Term
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Ch 1 KI 4 Vocab
Term | Definition |
---|---|
Climate | The long term average weather conditions at a particular location |
Cultural Ecology | A geographic approach that emphasizes human-environment relationships |
Ecology | The scientific study of ecosystems |
Resource | A substance in the environment that is useful to people is economically and technologically feasible to access, and is socially acceptable to use |
Nonrenewable Resource | Something produced in nature more slowly than it is consumed by humans |
Renewable Resource | Something produced in nature more rapidly than it is consumed by humans |
Conservation | The sustainable management of a natural resource |
Preservation | The maintenance of resources in their present condition, with as little human impact as possible |
Sustainability | The use of Earth's renewable and nonrenewable resources in ways that do not constrain resource use in the future |
Possibilism | Theory that the physical environment may set limits on human actions, but people have the ability to adjust to the physical environment and choose a course of action from many alternatives |
Environmental Determinism | 19th-20th century geographical study of how the physical environment caused human activities. |
Polder | Land created by the Dutch by draining water from an area |
Ecosystem | A group of living organisms and the abiotic spheres with which they interact |
Abiotic | Composed of non living or inorganic matter |
Biotic | Composed of living organisms |
Atmosphere | The thin layer of gasses surrounding Earth |
Biosphere | All living organisms on Earth, including plants and animals as well as microorganisms |
Hydrosphere | All of the water on and near Earth's surface |
Lithosphere | Earth's crust and a portion of upper mantle directly below the crust |