Climate
This process occurs when melting ice exposes darker surfaces that absorb more heat.
What is a positive feedback loop?
This process occurs when oceans absorb excess carbon dioxide and become more acidic.
What is ocean acidification?
An area of land where water drains to a common outlet is called this.
What is a watershed?
This type of weathering occurs when water freezes and expands in rock cracks.
What is physical (mechanical) weathering?
This practice involves using resources in a way that meets current needs without harming future generations’ ability to meet theirs.
What is sustainability?
Frozen ground that stores large amounts of carbon is called this.
What is permafrost?
This property of water allows oceans to heat and cool slowly.
What is high specific heat capacity?
These surfaces increase stormwater runoff into streams.
What are impervious surfaces?
Acid rain dissolving limestone is an example of this type of weathering.
What is chemical weathering?
Using reusable water bottles, conserving energy, and reducing waste are all examples of this type of lifestyle.
What is a sustainable lifestyle?
These two greenhouse gases are released when permafrost thaws.
What are carbon dioxide and methane?
These organisms struggle to build shells in acidic ocean water.
What are corals and oysters?
These organisms are used to determine the health and water quality of a stream ecosystem.
What are bioindicators?
This process occurs when water, wind, ice, or gravity wears away and moves sediment from one place to another.
What is erosion?
This common activity utilizes 2.5 gallons of water a minute.
What is a shower?
This gas makes up 21% of the Earth's atmosphere?
What is oxygen?
This process occurs when corals become stressed by warming ocean temperatures and expel the algae they rely on for energy, often turning white.
What is coral bleaching?
As stream temperatures increase, this important gas decreases in the water.
What is dissolved oxygen?
This type of weathering occurs when rocks are broken into smaller pieces without changing their chemical composition.
What is physical weathering?
This term describes the sustainable use and protection of natural resources so they are available for future generations.
What is conservation?
These cycles involve changes in Earth’s orbit and tilt over long periods of time.
What are Milankovitch cycles?
Water is called this because it can dissolve more substances than any other liquid.
What is the universal solvent?
These three types of assessments are used to evaluate stream health.
What are biological, chemical, and physical assessments?
This classroom model uses flowing water, sediment, and slope to investigate how erosion changes landforms over time.
What is a stream table?
When creating climate solutions, scientists should consider these three impacts.
What are environmental, economic, and social impacts?