Glossary
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Environment | The total of the surroundings (air, water, soil, vegetation, people, wildlife) influencing each living
being's existence, including physical, biological and all other factors; the surroundings of a plant
or animals including other plants or animals, climate and location. Science |
| Enzyme | An enzyme is a biological catalyst, usually a protein, that accelerates specific chemical reactions within living cells without being consumed in the process. By lowering activation energy, they enable essential metabolic processes - such as digestion, DNA repair, and energy production - to occur at life-sustaining rates. GMOs |
| Epidemic | The occurrence of disease within a specific geographical area or population in excess of what is normally expected. Vaccines |
| Epistemic | Epistemic is an adjective meaning relating to knowledge, understanding, or how we acquire information. Science |
| Equilibrium | A state of balance between opposing forces or actions. It occurs when a system is stable, meaning all competing influences are equal and the system's overall state remains unchanged. The term applies across many fields, including physics, chemistry and biology. Science |
| Etiology | The cause of. Vaccines |
| Evaporation | The process by which water changes from a liquid to a gas or vapor. Climate Change Denial |
| Evolution | Evolution is the change in heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations, driven by mechanisms like natural selection, mutation, and genetic drift. It explains the diversity of life on Earth, proposing that all species share a common ancestor and change through "descent with modification". Evolution |
| Extinction | In biology, extinction is the termination of a species, occurring when the very last living member of that species dies. It is a continuous, natural part of evolution, but rapid environmental shifts or human activities can accelerate it, sometimes leading to mass extinction events that wipe out a large percentage of global biodiversity. Science |
| Extraneous Variable | Extra variables (not independent, dependent, or control variables) that might influence an experiment but are not accounted for or measured or are beyond control. Science |