Essential Environment: The Science Behind the Stories
Ch. 1 Science and Sustainability Both Questions And
Answers 10th Edition 2025-2026
Environment
Consists of all living and non-living things around us.
Environmental Science
The study of how the natural world works, how our natural
environment affects us, and how we affect our environment.
Natural Resources
The various substances and energy sources we take from our
environment and that we rely on to survive.
Renewable Natural Resources
Natural resources that are replenished over short periods of time,
such as sunlight, wind energy, wave energy, and geothermal energy.
Nonrenewable Natural Resources
Resources that are infinite in supply and are formed much more
slowly than we use them. Once we deplete a nonrenewable natural
resource it is no longer available. Such as fossil fuels, copper,
aluminum, and other metals.
Ecosystem Services
An essential service an ecosystem provides that supports life and
makes economic activity possible. Ecosystems purify air and water,
cycle nutrients, regulate climate, pollinate plants, and receive and
recycle our waste
, Agricultural Revolution
Our transition from a hunter-gatherer lifestyle to an agricultural way
of life that began around 10,000 years ago.
Industrial Revolution
Our shift from rural life, animal powered agricultural, and hand
crafted goods to an urban society provisioned by the mass
production of factory made goods and powered by fossil fuels.
Fossil Fuels
Nonrenewable natural resources including oil, coal, and natural gas.
tragedy Of the Commons
People are self motivated by self interest, therefore they will deplete
the resources.
Ecological Footprint
Expresses environmental impact in terms of cumulative area of the
biologically productive land and water required to provide the
resources a person or population consumes and to dispose of of or
recycle the waste a person or population produces.
Interdisciplinary Field
A field that borrows techniques from multiple disciplines and brings
their research together in a broad synthesis.
Natural Sciences
Disciplines that examine the natural world.
Social Sciences
Ch. 1 Science and Sustainability Both Questions And
Answers 10th Edition 2025-2026
Environment
Consists of all living and non-living things around us.
Environmental Science
The study of how the natural world works, how our natural
environment affects us, and how we affect our environment.
Natural Resources
The various substances and energy sources we take from our
environment and that we rely on to survive.
Renewable Natural Resources
Natural resources that are replenished over short periods of time,
such as sunlight, wind energy, wave energy, and geothermal energy.
Nonrenewable Natural Resources
Resources that are infinite in supply and are formed much more
slowly than we use them. Once we deplete a nonrenewable natural
resource it is no longer available. Such as fossil fuels, copper,
aluminum, and other metals.
Ecosystem Services
An essential service an ecosystem provides that supports life and
makes economic activity possible. Ecosystems purify air and water,
cycle nutrients, regulate climate, pollinate plants, and receive and
recycle our waste
, Agricultural Revolution
Our transition from a hunter-gatherer lifestyle to an agricultural way
of life that began around 10,000 years ago.
Industrial Revolution
Our shift from rural life, animal powered agricultural, and hand
crafted goods to an urban society provisioned by the mass
production of factory made goods and powered by fossil fuels.
Fossil Fuels
Nonrenewable natural resources including oil, coal, and natural gas.
tragedy Of the Commons
People are self motivated by self interest, therefore they will deplete
the resources.
Ecological Footprint
Expresses environmental impact in terms of cumulative area of the
biologically productive land and water required to provide the
resources a person or population consumes and to dispose of of or
recycle the waste a person or population produces.
Interdisciplinary Field
A field that borrows techniques from multiple disciplines and brings
their research together in a broad synthesis.
Natural Sciences
Disciplines that examine the natural world.
Social Sciences
