Page 726 - Environment: The Science Behind the Stories

hydrologic cycle The flow of water—in liquid, engineering, chemistry, ecology, economics, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
gaseous, and solid forms—through our biotic and other disciplines and seeks to redesign (IPCC) An international panel of climate
and abiotic environment. Also called the water industrial systems in order to reduce resource scientists and government officials established
cycle. inputs and minimize inefficiency. in 1988 by the United Nations Environment
Programme and the World Meteorological Or-
hydropower See hydroelectric power. industrial revolution The shift beginning in
the mid-1700s from rural life, animal-powered ganization. The IPCC’s mission is to assess and
hydrosphere All water—salt or fresh, liquid, synthesize scientific research on global climate
ice, or vapor—in surface bodies, underground, agriculture, and manufacturing by craftsmen to change and to offer guidance to the world’s
and in the atmosphere. Compare biosphere; an urban society powered by fossil fuels. Com- policymakers, primarily through periodic pub-
lithosphere. pare agricultural revolution. lished reports. See Fourth Assessment Report;
industrial smog “Gray-air” smog caused by
hydrothermal vent A location in the deep Fifth Assessment Report.
ocean where heated water spurts from the the incomplete combustion of coal or oil when interspecific competition Competition that
seafloor, carrying minerals that precipitate to burned. Compare photochemical smog. takes place among members of two or more
form rocky structures. Unique and recently dis- industrial solid waste Nonliquid waste that is different species. Compare intraspecific com-
covered ecosystems cluster around these vents; not especially hazardous and that comes from petition.
tubeworms, shrimp, and other creatures here production of consumer goods, mining, petro-
use symbiotic bacteria to derive their energy leum extraction and refining, and agriculture. intertidal Of, relating to, or living along shore-
from chemicals in the heated water rather than Compare hazardous waste; municipal solid lines between the highest reach of the highest
from sunlight. waste. tide and the lowest reach of the lowest tide.
hypothesis A statement that attempts to ex- industrial stage The third stage of the demo- intraspecific competition Competition that
plain a phenomenon or answer a scientific graphic transition model, characterized by fall- takes place among members of the same spe-
question. Compare theory. ing birth rates that close the gap with falling cies. Compare interspecific competition.
hypothesis-driven science Research in which death rates and reduce the rate of population intrinsic value Value ascribed to something for
scientists pose questions that seek to explain growth. Compare pre-industrial stage, post- its intrinsic worth; the notion that the thing has
how and why things are the way they are. industrial stage, transitional stage. a right to exist and is valuable for its own sake.
Generally proceeds in a somewhat structured infant mortality rate The number of deaths Synonymous with inherent value.
manner, using experiments to test hypotheses. of infants under one year of age per 1000 live introduced species Species introduced by
Compare descriptive science. births in a population. human beings from one place to another
hypoxia The condition of extremely low dis- infectious disease A disease in which a patho- (whether intentionally or by accident). A mi-
solved oxygen concentrations in a body of gen attacks a host. nority of introduced species may become in-
water. vasive species.
inherent value See intrinsic value.
invasive species A species that spreads widely
inorganic fertilizer A fertilizer that consists of and rapidly becomes dominant in a community,
igneous rock One of the three main categories mined or synthetically manufactured mineral interfering with the community’s normal func-
of rock. Formed from cooling magma. Granite supplements. Inorganic fertilizers are gener- tioning.
and basalt are examples of igneous rock. Com- ally more susceptible than organic fertilizers
pare metamorphic rock and sedimentary rock. to leaching and runoff and may be more likely inversion layer In a temperature inversion,
the band of air in which temperature rises with
immigration The arrival of individuals from to cause unintended off-site impacts. altitude (instead of falling with altitude, as tem-
outside a population. insecticide A type of chemical pesticide that perature does normally).
in-situ recovery See solution mining. kills insects. ion An electrically charged atom or combina-
inbreeding depression A state that occurs in instrumental value Value ascribed to some- tion of atoms.
a population when genetically similar parents thing for the pragmatic benefits it brings us if ionic bond A type of chemical bonding where
mate and produce weak or defective offspring we put it to use. Synonymous with utilitarian electrons are transferred between atoms, creat-
as a result. value. ing oppositely charged ions that bond due to
incineration A controlled process of burning integrated pest management (IPM) The their differing electrical charges. Table salt,
solid waste for disposal in which mixed gar- use of multiple techniques in combination to sodium chloride, is formed by the bonding of
bage is combusted at very high temperatures. achieve long-term suppression of pests, includ- positively charged sodium ions with negatively
Compare sanitary landfill. ing biocontrol, use of pesticides, close moni- charged chloride ions.
toring of populations, habitat alteration, crop
independent variable The variable that the rotation, transgenic crops, alternative tillage ionizing radiation A high-energy form of
scientist manipulates in an experiment. radiation that can damage the cells of living
methods, and mechanical pest removal. things. Sources of this radiation include the sun
indoor air pollution Air pollution that occurs intercropping Planting different types of crops and radioactive particles from nuclear energy
indoors.
in alternating bands or other spatially mixed ar- and natural sources.
industrial agriculture A form of agriculture rangements. IPAT model A formula that represents how
that uses large-scale mechanization and fossil interdisciplinary field A field that borrows
fuel combustion, enabling farmers to replace techniques from multiple traditional fields of humans’ total impact (I) on the environment
horses and oxen with faster and more powerful study and brings together research results from results from the interaction among three fac-
means of cultivating, harvesting, transporting, these fields into a broad synthesis. tors: population (P), affluence (A), and tech-
and processing crops. Other aspects include nology (T).
irrigation and the use of inorganic fertilizers. interest group A small group of people seek- irrigation The artificial provision of water to GLOSS ARY
Use of chemical herbicides and pesticides re- ing private gain that may work against the support agriculture.
duces competition from weeds and herbivory larger public interest. island biogeography theory Theory initially
by insects. Compare traditional agriculture. interglacial Term describing relatively warm applied to oceanic islands to explain how spe-
industrial ecology A holistic approach periods in Earth history that occur between pe- cies come to be distributed among them. Re-
to industry that integrates principles from riods of glaciation. searchers have increasingly applied the theory G-11

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