APES chapter 1

exponential growth

a quantity increases by a fixed % of the whole in a given time

environment

everything that effects a living organism

ecology

biological science that studies the relationships between living organisms and the environment

environmental science

interdisiplinary science that uses concepts such as economics, ecology, bio, chem, politics, and ethics to help

capital

wealth used to sustain a business and create more wealth

solar capital

energy from the sun

natural resources/capital

planet's air, water, soil, wildlife, minerals, natural purification, recycling, and pest control processes

solar energy

direct sunlight and indirect forms of solar energy: wind power, hydro power, biomass

environmentally sustainable society

satisfies basic needs of people without depleting its natural resources

doubling time

use the rule of 70

rule of 70

70/ percentage growth rate = doubling time in years

economic growth

an increase in their capacity to provide goods and services for people's final use

Gross National Product (GNP)

market value in current $ of goods and services produced within or outside a country

Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

market value in current $ of goods and service in a country

Gross World Product (GWP)

market value in current $ of goods and services in the world

Per capita GNP

GNP/total population

economic development

improvement of living standards by economic growth

Developed Countries

US, CA, Japan, AUS, New Zealand, Europe

globalization

broad process of global social, economic, and environmental change that leads to an increasingly integrated world

ecological resource

anything an organinsm needs for normal maintinence, growth, and reproduction

perpetual resource

on a human time scale it's continually renewed, expected to last 6 billion years as the sun completes its life cycle

renewable resource

can be replenished in hours- decades through natural processes

sustainable yield

the highest rate at which a renewable resource can be used identifiably without reducing avaiable supply

environmental degredation

exceed resources' natural replenish rate

nonrenewable resources

exist in a fixed quanity in the earth's crust

mineral

any hard, usually crystilline material that is formed naturally

recycling

collecting and reprocessing a resource into new products

reuse

using a resource over and over in its same form

pollution

any addition to our air water soil or food that threatens health survival or activities of humans or organisms

point sources

when pollutiants come from identifiable sources

nonpoint sources

pollutiants come form dispersed sources

environmental worldviews

how people think the world works and what their role should be