Sustainability
Ethics and Laws
Spheres of the Earth
Ecosystems and Biodiversity
Other
100
The practice of meeting our own needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.
What is sustainability?
100
The philosophy of using natural resources wisely for the greatest good, for the most people, for the longest time, championed by Gifford Pinchot.
What is conservation?
100
The sphere that includes all life on Earth, from the smallest bacteria to the largest trees.
What is Biosphere?
100
An organism that produces its own food from sunlight, forming the base of every food web.
What is producer?
100
A non-native species that outcompetes native species and can lower the carrying capacity of an ecosystem.
What is invasive species?
200
a concept where individuals, acting in their own self-interest, deplete or spoil a shared resource, leading to the detriment of the entire group.
What is tragedy of the commons?
200
A policy tool that uses fines or legal action to force polluters to stop, like the lawsuit in A Civil Action.
What is a "stick" (or Command-and-Control)?
200
The sphere that includes all the rock, soil, and landforms on the planet.
What is geosphere?
200
The process where plants use sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide to create energy.
What is photosynthesis?
200
This is the primary source of drinking water for the Reno area.
What is the Truckee River?
300
The three interconnected pillars of sustainability include
What is social, environment, and economy?
300
The philosophy that nature has a right to exist untouched for its own sake, championed by John Muir.
What is preservation?
300
An underground layer of rock and sand that holds groundwater.
What is an aquifer?
300
The variety of all living things in a particular ecosystem.
What is biodiversity?
300
The historical debate over damming a valley in Yosemite was a classic conflict between conservation and preservation.
What is the Hetch Hetchy Dam debate?
400
The pillar of sustainability that focuses on fairness, ensuring that all people have access to resources and a healthy community.
What is the social pillar?
400
A policy tool that uses financial rewards, like a tax credit for solar panels, to encourage good environmental behavior.
What is a "carrot" (or Economic Incentive)?
400
The process where rain soaks through the soil, carrying pollutants from the surface down into the groundwater.
What is leaching?
400
The maximum population size that an environment can sustainably support over time.
What is carrying capacity?
400
In this food web, this organism is the primary consumer.
What is grasshopper?
500
A proposed dam that would provide cheap electricity (Economy) and recreational opportunities (Social Equity) but would destroy a native fish habitat is failing to balance this third pillar of sustainability.
What is environment?
500
To solve the "Tragedy of the Commons" in a shared fishery, a government might implement this type of solution, such as setting a strict limit on the number of fish each boat can catch.
What is creating regulations or laws?
500
The chain reaction where a volcano (Geosphere) erupts, sending ash into the Atmosphere, which blocks sunlight and harms the Biosphere.
What is sphere interactions (feedback)?
500
A factor like food, water, or shelter that prevents a population from growing forever.
What is limiting factor?
500
By analyzing these two trend lines together, a scientist could make the claim that as CO₂ levels have increased, this has also happened.
What is Global Temperature?