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7th Topic 6
Term | Definition |
---|---|
Pollution | Contamination of Earth’s land, water, or air. |
Point Source | a specific source of pollution that can be identified |
Nonpoint Source | a widely spread source of pollution that is difficult to link to a specific point of origin |
Emissions | pollutants that are released into the air |
Ozone | a form of oxygen that has three oxygen atoms in each molecule instead of the usual two; toxic to organisms where it forms near Earth’s surface |
Acid Rain | rain or another form of precipitation that is more acidic than normal, caused by the release of molecules of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide into the air |
Primary | main, top-ranking |
Natural resource | anything naturally occurring in the environment that humans use |
Renewable Resource | a resource that is either always available or is naturally replaced in a relatively short time |
Nonrenewable resource | a natural resource that is not replaced in a useful time frame |
Deforestation | the removal of forests to use the land for other reasons |
Erosion | the process by which water, ice, wind, or gravity moves weathered particles of rock and soil. |
Desertification | the advance of desert-like conditions into areas that previously were fertile; caused by overfarming, overgrazing, drought, and climate change |
Sustainable | using a resource in ways that maintain it in a certain quantity or amount for a certain period of time |
Resource | something found in nature that enhances the lives of plants, animals, and humans |
Sewage | the water and human wastes that are washed down sinks, toilets, and showers |
Sediment | small, solid pieces of material that come from rocks or the remains of organisms; earth materials deposited by erosion |
Thermal Pollution | a type of pollution caused by factories and power plants releasing superheated water into bodies of water |
Distributed | divided among; passed out or spread out |