Seek to maintain or restore dynamic equilibrium
o It will cool things down and bring us back to the equilibrium - 11What is meant by the term “proxy indicators”?Natural archives, data gaps for historical time can be filled using natural archives (ex: fossils, tree-ring widths,
ice-core melt layers, coral growth and isotopes). Such proxy methods are based on our knowledge of the current
interrelationships between the different environmental spheres. - 12What dictates a natural systems ability to maintain or return to their original condition following a disturbance? What is meant by the terms resistance and resilience?A natural system’s ability to maintain its original condition with the same functions and processes is dictated by
its resistance to disturbance while the ability to return to an original condition is commonly referred to as
“resilience”. - 13Three theories Runaway trains Dinosaur House of cardsPoverty => Survival
Rise in population/pollution
Concentration of wealth and power
Capitalism, greater and greater inequality
Civilization fall suddenly - 14AtmosphereFixed gases
Variable gases - 15EcosystemEnvironment characteristics that combine in a particular area or region
Classified by level of productivity
Availability of nutrients
Climate
Diversity of species - 16PhotosynthesisBreathe
Oxidation
Weathering
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- Geography Flashcards on Terms in environmental science 3, created by TheLight OI on 21/10/2016.
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