Academic Environmental Terms

Which of the following best defines the term "biodegradable"?

• Able to be broken down naturally by microorganisms

• Capable of causing pollution

• Used to speed up a process or a natural state of atomic energy

• Related to the sea

What does it mean to "remediate" an environment?

• To make it worse or cause a rapid decline

• To clean up or correct a problem

• To expand its size

• To reflect light

Which word describes something that is related to the sea?

• Industrial

• Marine

• Litter

• Biodegradable

If a factory is said to "contaminate" a river, what is it doing?

• Cleaning the river

• Speeding up the river's flow

• Polluting the river

• Regulating the river

What does it mean to "accelerate" a process?

• To slow it down

• To stop it

• To speed it up

• To reflect it

Which term means "to take in or soak up"?

• To reflect

• To absorb

• To expand

• To regulate

If a company wants to "regulate" its waste, what is it trying to do?

• Increase the amount of waste

• Control or manage the waste

• Reflect the waste

• Devastate the waste

A city is facing a problem with "litter." Which of the following is the best solution using strategic thinking?

• Ignore the litter and hope it goes away

• Organize community clean-up events and educate citizens about proper waste disposal

• Increase the amount of litter

• Reflect sunlight onto the litter

A scientist wants to "convert" industrial waste into something useful. Which plan best demonstrates this process?

• Dumping the waste into the ocean

• Burning the waste without any treatment

• Using the waste to create building materials

• Ignoring the waste

A marine biologist observes that certain materials "reflect" sunlight in the ocean. What could be a possible effect of this reflection on marine life?

• It could increase the temperature of the water

• It could help marine plants grow faster

• It could reduce the amount of sunlight reaching underwater plants, affecting their growth

• It could contaminate the water