Environmental Science Glossary R - Y

An area in which water travels downward to become part of an aquifer.

The process of returning land to its original condition after mining is completed.

<p>The process of recovering valuable or useful materials from waste or scrap.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>The reestablishment and development of trees in forest land.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Energy from sources that are constantly being formed.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>The maximum number of offspring that a given organism can produce.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>An artificial body of water that usually forms behind a dam.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>The ability of an organism to tolerate a chemical or disease-causing agent.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>The probability of an unwanted outcome.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>The scientific assessment, study, and management of risk.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>A flowing network of rivers and streams draining a river basin.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>A cud-chewing mammal with a three- or four-chambered stomach.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>An area of open land often used for farming.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>A measure of the amount of dissolved salts in a given amount of liquid.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>The accumulation of salts in soil.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>A maritime habitat characterized by grasses and sedges.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>The group of individuals or events selected to represent a statistical population.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>A plain full of grasses and scattered trees found in tropical regions.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>A pollutant that forms in the atmosphere by chemical reaction.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>The process by which one community replaces another community that has been partially destroyed.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>A set of symptoms affecting workers in airtight office buildings.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>The melting or fusing of ore to separate impurities from pure metal.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Urban air pollution composed of smoke and fog.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>A discarded solid material, such as garbage or refuse.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Any change in materials to reduce waste before it becomes solid waste.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>A group of organisms that can mate to produce fertile offspring.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>The collection and classification of data in the form of numbers.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>The layer of the atmosphere between the troposphere and mesosphere.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>The sinking of regions of the ground surface.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>A mining method in which ore is extracted from beneath the ground surface.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>A disposal facility that holds an accumulation of wastes.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>A mining method in which soil and rocks are removed to reach underlying resources.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>All bodies of fresh water, salt water, ice, and snow above the ground.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>The percentage of newborn individuals in a population expected to survive.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>The condition in which human needs are met indefinitely.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>A relationship where two different organisms live close together.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>A region of evergreen, coniferous forest below arctic regions.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>A block of lithosphere consisting of the crust and upper mantle.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>A forest characterized by trees that shed leaves in the fall.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>A community dominated by grasses and characterized by cold winters.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>A forest characterized by cool, humid weather and abundant rainfall.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>The condition where warm air traps cooler air near the surface.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>A temperature increase in water caused by human activity.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>A species likely to become endangered in the foreseeable future.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>The surface layer of soil rich in organic matter.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>The study of toxic substances and their effects.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>One of the steps in a food chain or food pyramid.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>A forest characterized by large amounts of rain and warm temperatures.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>The lowest layer of the atmosphere where weather occurs.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>A treeless plain in the Arctic or Antarctic with low temperatures.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>A foliage layer beneath and shaded by the main canopy of a forest.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>An area that contains a city.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>An increase in the density of people living in urban areas.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>The rapid spread of a city into adjacent suburbs and rural areas.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>A principle or standard that an individual considers important.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>A factor that changes in an experiment to test a hypothesis.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>An agent that can incorporate foreign DNA and transfer it between organisms.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>An animal that has a backbone.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Water that contains wastes from homes or industries.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>The continuous movement of water between the atmosphere and the land.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Contamination of water by harmful waste material.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>The area of land drained by a water system.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>The short-term state of the atmosphere, including temperature and precipitation.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>An area of land that is periodically underwater.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>A region not cultivated or inhabited by humans.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>The amount of crops produced per unit area.</p> Signup and view all the answers