More Environmental Terms

ACID RAIN: Rain polluted by sulphur and nitrogen-based acids from combustion processes which damages lakes and forests.
AEROBIC BACTERIA: Micro-organisms which live only in the presence of free oxygen.
AIR POLLUTION: This can be divide into particulated and gase;ous pollutants. Particulate pollutants consist mainly of dust and smole. Gaseous pollutants are caused by the burning of fuels (wood, oil, coal) and consist mostly of sulphur oxides, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide etc., and also from industrial processes.
AIR POLLUTION INDEX: An index based on the concentration of sulphur dioxide (S02), carbon monoxide (CO), dust particles, and hydrocarbons.
ALLOCATION OF RESOURCES: Division of scarce resources between various users to attain optimum benefits for all.
ANTI-KNOCK ADDITIVES: Substances that give evenness of fuel combustion in internal combustion engines. Contain mainly organic lead compounds (tetra-ethyl lead).
BIOCHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND (B.O.D.): The amount of oxygen that is needed for biochemical oxidation of organic pollutants in water.
BIODEGRADABLE: Substances that can be decomposed through biological processes.
BIOMASS: All material of vegetable and animal origin produced through biological processes.
BIO-PHYSICAL: That part of the environment of encompassing living species and their physical surroundings.
BIOSPHERE: That part of the earths surface, including the ocean, the atmosphere which supports life.
B.O.D.: See Biochemical Oxygen Demand.
COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS: Analysis of total quantifiable costs and benefits of a project to society as a whole.
CYANIDE: Toxic compound of two radicals each consisting of one atom of nitrogen and one of carbon.
DDT: Synthetic insecticide from the chlorinated hydrocarbons group used mainly for agricultural purposes and for malaria control. It resists biodegration, and therefore can be harmful to the bio-sphere if used without due precaution.
DENITRIFYING BACTERIA: Bacteria which break up nitrogen compounds.
DE-SALINATION: Process to remove salt from sea water.
DESERTIFICATION: Transformation of productive land into desert.
DIRECT TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER: Conveying knowledge directly from an existing user in one part of the world to a potential user in another part.
ECOLOGY: The study of relationships between living organisms and their environment.
ECO-SYSTEM: A collection of living organisms, their neceessary resources and their habitat,and their interaction in a self-contained and sustainable manner.
ECOSYSTEMS: Organisation of relationships of living organisms within a given natural environment.
ENERGY RESOURCES: Sources of fuel (both renewable and non-renewable).
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT (EIA): The assessment, before the decision to implement a project, of the impact the project would have on the environment if it were to be implemented.
ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGMENT: Managment of activities within tolerable constraints imposed by the environment itself, and with full consideration of ecological factors; management of the enterprise to achieve survival, prof-itability, growth and social responsibility; essentially preven-tive rather than retro-fitting.
ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING: Planning for the use of environmental resource on a sustainable basis.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES: Resources of land, water, air, flora and fauna.
EROSION: The loss of soil by winds and water.
EUTROPHICATION: Accelerated aging of lakes through build up of organic residues caused by over fertilization.
EXTERNALITY: The cost or benefits occurring to parties other than the supplier and the purchaser of an economic transaction.
FERTILIZER: Organic or inorganic compounds used to make the land more productive.
FOSSIL FUEL: A source of non-renewable energy such as oil, gas and coal resulting from the fossilization of biomass.
GATEKEEPER: A number of a community who channels information and opinions.
GEOTHERMAL ENERGY: Energy derived from hot zones beneath the earths surface or in geologically active areas.
GASEOUS ATMOSPHERIC POLLUTION: Pollution from the burning of fossil fuels, industrial emissions etc. it can cause intoxication, bronchitis, asthma, emphysema and other respiratory illnesses.
GREENHOUSE EFFECT: Heating of the atmosphere due to the trapped solar energy as a result of a rise in the carbon dioxide concentration of the atmosphere.
GREEN REVOLUTION: Increases in food outputs from high-yielding varieties of seeds which require a combination of irrigation, fertilizers and pes-ticides.
HERBICIDES: Chemicals used to kill plants.
HUMAN SETTLEMENTS: Cities, towns and villages.
HYDROCARBONS: Chemical compounds composed of hydrogen and carbon; the largest source of hydrocarbons is oil.
HYDROSPHERE: The water portion of the earths surface as distinguished from the solid part (lithosphere) and the gaseous layer (atmosphere).
INDUSTRIAL WASTE: Solid residues from industrial processes.
INFRASTRUCTURE: The physical basis of social services. Example - electricity, gas, water, roads and railways etc.
INSECTICIDES: Chemical agents that destroy insects.
INTEGRATED CONTROL: Ecological pest management with the combined use of all possible means.
IONIZING RADIATION: Radiations emitted by radio-active substances or apparatus, with sufficient energy to produce ionization directly on their passage through a substance. Can destroy living cells.
LAND USE: Allocation of sectors of land that are restricted from certain activities. Thus certain areas would be reserved for industries while other areas would be reserved for habitation.
LITHOSPHERE: The solid part of the earths surface.
LOW-SULPHUR FUEL: Fossil fuels from which sulphur has been removed.
MANURE: Animal excreta after aerobic fermentation, used as fertilizer.
MAXIMUM PERMISSIBLE DOSE: The dose of a toxic agent that a person may receive over ecific time without appreciable bodily injury.
MEGALOPOLIS: Very large metropolitan urbanized zone. Also termed as "Mega-cities"
METABOLIC CHAIN (ALSO FOOD CHAIN): The sequence of consumption of lower organisms by higher organisms.
METEOROLOGY: The science of the atmosphere and its phenomena.
METHANE: A colourless, odourless, inflammable gaseous hydrocarbon, chief component of natural gas.
MINERAL RESOURCES: Mineral deposits of an area that are potentially recoverable.
MITIGATE: Reduce severity (of impacts) by modifying a project or its location.
NATURAL GAS: A combustible, gaseous mixture of hydrocarbons found in association with crude oil or in separate deposits.
NATURAL SYSTEMS: Stable interacting collection of non-man-made physical and jor biological entities.
NITRITE: a salt or easter of nitric acid.
NITROGEN OXIDES: Laughing gas.
NITRTROUS OXIDE: Oxide or nitrogen used as a propellant.
NURTRIENT: Substance which provide nourishment for plants.
ORGANIC SUBSTANCE: Substances based on molecules having a carbon skeleton, usulally originating from biomass.
OUTFALL: Point of discharge of waste water.
OZONE: Gas containing three molecules of oxygen, a powerful oxidant. An ozone layer above the earth absorbs dangerous ultra violet radia-tion. In the lower atmoshpere, it is involved in producing photo-chemical smog.
PARASTATAL: An institution or body which takes on some of the roles of civil government or political authority; an agency through which the state works indirectly.
PARTICULATES: Fine solid particles which remain suspended in gases, particularly air.
PERSISTENT INSECTICIDES: Non-degradable insecticides, such as DDT.
PHOTOCHEMICAL SMOG: Chemical pollutants in the atmosphere resulting from chemical reactions involving hydrocarbons and oxidants in the presence of sunlight.
PHYSICAL PLANNING: Land use and infrastructure planing emphasising the need for providing a balancaed economic development and conserving re-sources.
PNEUMOCONIOSIS: Debilitating or fatal lung disease caused by the inhalation of mineral dust.
POLLUTANT: Substances that damage the quality of the environment.
PRODUCIVITY: a measure of the physical output resulting from the use of human or natural resources.
RAW SEWAGE: Untreated municipal waste waters containing human excreta, etc.
RECYCLING: The recovery and reuse jof materials from scrap or other waste materials.
RESOURCE-INTENSIVE: Activity (usually human) requiring large input of natural resources.
RETRO-FITTING: Environmental management of the enterprise which fails to prevent environmental damage; must expend resurces later for corrective measures.
RESOURCE- INVENTORIES: Exhaustive listing of resources.
SCHISTOSOMIASIS: Disease caused by parasitic fulke trnsmitted by a water snail.
SECONDARY SEWAGE TREANTMENT: Process whereby sewage, after being screened, is subjeacted to aerobic treatment methods to dissolve organic pollutants.
SEMI-ARID REGION: Region with very low rainfall.
SMOG: Air pollution consiting of smoke and fog.
SOCIAL COSTS: The quantative and qualitative burden imposed on society by a given activity.
SOCIO-ECONOMIC: Income and social position considered as a single faction to measure a family or an individuals status in a community.
SULPHUR DIOXIDE: Air pollutant arises from the combustion of sulphur in fuels. Above certain concentrations it is a respiratory irritant; during airborn transportation it can convert into an acid precipitated as acid rain, damages crops, forsts, lakes and structures.
SYNERGISTIC: Co-operative action of various forces such that the total effect is greater than the sum of the two or more effects if the action was taken independently.
TERTIARY SEWAGE TREATMENT: Third stage of sewage treatment, where chemical compounds are removed.
TETRAETHYL LEAD: A highly toxic lead compound that, when added in small proportions to gasoline, increases the fuel anti-knock quality.
THERMAL POLLUTION: Entrapment of cold air and pollutants below a stable layer of warm air.
VECTOR HABITAT: The place where an organism, which transmits a disease, normally lives.
VULNERABILITY OF ECOSYSTEMS: Fragility of the ecosystem to mismanagement.
ZONING REGULATIONS: Regulations designed to control land use for specific activities (industrial, residential, nature reserves etc.).

Manu and Anshu, UEMRI-India

Return to Keywords
Glossaries, definitions and dictionaries