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Glossary Of Environmental Science
This is a glossary of environmental science. Environmental science is the study of interactions among physical, chemical, and biological components of the environment. Environmental science provides an integrated, quantitative, and interdisciplinary approach to the study of environmental systems. 0-9 * 1-in-100 flood – a flood with 1 in 100 chance of occurring in any given year (used as a safety requirement for the construction industry.) * 20/30/10 standard - 20 mg/L Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), 30 mg/L Suspended Solids (SS), 10 units of E. coli: the water quality standard for greywater use in toilets, laundry and surface irrigation. * 5Rs - (sustainability) reduce, remanufacture, reuse, recycle, recover. A *abiotic component - Any non-living chemical or physical part of the environment that affects living and the functioning of , such as the atmosphere and water resources. (see also biotic). * absorption pit (soakaway) – a hole dug in permeable ground and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Environment (biophysical)
The natural environment or natural world encompasses all biotic and abiotic things occurring naturally, meaning in this case not artificial. The term is most often applied to Earth or some parts of Earth. This environment encompasses the interaction of all living species, climate, weather and natural resources that affect human survival and economic activity. The concept of the ''natural environment'' can be distinguished as components: * Complete ecological units that function as natural systems without massive civilized human intervention, including all vegetation, microorganisms, soil, rocks, plateaus, mountains, the atmosphere and natural phenomena that occur within their boundaries and their nature. * Universal natural resources and physical phenomena that lack clear-cut boundaries, such as air, water and climate, as well as energy, radiation, electric charge and magnetism, not originating from civilized human actions. In contrast to the natural environment is the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Additionality
Additionality is the property of an activity being additional by adding something new to the context. It is a determination of whether an intervention has an effect when compared to a Baseline (configuration management), baseline. Interventions can take a variety of forms but often include economic incentives. Additionality may be evaluated ex post, as is often done in the practice of program evaluation, or ex ante, as an initial eligibility screen for issuing credits as part of an environmental or other Public good (economics), public goods market. For ex ante applications, additionality is evaluated for proposed activities. A proposed activity is additional if the recognized interventions are deemed to be causing the activity to take place, or whether a proposed activity is distinct from its baseline. A baseline is a prediction of the quantified amount of an input to or output from an activity resulting from the expected future behavior of the actors proposing, and affecte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alternative Fuels
Alternative fuels, also known as non-conventional and advanced fuels, are fuels derived from sources other than petroleum. Alternative fuels include gaseous fossil fuels like propane, natural gas, methane, and ammonia; biofuels like biodiesel, bioalcohol, and refuse-derived fuel; and other renewable fuels like hydrogen and electricity. These fuels are intended to substitute for more carbon intensive energy sources like gasoline and diesel in transportation and can help to contribute to decarbonization and reductions in pollution. Alternative fuel is also shown to reduce non-carbon emissions such as the release of nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide, as well as sulfur dioxide and other harmful gases in the exhaust. This is especially important in industries such as mining, where toxic gases can accumulate more easily. Official definitions Definition in the European Union In the European Union, alternative fuel is defined by Directive 2014/94/EU of the European Parliament and of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alloy
An alloy is a mixture of chemical elements of which in most cases at least one is a metal, metallic element, although it is also sometimes used for mixtures of elements; herein only metallic alloys are described. Metallic alloys often have properties that differ from those of the pure elements from which they are made. The vast majority of metals used for commercial purposes are alloyed to improve their properties or behavior, such as increased strength, hardness or corrosion resistance. Metals may also be alloyed to reduce their overall cost, for instance alloys of gold and Copper(II) sulfate, copper. A typical example of an alloy is SAE 304 stainless steel, 304 grade stainless steel which is commonly used for kitchen utensils, pans, knives and forks. Sometime also known as 18/8, it as an alloy consisting broadly of 74% iron, 18% chromium and 8% nickel. The chromium and nickel alloying elements add strength and hardness to the majority iron element, but their main function is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Introduced Species
An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived there by human activity, directly or indirectly, and either deliberately or accidentally. Non-native species can have various effects on the local ecosystem. Introduced species that become established and spread beyond the place of introduction are considered naturalized. The process of human-caused introduction is distinguished from biological colonization, in which species spread to new areas through "natural" (non-human) means such as storms and rafting. The Latin expression neobiota captures the characteristic that these species are ''new'' biota to their environment in terms of established biological network (e.g. food web) relationships. Neobiota can further be divided into neozoa (also: neozoons, sing. neozoon, i.e. animals) and ne ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Algal Bloom
An algal bloom or algae bloom is a rapid increase or accumulation in the population of algae in fresh water or marine water systems. It is often recognized by the discoloration in the water from the algae's pigments. The term ''algae'' encompasses many types of aquatic photosynthetic organisms, both macroscopic multicellular organisms like seaweed and microscopic unicellular organisms like cyanobacteria. ''Algal bloom'' commonly refers to the rapid growth of microscopic unicellular algae, not macroscopic algae. An example of a macroscopic algal bloom is a kelp forest. Algal blooms are the result of a nutrient, like nitrogen or phosphorus from various sources (for example fertilizer runoff or other forms of nutrient pollution), entering the aquatic system and causing excessive growth of algae. An algal bloom affects the whole ecosystem. Consequences range from benign effects, such as feeding of higher trophic levels, to more harmful effects like blocking sunlight from reaching ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Albedo
Albedo ( ; ) is the fraction of sunlight that is Diffuse reflection, diffusely reflected by a body. It is measured on a scale from 0 (corresponding to a black body that absorbs all incident radiation) to 1 (corresponding to a body that reflects all incident radiation). ''Surface albedo'' is defined as the ratio of Radiosity (radiometry), radiosity ''J''e to the irradiance ''E''e (flux per unit area) received by a surface. The proportion reflected is not only determined by properties of the surface itself, but also by the spectral and angular distribution of solar radiation reaching the Earth's surface. These factors vary with atmospheric composition, geographic location, and time (see position of the Sun). While directional-hemispherical reflectance factor is calculated for a single angle of incidence (i.e., for a given position of the Sun), albedo is the directional integration of reflectance over all solar angles in a given period. The temporal resolution may range from seconds ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Air Pollution
Air pollution is the presence of substances in the Atmosphere of Earth, air that are harmful to humans, other living beings or the environment. Pollutants can be Gas, gases like Ground-level ozone, ozone or nitrogen oxides or small particles like soot and dust. It affects both outdoor air and indoor air. Natural sources of air pollution include Wildfire, wildfires, Dust storm, dust storms, and Volcanic eruption, volcanic eruptions. Indoor air pollution is often Energy poverty and cooking, caused by the use of biomass (e.g. wood) for cooking and heating. Outdoor air pollution comes from some industrial processes, the burning of Fossil fuel, fossil fuels for electricity and transport, waste management and agriculture. Many of the contributors of local air pollution, especially the burning of fossil fuels, also cause greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change, global warming. Air pollution causes around 7 or 8 million deaths each year. It is a significant risk factor for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Agroforestry
Agroforestry (also known as agro-sylviculture or forest farming) is a land use management system that integrates trees with crops or pasture. It combines agricultural and forestry technologies. As a polyculture system, an agroforestry system can produce timber and wood products, fruits, nuts, other edible plant products, edible mushrooms, medicinal plants, ornamental plants, animals and animal products, and other products from both domesticated and wild species. Agroforestry can be practiced for economic, environmental, and social benefits, and can be part of sustainable agriculture. Apart from production, benefits from agroforestry include improved farm productivity, healthier environments, reduction of risk for farmers, beauty and aesthetics, increased farm profits, reduced soil erosion, creating wildlife habitat, less pollution, managing animal waste, increased biodiversity, improved soil structure, and carbon sequestration. Agroforestry practices are especially preva ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Afforestation
Afforestation is the establishment of a forest or stand of trees in an area where there was no recent tree cover. There are three types of afforestation: natural Regeneration (biology), regeneration, agroforestry and Tree plantation, tree plantations. Afforestation has many benefits. In the context of climate change, afforestation can be helpful for climate change mitigation through the route of carbon sequestration. Afforestation can also improve the local climate through increased rainfall and by being a barrier against high winds. The additional trees can also prevent or reduce topsoil erosion (from water and wind), floods and landslides. Finally, additional trees can be a habitat for wildlife, and provide employment and wood products. In comparison, reforestation means re-establishing forest that have either been cut down or lost due to natural causes, such as fire, storm, etc. Nowadays, the boundaries between afforestation and reforestation projects can be blurred as it ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Affluenza
Affluenza describes the psychological and social effects of affluence. It is a portmanteau of ''wealth, affluence'' and ''influenza'', and is used most commonly by critics of consumerism. Some psychologists consider it to be a pseudo-scientific term; however, the word continues to be used in scientific literature. History The word is thought to have been first used in 1908, and to have been adopted for its most common current usage in California in 1973. It was also used by John Levy, executive director of the C.G. Jung Institute in San Francisco in 1984 to describe the lack of motivation that could dog wealthy people. It was popularized in 1997 with a PBS documentary of the same name and the subsequent book ''Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic'' (2001, revised in 2005, 2014). These works define affluenza as "a painful, infectious disease, contagious, socially transmitted condition of overload, debt, anxiety, and waste resulting from the dogged pursuit of more". A more info ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
