conservation Sensible and careful use of natural resources by humans. People with this view are called conservationists.

conservation biologist Biologist who investigates human impacts on the diversity of life found on the earth (biodiversity) and develops practical plans for preserving such biodiversity. Compare conservationist, ecologist, environmentalist, environmental scientist, preservationist, restorationist.

conservationist Person concerned with using natural areas and wildlife in ways that sustain them for current and future generations of humans and other forms of life. Compare conservation biologist, ecologist, environmentalist, environmental scientist, preservationist, restorationist.

developed country Country that is highly industrialized and has a high per capita GNP. Compare developing country. Formerly called more developed country (MDC).

developing country Country that has low to moderate industrialization and low to moderate per capita GNP. Most are located in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Compare developed country. Formerly called less developed country (LDC).

doubling time Time it takes (usually in years) for the quantity of something growing exponentially to double. It can be calculated by dividing the annual percentage growth rate into 70. See rule of 70.

earth capital See natural resources.

earth resources See natural resources.

ecological footprint Measure of the ecological impact of the (1) consumption of food, wood products, and other resources, (2) use of buildings, roads, garbage dumps, and other things that consume land space, and (3) destruction of the forests needed to absorb the CO2 produced by burning fossil fuels.

ecologist Biological scientist who studies relationships between living organisms and their environment. Compare conservation biologist, conservationist, environmentalist, environmental scientist, preservationist, restorationist.

ecology Study of the interactions of living organisms with one another and with their nonliving environment of matter and energy; study of the structure and functions of nature.

economic development Improvement of living standards by economic growth. Compare economic growth, environmentally sustainable economic development.

economic growth Increase in the capacity to provide people with goods and services produced by an economy; an increase in real GNP. Compare economic development, environmentally sustainable economic development, sustainable economic development.

environment All external conditions and factors, living and nonliving (chemicals and energy), that affect an organism or other specified system during its lifetime.

environmental degradation Depletion or destruction of a potentially renewable resource such as soil, grassland, forest, or wildlife that is used faster than it is naturally replenished. If such use continues, the resource becomes nonrenewable (on a human time scale) or nonexistent (extinct). See also sustainable yield.

environmental ethics Our beliefs about what is right or wrong environmental behavior.

environmental science Study of how we and other species interact with one another and with the nonliving environment (matter and energy). It is a physical and social science that integrates knowledge from a wide range of disciplines, including physics, chemistry, biology (especially ecology), geology, geography, resource technology and engineering, resource conservation and management, demography (the study of population dynamics), economics, politics, sociology, psychology, and ethics.

environmental wisdom worldview Beliefs that (1) nature exists for all the earth's species, not just for us, and we are not in charge of the rest of nature; (2) there is not always more, and it is not all for us; (3) some forms of economic growth are beneficial and some are harmful, and our goals should be to design economic and political systems that encourage earth-sustaining forms of growth and discourage or prohibit earth-degrading forms; and (4) our success depends on learning to cooperate with one another and with the rest of nature instead of trying to dominate and manage earth's life-support systems primarily for our own use. Compare frontier environmental worldview, planetary management worldview, spaceship-earth worldview.

environmental worldview How people think the world works, what they think their role in the world should be, and what they believe is right and wrong environmental behavior (environmental ethics).

environmentalist Person concerned about the impact of people on environmental quality who believes that some human actions are degrading parts of the earth's life support systems for humans and many other forms of life. Compare conservation biologist, conservationist, ecologist, environmental scientist, preservationist, restorationist.

environmentally sustainable economic development Development that (1) encourages environmentally sustainable forms of economic growth that meet the basic needs of the current generations of humans and other species without preventing future generations of humans and other species from meeting their basic needs and (2) discourages environmentally harmful and unsustainable forms of economic growth. It is the economic component of an environmentally sustainable society. Compare economic development, economic growth.

environmentally sustainable society Society that satisfies the basic needs of its people without depleting or degrading its natural resources and thereby preventing current and future generations of humans and other species from meeting their basic needs.

exponential growth Growth in which some quantity, such as population size or economic output, increases by a fixed percentage of the whole in a given time period; when the increase in quantity over time is plotted, this type of growth yields a curve shaped like the letter J. Compare linear growth.

globalization Broad process of global social, economic, and environmental change that leads to an increasingly similar and integrated world. See information and globalization revolution.

gross domestic product (GDP) Total market value in current dollars of all goods and services produced within a country , usually during a year. Compare gross national product, gross world product.

gross national product (GNP) See gross national income.

gross world product (GWP) Market value in current dollars of all goods and services produced in the world each year. Compare gross domestic product, gross national income.

input pollution control See pollution prevention.

natural capital See natural resources.

natural resources The earth's natural materials and processes that sustain other species and us. Compare financial resources, human resources, manufactured resources.

nonpoint source Large or dispersed land areas such as cropfields, streets, and lawns that discharge pollutants into the environment over a large area. Compare point source.

nonrenewable resource Resource that exists in a fixed amount (stock) in various places in the earth's crust and has the potential for renewal by geological, physical, and chemical processes taking place over hundreds of millions to billions of  years. Examples are copper, aluminum, coal, and oil. We classify these resources as exhaustible because we are extracting and using them at a much faster rate than they were formed. Compare renewable resource.

per capita GNP See per capita GNI.

perpetual resource Essentially inexhaustible resource on a human time scale. Solar energy is an example. See renewable resource. Compare nonrenewable resource, renewable resource.

planetary management worldview Beliefs that (1) we are the planet's most important species; (2) there are always more resources, and they are all for us; (3) all economic growth is good, more economic growth is better, and the potential for economic growth is limitless; and (4) our success depends on how well we can understand, control, and manage the earth's life-support systems for our own benefit. See spaceship-earth worldview. Compare environmental wisdom worldvie

point source Single identifiable source that discharges pollutants into the environment. Examples are the (1) smokestack of a power plant or an industrial plant, (2)  drainpipe of a meatpacking plant, (3) chimney of a house, or (4) exhaust pipe of an automobile. Compare nonpoint source.

pollutant Particular chemical or form of energy that can adversely affect the health, survival, or activities of humans or other living organisms. See pollution.

pollution Undesirable change in the physical, chemical, or biological characteristics of air, water, soil, or food that can adversely affect the health, survival, or activities of humans or other living organisms.

pollution cleanup Device or process that removes or reduces the level of a pollutant after it has been produced or has entered the environment. Examples are automobile emission control devices and sewage treatment plants. Compare pollution prevention.

preservationist Person concerned primarily with setting aside or protecting undisturbed natural areas from harmful human activities. Compare conservation biologist, conservationist, ecologist, environmentalist, environmental scientist, restorationist.

recycling Collecting and reprocessing a resource so it can be made into new products. An example is collecting aluminum cans, melting them down, and using the aluminum to make new cans or other aluminum products. Compare reuse.

renewable resource Resource that can be replenished rapidly (hours to several decades) through natural processes. Examples are trees in forests, grasses in grasslands, wild animals, fresh surface water in lakes and streams, most groundwater, fresh air, and fertile soil. If such a resource is used faster than it is replenished, it can be depleted and converted into a nonrenewable resource. See also environmental degradation. Compare nonrenewable resource and perpetual resource.

resource Anything obtained from the living and nonliving environment to meet human needs and wants. The term can also be applied to other species.

reuse Using a product over and over again in the same form. An example is collecting, washing, and refilling glass beverage bottles. Compare recycling.

rule of 70 Doubling time (in years) = 70/percentage growth rate. See doubling time, exponential growth.

secondary sewage treatment Second step in most waste treatment systems in which aerobic bacteria break down up to 90% of degradable, oxygen-demanding organic wastes in wastewater. This usually involves bringing sewage and bacteria together in trickling filters or in the activated sludge process. Compare advanced sewage treatment, primary sewage treatment.

solar capital Solar energy from the sun reaching the earth. Compare natural resources.

solar energy Direct radiant energy from the sun and a number of indirect forms of energy produced by the direct input. Principal indirect forms of solar energy include wind, falling and flowing water (hydropower), and biomass (solar energy converted into chemical energy stored in the chemical bonds of organic compounds in trees and other plants).

sustainability Ability of a system to survive for some specified (finite) time.

sustainable development See environmentally sustainable economic development.

sustainable living Taking no more potentially renewable resources from the natural world than can be replenished naturally and not overloading the capacity of the environment to cleanse and renew itself by natural processes.

sustainable society A society that manages its economy and population size without doing irreparable environmental harm by overloading the planet's ability to absorb environmental insults, replenish its resources, and sustain human and other forms of life over a specified period, usually hundreds to thousands of years. During this period, it satisfies the needs of its people without depleting natural resources and thereby jeopardizing the prospects of current and future generations of humans and other species.

 sustainable yield (sustained yield) Highest rate at which a potentially renewable resource can be used without reducing its available supply throughout the world or in a particular area. See also environmental degradation.

tragedy of the commons Depletion or degradation of a potentially renewable resource to which people have free and unmanaged access. An example is the depletion of commercially desirable fish species in the open ocean beyond areas controlled by coastal countries. See common-property resource.