Cycles and Systems
This is the only biogeochemical cycle that does not have a significant gaseous atmospheric phase.
Phosphorus Cycle
This term describes the unintended environmental or social cost of a product not included in its market price.
What is an Externality?
This is the most abundant and "dirtiest" fossil fuel, releasing high amounts of SO2 and mercury when burned.
What is Coal?
This secondary pollutant is formed when NOx, VOCs, and sunlight react in the atmosphere.
What is Photochemical Smog?
This international treaty was highly successful in phasing out CFCs to protect the ozone layer.
What is the Montreal Protocol?
This ecosystem service involves the control of climate and disease, such as wetlands absorbing floodwaters.
Regulating Service
This agricultural practice involves planting a single species over a large area, making it highly susceptible to pests.
What is Monoculture?
This is the term for using a single fuel source to generate both electricity and useful heat.
What is Cogeneration?
This term describes a toxin's concentration increasing as it moves up through different levels of a food web.
What is Biomagnification?
This occurs when CO2 reacts with seawater to form carbonic acid, stressing calcifying organisms like coral.
What is Ocean Acidification?
This layer of the atmosphere contains the "good" ozone that protects us from UV-B and UV-C radiation
What is the Stratosphere?
This method of irrigation is the most efficient (95%+), delivering water directly to the roots of plants.
What is Drip Irrigation?
This process involves pumping high-pressure fluid into rock to release trapped oil.
What is Fracking
This is the specific "trash juice" that is collected at the bottom of a sanitary landfill to protect groundwater.
What is Leachate?
This specific type of feedback loop occurs when melting ice lowers albedo, leading to further warming and more melting.
What is a Positive Feedback Loop?
This weather phenomenon occurs when trade winds weaken, allowing warm surface water to move toward the coast of South America.
What is El Niño?
This law requires an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for any major federal construction project.
What is NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act)?
According to the 10% Rule, this is the percentage of energy that is lost as heat (low-quality energy) as it moves from one trophic level to the next.
What is 90%?
This "cradle-to-grave" law regulates the handling and disposal of current hazardous waste.
What is RCRA?
This is the specific chemical compound released by melting permafrost that accelerates the greenhouse effect.
What is Methane
These are the two primary "limiting nutrients" that, when added to waterways, trigger eutrophication.
What are Nitrogen and Phosphorus?
This is the technical term for the buildup of salt in soil, often caused by over-irrigating in arid climates.
What is Salinization?
Because of the 10% Rule, ecosystems can support significantly fewer of these types of organisms compared to producers, explaining why top predators are rare.
What are Apex Predators?
These chemicals mimic natural hormones and can cause reproductive issues in top predators and humans.
What are Endocrine Disruptors?
A population of an invasive species is growing at a constant rate of 3.5% per year. If the initial population is 100 individuals, this is how many years it will take for the population to reach 400 individuals.
What is 40 years?
1. Find the doubling time: $70 / 3.5 = 20 years.
2. To get from 100 > 400 requires two doublings (100 > 200, then $200 > 400).
3. 20 years X 2 doublings = 40 years