Deck 5: Solving Ecological Problems

Question 1

Northern and Southern hemisphere countries split most contentiously over which issue at the 1992 Earth Summit?

A) desertification
B) ozone depletion
C) global warming
D) rainforest depletion
E) biodiversity

Answer 1

rainforest depletion

Question 2

The United Nations Environment Programme UNEP) grew out of which global town meeting?

A) Rome 1974
B) Stockholm 1972
C) Cairo 1994
D) Rio 1992
E) Bucharest 1974

Answer 2

Stockholm 1972

Question 3

The idea that economic development is a basic human right is officially recognized in the 1966 International Covenant on Social and Humanitarian Rights, thus it carries the force of international law.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Since 1991 a new institution called the Global Environment Facility GEF) has been allocating large sums of money worldwide to address environmental problems.

Question 5

In which area has the least amount of global institution building taken place?

A) environment
B) population
C) food
D) energy
E) economic development

Question 6

Rainforests convert carbon dioxide into oxygen.

Question 7

The linkage of what two problems has aided the emergence of debt-for-nature swaps:

A) environmental abuse and over-population
B) over-population and drought-induced famine
C) drought-induced famine and energy shocks
D) energy shocks and the debt burden
E) the debt burden and environmental abuse

Question 8

____ruled Brazil from 1831-89, when a federal republic was created following a revolution.

A) Pedro Cabral
B) Dom Joao V
C) Dom Joao VI
D) Dom Pedro I
E) Dom Pedro II

Question 9

Chapter five expresses the opinion that since technology has caused most of our ecological problems, it therefore cannot represent the solution to any of these problems.

Question 10

The 1989 Montreal Protocol dealt specifically with:

A) protecting the ozone layer
B) reducing fossil fuel burning
C) quotas for greenhouse gases
D) green consumerism
E) green justice

Question 11

Which is NOT one of the policy principles recommended for global actors in Chapter 5?

A) multilateralism
B) democratic devolution
C) female empowerment
D) sectorally-specific aid
E) top-down policy formation

Question 12

The world's oldest and most important food IGO is called the:

A) Food and Agricultural Organization FAO.
B) International Fund for Agricultural Development IFAD.
C) Food First
D) Bread for the World
E) none of the above

Question 13

Who do John Vandermeer and Ivette Perfecto NOT blame for the destructive cycle of rainforest decimation in Costa Rica?

A) Costa Rican landowners
B) the international economic system which demands hard currency
C) the debt-ridden Costa Rican government
D) MNCs who lure workers to short-lived new plantations
E) all of the above

Question 14

Name the country in which the Mainstream Environmental Movement has had the greatest opportunities to showcase its philosophy of protected islands of nature:

A) Bolivia
B) Costa Rica
C) Ecuador
D) Madagascar
E) Brazil

Question 15

The practice of debt-for-nature swaps evolved out of the work of which organization:

A) Sierra Club
B) Greenpeace
C) World Wildlife Fund
D) UNEP
E) GFE

Question 16

Global town meetings reflect the dictum, "think globally, act locally," thereby recognizing the devolution of issues with global implications for consideration at the local level only.

Question 17

The concept of ecological space has been one pushed in recent years by whom?

A) poor countries of the South
B) rich countries of the North
C) northern European countries .
D) southern European countries
E) a small number of radical NGOs

Question 18

Brazil's population is about _people.

A) 123 million
B) 173 million
C) 273 million
D) 23 million
E) 1.3 billion

Question 19

Compared to the U.S., Brazilian society is:

A) more homogeneous
B) more heterogeneous
C) considerably younger
D) more imbued with a work ethic
E) much more violent

Question 20

President Cardoso's program to make Brazil's economy more fiscally responsible was known as the REAL plan.

Question 21

The Brazilian cities of Cubatao and Curitiba are both shining examples of green cities with green policies admired around the world.

Question 22

One of the three key players in the majority of debt-for-nature swaps is the World Bank.

Question 23

The first debt-for-nature swap occurred in the Latin American country of Bolivia.

Question 24

Journalist Steve Lerner spent most of the early 1990s writing about the Rio Earth Summit, but later grew impatient with global diplomacy and sought hands-on environmental innovators, and the result was his book, Eco-Pioneers.

Question 25

John Vandermeer and Ivette Perfecto are proponents of the establishment who criticize radicals intent on confusing the issue and undoing the ecological progress achieved to date through debt-for-nature swaps.

Question 26

John and Nancy Jack Todd have developed "living machines" that enable cross-breeding of plant species that may expand agricultural productivity as their main goal.

Question 27

The 1994 Cairo Conference on Population issued a strong statement opposing abortion at the request of the Catholic Church and the Imams of the World Islamic Movement.

Question 28

The Beni Biosphere Reserve is located in Costa Rica.

Question 29

Eco-pioneers Paul and Julie Mankiewicz are co-directors of the Gaia Institute which is working on urban composting systems that can reduce the urban waste stream.

Question 30

The phenomenon of green consumerism has been most successful in northern European countries with high levels of ecological consciousness among the general public.