Ecosystems and Biodiversity
This is the term for the maximum number of organisms an environment can sustainably support.
What is carrying capacity?
This renewable energy source uses moving water to turn turbines and generate electricity.
What is hydroelectric power?
This common air pollutant is released from vehicles and industrial processes and contributes to smog.
What is nitrogen dioxide?
This is the most abundant greenhouse gas in Earth's atmosphere, though not the most potent.
What is water vapor?
This process involves clearing large areas of forest for agriculture, logging, or development.
What is deforestation?
This biome, known for high biodiversity and nutrient-poor soil, is found near the equator and is under threat from deforestation.
What is the tropical rainforest?
This fossil fuel is primarily used in electricity generation and is the most abundant in the U.S.
What is coal?
This term describes the excessive nutrients, often from fertilizers, that lead to algal blooms and hypoxic zones in aquatic systems.
What is eutrophication?
This atmospheric layer contains the ozone layer and plays a key role in blocking harmful UV radiation.
What is the stratosphere?
This greenhouse gas is primarily released from livestock digestion and contributes significantly to climate change.
What is methane?
These species play a critical role in maintaining the structure of an ecosystem, and their removal can cause ecosystem collapse.
What is a keystone species?
This alternative energy source harnesses heat from the Earth’s interior to produce electricity or heat buildings.
What is geothermal energy?
This law, passed in 1970 and amended in 1990, regulates air emissions from stationary and mobile sources in the U.S.
What is the Clean Air Act?
This phenomenon occurs when warm ocean waters in the Pacific lead to increased rainfall in the Americas and drought in Southeast Asia and Australia.
What is El Niño?
This type of farming minimizes soil erosion and nutrient runoff by planting crops in curved rows along land contours.
What is contour plowing?
This type of biodiversity refers to the variety of genes within a species.
What is genetic diversity?
This is the process of extracting natural gas from deep underground by injecting water, sand, and chemicals into rock formations.
What is hydraulic fracking?
This term describes the contamination of groundwater caused by the infiltration of pollutants from a landfill.
What is leachate?
This effect explains why winds and ocean currents curve due to Earth’s rotation, influencing global climate patterns.
What is the Coriolis effect?
This international agreement, signed in 2015, aims to limit global temperature rise to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels.
What is the Paris Agreement?
This biome is characterized by permafrost, low biodiversity, and very short growing seasons.
What is the tundra?
This controversial biofuel source is derived from corn in the U.S. and has raised concerns about land use and food supply.
What is ethanol?
This indoor air pollutant is a radioactive gas that can accumulate in homes, particularly in basements and poorly ventilated spaces.
What is radon?
This natural climate driver involves changes in Earth's orbit, tilt, and wobble over tens of thousands of years.
What are Milankovitch cycles?
This regulatory agency in the United States is primarily responsible for overseeing the safety of GMO crops and foods.
What is the United States Department of Agriculture?