Impacts on the Natural World Definitions

Natural Resources

• Natural resources are materials or substances that exist in the environment and are essential or useful to humans.
• They can be classified into two categories: renewable and non-renewable resources.

Types of Natural Resources

• Renewable Resources: Resources that can be replenished or replaced relatively quickly by natural processes.
• Non-renewable Resources: Resources that are finite in quantity and cannot be replaced within a human lifespan.

Biodiversity and Ecosystem

• Biodiversity: The variety and variability of life forms on Earth.
• Ecosystem: A community of organisms interacting with each other and their physical environment.

Environmental Sustainability

• Healthy Environment: Environmental sustainability that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
• Clean Air: Air that is free from harmful levels of pollutants.
• Clean Water: Water that is safe for drinking and other purposes, free from pollutants and contaminants.

Environmental Change

• Climate Change: Long-term alteration of temperature and typical weather patterns in a place.
• Global Warming: The increase in Earth's average surface temperature due to greenhouse gases trapping heat in the atmosphere.
• Deforestation: The clearing or removal of forests or trees, often for agricultural or urban development purposes.
• Desertification: The process by which fertile land becomes desert, typically as a result of drought, deforestation, or inappropriate agriculture.

Managing Natural Resources

• Conservation: The protection, preservation, management, or restoration of natural environments and the ecological communities that inhabit them.
• Sustainable Resource Management: Using resources in a way that meets current needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
• Resource Depletion: The exhaustion or overuse of a natural resource, resulting in its decline or disappearance.
• Land Use Planning: The systematic assessment of land and water potential, alternatives for land use, and the economic and social conditions that influence land utilization.

Petrochemicals and Fossil Fuels

• Petrochemicals: Chemicals derived from petroleum or natural gas, used to make a variety of products including plastics, rubber, and pharmaceuticals.
• Fossil Fuels: Hydrocarbons, primarily coal, oil, and natural gas, formed from the remains of ancient plants and animals, used as energy sources.
• Carbon Emissions: The release of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, primarily from burning fossil fuels.

Pollution

• Air Pollution: The presence of harmful or excessive quantities of substances in the air, such as gases, particulates, and biological molecules, that can harm human health and the environment.
• Water Pollution: Contamination of water bodies (e.g., lakes, rivers, oceans, groundwater) by harmful substances, making it unsuitable for its intended use.
• Land Pollution: The degradation of Earth's land surfaces, often caused by human activities and their misuse of land resources.

Carbon Cycle and Carbon Sequestration

• Carbon Cycle: The series of processes by which carbon compounds are interconverted in the environment, involving the atmosphere, oceans, soil, and living organisms.
• Carbon Sink: A natural or artificial reservoir that absorbs and stores carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, such as forests, oceans, or soil.
• Carbon Sequestration: The process of capturing and storing atmospheric carbon dioxide to mitigate global warming and climate change.