Natural resources
Top definitions
1)
Lithosphere – The outer crust of the Earth.
2)
Hydrosphere – The region which includes all the earth's
liquid water, frozen water and small amounts of water vapor in the earth's
atmosphere.
3)
Atmosphere – The mass of air surrounding the Earth.
4)
Biosphere – The life-supporting zone of the Earth where
the atmosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere interact and make life possible.
5)
Biotic factors – The living components of the
environment.
6)
Abiotic factors – The non-living components of the
environment.
7)
Wind – Movement of air from an area of high pressure to
an area of low pressure.
8)
Air pollution - The presence of particulates, noxious
gases, or other impurities in the air that harm human or environmental health.
9)
Smog – The combination of smoke particles with the tiny
droplets of fog.
10)
Acid rain - Rain that has become acidic due to mixing
with acids like sulphuric and nitric acid that are released into the atmosphere
by the burning of fossil fuels.
11)
Osmoregulation - Control of water and electrolyte
balance in the body.
12)
Humus – The highly decomposed residue of living
materials that is a part of soil.
13)
Topsoil – The topmost layer of soil that contains humus
and living organisms in addition to soil particles.
14)
Soil pollution- Removal of useful soil components and
addition of substances which adversely affect the soil fertility and harm the
biodiversity living in it.
15)
Biogeochemical cycle – The cyclic transformation of
chemicals through interacting biological, geological and chemical processes
that causes transfer of energy and matter amid the various components of the
biosphere, leading to a balance between them.
16)
Water cycle – The whole process in which water
evaporates and falls on the land as rain and later flows back into the sea via
rivers.
17)
Nitrification – The process of converting reduced
nitrogen (as ammonia or ammonium) to its more oxidized forms (nitrite or
nitrate ions).
18)
Denitrification – A process in which anaerobic bacteria
convert nitrate ions into nitrogen gas.
19)
Ammonification – The process in which organic forms of
nitrogen are converted into ammonia or ammonium ion by heterotrophic bacteria.
20)
Green house effect – The process in which green house
gases like carbon dioxide, cause thermal radiation emitted by the Earth's
surface to be reflected back down, therefore causing the increase in worldwide
average temperatures.
21)
Global warming - An increase in the average temperature
of the earth's atmosphere, brought about by the enhanced greenhouse effect.
