Page 724 - Environment: The Science Behind the Stories

food security An adequate, reliable, and avail- front The boundary between air masses that activity. The GPI accounts for benefits such as
able food supply to all people at all times. differ in temperature and moisture (and there- volunteerism and for costs such as environmen-
fore density). See warm front; cold front. tal degradation and social upheaval. Compare
food web A visual representation of feeding Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
interactions within an ecological community fuel rods Rods of uranium that supply the fuel
that shows an array of relationships between for nuclear fission and are kept bathed in a genus A taxonomic level in the Linnaean clas-
organisms at different trophic levels. Compare moderator in a nuclear reactor. sification system that is above species and
food chain. Fukushima Daiichi Japanese nuclear power below family. A genus is made up of one or
forensics See forensic science. plant severely damaged by the tsunami associ- more closely related species.
ated with the March 2011 Tohoku earthquake geoengineering Any of a suite of proposed ef-
forensic science (forensics) The scientific anal-
ysis of evidence to make an identification or an- that rocked Japan. Most radiation drifted over forts to cool Earth’s climate by removing car-
swer a question relating to a crime or an accident. the ocean away from population centers, but bon dioxide from the atmosphere or reflecting
the event was history’s second most serious sunlight away from Earth’s surface. Such ideas
forest Any ecosystem characterized by a high nuclear accident. Compare Chernobyl, Three are controversial and are not nearly ready to
density of trees. Mile Island. implement.
forester A professional who manages forests full cost accounting An accounting approach geographic information system (GIS) Com-
through the practice of forestry. that attempts to summarize all costs and ben- puter software that takes multiple types of
forestry The professional management of forests. efits by assigning monetary values to entities data (for instance, on geology, hydrology,
without market prices and then generally sub- vegetation, animal species, and human de-
forest type A category of forest defined by its tracting costs from benefits. Examples include velopment) and overlays them on a common
predominant tree species.
the Genuine Progress Indicator, the Happy set of geographic coordinates. The idea is to
formaldehyde A common synthetically made Planet Index, and others. Also called true cost create a complete picture of a landscape and
volatile organic compound that causes a variety accounting. to analyze how elements of the different data-
of health impacts. sets are arrayed spatially and how they may
fundamental niche The full niche of a species.
fossil The remains, impression, or trace of an Compare realized niche. be correlated. A common tool of geographers,
animal or plant of past geological ages that has fungicide A type of chemical pesticide that landscape ecologists, resource managers, and
been preserved in rock or sediments. conservation biologists.
kills fungi.
fossil fuel A nonrenewable natural resource, geology The scientific study of Earth’s physical
such as crude oil, natural gas, or coal, pro- gasification A process in which biomass is va- features, processes, and history.
duced by the decomposition and compression porized at extremely high temperatures in the geostrophic currents Oceanic currents driven
of organic matter from ancient life. by differences in atmospheric pressure and the
absence of oxygen, creating a gaseous mixture
fossil record The cumulative body of fossils including hydrogen, carbon monoxide, and Coriolis force. Compare Ekman drift.
worldwide, which paleontologists study to methane, in order to produce biopower or bio- geothermal energy Energy that arises from
infer the history of past life on Earth. fuels. In coal gasification, coal is converted to beneath Earth’s surface, ultimately from the
Fourth Assessment Report A 2007 report a syngas by reacting it with oxygen and steam radioactive decay of elements amid high pres-
from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate at a high temperature. sures deep underground. Can be used to gener-
Change that summarized thousands of scien- gene A stretch of DNA that represents a unit of ate electrical power in power plants, for direct
tific studies, documenting observed trends in hereditary information. heating via piped water, or in ground-source
surface temperature, precipitation patterns, genera Plural of genus. heat pumps.
snow and ice cover, sea levels, storm inten- glaciation The spread of ice sheets from the
sity, and other factors. It also predicted future general circulation model See climate model. polar regions far into Earth’s temperate zones
changes in these phenomena under a range General Mining Act of 1872 U.S. law that during cold periods of Earth’s history.
of emission scenarios; addressed impacts of legalized and promoted mining by private in- global climate change Systematic change in
climate change on wildlife, ecosystems, and dividuals on public lands for just $5 per acre, aspects of Earth’s climate, such as temperature,
human societies; and discussed strategies we subject to local customs, with no government precipitation, and storm intensity. Generally
might pursue in response. The Fourth Assess- oversight. refers today to the current warming trend in
ment Report represented the consensus of sci- global temperatures and the many associated
entific climate research from around the world. generalist A species that can survive in a wide climatic changes. Compare global warming.
It will be superceded by the IPCC’s Fifth As- array of habitats or use a wide array of re-
sessment Report, due out in 2013–2014. sources. Compare specialist. global climate model See climate model.
genetically modified food Food derived from
fracking See hydraulic fracturing. global warming An increase in Earth’s aver-
a genetically modified organism. age surface temperature. The term is most fre-
free rider A party that fails to invest in con-
trolling pollution or carrying out other envi- genetically modified organism (GMO) An quently used in reference to the pronounced
warming trend of recent years and decades.
ronmentally responsible activities and instead organism that has been genetically engineered
relies on the efforts of other parties to do so. using recombinant DNA technology. Global warming is one aspect of global climate
change and in turn drives other components of
For example, a factory that fails to control its genetic diversity A measurement of the differ-
emissions gets a “free ride” on the efforts of ences in DNA composition among individuals climate change.
other factories that do make the sacrifices nec- within a given species. global warming potential A quantity that
essary to reduce emissions. genetic engineering Any process scientists specifies the ability of one molecule of a given
fresh water Water that is relatively pure, hold- use to manipulate an organism’s genetic mate- greenhouse gas to contribute to atmospheric GLOSS ARY
ing very few dissolved salts. rial in the lab by adding, deleting, or changing warming, relative to carbon dioxide.
segments of its DNA. good A material commodity manufactured for
freshwater marsh A type of wetland in which
shallow water allows plants such as cattails Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI) An eco- and bought by individuals and businesses.
to grow above the water surface. Compare nomic indicator that attempts to differentiate gray water Wastewater from showers and
swamp; bog. between desirable and undesirable economic sinks. G-9

Z06_WITH7428_05_SE_Gloss.indd 9 13/12/14 10:53 AM