British Sign Language Glossaries of Curriculum Terms

BSL Environmental Science Glossary - Anthropogenic definition

Definition: Anthropogenic describes something that is changed by human activity, either directly or indirectly.

For example the change in air temperature is leading to the decline in the numbers of sea turtles - this is because the temperature affects the ratio of males to females; the turtle buries its eggs in the sand - warmer temperatures result in larger numbers of females hatching. Another reason for falling numbers of sea turtles is that the beaches where they lay their eggs now have hotels along the seafront. When the turtles swim ashore they become confused and are drawn to the lights from these hotels; many are then killed on the roads as they come ashore.