A
absorptive capacity of environment the ability of the environment to absorb and render harmless waste products.

B
biomass energy supply from wood, plant, and animal wastes.

C
capital stock the existing quantity of capital in a given region, including manufactured, human, and natural capital.

carrying capacity the level of population and consumption sustainable by the available natural resource base.

cumulative pollutant(s)/pollution pollutants that do not significantly dissipate or degrade over time.

D
demand-side management an approach to energy management that stresses increasing energy efficiency and reducing energy consumption.

E
energy supply augmentation an approach to energy management emphasizing increase in energy supplies, such as building more power plants or increasing oil drilling.

environmental sustainability the continued existence of an ecosystem in a healthy state; ecosystems may change over time but do not significantly degrade.

G
global climate change the changes in global climate, including temperature, precipitation, and storm frequency and intensity, that result with changes in greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere.

global commons global common property resources such as the atmosphere and the oceans.

GNP growth rate the annual change in GNP, expressed as a percentage.

I
industrial ecology the application of ecological principles to the management of industrial activity.

input-intensive agriculture agricultural production that relies heavily on machinery, artificial fertilizers, pesticides, and irrigation.

intensification of production increasing production rates with a limited supply of resources, such as increasing agricultural yield per acre.

M
macroeconomic (system) scale the total scale of an economy; ecological economics suggests that the ecosystem imposes scale limits on the macroeconomy.

N
natural capital the available endowment of land and resources including air, water, soil, forests, fisheries, minerals, and ecological life-support systems.

nominal GNP gross national product measured using current dollars.

nonrenewable resources resources available in fixed supply, such as metal ores and oil.

O
open-access resource(s) a resource that offers unrestricted access such as an ocean fishery or the atmosphere.

over-harvesting of renewable resources rates of harvest that decrease resource stock or population over time.

P
per capita GNP growth rate the annual change in per capita GNP, expressed as a percentage.

population growth rate the annual change in the population of a given area, expressed as a percentage of the total population.

population momentum the tendency for a population to continue to grow, even if the fertility rate falls to the replacement level, as long as a high proportion of the population is young.

R
real GNP gross national product corrected for inflation using a price index.

renewable energy sources energy sources supplied on a continual basis such as wind, water, biomass, and direct solar energy.

renewable resource(s) resources supplied on a continuing basis by ecosystems; renewable resources such as forests and fisheries can be depleted through exploitation.

resource recovery mining or extraction of resources for economic use.

S
solar energy the energy supplied continually by the sun, including direct solar energy as well as indirect forms such as wind energy and flowing water.

sustainable agriculture systems of agricultural production that do not deplete the productivity of the land or environmental quality, including such techniques as integrated pest management, organic techniques, and multiple cropping.

sustainable development development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

sustainable (natural resource) management management of natural resources such that natural capital remains constant over time, including maintenance of both stocks and flows.

T
technological innovation increases in knowledge used to develop new products or improve existing products.

theoretical paradigm the basic conceptual approach used to study a particular issue.