Human Population Growth & Resource Consumption
Population growth remained fairly steady for much of early human history because ...
What is because birth and death rates were fairly balanced and/or because there was limited technology and resources?
Air pollution is often worse in areas with many
What is vehicles and factories?
An area in which water covers the soil for most or all of the year
What is a wetland?
The practice of raising fish and other aquatic organisms for food
What is aquaculture?
Using less of a resource so that it lasts longer
What is conservation?
Three things that led to rapid population growth after the 1700s?
What is agriculture, livestock breeding, industrialization, improved technology, and better public health?
Pollutants released into the air are called
What are landfills designed to do?
What is protect the surrounding areas from soil and water pollution?
Why is fresh water considered a limited resource even though water is renewable?
What is because most of Earth's water is saltwater and cannot be used for drinking. Most of the remaining FRESHWATER is frozen in ice caps leaving less than 1% for us to use?
A mixture of pollutants that form in the air and mix with sunlight
What is smog?
Exponential growth can't continue forever because...
What is because space and resources would become limited, causing growth to slow, stop, or decline?
The difference between a point source and a nonpoint source of pollution
The process by which forces such as wind, water, and ice move particles of rocks or soil
What is erosion?
How can farming methods (3 things) cause water pollution?
What is rain water washing the remnants of fertilizers, pesticides, and animal wastes into rivers and lakes?
The advance of desert-like conditions in areas that were previously fertile
What is desertification?
This occurs when the population exceeds the amount of available resources
What is overpopulation?
This is happening when cool air is trapped below warm air
What is a temperature inversion?
The two methods of cutting down trees and their definition...
What is clear - cutting : cutting down all the trees in an area at once
AND
selective - cutting : only cutting down some trees and leaving a mix of tree sizes and species behind?
What happens when fertilizers and animal wastes enter water?
What is an overgrowth of algae - the algae blocks sunlight & removes oxygen from water, which kills aquatic organisms?
Water and human waste from sinks, showers, and toilets
What is sewage?
What is it important to conserve natural resources?
What is to ensure that resources remain available for future generations?
Two ways that we can reduce the amount of indoor pollution in our homes
What are ventilating homes, using air filters, avoiding smoking indoors, and maintaining appliances properly?
The four layers of soil and what each layer is made up of...
What is ...
Layer 1 (litter) - dead leaves and grass
Layer 2 (topsoil) - a mixture of nutrients, water, air, rock fragments, and dead/decaying organisms (layer that is most important for farming)
Layer 3 (subsoil) - contains same water/air as topsoil, but there are more rock fragments and fewer plants and animal remains here
Layer 4 (bedrock) - the layer that makes up Earth's crust and is the basis for new soil
Oil spills might be considered one of the worst kinds of environmental hazards because ...
What is because they poison animals, destroy habitats (harm entire ecosystems), and take many years to clean up?
The process of restoring land to a more productive state
What is land reclamation?