Environmental Science
An _______________________ _____________________ is a measure of the demands made by one person or group on global natural resources.
ecological footprint
___________________ are individuals at the same level of education or specialization.
Peers
Why is peer review an important part of scientific processes?
It allows more people to check a study for mistakes, blind spots, or bias, which makes the results more trustworthy
_______________ services allow an ecosystem and its surrounding areas to function well by doing things like controlling air, soil, or water quality
Regulating
The environment includes all ____________________ things and the _______________________ things with which they interact.
living
non-liviing
Which two major events changed the way we interact with natural resources?
The industrial and agricultural revolutions
__________________________ data is data that can be measured using numbers.
Quantitative
A __________-_______________ analysis tries to systematically lay out all of the potential advantages and disadvantages of using a natural resource in a specific way
cost-benefit
________________ services are non-material benefits people obtain from an ecosystem such as entertainment, beauty, or religious significance
Cultural
A _________________ is a prediction about what the result of an experiment will be.
hypothesis
Environmental science is the study of ________________ as well as focusing on how humans affect the _____________________ and ways to address environmental ___________________.
ecology
environment
problems
__________________________ data can’t usually be measured with numbers, but uses descriptions/words.
Qualitative
Out of the three main ethical views of environmental science, _________________________ places the most value on human populations and human welfare.
anthropocentrism
__________________ services are goods that humans use directly from an ecosystem.
Provisioning
What does it mean to use resources sustainably?
To use them in a way that ensures those resources will be available for future generations
What is the tragedy of the commons and how does it relate to environmental science?
The tragedy of the commons is the principle that if there are no regulations on the use of scarce resources, they will be used selfishly because each person will assume that others will act selfishly. This applies to how we use non-renewable resources, for example.
How are independent and dependent variables different from each other?
Independent variables are the factors that are intentionally changed/tested in an experiment, dependent variables are factors that may change as a result of changes to the independent variables.
Out of the three main ethical views of environmental science, _________________________ places value on each and every organism, including humans.
biocentrism
How are regulations and incentives different from each other? Which is generally more effective and why?
Regulations attempt to punish undesirable behavior and incentives attempt to reward desirable behavior. Incentives are generally more effective because policing regulations takes a lot of resources, but companies will monitor themselves if there is an incentive.
How are renewable and non-renewable resources different?
It involves biology, chemistry, earth science, economics, and political science.
How is inductive reasoning different from deductive reasoning?
Inductive reasoning works from a series of smaller observations to create an overarching theory; deductive reasoning applies an overarching theory to smaller phenomena.
Out of the three main ethical views of environmental science, _________________________ places value on the ecosystem or community as a whole rather than individuals
ecocentrism
How does a cap-and-trade policy work?
Companies are given a limit (cap) on how much pollution they can produce for example, but if they do not use all of their space under that limit they can sell (trade) their unused space to other companies.
In an experiment, ________________________ are the factors that will not be changed.
controls