Expanded Key Terms

The diversity of living organisms on Earth.

Biodiversity is the key to life on Earth and is the diversity of biological organisms of all species around the planet. Biodiversity exists in plant, animal, and human life and allows for equilibrium on a local and global environmental scale. Biodiversity is important because it allows for things like the natural food chain and life cycle to be uninterrupted; it also helps promote healthy and continued species development.

The long-term shifts in temperature and weather patterns.

Climate change is a significant change in weather patterns and temperature recordings in an area over an extended period of time. Weather is just temporary, changing natural behaviors, such as rain and hail, and storms. Climate change signifies a larger violation of nature’s organic operations and can result in predictable and unpredictable weather behaviors. Climate change can cause increased flash flooding, global temperature, ocean levels rising, and more.

The belief that personal happiness depends on the purchasing of material possessions.

Consumerism is a belief that material possessions bring joy and a deeper meaning to life and is largely reinforced and upheld by capitalistic economies and societies. Consumerism leads people to buy more and more over time, further supporting a need for corporations to use natural resources continuously and in increased quantities to make more goods for people to buy.

The conversion of forestland to non-forest land by excessive amounts of cutting down plants.

Deforestation is the removal of large segments of forests around the globe. The Amazon rainforest is experiencing rapid deforestation, which has harmful and potentially irreversible effects on the surrounding ecosystem and the global environmental equilibrium as a whole. Deforestation can be through tree cutting or controlled burns, but both ways result in detrimental effects, like decreased soil density and increases in water runoff and mineral deposits.

A biological environment consisting of all the organisms living in a particular area.   

An ecosystem is a specific biological area that consists of specific living organisms, their habitats, and all other organic components of their living area and needs to survive. Ecosystems vary from geographic location to geographic location, and evolution has allowed different biological organisms to thrive in their specific ecosystem. For example, animals that thrive in mangrove forests and swampy areas, such as the Louisiana Bayou, have developed to benefit the ecosystem as a whole and keep the equilibrium of that ecosystem upheld so it does not collapse. Furthermore, these organisms in the mangrove and swamp ecosystems may not survive in another ecosystem, such as a desert or forest ecosystem.

The coming together of multiple individuals and/or organizations to collaborate in social, political, and conservational fields to address environmental problems.

Environmental activism is the unifying of people into groups to advocate for and support causes that promote environmental conservation, resource preservation, and the sustainability of global biodiversity, among other things. Environmental activism can happen physically in society or also on the digital plane of the internet through social movements and trends. Environmental activists have always existed in history and are often the ones who blaze the paths forward for new modes of operation and existence in society to better be at peace and in harmony with Mother Nature and the Earth.

The tendency to disproportionately experience adversity due to environmental problems.

Environmental injustice is the application of the environment and its societal issues and how it affects one’s social status, social navigation, and more. Environmental injustice shows that as the environment suffers so does society, with different groups of people feeling the strains sooner and more intensely than other groups. This term highlights also how things such as power and wealth affect one’s ability to avoid environmental injustice.

The greater likelihood of people of color experiencing environmental problems.

Environmental racism is the proven increase in problems that people of color experience when being affected by environmental problems when compared to white communities. Environmental racism is an extension of the social norms still upheld in society today that favor white people over other races and ethnicities, reflecting the long-held power hierarchy that exists and was created by the hands of white men in history.

Discarded electrical devices.

E-Waste, or electronic waste, is a more modern problem in society as technological development has advanced and the production of electronic items has increased. E-Waste is particularly toxic to the environment if not disposed of properly due to the numerous components of electronic devices, like batteries, that can leak into the earth and deposit harmful chemicals into groundwater and surrounding ecosystems.

The increasing average temperature of the earth’s surface.

Global warming is a term that is often used today by environmental scientists and environmental advocates alike. The term refers to the increasing average temperature of our planet’s surface and is a larger product of climate change and humanity’s effects on the environment. Fossil fuel emissions are largely to blame for affecting the Earth’s ozone layer and allowing for increased heat to be kept within the atmosphere, resulting in rising temperatures. These temperature increases are causing increased ocean levels, the melting of ice in northern and southern regions, and more.

Using science and technology to protect the world’s natural resources and lessen human impact.       

Green technology is a term used to describe the development and use of technology that is sustainable for the planet. Green technology can be specific tech products that are used to monitor the planet and help sustain its natural resources and ecosystems, or it can refer to the development process of creating any technology in a way that does not drain massive amounts of finite resources. Apple and Google are good examples of companies that prioritize green technology in their business models and operations, recycling products to rescue components in future models and operating on green power sources, like solar.

The gases (primarily carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide) that accumulate in the atmosphere and act like glass in a greenhouse, this means it holds heat from the sun close to the earth.

Greenhouse gases are gases released into the atmosphere to act like a blanket, keeping in heat from the sun that reflects off of the Earth’s surface. Naturally, heat and solar radiation from the sun reflects off of the planet’s surface and the majority exits the planet through the atmosphere. When large quantities of fossil fuels and other greenhouse gases are burned and released into the atmosphere, there is an invisible barrier that is formed that insulates the planet beyond the limit it is naturally meant to experience. This disrupts ecosystems and natural life.

The way in which environmentally and socially damaging companies portray their corporate image and products as being “environmentally friendly” or socially responsible.

Greenwashing is a product of capitalism identifying the opportunity to make more money from people who prefer to buy products that serve a genuine environmental purpose and support the environment and ecosystems around the globe. Greenwashing is the total “washing” of a product and/or company’s identity as being sustainable, environmentally friendly, and/or supporting an environmental cause. The reality of greenwashed enterprises and products is that these promises are false labels used to garner more revenue.

Movement of people from one place to another with the intention of settling either permanently or temporarily at a new location.

Migration is the movement of people or any organic being, from one place to another with the specific intention of staying in their new place for a set period of time or permanently. Migration occurs when beings find their current ecosystem inhabitable and need to move to survive. Climate change, natural disasters, and human-caused disasters, such as rising global temperatures and fires, and deforestation, cause animals and people to migrate to new areas for survival.

A process of mining where the tops of mountains are dynamited and removed to access coal seams below.

Mountaintop removal is self-explanatory — it is the removal of mountaintops to gain natural resources. Mountaintop removal is harmful to the overall environment because it requires the removal of entire forests to extract natural resources below. This removal of natural life results in decreased biodiversity as well as expedited water flow down mountains that can accumulate in large quantities and cause destruction. The results from mountaintop removal are permanent

Opposition by local residents to a proposed new development in their community.

This term is a phrase that is used by many people to prevent any environmental development from happening in their community. The phrase has existed for a significant amount of time and changed meanings and context. In the application of the environment, however, this phrase is used most often by climate change deniers and anti-environmentalists to prevent any developments from being made to help conserve natural resources and save the local ecosystems.

A clear division of political attitudes towards extreme ideologies.

Political polarization exists in many areas of society, where politicians are divided based on party stance, personal stance, and potential lack of education. Political polarization about the environment and population is largely stereotyped as Democrats and other liberal/green parties favoring conservation efforts and believing in climate change, while Republicans and other groups that refuse to accept data and science say climate change isn’t real or justify current climate change as actually just representations of weather that changes in fluctuations over time (which is not weather).

The contaminants found in natural environments that cause adverse changes.

Pollution is any contaminants in the environment that are harmful and cause adverse change. Pollution can be physical trash, airborne pollutants, chemical deposits, and more. The term pollution serves as a “catch-all” for all pollution around the globe that is harmful. No pollution will ever be beneficial to the planet.

A public expression of an objection towards an action or idea; typically a political one.

Public protests can happen for a variety of causes and needs in society that need advocating, but in the case of the environment public protests occur often around the globe to support conservation efforts and to call out unfair actions of corporations and governments. Public protests are often peaceful and/or demonstrative, but they can and have in some rare instances involved violence in society. Generally, public protests that garner media attention and the awareness of the greater public are due to a dramatic statement (like dying in a fountain or locking oneself to something) and often lead to some sort of social and societal change.

Rejection of someone’s behavior or trait by a social group.

Social condemnation is exactly as the name suggests — it is the shunning or total rejection of an individual for their behavior as viewed and judged from the perspective of the larger social group. Social condemnation occurs when individuals see another person’s behavior as in violation of social norms. Behavior regarding the environment and conservation efforts can, in some groups, be seen as an abnormal ideological viewpoint and therefore can put individuals who believe in these things in a position of social condemnation.

The balancing point at which all human beings can live healthy, equitable, and peaceful lives without degrading our natural environment.

Sustainable development is an ideological way of developing society so that we, as members of society, can meet all of our needs while preventing the destruction of the planet. Sustainable development takes into account things like resource use, ecosystem preservation, sustainable material use, and more. Sustainable development is often pushed in many new buildings and their designs, landscaping, technology development, and more.