Page 723 - Environment: The Science Behind the Stories

environmental policy Public policy that per- eutrophic Term describing a water body that strategy seeks to prevent consumers from los-
tains to human interactions with the environ- has high nutrient and low oxygen conditions. ing money if polluters pass their costs along
ment. It generally aims to regulate resource use Compare oligotrophic. to them.
or reduce pollution to promote human welfare eutrophication The process of nutrient enrich- feedback loop A circular process in which a
and/or protect natural systems. ment, increased production of organic matter, system’s output serves as input to that same
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) An and subsequent ecosystem degradation in a system. See negative feedback loop; positive
administrative agency charged with conduct- water body. feedback loop.
ing and evaluating research, monitoring envi- evaporation The conversion of a substance feed-in tariff A program of public policy
ronmental quality, setting standards, enforcing from a liquid to a gaseous form. intended to promote renewable energy in-
those standards, assisting the states in meeting vestment, whereby utilities are mandated to
standards and goals for environmental protec- even-aged Condition of timber plantations— purchase electricity from homeowners or busi-
tion, and educating the public. generally monocultures of a single species— nesses that generate power from renewable en-
in which all trees are of the same age. Most
environmental science The scientific study ecologists view plantations of even-aged stands ergy sources and feed it into the electric grid.
of how the natural world functions, how our more as crop agriculture than as ecologically Under such a system, utilities must pay guaran-
environment affects us, and how we affect our functional forests. Compare uneven-aged. teed premium prices for this power under long-
environment. term contract. Compare net metering.
evenness See relative abundance.
environmental studies An academic environ- feedlot A huge barn or outdoor pen designed
mental science program that emphasizes the evolution Genetically based change in the to deliver energy-rich food to animals living at
social sciences as well as the natural sciences. appearance, functioning, and/or behavior of extremely high densities. Also called a factory
organisms across generations, often by the farm or concentrated animal feeding operation
environmental toxicology The study of toxi- process of natural selection. (CAFO).
cants that come from or are discharged into
the environment, including the study of health executive order A specific legal instruction Ferrel cell One of a pair of cells of convective
effects on humans, other animals, and ecosys- for government agencies ordered by the U.S. circulation between 30° and 60° north and
tems. president. south latitude that influence global climate pat-
environmentalism A social movement dedi- experiment An activity designed to test the terns. Compare Hadley cell; polar cell.
cated to protecting the natural world, and by validity of a hypothesis by manipulating vari- fertilizer A substance that promotes plant
extension, people. ables. See controlled experiment, manipulative growth by supplying essential nutrients such
experiment, and natural experiment. as nitrogen or phosphorus.
epidemiological study A study that involves
large-scale comparisons among groups of peo- exploratory drilling Drilling that takes place Fifth Assessment Report A report from the
ple, usually contrasting a group known to have after a fossil fuel deposit has been identified, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
been exposed to some toxicant and a group that in order to gauge how much of the fuel exists summarizing the current state of climate
has not. and whether extraction will prove worthwhile. change research, due out in 2013–2014. This
Involves drilling small holes that descend to report represents the consensus of scientific
epiphyte A plant that grows atop another plant, great depths.
rather than from soil. Many ferns, mosses, li- climate research from around the world, and
chens, orchids, and bromeliads in tropical rain- exponential growth The increase of a popu- supercedes the IPCC’s Fourth Assessment
forests and cloudforests are epiphytes. lation (or of anything) by a fixed percentage Report.
each year. first law of thermodynamics The physical
EROI (energy returned on investment) The
ratio determined by dividing the quantity of external cost A cost borne by someone not in- law stating that energy can change from one
energy returned from a process by the quan- volved in an economic transaction. Examples form to another, but cannot be created or lost.
tity of energy invested in the process. Higher include harm to citizens from water pollution The total energy in the universe remains con-
EROI ratios mean that more energy is produced or air pollution discharged by nearby factories. stant and is said to be conserved.
from each unit of energy invested. See also net extinction The disappearance of an entire spe- flagship species A species that has wide ap-
energy. cies from Earth. Compare extirpation. peal with the public and that can be used to
erosion The removal of material from one place extirpation The disappearance of a particular promote conservation efforts that also benefit
and its transport to another by the action of population from a given area, but not the entire other, less charismatic, species.
wind or water. species globally. Compare extinction. flat plate solar collectors Panels for collecting
and transmitting solar energy for the purpose
estuary An area where a river flows into the
ocean, mixing fresh water with salt water. of heating or cooling. Generally these are roof-
factory fishing A highly industrialized ap- top panels made of dark heat-absorbing metal
ethanol The alcohol in beer, wine, and liquor, proach to commercial fishing, employing fossil plates mounted in flat glass-covered boxes.
produced as a biofuel by fermenting biomass, fuels, huge vessels, and powerful new tech-
generally from carbohydrate-rich crops such nologies to capture fish in immense volumes. flooding The spillage of water over a river’s
as corn. Factory fishing vessels even process and freeze banks due to heavy rain or snowmelt.
their catches while at sea. floodplain The region of land over which a
ethical standard A criterion that helps differ-
entiate right from wrong. family planning The effort to plan the num- river has historically wandered and periodi-
ber and spacing of one’s children so as to offer cally floods.
ethics The academic study of good and bad,
right and wrong. The term can also refer to a children and parents the best quality of life flux The movement of nutrients among pools or
reservoirs in a nutrient cycle.
person’s or group’s set of moral principles or possible.
values. farmers’ market A market at which local farm- fly ash Particulate matter from incinerator
ers and food producers sell fresh locally grown emissions, often containing pollutants.
European Union (EU) Political and economic
organization formed after World War II to pro- items. food chain A linear series of feeding relation-
mote Europe’s economic and social progress. fee-and-dividend A program of carbon taxes ships. As organisms feed on one another, en-
As of 2013, the EU consisted of 27 member in which proceeds from the taxes are paid to ergy is transferred from lower to higher trophic
G-8 nations. consumers as a tax refund or “dividend.” This levels. Compare food web.

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