Chapter 13: The Environment: Our Challenges and Responsibilities

Why Care About the Environment? Biosphere: - Regions of Earth occupied by living organisms, made up of all the ecozones Stewardship: - Careful management of resources to ensure that they are sustainable Permafrost: - Subsoil that remains frozen all year long Carrying Capacity: - The largest population that environment can support Population Growth and Sustainability Deforestation: - The process of destroying a forest and replacing it with something else Global Warming: - The observed and projected increase in the earths average temperature due to burning of fossil fuels and deforestation Ecology: - The science concerned with the relationship between living things and their environment Acid Precipitation: - Any form of precipitation that is high in sulfuric and nitric acids as a result of pollution in the air Sustainable Development: - A way to maintain economic growth without damaging the environment Earth Summit: - A meeting of world leaders, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1992, to discuss environmental changes and sustainable development Agenda 21: - A statement of environmental action, produced at the 1992 Earth Summit, that outlines actions that should be taken to protect the planet and achieve sustainable development Herbicides: - Substances used to kill plants Pesticides: - Substances used to kill pests (unwanted plants and animals) Organic: - Grown or produced without chemical fertilizers or pesticides CO Emissions: - Carbon dioxide emissions caused by burning of fossil fuels; largest contributor to Global Warming Biodiversity: - Having a variety of life forms Ecotourism:

- Tourism to threatened areas that tries to be low-impact and small-scale Protected Areas Strategy (PAS): - A plan to preserve approximately 12% of BCs provincial land for parks, recreation, and wilderness Watersheds: - River basins drained by a river and flowing into the same large body of water Water: The Indispensable Resource Groundwater: - Water beneath Earths surface in underground streams and other forms Surface Water: - Water that is readily available on Earths surface in streams, rivers, lakes, wetlands, and oceans Waste Water: - water Watermilfoil Weed: - a plant that grows and spreads quickly, choking out native plants, affecting spawning areas for fish, and posing a safety problem if it grows around beaches Aquifer: - an underground layer of rock, gravel, etc., from which is a source of springs Carbon Footprint: - A total amount of carbon dioxide (CO) and other greenhouse gases emitted over the full life cycle of a product or a service Change Is in the Air Troposphere: - The lowest level of Earths atmosphere Greenhouse Gasses (GHG): - Various gasses in the Earths atmosphere that absorbs and emit radiation, including carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone Ultraviolet Radiation (UV): - Invisible rays from the sun that can cause skin cancer Ozone Layer: - A thin layer of ozone in the atmosphere 15 -30 km above Earth; the ozone layer filters the suns Ultraviolet (UV) Rays CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons): - Chemicals used in coolants, solvents, and aerosol cans that damage the ozone layer Montral Protocol: - The international agreement signed in 1987 to phase out the ozone-depleting chemicals CFCs Peatlands: - Wetlands with soil formed mostly from decomposing plants Greenhouse Effect: - Greenhouse Gasses trap heat in the atmosphere, causing Earths temperature to rise Carbon Sink:

A reservoir that can absorb and store carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, including forests, peat, and oceans Meltwater: - Melted snow or ice, including the ice from glaciers Runoff: - Water from rain and melting snow that cannot be held in soil so it makes its way into streams, rivers, lakes, and oceans United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC): - The UNs Plan to keep Greenhouse Gas concentrations from increasing, created at the 1992 Earth Summit Kyoto Protocol: - An international agreement that sets binding targets for reducing Greenhouse Gas emissions; the average target in 5% of 1990 levels by 2008-2012 Carbon Credit: - If an organization produces more Greenhouse Gasses than is allowed, it can purchase a credit from an organization that is below its target emission levels

Environmental challenges: Threatening the existence of plants animals and humans Freshwater: Water that is acquired from natural sources such a precipitation Has become a national and international concern for many governments Short-wave radiation: Rays emitted by the sun light Long-wave radiation: Rays that are reflected from the earths surface and thus consequently heating the surface of the earth Flora and fauna: Plants and animals Acid rain: Rain, snow or fog that is polluted by acid in the atmosphere and which damages the environment Tradeable permits: Meaning that countries could trade their emission quotas with other countries if they werent going to use them up, and in return, receive larger quotas in another area Clean Air Act: Signed in 1990 in North America, which required the installation of tradeable permits Air Quality accord: Signed between the united States and Canada in 1991 Called for a 50% reduction of sulphur dioxide by the year 2000, and significant cuts to nitrous oxide emissions Resource: And item or commodity that has some value attached to it Renewable resources: Items or commodities that can be replaced or replenished over time Non-renewable resource:

An item that cannot be replaced or replenished once used Fossil fuel: Oil that is made into fuel and other products (example of non-renewable resource) Genetic modification: Crops have been altered by having a spliced gene from another organism added into them Subsistence farming Aid given to a foreign country with conditions attached Brundtland Report (Our Common Future): This report (by the UN) alerted the world to the urgency of stopping resource depletion and, by doing so, curbing environmental damage Asked people to reduce resource consumption and develop a sustainable lifestyle It also suggested that social equity, economic growth, and environmental maintenance are indeed simultaneously possible, but would require changes on many levels Global environmental facility (GEF): Created in 1991 to assist developing countries in their efforts to protect the global environment The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP): And international institution that coordinates UN environmental activities, assisting developing countries in implementing environmentally sound policies and practices Dust bowl 1930s: Led to improved farming techniques, such as plating trees to form wind breaks, contour plowing, and using wheat stable and straw to return nutrients to the soil and stop wind erosion Factory farms: Large-scale farming operations GM: Genetically modified Locavores: People who eat foods that are grown or produced locally United world water assessment programme (WWAP): Monitors the worlds freshwater resources Hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs): The less harmful replacement for CFCs Carbon Tax: In 2008, BC introduced a tax on fossil fuels to reduce use and meet the governments goal of reducing GHG emissions by 33% by 2020 Cap and trade: A ceiling is put on emissions, and companies exceeding it must buy permits on the carbon market from companies under the allowable limit If no permits are available, the rights to higher than targeted emissions could also be bought These costs are meant to encourage companies to reduce emissions Carbon Sequestration (locking away): Carbon dioxide would be collected and shipped to a geologically suitable area below layers of impermeable rock