Sustainability Week 1

Question 1

Tragedy of the Commons

Answer 1

The tendency of a shared, limited resource to become depleted if it is not regulated in some way

Question 2

Externality

Answer 2

The cost or benefit of a good or service that is not included in the purchase price of that good or service, or otherwise accounted for

Question 3

Rangelands

Answer 3

Dry, open grasslands primarily used for grazing cattle

Question 4

Forest

Answer 4

Land dominated by trees and other woody vegetation and sometimes used for commercial logging

Question 5

Clear-cutting

Answer 5

A method of harvesting trees that involves removing all or almost all of the trees within an area

Question 6

Selective Cutting

Answer 6

The method of harvesting trees that involves the removal of single trees or a relatively small number of trees from the larger forest

Question 7

Ecologically Sustainable Forestry

Answer 7

An approach to removing trees from forests in ways that do not unduly affect the viability of other noncommercial tree species

Question 8

Tree Plantation

Answer 8

A large area typically planted with a single fast-growing tree species

Question 9

Endangered Species Act

Answer 9

A 1973 US law designated to protect plant and animal species that are threatened with extinction, and the habitats that support those species

Question 10

Ecological Footprint

Answer 10

A measure of the area of land and water an individual, population, or activity requires to produce all the resources it consumes and to process the waste it generates

Question 11

Carbon Footprint

Answer 11

A measure of the total carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases emissions from the activities, both direct and indirect, of a person, country, or other entity

Question 12

Sustainability

Answer 12

Being able to use a resource or engage in an activity now without jeopardizing the ability of future generations to engage in similar activities later

Question 13

Sustainable Development

Answer 13

Development that balances current human well-being and economic advancement with resource management for the benefit of future generations

Question 14

Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY)

Answer 14

The largest quantity of a renewable resource that can be harvested indefinitely

Question 15

Environmental Indicators

Answer 15

Describe the current state of an environmental system or the Earth

Question 16

Anthropogenic

Answer 16

Derived from human activities

Question 17

Igneous Rock

Answer 17

Rock formed directly from magma

Question 18

Sedimentary Rock

Answer 18

Rock that forms when sediments such as muds, sands, or gravels are compressed by overlying sediments

Question 19

Metamorphic Rock

Answer 19

Rock that forms when sedimentary rock, igneous rock, or other metamorphic rock is subjected to high temperature and pressure

Question 20

Rock Cycle

Answer 20

The geologic cycle governing the constant formation, alteration, and destruction of rock material that results from tectonics, weathering, and erosion, among other processes

Question 21

Physical Weathering

Answer 21

The mechanical breakdown of rocks and minerals

Question 22

Chemical Weathering

Answer 22

The breakdown of rocks and minerals by chemical reactions, the dissolving of chemical elements from rocks, or both of these processes

Question 23

Acid precipitation

Answer 23

Precipitation high in sulfuric acid and nitric acid. Also known as acid rain.

Question 24

Erosion

Answer 24

The physical removal of rock fragments from a landscape or ecosystem.

Question 25

Parent Material

Answer 25

The underlying rock material from which the inorganic components of a soil are derived.