Economics & Resources
This concept explains what happens when individuals prioritize personal gain over long-term shared resource health.
What is the Tragedy of the Commons?
This forestry practice removes nearly all trees in a given area.
What is clearcutting?
This agricultural method increased food production using mechanization, fertilizers, and irrigation.
What is the Green Revolution?
The largest global use of freshwater.
What is agriculture?
Unintentional capture of non-target species during fishing.
What is bycatch?
A cost or benefit that is not included in prices.
What is an externality
A major environmental consequence of clearcutting due to loss of tree roots.
What is increased soil erosion?
Growing only one crop species increases risk because it reduces this.
What is genetic diversity?
This irrigation method is the most water-efficient.
What is drip irrigation?
A fishery is considered collapsed when populations fall below this percentage of historic levels.
What is 10 percent?
Give an example of a negative externality
Multiple Answers
These species respond predictably to environmental change and help scientists assess ecosystem health.
What are indicator species?
This farming system relies heavily on fossil-fuel-based inputs.
What is industrial agriculture?
This occurs when salt builds up in soil due to inefficient irrigation.
What is soil salinization?
This fishing method damages seafloor habitats and benthic communities.
What is bottom trawling?
These resources are often depleted because no one owns or manages them.
What are open-access or common resources?
Tree plantations often support lower biodiversity because they have
genetically similar, same-aged trees
These two common conditions are commonly associated with overnutrition.
What is Type II diabetes and heart disease?
Aquifer depletion happens when this exceeds natural recharge.
What is water withdrawal or useage?
Waste material left behind after ore extraction.
What are tailings?
This measure evaluates how much land and water humans need to support their lifestyle.
What is an ecological footprint?
This type of forestry focuses on long-term ecosystem health while still harvesting trees.
What is sustainable forestry?
This farming technique is extremely unsustainable in tropical rainforests due to poor soil quality.
What is slash-and-burn agriculture?
Impervious surfaces increase this environmental risk in cities.
What is runoff and flooding?
Using resources at rates that do not exceed natural replenishment.
What is sustainable resource use?